Bug Out! Part 2: Civilization In Peril

by Robert Boren

  “Oh, shit,” Frank said. Jane got closer to him. She was visibly shaken.

  “The people in Tusayan know who came north,” Chester said. “They know we aren’t any damn militia.”

  “Yes, that’s one of the reasons why the people down there are wary of this guy. The only people who will give him the time of day are the people who had their daughters kidnapped. Some of the others think this guy might have actually had something to do with the kidnappings. His stories never seem to add up.”

  “This guy bull crap,” Rosie said. She was slurring her words now. “My Jerry kick his butt if he come here.”

  “Quiet, mom,” Jasmine said softly.

  Jerry had a sheepish look on his face. “Weng Weng...,” he said.

  The woman who had the son in South Korea walked over. She was an older slender woman, with a spinster look about her, and long gray hair

  “Hi, my name is Cynthia,” she said. “I went to Arthur’s rig to try to find out about my son.”

  “Oh, yes,” Jane said. “Is he alright?”

  “Yes, he was in the southern part of South Korea when the bombs went off. He's one of the humanitarian aid workers now.”

  “Good,” Jane said. “So glad to hear that, Cynthia.”

  “Thank you,” she said. “Arthur got the Regional Commander for Arizona on the radio when I was there. I heard the conversation. The commander said that the Islamists are all huddled together now, east of Flagstaff, and they will be rounded up over the next day or so. They may talk a big game, but they're tired and hungry now, and they surrender when they are caught. The leaders are all dead. There aren’t a bunch of them chasing any militias around. The remaining Marxists from Venezuela are a bigger concern, and the Army is chasing them down into central Mexico now. They have North Korean heavy weapons, and they know how to use them. All the Islamists ever had was small arms.”

  “The Venezuelans aren’t in the US anymore?” asked Jerry.

  “Just stragglers, from what the commander was saying. They miscalculated in California. They didn’t think the citizens would rise up and fight them. They didn’t realize how crazy and stupid the Islamists were, either. They made the population mad with their convert or die nonsense. Once the people got mad, they pulled out their hunting rifles and just overwhelmed them.”

  “Sounds like whoever planned this mess was a real idiot,” Jerry said.

  “Yes,” Cynthia said. “They made even bigger mistakes in Texas, and they sent a lot more Islamists over the Rio Grande down there. The commander was laughing about that. The Islamists were always trying to scare the people with insults. One of them was ‘Crusader’…..and of course those Texans took that as a high complement. The Texas National Guard had to step between the people and the Islamists to stop the invasion from becoming a total bloodbath. The Islamists were fleeing to the west into New Mexico to escape the citizens, not the Army. Then, when they got out there, they had no idea how big and desolate it was going to be. Many of them died from the elements. Pretty funny when you think about it. They came from lands that were mostly desert, but they lived in villages or cities back there. Americans from the southwest are a lot better at living with this terrain and climate than they are.”

  “Yes!” Chester said. “Don’t mess with Texas.”

  Charlie had a frustrated look on his face.

  “You know that commanders are usually clueless about what is really happening on the ground,” he said.

  “No, I don’t know that,” Cynthia said.

  “That’s a lot of malarkey,” Jerry said. “You ever been in the service, Charlie?”

  “No,” Charlie said, “but a lot of my friends have been.”

  “Well, I was in the Marines. Gulf War veteran. The entire chain of command flows detailed information from the ground up….and frankly, we have such good surveillance technology now that the commanders often have a better view of things than people on the ground. They can probably count the flies crawling around on the bad guy’s helmets, especially in this country.”

  “Settle down, now, boys,” Hilda said.

  “Just having conversation,” Jerry said. “I’m not angry, just telling what I’ve experienced. No hard feelings.”

  “So what do you think we ought to be doing?” asked Charley.

  “Let’s continue on the path that we are on,” Jerry said. “It’s a good one. Post people in the blinds to watch for scavengers. Have people watching the front of the park from the roof of the store. Be armed when leaving the park. Those are all sound measures. And above all, don’t work ourselves into a panic.”

