Bug Out! Part 4: Mortars and Motorhomes (3 page)

“Earl and I were getting ready to leave the Williams Militia and join this group,” Jackson said. “Hank and Lewis caught us before we left, and forced us to agree to be spies.”

“I see,” the Major said, looking concerned. “And did you ever act in that capacity?”

“No,” Jackson said. “We probably would have just disappeared instead of staying with this group, but then the air attacks happened, and there was the incident where Hank and Ken got killed. We decided it was better to stay with this group. We are with them 100%, and we will fight the Williams Militia with them.”

“They already have fought with us against the Williams Militia, Major,” Frank said. “I trust these guys.
They’re with us
.”

“I see,” the Major said.

“I still don’t understand why Officer Simmons decided to attempt an arrest,” Frank said. “He had to know that we wouldn’t allow it.”

“He probably thought his cover was strong enough to keep me on his side,” Major Hobbs said. “I fought with you guys, side by side. Earl saved our bacon more than once today, so there’s no way I’m buying what Officer Simmons was up to. Besides, the things he was interested in while we were up in the front made me question why he was here. That’s why I called Frank. He hardly even looked at those bodies, but he was real interested in the defenses of this park.”

“He was here to case the joint, and if he got lucky enough, to settle scores with Frank, Jackson, and me,” Earl said.

“Yeah, I’d have to agree with that,” the Major said.

“How are we going to handle him?” asked Jane. “I don’t want this guy getting away.”

“Is there a jail in town, Sheriff?” the Major asked.

“Yes, there is, but it isn’t the best, and my department is really small. I’ve got two deputies there keeping track of the town, but if some militia fighters were to storm the place, they’d spring him in a second.”

“I was afraid of that,” the Major said.

“How far away is the base?” Frank asked.

“About two hours,” the Major said.

“Why don’t you see if the CO will send a chopper?” asked Earl.

“Good idea,” the Major said. “In order to trust that, though, I’ll have to be sure that the CO understands who this guy is. If he’s still thinking that he might be in the agency, even as a double agent, he’ll turn him loose.”

“We can’t have that,” Frank said.

“Yes, I know,” the Major said. “I’m going to go call the CO again and see if he’s found anything out yet.” He got up and left the clubhouse.

“I’ve got a really bad feeling about this,” Jackson said.

“Yeah, me too,” Jane said. She came over next to Frank and put her arm around his shoulder.

Jasmine walked over.

“Where’s Jerry?” she asked.

“He’s up in the blind,” Frank said. “I need to get him back down here pretty soon, though. And I need Charlie too. We need to get that surveillance system up and running.”

“We need some good men to be watching for attacks while our best are busy with that,” Jane said. “Wonder if there’s any chance that the army folks will stick around until you’re done?”

“Worth asking about,” Frank said. “This place is a magnet for the bad guys in the area. If I were in charge of the army I’d leave people here.”

“There may be quite a few other small groups of people going through the same thing we are,” the Sheriff said. “I’m surprised they aren’t attacking the town instead of this RV Park.”

“We had a good discussion about that earlier,” Frank said. “We have a growing number of their weapons and ammo, and they’re having problems with re-supply. They know we have their stuff. We are also an easier target.”

“Yes, that’s true. We have a lot of rednecks in town, spread out all around in houses. A lot of them are cinder block. It would take a pretty overwhelming force to take that town. They’d need heavier weapons than we’ve seen them with so far.”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Jackson said. “That M-1 Tank was in their arsenal, and they had mortars too. I think this RV Park might have been their stop on the way in to town. Their plan may have been to pick up the supplies, kill everybody here, and then go take the town.”

The Sheriff got a worried look on his face.

“You know, you’re probably right,” he said. “Wonder if they have more heavy weapons? If they do, they’ll try it again.”

“Maybe the Major can tell us how much stuff they took when they knocked over the bases in New Mexico,” Earl said.

The major came back into the clubhouse. He had a smile on his face.

“Good news,” he said. “The CO got conformation that Officer Simmons is not part of the CIA. He’s a spy, and the agency’s been trying to find him for a while now. We have a chopper arriving in any minute to pick him up. There was one in the area doing reconnaissance.”

