Golden State Partisans

by Robert Boren

  “That was a long time ago,” Sam said. “What happened to Gus?”

  “When he found out Ji-Ho almost killed Saladin, he got spooked and left,” Seth said. “Took several of our friends with him. They didn’t make it.”

  “Oh, I heard about that,” Sid said. “Ji-Ho told us. It was when you left Temecula.”

  “Yep,” Trevor said.

  They got to their vehicles. Tyler walked up with James and Ryan. “Nice work, folks.”

  “Same to you,” Trevor said. “We lose anybody?”

  “Almost lost James,” Ryan said. “Zac and Kenny saved him.”

  “What happened?” Sam asked.

  “Gun jammed,” James said. “That’s why I like my crossbow. Never jams.”

  “Seth, can we go?” Kaitlyn asked. “You can talk to them back at camp. This place gives me the creeps.”

  “I want to check with my uncle first,” Kaylee said, “but you guys go ahead.” Trevor nodded and took her hand.

  “Yeah, let’s get out of here,” Angel said. “I’m ready too.”

  “Okay, folks, see you back at camp,” Tyler said.

  Seth opened the passenger door of the Jeep for Kaitlyn, and waited until she got in. Then he got behind the wheel. They stashed their guns in the back, and he drove back onto Highway 79. When he got up to full speed, he noticed Kaitlyn crying.

  “What’s the matter?” he asked.

  “I killed all those people.”

  “They were the enemy,” Seth said. “It’s not like murder.”

  She looked at him in the darkness, light from the street lamps shining on her tears. “It’s still hard for me. Don’t worry, I’ll settle down.”

  “I’m not worried,” Seth said. “It actually speaks well of you. You’re human and compassionate. We aren’t doing this because we enjoy it.”

  “Some are,” she said softly.

  “Who?”

  “Sam,” she said, “I watched him.”

  “Oh,” Seth said. “I don’t know him very well, but you know his wife was just killed. It’s probably that. Does he scare you?”

  “No, I feel sorry for him,” she said. “So much pain in his eyes.”

  “I’d be beside myself if anything happened to you,” Seth said, feeling his eyes brim with tears.

  “We’ve only just met,” she said.

  “That doesn’t matter,” Seth said. “Not to me. And besides, we’ve done more living together in a few days than a lot of couples have in months.”

  She smiled. “Yes, we have at that, I guess.”

  Seth reached out for her hand and held it as they raced down the road. He kept one eye in the rear-view mirror.

  “You don’t see any bad guys, do you?” she asked.

  “I just see Angel and Megan so far,” Seth said. “I’m expecting more headlights behind them. Wonder what everybody’s waiting for?”

  “Probably high-fiving each other still,” Kaitlyn said.

  “You aren’t the only person who’s shook up. Believe me.”

  “At least it’s a short drive,” she said.

  “Yeah,” Seth said, shooting her a glance. She was staring at him intensely.

  “You’d really be broken up if I got killed?” she asked.

  “Oh, geez, are you kidding me? We’ve talked a lot about us. You know how I feel.”

  “I know, I’m sorry,” she said. “I’m kinda messed up from the battle.”

  “You’ll be fine,” Seth said. “Just relax.”

  “I can’t wait for you to hold me,” she said softly.

  “Me too. Won’t be too long. We’re already passing the junction of Highway 76, see?”

  “I know,” she said. They rode silently until they got to Santa Ysabel.

  “You okay?” Seth asked.

  “Something feels wrong,” she said. “You feel it?”

  “No,” Seth said, “I don’t think so. What are you feeling?”

  “Dread,” she said. “Evil.”

  “Everything looks okay,” Seth said. “Look, here’s Wynola. It’s quiet and peaceful looking.”

  Kaitlyn’s eyes darted around nervously. “I know, my head is telling me that.”

  “You’re probably just coming down from the battle, like you said.”

  “I hope that’s all it is.”

  “You’re making me nervous now,” Seth said.

  “Sorry.”

  “Well, here’s Julian,” Seth said as they rode into the town. “Don’t see any problems.”

  “Me neither. I’m just being silly. Sorry about that.”

