Bug Out! Part 1: Escape in a Motorhome

by Robert Boren

  “Can you trust the internet?” Jane asked. “Lots of nut balls on there.”

  “The internet is going to be the undoing of the Feds,” Dave said.

  “He’s right, honey,” Frank said. “It was designed with so much redundancy that it’s nearly impossible to shut down. Add to that the fact that very few of the brightest internet folks are working for the Feds.”

  “The internet is being used to send the real news out, and to coordinate the resistance,” Dave said.

  “Maybe this is how you can get involved, honey,” Jane said. Frank nodded.

  “What’s your background, Frank?” asked Dave.

  “I ran network security for one of the largest aerospace companies before I retired.”

  “How long ago did you retire?”

  “Only six months ago, so I’m still up on the latest,” Frank said.

  “I know some people you could talk to,” Dave said. “I won’t lie to you, though. All of those folks have a big target on their backs.”

  “Not surprising, but I don’t care,” Frank said. “I’ve had a good long life in this country, and I’ll be damned if I’m going to sit back and watch her go down the tubes. I’ve got my kids to think about, and our future generations.”

  Hank came walking back over.

  “How is she?” asked Jane.

  “She took her meds, so she’ll sleep for a while. This is a lot to take in.”

  “I’ll say,” Jane replied.

  “What’d I miss?”

  “We were talking about the internet,” Frank said. “Sounds like I might be of some value.”

  “Really,” Hank said. “Internet was my day job too. E-commerce. What did you do?”

  “Network security at one of the big Aerospace companies.”

  “Really,” Hank said. “If you don’t mind me asking, what’s your last name?”

  “Johnson.”

  Hank’s face lit up.

  “I know who you are. I’ve read some of your white papers.”

  Dave got a quizzical look on his face. Hank saw that.

  “This guy has published a lot of cutting edge technical articles about networks and the internet,” Hank said. “Some people think he’s a genius.”

  “Oh, please,” Frank said. Jane laughed.

  “Were you really going to stay retired?” Hank asked.

  “Yes,” Frank replied. “I got tired of trying to convince executives that their intellectual property was in danger. And people wonder how China is developing their military hardware so quickly. Idiots.”

  “Well, I’d better get back,” Dave said. “Feel free to come over to our camp if you need anything. And I’ll pass your name along to my sources.”

  “Alright, see you later,” Hank said. Frank and Jane both nodded, and Dave walked away.

  “So what else did I miss?” asked Hank.

  “Dave had quite a bit of info, actually,” Jane said. “You heard when he said that San Diego is now a staging point for the Feds, but the area between San Diego and LA is not yet under control.”

  “Yeah, Dave said that the gangs in LA are now fighting the US military, side by side with middle class white folk,” Frank said. “And that’s how you got on the internet, right?”

  “That’s right,” Jane said. “He said that the internet was being used for news and for coordination of the resistance.”

  “Then it’s true,” Hank said.

  “What’s true?” asked Jane.

  “Rumors I’ve been seeing on the internet, on discussion threads,” Hank said. “The American people are figuring out what is going on very quickly, and the Feds didn’t count on that. They were hoping that they could get us fighting each other in a civil war. That’s not going to end well for them.”

  “Why would the Federal Government want to get a civil war started?” asked Jane. “This just sounds like more paranoid far-right garbage to me.”

  “A controlled civil war would kill off a lot of people the Feds consider ‘undesirables’, and would allow them to swoop in and stop the fighting at a time of their choosing. Then they would reform the government with certain changes……you know, like no more Bill of Rights protections. They would be free to mold us into the great utopia that they haven’t been able to sell to us any other way.”

  Jane looked over at Frank. He was deep in thought.

  “So you are basically saying that the Federal Government is completely evil, and would allow the killing of millions in order to put the American people under control. Is that it?” Jane asked. Her face was turning a little red and her eyes were getting glassy.

  “Calm down, honey,” Frank said.

