Bug Out! Part 2: Civilization In Peril

by Robert Boren

  Jane got a worried look on her face.

  “What?” asked Frank.

  “The enemy's going to need supplies when they run low. They might send scouting and raiding parties up here.”

  “You know, she’s right,” Jeb said. “We’d better get ready to watch for them. We need to find out how many people here are armed, and what their experience is. We might have to post sentries.”

  “Or just take off and go further north,” Jane said.

  “Let’s not get too excited yet, folks,” Chester said, “but we need to keep an eye out.”

  “How secure is the park, Hilda?” asked Jeb.

  “Actually, it’s more secure than you’d think,” Hilda said. “We have chain link fence with razor wire along the top all the way around the back of the property, and I can close up the front too. Jerry insisted on doing that back about 8 years ago.”

  “Jerry?” Frank asked.

  “My late husband,” she replied. “Anyway, he decided to put up the fencing because of deer coming in here and chewing up all the flowers. The razor wire came later, because of two incidents with cougars that we had during that last big drought. I was against it at the time, but now I’m glad we did it.”

  “I’m surprised,” Jane said. “I didn’t notice anything.”

  “Oh, it’s a ways back there,” Jane said. “I insisted on that. You don’t want to feel like you are in a POW camp during vacation. It’s back far enough that it’s hard to see from the camping spaces.”

  “Are those hunting blinds that Jer used to brag about still back there?” asked Chester.

  “Well, I never took them down,” Hilda said. “But I don’t know what kind of shape they're in. Things built in trees don’t tend to last very long. They're outside the fencing, but they do have a good view of the area.”

  “Good,” Jeb said. “I suggest we take a look at the fencing, the blinds, and the general topography tomorrow morning.”

  “I second that,” Charlie said.

  “Alright, I’m with you,” Frank said. Jane nodded approval, but she looked worried.

  “Are you just about ready to go back to the coach, Frank?”

  “Yes, I’m getting tired, and Miss Lucy probably is ready for a walk, too.”

  “Looks like this party is starting to break up anyway,” Jane said. She nodded towards the door, where people were slowly starting to filter out. They both got up, and said goodnight to Charlie, Hilda, Jeb, and Chester. Then they walked to the door, and out into the soft warm night air.

  “We may have to turn on the air conditioner tonight,” Jane said.

  “Yeah, it’s definitely getting warmer. It’s nice, though,” Frank said. “I love this country.”

  “Me too. Wish we were just on vacation.”

  “Well, we should try to enjoy it as much as we can, regardless,” Frank said. He put his arm around her and pulled her close as they walked.

  “I hope things go well on the road for Sarah,” Jane said.

  “Me too,” Frank said. “Sounds like Lucy can hear us.”

  Jane could barely hear the dog starting to bark.

  “Where'd you get such good ears?” she asked.

  “Don’t know. You want me to take her out?”

  “I’ll go too,” Jane said. Frank unlocked the door, and Lucy jumped out, tail wagging furiously. Mr. Wonderful approached the door.

  “Uh oh, watch the door, Frank.”

  “I see him. I’m going to go in and turn on the air conditioners. It’s a little warm in there.” He climbed in the door. The hum of the air conditioners started up. Frank came back out, holding the dog leash and poop bags.

  Frank handed the leash to Jane and she hooked it up to Lucy while he closed and locked the door. Then they started a leisurely walk, guided by Lucy as usual.

  “What're you thinking, Frank?”

  “About what?”

  “Should we stick around here and help defend this place, or should we get the heck out of here?”

  “I don’t know. What do you think, honey?”

  Jane looked at him as they walked. He was scanning the area around the path they were on.

  “You are already on watch,” Jane said.

  “Can’t help it.”

  “Stress isn’t good for people our age.”

  “I know, Jane. Either is guilt.”

  “You’d feel guilty if we leave?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe.”

  “Why? We didn’t sign up for anything.”