  “If you don’t believe what the people in Tusayan are telling me, why even bother with posting people to watch?” asked Charlie.

  “There are always bad folks looking to take advantage,” Jerry said. “Remember the looting that was going on before the war got into full swing? People who do that aren’t too bright, usually. When they think RV Park, they think helpless old people with stuff to steal. They rarely think it through any further. They rarely think self-reliant old people with guns.”

  Jeb was walking in, with clean clothes on now, and he heard the last comments by Jerry.

  “You got that right,” he said. “Chester, how about another beer?”

  “Sure, here you go,” Chester said as he slid one across the bar to him. Jeb opened it and took a big swig. “So what’s going on in here? Kinda sounded like we had an argument starting up.”

  “No argument,” Hilda said. “Just two different views of the situation.”

  “Oh?” asked Jeb.

  “Yes,” Frank said. “Charlie was able to get through to the people in Tusayan on the phone, and was telling us what they see happening down there. Cynthia was with Arthur last night, and he got the Regional Commander of Arizona on the radio.”

  “Oh, that’s right, you were checking on your son in South Korea. How is he?” Jeb asked.

  “He survived, thank God,” Cynthia said. “Thanks for asking.”

  “Good, glad to hear it,” he replied. “What’s the difference in the stories? I’ll bet what Charlie heard was a lot worse than what the commander said.”

  Everybody at the bar laughed except for Charlie and Hilda.

  “I just put more stock in people on the ground than I do in people who are at the 50,000 foot level, that’s all,” Charlie said. “I know those folks in Tusayan. They aren’t going to lie to me.”

  “So give me the nutshell edition for both,” Jeb said. “I don’t want to waste everybody’s time with a full retelling of this.”

  “I can give you that,” Frank said.

  “Shoot.”

  “Charlie’s sources said that the Williams Militia is active around Tusayan, and is being chased by a group of Islamists who were offended by some of their anti-Islamic actions and comments. Officer Simmons is down there too, raiding the Williams Militia as Arthur said yesterday, but he is also telling the locals that the Williams Militia broke into two pieces, and one of the pieces went north. He is telling them that the person who shot him is with the group that went north, and he’s trying to get volunteers to fight both militia groups and the Islamists.”

  “Got it, so we would be in danger here if that was true,” Jeb said. He looked over at Charlie and shook his head. “What about the commander?”

  “He didn’t actually contradict everything, just one very important thing. He said that the only Islamists left were hiding out east of Flagstaff, and they're surrendering as soon as the Army finds them. He also gave a lot of info on the wider conflict, but it didn’t contradict anything that came out of Tusayan.”

  “You mean out of Charlie,” Jeb said.

  “Well, yes,” Frank said.

  “Now wait a minute, Jeb,” Charlie said. “I wasn’t lying.”

  “Didn’t say you were, Charlie, just stating a fact,” Jeb said. “No offense meant. So what’s the plan?”

  “That’s what Jerry was talking about when you walked in,” Frank
said. “He said that the current plan we have in place of posting people on watch in the blinds and on the roof of the store was a good plan, as is the policy of being armed when outside the park, due to scavengers.”

  “Ok, I get it,” Jeb said. “And I agree with the reasons I was hearing when I walked in.”

  “Me too,” Frank said. “Even if there is some truth to what the folks Tusayan are saying, I think we're on the right path. Do you agree, Charlie?”

  “I think we ought to be more proactive, that’s all,” Charlie said. “I think we ought to get ourselves better organized, and perhaps even send a party down south to settle things.”

  “Now why would you want to do that, Charlie?” asked Jeb. “You aren’t getting political aspirations again, are you?”

  “I can’t talk to this guy,” Charlie said. “He hasn’t changed since High School.” He left the room.

  “That wasn’t very nice, Jeb,” Hilda said.

