Bug Out! Part 13: Finale

by Robert Boren

  “Hey, Ned, let’s get going,” George said, speaking out the window of his Jeep.

  “Coming,” he said, breaking the embrace. “I’ve got to go.”

  “I know. Be careful.”

  Ned left her, trotting over to the Humvee at the rear of the lineup. Clara watched as they drove out the gate. Frankie rushed over, putting her arm around her shoulder. Clara looked over at her.

  “You’d better be right,” she said, tears streaming down her face.

  ***

  The iron door opened, and the two guards carried Jeb in, dropped him on the floor, and removed the shackles. Rosie got next to him, crying, as Dick eyed the guards like a caged tiger. Daan Mertins appeared at the door.

  “I don’t know who he thinks he’s protecting,” Daan said. “We’ll let him recover, and hit him again.”

  “No, you’ll kill him,” Rosie said, tears dripping off her cheeks.

  “Why don’t you ask me a few questions?” Dick asked. “Scared?”

  Daan laughed. “You weren’t with these guys. You don’t have the information we need.”

  “He might have told me, you know,” Dick said. “We run low on stuff to talk about when we’re cooped up in here. We can only describe what we’re gonna do to you cretins for so many hours before it gets boring.”

  “Funny ha ha,” Daan said. He turned and left, the guards following him, pulling the door shut with a clank.

  As soon as they left, Jeb smiled and turned over. “They think I passed out,” he said. “They kept messing with my leg wound. The one that got shot when I was in the deer blind at Hilda’s place. Lost most of my feelings on that thigh.”

  Rosie smiled at him. “I know you try to be man, but still hurts.”

  “Oh, it hurts, but not nearly as bad as they think it does,” Jeb said softly. “Think your contact might have seen me, Dick?”

  “I’d bet money on it,” he said. “Wonder where we are?”

  “Why?” Rosie asked.

  “I’d like to know how many hours away they are, so we can be ready when the fireworks start.”

  “You really think they come?” Rosie asked.

  “Hell yeah,” Dick said. “I wouldn’t want to be our enemy when they show up. Ned’s boys aren’t real nice.”

  “Neither is George,” Jeb said.

  “Yeah,” Dick said. “Ned told me a few stories about him. Once he turns it on, he has a hard time turning it off. He’s liable to kill off half the people at this place.”

  ***

  General Hogan looked at his phone, and hit Field Marshall Hopper’s contact. Charlie, Hilda, Kurt, and Mary surrounded him. Jerry and Jasmine walked in from the kitchen with Clint, Earl, Jackson, and Jason, carrying coffee cups. General Hogan put the phone on the table in front of him and pushed the speaker button. The Sheriff walked in with Terry, Trish, and Jake.

  “Field Marshall Hopper, do you hear us?”

  “Sure do, general. You hear us?”

  “Yes, sir,” he said. “We’ve got the usual suspects in here.”

  “Likewise,” Hopper said. “We’re going to plan the phony attack, right?”

  “Yes,” General Hogan said. “We need to move it up.”

  “Really?” Hopper asked. “Something happen?”

  “Yeah, we found out what building our people are being held in, so we’ve got a strike force heading there. They’ve got another seven hours of driving before they arrive.”

  “Ah, and you want our little game to happen at the same time they attack, I’ll bet.” He chuckled.

  “Exactly,” General Hogan said. “Thinking about tonight at seven. That work for you guys?”

  “Sure, we can do that,” he said. “What’d you have in mind?”

  “Blow some stuff up in back. Maybe we blow up what’s left of my chopper too,” the general said. “Think you can get word to the bad guys that the operation is underway?”

  “Sure can,” Hopper said. “We should be talking with explosions going on in the background.”

  Jerry chuckled. “I like it.”

  “As long as we’re careful not to hurt anybody,” Charlie said.

  “We’ll be careful,” Hopper said.

  “Maybe we ought to make this one a win-win,” Shirley said.

  “Uh oh,” Jacob Orr said. “Seen that look on her face before.”

  “What do you have in mind, Shirley?” General Hogan asked.

