by Robert Boren
“We have to go northwest of the mouth to drift across,” Juan Carlos said. “That’s the way the current flows, what there is of it.”
“I know,” Chauncey said. “We want a slow drift.”
Juan Carlos nodded. “You got the guns loaded, Brendan?”
“Yeah, they’re ready to go,” he said. “When we get close to shore, keep your eyes on those cliffs. I mean it. We lost Simpson here, remember?”
“Yeah, I remember,” Chauncey said.
They made their way across the lake, slowing down as they reached the Mexican shore.
Juan Carlos killed the engines. “The current is nothing. We’re liable to just sit here.”
“It’ll be enough,” Chauncey said, getting up on the starboard gun. Brendan went to the port gun. “Be ready to get on the radio when we have a visual.”
“Okay,” Juan Carlos said, looking around nervously.
They crept towards the mouth of the inlet, eyes peeled.
“There’s the barge,” Brendan whispered. “Shit, they got better guns now. Look at that.”
“Right, kid,” Chauncey said. “Call it in.”
“Zapata, come in, over.” Juan Carlos said.
“Go head, Gonzales. Over.”
“Big barge full of men sitting in Arroyo Chapote as expected. Over.”
“Good. Any sign of that cutter? Over.”
“Not yet, but we’re watching. Over.”
“On our way. Over.”
“Over and out.” Juan Carlos put the microphone back on the holder.
“Shit, that thing just fired up its engines,” Brendan said.
“I hear it,” Chauncey said.
“Should we take it out with the SMAW?” Juan Carlos said.
“Wait for the aircraft,” Chauncey said. “We’ll use that on the cutter when we find it.”
Suddenly there was gunfire from the shore, hitting the armored shields on Brendan’s gun.
“Dammit,” he said. “I knew it. Cliffs.” He turned the gun and opened up, tracer bullets flying towards the cliff. “I can’t see them.”
Bullets continued hitting the side of the boat and the gun shields.
“What me to fire up the engines?” Juan Carlos said.
“Might as well,” Chauncey said after he fired a volley. “They know we’re here.”
“Here comes the jet,” Brendan shouted. There was a whistling sound, and the barge exploded, sending metal and men into the air. Something was wrong. The jet came apart in the air, debris raining down on the water at the mouth of the inlet.
“Shit, dude, what happened?” Juan Carlos asked.
“They’ve got an anti-aircraft battery,” Chauncey said. “Look, there’s the cutter. It was hiding behind the cliff on the north side of the inlet.” He got off his gun and grabbed the SMAW, loading a rocket as small arms fire continued to pelt the patrol boat.
“That cutter is getting ready to fire its big gun,” Brendan said, turning to pour fire at the deck, men ducking for cover.
“Got them,” Chauncey said. “Be ready to get us out of here.”
He fired the rocket and it flew to its target, slamming into the side of the cutter and exploding.
“Direct hit!” shouted Brendan, watching the big boat burn and list to one side.
Chauncey turned to Brendan and smiled amid the shooting, but then his expression changed to one of surprise and before Brendan could react, and he keeled over dead, blood running out of his neck.
“Chauncey!” Juan Carlos said.
“Get us out of here, man,” Brendan yelled, firing back at the rising gunfire from the cliffs.
Juan Carlos pushed the throttles forward, the boat taking off in a hail of bullets.
“I’m empty,” Brendan said, moving over to the other gun and firing at the cliffs. Then there were shots coming from behind the boat.
“Dammit, we’re being chased,” Juan Carlos yelled.
“See them,” Brendan yelled, turning his gun around. He fired, hitting the pilot, the boat still moving. Another man got in his place as Brendan continued to fire, and then they heard bullets hitting the stern. The engines sputtered to a stop.
“Dammit, we’re dead in the water,” Juan Carlos said. “Kill those guys!”
“Working on it,” Brendan said, pouring fire at the boat. “They got good armor. Reload the SMAW and take them out.”
“I never fired one of those,” Juan Carlos said.
“Push the rocket in, aim it, and fire,” Brendan yelled. “I’m almost out of ammo and this ain’t cutting it.”
Juan Carlos picked up the SMAW launcher, Chauncey’s blood on it. He pushed a rocket all the way in until it clicked, then rushed to the stern, steadying himself on the engines, getting the approaching boat in his cross-hairs. He fired, hitting the boat in the bow, splitting it wide open.
“Nice shot,” Brendan said, firing at the boat as it sank quickly, bodies of the men floating as it went down. Then the shooting stopped.
“I’m out of ammo,” Brendan said.
“Let’s reload, man,” Juan Carlos said. “Just in case somebody else comes along.”
“Yeah,” Brendan said. “Where we gonna drift?”
“Towards the Mexican shore, south of Arroyo Chapote.”
