Bug Out! Texas Book 6: Citizen Vengeance

by Robert Boren

  “They’re getting on the call,” Ramsey said.

  “Good.” Nelson got behind his desk. “Take a seat, guys.” He pushed the button on his speaker phone. “Brian, we’re ready to start. Come on in when you’ve got the meeting running.”

  “Will do, sir,” Brian said over the speaker.

  After a few seconds, there was hissing coming from the phone speaker.

  “Who’s on, please?” Brian asked as he walked into the office.

  “Jason and Carrie,” Jason said.

  “Curt.”

  “Kyle and Kate.”

  “Junior and Rachel.”

  “Kelly and Brenda.”

  “Dirk and Chance.”

  “Eric and Kim.”

  “Don and Sydney.”

  “Wallis is on.”

  “Okay, everybody hear us?” Nelson asked.

  “Yep,” Junior said. “Hey, Governor.”

  “Hi, Junior,” Nelson said. “I’ve got Ramsey, Gallagher, Brian, and Hendrix in the room.”

  “Something bad happen?” Kelly asked.

  “We have reason to believe that the enemy knows you’re moving to Amarillo.”

  “Dammit,” Kyle said. “How?”

  “Social media, it appears,” Wallis said. “Any of you put that out there?”

  “Not that I know of,” Don said.

  “We can’t rule that out, honey,” Sydney said. “We’ve got connections with many people now. There have been recurring conversations. Maybe somebody on our team doesn’t understand the danger.”

  “Well, talk to them,” Ramsey said. “Sooner rather than later.”

  “So what do we do now?” Kate asked. “Turn around?”

  “We’ll tell you what we know,” Nelson said. “You’ll have to decide if you want to keep going or not.”

  “We’re listening,” Junior said.

  “Wallis, what’d you find out?” Nelson asked.

  “We’re seeing a group massing on the New Mexico border,” Wallis said. “It’s a few thousand men.”

  “Where?” Kelly asked.

  “Glenrio,” Wallis said.

  “Shit, that’s on I-40, just over an hour from Amarillo,” Jason said.

  “Yeah,” Wallis said. “We think they’ll wait until you’re settled, and then attack.”

  “How are they gonna get over the border?” Kyle asked. “Don’t you have I-40 under control?”

  “We’ve got the usual roadblocks up, yes,” Ramsey said. “If a thousand men stream through there, they’ll steamroll the roadblocks with ease.”

  “Are any of them already in Texas?” Eric asked.

  “We haven’t seen any of this particular group coming across the border yet,” Wallis said. “Why?”

  “We have a growing number of vehicles following us,” Eric said. “I’ve been watching them.”

  “Uh oh,” Ramsey said. “How many?”

  “A shitload,” Eric said.

  “Honey,” Kim said.

  “Sorry,” Eric said. “From what I can tell, at least sixty. Maybe more.”

  “Why didn’t you guys call us about that?” Ramsey asked.

  “We were getting ready to do just that,” Jason said. “Eric and I were talking when the Chief’s text came in.”

  “We’re coming up to the big curve at Midland,” Eric said. “I’ll be able to see what’s behind us a whole lot better then.”

  “I’ll go in the back and look out the window,” Kim said.

  “Get out the binoculars,” Eric said. “You know where they are, right?”

  “Yeah, in the cupboard above the dinette.”

  “Good, maybe you can tell if these are Islamists or citizens,” Jason said.

  “That would be good,” Ramsey said. “You got anybody with a gun in the back?”

  “Yeah, we’ve got a pickup truck with a .50 cal and a bunch of bikers back there,” Curt said.

  “There’s a tank flatbed right behind me,” Eric said.

  “How far are you from the curve?” Nelson asked.

  “It’s about half a mile in front of me,” Kyle said. “I’m first in line. We have a really long caravan. Eric is at least a third of a mile behind me.”

  “Wow,” Gallagher said. “If those are armed citizens on our side, we might not have to change plans. You guys might be able to draw the enemy in and spank them real good.”

  “That’s a little risky, isn’t it?” Ramsey asked.