“Excellent,” Frank said. “Any chance you guys can stick around here long enough for us to get the security system set up?”

“Yes, I already cleared that,” he said. “We’ll be around for at least a week. This is where the action is right now. We will try to hide where we are, though. We’ll need someplace to stash our vehicles so they can’t be seen from the roads or from the air.”

“I thought we had air superiority?” Earl asked.

“We do, but they’ve been flying small drones, according to the CO. He said to shotgun them if we see any. They aren’t very sophisticated and they can’t fly very high. Basically hobby stuff, but they have cameras and they’ve given us some trouble in other areas.”

“Wonder if we’ve already had them over us?” asked Frank.

“You’d hear them,” the Major said. “They’re pretty loud. They sound like a model airplane.”

Suddenly the thumping of helicopter blades was approaching.

“Here it comes,” the Major said. “Sheriff, let’s get ready to transfer the prisoner.”

“Right,” the Sheriff said. They both went out the door. The rest of the group followed, and got outside just in time to see the chopper put down in the parking lot. Several of the privates ran over and pulled the door open.

The Sheriff opened the door of his car and pulled Officer Simmons out, as the Major held his pistol on him. Jeb and Charlie had their rifles pointed at him from the roof as they hurried him over to the chopper. The privates held the door open as the Sheriff got in and pulled Simmons up. There was an airman inside waiting. He put ankle and wrist bracelets onto Simmons, and then the Sheriff removed the handcuffs and hooked them back onto his belt. He climbed out of the chopper, and the privates shut the door. They all backed off, and the chopper took off and headed southwest.

“Sheriff, could you take me into town to pick up Lieutenant James?”

“Certainly, Major,” he said. They walked back to the clubhouse.

“Alright, folks, you saw him leave. Could you help us figure out a way to stash the Humvees?”

“Sure thing, Major,” Frank said. “I’ll go talk to Charlie. There’s a big building behind the workshop that I haven’t been in. It looks like a barn. Maybe we could put your vehicles in there.”

“Hilda awake now,” Rosie said. “You could ask her too.”

“Oh, excellent,” Frank said.

“Thanks,” the Major said. “We won’t be gone long. Take care.”

The Major and the Sheriff went to the squad car, and drove off.

Rosie and Jane and Frank walked over to where Hilda was laying. She looked a little groggy, but she smiled when she saw them approach.

“Hi, Hilda,” Jane said. “How are you feeling?”

“Pretty good, considering,” she said. “How’s my Charlie?”

“He’s beside himself, honey,” Jane said. “You’ve got him hooked real good.”

She started to giggle, but then put her hand to her abdomen.

“Hurts to laugh,” she said. “Is he in here?”

“No, he’s been manning the roof of the store with Jeb, but he’s been down here pretty often to check on you.”

“Good,” she said. “You need something?”

“Yes,” Frank said. “The Major is going to stay here with the army for at least a week.”

“Oh, thank God,” she said.

“They need somewhere to put four Humvees so they can’t be seen from the road or from the air. Is there space in that barn behind the maintenance building?”

“The barn,” she said. “Yes, but we’ll have to move some stuff out of there. We used to run hay rides at the park years ago. There are several wagons sitting in there. The horses are all gone now, of course.”

“Is it locked?” Frank asked.

“Yes, it’s padlocked. Go into the office in this building. The key ring is in the top middle drawer of the desk. Help yourself.”

“Perfect, thanks,” Frank said. He got up and went over to the office. He came back out with the keys.

“Earl and Jackson, want to give me a hand?”

“Sure thing,” Earl said, and they trotted over to him. They went out the back door of the clubhouse, past the militia vehicles and the maintenance building. The barn stood behind, imposing in size. There was a chain through holes in the big wooden double doors with a large padlock. Frank started trying keys, finding the right one quickly. The padlock opened, but was pretty stiff.

“I don’t think this place has been opened for a while,” Frank said. “Give me a hand.”

He pulled the chain away, and then they grabbed the doors. They creaked as the men pulled them open. There was some fluttering of wings, and a couple of doves flew out of a hole in the roof, over the horse stalls on the far wall. The space was huge, but hot and stuffy. There were three large wagons, with hay still on the back, and a small carriage in the middle.

