Bug Out! Part 5: RV Flight from Terror

by Robert Boren

  “He says it’s his duty to stop people and confiscate guns before they bring them into Colorado. It’s total BS. He keeps the guns and sells them.”

  “I see. Well, I’ll just go up there and have a little talk with him.”

  The private jumped back into the passenger side of the Humvee. It took off at a fast pace to the front of the line of coaches, screeching to a stop right behind the Sheriff’s cruiser.

  “This is going to be fun,” the Deputy said.

  There was a short argument coming over the radio speaker. Shouting. It was hard to hear what the words were. Then there were some calm words from Private Jenkins.

  “I’ll put it to you this way, Sheriff. I’m telling you that these are good people, and you have no reason to hold them. I know what you are trying to pull, and we aren’t going to allow this treasonous behavior. Stand down now, or you will be shot.”

  “Whoa,” Jane said. “Would he really do that?”

  Frank just looked over at her and smiled.

  “Looks like that did the trick, folks,” the Deputy said. “The coaches are starting to pull out.”

  “You should report this fool,” Frank said.

  “I’m going to. I’ve had enough. I think I’m going to go re-join the army. This jerk weed has me on my last nerve. It’s not worth it.”

  “Okay, Deputy. Thanks, and good luck to you.”

  “Take care of yourselves,” the Deputy said. He tipped his hat as Jane started the engine and drove forward.

  Franks phone rang after they had gone a couple of miles. He looked at his phone. It was the Sheriff.

  “Hi, Sheriff.”

  “Can you believe that guy? He did this because of an argument we got into at a conference last year.”

  “What was the argument over?”

  “Gun rights. This guy is a real Nazi on the subject. He thinks the Second Amendment is only for militias.”

  Frank laughed. “Yeah, well they’ve got their militias. Maybe he’d rather deal with them.”

  The Sheriff cracked up.

  “That Deputy was a nice kid,” Frank said. “He told me that this Sheriff has been confiscating weapons and then selling them.”

  “Well that makes him just another common criminal, now, doesn’t it?”

  “The Deputy said he was about ready to quit and go re-join the army.”

  “Good,” the Sheriff said. “Hopefully we’ll have clear sailing all the way to Eagle.”

  “Did Private Jenkins say what they were going to do?”

  “Yeah. They made contact with a base outside of Colorado Springs. They’re heading that direction. They’ll be with us all the way down I-70, so if you see anybody nasty coming up behind you, give me a call and I’ll let them know.”

  “Excellent,” Frank said. “Talk to you later.”

  “Bye.” The Sheriff hung up, and Frank put his phone back in his pocket.

  “Well, that was interesting.” He recounted the conversation to her.

  They rolled along silently for a while, watching the scenery go by. Lucy decided to get up on Frank’s lap. She sat up facing forward and watched out the windshield.

  “Wish we had some coffee,” Jane said.

  “Hmmmmm. We could turn on the generator and fire up the coffee maker, I suppose.”

  “We can do that when we’re driving?” Jane asked.

  “Sure. Wonder if the coffee maker will fit in the sink? That way if we hit a bump it won’t go flying. I’ll go check it out.”

  Frank pushed on Lucy to get her to jump down, and then went into the kitchen and pulled the Keurig machine out of the lower cabinet. He lifted it to the sink.

  “Fits, just barely,” Frank said. “Fire up the generator.”

  Jane pushed the button until light came on.

  “OK, you should have power.”

  Frank poured some water in the machine and plugged it in.

  “It’s heating,” Frank said. He sat down on the dinette bench and waited for the water to heat up. Mr. Wonderful sauntered over and jumped up on his lap.

  “Hey, guess who’s here?” Frank said. “I guess he’s getting used to being on the road.”

  “Really?” Jane said. “He’s the perfect cat.”

  Frank saw the brew light come on. He got up. Mr. Wonderful hit the floor, and looked back at him, annoyed. Frank loaded a coffee pod into the machine and put Jane’s cup into place, then pushed the button. The machine sputtered and a dark stream of coffee started to flow.

