by Robert Boren
“That dog loves you more than me now,” Eric said, shaking his head.
“He did take to me, didn’t he?” Kim said as she struggled with her seat belt. “I just got done texting with Carrie. We’re gonna stop for gas in Roswell.”
“This is the wild west out here,” Eric said. “It’ll be interesting to see how many people are there. How does she know there’s any open gas stations?”
“A few of the bikers scouted ahead,” Kim said. “There are several open, and quite a few people still hanging around. The enemy used to go in there and terrorize people, but they don’t seem to be interested anymore.”
“Wonder where they’re getting gas deliveries from?”
“No clue.”
“Are we meeting somewhere afterwards?” Eric asked.
“The bikers found a place that’s right on Highway 70.”
“Good,” Eric said.
“We have to drive into town with these armed vehicles. What if we get stopped by the police?”
“I wouldn’t worry about it, sweetie,” Eric said. “I assume Carrie was passing around the plan?”
“You got it,” Kim said. She picked up her phone and checked the apps. “Still no bad guys around. Think this is really working?”
“Focus in on Austin,” Eric said. “See if the hits still show up around the capitol.”
Kim nodded, brow furrowed, and moved her fingers around on the screen. “Dammit. There’s more of them there now. At least it looks like it, anyway.”
“I hope Nelson and the others got away clean.”
“They did,” Kim said. “Jason got a message from Chief Ramsey.”
Eric shot her a glance. “When were you going to mention it?”
She giggled. “Sorry, that was the early part of the conversation with Carrie. I don’t know these folks, remember.”
“Okay, sorry,” Eric said.
“Did you hear about Don and Sydney?”
“About them getting married?” Eric asked. “Yeah, I heard Kyle and Jason teasing Curt about it.
“Carrie was talking about that too,” Kim said. Eric could feel her looking at him, and glanced over.
“You want to do that too, don’t you?” he asked.
“It’s okay,” she said. “We don’t have to worry about that right now.”
Eric glanced at her again, then smiled. “You’re afraid I don’t want to commit, aren’t you?”
“Well, you never say anything about it.”
He chuckled. “Honestly, I already consider us married. I have no problem with formally tying the knot. If there’s a place we can, let’s do it.”
“Really?” she asked, face brighter.
“Oh, come on, honey, it can’t be a surprise.”
“You’re not always so open with your feelings,” Kim said. “Remember how I had to force myself on you before we left Florida?”
“I know. I had my reasons back then, remember?”
She laughed. “Yeah, you had those Russian mobsters after you.”
“That’s funny?”
“Compared to what we’ve been through since we got to western Louisiana?”
Eric chuckled. “True. We’ve been in a constant battle since then. Seems like so long ago. Deadwood and Carthage.”
“It’s where we started. Really started.”
“Oh, I don’t know about that,” Eric said. “I seem to remember some time we spent in Biloxi.”
“That was the first time we made love, but I knew I had you after Carthage.”
“You’ve had me since Florida, honey,” Eric said. “I was just too dumb to realize it.”
“Wonder what happened to Raylene?”
“I hope she’s okay,” Eric said. “I haven’t heard much of anything about Florida since they threw off the martial law. There was never much enemy action there.”
“Wonder why?”
“Good question,” Eric said. “We’re in town. I’ll try that gas station on the left. Looks open. A few of our people are there already.”
“That’s Amanda’s bobtail,” Kim said. “And here comes Curt’s toy hauler. He must have been following her.”
“I would have been,” Eric said as he made the turn, pulling in front of an open pump. “Must suck to be in two vehicles.”
“They have a store. Shall I check it out?”
“Could you walk Paco first?” Eric asked. “While I pump gas?”
“Sure, honey.” Paco looked up at her, tail wagging. “He knows.”
Eric got out and gassed up as Kim walked Paco.
“Hey, pencil neck,” Curt said from a pump in the next lane. He walked over. “How goes it?”
“Good,” Eric said. “It’s nice having these apps. I’d be nervous as hell if not for that.”
“I hope they really work,” Curt said.
“Hey, fellas,” Amanda said, walking over.
“Hi, baby,” Curt said. “How are you holding up?”
“I’m doing fine,” she said. “I’m gonna slip into your rig and use the bathroom. You want a snack out of there?”