Brendan finished loading the port gun, then moved to the starboard gun as Juan Carlos loaded another rocket into the SMAW.
“Call the base,” Brendan said.
“Yeah,” Juan Carlos said. He picked up the mic.
“Zapata, come in. Over.”
There was nothing but hiss.
“Zapata, come in. Over.”
“What’s wrong?” Brendan asked.
“I don’t know. Sounds like we lost the antenna or something.”
“Zapata, come in, Over.”
“Hey, look over there,” Brendan said. “That fire by the base?”
“Dude, you don’t think they hit the base, do you?” Juan Carlos asked, eyes wide as he tried to focus. “I’ll get the binoculars.” He lifted the driver’s seat and pulled them out.
“Gonna be hard to see in the dark with those.”
“Not where the fire is,” Juan Carlos said, focusing. “Shit, they took out the dock and the headquarters building. How did they do that?”
“We’re getting close to shore, man,” Brendan said. Juan Carlos set down the binoculars and looked. Then he felt one of the props hit a rock.
“Hey, dude, I’m gonna tilt the motors out of the way.”
“Why does it matter?” Brendan asked.
“We want this thing to beach,” he said. He flipped a switch on the pilot console and an electric motor started, tilting the motors out of the water.
“We’re gonna get captured,” Brendan said.
“Not if we’re smart,” Juan Carlos said. “I know my way around here. We can hide out. Maybe even do some damage before we escape. We still got about ten rockets for the SMAW.”
“Those are heavy,” Brendan said.
“Don’t be a lightweight, dude,” Juan Carlos said. “We’re almost on the sand. Feel that? Let’s get off and pull her up.”
“We ought to look at the engines, too,” Brendan said. “They probably didn’t all get hit.”
“Good idea,” Juan Carlos said. “C’mon, let’s jump off the bow with the ropes.”
The two men leapt out and struggled to get the boat pulled up tight on the sand, then rested next to each other, catching their breath.
Chapter 38 – Ambush
Kyle and Jason sat silently in the hog blind, watching the small clearing about sixty yards from them.
“What time is it?” Jason asked.
Kyle looked at his watch. “Just after 2:00,” he said. “Still think they’ll show?”
“Yeah,” Jason said. “We primed the pump enough with those phone calls.”
“I hear something.”
“Yeah, man, I heard it too,” Jason whispered. “Car doors. They’re trying to be quiet.”
>
“Stay sharp,” Kyle whispered.
“You see anything?”
“No,” Kyle whispered, “but it’s pretty dark over there.”
Suddenly a shot rang out, the bullet whizzing by their heads, hitting a tree branch behind them.
“Idiot,” Kyle said. “I saw their muzzle flash.”
“So did I,” Jason said. He opened up with the BAR and Kyle did the same, sending a stream of 30-06 bullets into the woods. Somebody screamed, and there was shouting in Arabic.
“They know it’s a trap,” Kyle said, laughing, then opening up again.
“Look, there’s one with night vision goggles,” Jason said, firing, several rounds going into his head, splintering the goggles. There was more Arabic yelling, and a few more shots fired towards Kyle. He pulled the trigger on the BAR and swept it across the whole area, causing more screams of pain and more yelling. Eventually, there was silence.
“You think we got all of them?” Jason asked.
“Couldn’t have been that easy,” Kyle said.
They waited for a second, and then there was rustling in the bushes, grunts, and a blood-curdling scream.
“Oh, shit, look,” Jason yelled, taking aim and firing as several Islamists ran out into the open, followed by a huge wild hog.
“Yeeehaw!” Kyle said, laughing as he fired at the men and then at the pig. “Dinner for tonight.”
“I think we better win the battle before we start thinking about that,” Jason said, wicked grin on his face. “Shall we?”
“Yeah, but watch yourself.”
They quietly snapped the bipods to their BAR barrels and started down the small hill towards the stream.
“These things are too heavy run around with,” Kyle said. “Should have brought a Thompson.”
“Ssshhh,” Jason said. A shot rang out and they hit the dirt, firing into the bushes, a man yelling in Arabic again, screaming in pain.
“Let’s go,” Kyle said. He got up and ran forward.
“Be careful, dammit,” Jason said, following him. They made it past the stream and into the clearing where the phones were. A pair of night vision goggles was lying next to a dead fighter. Kyle wiped off the blood and put them on.
“See anything?” Jason asked.
Kyle was silent, raising the gun. He let off a small volley. “Spattered him before he could yell.”
They heard the bushes move, and footsteps. Kyle fired again, sending a man to the dirt in a twitching heap.
“See any more?” Jason asked.
“No,” he said. “That one was trying to get away. I’ll bet their vehicle is right back there. C’mon.”
They walked through the back of the clearing, checking bodies as they went. All of them were dead, including the man about ten feet from the pickup truck.
