by Robert Boren
Bug Out! Part 2
Civilization In Peril
Robert G Boren
Contents
Previously - From Bugout! Part 1
Chapter 1 - The Next Level
Chapter 2 - No Safe Harbor
Chapter 3 - Special Bulletin
Chapter 4 - TV Night
Chapter 5 - Watch the Perimeter
Chapter 6 - Back in the Woods
Chapter 7 - Up in the Blinds
Chapter 8 - Security
Chapter 9 - Happy Hour
Chapter 10 - To Trust or Not To Trust
Chapter 11 - Was it Murder?
Copyright - About the Author
Previously – in Part 1:
Frank and Jane escaped from California just before the border was shut down. On the road they saw military convoys with tanks rolling south. They made it to Quartzsite, Arizona, but things were too crazy there, and they had to leave after one night. They stopped outside Williams, Arizona, but had to get back onto the road again after an altercation where Frank shot a corrupt Police Officer named Simmons. Radical Militia leaders tried to force our heroes and their fellow travelers to a location where they were to be relieved of their guns and supplies. Led by Frank, they fought their way out and made it to a friendly place near the Grand Canyon. They thought it was finally time to relax. They were wrong. An Army officer and a Police officer tracked them down and confronted them.
Chapter 1 – The Next Level
Frank and Jane got out of the pool and picked up their towels. Jane felt naked in her bathing suit as the Police Officer and the Army Officer watched her dry off. Frank sensed that, and placed himself in front of her, blocking their view.
“You guys can use the clubhouse to talk,” Charlie said. He walked towards the doors, with the two officers following him.
When Frank and Jane got through the door, the officers were sitting on one side of the first row of benches, and motioned for them to sit down on the opposite side. Charlie was puttering around in the other side of the large room, trying to remain within earshot.
“Sorry to bother you two,” the police officer said. “I’m officer Bannon. This is Lieutenant Humphrey from the US Army.”
“Good to meet you both,” Frank said. “I guess you already know who we are.”
“Don’t be worried. You two aren’t in any trouble. We know there were some issues with the Williams police department. Why were you two in Williams?”
Frank collected his thoughts.
“We decided to leave Southern California for a while, to escape the looting and gang violence,” he said.
“It was getting too close to our house, and there was an incident the night before we left,” Jane added.
“An incident?” asked Officer Bannon.
“Yes,” Jane said. “The looters came down our street. A few of them came up our driveway, and were getting ready to break in when Frank got their attention with a shot gun.”
“Did you shoot someone there?” asked Officer Bannon.
“No, I just cocked the gun and told them they had better leave,” Frank said. “They were just kids. They ran away.”
“So I take it you two took I-10 and came up through southern Arizona?” asked Lieutenant Humphrey.
“Yes,” Jane said. “We were hoping to stay in Quartzsite for a while, but we heard bad things about the border nearby, and about Yuma.”
“Was Williams a destination, or just a stopover point for you?” asked Officer Bannon.
“Just a stopover. We are planning to continue to the north,” Frank said. “This place is a stopover too, although we like it here.”
“Well, we're hoping to make this area safe in the near future, but I don’t blame you two for wanting to go a little further north,” Lieutenant Humphrey said.
“How did you two come to meet Dave Jacobsen?” asked Officer Bannon.
“Didn’t know his last name until now,” Frank said. “He came running into our camp after his police chief shot himself in an RV that was near us.”
“So you didn’t know him before that?” asked Lieutenant Humphrey.
“No,” Jane said.
“Did he have anybody with him when you met him?” asked Lieutenant Humphrey.
“Yes,” Frank said. “A young kid named Ken, and a guy in his mid-30s named Lewis.
“Good, that checks out,” Officer Bannon said. “We found Dave Jacobsen’s body near Ken’s body, and a jeep that rolled over several times.”
“They’re both dead?” asked Jane.
“Yes. What can you tell us about that?”
“They were trying to get us to stop on the highway,” Frank said. “Ken had a rifle on us. We wouldn’t stop, and either would any of the other coaches in the group that were following us.”
“So how did they end up running off the road?” asked Officer Bannon.
“They were alongside us, in the southbound lane. A semi-truck came down the road towards them. They had only two choices – force us over or drive off the shoulder on the southbound side, to avoid a head on collision with the semi. I wasn’t letting him move me over. He drove onto the shoulder going too fast, and cartwheeled.”
“Why didn’t you want to stop for him?” asked Lieutenant Humphrey.
“We had reason to believe they were herding us towards a militia group, in order to steal our supplies and weapons,” Jane said.
“That’s exactly what they were planning on doing,” Lieutenant Humphrey said.
“How do you know that?” asked Frank.
“We captured the third person, and it came out in the interrogation,” he replied.
“Lewis?” asked Jane.
“Yes.”
“What’s going to happen to him?” asked Frank.
“He’ll probably be shot for treason,” Lieutenant Humphrey said. “You folks are lucky that you got away from these guys.”
“Is that all you needed to talk to them about, Lieutenant Humphrey?” asked Officer Bannon.
“Just one other thing,” he said. “Do you know anything about an Officer Simmons?”
