Bug Out! Part 1: Escape in a Motorhome

by Robert Boren

  Frank awoke with a start. Mr. Wonderful had gotten up on the bed, and was purring loudly, his nose touching the side of Frank’s face.

  “Thanks a lot,” Frank said.

  “What’s wrong, honey?”

  “Mr. Wonderful just woke me up.”

  “So what else is new? Go back to sleep.”

  Frank tried to get back to sleep, but he couldn’t. He checked the time on his cellphone. It said 5:30. He decided to get up, and went quietly to the kitchen counter to turn on the coffee machine. He picked out one of the bold coffee pods and put it into the machine. When the brew light came on, he put his cup in place and pushed the button. Jane came out just as his cup was full.

  “That one for me?” she asked, smiling.

  “It’s bold. Do you want it, or should I make you one of the mild ones?”

  “Mild. I’ll do it. Go ahead and enjoy your cup.”

  Frank nodded and carried his coffee cup over to the dinette. He raised the blind on the window and looked out. Sean was already up, getting his rig ready to go.

  Jane sat down with her cup, and looked out the window.

  “Well, they aren’t sleeping in, are they?”

  “Nope. I suspect we’ll get a knock on the door any time now.”

  “Just go about your business, Frank.”

  “Alright.” He finished his cup, and then went into the bedroom to get dressed.

  He came back out, and looked out the window again. There were other people getting ready to leave.

  “Hey, honey, will you take care of Lucy’s walk while I’m getting things unhooked?”

  “Sure, no problem.” She got up to get dressed.

  Frank opened the door of the coach and stepped out into the cool morning. There was a flyer taped to the door on the outside. Frank pulled it off and looked at it. Then he laughed. He opened the door back up.

  “Jane, guess what?”

  “What?”

  “We got a flyer from the park management taped to our door. It says that if we want to stay another night, it’s $150 bucks, and it says that if we aren’t out before 9:00am, they are going to charge an extra fee.”

  “Bullshit,” Jane said. “The contract I signed said checkout time was 11:00am.”

  “Who cares? We’ll be out of here by 7:30 if not sooner.”

  “True. I’m coming out with Lucy.”

  “Okay. I’m going to go ahead and bring the slides in when you guys are out. Then I’ll finish unhooking. I think I’ll fill the fresh water tank too.”

  “Good idea,” she said as she came down the steps with Lucy in front of her.

  Frank checked the areas by the slides to make sure there weren’t any obstructions, and then made note of where Mr. Wonderful was. He was still sitting on the bed. Frank pushed the button for the bedroom slide, which caused the bed to lurch. Mr. Wonderful crouched down and looked around, but he stayed on the bed. Then Frank brought in the Salon slide, and then the kitchen slide. He looked around to make sure everything looked OK, and then he went to the driver’s seat and turned on the ignition. He hit the power button on the leveling jack console, and pushed the ‘retract all jacks’ button. The coach lurched, and then settled as the hydraulics brought the jacks back up into the storage position.

  Frank got up, and looked around the coach. Not much to stow. They didn’t get much out last night.

  He went outside to the back driver’s side of the coach and turned off the water valve. Then he moved the fresh water hose from the City Water inlet to the Tank Fill inlet and turned the water back on. A rush of water started into the tank. Then he went over to the electrical mast and turned off the 50 amp breaker. The coach clicked. He unplugged the cable and stowed it back in the electrical compartment, then shut and locked it. At about that time, the water tank overflow leaked some water, so Frank turned off the water and removed the hose from both ends, storing it in another compartment.

  “Wonder if I should dump tanks?” Frank said to himself. He went around to the door of the coach and went in, walking back to the console. He looked at the black and grey tank indicators. Both were reading empty, so he decided to leave that alone for now. He went back outside, and shut the water compartment, locking it. He was back in the coach raising the front blinds when Jane walked up with Lucy.

  “Mission accomplished,” Jane said with a smirk.

  “Good. Go ahead and get the fridge buttoned up. I’ll pull out on the road so we can hook up the Jeep.”

