Bug Out! Part 9: RV Ambush (6 page)

“You aren’t clearing out too, are you?” he shouted.

“Out of fuel,” Howard shouted back. “Might as well take some time.”

“You can still sell stuff from your store, though, can’t you?”

“Yeah, but the real money is in the fuel, so it’s a good time to get away. I might not get re-supplied until the middle of next week.”

“Okay, Howie, good luck to you.” The truck lurched forward and headed to the interstate. Howard locked the gate and hurried into the back of the store with the hand truck. He didn’t see the shadowy man hiding in the bushes next to the far side of the building. The man ran in a crouch over to the Class C and snuck in the door.

Inside the store, Howard picked up dry goods and some of his clothes. He threw them onto the hand truck. Then he went to the safe behind the counter and opened it, looking around warily. He still felt like he was being watched. He checked the monitor for his security cameras. Nobody in any of the views. He removed all of the cash from the safe, and put it into a cloth bank deposit bag. He threw that onto the flatbed, and pushed it onto the parking lot.

There was a big rig sitting outside the closed gate. “You open?” the driver shouted.

“Nope, sorry. Out of fuel. I’m leaving.”

“Okay,” the driver said. He drove on.

“I’d better not open that gate until I’m ready to pull out,” he said to himself. He hurried the flat bed over to his rig and stashed everything, some in storage compartments outside, and some just inside the door of the coach. He slammed the door shut, and pushed the flatbed back into the rear of the store.
Almost ready to go.
He took one last look around the store, locked up, and then trotted over to his rig, getting into the driver’s seat. He started the engine, drove over to the gate, and took a quick look around. Down the street, in both of his mirrors, and at the front of his lot. He jumped out and opened the gate, then hurried back to the driver’s seat and drove the Class C out onto the street, parked, and closed the gate up tight, his heart pounding. Finally he was on the road, heading for the interstate. His heart rate started to slow down as he got up to speed, heading east.

Back at the Kansas RV Park, Jasmine and Jane were all set up in the barn, running the new PC app on their laptops. Jane was following the two hits who had gone into town. They were both ranked level 4, and were now on their way back to the canyon. Jasmine was watching the larger group on the road. They were in a number of vehicles, all stuck in traffic now, crawling along with the rest of the people trying to get away from the Denver metropolitan area.

“I think I’ll call Jeb,” Jane said, “and let him know that we’re set up.”

“Good, but don’t let it ring too many times, just in case. Or better yet, send him a text.”

“Ah, yeah, text,” Jane said. “Why didn’t I think of that?” She started typing on her phone.

Jeb – Jane here. We’ve got new long range PC app working. Jasmine and I are watching. Let us know if you want a close look at anything. Right now, the large group, in many vehicles, is stuck in traffic on way out of Denver. Jane.

She tapped send. About five seconds later, Jeb replied.

Thanks, Jane. We’ll be watching your messages. Might want to Group message to all of us. Jeb.

“Okay, he’s got the message,” Jane said. “He suggested group messages to all of them.”

“In case any of them gets killed,” Jasmine said, her brow furrowed. “This is gonna be scary. I’ll warn them if the truckloads start moving faster.”

“I hope Mary’s doing alright with this,” Jane said. “And you. Your mom is there.”

“I’m extremely worried, but no way was I going to be able to talk her out of it.”

“If something happens to the team, can she drive that motorhome?” Jane asked.

“Probably, if her knees can take it,” Jasmine said. “As you might have noticed, she’s not afraid of much.”

“Yeah, I noticed,” Jane said, smiling. “She’s a strong person.”

“To a fault,” Jasmine said. “I’m glad our men are sitting this out.”

“Me too.”

Out in the trailer area, Terry, Trish, and Jake were sitting under the awning, having coffee. Gabe and Dobie walked over.

“Kinda late for coffee, isn’t it?” Gabe asked.

“It’s gonna be a long night,” Terry said. “I want to stay sharp.”

“What do you think is gonna happen?” Gabe asked.

“Could be almost anything,” Terry said. “Up to and including having to go there and bail out our friends.”

Trish got a horrified look on her face. “No,” she said.

“It probably won’t come to that, sweetie,” Terry said, “but if it does, I’ll be ready. They’d do the same for us.”

“Oh, I know,” Trish said. “I don’t have to like it.”

“No, you don’t,” he said.