  “I know that. If I was one hundred percent sure we'd be safer on the road than we'd be here, I’d be planning to leave tomorrow morning.”

  “Something worries you about being on the road?”

  “No, Jane, something worries me about being on the road by ourselves.”

  Jane looked at him in the eye, trying to understand what he was thinking. She shook her head.

  “I guess I don’t understand,” she said.

  “If we stay here, we may run the risk of having to fight off a raiding party or two, but we can prepare and have a pretty good chance of successfully defeating them, if the topography lends itself to that. There’s obviously game here that we can hunt, and water, and other supplies. Not enough to last forever, but probably enough to last for quite a few weeks. If we're out on the road, we're on our own...and we aren’t twenty five anymore.”

  “True, we aren’t twenty five anymore. I sense that you’re worried about more than just the enemy.”

  “Yes, I am. Food's going to start to get scarce. So are things like clean water and batteries and gasoline and motorhomes. We may run into scavengers. We don’t want to be alone if that happens.”

  “So you think it’s better to stand and fight?”

  “Depends on what you mean. If the whole Islamic army is on its way here, we obviously have to leave as quickly as we can, but then all of us would be leaving together. If we have scouting parties showing up, we’d probably be better off to stay here and help the group take them on, if leaving here would mean leaving by ourselves.”

  “Alright, I get it, and I think I’m agreeing with you,” Jane said. “After we check out the area tomorrow, we should have a meeting with the whole group to discuss all of this, figure out what we have in the way of supplies, arms, and resources. Then we can do some planning.”

  “There’s the Jane I know and love.”

  She smiled at Frank and grabbed his hand. They entwined their fingers like high school kids, and continued to walk silently for a little while. They could see people slowly streaming out of the clubhouse, and they could see the lights in coaches coming on all over the park as people got home.

  “It’s amazing how quickly Lucy learned to recognize our coach,” Frank said. “Look at her. She wants to go home, and she’s trying to drag us right over there.”

  “She’s a smart one.”

  They got to the coach. Frank handed the leash to Jane and unlocked the door. He pulled it open, being careful to watch for Mr. Wonderful. When he got the screen door open, Lucy jumped quickly up the steps. Jane followed her in, and then Frank. He shut the door behind him. It was nice and cool in the coach now.

  “You want a snack or a drink or something, Frank?”

  “No thanks, honey. I just want to settle in, and turn on the TV to see if anything else is going on.”

  “Okay,” she said, turning on a couple of lights in the salon. Frank went into the bedroom and changed into some gym shorts and a tee-shirt. He came back out and sat on the couch. Jane was at the fridge, getting a glass of ice water.

  “Want one?” she asked.

  “Yes, that sounds good, thanks,” Frank said. He picked up the TV remote and turned it on. He didn’t have the cable hooked up yet, so he couldn’t get to CNN or Fox News. He searched for a local channel that had a decent signal. He found one of the network affiliates, which was showing a cop drama.

  “This OK for a few minutes?” he asked. “The news is coming on at 11:00.”
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  “Sure. I’m going to go get into my nightgown.” She walked into the bedroom and slid the door shut.

  Suddenly the cop show stopped, and there was a Special Bulletin graphic on the screen. Then the network anchor was on.

  “We have developments in North Korea at this hour. This is a video feed, being shown live. Look over to the right hand corner of the screen. There is an ICMB on the launch pad being fueled.”

  “Oh oh, here it starts,” Frank said as Jane walked out in her nightgown and robe.

  “What? Jane asked, getting a concerned look on her face.

  “Look, there’s live video of the North Koreans getting one of their ICBMs loaded with fuel.”

  “No. Not already!”

  Chapter 5 – Watch the Perimeter

  “Wonder who's taking this video feed?” asked Frank. Jane sat down next to him on the couch, looking at the image of the ICBM with steam coming out around it. She was trembling.

  “This is too soon. Sarah is probably sitting on the freeway in creeping traffic right now. She might still be in the city center.”