  “Got it. You want anything to eat?”

  “I’m not hungry at this point. Why don’t you put that box of Clif Bars up in the front?”

  “Sounds like a plan.”

  Frank got the coach pulled out on the access road, and pulled the Jeep into place behind it. He put the tow bar in place, then hooked up the safety chain and the taillight wires. As he was finishing, Sean walked up.

  “Well, Frank, we’re ready to go.”

  “Headed to Flagstaff?”

  “Yep, for now. You?”

  “Yeah, same,” replied Frank. “How good a road is Route 60?”

  “It’s not terrible. If you are going to Flagstaff, you’ll have to switch over to Route 71 and then Route 89. They aren’t great, but good enough.”

  “Alright, thanks,” Frank said, walking over and shaking hands with Sean. “Good luck to you. Maybe we’ll see you in Flagstaff.”

  “Hopefully,” said Sean. He turned and walked over to his truck. Frank watched as they slowly drove to the front gate.

  Frank got into the coach. Jane was already sitting in the passenger seat. Frank got into the driver’s seat and started the engine.

  “Sean going the same way we are?”

  “Yes. It’s the only way you can go, I’m afraid.”

  Jane nodded. Frank put the coach in gear and drove to the gate. There was a huge lineup of rigs there. People were bickering at each other. There was a big sign on the door that had the new prices listed.

  “Geez, people are starting to get panicky,” Jane said.

  “If I was the owner of this park, I’d put a limit on this price gouging. If the customers get mad enough, there's going to be problems, and I doubt that the local authorities are going to want to get involved.”

  As they passed through the gate and onto the street, a gunshot startled both of them. Frank looked into his side mirror and saw several men running into the office.

  “That didn’t sound good. What happened?” Jane said.

  “Looks to me like some customers have already gotten tired of the prices,” Frank said. “I’m so glad we are getting out of here.”

  Route 60 was not built to handle the volume it was getting today. It was moving, but only at about 30 mph. A mixture of cars, big rigs, and RVs were on the road as far up as Frank could see. It was bad all the way to Route 71, where Route 60 heads off to Phoenix and Route 71 heads north. Most of the people on the road were going to Phoenix, and that helped a lot. Frank could see Sean and Sarah’s 5th wheel ahead of them in the distance as they got on 71. The traffic sped up to about 55 mph.

  “Whew, glad to be out of that,” Jane said. Want a Clif bar?”

  “Sure, good idea. Wish we could make coffee on the road.”

  Jane nodded, and handed a bar over to Frank. He tore open the wrapper and devoured it quickly, washing it down with the bottle of water that Jane had put in his cup holder. Jane ate a bar as well.

  Suddenly Frank saw flashing lights in his rear view mirrors.

  “Oh, shit, what now?” he said.

  “What?”

  “Can’t see everything yet, but it looks like we have some emergency or police vehicles coming up behind us in a hurry.”

  “Do you need to pull over?”

  “No, there isn’t much in the way of southbound traffic. They’ve been passing to the left.”

  The vehicles were upon them in seconds, passing them on the left at a fast clip. It was two Arizona DPS cruisers, and an army Humvee with a gun mounted in the
back.

  “Uh oh, I don’t like the look of that,” Jane said.

  “Me neither,” Frank said.

  Jane sat up higher in her seat and pointed, a panicked look on her face.

  “Shit, look, they are pulling over Sean and Sarah’s rig!”

  Chapter 5 - Protests and Arrests

  Jane moved her head around until she could see behind the coach using the passenger side mirror.

  “Look at that,” she said, her voice wavering.

  Frank looked in his mirror, just in time to see the two soldiers pointing their assault rifles into Sean’s truck.

  “Oh no, I don’t believe it,” Frank said.

  “Should we stop?”

  “No way. And turn off your cellphone.”

  “Off? Why?” Jane asked.

  “What if they ask Sean who he’s talked to?”

  “Crap. Alright.”

  Frank fished his cellphone out of his pocket and tossed it to Jane.

  “Take the back off of mine and remove the battery.”