  “I say we bring our anti-aircraft missiles, and ask Daan for a few choppers to support us.”

  “Sure that’s a good idea?” Hopper said. “What if we don’t knock them down before they fire off some ordnance?”

  “You guys have a safe place to be, don’t you?” Jacob Orr asked.

  “Yeah,” General Hogan said. “I get it. We’d get back up on our ruse, because they’ll call it in to Daan. At the same time, we’ll take out a portion of their air power.”

  “Hey, General, think we can get some fighter jets in the area?” Jerry asked.

  “I think we could arrange a welcoming committee, but we’d have to be careful how we do that. They’d want to be a ways back, and use missiles. This can’t look like a set-up.”

  “There you go,” Shirley said. “If we can’t get all of them with our anti-aircraft, the fighters will take them out.”

  “We might lose a coach or two.” Charlie said. “Or one of our buildings.”

  “Yes, we run that risk,” General Hogan said. “Those can be replaced, though, as long as our people are safe.”

  “True,” Charlie said.

  “We’ve got something to deal with first,” Kurt said. “Remember what we have in the front building.”

  “Shit, forgot about that,” Jake said.

  “What?” Hopper asked.

  “We took some nerve gas mortar rounds away from the Islamists after we foiled their attack with the shielded semi-truck,” Jake said.

  “Those assholes,” Shirley said. “Nothing is bad enough for those scum.”

  “We can move it a good distance away,” Charlie said. “I suggest we get started on that as soon as we get off this call.”

  “Agreed,” Kurt said. “I’ll help.”

  “We should just destroy that stuff,” Mary said. “We don’t need it, and it’s dangerous to have around. What if one of them leaks? We don’t have any masks or anything.”

  “I have some masks,” Clint said. “You’re welcome to use them during the move. We’ll help.”

  “Did you have the need for them in the past?” Hopper asked.

  “Yep,” Clint said. “Our worst battle. We won, but when the Islamists knew they were gonna lose they tried to gas us. We lost two people in that one. Good people.”

  “How did you get the masks?” General Hogan asked. “They’re not exactly standard issue.”

  “Same guy who came up with the armored semi-truck idea,” Clint said. “He was kind of a nut, but I shouldn’t have always second guessed him. He saved us twice with his crazy ideas.”

  “Maybe he should be in our meetings,” General Hogan said.

  “He got killed,” Jason said. “Friggin sniper, after that big battle.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry,” General Hogan said.

  “Me too,” Clint said. “That was a tough one.”

  “Okay, we clear, then?” Hopper asked.

  “Yep, we’ll expect you at about seven tonight. Good luck.”

  “You too,” Hopper said. “See you soon.”

  Chapter 12 – Cutting Torch

  The long row of Humvees and Jeeps was making good time. Traffic was light. It was late afternoon, the heat of the day finally waning.

  “How much further?” Heidi asked, watching George drive the Jeep.

  “Another hour and a half, give or take,” he said. “We’re getting there early.”

  “Should I call General Hogan?”

  “Yeah,” George said.

  Heidi picked up her phone and hit the contact.

  “General?”
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  “This sounds like Heidi. How are you guys doing?”

  “Good, General,” she said. “We’ll be there early. George thinks we’re about an hour and a half away.”

  “Good,” General Hogan said. “I’ll see if I can move the phony attack up a couple of hours.”

  “Sound’s good,” Heidi said.

  “Hold the line for a moment,” General Hogan said. “Jerry’s trying to get my attention.”

  “Okay,” Heidi said, looking nervously at George.

  “Something wrong?” George asked.

  “Jerry. He’s telling him something,” Heidi said. “The general asked me to hold on.”

  “Heidi,” General Hogan said.

  “Still here.”

  “Jerry is seeing activity on the satellite feed,” he said. “They’re loading trucks on the northwestern side of the facility.”

  “Uh oh,” Heidi said. “Want to talk to George for a moment?”

  “Yeah, put him on,” General Hogan said. Heidi handed him the phone.

  “How’s it going, General?” George asked.

  “You heard what Heidi said?” he asked.

  “Yeah,” George said. “This might actually be helpful. Confusion.”

