Bug Out! Part 3: Motorhome Madness (14 page)

“Yeah, probably a good point, I guess,” Frank said.

“You guys have been extremely lucky in every one of these battles so far, Frank.”

“I know.”

“Good, because you need to prepare yourself. Some of you folks are going to get killed. It’s only a matter of time.”

“I understand that,” Frank said. “If you guys weren’t with us on this occasion, we’d probably still be in the heat of a very bad fight. That mortar helped a lot.”

“They were going to get that tank’s gun pointed at the park and start firing,” the Major said. “That would have been it, and your small arms fire wouldn’t have made a stitch of difference.”

“We need to bottle up this area back here.”

“Yes,” the Major said. “I have some suggestions.”

“Shoot,” Frank said.

“After you get the bodies cleaned out of here, I’d use something to move the hulks of those trucks into the driveway over there. The trees around this place are going to make it really tough to get anything through if the driveway is blocked.”

“Go on.”

“Then back the tank up into this end of the parking lot, and point the gun right down the driveway. Have somebody man that sucker 24-7.”

“You aren’t taking the tank with you?”

“No, I can’t use it,” the Major said. “You guys just got yourself an expensive piece of hardware. I’ll get you manuals as soon as I can, but we can probably have Lieutenant James check some of your folks out. He used to work with those.”

“Have you been in contact with Major Darcy?”

“Not yet, trying to get him on the radio.”

“Uh Oh, I hope everything is alright up there.”

“If they lost, we’d still be hearing gunshots as the cretins execute all of the people in the park. Don’t know if the battle is over yet, but we haven’t lost.”

“You noticed the big difference about this attack, didn’t you, Major?” Frank asked.

“What?”

“No militia men.”

The Major looked him in the eye, and had a worried expression.

“You’re right,” Major Hobbs said.
“I haven’t seen any militia men anywhere back here. Only Islamist fighters. Even in the truck that we hit with the mortar round.”

“Did you contact Major Darcy yet?” asked Frank.

“No, and that’s worrisome,” he said. “Feel like sneaking up there with me?”

“I was going either way. Jane is up there.” Frank said.

“Alright, I’ll let my privates know. You want to take anybody else?”

“I’d say Jerry, but he’s tracking right now. Probably a good idea to keep him on that.”

“OK,” Major Hobbs said. He trotted over to where his men were going through the wreckage of the trucks, and let them know he would be gone for a few minutes. He rejoined Frank, and they walked towards the gate.

“Sheriff, we are going up front for a few minutes,” Frank said as they went by the blind.

“Who?”

“Just Major Hobbs and I. If there aren’t big problems, we’ll be back in a few minutes.”

“Alright, I’ll keep an eye out. I’d leave that mortar there and sighted in on that parking lot just in case a second wave comes in here.”

“Will do,” Major Hobbs said. He went over to the private manning the mortar and told him to sit tight for now.

They walked through the gate. Everything looked normal, but nobody was walking around. It was like everybody took off and left the park empty.

“I’ll sneak up to the clubhouse,” Frank said.

“Alright, I’m going over by where the Humvees are parked.”

Frank made his way to the clubhouse, and peered into one of the windows. Jane was sitting in there, next to Rosie and Jasmine and Chester. The doc was working on somebody up towards the front of the room with one of the paramedics, but he couldn’t see who. He went around to the door. Jane saw him and ran over to him, hugging him tightly.

“Oh, Frank, I’m so glad you’re okay.” She kissed him and continued to hug him tightly. Jasmine came running over.

“Where’s Jerry?” she said, tears streaming down her face.

“He’s fine, don’t worry. We won in the back. He’s helping one of the privates back there track anybody who might have escaped.”

“Thank God,” she said. Rosie and Chester came hobbling over.

“Jerry alright?” Rosie asked.

“He’s fine, mom,” Jasmine said, smiling.

“Oh, crap, is that Hilda on the table?” Frank said.

“Yes, she got hit pretty badly,” Jane said. “Doc said he thinks she will make it, but it’s going to be touch and go for a little while.”

“What happened up here?” Frank asked.