“Better get some coffee myself,” Dobie said. “Now you’ve got me nervous. We might need my pistol.”

“It’ll be hard to get all that way in time, you know,” Jake said. “We’re talking a three hour drive. I’m more worried about unwelcome guests here.”

“We’ll see them coming,” Gabe said.

“Yeah, with as little as three hours warning,” Jake said.

“Shit, he’s right,” Gabe said. “Alright, coffee it is.”

“I think I’ll put on my Glock, too,” Dobie said. “If you guys don’t mind. The dogs are still on patrol. I was going to bring them in for the night, but maybe I’ll just feed them and let them go out again.”

“Why are you guys so scared?” Trish asked. “You’re getting yourselves all worked up.”

“We’ve got members in action, and the enemy is on the move, honey,” Terry said. “I’ve been with this group for a long time now. Things happen fast. I want to be ready.”

“Then maybe we ought to be getting the trailers hitched up,” she said. “We’ve never even tried moving any of these. We might even want to tow them around the park a couple of times to get the feel for it.”

“Not a bad idea,” Jake said. He pulled the bobtail keys out of his pocket and tossed them to Terry. “Have at it, son.”

“Yeah, that is a good idea,” Terry said.

“I should try that too,” Dobie said.

“Likewise,” said Gabe.

Back in the clubhouse, Frank was typing at the keyboard quickly, his face intense, his brow furrowed. The security bots were watching him, trying to force him out of the enemy system. He was out, but then he was back in, then out again, then in again. Cat and mouse. He started a download of files three times. Not the names files…he didn’t want them to know what he was after. He got shut down before the file downloads finished. Each time, the bots had been able to delete the file out from under him, but he was finding backup copies all over the system. Sloppy. The current download was at about 70% and screaming. He had a second and third session open now, and the bots were fighting with them. Maybe they didn't stop his file download because of that. If he could overwhelm the bots with the right combination, then he’d go find the names file. Get it and get out. Cover his tracks.

Jane walked in and saw the intensity. She got worried. “You okay?”

He waved her off, but as she looked concerned, he smiled at her.
He’s onto something
, she thought to herself, and left.

“Ready to go?”
asked Jeb.

“Yeah, we’re taking off now,” Malcolm said.

“We’ll be behind you in about fifteen minutes,” Jeb replied. He sat back down in the driver’s seat of his coach and looked out through the front windshield. The shadows were getting long, but it was still over an hour before sunset.

“You be careful,” Rosie said. “I want to see my man again.”

“I will, honey,” Jeb said. “Don’t worry. We’ll be alright.”

“Come here and give me kiss,” she said, her eyes welling up with tears.

He got up and kissed her, then stared into her face for a few seconds, brushing the tears away. Then he got up and went to the back, to grab his handgun and his bowie knife.

“Just about time, Jeb?” Kurt asked.

“Another few minutes,” Jeb replied.

“Good. Looks like the two pajama boys that went to town are back at the canyon now. The big group is still slogging along. Traffic must be a real nightmare leaving Denver.”

“Yeah,” Earl said. “Must be flat out panic going on there. Where the hell is the damn army?”

“I hope a lot of citizens are joining the fight,” Jackson said.

“Well, we are,” Jeb said. “Let’s go.”

Rosie watched the men slip out of the coach, and then she heard the jeep’s engine start. She watched them drive away. Then she broke down.

The road ahead was deserted. Jeb drove down the Interstate for a few miles, and then got off onto the local highway. George and Malcolm were on the side of the road, at the first intersection. Jeb pulled up next to them.

“Hi, Jeb,” Malcolm said. “There’s a dirt road up ahead about ten miles, on the left side of the road. Past that is a hill. The ridge at the top is where we’ll need to set up, but we’ll have to take the jeeps a little ways past that and walk in, so we don’t get seen when the bigger group shows up.”

“Any chance the big group will come from the other direction?” Kurt asked.

“Not that I can see on the map,” George said. “That road doesn’t link up with a highway in that direction. It just peters out.”

“Good,” Kurt replied. “At least it should be dark before the big group arrives.”

“Yeah, I see they’re still bottled up,” George said, looking at his phone. “Everybody got their phones on silent? Better double check.”

“Alright, let’s go,” Malcolm said. The two jeeps took off down the road as the sun slowly went below the hills.