“Already grabbed one and put it by the driver’s seat,” Curt said.
“Okay,” she said as she walked away.
“I’m surprised these places are open,” Eric said.
“I’m not,” Curt said. “Lots of people in this town. Probably a lot of people living on the outskirts, too.”
“Getting back to the apps, you can check places where you know there are bad guys to make sure it’s working.”
“Oh yeah,” Curt said. “Duh. You’ve done that, I take it.”
Eric got a grim look on his face. “Austin. There’s more bad guys surrounding the capitol.”
“Jason said the leadership team got out, though.”
“That’s what Carrie told Kim,” Eric said. “I’m glad.”
There was a clunk by Curt’s toy hauler. “I’m done. I’d better move that beast so somebody else can come in. See you at the rendezvous point. You know where it is, right?”
“Yeah,” Eric said. He watched Curt end his fill up and go into the coach. Amanda came out a few seconds later with a soda and a snack bar, waving to him as she headed back to her bobtail.
“He done?” Eric asked as Kim and Paco walked up.
“He’s being stubborn,” Kim said. “There’s nothing in the store. I’m surprised they have gas. The clerk was shocked to see us. Said this is gonna run him right out of fuel for a couple days.”
“I’m sure the locals will be thrilled,” Eric said. “We can try again with Paco when we get to the meeting spot. It’s not far.”
“That’s what I’m thinking,” Kim said, getting back into the coach. Paco jumped in, and went right back to Kim’s lap as Eric got behind the wheel. He drove back onto the road.
“You know how to get there?” Kim asked.
“Make a left on Highway 380, then take it past Highway 70 about a block.”
“That’s it,” she said. “I saw a few locals really checking out Curt’s toy hauler. Our truck too.”
“Not surprised, with the weapons mounted,” Eric said. “I hope he’s measured that sucker so he knows how tall he is now. We might run into some low bridges.”
Kim chuckled. “Pay attention to the road, you just passed Highway 380. Better slow down.”
“Crap,” Eric said, putting on the brakes hard. He made the right turn onto the huge flat spot. There were at least twenty rigs already parked there, along with quite a few cars and a host of motorcycles.
“Pull back towards the rear,” Kim said. “See Jason and Kyle’s rigs back there?”
“Yeah,” Eric said. “There’s Junior’s Brave and Kelly’s rig, too.”
He made a wide, sweeping turn and parked next to Junior’s rig. They got out and joined everybody else.
“They’re cruising in,” Junior said, smiling as Eric and Kim walked up. “See the tank flat beds? They’re just the other side of Highway 380.”
“Damn, those th
ings look huge,” Eric said.
“You said a mouthful there,” Kelly said. “Wish we could just spend the night here. It’s a ways to the place we agreed to.”
“Two hours,” Brenda said, looking at her phone.
“Nah, it’s more like three,” Junior said. “We aren’t driving full speed. We’re doing about sixty.”
“Oh, shit, you’re right,” Brenda said.
“Hey, honey,” Rachel said, coming out of the Brave. “You want me to put snacks in front for when we take off again?”
“Sure,” Junior said. “Thanks.”
“She pregnant yet, Junior?” Eric asked.
“We think so,” Junior said. “She’s swelling up in the right places.”
“Junior!” Rachel said, sticking her head out the door. “I heard that.”
“I’m just messing,” Junior said.
“You need to get her to the doctor,” Kim said. “She’s on the old side to be having babies.”
“I know,” Junior said.
“You sure she’s got a bun in the oven?” Eric asked.
“Yeah,” Junior said. “We took one of those pregnancy tests before we left Amarillo.”
“They aren’t always correct,” Brenda said.
“I know,” Junior said. “We’ll find someplace to get her checked out.”
“There’s still plenty of activity in Las Cruces,” Kelly said., “Been checking on it. You can probably do it there.”
“Yeah, maybe we can do something there,” Kim said, elbowing Eric.
“Not her too?” Brenda asked.
“No,” Kim said.
“She wants to get married,” Eric said, shaking his head. “Imagine that.”
Kelly laughed. “Yeah, you guys do that, and make sure Curt knows about it.”
Everybody laughed. Junior stopped first, brow furrowed. He pointed to the road. “Are those police cars I see coming?”
