Bug Out! Part 1: Escape in a Motorhome
Page 13
“Is that the bad news or the scary news?”
“That’s the bad news. The scary news is that forces coming from Texas are pushing the enemy out of New Mexico, and they are on their way here. Even if we hold Phoenix, the area we are in now might become a problem in the next few days. To make matters worse, most of the folks coming this way are the Islamist fighters, and they’ve been pretty hard on the civilian populations. Sounds like they are doing what Hank was talking about. Without the Feds helping them, of course.”
“So we might not be able to relax here for a while.”
“Probably not, but it depends. We might be getting air transport on line here in the next couple of days. They were all being used in SoCal before. C-17s and other heavy transport planes. If that happens we’ll have a flood of military folks coming in to take on the Islamists.”
“So what’s the good news?”
“We’ve pushed the enemy all the way out of California now, and are using resources there to really pound all of the routes to the south that the enemy was using to enter the US, both through California and Arizona. That’s where most of the air power is being used right now.”
“How come they aren’t using air power here?”
“Well, they are using some, but they aren’t going to come in and carpet bomb Tucson or Phoenix. We’d lose too many American civilians. Washington is being very careful about this.”
“Makes sense, I guess,” Jane said. “What about the civilians in Southern Arizona and in New Mexico? They aren’t doing as well against the enemy as we saw in SoCal?”
“Not really. Remember what we were talking about last night. The population density is too low. It was a lot easier for the enemy to surround the major population centers, when they don’t have millions and millions of folks with guns pointed at them. It’s not like people aren’t fighting back….they are, but we haven’t been in a position to destroy the enemy like we did in SoCal.”
“Alright. So we may not get to stay here,” Jane said. She had a disappointed look on her face. They got to the pool, and walked through the gate. There were a few other people there, but plenty of open lounge chairs that they could put their stuff on. They set down their towels and cell phones and walked over to the shallow end.
“A little cold,” Frank said, sticking his foot in.
“Don’t be as sissy,” Jane said. She quickly got in up to her neck, and then dunked her head under the water. Frank followed her in and did the same.
“Ahh, this feels great,” Jane said. Frank nodded, wiping his eyes.
“So what other news did you see?”
Frank dunked his head one more time, and shook his head to get some of the water to run out of his hair.
“Political stuff. There’s a big fight going on in Washington about martial law. The Administration wants to declare it over the lower 48 states. They are saying that it makes it easier to route military and supplies into the battle zones when they have control of the roads and can close them to trucks and other traffic quickly.”
“And I image that the House and Senate are fighting that tooth and nail,” Jane said. “Same old same old.”
“Yeah, except the ACLU and several other organizations that are usually liberal are on the same side with the conservatives and libertarians on this one. Reminds me of the NSA scandal a couple of years ago.”
“So what do you think, Frank, after we’ve been out here for a while?”
“About martial law everywhere? Think about it. We might not have gotten out of harm’s way yesterday if they had the roads bottled up.”
“True, but we might not have had crazy ex-police officers trying to stop us either.”
“Or those same crazy folks would have been able to stop us easier, because they might still have been in charge. Remember Officer Simmons.”
“Alright, you have a point. Maybe we should be continuing north today instead of hanging out here, just in case they slam the door shut.”
“I was thinking the same thing. We could take Route 89, and maybe get all the way up to Capitol Reef by early evening. Then the next day we could get on I-15 and travel to the other side of Salt Lake City. Maybe that would be far enough away for a while.”
“What if the battle goes well in Phoenix, and we can use those forces to stop the enemy from coming over from New Mexico?”
“We can wait and see, but if things go south we may have to haul ass out of here. I don’t want to be around if those helicopters come this way.”
“Wonder how much warning we’d get?”
“Good question,” Frank said. “But I’m also worried about the martial law thing. The Administration is saying that they have the power to put that into effect without the Congress going along with it. I wouldn’t put that past them. We might get stuck too close to the battle zone if it happens.”
“Do you think all of the local law enforcement folks would go along with that?”
“That’s another good question, my dear.” Frank moved closer to Jane and put his arms around her waist, pulling her against him.
“I guess I really got to you last night,” she said, with an embarrassed smile.
“Well, yes. It could just be the excitement of being on the run.”
“You may have a point there, sweetie. Maybe that had a lot to do with my performance last night.”
Frank backed away from her, acting offended.
“What, it wasn’t my prowess?
Jane splashed him, laughing. Frank splashed her back, and soon they were giggling like teenagers, in a full on water fight.
“Frank,” somebody said from the side of the pool. Frank and Jane looked up. It was Charlie, standing next to a police officer and an Army officer.
“What’s up?” Frank asked.
“These two gentlemen want to talk to you about Williams.”
To be continued in Bug Out! Part 2. Available Now!
Copyright
Bug Out! Part 1 copyright © 2014 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.
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 centered in and around South Bay, or is about South Bay people.