“Think we got all of them?” Jason asked.
“Yeah,” Kyle said. “I counted nine men. Unless there’s another vehicle around here, that’s about their limit.”
Kyle opened the cab. “Dammit. No keys, but there’s a cell phone.” He picked it up and tapped the screen. “Tracking app. Should I keep this one for Curt?”
“Won’t somebody track us with it?”
“It’s an android,” Kyle said. He opened the back cover and pulled out the battery. “Now they won’t track us.”
“Yeah, only bad thing about iPhones.”
“Let’s get back to camp,” Kyle said. As they started walking, the rumble of vehicles approached on the road. Three pickup trucks roared past them, heading towards camp.
“Oh, shit,” Jason yelled. He and Kyle opened fire with their BARs, killing a few men in the last pickup.
“I’m out of ammo,” Kyle shouted.
“Me too,” Jason said, running towards the Jeep. “C’mon, dammit.”
“I’m right behind you.”
As they neared their Jeep, they could hear gunfire erupt from camp.
“Machine gun fire,” Jason yelled.
“Thompsons?” Kyle yelled as they got to the Jeep.
“Probably,” Jason said. “AKs too.”
Then there was something louder and concussive in the air.
“What the hell was that?” Kyle shouted. “Sounded like a cannon.”
Jason didn’t respond as he backed the Jeep out and spun it around to the road. His mind’s eye was filled with Carrie and Chelsea’s crying faces. He floored the Jeep as Kyle struggled to reload his BAR in the bouncing vehicle.
Continued in Bug Out! Texas Book 2 - The New Republic. Available now in the Kindle Store!
Copyright
Bug Out! Texas Book 1 copyright © 2016 by Robert G Boren. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any format without permission in writing from the copyright holder.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Thanks to Laura Thomas for editing this book!
About the Author
Robert G Boren is a writer from the South Bay section of Southern California. He writes Short Stories, Novels, and Serialized Fiction. Most of his work is about people from the South Bay.
Other Books by Robert Boren
Bug Out! Texas Book 1 is now for sale in the Kindle Store.
America is under attack! "Bug Out! Texas" is the story of Texas Patriots who fight the invaders
In the Bug Out! Series, Foreign Terrorists, Secessionist Militias, and a corrupt Federal Government make war on the American People.
Bug Out! Texas covers the war behind the sealed borders of Texas.
Texas has become a major gateway for terrorists crossing the border.
How will the invasion play out in a state with freedom-loving people and a minimum of gun control laws?
Regular folks from all walks of life join the fight as corrupt political operatives try to stop them.
Bug Out! Texas is full of action and romance, as people rely on each other to survive and fight.
Bug Out! Texas is a sweeping story. Citizens go mobile in their RVs to escape and to attack, rushing from one part of the huge state to another.
There's action in the cities, in the woods, on the plains, and on Falcon Lake. Will the people prevail?
Find out in Bug Out! Texas Book 1.
Horror Road - A Supernatural Thriller
Horror Road Book 1 - A Supernatural Thriller is a story of ancient spirits, ghosts, psychics, and killers.
Written by the author of Bug Out!, this series starts where the Bug Out! series left off, at an isolated RV Park in Kansas.
There is an evil presense at the RV Park. It has awakened due to the presence of powerful psychics Jake and Frankie, and now it threatens them with possession.
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Jake and Frankie can see what is happening as the evil presence reveals itself to them. Can they stop it?
Ghosts become more active as the spirit's plans take shape.
Jake and Frankie know that they must join forces with another group of psychics to battle the pure evil which is tormenting them, but they are over a thousand miles away.
A powerful medium has awakened, ready to do battle, but so have new minions of the ancient evil. It's a race against time and space.
Pick up this tale of Supernatural Horror today!
Never A Loose End - The Franklin and Davis Files Book One
Serial Killers. Maniac Ex-cops. CIA Assassins. White Slavers. Strippers
In "Never A Loose End", they all come together, racing towards their frightening destiny.
This is the story that started it all for George Franklin and Malcolm Davis. Some of you know them from the later episodes of the Bug Out! series, set seven years later. This is the story of how they met, and the battle that forged them into a
formidable team.
George and Malcolm are both targets, marked for death, but why?
A clan of Serial Killers is active again, after hiding for years. What has brought them out?
Follow George and Malcolm as they dash through the Southwest in their Motorhomes.
Murder, gun battles, bombings, and general mayhem reign in "Never A Loose End"
Who will survive? Will the hunted be brought down, or will they become the hunters instead?
Find out in "Never A Loose End - The Franklin and Davis Files Book One"
Note: This full length novel carries a hard R rating, unlike the PG-13 Bug Out! series. "Never A Loose End" contains graphic violence and sex. Discretion is advised.