  “Aren’t you going to say anything? She asked. He just nodded no.

  “Why did an Apache helicopter and a foreign Mi-24 work together to fire at the decoy campsite?” asked Hank.

  “I don’t know,” Jane said. She looked silently down at the ground for a moment. Then she looked back up at Hank. “You haven’t been saying this sort of thing in front of Linda.”

  “Linda has really bad anxiety problems. It was hard to get her to leave our condo, although I know she’s glad now that we did. I’ve kept track of what is going on as much as I can, but I haven’t been saying anything to her about it.”

  “Probably a good idea, given her problems,” Frank said. “This is hard to fathom for anybody. Just weeks ago we thought we were about to embark on our golden years, happily traveling around a peaceful countryside in our motor home. That’s all gone now.”

  Jane’s looked down, and started sobbing again. Frank went over to her and put his arms around her.

  “I’m sorry honey,” he said.

  “They are going to beat us,” Jane said. “A few renegade states don’t have the resources to beat the Federal armed forces. They control everything.”

  “That’s where you’re wrong, Jane,” Hank said. “I know why the gangs and the middle class folks are fighting together.”

  “Why?” Frank asked, still holding onto Jane.

  “Escondido.”

  “What about it?”

  “I saw some reports and YouTube videos coming out over the last few days. It’s gone viral. The Feds are really stupid.”

  Jane broke hug, getting herself together again. She looked over at Hank.

  “So what happened there, Hank?” she asked.

  “The Feds thought they could control these jihadist idiots from Iraq, just like they thought they could control the Muslim Brotherhood and the Mujahideen. Wrong.”

  “Oh oh,” Frank said.

  “Yeah, oh oh,” Hank said. “Some jihadists go into Escondido and decide it is a good city to try out the old ‘convert or die’ routine. Bad idea. There’s a lot of rednecks in Escondido.”

  “Go on,” Frank said.

  “The jihadists started executing people who resisted them in public. Beheadings and hangings. Real nasty stuff. That was along with the general terror these thugs do in their own countries - things such as raping teenage girls and boys.”

  “Sick,” Jane said.

  “A lot of this stuff got out on the internet, on YouTube and other sites. It went viral in a matter of hours. Then the citizens of Escondido got together and ambushed these creeps. Killed them all.”

  “Geez,” Jane said.

  “It gets worse. They dug a big pit, and they tossed the bodies of the dead jihadists in. Then they dumped all kinds of pig blood on top, and covered it up with dirt. And of course there was video taken of the whole thing, and it all got out onto the internet. The next day thousands of jihadists arrived, and started killing everybody they could find.”

  “What did they expect?” Jane said.

  “You haven’t heard the best part yet. The citizens were holding them off, and starting to win the battle. Never underestimate rednecks with guns. Then the US army came in and helped the jihadists. That also was captured quite well on video and sent out on the internet. What do you think the public’s reaction was t
o that?”

  “Oh, I don’t know, perhaps gang members and middle class folks getting together to attack the army,” Frank said. “The Feds just lost this war. They would need an army of millions to defeat the people of this country.”

  “Exactly, but it’s still going to be a very bloody affair, and it’s going to go on for a while. The cat is most definitely out of the bag, though. No putting it back. The citizens are on to them.”

  “You two look like you are happy about this,” Jane said.

  “Well, I am,” Hank said. “The jihadists were going to do this either way. They chose to do it sooner rather than later - and didn’t give the Feds enough time to get the American people fighting each other. Now the Feds will never be able to do that.”

  “The Feds would have lost anyway,” Frank said. “Eventually, at least.”

  “I know, but this will be less costly to the people.”

  Jane shook her head.

  “I’m still not completely buying all of this,” she said.

  “Look, here comes Dave,” Frank said. He was trotting over.

  “Pack up, folks, we got to leave in a hurry.”

  “Why,” asked Jane.

  “Ground troops are on the way here. I just got tipped off. They are about half an hour away. They plan on scouring this whole area.”