“It was horrible,” Jane said. “The Islamist fighters came driving up the road towards us. Jeb and Charlie saw them, and took out the folks driving the front truck. They shot out the tires too. It bottled up the road, and the other trucks behind it couldn’t get past it. It looked like we were going to take them all, when about half of Major Darcy’s men turned. They shot him. Then they shot Hilda. The remaining good privates took them out.”

“How is Major Darcy?” Frank asked.

“He’s dead,” Jane said.

“Oh, crap. Anybody else get hit?”

“No,” Jane said.

“Jeb and Charlie saved our butts,” Chester said. Those first shots at that truck were about 300 yards out. Took the cretins completely by surprise.”

“Don’t mess with rednecks,” Frank said. The door opened, and Major Hobbs rushed in. He had tears on his face and a look of anger and resolve.

“We’ve only got six men left out there,” Major Hobbs said. “I’m assuming you heard what happened to Major Darcy.”

“Yes, Major. I’m so sorry,” Frank said.

“Well, the only good news is that we know the remaining privates are real army. Between your two redneck friends and the roof of that store and what was left of Darcy’s men, they were able to stop the enemy.”

“How did they stop them out on the road?” Frank asked.

“Your friends took out that first truck, and it bottled up the street. Major Darcy was working with his gunner to get the mortar set up when he got shot by the plants. Then a battle went on between the remaining good privates and the bad guys. That was over pretty fast, but we lost another two good men.”

“So after that, they got the mortar set up, I suspect.”

“Yes, they did, and they blasted the two trucks that were behind the first one. They shot most of the Islamists as they jumped out and tried to run. A few of them got away, though. I’ve got four of the remaining privates chasing them down now. These ‘fighters’ were so flustered that they didn’t even try to attack the campground. The Islamists talk a good game, but they ain’t worth much against real men.”

The Doc walked up.

“Hilda is going to make it, but she needs to be in bed for at least a few days,” he said. “I got the bullet out, and the wound dressed. She lost a fair amount of blood, but the bullet didn’t do any serious damage. She’s a lucky gal.”

“Thanks, Doc,” Chester said.

“Does Charlie know?” Frank asked.

“Yes, he was down here with her until we started cutting to get the bullet out. Then he went back up to be with Jeb on the roof. I’ll talk to him.”

“Thanks, Doc,” Frank said.

“You’re going to have a problem getting out of here, at least for a while, I’m afraid,” Major Hobbs said.

“Road pretty bottled up, eh?” he asked.

“Yes. When the privates get back from the chase, I’ll get a couple of those Humvees out there to drag the wreckage out of the way. We’ll also grab their supplies and bring them in here. More AK-47s and ammo to add to your arsenal. Maybe some grenades and mortars too.”

“Yeah, those mortars come in handy,” Frank said.

“We heard them going off back there. What happened?” Chester asked.

“The enemy brought three troop transport trucks and a tank into the back parking area,” Frank said. We caught them flat footed with that mortar. Good thing, too, because they were getting the tank ready to start bombarding the park.”

“Yeah, their strategy makes a lot of sense, actually,” Major Hobbs said. “Attack from the rear, and have forces up front to stop us from escaping. We were very lucky.”

“How did you take the tank out?” asked Jane.

“We didn’t take out the tank, but the men manning the tank were outside when the mortar fire hit them. That tank is in working order.”

“Really?” asked Chester. “What kind?”

“M-1 Battle tank,” Major Hobbs said. “I think you guys should man that thing back there in addition to watching from the blind.”

“I know quite a bit about tanks,” Chester said. “Learned about them in the service. Nothing newer than M-60s, but I’ve kept up. Maybe I can help.”

“Maybe,” Major Hobbs said. “That reminds me, how is Lieutenant James doing, Doc?”

“He’s less injured than I thought. I was going to release him this afternoon, but got the call to come down here. If you can get me back into town, I’ll get him released and you can bring him back here.”

“Excellent,” Major Hobbs said. “He’s an expert on the M-1 tanks. He can help get a bunch of your folks checked out on that thing.”

“I did have one thought since we talked, Major,” Frank said. “I’m not so sure that it’s a good idea to bottle up that back parking area in such a way that we can’t get out there.”

“Why? No way could you get any motor homes through to that parking lot.”

“I know, but we could fix things so that we could get cars through there. Most of us have TOADs”

“What’s a TOAD?” asked the Major.