  “If we’ve got video like that, chances are pretty good that the Air Force already knows where this is.”

  Suddenly there was a bright flash on the screen, and then the video feed went dead.

  “We just got it,” Frank said. “Probably one of our stealth bombers. I’ll bet they’ve been cruising around that area for the last day or so.”

  The commentator was back on the screen.

  “Although we don’t have confirmation yet, it appears that we have taken out that missile facility. We also have unconfirmed reports that there are other attacks happening against North Korea right now.”

  Frank could hear people cheering around the park.

  “Guess everybody is watching TV,” Frank said.

  “I feel like cheering myself,” Jane said. There were still tears running down her cheeks, but she had a smile on her face.

  “Well, hopefully they got to all of the launching pads before anything was launched,” Frank said. “Maybe I’ll have a drink now. I’m not getting to sleep right away, that’s for sure. You want one?”

  “Sure.”

  Frank got up and went over to the kitchen counter. He got out the Gin and Vermouth, and started working on martinis. Lucy jumped up onto the warm spot that Frank left on the couch and settled in next to Jane. She rested her head on Jane’s lap and sighed. Jane looked down at her and petted her head.

  “I’m going to try Robbie again,” she said.

  “Good idea,” Frank said. “It’s not too late, plus they are an hour behind us.”

  “It’s ringing,” Jane said.

  There was a click on the line.

  “Hi, Mom. Did you see us take out that ICBM? That was awesome.”

  “Yes, dear, we have the TV on too. How are things there? How are you doing?”

  “It’s been crazy here. Lots of people trying to go east. The Army is letting people through, but the traffic is a mess, and we can’t go straight east or south east because of the enemy positions in southern Arizona and Nevada. That takes away a lot of the better roads. You have to head more to the north.”

  “Sarah was told to evacuate from Portland. She’s heading towards us now.”

  “They might be stopping the evacuations,” Robbie said. “Just heard that on CNN. Sounds like we took out all of the North Korean missile sites before they even knew we were coming.”

  “Good. What're you going to do?”

  “I don’t know yet. I talked to my supervisor. He said it would be a couple of weeks before work starts up again, so I think we're just going to hang out for a while.”

  “Alright, son. I won’t keep you. I know it’s late. Take care of yourself.”

  “You too, mom. Love you.”

  “Love you too, Robbie.” She took the phone from her ear and ended the call.

  “How is he?” asked Frank, as he handed her a martini.

  “He’s good. He doesn’t even sound worried anymore. He just sounds bored.”

  “Good. I’m going to throw on my robe and see if I can get the cable TV connection working.”

  “Alright, honey.” She took a sip of the martini. “Mmmmm, this tastes good.”

  “Drink up, and maybe I’ll get another chance at you,” he said, grinning, while he walked into the bedroom to get his robe.

  “You just might at that,” she said with a giggle.

  Frank walked to the door of the coach, pulling on his robe. He took another big swallow of his drink, set it on the kitchen counter, picked up a flashlight, and went outside. The cable was easy to hook up - he was just about ready to go back inside when he heard a twig snap. That raised the hackles on the back of his neck. He looked out towards the back of the park. He could hear more movement. He crept out a little further. He turned on the flashlight, and pointed it out into the darkness. Some eyes shined back at him.

  “We’ve got company,” he said to himself, chuckling. He walked a little further out. There were several deer walking along the fence. When they saw him, they got spooked and headed away. He walked back to the coach.

  “We should have cable TV now,” Frank said. He walked up to the switch box that was over the passenger seat in the front, and switched to Cable input.

  “I’ll run the auto program,” Jane said. She got that started with the remote.

  “By the way, I saw some friends out there.”

  “Really, who?”

  “A few deer. They were over by the fence. I got pretty spooked when I heard them.”

  “So now you know where the fence is, eh?”

  “Yes,” Frank said, taking his robe off. “It’s not very far back. I’m surprised we didn’t see it earlier.” He tossed his robe onto the bed, and then picked up his drink.