  “Depends on the numbers,” Curt said. “We’re heavily armed now. We can repel a fairly decent-sized force. If we’ve got a bunch of extra fighters, we might do pretty well.”

  “I can get our social media warriors back on line and add to our advantage,” Don said. “There’s pretty good LTE here.”

  “Yeah, I’m seeing good signal on my phone,” Carrie said.

  “I’m in the curve,” Kyle said. “Holy shit, I can’t see the end of the line following us.”

  Gallagher chuckled. “Gotta love Texans.”

  “Seriously,” Nelson said.

  “Kim’s in the back looking now,” Eric said. “Hey, honey, after you look through the binoculars, snap some pictures with your cellphone.”

  “Okay, sweetie,” said Kim’s muffled voice. Gallagher and Ramsey looked at each other.

  “The citizens are gonna win this for us, aren’t they?” Hendrix asked.

  “Starting to look that way,” Wallis said.

  Ramsey’s phone dinged. He looked at it, eyes wide. “My God.”

  “Let’s see,” Nelson said. Ramsey passed him the phone. Nelson, Gallagher, and Hendrix gathered to look at the screen.

  “Those look like your typical Texas patriots to me,” Kim said. “Get the picture okay?”

  “Yeah, we got it,” Nelson said. “Thanks.”

  “I was trying to count by fives,” Kim said. “Hard while we’re moving. There are several hundred vehicles back there.”

  “What if they’re some of these militia folks?” Gallagher asked. “Like Simon Orr.”

  “You guys need to chat with some of them,” Ramsey said. “When’s the next time you’ll have to stop?”

  “Some of us are going to need gas,” Jason said. “Hey, honey, where’s the next town we can stop for gas?”

  “Looks like Lamesa,” Carrie said. “That’s about an hour and a half. Sound okay?

  “Yeah,” Jason said.

  “Wallis, can you get planes in the air?” Gallagher asked. “Just in case?”

  “Yeah, we’ve got some close by already,” Wallis said. “I’ll talk with the commander as soon as we get off this call.”

  “Perfect,” Nelson said. “What else?”

  “I think we’re good,” Wallis said. “Gallagher?”

  “Yeah, let’s stick with the plan unless there’s some reason we can’t count on all those extra people.”

  “Everybody else agree?” Nelson asked.

  “I’m good with it,” Curt said.

  “Me too,” Jason said.

  “Me three,” Junior said.

  “Okay, then let’s end this call,” Nelson said. “Be careful, you guys. Don’t hesitate to call if this turns out to be hinky.”

  “Will do, Governor,” Jason said. “Thanks.”

  “I’ll go make that call about air support,” Wallis said. “Talk to you guys later.”

  Brian shut down the call. “You want me to stick around?”

  “No, you can get back to what you were doing, but set up that call on the gulf issue for an hour from now, okay?”

  “Yes sir,” Brian said as he left.

  Nelson and the others exchanged glances.

  “Hope we’re doing the right thing,” Hendrix said.

  “Me too,” Ramsey said. “Believe me.”

  “What did you want to discuss about the gulf?” Ramsey asked.

  “Two things,” Nelson said. “First, on the drone purchases from Israel. I had everything okayed in the Texas Legislature, the deal was signed with the Isra
elis, and the cash ready to flow. Then poof. Gone. The Israelis backed out. They wouldn’t say why directly, but I found out through another channel that the interim Federal Government warned them not to do it.”

  “Shit,” Gallagher said. “Wonder why?”

  “Somebody probably thinks we’ll use them against the United States,” Ramsey said.

  “We don’t want them for that,” Nelson said. “At this point there’s nobody in the Federal Government who I can talk to. Things are still in flux. Nobody knows who’s reporting to who, people are still being arrested right out of their offices, and there’s even been a few murders.”

  “Are you so sure you won’t ever use the drones against the United States?” Hendrix asked.

  Nelson froze, eyeing Hendrix. “What do you mean?”

  “If the Federal Government is still backing the Islamists and the UN, some of the people we target might be representing the United States, or at least on their side.”

  “Dammit,” Gallagher said. “He’s right, you know. That probably means there’s still dirty people running the Federal Government. They probably used Simpson as a fall guy. There may not be any attempt to weed out the bad guys.”

