Bug Out! Part 6: Motorhome Mayhem in the Rockies (4 page)

“Naw, most of the folks we killed were young,” Jeb said. “Maybe he was one of their sharpshooters. Look at his rifle. That’s a pre-war Remington bolt.”

“Something nice to add to our collection,” Earl said, picking it up and looking it over. “Another .270. Pretty worn, though.”

“Well, we know it shoots well,” Frank said. “It’s about two hundred yards from this area to the veranda.”

The purr of the utility truck’s engine approached. It was next to them in a few moments.

“You guys want to load the sharpshooter?” the Sheriff asked.

“Yeah,” Jackson replied. He walked over to the body with Earl. They put their rifles on their backs with the slings, and each man took an end. They carried the body over to the utility truck.

“Hey, somebody move those hoses,” Jackson said, sounding out of breath. “This guy’s heavy.”

Kurt jumped out and pulled the hoses off of the truck bed, and they tossed the body in.

“This guy stinks,” Jackson said.

“There’s two more bodies over here,” the Sheriff shouted. “Want to bring over the truck?”

“On my way,” Gabe said.

“Make sure we go through their pockets,” Frank said.

“Yeah, and if anybody has a cellphone, crush it or pull the battery,” Jerry said.

“Why?” Jeb asked.

“They could be used to find us,” Jerry said. “If these bastards really killed off the rest of Jenkin’s troops, and no message got out from that chopper, they might not know where we are.”

“Oh,” Jeb said. “Makes sense.”

“That pilot left in a panic. He was fleeing for his life. It’s very possible that he didn’t get a message out,” the Sheriff said. He helped Kurt put the two bodies into the truck.

“I think we could take one more,” Gabe said.

“There’s one over there,” he said, pointing to the left.

“Alright, let’s go get it,” Gabe said. Kurt got back in the truck.

“Terry, want to go over there and help them?” the Sheriff said.

“Sure, Uncle,” he replied, and trotted over to the body, getting there at about the same time as the utility truck.

“Damn, is that a Luger I see on his belt?” Terry asked as Kurt was getting out of the truck with Gabe.

“Well, I’ll be damned,” Gabe said. “Lookie there. I collect those, you know.”

“Really?” Terry said. “I’ve read a lot about them. Is that an old one or one of the recent replicas?”

Gabe carefully pulled it out of the holster. “Holy crap, this is an old one. Manufactured by Mauser for the German army. I’d guess late 1930s. I wouldn’t carry this thing into battle.”

“Why?” Terry asked.

“Too valuable, and too prone to jamming,” he replied. “Guess what happens to this beautiful action when a twig or some dirt gets into it.”

“Oh,” he said. “Good point.”

Gabe stuck the pistol in his belt, and then the two men picked up the body and loaded it into the back of the utility truck.

“Let’s take this load over and dump it,” Gabe said.

Gabe and Kurt got into the cab, and Terry followed them on foot as they drove over to the middle of the large meadow. The men pulled the bodies off the truck and laid them out side by side.

“Looks like that chopper is about done smoking,” Kurt said. “Maybe we won’t have to hose it down after all.”

“Looks like it,” Gabe said. “Wonder if there’s anything we can get out of it?”

“Maybe, after it cools down,” Terry said.

Gabe and Kurt got back in the cab, and Terry jumped into the bed. They drove back to where the others had re-assembled.

“Didn’t find anybody else, I take it?” Kurt asked as he stepped out of the cab.

“There’s one more body over there,” the Sheriff said, pointing.

“Don’t forget that there are five in the clubhouse and one on the veranda,” Charlie said.

“Five? Really?” Jane asked.

“That’s right by my figuring,” Jeb replied.

“Yeah,” Frank said. “That phony major, Private Jenkins, and the three cretins that came in through the back door.”

“Actually there’s six. Don’t forget the prisoner that got his clock stopped on the veranda,” Charlie said.

“That should be it,” Jeb said. “Unless more men came out of the chopper after I quit watching it.”

“This is going to take a big hole,” Gabe said. “Maybe I better get the backhoe. Want to drive the truck, Kurt?”

“Sure, no problem,” he said. “Maybe we’d better go get the bodies out of the clubhouse first. They’re probably upsetting the folks that are still in there.”

“Seriously,” Jane said.