  “As long as they don’t leave with our friends,” General Hogan said.

  “Keep us informed,” George said.

  “We will,” General Hogan said. “Talk to you later.”

  George handed the phone back over to Heidi.

  “It gonna be okay?” Heidi asked.

  “Yeah, if we get there before they load up our friends,” George said. “Jerry and Jasmine will be watching.”

  ***

  “It’s getting late,” Jane said from behind the wheel of the motor home. “How much further we going tonight?”

  Frank pulled his phone out of his pocket and looked at the map application.

  “We aren’t far from I-15. Can you drive another 45 minutes?”

  “Where would that put us?”

  “Pocatello,” he said. “Shall I get a reservation?”

  “Yeah,” she said. “I can handle 45 minutes.”

  Frank focused on his phone for a few moments. “Several nice RV Parks.”

  “Pick one with pull-through spaces,” Jane said.

  “Got it,” he said. “The first one has them.”

  “Pretty country,” Jane said. “Wonder if Boise is like this?”

  “Good question,” Frank said. “We’ve got reservations for all three rigs. Take the first off-ramp in Pocatello city limits.”

  “Okay,” she said. “I-15 is coming up quick. You calling the others?”

  “Yeah,” Frank said. He called Malcolm and Gabe.

  “Wonder what it’s like here in the winter?” Jane asked.

  “I’ll bet it’s pretty cold,” Frank said. “Boise is probably better. There’s a touch more Pacific influence.”

  “And then there’s Kansas,” Jane said. “This rig going to handle the winter there?”

  “We’ll see,” Frank said. “I used to assume we’d be pushed out of that place before the weather turned. Now I’m not so sure.”

  “There’s so many people now. Wonder if they’ll all stay?”

  “I doubt it,” Frank said. “It depends on how the battles go. If we win in Carlsbad Caverns, I’d expect Clint to take his group back home. They don’t have a stake in the Kansas place.”

  “I expect Gabe will go home too, if he can,” Jane said. “Since he knows his place didn’t get destroyed.”

  “I heard that Gabe is pretty sweet on that woman up in Cameron,” Frank said. “He’s liable to end up there.”

  “Oh, yeah,” Jane said with a sigh. “We’ll splinter when this is over. Charlie, Hilda, and Kurt all have places too. Not sure how I feel about the group breaking up. I’ll really miss these people.”

  “Me too,” Frank said. “We still have our condo in Redondo Beach. What about that?”

  Jane was silent for a moment, thinking. “I don’t know if I could go back to that lifestyle. It’s too restrictive. I can’t believe I just said that.”

  Frank chuckled. “I know, I feel the same way,” Frank said, “but I was afraid to say it to you.”

  Jane smiled. “Remember when we first discussed this?”

  “Yes, I remember you said I don’t want to full-time in the RV,” Frank said.

  “I didn’t want to full-time,” Jane said, “but it was so scary at home.”

  “We might have been okay if we would have stuck it out,” Frank said.

  “I know,” Jane said, “but I’m glad we didn’t. Those apps of yours were a game changer. If we wouldn’t have been out here, that wouldn’t have happened.”

  “Yeah, that thought has crossed my mind too,” Frank said. “Daan might have wanted to punch my ticket anyway, you know. I was a potential threat, and he knew it all along.”

  Jane got a scared look on her face. “I never thought about that. We wouldn’t have had any idea we were in trouble until they hit us.”

  “Yeah,” Frank said. “Ah, well, useless speculation at this point. We’ve still got challenges to get through. We need to focus on those. If we survive, we can decide how we want to spend the rest of our lives.”

  “Yes,” she said, looking over at him for a moment. “Our marriage was in trouble before this started. You know that, right?”

  “I knew you were unhappy,” Frank said. “So was I. Not with you, but with our life.”

  “I remember,” Jane said. “I think I love you more now than I ever did before, even in the early days.”

  “Me too, honey,” Frank said.

  ***

  The Jeeps and Humvees got to the wash by dusk. George and Heidi climbed quickly up the side of the ridge and peaked over.

  “There it is,” George whispered. “Big facility.”

