Bug Out! Part 6: Motorhome Mayhem in the Rockies (3 page)

The Major laughed. “I’ll tell you something. A month ago I’d have laughed you guys right out of this place. No more. I’ve seen what armed civilians in large numbers can do to an enemy force. Folks like you are probably going to end up turning the tide. Just be careful, let us know what you’re planning if you can, and don’t screw up and hit any of my soldiers.”

“That’s basically what Major Hobbs and General Walker were telling us,” Charlie said.

“Those cretins really pissed me off,” Jeb said. “I saw what they did at Hilda’s park. I’m going to kill as many of those low-life sixth century idiots as I can…and I’m even madder at the militia traitors and the assholes in the military that turned.”

“How come you brought so many soldiers with you?” Frank asked casually.

“They aren’t letting officers go anywhere without a significant force,” the Major answered.

Earl shot a glance over to Jackson. He nodded towards the window. Earl squinted as he looked out there. The soldiers from the helicopter were taking up positions around the clubhouse, getting ready for an assault. Earl glanced over at Jeb when the Major wasn’t looking and nodded over there too. Jeb picked up on it right away, and went over by the window. He shot a glance at Private Jenkins, who also looked out there. He turned towards the Major, hand on his weapon.

“Major Donaldson, why are your men approaching this clubhouse in assault formation?” he asked.

He turned towards the Private, and attempted to pull his sidearm. Jeb leveled his rifle at him and fired, throwing the Major backwards. He was dead before he hit the floor.

“Grab your guns!” Jeb cried. “Traitors on the way in. Keep down.”

Jerry pointed his AK-47 at Private Jenkins. “Whose side are you on, son?”

“Not his,” he said. He set down his weapon and began to back away.

“Pick that up,” Frank said. “I wondered why he brought you in here. Get in the fight. Then he turned to the rest of the group. “Those of you who have weapons, get around the windows and get ready to fire. Those who aren’t fighting, get on the floor under the tables in the middle of the room and hope for the best.”

Jeb, Charlie, and the Sheriff were all aiming their rifles out the window. They shot. Then a volley of automatic weapons fire went off, shattering the windows in the room and sending wood chips flying all over the place. Jerry got up to the door and let loose with his AK, spraying fire into the area in front of the clubhouse. Half of the soldiers took off running for some cover, but the hunting rifles blasted again, sending all but one of the traitors flying to the ground, dead. The last one was still running, close to two hundred yards out, moving out of range fast.

“Got him,” Kurt cried. He fired, hitting the soldier square in the back.

“Damn, that 30-06 makes a lot of noise,” Jeb said.

The back door flew open and three soldiers ran in. Frank turned and nailed one in the chest with his Winchester. Jane fired her M-16 and got another one, but the third dove for cover under a row of tables. The civilians in the middle scrabbled to get away from them, except one, who turned and stuck the man in the neck with a bowie knife. The man fired off a couple of shots but they just hit the wall. He was dead. Then it was silent.

“Think we got all of ‘um?” Gabe whispered.

“We got most of them,” Jeb said. “I watched them coming out of that big chopper before I got in here. There were only about ten.

The chopper started.

“Listen, Jeb said. “It’s trying to take off. Let’s go see if we can hit the pilot.” He slipped out onto the veranda, looking for a good place for a shot. Charlie and Kurt ran out after him, and then the Sheriff. Jerry and Frank stayed put, eyes on the back doors and windows, ready for anybody coming through.

“You want to go out?” Frank asked, looking at Jerry.

“Naw, this is a job for those big bore hunting rifles. If anybody can take out the pilots, it’s one of our sharpshooters. This AK doesn’t have the accuracy anyway.”

“Maybe I can help,” Private Jenkins said. He stood up and went to the doorway. Then his head exploded all over the room. Jasmine screamed as he slumped to the floor.

“Crap,” Frank said. “Stay down, everybody.” He looked out the window to see where the shot came from. He saw some movement in the bushes, an aimed his Winchester there, watching. Then a soldier stood up and started running towards the meadow. Frank fired, throwing him several feet forward.

“Nice shootin,” Jeb said from the veranda. “I’d know the sound of that .44 of yours anywhere. Who got it in there?”

“Private Jenkins,” Frank shouted.

“Dammit. Frigging traitors,” he said. “Cover us while we try to get a bead on that chopper, okay?”

“Got it, Jeb. Take the damn thing out.”