Kurt and Gabe jumped back into the cab, and the Sheriff joined Terry in the bed. They took off slowly towards the clubhouse, with the rest of the group following. When they got there, the bodies that were inside the building were already laying out in a pile in front of the veranda, and a couple of men were carrying the prisoner off the veranda, too. Private Jenkins was off to the side, not on the pile. Rosie and Mary were on the veranda watching.

“Great, you guys got them out of there. Thanks,” Gabe said as he pulled up next to the pile.

“I tell men not to put Private Jenkins on big pile,” Rosie said. “He hero, not traitor like the other scum. We should bury him by self.”

“Everybody else okay in there?” asked Jane as she walked up the steps.

“I had to treat a few people,” Mary said. “A couple got glass chips in the face. One got nicked in the shoulder by a bullet, but just barely. It wasn’t as bad as the glass wounds. One of the people who got hit with the glass might lose an eye, I’m afraid. We need to get her to a hospital.”

“Is there one in town?” Frank asked.

“Yeah,” said Gabe. “On the far side of town. It’s right by the Army staging point, though. Wonder if we can trust those folks?”

“You think these guys came from that outfit?” Charlie asked. “I don’t.”

“Why not?” Jerry asked.

“I can tell you why not,” the Sheriff said. “When we got ready to take the turnoff to come here, I called Private Jenkins and told him what we were doing. He said he was going to continue on down I-70. I saw them drive away. I’ll bet they got almost to Denver before he ran into these traitors.”

“Okay, that makes sense to me,” Jerry said. “Even if they didn’t get that much further down I-70, I’m sure they got past the staging area in Eagle, by quite a ways.”

“Is the wounded lady with somebody?” the Sheriff asked.

“She’s with her partner,” Mary said.

“Oh,” he replied. “Are they together in there? How urgent is she?”

“Yes, they’re together. Look, we shouldn’t take too long to get her in. They might be able to save her eye.” She was anxious to get her patient treatment, and didn’t want to dawdle.

“Alright, tell you what,” Gabe said. “I’ll take them myself. I know how to get into the hospital without drawing too much attention. You want to go with me, Mary?”

Mary looked over at Kurt. He nodded in approval.

“Sure, I’ll go with you,” she said. “Thanks, Gabe.”

“No problem,” he said. “It won’t take very long. We’ll need to get back here as soon as possible, though. We need to get those bodies into the ground before nightfall. We have wild boar and bears around here.”

“Rosie, could you and Hilda tend to the wounded while I’m gone?” asked Mary.

“Yes, we do,” Rosie said. “Not problem.”

“We’ll get all the bodies over to the meadow,” Charlie said. “Anybody here know how to handle a backhoe?”

“Yeah, if anybody does, go for it,” Gabe said.

“I’ve run one before, but it’s been quite a few years,” Jackson said.

“Well, go ahead and drive it on out there at least,” Gabe said. “It’s in the maintenance barn. Keys are in her. If you feel comfortable enough to dig, you can get started.”

“Alright,” he said.

“Oh, and check the gas,” Gabe said as he was walking to his residence. “There are a few 55 gallon drums full of fuel just outside the barn, with a hand pump.”

“OK, gotcha,” Jackson replied.

Mary went into the clubhouse to fetch her patient while Gabe pulled his Suburban up in front of the clubhouse. She walked down the stairs of the veranda supporting the wounded woman on one side. The woman was in her mid-50s, with graying hair. Her partner was holding her up on the other side. She was younger - a handsome dark haired woman in her mid-40s.

“Thank you so much,” the other woman said. “You won’t leave without us, will you?”

“No, of course not,” Mary said. The wounded woman was silent, looking around with a scared expression on her face. They got into the Suburban and drove off.

“I hope that works out alright,” Jane said.

“Let’s get these bodies loaded up,” Charlie said.

The men got to work.

“I’ll see if we can find the mop,” Jasmine said. “There’s probably a nasty mess to clean up in there.”

“I’ll help,” Jane said. They walked into the clubhouse together. Rosie followed them inside, and others in the group went in as well.

“I’ll go check out the backhoe,” Jackson said. He walked towards the barn. Earl trotted over and walked with him.

The men started lifting bodies onto the truck. They got the first four loaded. Kurt and the Sheriff got into the cab, and Terry climbed onto the bed, making a little space for himself between the bodies. They drove over to the meadow and dumped them. They arrived back to the clubhouse just as Jackson got the diesel engine running on the backhoe. He drove it out to the front of the clubhouse.

“Wow, I was expecting a little backhoe, not a good sized diesel model,” the Sheriff said.