  “No, don’t apologize, Kaitlyn. Really.”

  “I just want to curl up next to you in our sleeping bag,” she said, looking over at him, her brow still furrowed. They were past Julian now, on the final leg of the journey. They rode silently for a few minutes.

  “Son of a bitch,” Seth said under his breath as they rounded the final curve.

  “My God, look at the fire,” Kaitlyn said, trembling with fear. “Is that our park?”

  “Yeah, that’s our park. I’m driving past. Text the others.”

  “Okay,” Kaitlyn said, pulling her phone out. She typed on the screen and hit send.

  “You were right,” Seth said softly. “I should’ve listened.”

  “You did listen,” she said, “and you did what a good man always does. You tried to calm me down, and you didn’t make fun.”

  He glanced at her, watching the tears roll down her cheeks.

  “You get any replies?”

  “Just from Megan,” she said. “They’re still behind us. What are we gonna do?”

  “Keep driving for now,” Seth said. “How’s your phone charge?”

  “Low.”

  “There’s a charging cord in the center console compartment. Plug it in. It’s gonna be a long night.”

  She found it and plugged in her phone. “How did they know?”

  “The guy they captured,” Seth said. “Remember? He did know where we were. Get any other replies?”

  She looked, leaning forward so she could leave the charging cord on. “Oh no.”

  “Shit, what?”

  “Kaylee and Trevor,” she said, crying.

  “They aren’t dead, are they?” Seth asked, feeling his heart pounding.

  “No. Kaylee and Trevor went to check on Ji-Ho, remember? There was an attack when they were inside the rig. They fought until they ran out of ammo, and then they took off. Sounds like almost everybody else got killed.” She broke into sobs.

  “Oh, God,” Seth said. His phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket and put it on speaker, then set it in his lap. “Yeah.”

  “Dude.” There was crying in the background.

  “Angel,” Seth said, crying himself now. “What should we do?”

  “Keep going and hope we don’t get seen,” Angel said. “Megan’s taking this hard.”

  “So’s Kaitlyn. Hell, so am I.”

  “Me too. What can we do, man?” Angel asked.

  “Calm down and think,” Seth said. “Protecting our women is job one. Got it?”

  “She’s my whole life, dude,” Angel said, sounding on the verge of tears.

  “I know, that’s how I feel about Kaitlyn too. She’s my woman. I love her so much. I’ll die protecting her.”

  “Exactly. What about Trevor and Kaylee? We’re separated now.”

  “Don’t worry about that yet,” Seth said. “Here’s what we do. Follow this road to I-8. We’ll go west to El Cajon. That’s big enough to get lost in. Sound good?”

  “Yeah, sounds good,” Angel said.

  Seth’s phone beeped. “Call coming in. It’s Trevor. Hold on. I’ll patch him in.”

  Seth picked up his phone.

  “Drive,” Kaitlyn said, taking his phone. “I’ll do it.”

  “Thanks,” Seth said. She got the call connected.

  “You both hear us?” Kaitlyn asked.

  “I’m on,” Trevor said, voice wavering.
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br />   “Still here,” Angel said.

  “What happened?” Seth asked.

  “We got hit by about two hundred Islamists. They killed almost everybody.”

  “No,” Megan said.

  “You sure?” Kaitlyn asked.

  “Yeah,” Trevor said. “You guys left about five minutes before they got here.”

  “Did anybody else get away?” Seth asked.

  “Three Jeeps slipped away while the fighting was going on. They went into the wilderness to the east. I think that old Indian guy and his wife was in one of them. He was with Sam earlier. Hopefully they got away. There were a couple other Jeeps following them.”

  “You talking about Sid,” Ji-Ho said from the driver’s seat.

  “What about Tyler, and James?” Kaitlyn asked. “And Ryan and Zac?”

  “They were talking with Sam last I saw,” Trevor said. “They might have been in one of the other Jeeps that took off.”

  “Hank and Jason?” Angel asked.

  “Both dead,” Trevor said.

  “Who’s with you?” Megan asked.

  “Kaylee, Trevor, Ji-Ho, Clem, John, and Sarah,” John said.

  “Don’t say where go on phone,” Ji-Ho said. “We regroup later. Understand?”