“I’m watching too, honey,” Jane said, pointing her M-16 out the window.

“Good,” Frank said. “Nice shot, by the way.” She nodded.

The chopper rose into the sky, getting above the trees. The cockpit was facing away from the clubhouse, but then it turned.

“There it is,” Frank said. “There’s the shot!” He saw all four of the sharp shooters aiming, then they all fired. The chopper lurched over to one side, and rolled upside down. It went down below the trees, and then there was a loud explosion as it hit the ground in the meadow.

“Yahhhhhoooo!” Jeb yelled. “We got that son of a bitch!”

“Lord have mercy,” Gabe said, looking out the window in disbelief.

“Let’s go out there and check around for survivors,” Jerry said. Frank nodded.

“I’m going too” Jane said.

“Me too,” Jasmine said.

“Lucy,” Frank shouted. She came running over, her leash dragging behind her. He unhooked it, and threw it on the veranda. “C’mon, girl, let’s go hunting.”

They went out in a crouch, weapons in hand, and spread out to sweep the area. The sharpshooters joined them.

“Keep your eyes open,” the Sheriff said. He saw Lucy out of the corner of his eye, and smiled.

Lucy started to growl, and looked into some bushes. Frank aimed his rifle there, and then somebody threw an M-16 out onto the dirt.

“Don’t shoot,” a voice said. A soldier came out of the bushes, hands up. His haircut wasn’t right. The Sheriff rushed over to him and frisked him. “He’s clean,” the Sheriff said. He pulled handcuffs off his belt, and got the prisoner’s hands locked behind his back. “Stay here.”

“I got a bead on him,” Jasmine said. “Go ahead and keep searching.”

They continued their sweep. They slowly got all the way back to the meadow, seeing the smoking rubble of the chopper. Then they split up and went to either side, all the way to the front, and all the way to the back. Nothing. It was clear. The team slowly made their way back to the clubhouse, except for the Sheriff, who went over to retrieve the prisoner, and Jeb, who went back behind the clubhouse to see if anybody else was hiding there. Earl and Jackson followed Jeb.

“On your feet,” the Sheriff barked. The soldier slowly got up.

“Where we going?”

“Clubhouse,” the Sheriff said. “I’ll follow you. Slowly.”

He nodded and started walking.

“Heads up,” the Sheriff shouted as they approached. “I’ve got the prisoner in front of me. He’s been frisked, and he’s cuffed.”

“Alright, Sheriff,” Charlie said, coming up on the veranda. “Maybe we ought to keep him out here on until we find out a few things.”

“You aren’t going to shoot him, are you, Charlie?” the Sheriff shouted.

“I might, but not without a good reason,” Charlie said.

They got to the veranda.

“Sit down on that bench right there,” the Sheriff said. The private followed instructions. Frank and Jerry walked out, joined by the rest of the core group. Jane brought Lucy out. She looked at the private and growled.

Jeb came walking back up to the front with Earl and Jackson.

“Nobody behind the buildings on that side?” Charlie asked.

“You would have heard gunshots if we would have found anybody,” Jeb replied. “What are we going to do with the traitor?”

“Are you from the base outside of Denver?” Frank asked the soldier.

“No,” he said, with a look of fear and defiance on his face. He was a small man, not more than twenty five, with dark hair and an olive complexion. Up close, he didn’t look like a soldier. He had a different demeanor.

“Where was your unit from?” Frank asked, “and how did Private Jenkins end up with you?”

“Jenkins,” the private said. “He was just glad to be back with the army. What a loser.”

Charlie walked over him and smacked him hard across the face. His mouth bled, and he spat blood. Charlie was getting ready to hit him again when the Sheriff stood up.

“Stop that crap, Charlie,” he shouted.

“Alright,” Charlie said. “I’ll stop for now…but if you don’t get anything out of him, we’ll do it my way.”

The Sheriff glared at him, and then walked closer to the private.

“So you ran into Private Jenkins and his group somewhere along the road to Denver, didn’t you?” he asked.

“Why should I tell you anything?” he said, as he spat out more blood onto the deck.

“Well, if I tire of this, I’ll turn you back over to Charlie, that’s why.”

“Please do that,” Charlie said. “I love kicking the crap out of traitors.”

“You see,” the Sheriff said. “Is that what you want?”

“You idiots think your army is still intact. Boy do you have a surprise coming. You’ll eventually end up on our side.”

