by Robert Boren
Bug Out! Part 8
RV Park Terror
Robert G Boren
Contents
Previously - From Bugout! Part 7
Chapter 1 – The Long Straight Road
Chapter 2 – Kansas Border Stop
Chapter 3 – Ruins
Chapter 4 – The Big Barn
Chapter 5 – The Bunker
Chapter 6 – Building the Nest
Chapter 7 - Computing Power
Chapter 8 – The Lounge
Chapter 9 – Nighthawk Road
Chapter 10 – Metaphysical Romance/a>
Chapter 11 – A History of Violence
Chapter 12 – Polaroid Horror
Chapter 13 – App Upgrades
Chapter 14 – The Lake
Chapter 15 – Truck Fire
Chapter 16 – Wild Turkey
Chapter 17 – Summit Park
Copyright - About the Author
Previously - From Bugout! Part 7
Frank and Jane continue their adventures with their band of friends. They settled at Gabe’s RV Park in Colorado, but weren’t able to relax for long. The enemy figured out where they were quickly. Some new people joined the group – Dobie, a guard dog trainer with his four Dobermans, and Jake, owner of an electronics store in town. Jake has a daughter. Sparks flew between her and Terry. A large scale attack started in Denver, and the enemy began to get the upper hand. Why can’t the US Army take them down? The enemy started a series of attacks on the park, but it was well fortified, and they fail to defeat our friends. Eventually a large enemy force is sent towards the park, but thanks to Frank’s new applications, they couldn’t hide their movements. The group was forced to flee to the east again, blowing a bridge between the enemy and their escape route just in time. They got on the road to Kansas, but saw a group of enemy fighters coming down from Denver to intercept them. Will they make it to safety?
Chapter 1 – The Long Straight Road
“Finally,” Jane said, looking at the sign for Colorado Springs.
“Once we get past the city, we ought to be able to fly,” Frank said. “Where are the cretins?”
“Still on route 87, but they’ve just barely made it past Castle Rock. The traffic must be horrendous.”
“People from Denver are on the run,” Frank said. “Thought they’d mostly be going east, but the roads might not be able to handle it.”
“We have to transition onto I-25 for a few miles, unless we want to be on surface streets through town.”
“Who’s leading now?”
“Gabe,” Jane said.
“Good, he probably knows the area better than anybody else. If he leads us off the highway, I’ll trust him.”
Jane’s phone rang. It was Hilda.
“Jane?”
“Hi, Hilda, how’s it going?”
“Fine. You saw bad guys on route 87?”
“Yep, but they’re stuck in traffic. We’ll beat them through by a good margin.”
“Take a look at the traffic app. We’re going to be sitting in bumper to bumper traffic too, at least until we get onto route 94, and that’s even starting to load up.”
“Exodus. I’m not surprised. Maybe Gabe knows a shortcut.”
“Maybe. One other thing. Remember what General Hogan said about the Midwest states, back when he visited Gabe’s place?”
“Oh, Crap. Yeah. He said some of those states were open to residents only.”
Frank heard her say that and looked over, worried, for a second. Then he calmed down. Jane could see it.
“Just a sec, Hilda,” Jane said. She looked over at Frank. “What?”
“I remember General Hogan making that comment…but he’s also the person who told me to go to Kansas…remember?”
“Oh, that’s right,” she said. She put the phone back to her ear. “Hilda, Frank just reminded me that General Hogan told him to go to Kansas.”
“He did?”
“Yes…in code. ‘There’s no place like home’…remember?”
“Oh, yes, I’d forgotten. That makes me feel a little better.”
“Good,” Jane said. “We’ll be alright, one way or another.”
“Hope so. Thanks, Jane.”
Jane put her phone back in her shirt pocket.
“She’s worried?”
“She sees a big traffic jam. People heading through Colorado Springs. I’m not surprised, given the traffic on route 87.”
“Wonder if they’re going east like we are, or if they’re going down south?”
“Good question. Pueblo is south. After that, the next big thing is the New Mexico border, and we know that’s a bad area. Maybe it’s not so bad now, though.”
“I don’t think I’d be going there,” Frank said.
“People could go further south and slip into Oklahoma, or the Texas panhandle. Amarillo isn’t that far.”
“Here we are…city limits.”
“Looks like Gabe is getting off the highway,” Jane said. “Pike’s Peak Ave.”
“Traffic isn’t too bad here,” Frank said.
“I see what he’s doing. We can take this to Academy Blvd., then make a left. Then a right on Platte Ave. That will take us onto route 24, which runs into route 94 right past the airport.”
“Good,” Frank said.
Jane’s phone rang. She answered it.
“Hi, Jane, it’s Gabe.”
“Hi, Gabe.”
“A couple of our travelers need a bathroom break, so I’m going to pull over at this big park coming up. There ought to be enough room for all of us to stop for a few minutes. Mind sharing your bathroom?”
“Sure, no problem.”
“Okay, thanks.”
Jane put her phone back in her pocket.
“We’re pulling over, I take it,” Frank said.
“Yeah, by the park that’s coming up. Some people need to go to the bathroom.”