  Jane nodded. She had a horrified look on her face, and kept looking into the mirror every few seconds.

  “I can’t see them anymore,” she said.

  “Me neither. I wish you didn’t have an iPHONE. Can’t take the batteries out of those.”

  “Turning it off won’t do the trick?”

  “It’s supposed to, but I read an article a while back that said the iPHONE was still traceable even when it is turned off.”

  Jane looked out the window, watching the scenery go by, and thinking.

  “I’ll toss it out the window if you want me to,” she said.

  Frank thought about it for a moment.

  “No, let’s not do that. I’m probably panicking too much. Did you tell either of them your last name? I didn’t.”

  “No, I never did. I paid cash for the space in that park, too.”

  “Good,” Frank said. “Did you put our name on a register?”

  “No, they didn’t ask me too, but those people were nervous. They just got done with a shouting match when I walked in. We lucked out.”

  “We are probably alright, then. Maybe we should go somewhere other than Flagstaff, though.”

  “I’ll go get the road atlas.” Jane got up and went into the back.

  Lucy got up out of her bed and followed Jane, tail wagging. Jane was back up in her seat in a couple of minutes. Lucy jumped in her lap.

  “Doesn’t look like Lucy is going to let you open that road atlas,” Frank said, laughing.

  “I can wait a little bit. We’ll be on this road for a while, and as I remember, it basically turns into Route 89.”

  “Alright.”

  They were silent for a little while, as they watched the desert flow by. The road had thinned out nicely, allowing them to drive at 65 mph. Lucy finally got tired of sitting on Jane’s lap and got down into her bed.

  “So what do you think happened back there?” asked Jane.

  “I’m not sure. If we believe what Sean was saying, maybe he got picked up because they were afraid he was going to talk.”

  “Been thinking that.”

  “But on the other hand, I’m not sure about Sean. He wasn’t exactly being honest with me. Leaving out Sarah’s pregnancy was a big one, frankly.”

  “If he isn’t honest, then what do you think that was about?”

  “Maybe he’s really still in the service, and he went AWOL. Look at that haircut. Or maybe he stole some stuff on the way out. Maybe he did something bad to somebody back there. Who knows? We really didn’t know him at all.”

  “Well, you know how I feel about the anti-government conspiracy nuts, Frank. But this worries me. You know how crazy things are right now…….and they sent two Arizona trooper’s vehicles and an Army Humvee off to nab this guy? Something isn’t right.”

  Frank was silent again, thinking, running over Sean’s story in his mind. He looked over at Jane.

  “Maybe tonight would be a good time to try boondocking. I think we should stay off the grid for a day or two and watch.”

  “I was thinking the same thing,” Jane said. She picked up the road atlas and opened it up to the Arizona page. “How about Williams? I remember reading that a lot of people boondock there when they go to the Grand Canyon.”

  “Where is it?”

  “Right where Route 89 hits I-40.”

  “Hmmmmm. I-40 is an awful big road.”

  “That might not be a bad thing in this case,” Jane said. “If we’re lucky, there will be a whole lot of people boondocking there, and we’ll just disappear into the crowd.”

  “Make’s sense. Let’s do it.”

  “Alright. Thirsty? Want a coke?”

  “Yes, that would be great, thanks.”

  Jane got up and went to the fridge. She came up with the two cokes. She opened one of the cokes and handed it to Frank, and then opened hers.

  “Frank, let’s turn on the radio. Maybe we can get some more news.”

  “Go ahead.”

  Jane reached over and switched the radio on, using the seek button again to find a station.

  “Here we go,” Jane said. She turned up the radio.

  “People in the greater Los Angeles area have been advised to stay indoors,” the announcer said. “Looting is now going on in the daylight hours, and the police don’t have the resources to stop it. There are a growing number of reports now that private citizens are protecting their property and themselves with firearms. Local authorities have been warning citizens that using deadly force to protect property alone is illegal. Only protection of yourself or others is allowed by law.”

  “When we can make a phone call, I’m going to call Robbie and tell him to go get the guns out of our safe,” Frank said.