  “Where to?” Hank asked.

  “Go back through Williams, and go north on Route 64,” Dave said.

  Frank and Jane looked at each other, and bolted for their rig.

  “I’ll get the rig pulled forward enough to get the Jeep attached. You pull in behind me and we’ll get it hooked up.”

  Hank trotted over to his rig, with Dave next to him.

  “So Dave, what is going to keep us from being blown off the highway?”

  “We’ll have some air support,” Dave said, grinning. He kept running after Hank arrived at his coach.

  It took Frank and Jane only a few minutes to get the Jeep hooked up. Frank looked over and saw that Hank was about ready to leave too. Jane waved at him as they pulled onto the dirt road.

  “Wait a minute, I’m going to bring the pistol up here,” Frank said. He ran to the bedroom, grabbed the large revolver, and picked up a box of ammo on the way up. He put the revolver in his lap and the box of shells on the floor between the driver’s seat and the wall. He checked the pistol to make sure it was loaded. Then he drove out onto the dirt road.

  “Geez, I’m glad we got some warning,” Jane said.

  “You and me both,” Frank said. Lucy came running up to the front and jumped on Jane’s lap.

  “I can see three rigs behind us,” Frank said. They were nearing 4th street. Then they saw it. A police vehicle was parked across the dirt road. A tall lanky officer was leaned up against his car, holding a shotgun.

  “Oh no,” Jane said.

  Frank slowed down and stopped. The officer smiled, and walked over to the window. Frank opened it.

  “Where are you nice folks going,” asked the officer. Frank looked down at him. His name tag said ‘Simmons’.

  Chapter 9 - News from Home

  Officer Simmons craned his neck to get a look into the coach. Frank could feel his hand sweating around the grip of the big .44 magnum pistol. Lucy was growling. Jane tried to calm her down.

  “I asked where you folks were going,” Simmons said with an impatient tone of voice.

  “North, sir,” Frank said. His voice trembled.

  “Come out of the coach. I need to search for weapons. If I find any, you’ll be held until Federal forces arrive.”

  “Why?”

  “Don’t ask me any questions, just follow instructions,” he spat, his hand moving on the shotgun.

  “No,” Frank said. Then he pulled the trigger on the big .44, sending the officer flying backwards. The shotgun flew out of his hands and landed in the bushes.

  “Frank!” shouted Jane, horrified. “What did you do?”

  Frank was trembling hard. He saw Dave running over in his side mirror.

  “Frank, you alright?” shouted Dave.

  “Yes, but there’s a shotgun down there somewhere, and I don’t think I killed this guy.”

  Ken came running up behind Dave.

  “Thanks a lot, Frank, I wanted to shoot this jerk weed,” he said.

  “He’s still alive, barely,” said Dave, kneeling by him. Ken picked up the shotgun out of a ditch by the road, and Dave pulled the pistol out of Simmons’s holster. Then he grabbed the keys off of Simmons’s belt and tossed them to Ken. Ken nodded at him, and got into the police car. He fired it up and moved it away from the road.

  “Sorry you had to go through this, folks,” Dave said.

  “Is he still alive?” asked Jane.

  “Unfortunately yes,” Dave said. “What kind of pistol do you have, Frank? It blew a good sized hole through your rig.”

  “I’ve got an old Ruger Blackhawk .44 mag,” Frank said. He held it up.

  “That thing saved your life. Probably all of our lives. He would have shot you two and made sure none of the rest of us could get past your rig.”

  Ken came running back over.

  “We’d better get out of here, boss. The clock is running. We don’t want to be here when the army shows up.”

  “Yeah, let’s get moving,” Dave said. “And quit calling me boss.”

  “What about the traitor?”

  “We’ve got his guns. I’ll put a couple of rounds in his tires on the way out. His pelvis is pretty screwed up, so he isn’t going to get up and walk. I say we just leave him in the ditch.”

  Ken nodded.