“I could use that myself,” Frank said.
“Okay. I told Gabe we’d share.”
They pulled to a stop along the curb. The park was on the right side of the road. It was empty…plenty of room for everybody to park. Frank got out of his seat and stretched his back. Lucy jumped up and down, excited to go out.
“I’ll take her,” Jane said.
“Okay,” Frank said, heading for the bathroom.
Jane and Lucy left the coach. People were out stretching their legs. Jane saw Dobie taking all four of his dogs out for a walk. Trish and Terry were walking towards the Sheriff’s rig.
Frank came out and saw Jerry, so he walked over. “How you holding up?” he asked.
“Good, but I’m going to let Jasmine drive now. The road looks pretty easy for a while.”
“We’re going to hit traffic, I think. Been watching the cretins?”
“Yeah, they’re stuck way up on route 87. I was wondering if we’d see any of them around here, given all the traffic. I haven’t seen any at all.”
“Good, me neither.”
“You think we’ll have any problem getting over the border into Kansas?”
“I hope not. I’d forgotten that General Hogan said some of the Midwest states were closing their borders.”
“You don’t look too worried, Frank.”
“He told us to go to Kansas, remember?”
“Yeah, I know,” Jerry said, while he was scanning the area. “I hope he knew what he was talking about.”
“I know, me too.”
“How far is the border from here?”
“Two and a half to three hours, give or take,” Frank said.
“Not too bad, then. Know where we’re going yet?”
“No, not exactly. We should meet when we g
et to the first sizeable town. We’ll probably be needing gas by that time anyway.”
Charlie and Kurt walked up.
“How you guys doing?” Charlie asked.
“Fine,” Frank said. “Good to see you walking around, Kurt. How do you feel?”
“Sore, but as long as I don’t bend over too much, I’m good,” he said.
“Have any ideas on a good place to stop?” Jerry asked.
“My suggestion is to stop in Sharon Springs,” Kurt said. “There might be an RV Park nearby…somebody that Hilda and I knew. We aren’t sure it’s open anymore, though.”
“Sounds interesting,” Frank said.
“There’s a big truck stop in that town, too,” Kurt said. “Owned by another person I know. If we’re tired and want to keep going deeper into Kansas, we could always overnight there. It’s a lot like that last place we stayed. Plenty of room to park.”
“Good idea,” Jerry said.
“Looks like we’re getting ready to pull out,” Charlie said. “Talk to you guys later.”
Frank and Jerry nodded, and started back to their rigs. Jane was on her way back with Lucy too. She’d been talking to Jasmine. Gabe trotted over to Frank.
“Mind if I use your bathroom, Frank?”
“Not at all,” Frank said. He opened the coach door and motioned for Gabe to climb in.
“Thanks,” he said.
“How’d she do?” Frank asked Jane as she and Lucy came over.
“Good,” she said. “Got some big news from Jasmine.”
“Tell me when we’re on the road. Gabe’s using our bathroom.”
“Okay,” she said.
Gabe came out of the bathroom and walked back to the door. “This is a nice rig. I want to pick one up when we get out of the battle zone.”
“Good idea,” Frank said. “It’ll take a good sized rig to pull that Suburban of yours, though.”
“Gabe, you want a Diet Coke for the road?” Jane asked.
“Don’t mind if I do,” he said, taking it out of Jane’s hand. “I’ll see you guys in Sharon springs, unless we run into trouble on the way.”
“Okay,” Frank said. Gabe walked back up to his SUV, taking a big swig out of the soda can.
“Let’s go,” Jane said. They got into the coach, Jane going to the driver’s seat this time, with the other two sodas. Frank took one and got into the passenger seat. They followed the line of vehicles back onto the road.
“Where is everybody?” Jane asked, looking around the quiet streets. “There should be more traffic by now. It’s almost 9:00.”
“I saw more cars towards the north a few streets,” Frank said. “There are people around, but they’re keeping a low profile. You can’t blame them, after what happened back in Utah.”
“What?”
“Remember when the bad guys were going into towns along the highway and hijacking cars and trucks? I’m sure these folks heard about that. Good time to hunker down.”
“Oh, that’s right,” Jane said. “Heck, they were stealing supplies, too. And kidnapping women.”
“Exactly. There’s the next street.”
They followed the line of coaches through the left turn.
“Lot’s more cars on this road,” Jane said. “Look, there’s a line waiting to turn right up ahead. That’s probably our street.”
Frank looked at his phone’s map app. “Yeah, that’s Platte. The highway is going to be lousy, I suspect.”
Lucy looked up at Frank and whined.
“She wants up already,” Jane said.
“Yeah,” he replied. “No problem. C’mon, girl.” She jumped onto his lap, facing forward, watching the traffic out the front window.
“Here comes the turn,” Jane said, turning onto a big right turn chute. “This is nice…I was afraid we’d have a tight right turn to make. Look at all the people waiting to turn left over there, though.”
“Yeah. The highway is only about half a mile up. Looks like this road just turns into route 24. Easy peasy.”
“Anything on the long range app?” Jane asked.
“Nope, nothing.”
“Hope it’s working.”