  “If they are still there.”

  Frank nodded.

  “All of the towns along the Mexican border in California are now under Martial Law,” the announcer continued. “Citizens are being evacuated from those areas as the army moves in. Last night, border skirmishes moved eastward into Arizona. They were stopped just east of Yuma, at the Barry M Goldwater Air Force Range, which extends eastward along the border for many miles.”

  Frank laughed.

  “Yes, go ahead and mess with an Air Force base, you idiots,” he said.

  Jane looked over at him and shook her head.

  “Well, at least you’re happy about something.”

  “Meanwhile, in Washington, protesters have staged large rallies, telling the Administration that people coming over the border are refugees, not an invading army. Counter protests arose quickly, resulting in violence and many arrests. The Administration promised a press conference yesterday, but then rescheduled for tomorrow morning. The Administration has been very quiet about this crisis thus far.”

  “I hope this mess doesn’t give the reactionaries a chance to get a foothold,” Jane said.

  “Seriously? You still think that anybody right of center is racist? Look at what we are seeing. These aren’t refugees coming over the border.”

  “We don’t know what they are yet,” Jane said. “But I’ll admit I’m not buying the refugee story at this point. I think everybody needs to cool their jets for a little while…..us included.”

  “Look up ahead!” Frank said. “That’s a lot of cops coming this way.”

  Jane looked up and could see the flashing lights. It was a whole line of police cars, but they didn’t have the usual DPS insignia.

  “Those look like local cops,” she said.

  Now they were upon them, and the coach rocked as they flew past.

  Jane reached over and switched off the radio. “Mind?”

  “No, it’s just going to get us chewing on each other. Sorry, sweetie.”

  “Me too.”

  The rest of the drive was uneventful, and soon they were at the I-40 junction. Williams was up ahead just a few miles.

  “Better see if you can find us a place.”

  “Bo
y, I sure miss my iPHONE now,” Jane said.

  “We have that camping guide in the back, maybe we should look at that.”

  “Alright, I’ll go dig it out.”

  Frank nodded.

  Jane went to the rear of the coach for a few minutes, and then made her way back to her seat with a paperback. She flipped to the central Arizona section.

  “Wow, there’s a lot here,” she said. “We should check out Dogtown.”

  “How do I get there?”

  “Get off of I-40 in Williams, and then take 4th street south about 4 miles. Then make a left on Dogtown Road. The book says that there is camping on either side of that road, and it’s completely free.”

  Frank got off of I-40 and found 4th street quickly.

  “More rigs around here,” Frank said. “That’s good.”

  “Yeah, and this road is a little better than I expected. Pretty, too. I didn’t expect all of the pine trees.”

  4th street was paved, but small. Every so often there was a dirt road going off to the right or the left. Dogtown Road wasn’t hard to find. It was large for a dirt road. They made the left, and drove slowly.

  “Look, there are some people camped over to the left,” Jane said, pointing.

  “Looks pretty level, but there’s probably something with more room open up ahead,” Frank said.

  They continued on, and the number of coaches did thin out a little bit. Finally they came to a spot that was large and level, and there weren’t any coaches there yet.

  “How does that look?” asked Frank.

  “Looks like it will do nicely. Let’s take it, but I’d pull in a ways. I suspect we’ll have company before long.”

  “OK,” Frank said. He turned onto the dirt and drove towards the back of the clearing. He stopped.

  “Aren’t you going back a little further?”

  “We have to unhook the TOAD before I can back in.”

  “Oh, yeah,” said Jane. “Forgot it was back there.”

  Frank shut off the engine, and got out of his seat.

  “I’ll take Miss Lucy out,” Jane said. “I’m sure she could use a pit stop.”

  Frank nodded. He opened the door of the coach. The air was fresh and clean, like mountain air. It was much cooler than Quartzsite had been. The smell of the pine trees hit him, and he savored it. He walked around to the back of the coach and started getting the Jeep unhitched. He looked over at Jane, as she let Lucy drag her all over the clearing, sniffing the ground every few seconds, her tail wagging.