  “What station do you want?” she asked.

  “Either CNN or Fox. I want to see if they have anything more on the ICMBs.”

  “Alright. The auto program is almost done,” she said. Frank walked over to the couch.

  “Miss Lucy, you need to give me some space to sit down,” he said. The dog looked up at him, and slowly climbed up onto Jane’s lap. Frank sat down, and took another sip of his martini. He could feel the warmth of the gin flow up to his brain.

  “OK, here’s CNN,” Jane said. She selected it. The announcer was talking in front of a large map of North Korea that had flame graphics scattered around on it.

  “We're getting confirmed reports that the US Air Force has been able to take out all of the missile sites in North Korea. A huge force of North Korean infantry surged across the DMZ. As soon as they reached South Korea, they surrendered. There are reports of North Korean soldiers shooting their officers at that time. The Chinese army is now pushing southward, taking out all North Korean military installations with little or no resistance.”

  “Shit, I wish Red China wasn’t going in there. That'll just put this mess off for another day,” Frank said.

  “Well, I suspect there will be a flood of people going from North to South Korea in a hurry.” Jane finished her martini, and leaned over against Frank. Lucy looked up at Jane’s face, and then jumped off the couch and slinked off to her bed.

  The news commentator was back on the screen, this time in front of a map of Europe.

  “In other news, there has been widespread violence in Great Britain, France, The Netherlands, and Denmark. The Muslim minorities in those countries have come out in force to protest the actions of western countries during this crisis. Angry mobs of natives in those countries have attacked the protesters, and in almost all cases, the local police have been standing aside and letting the violence go on, resulting in injury and deaths for many of the protesters. In London the police did draw the line when a group of hooligans attempted to go into a Muslim neighborhood and pull people out of their homes.”

  “Wow,” Frank said. “Looks like leaders of the western nations are all on the same page.”

  �
��Honey, let’s go to bed now,” Jane said, looking up at him.

  “I don’t know if I can get to sleep yet.”

  “Who said anything about sleep?” she replied with an embarrassed smile.

  “Well, in that case,” Frank said. He shut off the TV, and they walked into the bedroom.

  Frank awoke to the sound of Jane puttering in the kitchen. He got up and put on his clothes, and then walked out into the salon.

  “Wow, hot cakes?” Frank said, breathing in the smell of them and smiling. “What did I do to deserve that?”

  Jane looked over at him and smiled.

  “Take Lucy out, will you, sweetie?”

  “Sure,” he said. He hooked the leash on her. She was beside herself with excitement, jumping and wagging her tail. They walked out of the door and into the warm bright sunshine. Lucy pulled Frank all around the campsite. It was a peaceful morning. Birds were chirping, and there was a soft breeze. Jane put her head up by the kitchen window.

  “Hey, honey, breakfast is ready, and I’ve got Lucy’s food in her bowl too. Is she done?”

  “Yep, I’ll be right in.”

  Frank led Lucy back to the coach. She bounded up the steps and headed right for her food dish. Mr. Wonderful was already eating. He gave Lucy an annoyed look.

  The pancakes were piled up on a platter on the dinette table. Jane brought the syrup and two cups of coffee over and sat down. Frank joined her and dug in.

  “Mmmmm, these are great,” he said.

  “Glad you like them, honey. I know it’s going to be a busy day today. You need something that'll stick to your ribs.”

  They were finished eating, and were enjoying their coffee when there was a knock on the door. Frank got up answered. It was Charlie and Chester.

  “Good morning, folks,” Charlie said. “We're going to have a meeting in the clubhouse in half an hour. Can you two make it?”

  “Of course,” Frank said. “We’ll be there.”

  “Excellent, see you in a little while then,” Charlie replied, and they walked over to the next space.

  “Good, I figured they'd want to get started pretty early,” Jane said.

  Frank nodded.

  “I think I’ll put on my good hiking shoes. I suspect I’ll be walking in the underbrush and climbing up into some blinds today.”