  “Look,” Jeb said. “Charlie is my friend, and I would fight with him to the last man if we really needed to. He’s also very ambitious. How many times did he run for office over the years?”

  “He did win a couple of times, too, you know,” Hilda said. “He was city councilman twice, and almost won for mayor back in 1998.”

  “I know, and he did a good job when he was in office,” Jeb said. “This is different. I know where this is going. He figures he might be able to get himself famous, and then run for Congress or Senate or even Governor when this mess settles down.”

  “Is there anything wrong with that?” Hilda asked.

  “Depends,” Jeb said. “He’s great at rallying people. He was captain of the football team, remember? I was on the team too. That’s how we got so close back then. Nobody could motivate people like him. That's a valuable quality, but I don’t want to see anybody risking their neck for him in this situation, unless they truly understand what they are doing and why.”

  “Oh, Jeb,” Hilda said. “I think you are exaggerating a little bit.”

  “Maybe I was,” Jeb said. “I’m tired and a little buzzed from the beer. We’ll patch things up tomorrow. We always do.”

  Frank and Jane looked at each other. Jerry saw the look and came closer.

  “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Jerry asked quietly.

  “Probably,” Frank said. “I saw this coming. That’s why I made that little speech.”

  Jerry nodded.

  Charlie came walking back in. He walked up to Jeb and shook hands with him.

  “Sorry, old friend, I didn’t mean to go off on you,” he said.

  “I’m sorry too, Charlie. I’m a little tired, and a little grumpy. Let’s go have another beer.”

  “Heck yeah,” Charlie said. They walked over to the bar. Chester had two beers out before they got there. Hilda saw them and came back over. She had a relieved smile on her face.

  “Drink up,” Rosie said, smiling. “Another drink, handsome?”

  “You might not feel so good tomorrow if you have another of these, Rosie,” Jerry said, laughing. “This thing's got me on my butt.”

  “Good, you drink another too,” Rosie said. “Two more Weng Weng please.”

  Chester cracked up.

  “Coming right up, beautiful,” he said. Then he winked at her. She patted her heart and pretended to swoon. Everybody at the bar started laughing again. Jasmine smiled, and put her arm around Jerry.

  “Ah, let her have fun,” Jasmine said. Jerry nodded. Then he looked over at Frank.

  “Want to go have a cigar? I’ve got some good ones,” he asked.

  “Sure,” Frank said. He looked at Jane and she nodded. The two of them went outside to the porch.

  “Here you go,” Jerry said, handing a long cigar to Frank. Frank put it into his mouth and Jerry pulled out his lighter and got it going.

  “Haven’t had one of these in a few years,” Frank said. “I missed them.”

  Jerry got his lit, and nodded.

  “Yes, this is my guilty pleasure,” he said. “So, what do we do now?”

  “Well, I think we do exactly what we planned to do with the posting of watches, and we keep an eye on things. We resist efforts at further organizational hierarchy in our group.”

  “And we get our info from short wave,” Jerry said.

  “Yes. We should have Arthur show a few of us how to run his radio, too.”

  “I already know how. I’m a ham operator myself, but I didn’t bring my equipment. I was a communications expert in the service…I could probably even fix the thing if it breaks down.”

  “Good to know,” Frank said. He took a puff of the cigar and coughed a little bit. Both of the men snickered.

  “Wonder where Arthur was tonight? I didn’t think he would miss this little get together. He seems pretty gregarious.”

  “He’s a little frail. He probably just stayed home to relax.”

  “Probably,” Jerry said. He took another puff. “Glad I brought plenty of these.”

  “They're pretty good,” Frank said.

  “So how much of Charlie’s story do you buy?”

  “I believe that there are still some remnants of the Williams Militia out there, and I believe that Officer Simmons is still out there. We had already heard about that from Arthur. I don’t believe much else. The Islamist story is probably a fabrication.”

  “It’s possible that there are rumors like that floating around Tusayan,” Jerry said. “You know how people get.”