  “If the good guys in the Federal Government don’t know about the RFID chips, how could they weed the bad guys out?” Ramsey said. “Son of a bitch.”

  “Kip, you surprised me again,” Nelson said.

  “Wonder if General Hogan has time to chat with us on this?” Gallagher asked. “He might know something.”

  “Good question,” Nelson said. He stuck his head out the door. “Brian, see if you can raise General Hogan.”

  “Yes sir,” Brian said.

  “You said there were two things,” Ramsey said.

  “Yeah,” Nelson said. “I got a letter from the chairman of the Joint Chiefs this morning.”

  “Oh, crap,” Gallagher said. “What now?”

  “He warned me that our little aircraft carriers had better not get further away from the Texas coast than the official territorial waters for the state.”

  “Shit,” Gallagher said. “I’m almost afraid to ask. How far is that?”

  “Three leagues,” Nelson said.

  “Son of a bitch,” Gallagher said. “That’s about nine miles. Even bush-league artillery can go that far.”

  “That’s what I was afraid of,” Nelson said.

  “They’re doing this for the same reason that they’re restricting our ability to buy the drones,” Hendrix said. “We’re gonna get squeezed.”

  “Yeah, I think you’re right,” Gallagher said. “Those bastards.”

  “So much for our lockdown of the gulf coast, then,” Ramsey said. “Wallis know about this?”

  “No, not yet. I’ll let him know later. I want him to focus on air support for the Fort Stockton group right now.”

  Brian came in. “Governor, General Hogan is on the line.”

  “Great, thanks,” Nelson said. He got behind his desk and punched the button on the speakerphone. “General Hogan, how are you?”

  “I’ve been better,” he said. “I can only talk for a few minutes. What’s on your mind?”

  “I’ve got you on speaker. Gallagher, Ramsey, and Hendrix are in the room with me.”

  “Okay.”

  “How confident are you that the Federal Government has weeded out all the infiltrators after the coup?”

  General Hogan laughed. “I’ve heard that it’s all a sham. President Simpson got sacrificed. Most of the other foreign assets remain. One of them is Kip’s buddy Franklin. He just got the Attorney General’s slot.”

  “Attorney General?” Hendrix asked. “What happened to Blake?”

  “You know that guy that’s been causing the ruckus in California?”

  “You mean Ivan the Butcher?” Ramsey asked.

  Hogan chuckled. “Yeah, that guy. He staged a nice hit in one of the LA suburbs. Killed a whole bunch of UN thugs and quite a few Federal Government wonks too. Attorney General Blake got killed in that mess.”

  “Couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy,” Hendrix said, wicked grin on his face. “Too bad Franklin wasn’t with him.”

  “Seriously,” Hogan said. “Why are you asking?”

  “The Feds stomped on a deal I had with the Israelis. We were going to buy several drones.”

  “Oh, yeah, I remember you talking about that,” Hogan said.

  “They also warned us in writing not to take our aircraft carriers further into the gulf than the Texas territorial waters.”

  “Shit, that’s less than ten miles,” Hogan said. “That makes them vulnerable.”

  “Exactly,” Ramsey said.

  “Your guy having any luck breaking the RFID chips?” Hendrix asked.

  “It’s taking longer than we expected,” Hogan said. “That’s all I can say now.”

  “But you are making progress?” Nelson asked.

  “Yes. Be patient. When we’re ready, you guys will get a heads up.”

  “All right,” Nelson said. “I’ll let you get back to it. Things going okay?”

  “Yes and no,” he said. “Talk to you later.”

  The call ended.

  “Well that was rather cryptic,” Gallagher said.

  “Yep,” Nelson said. “They’re further along on the RFID chips than he’s letting on.”

  “Yeah, I got the same impression,” Hendrix said. “What now?”

  “There’s nothing we can do about the drones at this point,” Nelson said. “I wonder how closely they’re watching the aircraft carriers.”

  “I’m surprised they recognized what we’re using those things for,” Gallagher said. “Those old tubs don’t look like much.”

  “The Feds probably found out about them from the damn Venezuelans,” Nelson said.

