Bug Out! Part 9: RV Ambush (24 page)

“You referring to Saladin or to Daan?” the General asked. He had a sly grin on his face.

“I was thinking more of Daan.”

“Those guys are just the hired help,” General Hogan said.

“I sense a conspiracy theory coming,” Malcolm said, chuckling.

“Doesn’t it seem a little strange to you two that most of the United States is still open for business, even with this war on?” the General asked.

“Yes, I must admit I wondered about that,” George said. “I was surprised when the people joined the fight so quickly, and so effectively too.”

“That was not expected,” General Hogan said, the sly grin back on his face. “In much the same way that both Napoleon and Hitler underestimated the Russian winter, our enemies have underestimated the American character.”

“So who is it? The President? Is he really out of power?” Malcolm said.

“These people are not above sacrificing their own when they need to. It was a good way to get past the failure of martial law.”

“So what you’re telling us is that, even if we take Saladin and Daan Mertens, this isn’t over?”

“There’s an old quote that fits our situation like a glove, gentlemen,” General Hogan said.

“What’s that?” Malcolm asked.

“Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.”

“Who said that?” Malcolm asked.

George looked over at him and smiled. “Churchill.”

Continued in Bugout! Part 10, available now!

Bugout! Part 9
copyright © 2015 by Robert G Boren. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any format without permission in writing from the copyright holder.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

Thanks to Laura Thomas for editing this book!

Robert G Boren is a writer from the South Bay section of Southern California. He writes Short Stories, Novels, and Serialized Fiction. Most of his work is about people from the South Bay.