  “Smell that?” Frank asked.

  “Not yet,” she said. “I’ll bet it smells good.”

  “Here it is,” Frank said, walking up and putting her coffee into the cup holder. She picked it up and took a sip.

  “Ah, that’s heavenly.”

  Frank went back into the kitchen and made himself a cup. When it was done, he unplugged the machine and came back up to the front. Jane turned off the generator.

  “Nobody behind us?” Frank asked.

  “There have been a few cars back there, but they’ve all gotten off the road quickly. Locals, I suspect.”

  “I’m surprised more people aren’t on the road trying to get away.”

  “I’m not,” Jane said. “I don’t think the roads are safe. I’ll be glad when we’re at a good campground.”

  “Me too. We’ll probably be hitting some tough grades before too long.”

  “I figured. We should have enough gas to get to Eagle though,” Jane said. “Glad we topped it off.”

  “I bet somebody in the group will have to stop for fuel before then. If so, I’ll top her off again.”

  “It’s getting pretty sparse out here. We’re a ways past Grand Junction now. No more good sized towns for a while, as I remember from looking at the map.”

  “Palisade is coming up,” Frank said. “Not huge, but not tiny. From there we are going to be going alongside the Colorado River.”

  “Really, this far north?” Jane asked.

  “Of course,” Frank said, laughing. “That’s why they call it the Colorado River.”

  “Duh,” Jane said. “Sorry, I just always think of that as purely southwest, and we’re into the mountain zone now.”

  “True, most of the recreation is in the southwest,” Frank said. He pulled out his phone and looked at his map application. “We’ll be next to the river until right before we get to Eagle. It goes off to the north of I-70 after that.”

  “Can you tell when the elevation starts climbing?”

  Frank looked at his phone and moved the map around with his fingers.

  “It’ll be a while. Looks like we’re in the 4600-4800 range until we get past New Castle. Then it starts to jump into the 6000s. Glenwood Springs is way up there….like 6700.”

  “Wow. I may let you drive when we start going up.”

  “Sure, no problem,” Frank said.

  “What’s Eagle?”

  “Looks like 6800-6900. Hilly terrain. Lots of hillside homes, from what I can see here.”

  “Well, Jerry said it was popular for mountain bikes. That’s probably why.”

  Frank nodded and drank the last sip of his coffee.

  The two were silent for a while, enjoying the scenic beauty of the area.

  Frank’s phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket.

  “Jerry, what’s up?”

  “You been listening to the radio?”

  “Nope, haven’t had it on at all.”

  “About 80 thousand enemy fighters just hit Phoenix. It’s looking like Flagstaff was a diversion. They hit after the army sent reinforcements up there.”

  “Shit,” Frank said. “I’ll turn on the radio.”

  “Talk to you later, Frank.” Frank put his phone back in his pocket.

  Frank reached over, switched on the radio, and hit the seek button. He found a news station that was reporting on the crisis. The announcer sounded excited and frightened.

  “The army is scrambling to move forces south to Phoenix, but severa
l overpasses on I-17 have been blown up by the enemy. The people of Phoenix are starting to resist the enemy, but the force is extremely large, and they have tanks and other heavy weapons. Apache helicopters are being brought in to blow up the tanks, but they are taking a lot of fire from the ground, so it’s a dangerous operation.”

  “The only good thing about this is that they’re further south,” Jane said.

  “True, but if they’re successful there, they’ll spread out in all directions, or worse, open the border back up. I think the Government is going to have to start using its airpower. A lot of innocent people are going to be in harm’s way when they do that.”

  The announcer continued.

  “Flagstaff has been locked down. Officials say it was never the main target, but a diversion. Many are calling on the Army to move forces from the border and the Tucson area to help, but the Government will not do that, fearing that the border would then be overrun and we would be flooded with many more enemy fighters. There is more help coming, though. A group of large transport ships are heading to San Diego, carrying most of the force that was in South Korea. This is roughly 28 thousand men, still much smaller than the enemy force in Arizona. Arrival time for the first two transport ships is this afternoon. The San Diego base is already getting transport trucks and busses ready to go….both civilian and military.”