  “Shit, they’re listening in, aren’t they?” Megan said. “We said where we’re going before you got on.”

  “Change plan,” Ji-Ho said. “Pull next to each other and say.”

  “Dammit,” Seth said. “Okay, thanks for telling us that. You’re right. I know another place.”

  “We should end call,” Ji-Ho said.

  “You heard that,” Trevor said. “Maybe we should shut down our phones.”

  “Yes, do until out of area,” Ji-Ho said.

  “How bad was it at the RV Park?” Trevor asked.

  “The place was on fire,” Kaitlyn said. “I’m so glad the others weren’t there.”

  “End call now,” Ji-Ho said.

  “Gotta go,” Trevor said. “Good luck. Hope we see you again.”

  “Bye, brother,” Seth said.

  “Take care, man,” Angel said. Trevor hung up.

  “Okay, I’m gonna look for a good dirt road. We’ll go up it until we’re out of sight of the highway and decide what’s next. Got it?”

  “Yeah, dude,” Angel said. “Talk to you soon.”

  The call ended. Kaitlyn put the phone down.

  “You okay?” Seth asked.

  “I went from guilty to pissed off,” she said. “Where are you thinking?”

  “Stay on this road. It curves towards the west. I said I-8 because it’s a bigger road that would be quicker. This way will work too.”

  “We can’t go to El Cajon now, though, can we?” she asked.

  “No,” Seth said. “I think we should try to get into San Diego.”

  “That’s closed off, isn’t it?” Kaitlyn asked.

  “I’ve been reading about it, when we’ve had internet. If we tell them who we are, they might let us in.”

  “But they’re the feds, aren’t they?”

  “Sounds like they’re independent at this point. Kind of a free zone. We’ll talk more about it. We can skirt towards the east and head up north if we can’t get in there.”

  “Where up north?” Kaitlyn asked.

  “My area,” he said. “Ivan the Butcher has it almost locked down. We might be safe there now.”

  “You want out of the fight?”

  “Yes and no,” he said. “If we can get back with Ji-Ho and attach to another group, I’m ready to fight these bastards.”

  “And if we can’t?”

  He looked over at her, searching her eyes. She looked resolute, but it softened into love and loyalty as he watched. He choked up, starting to talk.

  “No,” she said, “I understand. I heard what you said, too.”

  “What?”

  “What you said to Angel,” she said. “If we can’t fight, you’d be happy to take me off somewhere and live happily ever after. Is that about the size of it?”

  He looked back at the road, feeling his face flush.

  “Well?” she asked.

  “Yes,” he said. “I know you’re not quite ready for that yet, but…”

  “Quiet,” she said. “Don’t tell me what I’m ready for. We’ve got a lot of talking to do.”

  Chapter 13 – Lily and Alexis

  Tex was at the wheel of the yellow coach. He’d just gotten a text from Jules about the attack outside of Buttonwillow, as he was just heading there now. Karen had gotten angry with his advances and left for the bedroom. Alexis and Lily were sitting at the dinette, tired of talking. Lily noticed the text sound, and came up to the front. One look at Tex’s face told her it was something scary.

  “Something happened,” she said, sitting down in the passenger seat, her blonde hair shimmering in the dim light.

  “Yep, something happened, but don’t worry about it.”

  “What’s going on?” asked Alexis as she walked to the front. She moved like a model, tall, lanky, and confident, her longish brunette hair swaying as she crouched.

  “He got a text,” Lily said. “Something scary. Look at his face. Look how he’s watching the mirrors.”

  Tex chuckled. “I’ve been watching the mirrors since we left. We’re being hunted. You guys know that.”

  “What happened?” Alexis asked. “No BS.”

  “Jules and Sparky’s rig got attacked from the rear by a vehicle full of Islamists.”

  “Where?” Lily asked.

  “Coming up in a few miles. Just happened, so we’ll probably see the wreckage.”

  “The rear machine guns saved them, I’ll bet,” Alexis said.

  “You got it,” Tex said.

  “What happened to the ice princess?” Alexis asked. “I could hear her crying in the back.”

  “Don’t worry about it,” Tex said. “She’ll be all right.”