  “Yeah, you’re not kidding,” Heidi whispered.

  George looked back and forth on the ridge. “See over there, to the right? That flat spot will work for the M107. I’ll go get it.”

  “Want me to grab the OICW?”

  “Yeah,” he said. “And your bolt-action rifle.”

  They scurried down to the Jeep. Ned met them in full commando gear. His team was still getting dressed. “Show me the building.”

  George nodded as he picked up the M107 and his bolt-action rifle. He headed up, Ned following him. Heidi joined them after a few seconds.

  “That’s it, isn’t it?” Ned asked, pointing. “That building right there, with the lights on inside.”

  “Yeah, that’s their brig,” George said. “You’ll have to go over that fence to the right.”

  “We brought a torch. If the fence is sheet metal, we’ll cut a hole,” he said.

  George put the M107 on the flat spot and lowered the tripod. He took off the lens caps and looked through the scope. “Perfect. We got a moon, too, so I can see fine.”

  “You want me to take this OICW thingy out of the case, sweetie?” Heidi asked.

  “Yeah, but leave the case open and set it down on it. It doesn’t like to be dirty.”

  “I remember,” Heidi said, undoing the two clasps and opening it on the ground in front of her.

  “Okay, we’ll head over there,” Ned said. “Good luck.”

  “You too,” George said. They shook hands and Ned went back to his men. They were ready to go.

  “You want to load this thing?” Heidi asked.

  “Yeah, in a sec,” George said as he finished loading the M107. “Why don’t you load the 30-06 and the .270?”

  “On it,” she said.

  George noticed Ned’s team sneaking down into the wash. John Harper followed with his massive Rottweiler and his Pit Bull. “I hope John keeps those damn dogs quiet.”

  “Me too,” Heidi said.

  George crawled over and loaded the OICW. “You remember how to work this thing?”

  “Yeah,” she said. “Remember how to work the M107 too.”

&n
bsp; “Perfect,” George said, leaning over to kiss her forehead. “Keep your head down. They’ll see us pretty quick. The M107 puts out a big muzzle flash in the dark.”

  “Okay,” she said. “What if they have mortars?”

  George chuckled. “Run.”

  She looked at him, not sure if she should be worried or not.

  “I’m kidding,” George said. “We won’t be easy to hit with a mortar, especially if they have those cheap Chinese models we caught them with in Kansas.”

  “What about gas?” she asked.

  “The wind isn’t blowing towards us,” George said. “It isn’t blowing towards them, either, which is a good thing. It’ll just blow down field away from the action. They won’t bother.”

  ***

  Kurt, Charlie, Earl, Jackson, and several people from Clint’s group were coming back into the front of the RV Park. It was almost dark. Earl was driving the backhoe. Mary walked up with Hilda, Clara, and Frankie.

  “I was getting worried,” Mary said.

  “Sorry, honey,” Kurt said. “Took longer than we thought. We wanted to wrap the nerve gas rounds really well before we buried them, so the earth won’t corrode them.”

  “Glad none of them leaked,” Hilda said. “We need to head into the lounge. The general moved the fake attack up. The helicopters will be here in about ten minutes.”

  “Why’d he move it up?” Charlie asked.

  “The rescue team made it to the destination early,” Mary said. “We want this to start slightly before our guys go in.”

  “Oh,” Kurt said, turning to the rest of the group. “C’mon, guys, let’s get this stuff stowed and get below. Choppers coming pretty soon.”

  Earl sped up the backhoe, heading for the barn. The rest of the folks hurried into the clubhouse, going to the Kitchen stairs.

  “Wow, voices carry down here,” Charlie said, taking the steps with Hilda. “Sounds like a theater before the show starts.”

  “It’s going to be a little cramped,” Hilda said. “We counted thirty six people down there. Lots of folks brought chairs.”

  “Jake get the camera system going?”

  “Yeah,” Hilda said.

  General Hogan stood up next to the bar, and people gathered around.

  “Okay, everybody, they’ll be here in about five minutes,” he said. “Just got a call from Field Marshall Hopper. Terry and Clint, you guys ready to go?”