Frank felt a knot in his throat, and the feeling of panic set in.
“He was shot as we were leaving the campground outside of Williams,” Jane said. “He was trying to hold us there, even though he knew the enemy was coming.”
“We saw the evidence that he was shot, but not badly,” Officer Bannon said. “There was a small amount of blood on the ground, and we found his car off to the side of the road. We think he's still alive. We don’t know where he went, though. That's disturbing to us.”
“Why?” asked Frank.
“He’s working for the enemy, and he’s dangerous,” Bannon replied. “He’s a psychopath. We’ve been watching him for while. This guy kills people for fun. We need to re-acquire him as quickly as possible.”
“Did he join the enemy in the battle that happened there?” asked Frank.
“We don’t think so,” Lieutenant Humphrey said. “Almost the entire enemy force was burned up in a bombing and napalm attack, and that happened about half a mile up the road. They never got all the way to where Officer Simmons was, from what we can tell.”
“Do you know who shot him?” asked Officer Bannon.
Frank sat silent for a moment, and looked down. Then he looked Officer Bannon in the eye.
“I shot him.”
Officer Bannon could see that Frank was waiting for the handcuffs to come out. He smiled.
“Well, it was a nice try, Frank. Wish you would have hit him square in the forehead.”
Frank got a surprised look on his face.
“I’m not in trouble?”
�
�No, Frank, not from us. How good of a look did Simmons get of you?”
“Pretty good,” Frank said.
“Then you need to watch yourself. This guy is nuts, and he might come after you folks. You need to keep a low profile, and be watchful.”
“He saw our coach,” Jane said, with a worried look on her face.
“I figured,” Officer Bannon said. “I would go ahead and move north, if I were you guys. Officer Simmons’s user ids with the police department have been suspended, but he still may have ways of getting info on you. Hopefully he didn’t jot down your license plate number. He’s nuts, but he’s also quite intelligent.”
“Shit,” Frank said.
The two officers stood up.
“Thanks for being honest with us,” Lieutenant Humphrey said.
“Be careful out there,” said Officer Bannon.
They tipped their hats and walked out the door. Charlie walked over.
“Quite a story,” Charlie said.
“I’m glad you were here listening to it,” Frank said. “I was afraid they were going to kick you out.”
“I think we're going to need to go further north,” Jane said.
“Yeah, I heard that,” Charlie said. “I’ll refund you for the last two days.”
“Thanks,” Frank said. “I wish we could stick around.”
“We all might have to leave anyway,” Charlie said. “I don’t like the reports I’m reading about New Mexico. The Texans have the enemy on the run over there, and now they might be on their way to this area.”
“I was reading about that before we came over to the pool,” Frank said. “Sounds like they're mostly Islamists, too.”
“Same thing I heard. I’m going to watch for the rest of today and into mid-morning tomorrow. If they're still on their way here, and Army reinforcements haven’t arrived, I’m outa here.”
Frank nodded, and then looked over at Jane.
“Should we go enjoy the pool for a little while longer?” he asked.
“No, I’m too nervous. I think we should go back to the coach and get her ready to leave.”
“I’m with you. Let’s go. See you later, Charlie.”
“Good luck to you folks,” he said.
They walked out the door and headed for their RV. As they were walking, Chester saw them and came up.
“I saw you guys go into the clubhouse with the cop and the Army guy. Everything OK?”
“Yes and no,” Frank said. “Nobody is in trouble for our little game of chicken with Dave and Ken last night, or the shooting of Officer Simmons.
“Well, that’s good. What’s the bad news?”
“Officer Simmons has disappeared, and those guys just told me that he’s a real psycho. They said he might come after us for shooting him.”
“Uh oh – he’s still alive?” Chester asked. “What are you guys going to do?”
“We’re heading further north,” Jane said.
“When are you folks leaving?”
“Now,” Jane said.
“Oh. Well, I guess I can’t blame you.”
“It’s a shame,” Frank said. “We would've enjoyed a few days rest here.”
Chester looked sad, and was deep in thought.
“Would you folks object to some company?”
“We don’t want to organize a large exodus,” Jane said, “But we wouldn’t have any problem with other people tagging along. Why?”
“Charlie told me that there’s a possibility we'll have some Islamic visitors from the east. I can tell he’s worried about it.”
“Yeah, he said something about that to us, also,” Frank said. “He’s going to see how things are by mid-morning tomorrow, and if they're still on the way here without reinforcements showing up, he’s going to clear out.”
“Well, maybe I ought to wait with him and take off when he does,” Chester said. “I owe him that much. Where are you two headed? Maybe we can meet up later.”
“We will try to make it up to Capitol Reef, where Route 89 meets up with I-70.”
“Well, that’s doable before dark if you get going pretty quickly. Lots of nice RV parks up there, too.”
“Good,” Jane said.
“Oh, forgot to ask. What happened with Dave, Ken, and Lewis?”
“Dave and Ken are dead,” Frank said. “Lewis got captured. The Army guy told us that they were planning to bring us to their militia and take our supplies and guns. They probably would have killed all of us.”