Back at the RV Park, Dobie, Terry, and Gabe, were taking turns pulling their trailers around the park. Charlie and the Sheriff came out on the porch in front of the clubhouse to see what the noise was.

“Practicing, I see,” the Sheriff said. “Smart, in case we need to high-tail it out of here.”

“Yeah,” Charlie said. “I’m glad they decided to do this. Might pay off big.”

“You think the enemy is going to show up here?”

“I don’t know, but I’m worried about it, Sheriff.”

“Why?”

“We might not have roadblocks on the highways down from Nebraska,” Charlie said. “Been thinking about that for the last couple of hours.”

“Oh,” the Sheriff said. “I’m pretty sure this group coming east is focused on Denver.”

“Hope so,” Charlie said. “Hope our guys survive this.”

“Yeah, and I hope they give ‘em hell, too,” the Sheriff said.

“That fifth wheel looks a little big for Dobie’s truck,” Charlie said, as he watched him drive by.

“Oh, I think it’ll be fine. He’s got a better truck to tow with than my buddy had, and he pulled a bigger fifth wheel all over the country.”

“Wonder how Mary’s holding up?” Charlie asked. “This has got to be tough. Hell, Kurt hasn’t been healed up all that long, either.”

“I think she’s okay, Charlie. I mentioned to her that if there were problems, we’d get out there in a hurry.”

“Good.”

“I’m glad Terry isn’t with them this time,” the Sheriff said.

Dobie pulled his fifth wheel back over to his space, and got out to unhook the truck.

“How does it pull?” Gabe asked.

“Feels huge, but the truck wasn’t even breaking a sweat,” Dobie said. “How was yours?”

“Not bad. When we have more time, I’ll want to make some adjustments, but it’s good enough to flee if we have to. I think I need an anti-sway bar for this thing.”

“Maybe Howard has one,” he said.

“Nah, it’s going to be that place that you got the hitch,” Gabe said. “Too much of an RV specialty for Howard’s joint.”

They heard an engine start up in the barn, and the tow truck rolled out.

“That Jake?” Dobie asked.

“Yeah, I guess he’s going to give his a try,” Gabe said. “That tow truck is over-kill for that little trailer.”

“He knows not to mess around in there a lot, right? Because of the evidence?”

“I think so,” Gabe said. They watched as Jake backed up, Terry guiding him to his trailer’s hitch. Trish watched, still looking nervous.

“Well, he’s the last of us,” Dobie said. “No big problems so far. If we have to take off in a hurry, we can. I feel confident about that.”

“What are you going to do with the dogs, now that your kennels aren’t in the back of the truck?” Gabe asked.

“I’ll put Duchess up in the cab with me, and the other three in the trailer,” he said. “I might be able to squeeze the kennels in there, but it’ll be tough. When I pull the slides in, it gets pretty compact in there.”

“There he goes,” Gabe said, nodding. Jake pulled away, the trailer rattling as it went by them.

“That’s an old trailer. Hope he fixed everything up,” Gabe said.

“I know he put new tires and bearings on her. That ought to be enough.”

Howard had been driving for just under two hours, getting deeper into Kansas, watching the peaceful farm land roll by. He was finally relaxing. Then he heard a noise in the back. He tried to look back, but visibility into the coach wasn’t so great from the driver’s seat in his Class C.

“Pull over,” said a voice behind him. Howard’s blood ran cold, and his heart started to pound.

“What the hell? Scotty?”

“I said pull over,” the voice said again.

“Screw you,” Howard said. He sped up. Then he felt the cold steel of a pistol barrel pushing on the back of his neck.

“I’m not going to ask you again.”

“So shoot me. Then we’ll crash.”

“Oh, I could do that, Howie. The result would be that you’re dead for sure, and I might get hurt. You sure that’s good for you?”

“You’re going to kill me either way,” Howard said, heart still pounding.

“No, I’m not,” Scotty said. “I’m just going to encourage you to join the game again. It’ll be like old times.”

“I didn’t like the old times,” Howard said. He sighed, and pulled his rig over to the side of the road. “Okay, now what?”

“Come on back, and let’s chat for a few minutes.”

Howard came into the back and sat on the couch. Scotty was leaned up against the door. He was about forty years old. If you didn’t know him, you’d think he was a normal family man. Trim dark brown hair, parted on the side, a little gray starting up at the temples. Clean shaven. A warm smile. Slight build. Button down shirt and Dockers. Leather Nike shoes, white.