“Look,” Jackson said. “Swamp coolers. I wonder if they still work?”

“Let’s see if the electricity works,” Earl said. He saw a light switch and flipped it on. Several hooded lights hanging from the ceiling came on, giving the room a golden glow.

The men looked at each other and smiled. Jackson walked over to the first of the swamp coolers. He turned on the water valve and heard water flow. Then he flipped a switch, and the fan squeaked to life. He looked over at the other men and gave a thumbs up, then went over to each of the other four units and got them fired up.

“Wish we still had a horse or two,” Frank said. “These wagons are going to be heavy.”

“If we can’t handle them, we can just wait until the Major gets back, and then bring one of the Humvees back here to tow them out.”

“Good point,” Frank said. “What was I thinking?” He laughed.

Jackson walked back over. You could already feel the cold air flowing out of the coolers.

“If you’ve got the dry heat, these things work great,” Jackson said. He looked down at the floor, which was covered with straw. “This is a whale of a fire hazard, though, so we need to be careful. No smoking, for sure. I wouldn’t want to pull a car with a hot catalytic converter in here either.”

“Do Humvees have catalytic converters?” asked Frank.

“Good question. We need to find out. I think we might want to rake this up and get it out of here.”

“Good job for privates,” Earl said, grinning. “Let’s shut the doors and let the swamp coolers do their job for a while. The Major and the Sheriff will be back any minute.”

The men left the barn, closing the doors behind them but leaving it unlocked. They were walking up to the club house when they saw the Sheriff’s squad car pull up the driveway. The Sheriff, Major Hobbs, and Lieutenant James all got out and made their way to the clubhouse.

“Great to see you again, Lieutenant,” Frank said.

“Same here, Frank,” he said.

“You guys find a place to stash the Humvees?” asked the Major.

“Sure did, in the barn back behind the maintenance area. We’ve got swamp coolers running in there now, cooling the place off. We’ll need to tow four wagons out of there, though.”

“Yeah, and we probably want to rake out the straw on the floor,” Jackson said. “I wouldn’t want to park a hot vehicle on top of it.”

“Excellent,” the Major said. He turned to the Lieutenant. “Feel up to getting the men busy back there?”

“Yes sir,” the Lieutenant said, and he left.

“I’d better go check with the CO to make sure that the chopper got back to base alright. Be back in a minute.”

Jane walked up to Frank.

“How did it look?” she asked.

“It’s huge,” Frank said. “Looks just about perfect.”

“That’s great,” she said. “We don’t have much daylight left.”

“Yes, I know.”

“Remember that I’ve got a job for you tonight,” she said.

“Been on my mind for most of the day,” Frank said. He pulled her close and kissed her forehead.

The Major rushed back in. He had a worried look on his face.

“Uh oh, what?” asked Frank.

“The chopper never made it back,” the Major said.

“How long should it have taken
for the chopper to get back to base?” Frank asked. “It only just left.”

“It should have been back within twenty minutes,” Major Hobbs said. “Fifteen if they had a tail wind. The base isn’t all that far as the crow flies. It’s a ways to drive to because of the way the highways are laid out around the hills.”

“So it’s only about half an hour late at this point?” asked Earl. “Maybe they stopped to help somebody else out.”

“Maybe,” Major Hobbs said. “They can’t get them on the radio, though. That is worrisome.”

“Yes, it is,” Jane said.

“We should have just shot that creep here,” Jackson said. “He has an uncanny way of making it out alive, in case you hadn’t noticed.”

“Why don’t we go about our business and not worry about it right this second,” Frank said. “We need to get those cameras up. And I’ve got some software to write.”

“Agreed, Frank,” the Major said. “We don’t have much daylight left, but if you can get started, and we can get the Humvee’s stashed in the barn, it would be good.”

“I’m going to go get Charlie,” Frank said.

“Frank, I’ll go relieve Jerry so he can come back here,” the Sheriff said.

“Thanks, Sheriff,” Frank said. “Don’t you need to be getting back to the town, though?”

“No hurry. I still have the deputies down there, and I was able to touch base with a few key people while we were down there picking up Lieutenant James. It will keep.” He left the clubhouse, and Frank did too. He got into the store and climbed the steps to the roof.