“It’s a vehicle that you tow behind your motor home,” Chester said.

“Oh. Well, you may have a point there, Frank. I’ll leave that one up to you. If you are smart with that tank and have it manned all the time, nobody is getting through there.”

One of the privates rushed in.

“Major Hobbs, our men are back,” he said.”

“Thanks, private,” the Major said. “Send them in.”

The four men came in.

“Well, anything?” he asked.

“There were three of them walking away. We killed all of them, sir,” said one of the privates.

“Private Finch, correct?”

“Yes sir,” he replied.

“Any evidence of other vehicles that might have gotten away?”

“No sir, I’m almost sure of that,” he said.

“How?”

“They would have had to make a K-turn to get out of there, and there were no tire tracks on the sides of the road or the turnout there,” he said. “No way could they have pulled off a K-turn on the asphalt.”

“Good job, Private Finch. Now we have another job to do. Let’s get a couple Humvees out there and pull those busted trucks out of the road.”

“Yes, sir,” Private Finch said.

“Oh, and collect all of the weapons and ammo and bring them in here. Same for any grenades, mortars, or RPGs.”

“Will do, sir,” he said, and the four men turned and left.

Charlie walked in, and came up to the doc.

“How’s my girl?” he asked.

“She’s still doing well, but she needs bed rest for a few days,” the doc said. “Anybody here know anything about nursing? The dressings will need to be changed.”

“I nurse,” Rosie said. “In Philippines.”

“Good,” the doc said. “Let’s go over there and talk, and I’ll show you what you need to do.”

“OK,” she said, and they walked over. “You have girlfriend?” The doc looked at her and laughed.

“Mom!” Jasmine said. Everybody else cracked up.

“What’s the plan, guys?” asked Charlie.

“You missed out on that conversation we had earlier,” Frank said. “When you guys were scouting the back for the cameras. Major Darcy and Major Hobbs told us what the situation is.”

“Go on,” Charlie said.

“The army has two problems right now. They are heavily tied up fighting inside Mexico, to stop the flow of Islamists and radicals from South America, and to re-take that country. It’s going well, but it’s left us thin up here. That’s problem number one.”

“What’s problem number two?”

“You saw it today. The army has been infiltrated with a lot of recent immigrants who aren’t really immigrants. They are plants from the South American radical groups. They’ve been doing just what we saw happen here today. They are very difficult to detect.”

“That’s not good.”

“There are actually three problems,” Major Hobbs said as he walked back over to them. “The other big problem is a very large movement of Islamist forces over the border from Canada.”

“Yeah, I was getting to that,” Frank said.

“So we are being attacked from the great white north and there is not enough army to handle them.”

“Exactly. You know what that means?”

“Yes,” Charlie said. “It means the citizens are in this fight too.”

“Exactly,” Frank said. Major Hobbs nodded in agreement.

“So we need to do more than just defend this place and try to stay alive,” Charlie said. “We’ve got to take it to the enemy.”

“Yes, that is the situation we are in now, I’m afraid,” Major Hobbs said. “From what I’ve seen of you guys, you are up to the challenge. But let’s be realistic. Some of you are going to get killed.”

“Yes, that is what I’m afraid of,” Jane said.

“Me too,” Jasmine said.

“You two grow up,” Rosie said, hobbling over. “You live here in US of A and never have to fight for freedom. You don’t know what like to live in other places. You support your men. You fight. America worth this.” She stared at the two of them as if they were both their daughters.

“Rosie is right,” Major Hobbs said. “We could lose this country. Lord knows some of our leadership has done their best to make that happen, just by being lazy, stupid, and corrupt.”

Suddenly they heard a metallic screeching sound out front. Everybody except Major Hobbs looked concerned.

“They are towing those trucks out of the roadway,” the Major said. “I’d better go out and take a look at how they are doing.”

“I’ll go with you,” Frank said.

“I’m going back on the roof to keep watch with Jeb, just in case,” Charlie said. He headed for the store.

“Where are you dragging those hulks? In the front parking lot?” Frank asked.

“No, we don’t need anything out there for bad guys to hide behind. We’re going to put them in the turnouts along the bend of the road. That will make it hard for those guys to escape, should they come down that road again.”