Bug Out! Texas Part 1: Texas Lockdown

by Robert Boren

  “Want me to load them?” she asked as she sat back down.

  “The shotgun is already loaded. You know how to load those Winchesters?”

  “My daddy had one of these,” she said. “I know how.” She picked up the box of 30-30 ammo and loaded rounds through the gate on the side of the receiver.

  “Cock the gun and put one more in,” Eric said. “Oh, and make sure the safety is on.”

  “Got it,” she said, cocking the gun. She put the last round in through the side gate and put the gun on the floor next to the shotgun.

  “Thanks,” Eric said. “That was good thinking.”

  She chuckled. “I used to love shooting the lever guns, but the 30-30s kicked too much. Dad had an old 32-20 that didn’t kick hardly at all. I shot that a lot when I was a kid.”

  “Ah, the model 1892,” Eric said. “Great little guns. Wish I had one.”

  “Dad loved that TV show. The Rifle Man.”

  Eric laughed. “Chuck Connors. I wasn’t even born yet when it was on, but I saw reruns. My dad used to say that Chuck used a rifle because there was more room for notches. I found out later that line came from an old Mad Magazine parody.”

  Kim giggled. “I don’t remember my dad saying that. About the notches.”

  Eric smiled at her, then looked in the rearview mirror again, his expression getting serious.

  “Still back there?” she asked.

  “Yeah, and he’s got men in the back, too. Just saw a head pop up in back of the cab.”

  “Shoot,” she said. “How much further to the next town?”

  “Mansfield should be coming up any minute.”

  “Will there be many people around?” she asked.

  “Hard to say,” Eric said. “Pretty small town. There it is, see?”

  “Yeah,” she said. Eric slowed as the speed limit came down.

  “This is charming,” she said.

  “Yeah.” Eric’s eyes continued to dart to the rear view mirrors until he pulled onto the truck stop lot.

  “They keep going?” Kim asked.

  “Yep,” he said. “Would you mind taking Paco out while I pump the gas? I don’t want to be here any longer than we have to.”

  “Sure,” she said, getting up and putting the leash on as Paco wiggled with anticipation. They left the coach. Jason pumped the gas as quickly as he could. It was a slow pump and the lock was broken, so he stood there holding the handle, looking around for any sign of the truck. Kim got done before he did.

  “What anything from the store?” she asked.

  “Yeah, a black coffee would be nice.”

  “Okay,” she said, rushing off after she put Paco inside the coach.

  Kim got back just as Eric was finishing. He laughed when he saw her, carrying a coffee cup in each hand and a paper bag in her teeth.

  “Talented,” he said.

  “Shut up. You done?”

  “Yeah, finally,” he said. “Lousy pump.”

  “Any sign of that truck?”

  “Nope,” he said. “Let’s go.”

  They got inside and he drove back onto Hwy 171, speeding up after they got out of town.

  “What’s next?” Kim asked.

  “The next town I know of is called Grand Cane,” he said. “I think there’s a western route that comes out of that town.”

  “I’ll look it up,” Kim said, putting her phone up to her face. “Yeah, there’s a small road that goes west from there. State Route 3015.”

  “Excellent,” Eric said.

  “No sign of the truck?”

  “Nope, not yet,” he said.

  They drove along for another ten minutes.

  “There’s Grand Cane,” Eric said. He made the left turn through town, getting onto State Route 3015.

  “Small road,” Kim said, looking around. “Pretty.”

  They continued on that road for another fifteen minutes, watching the trees and farmland pass by them.

  Paco came up and whined, looking at Kim. “Oh, all right,” she said, patting her lap. He jumped up, settling in and going to sleep. “Guess he’s not interested in watching out the window this time.”

  “Yeah, this is his normal nap time,” Eric said. “Shit.”

  “Oh, no, they’re behind us again?”

  “Yep,” he said. “I’ll bet they were hanging out in Grand Cane watching for us.”

  She looked at her phone. “Next town is called Longstreet. It’s a little further away.”

  “Oh, yeah, I know that town from a couple hunting trips. How much further?”