“Wow, I guess we dodged that bullet,” Chester said. “Alright, I’ll let you guys go do what you need to be doin. Thanks so much for what you did for us yesterday.”
“Thank you, Chester,” Frank said. Chester nodded, and shook hands with Frank and Jane. Then they continued on to their coach.
“Wonder if we’ll see them again?” asked Jane.
“Probably. I don’t think this place is going to be safe. I think we're just leaving a little early. The rest of them will be along.”
Frank unlocked the door and opened it. Lucy bounded out, tail wagging.
“I’ll go walk her, sweetie,” Frank said. “Could you start stowing the kitchen stuff, and get the bedroom ready to close up?
“Of course,” she said as she climbed up the steps.
Frank hooked the leash on Lucy and walked her around. He noticed that other people were getting ready to leave, too. He walked down the end of his row, and saw Jeb getting ready.
“You clearing out?” asked Frank.
“Yup, sure am, and you folks should do the same,” Jeb said.
“We are,” Frank said. “Right now, in fact.”
“Worried about the folks coming from the east too, I suspect.”
“Yes. We’re going farther north. Planning on making it to Capitol Reef.”
“Great minds think alike,” Jeb said, laughing. “Twice now. I’ll be seeing you there. Godspeed.” He turned back to what he was doing.
Frank walked back to the coach, and let Lucy in the door. Then he stowed their equipment and brought in the awning. When he was done he walked back into the coach.
“Lucy do OK?” asked Jane. She had just changed back into her clothes.
“Yep, perfect dog, as usual,” Frank said. “Other people are getting ready to leave now. They’re all afraid of the enemy coming from the east.”
“You didn’t tell them why we were leaving?”
“I didn’t mention Officer Simmons, no. I went along with the enemy approaching as a reason, which actually isn’t a total lie,” Frank said. He changed back into his clothes as they were talking.
“You can bring in the bedroom slide now. Mr. Wonderful is up on the front passenger seat.”
“Thanks,” Frank said. He walked over to the panel and pushed the button. The slide came in slowly. “Done. I’ll go out and get the hookups undone.”
“Alright. I’m almost ready for the salon slides to come in. I’ll go ahead and retract them.”
Frank nodded as he walked down the steps. It only took a few minutes to unhook the utilities. He walked back inside. Jane was just starting to bring the slides in. Frank got into the driver’s seat and started the engine.
“Hey, honey, go ahead and turn on the water pump after you’re done there. Then I’ll get the levelers up, and we can blow this burg.”
“Why do we need the water pump on?”
“To feed the ice maker and the cold water dispenser,” Frank said.
“Oh, yeah,” Jane said. “Got to have that ice.”
“Yep, may be a Martini night tonight,” he replied, grinning back at her. She smirked and shook her head. Then Frank turned on the leveler console and hit the retract button. The coach lurched and settled down on its wheels, and you could hear the hydraulics pulling up the jacks to storage position.
“Alright, we’re set, sweetie. Time to get belted in.”
Jane came over and sat down. She put on her seat belt, and then Lucy came running over, looking up at her, tail wagging.
/> “Oh, alright,” she said. “Come on up, girl.” Lucy jumped up and settled on her lap.
Frank slowly pulled out of his spot, and turned onto the access road that led to the main gate. There were two coaches in front of them waiting to make the right turn onto the road, and as they sat there, Frank saw two more coaches come up behind in his rear view mirror.
“Mass exodus,” Frank said. They got up to the gate, and saw Charlie and Chester sitting in chairs talking. They both got up when they saw Frank. They walked up to the window.
“Goodbye, Frank,” said Charlie. “It was nice meeting you.”
"Same here,” Chester said.
“It was a pleasure. We’ll probably meet again,” said Frank. “I didn’t expect so many other folks to be leaving now.”
“News hasn’t been that great,” Charlie said. “The C-17s won’t be here. They had to be moved elsewhere. We’re getting ready to leave too.”
“Not surprised,” Frank said. “What about your place?”
“You know, this place will keep,” Charlie said. “I’ll be back. It’s not like they can burn the whole place down.”
“True, this place may be a little more resistant to damage than a store or a motel,” Frank said. “Is there a gas station open nearby?”
“Yes, you can’t miss it, it’s right on the way to Route 89,” Charlie said.
“Great, thanks!” Frank said.
Jane leaned over and waved to the men. They waved back, and Frank got ready to leave.
“Goodbye and good luck,” Frank said.
Frank made the right turn and followed the road towards the highway. He saw the gas station coming up fast. It was a truck stop, with great big lanes. There were several RVs there gassing up as he drove into the driveway.
“This is going to be expensive,” Jane said. “Hope they still take plastic.”
Frank parked the rig next to a pump, and shut off the engine. He got out of the coach, and walked up to the pump. He tried his credit card. It worked, and he started fueling up. It didn’t take that long….he still had almost three quarters of a tank. The pump shut off with a jolt, and Frank pulled the nozzle out and put it back on the pump. Then he closed the gas cap, and walked back to the pump. The receipt was waiting for him there. He grabbed it and got back in the coach.