“I had to gas it up,” Jackson said. “Gabe’s got a crap-load of diesel fuel back there. Six 55 gallon drums. I checked them…they’re all full.”

“Wonder why he has all of that?” Frank asked.

“He’s probably got a generator,” Jeb said. “If it’s a good sized one, he’ll go through fuel pretty fast.”

“Oh, didn’t think about that,” Frank replied.

“Remember, don’t bury Private Jenkins with traitors,” Rosie yelled from the clubhouse door as the men loaded the major and Private Jenkins onto the truck bed.

“We won’t, sweetie,” Jeb said. “He won’t share a grave with this scum.”

She smiled and turned to go back into the clubhouse.

“Don’t forget, there’s another body over to the right of the pool area,” Jeb said. “I think that’s all of them, though.”

“Got it, Jeb,” Kurt said. He got into the cab with the Sheriff, and Terry jumped into the back again. They took off.

“Well, here goes nothing,” Jackson said. He put the backhoe in gear and headed for the meadow. Black smoke billowed out of the exhaust pipe as he drove.

Earl came walking up. “Hey, guys, there’s a small wagon in the barn…a little bigger than a kid’s wagon. Might be good to bring weapons and ammo and such from the bodies.”

“Good idea,” Jerry said.

The men walked out to the meadow, talking.

“What do you think the prisoner was talking about?” Frank asked.

“You mean his comments about the army?” Jerry asked.

“Yeah,” Frank said.

“Probably just BS,” Charlie said. “That kid was defiant as hell. I’m not sure if I believe much of anything he said.”

“By the way, where did you learn the interrogation technique?” Jerry asked. “You and the Sheriff have obviously done that before.”

“I was a Sheriff for a while,” Charlie said. “That was one of the offices that I got elected to back in the day.”

“Oh, should have guessed,” Jerry grinned. “You did that well.”

“It probably wouldn’t have done any good,” Charlie said. “That kid wasn’t going to talk. I can usually tell right away.”

“I think you’re right there,” Jeb said. “That kid was brainwashed, big time.”

“Pretty much,” he replied. “I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop, here. I don’t think we’ve heard the last of these guys…not by a long shot.”

“I’ll kill more of ‘em,” Jeb said. “It’ll be a pleasure.”

“Me too, but how much longer are we going to be this lucky?” Frank asked.

“I still want to know why they’re bothering with us,” Jerry said. “I mean, really, what do we have that they want enough to risk their stolen chopper on?”

“Good question,” Jeb said. “I want to know how they got that chopper, too. Did they steal it, or was this an army detail that was compromised. Maybe that prisoner was telling the truth.”

“So you think the army is more compromised than we’ve been told?” asked Frank.

“Possibly,” Jeb said.

“I don’t think I’m buying that,” Jerry said. “Did you notice that most of these guys didn’t really look like army guys?”

“In what way?” Frank asked.

“Haircuts. Demeanor. Hell, skill level. These idiots weren’t too difficult to take out.”

“You have a point there,” Charlie said. “They should have been able to take us, but they came at us like a bunch of hillbillies…and you tell me which branch of the military lets in 60 – year - olds like that sniper. His uniform doesn’t even fit right….look at it.”

The men looked down on the pile of bodies as they walked up.

“Yeah, you’re right,” Jeb said. “He looks about like I would look if I had that on.” He laughed.

“Hey, maybe we ought to save these uniforms,” Frank said.

“Why?” Charlie asked.

Jerry and Jeb looked at each other, grinning.

“I know why,” Jerry said. “We could use them the same way they did. Infiltration.”

“Exactly,” Frank said.

“Let’s strip ‘em,” Jeb said.

The men got to work on that as the utility truck rolled up next to them.

“What the hell are you guys doing?” Kurt asked as he and Jeb got out of the cab.

“We’re getting ourselves some disguises,” Jeb said, laughing.

“Hey, that ain’t a bad idea,” the Sheriff said. “That’s obviously what these guys did. They weren’t regular army…I can tell you that for sure.”

“Yep, that’s what we were just talkin about,” Jeb said.

“Hey, look…Humvee!” Charlie said, pointing to the road. The Humvee pulled over to the side of the road by the meadow, on the other side of the creek. The driver jumped out and took a look at them and the chopper with binoculars.

“What do we do?” asked Frank.

“Here’s what I think,” Charlie said. “Two or three of us walk over, armed, and find out what they want. Leave some of us snipers around keeping watch.”