  She moved finger on the screen. “Half an hour, since this road is a little slower than Hwy 171.”

  “I got an idea,” he said. “There’s some thick forest past Longstreet. Maybe we can lure them in and blast them.”

  “That sounds scary.”

  “It is scary,” he said. “This is what I was talking about.”

  “Okay, okay,” she said. “I’m with you.”

  Eric drove, hands gripping the wheel so tightly his knuckles were white, gritty determination on his face. “They’re speeding up.” He punched it, the engine laboring. Soon they were up over ninety miles per hour.

  “Dammit,” Kim said. “Is this thing built to go this fast?”

  “It’ll hold together, don’t worry,” Eric said. “Nice smooth road, at least.”

  “Longstreet is coming up fast,” she said. You’ll have to slow down. The highway goes right through the center of it, and there are a few wicked curves.”

  “I know,” Eric said.

  “Is that a train I hear?”

  Eric looked forward and saw it, racing him to the town. He got a grin on his face. “We just got ourselves an edge. Let’s see if we can break a hundred in this puppy.” He gave the rig more gas.

  “No, you aren’t going to try to beat that train, are you?”

  “Damn straight,” he said. “That’s a long freight. If we can get past it, we’ll have enough time to set up an ambush.”

  “Eric…” She gripped her seat, pushing herself back against it as he flew down the road. “The first curve coming up. You’re going too fast.”

  “I see it,” he said. “Trust me!” He kept the speed up until just yards before the curve, then slammed on the brakes and made the turn, the coach rocking violently, glasses flying out of the cupboard over the sink and smashing against the far wall.

  “Geez,” she shouted.

  “Made it,” he said, flooring it again.

  “Watch it,” Kim said, looking at her phone screen. “There’s a hard left turn coming up. Caddo street.”

  “Left turns are easier than right turns,” he said, steely determination in his eyes. He slammed on the brakes right ahead of the turn, making it barely, running over onto the shoulder but righting himself.

  “Eric, that train is really close,” Kim cried, clutching the seat again, pushing herself back in the seat.

  “No guts, no glory,” Eric shouted, flooring it, slipping across the tracks as the train sounded its whistle. “Made it, and the bad guys are stuck.”

  “That scared the crap out of me,” Kim shouted. Then she looked over at Eric and grinned. “Nice driving.”

  “Thanks,” he said, flying past the farmland. “See up ahead. There’s the forest I was talking about. I was afraid it might be gone. Lots of logging going on around here.”

  He slowed down and made another crazy turn, to the dirt road on the right, the coach bouncing violently as he tried to slow down and keep control. They made it past a stand of trees, and then Eric braked hard and turned the rig to point to the street.

  “They can see us from the road here,” Kim said as she watched Erick pick up the Winchester.

  “Yeah, I want them to see us. Grab the shotgun and follow me.”

  They trotted forward to a hollow log and some bushes, getting behind it and watching the road. The truck appeared, slamming on the brakes when the driver saw the motor home.

  “Come to pap
a,” Eric whispered as they watched.

  “What are we gonna do?”

  “When the truck stops, I’ll shoot both of the men in the cab with the Winchester. You concentrate on the men in the back. You’ve fired a twelve-gauge pump before, right?”

  “Yeah,” she said. “My shoulder will be sore tomorrow.”

  “Probably,” he said. “Here we go.”

  The truck pulled to a stop. Eric rose and fired, splattering the driver’s head all over the inside of the cab. The other man screamed and tried to get out, but Eric got off another round, hitting him in the face. Two men jumped out of the truck, and Kim blasted the first one with the shotgun. Eric shot the second man, and then one of the other two men opened up with automatic fire from behind the truck, hitting the tree behind them.

  “Get down,” Eric said. He aimed carefully through the back window of the cab and fired, hitting the man with the gun in the side. He fell into Kim’s sight and she hit him with a shotgun blast. The last man got up and started running.

  “I got him,” Kim shouted, cocking the pump shotgun and firing, hitting the man in the upper torso.

  They sat silently for a moment, watching.

  “They all dead?” Kim asked.