  “Were you messing with her?” Lily asked.

  Tex chuckled. “I told her I was interested in her.”

  “That’s why she’s crying?” Alexis asked. “Hell, if I were sticking around I’d go after you myself.”

  “Oh, really?” Tex asked, glancing back at her.

  “You’re strong and you’ve got a sense of humor,” Alexis said. “You wouldn’t pick me over Karen, though, would you?”

  Tex chuckled. “No comment.”

  “He likes a challenge,” Lily said. “He likes her , too. You see his face light up when he’s talking about her?”

  “I think she’s a bitch, but to each his own,” Alexis said.

  “Oh, she is a bitch,” Tex said. “Make no mistake about that. It just eggs me on even more.”

  “Well, from what I can tell, she’s more than a little bit interested,” Alexis said.

  “I’ll say,” Lily said. “That other guy is too blue-collar for her. You’re not. You’re rich.”

  Tex laughed. “Now where’d you ever get that idea?”

  “I come from a rich family,” Lily said. “We know our own. What was it? Cattle or oil?”

  “No comment,” Tex said.

  “He hangs around with Jules,” Alexis said. “He’s shady as hell. All the more exciting.”

  Tex snickered. “Gee, I kinda wish you were sticking around now.”

  “I couldn’t get you away from ice princess. You enjoy the hunt too much. You wouldn’t have to hunt me, unless I faked it, and you’d know, wouldn’t you?”

  “Probably,” Tex said. “You are a beautiful woman, though. Both of you are.”

  “That was our undoing,” Lily said, eyes tearing up. “They were harder on me than most of the others.”

  “They couldn’t get enough of your innocence,” Tex said softly. “I’m so sorry that happened to you.”

  “It was more than that,” Lily said. “I’m sorry.” She rushed back to the dinette and buried her face against the wall.

  “I shouldn’t have said anything,” Tex said.
>
  Alexis glanced back at her, then at Tex. “It wasn’t what you said.”

  “It’s not up to me to say anything. I’ll make apologies to her later.”

  “Let it lie, Tex,” Alexis whispered. “She can’t control her emotions. Those bastards loved it. Now she feels like it’s all her fault. I’m really worried about her. I think she’s suicidal.”

  “Oh, God,” Tex said, eyes welling with tears. Alexis noticed.

  “Karen’s a lucky woman. Hope she doesn’t blow it.”

  “Don’t say anything,” Tex said hoarsely, willing himself to get his emotions under control. “Please?”

  “I won’t,” Alexis said. “Here comes your woman. I’ll go sit with Lily.”

  Tex nodded, glancing back as she left. Karen moved up and sat in the passenger seat. “It’s warm. You making a play for Alexis, or Lily?”

  Tex looked at her, then back at the road. “Get any sleep?”

  “Screw you,” she said. “Which one?”

  “We got a text a few minutes ago. Jules and Sparky got attacked on the road.”

  “Oh, shit,” Karen said. “Where?”

  “Coming up in about half a mile,” Tex said. Karen flashed him a terrified look. “Don’t worry, they won. We’ll see the wreckage in a few minutes.”

  “What if there’s more enemy fighters there, and they see us?” Karen asked.

  “We’ll have more dead enemy fighters,” Tex said. “Don’t worry about it. Remember how to work the rear guns?”

  “The tray, right there,” she said, pointing to the dash in front of her.

  “That’s right, little lady,” Tex said. “I doubt we’ll have to use it, but it’s there if we need it.”

  “Pew, smells like burning rubber,” Karen said, looking forward into the darkness. There were lights on the side of the road. “Highway Patrol, look.”

  A burned-out vehicle sat upside down on the side of the road, officers picking through it.

  “That doesn’t look like a UN van,” Karen said, staring out the window at it as they flew by.

  “It wasn’t the UN, according to Sparky. It was Islamists.”

  “Dammit,” Karen said. “They’re even more dangerous, aren’t they?”

  “Only in their own minds,” Tex said.

  “Shoot, this means the Islamists are working with the UN.”

  Tex laughed. “We’ve known that for a while now.”

  “I don’t understand,” Karen said.