  Brian stuck his head in the doorway. “Governor Nelson, Wallis is back on the line.”

  “Thanks,” Nelson said. He punched the button. “Hey, Wallis, any luck with the air support?”

  “Yes sir, we’ve got assets assigned. One of them already flew over the column. He said there’s about four hundred vehicles there, including some bigger vehicles.”

  “Bigger vehicles?” Nelson asked.

  “Yeah, buses,” Wallis said.

  “Holy shit,” Gallagher said. “Assuming an average of four people per vehicle, that’s sixteen hundred people.”

  “Yep,” Wallis said.

  “If they’re fighters from that last battle, we’ll handle what we see across the border with ease.” Ramsey said.

  “Yeah, and if they’re bad guys, it’s a death sentence,” Hendrix said.

  Chapter 26 – Re-Routed Again

  Richardson was driving the big pickup truck, the weight of the patrol boat making the rig feel sluggish.

  “Not much fun to drive?” Lita asked.

  “Not really,” he said. “Glad there isn’t a lot of wind.”

  “Traffic is light on I-10, at least.” Lita said.

  “Now that we’ve gotten past I-410, anyway. The girls are still asleep, aren’t they?”

  Lita looked in the back seat, then back at Richardson. “Battle fatigue.”

  Richardson snickered. “Madison is close to getting off those crutches already, isn’t she?”

  “I’d rather see her on them for another week, but I don’t know if she can stand it,” Lita said. “Think we can get all the way to Houston today?”

  “We’ve got about three hours to go,” Richardson said. “Give or take. Should be doable.”

  “Wish Jefferson would call us with the destination. It’s not like we can park our rig at a motel overnight.”

  Richardson chuckled. “Yes, that would be a problem. Too bad we don’t have any camping gear.”

  “We could get some, you know,” Lita said. “It would fit in the truck bed.”

  “That’s a damn good idea,” Richardson said. “See if there’s a Walmart coming up.”

  “Okay,” Lita said. “We could pick
up some clothes there too.”

  “And some food,” Richardson said.

  “What about the parking lot?”

  “We leave Juan Carlos and Brendan in the boat. They’ll take care of anybody who comes along.”

  Lita chuckled. “That would make the local news.”

  “What’s going on?” Hannah’s groggy voice asked.

  “Oh, nothing,” Lita said as she searched on her phone. “We were thinking about stopping at a Walmart and getting some camping stuff, just in case we don’t have a place to stash this boat.”

  “Where are we?” Hannah asked, sitting up straight.

  “About half way between San Antonio and Seguin,” Lita said.

  “That’s all?” Hannah asked.

  “What’s going on?” Madison asked.

  “Oh, you’re awake now too, huh,” Lita said.

  “Yeah,” Madison said. “Is something wrong?”

  “No, we just aren’t as far along as I hoped,” Hannah said.

  “It took us a long time to get out of the San Antonio area,” Richardson said, “and it’s not like we can go eighty pulling this boat.”

  “Oh,” Madison said. “Shit. We going to have to sleep in the car if we can’t make it tonight?”

  “We hope not,” Lita said. “Haven’t heard from Captain Jefferson yet.”

  “Why don’t you call him?” Hannah asked.

  “In a little while,” Richardson said. “He’s probably busy.”

  “Hear from the guys lately?” Madison asked.

  “No, but I was about to text Brendan,” Hannah said.

  Madison pulled out her phone. “Good idea, I’ll text Juan Carlos.”

  “I hope nothing’s wrong down south,” Lita said quietly.

  “Me too, but they’re trying to set up a new operation with a skeleton crew,” Richardson said. “Why don’t you see how far it is to Galveston? If Jefferson can’t find us a place, we might have to go all the way down there.”

  “Shit. Okay, I’ll check.”

  “How are the men doing back there?” Richardson asked.

  “Bored,” Hannah said.

  “And hungry,” Madison said.

  “They’re always hungry,” quipped Richardson.

  “Dammit,” Lita said. “We’re talking almost another hour past Houston. Wonder why? It’s not that much further, really.”

  “The road, probably,” Richardson said. “Can you see how long it will take to get to that next town?”