  “Alright, Frank, let’s get moving,” Dave said. “Don’t stop for anything. Get up to Route 64, and follow that to Route 89 north.”

  “Ok,” Frank said.

  “And keep that pistol handy,” Ken said.

  Frank put the coach in gear and pulled out onto the pavement of 4th street. Then he sped up. He could see the other coaches pulling out behind him. He heard two gunshots. He kept driving.

  “You alright?” he asked.

  Jane looked over at him, crying.

  “No, I’m not alright,” she said.

  “Do you think I did the wrong thing?”

  “I don’t know.”

  Frank checked his rear view mirrors again. There were a lot of coaches behind them.

  “I think every one of the rigs in that campsite are following us,” Frank said.

  “Do you think the army would have shot all of us?”

  “I think we would have been either shot or locked up.”

  “I keep hearing all of you guys talking about the Federal Government, but how do you know what they are really doing? Everything we’ve been told so far has either been hearsay or our assumptions about things we’ve seen.”

  “The checkpoint. The helicopters.”

  “Yes, things look bad, but it might not be as it seems,” Jane said. “And now it’s going to be really hard to tell what the truth is.”

  “Why?” asked Frank.

  “You just shot a cop. The authorities are going to be after us now even if they haven’t gone bad.”

  Frank was starting to get angry now.

  “Think about what you are saying, Jane. What right does the police have to bottle up the exit to a camping area like that? What right do they have to search without probable cause? And by the way, it’s legal to have firearms in your vehicle.”

  “The government took firearms away from people during Katrina.”

  “Yes, they did, and it was wrong. Any Federal or State officials that took a part in that ought to be in jail.”

  “It was a public safety issue, Frank.”

  “Public safety doesn’t trump the Bill of Rights. Sorry.”

  “Shut up for a minute, Frank. Listen.”

  It was the sound of helicopters.

  “Oh, crap, here it comes,” Frank said. “I can’t see anything in these damn mirrors.”

  “I’ll go in the b
edroom and check out the back window.” Jane got out of her seat, and put Lucy in her bed. She walked carefully back and raised the blinds on the back window. She could see eight helicopters flying in formation up towards the front of the line of coaches.

  “See anything?” shouted Frank.

  “About eight helicopters. Looks like some of them are those Russian kind, and some are the American kind. They are going to try to get to the front of the line.”

  “Crap,” Frank said. Then he saw one of the choppers in front of him. It stayed there, and then a loudspeaker came on.

  “Stop your vehicle or be fired upon,” said the voice coming from the chopper. It was a Mi-24. The voice had a heavy Spanish accent.

  “I’m not stopping,” Frank said. “No way in hell.” He sped up.

  “This is your final warning,” said the loudspeaker. Then he heard a different sound.

  “Frank, here come the jets again. They are coming up behind us low and fast.”

  “Hope they are the good guys,” Frank shouted.

  Then there was an explosion behind them. Then another. The chopper in front of the coach made a quick turn off to the left, and was trying to get away.

  “The jets shot down two of the helicopters, Frank, and the others are trying to get away. The jets are coming around for another attack.”

  “Yeah, the one in front of us is heading for the hills,” Frank said. His heart was beating a mile a minute.

  There were two more explosions, and then another two.

  “Those helicopters are no match for the jets,” Jane shouted. “They are firing missiles at them two at a time.”

  “How many jets?”

  “Hard to tell, because they come and go so fast. At least three.”

  Another explosion.

  “Wow, only one left,” Jane shouted.

  “I can see that one. It’s the one that was in front of us. He’s trying to get behind the hills over there.”

  The last chopper exploded while Frank was watching. Then he saw the three jets fly by, rocking their wings.

  “Those jets aren’t done yet,” Jane shouted. “They are heading back towards the campground. I’m seeing puffs of smoke in the air above where we were.”

  “Anti-aircraft shells, probably. The army must have gotten there.”

  “Wow. Huge explosion. Fire everywhere back there,” Jane shouted. “Another explosion.”