  “Probably,” Eric said. “Stay here.”

  “No way,” she said, getting up and following Eric to the truck. Eric checked the last two men first, since he couldn’t see them as well when he shot them. They were both dead. Then he went to the cab and opened the driver’s side door. The inside was coated with brains and blood.

  “Geez,” Kim said, looking away.

  “There’s his phone,” Eric said, picking up. He touched the screen, and the running app showed. “Son of a bitch, they were tracking our phones. Look.”

  Kim looked at the bloody phone. “How’d they do that?”

  “Remember when the Feds forced Apple and the other phone makers to provide back doors to all the phones?” he asked.

  “Oh, yeah,” she said. “Took them a few tries. big deal at the time.”

  “Not big enough,” Eric said. “The stupid government can’t keep anything secure.” He tossed the phone on the dead driver’s lap.

  “What now?”

  “Let’s grab their AK-47s and that ammo box in the back, and then get the hell out of here before their buddies arrive.”

  “What about the phones?”

  “Well, mine is hacked for sure. Probably yours too.”

  They gathered up the guns and ammo and rushed back to the coach. Eric put one of the AK-47s between the seats in the front, and the other one in the back. “Our firepower just went up by about 90%.”

  “You know how to work these?” Kim asked.

  “Yeah, and I’ll teach you when we can stop for a while. They’re easy,” he said, smiling at her. “Let’s go.” He started the engine and drove out onto State Road 3015. “Hey, you call my phone since we left Florida? I don’t remember for sure.”

  “Nope, not since a couple weeks before we left Florida. You were avoiding me, remember?”

  Eric chuckled. “Among the more stupid things I’ve done. That’s good, because it probably means they don’t have access to your phone yet. They probably got to me via Jason’s phone.” He slowed the coach to a stop, and opened his door.

  “What are you doing?”

  Eric smiled at her and walked to the back of the coach. He put his phone in front of the outside tire and rushed back to the cab. Then he drove forward, a loud crunch coming from behind them.

  “Did you just do what I think you did?” she asked.

  “Yep,” he said. He got back up to full speed. “Hey, hand me your phone, okay? I should call Jason and warn him. The bad guys probably know where he is.”

  “We’ll have to trash it after that, won’t we?”

  “Afraid so,” he said.

  “Well, we can get new ones,” she said, handing it over.

  Chapter 32 – Cell Phone Warning

  Jason and Kyle were chatting in the chairs outside the coaches, waiting for the barbeque to heat up. Carrie and Kate were inside the motor home making salad.

  “Ought to be getting close,” Kyle said, getting up and checking the coals.

  Jason’s phone rang. He looked at the number. “Who’s this?”

  “Don’t recognize the number?” Kyle asked.

  “Nope.” He accepted the call.

  “Jason? It’s Eric.”

  “Hey, bro, whose phone is this?”

  “Belongs to Kim,” he said.

  “Mind if I put it on speaker? Kyle is here.”

  “Sure, go for it,” he said. Jason hit the speaker button. “Hear me?”

  “Yeah,” Eric said. “Hi, Kyle.”

  “How’s it going?” Kyle asked.

  “We just had a battle with some Islamists in Louisiana.”

  “Oh, crap,” Jason said. “You okay?”

  “Yeah, we wasted them. You got something to get rid of.”

  Kyle shot Jason a quizzical look. Jason held up his phone.

  “Oh, shit,” Kyle said.

  “Yeah, oh shit,” Eric said. “You know what that means. I’m getting off now. Watch yourselves.” The call ended.

  “Son of a bitch,” Jason said, his mind working a mile a minute. “C’mon.”

  They walked into the coach, and Jason whispered in Carrie’s ear. She got a terrified look on her face and pointed to the passenger seat, then whispered in Kates ear. She took her phone out of her pocket and handed it to Kyle. He and Jason left the coach and took the phones about twenty yards away from the coach, then rushed back.

  “Why’d you have to do that?” Kate asked.

  “Our phones were hacked by the Islamists,” Kyle said. “That means that the microphone, camera, and GPS receiver are wide open. We can’t talk around them, unless we want the Islamists to listen in.”