  “You know what I don’t get, Frank?

  “What?”

  “Why don’t they pull the troops off the border, wait for the cretins to start to come in, and then carpet bomb them? The Air Force doesn’t seem to be very busy at this point, and they could really hammer them out in the desert without hitting any civilians.”

  “That’s a really good question,” Frank said. “Last time I read about it, there were about 200 thousand US troops along the southern border.”

  The announcer continued.

  “Meanwhile, in other news, the situation in California is heating up. Even people in the coastal regions are beginning to resist the martial law imposed by the California state government. The President has appealed to the people for calm, but he has not ordered the state to rescind martial law. This has inflamed the situation even more. The anger is spreading to other states as well. There was a massive demonstration in Seattle against martial law, after the Governor suggested that martial law should be the norm in any states bordering the conflict. Similar statements have been made in Idaho and Oregon, and the result has been demonstrations, although none of them are as large as what was seen in Seattle this morning. A member of the Texas State Legislature from Austin made such a comment last week. He had to go into hiding, after his office was flooded with death threats.”

  “Go Texas!” Frank said enthusiastically.

  “Why won’t the feds stop this garbage in California?” Jane asked. “It doesn’t make sense.”

  “I have an idea why, but I’ll keep my mouth shut,” Frank said. Then his phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket and put it up to his ear. Jane reached over and shut off the radio.

  “Hi, Sheriff, what’s up?”

  “I’m going to need to gas up before we get to the big grade. Was thinking about the town of Rifle. It’s about an hour away.”

  “Alright, sounds like a plan.”

  “Will you call Jerry and Jeb? I’ll call Kurt and he can call Jackson and Earl. I think the rest of the folks will get the message.”

  “Sure, no problem,” he said. Frank made the calls to Jerry and Jeb. He chuckled as he got off the line with Jeb. He turned to Jane.

  “They’re good with it too.”

  “So I gathered,” Jane said. “What’s that Jeb was saying about the town?”

  “This is that town that made the news a few years ago because they have a strong open carry law, and they require somebody in all places of business to be armed too.”

  “Oh, yeah, I remember that. Thought it was kind of a cheesy story.”

  “We’ll be able to see it first hand,” Frank said. “Ought to be interesting.”

  Jane looked at him with a grin. “So, you going to strap on your hog leg, partner?”

  Frank laughed.

  “I don’t know,” Frank said. “I feel kind of dumb wearing a hog leg in that old west holster. I’ll probably get laughed at.”

  “How about another cup of coffee?” Jane asked.

  “Not a bad idea. Fire up the genny.” Frank grabbed her cup and his and unbuckled his seatbelt.

  Jane reached over and pushed the generator button on the dash until it fired up, as Frank went to kitchen counter. Mr. Wonderful saw him again and rubbed against his legs.

  “Wonder why Mr. Wonderful doesn’t just come up front and sit on my lap?” Frank asked.

  “Maybe he gets car sick when he can see the road.”

  “Maybe.” He brought a cup of coffee to Jane after a couple of minutes, and then went back to get his own.

  “Should I try to carry him up there?”

  “With a cup of coffee?” Jane asked. “No, don’t do that. If he gets scared you’ll spill.”

  “True.” Frank pulled the plug on the coffee maker and picked up his cup. He got back into his seat. Jane shut down the generator.

  “This is the only way to travel,” Jane said.

  “I’ll say,” Frank said. “Hey, look up there! Way over to your left, by those mountains. Choppers. About 6 or 7 of them.”

  “I see them, but just barely. You’ve got good eyes.”

  “Wonder what they’re up to?” Frank asked. “They’re heading somewhere in a hurry.”

  Frank’s phone rang. He fished it out of his pocket. It was Jerry.

  “You seeing this?” Jerry asked.

  “Just barely. They’re a ways away.”

  “I broke out the binoculars. There’s a large group of ground troops over there. The choppers are heading right towards them.”

  “Our troops or theirs?”