  “I know that’s a possibility, and I’d like to give Charlie the benefit of the doubt as long as I can. We’ll be able to tell what’s what by his actions, I think. I doubt that it'll take long.”

  “Do you buy what Jeb was saying? Or is this really about getting folks together to go secure Charlie’s RV Park?”

  “I believe what Jeb was saying,” Frank said. “I’ve been watching Charlie. He always has to be at the center of everything. I could understand that when we were at his park, but now? Notice how Hilda defers to him?”

  “They have a thing going on,” Jerry said. “Jasmine has seen some things.”

  Frank chuckled.

  “So has Jane,” he said. “Late night visits and such.”

  “Not that there’s anything wrong with that, of course,” Jerry said. “More power to them.”

  “Agree,” Frank said. “They have history. She dated both Charlie and Chester in her youth.”

  “Yeah, I heard something about that.”

  Somebody came out of the door. It was Cynthia. She walked over to them.

  “Oh, I Iove that smell,” she said. “Reminds me of my late husband.”

  “Really?” Jerry asked. “How long has he been gone?”

  “Going on six years now, rest his soul,” she said.

  “Sorry he’s gone,” Frank said.

  “Me too, but that’s the way of things, you know. He was quite a bit older than me.”

  “Jasmine will probably be in the same situation eventually,” Jerry said. “Especially if I continue to smoke these things.”

  “She’s a beautiful girl, Jerry,” Cynthia said.

  “Yes, and I love her mother too,” Jerry said with a grin.

  “Rosie knows how to have a good time, that’s for sure,” Cynthia said.

  “Yes, she does,” Frank said. “Nice lady.”

  “Yeah,” Cynthia said. “Have either of you heard anything from Arthur? He told me he was going to be here.”

  “No. We were wondering where he was too,” Frank said. “He looks pretty frail. Maybe he just got tired. Things have been a little crazy over the last several days.”

  “Maybe, but I think I’m going to go check on him,” Cynthia said. “Talk to you two later.” She walked down the steps of the porch and off into the park. It was almost completely dark now.

  “She’s a nice lady,” Jerry said. “Pretty quiet at first, but she seems to be coming out of her shell now. She’s very sharp for her age, too.”

  �
�How old do you think she is?”

  “I’m guessing early 70s at least.”

  Suddenly there was a scream. Frank and Jerry both looked in that direction, and went running out into the darkness. They saw Cynthia staggering down the steps of Arthur’s coach, crying. They ran over to her side.

  “What happened?” asked Frank.

  “Arthur is dead,” she said, sobbing.

  Chapter 11 – Was it Murder?

  Cynthia collapsed against the side of Arthur’s motor home, tears streaming down her face. Frank and Jerry steadied her. They walked her over to a chair that was under Arthur’s awning, and sat her down. She was sobbing.

  “I can’t believe he’s dead,” she said.

  “We better get in there,” Frank said to Jerry. He nodded, and they went up the steps into Arthur’s rig.

  “Jerry, don’t tell anybody else that you know how to operate the radio,” Frank said quietly.

  “I was thinking the same thing,” he replied.

  Arthur was laying on the couch. It looked like he was watching TV when something happened….it was still on.

  “Look, Frank,” Jerry said, looking closely at Arthur’s face. “See the indentations? There was a pillow pushed against his face.” He pulled out his cellphone, got really close, and took several pictures with the flash on. “I don’t know if this will show up. Wish I still had my old SLR.”

  “Are you saying that somebody smothered him?” asked Frank.

  “That would be my guess. Where’s the pillow?” He looked around, and saw one sitting on the floor between the front seats of the rig. He pointed. Frank went over to it.

  “Stop,” Jerry said. “Let me take pictures before you move anything.” Frank nodded as Jerry came over and took a few shots.

  “Good enough?” Frank asked. Jerry nodded. Frank picked up the pillow. “Is this the pattern you are seeing?”

  “Yeah, that looks like it. Either somebody smothered him, or he was laying on this, and went into convulsions that caused the pillow to fly over here.”