  “Oh no, that means they know where we are,” Kate said.

  “Yep, sweetie, that’s what it means,” Kyle said. “Sorry.”

  “They probably hacked the Austin PD cellphones,” Jason said. “Everybody who got hit after the Superstore attack had calls with the department or somebody who talked to the department. Been going through it in my mind. It probably spread like a damn virus.”

  “So we need to destroy our phones and leave the area,” Carrie said.

  “Not so fast,” Kyle said, wicked grin on his face.

  “Uh oh, what are you thinking?” Jason asked.

  “The hog blind,” Kyle said. “Damn good place for an ambush, wouldn’t you say?”

  Carrie and Kate looked at him, not understanding.

  Jason laughed. “I know what he’s thinking. Use the phones for bait. That hog blind is three miles away from here.”

  “Exactly,” Kyle said.

  “You think you’re gonna take on these guys?” Kate asked. “They’ve got machine guns.”

  Kyle and Jason looked at each other, smiling.

  “We got BARs,” Jason said. “I’ll take those over their puny AKs any day of the week.”

  “What’s a BAR?” Kate asked.

  “Browning Automatic Rifle,” Kyle said. “Full auto 30-06.”

  “You took those from your dad’s house,” Carrie said. “I remember those things.”

  “Let’s think this through,” Jason said. “We know they can track where we are, listen in, even watch us if the camera is pointed at us.”

  Kate got an embarrassed look on her face. Kyle saw it. “Don’t worry, honey, all they got a look at was your bedside table top or the ceiling.”

  Carrie laughed. Kate showed a sheepish grin.

  “Stay on program,” Jason said. “We take the phones and the BARs to the hog blind. We set up our weapons where we usually hide waiting for the hogs to go to the stream. We plant the phones over there.”

  “Okay,” Kyle said.

  “And we have some conversations,” Jason said. “In code, like Eric did with us. Just to make sure they know where we a
re.”

  “Wouldn’t they know we’re onto them by the conversation we had with Eric?” Kyle asked. “Hell, maybe they’re really stupid. Maybe they’re ignoring the conversations, just using the GPS tracking.”

  “They might not know English that well,” Jason said. “We call Curt and Chief Ramsey. Then we go back to the blind and wait.”

  “What are we doing during that?” Carrie asked.

  “You’re staying here,” Jason said. “You’ll have guns.”

  “How far away is this place again?” Kate asked, brow furrowed.

  “A little over three miles,” Kyle said.

  “Won’t they know where the phones have been since we got here?” Carrie asked.

  “Yeah,” Jason said. “The hog blind is right by the road to this campsite, though. We’ll be able to see if somebody bypasses our trap and comes this direction. I’d be surprised if they do, though. I’ll bet they’ve just been following the current GPS locations right to the victims.”

  “This scares the crap out of me,” Kate said. “These guys might not be as stupid as you think they are.”

  “We need a car,” Carrie said. “Just in case. I assume you’re taking the Jeep.”

  “I’ll unhook my truck,” Kyle said. “It’s four-wheel drive. You can escape in that if you have to.”

  “When are you leaving?” Carrie asked.

  “Now,” Jason said. “They might be on the way already. I suspect they’ll wait for nightfall, but we can’t afford to take a chance.”

  “It’s already past four o’clock,” Kate said.

  “Yeah,” Jason said. “C’mon, Kyle, let’s get the vehicles unhooked.”

  The men rushed to their vehicles. Kyle unhooked the truck and pulled it away from the trailer, then trotted over to Kate and handed her the keys. “You ever drive a four-wheeler like this?”

  “Yeah, old boyfriend had one,” she said. “No problem.”

  “Good,” he said. “I’d better go help Jason.” He trotted over to the Jeep just as Jason was backing it away from the RV.

  “Go grab the BARs, okay?” Jason asked. “They’re in the side storage compartment. I’ll grab the ammo.”

  Kyle nodded and fetched the guns. Carrie walked over to Jason.

  “You sure this is a good idea?” she asked. “We could just trash the phones and go someplace else, you know.”