Frank looked at his phone. He moved the map up to route 87, and the icons showed up again.
“It’s working,” he said. “I can see the bad guys on route 87. They’re still coming our way, but it’s slow going for them.”
“Traffic is our friend today, I guess,” she said.
“You might not be saying that if we’re stuck in it for a couple of hours.”
“Yeah, you’ve got a point there.”
“What’s the big news with Jasmine?”
“She’s pregnant. Don’t tell Jerry I told you - and don’t tell anybody else yet.”
“Okay. I was hoping. I’m so happy for Jerry. I’m almost a little jealous.”
“I know, me too. Isn’t that weird?”
“A little, I guess. There’s the highway. It doesn’t look as bad as I expected.”
They drove onto the road. It was crowded, but it was moving at about 45 mph…about the same speed as Platte Ave. was running. Frank and Jane settled in for a long drive. The miles went by slowly, but after a while, the traffic started to thin out a little bit. Frank dozed off, until his phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket, but didn’t recognize the number.
“Hello?”
“Hi, Dad.”
“Robbie, how are you?”
“I’m good. How are you guys?”
“On the run again, I’m afraid.”
“Don’t tell me where you’re going.”
“I won’t, son. How’s the army treating you?”
“Pretty good, but they’re working us hard. We’re just about through basic. Then we’re going to Denver.”
“You be careful there. Lots of enemy troops building up.”
“Yeah, that’s what the scuttlebutt’s been. You heard that California is back to normal, right?”
“Yes, we heard. I’m glad.”
“Heard from Sarah?”
“No, not for a while. I should try to call her. We’ve been to hell and back since the last time we talked.”
“Anybody get hurt?”
“One of our people got shot in the stomach, but he’s recovering nicely. Other than that, we’ve come through alright.”
“We got briefed on a civilian recruitment program. One of the groups they were talking about sounded a whole lot like you guys.”
“They mention who was running it?”
“It was General Walker, but he got killed.”
“He was our friend,” Frank said.
“Oh. It was you.”
“Don’t let people around you know. There’s still a lot of bad guys in the service. Any chance you can tell me where you are, approximately?”
“Next state over, name of town same as a town nearby home…and a big street.”
“Ok, I’ll find it.”
“Have they said anything about chips in the enemy?”
“RFID…yeah. They said we haven’t been able to break the code to use them.”
Frank laughed.
“What?”
“Oh, nothing.” He paused.
“Oh. Figures. I gotta go, dad. Take care. Say hi to mom.”
“Love you,” Frank said.
“Love you too, dad. Bye.”
Frank put his phone back into his pocket.
“How’s he doing?” Jane asked.
“He sounded good. He’s almost through basic. Then he’s going to Denver.”
“I was afraid of that. Could he tell you where he is?”
“He said next state over, town same name as a town and big street by us. I’m looking it up now.”
“Good.”
Frank started laughing. “Hawthorne, Nevada. Big base there.”
“Well, that makes sense,” Jane said. “What did he say about the chips?”
“They’ve been briefed about them. He said they haven’t figured them
out yet. He also said they got briefed on the citizen recruitment program, run by General Walker.”
“No, really?”
“Yeah, really. He said one of the groups they described sounded a whole lot like us.”
“Glad you told him not to spread that around.” She looked over at Frank. He had a worried look on his face. “What now?”
“I was just checking for cretins in that town. I’m getting hits at Robbie’s military base.”
“Crap. Can we warn him?”
“Not over an open phone line, sweetie. I can’t contact him, either. I’ll have to wait for him to contact us again.”
“How many do you see?”
“Not that many. Looks like about twenty.”
“Maybe we should contact General Hogan.”
“Now there’s an idea. Later, though. I want to try to get Sarah. It’s been a while.”
“Good idea,” Jane said.
Frank dialed her number. It rang, then she picked up.
“Daddy!” she said. “Where are you?”
“Hi-tailing it to the east, sweet pea. How are you?”
“Working my way through morning sickness.”
“You’re pregnant?” Jane looked over, surprised. Then she smiled. Frank nodded at her.
“Yes, daddy,” Sarah said.
“Really! That’s great, sweetheart. You still where you were, up in potato country?”
“Yes. Things have gotten back to normal around here. It’s nice. We’ve been setting up the nursery.”
“Here, I’ll give the phone to your mother,” Frank said, handing the phone over. Jane took it.
“Hi, Sarah. So, you’re pregnant?”
“Yes. I’m so excited. So happy.”
“That’s great. It sounds like you’re safe where you are.”
“Yes, the bad people left, and the Canadian border isn’t as bad as it was. We’re in a good place.”
“I’m so glad to hear that.”
“Are you and dad in danger?”
“No, not really. We’re moving further away from the action, though.”
“Dad said you were going east.”
“Yes, we’ll be in the Midwest. We’ll let you know where when we can.”
“Have you heard from Robbie?”
“Yes, just now. He’s almost through basic training.”
“I’m worried about him. There’s still a lot of fighting going on.”
“Me too, Sarah, but try not to let it bother you. Too much stress in a pregnancy isn’t good, especially at the beginning.”