  “Well, unless ours started wearing their pajamas, I’d say it was theirs,” Jerry said.

  “What?” Jane asked.

  “Just a sec, Jerry,” Frank said. He brought the phone down from his ear. “Enemy troops…on the ground over there. The choppers are heading for them.”

  “Oh, no,” Jane said. “So they are up here.”

  Frank put the phone back to his ear.

  “You think they’re close enough to get to the road before we pass by?” he asked.

  “Nah, they’re on foot,” Jerry said. “Stupid. What are they doing out in the open like that?”

  “Good question.”

  Just then one of the choppers exploded. The others banked away from it.

  “Son of a bitch,” Jerry said. “They fired something at the choppers from the ground. RPG or something.”

  “The choppers are turning back around,” Frank said, as he looked at Jane. Her eyes were wide with terror, but she focused on her driving, her jaw set in grim determination.

  “I’m getting off the phone, Frank,” Jerry said. “Talk to you later.”

  Frank put his phone back in his pocket, got up, and went into the bedroom. He came back out with his binoculars, and sat back down. He buckled in and put them to his eyes.

  Three of the choppers fired missiles. They hit the ground, exploding in the midst of the troops, causing them to scatter.

  “Yeah!” shouted Frank. “Look at them run!”

  Another of the choppers exploded. Frank could see a person down on one knee, holding some kind of a weapon, pointed up at the sky. One of the remaining choppers got ready to fire, but then it stopped, and all of them banked off and headed for the hills.

  “They’re running away,” Jane said.

  Chapter 15 – Climbing the Grade

  “I think I know why those choppers are running,” Frank said. “Listen.”

  There was the approaching roar of a jet fighter.

  “Yes, I hear it,” Jane said.

  Suddenly a curtain of flames descended onto the ground, covering the force o
f Islamic fighters. Frank took the binoculars away from his eyes, a grim look on his face.

  “Bad?” Jane asked.

  “I wish I hadn’t seen that,” Frank said. “Not a good way to go.”

  “I thought they outlawed napalm.”

  “Oh, don’t get me wrong, I’m glad they did it,” Frank said.

  “I know, me too,” Jane said. “But we’re still human beings. I don’t like to see stuff like that.”

  “Well, just remember our friend’s heads on spikes back at Hilda’s park to keep your perspective. They would have loved to do the same thing to us.”

  “I know,” Jane said. Frank’s phone rang.

  “Hey, Jerry,” Frank said.

  “That was something else. Looked like almost a thousand men.”

  “Yeah, I was looking at them through the binos when it hit. Not a pretty sight.”

  “I know, Jasmine was watching when it happened. She’s a little shook up.”

  “Of course she is. Me too, but I’m glad they got wiped out.”

  “Yes, Frank, so am I, believe me. I was wondering….do you think we ought to go all the way to Leadville tonight? Maybe it’s not safe to spend the night along I-70.”

  “That thought is starting to creep into my mind too. Let’s chat about it when we get to Rifle.”

  “Sounds good. Talk to you later.”

  Frank put his phone back in his pocket.

  “What’s up?” Jane asked.

  “Jerry’s thinking that maybe we ought to try to make it all the way to Leadville tonight, instead of hanging out right next to I-70.”

  “Because there were so many enemy fighters this far into Colorado?”

  “Exactly. I think he might have something there. We’ll talk about it when we stop for gas in Rifle.”

  “Jeb made a comment about Route 24 being tough at night,” Jane said. “Wonder how tough?”

  “I’ll see if I can get a decent look at it on my phone…although it’s getting pretty sparse out here now. Might not have service at the moment.”

  “Maybe the place we gas up will have a coffee shop nearby. We could take an iPad in there.”

  “Or we could just ask Jeb about it,” Frank said. “He’s been on that road…shoot, no data service. Surprised I was able to talk to Jerry.”

  The two were quiet for a while. The midday sun started to heat up the coach, and Jane flipped on the air conditioner. Lucy jumped back up on Franks lap and settled in for a nap. Frank dozed off too. He was out for over an hour.