“Cut the crap, son,” the Sheriff replied calmly. “What happened to the rest of Private Jenkin’s group?”

“Jenkins didn’t know it, but we killed all of them. The only reason we kept him alive was to get to you assholes.”

“Why did you want to get to us?”

“Supplies, and revenge.”

“So you’re part of the militia,” the Sheriff said.

“Wouldn’t you like to know, Barney?” Defiant, he stared at the Sheriff.

The sheriff shook his head.

“Alright, I’m done. Go ahead, Charlie.”

Frank and Jerry looked at the Sheriff with disbelief. He shot them a ‘shut up’ glance.”

Charlie walked over again. “You are one special kind of stupid, aren’t ya?” he said. Then he punched him again, drawing more blood.

Jerry leaned over towards Frank.

“I’m impressed,” Jerry whispered. “These two old coots are doing the classic good cop/bad cop routine….and they’re doing it well.”

“That’s what I was thinking,” Frank whispered back.

“Where’s your base, cretin?” Charlie yelled, his face about an inch away from the private.

“Stuff it, old man,” he replied. “You’re dead already, and you don’t even know it yet.”

Charlie hit the private again, and then there was a rifle shot. The bullet tore into the private’s shoulder.

“Hit the dirt!” Charlie yelled. Everybody jumped off the deck and into the bushes, looking around for where the shot came from. The traitor cried out in pain, still sitting on the bench.

“Where did that shot come from?
” yelled Jane.

“Stay down,” Frank said, crawling to a place where he could see more. “Lucy!”

The dog ran over, tail wagging. She sat down next to Frank and looked around.

“I’m in a good place to shoot from, and I’ve got one in the chamber,” Jeb said. “If Lucy sees them, tell me where.”

“Yeah, me too,” Earl said.

“Anybody hit?” Jasmine asked.

Nobody responded, but the prisoner moaned.

“The traitor is about to pass out,” Charlie said. Then there was another rifle shot, and the prisoner fell off of the bench. Lucy’s head jerked around and she focused on a point by the swimming pool.

“Swimming pool area,” Frank said. “She’s looking over there.”

“Got him,” whispered Jeb. He fired, and a man fell off the roof of the pump building.

“Think he was the only one?” Jane whispered.

“I don’t know,” Frank said.

“Probably,” Jeb said. “There were no more than ten soldiers in that chopper…..I’m pretty sure of that, and we’ve killed that many, by my figuring.”

“Yeah, counting the two that they killed,” Jerry said. “I think we’d better find all the bodies just to be sure.”

“I’m with you on that,” the Sheriff said. “I just hope that chopper didn’t radio for help to somebody.”

“I was thinking the same thing,” Gabe said. “It’s not giving me a warm fuzzy feeling. Not one bit.”

The group slowly came off the ground, looking around warily. Mary poked her head out the window.

“Anybody need a doctor?” she asked. “Maybe your prisoner?”

“He needs a grave digger,” Jeb said. “That last shot hit him square in the heart. He was dead before he hit the deck.”

“None of you guys got hit?” she asked.

“Nope,” Jeb replied.

“How are we so lucky?” Jasmine asked.

Nobody answered that…..they were all afraid to jinx themselves.

“Alright, let’s fan across this meadow and get a tally on the bodies,” the Sheriff said.

They broke into several groups of three and slowly walked out into the meadow next to the clubhouse, towards the swimming pool.

“I’ve got a utility truck. I’ll go get it out,” Gabe said. “It’ll probably hold four bodies at a time.”

“Where should we put them?” Jane asked.

“The big meadow on the other side of the pool,” Gabe said. “I’ve also got a backhoe. We could bury them.”

“Or burn them,” Jeb said.

“You really want a bunch of smoke rising from here?” Charlie asked.

Jeb snickered. “Maybe not, but I was looking forward to s’mores.”

“Sick bastard,” Jerry said, laughing and shaking his head.

“By the way, Jerry, we already got smoke…..that chopper is still smoldering,” Jeb replied.

“Should we put it out?” the Sheriff asked.

“Yeah, we probably better,” Gabe said. “I’ll throw a couple of hoses in the back of the utility truck. I’ve got a few bibs out there. Pressure should be good enough.”

Kurt went to help Gabe.

“Hey,” shouted Jackson from over by the pump building. “This guy’s as old as Jeb. Wonder how he climbed up onto this building.”

“Maybe they’re running out of younger able-bodied men now,” Frank said.