“Shit,” Eric said. “Yep. Look, they’re talking to the driver of one of the flat beds.
“They’re coming over here,” Kelly said. “We’d best get ready.”
“Get ready for what?” Brenda asked. “They aren’t the enemy. We’d know, right?”
Jason and Kyle walked out to meet the two cars. Eric, Junior, and Kelly followed.
“Hi, officer,” Jason said. “Jason Finley, Austin PD.
A gruff looking old officer got out of his car. “You have weapons? Other than the ones on the vehicles we’re seeing all over town.”
“Yes sir,” Kyle said.
“And who might you be,” the officer asked.
“I’m Jason’s partner in Austin PD. Who might you be?”
“Officer Gaylord, Roswell Police Department.” He looked over at his squad car, getting his partner’s attention. “Hey, Frank, call for backup.”
“Why?” Jason asked.
“We’re confiscating your weapons,” Officer Gaylord said sarcastically.
“No, you’re not,” Jason said, watching as more of their vehicles flooded onto the property. “We’re here under orders from General Hogan. We have a mission. We won’t allow you to disarm us or impede us in any way.”
“Is that a fact?” Gaylord asked. He nodded to his partner, who jumped out of the squad car with a shotgun, aimed at Kyle. Then they all heard the whir of an electric motor, as Kate aimed the .50 cal on Kyle’s truck at the officers.
“Drop that shotgun or I’ll cut you in half,” Kate shouted.
Frank tossed the shotgun away.
“Dammit, Frank, I didn’t tell you to do that,” Gaylord said.
“Drop your side arm, Officer Gaylord,” Jason said. “Now.”
Gaylord sighed and threw his weapon in the dirt.
“Why are you giving us a hard time?” Jason asked, picking up his weapon.
“I’ve seen road trash like you around here lately. We’ve still got a town because we’ve taken it back from those filthy Islamists. We aren’t going to hand it to you.”
Jason laughed. “You don’t know who we are, do you?”
“I don’t know and I don’t care,” Gaylord said.
Jason walked over to him and handed his gun back to him.
“Jason, what the hell are you doing?” Eric asked.
“We don’t have problems with these gentlemen. They’re fighting the Islamists, just like we are.”
“I don’t get it,” Gaylord said, putting his gun back in his holster. “Who are you guys, exactly?”
“Hey, Rufus, I’ll bet these are the guys who took on those jerk weeds along I-40 a few days ago. They had tanks too. And crazy vehicles like these.”
Gaylord eyed Jason. “That who you are?”
“Yes sir,” Jason said.
Curt’s toy hauler and Amanda’s bobtail pulled up, followed by Dirk with his trailer, Don in his rig, and several others. There was a bottle neck in the driveway now, a lineup building on Highway 70. Frank noticed.
“Rufus, they got a lot of folks,” he said.
“What is your business here?”
“We’re just meeting for a few minutes before we continue south-east,” Jason said.
“And what is your business in New Mexico?”
“You sure you should be telling this guy everything?” Kyle asked.
“Yeah,” Jason said. “We’re here to stop the enemy supply route going north up I-25.”
“So you don’t plan on sticking around here?”
“Absolutely not,” Jason said.
Gaylord looked around at the growing crowd, then shot a glance to Frank. “Call off that request for backup, and tell Neely not to molest anybody with armed vehicles in town.”
“You got it,” Frank said, looking relieved.
“All right, I won’t bother you guys,” Gaylord said. “Why’d you bring the women and children along?” He nodded to Chelsea, standing next to Carrie.
“We had to move our whole operation out of Texas,” Jason said. “It wasn’t safe to leave them there un-protected.”
Gaylord laughed. “You guys are going out of the frying pan and into the fire.”
“We know it’s dangerous,” Kyle said. “We’ve been fighting together for quite a while now. Everybody knows how to handle themselves.”
“Uh huh,” Gaylord said. “You handed my gun back to me pretty quick.”
“And we left that .50 cal pointed at you guys,” Jason said. “Look, you’re a brother officer. We’re both on the same side. I think what General Hogan has us doing is going to help you in the long run.”
“I’m not a fan of General Hogan,” Gaylord said.
“Why not?” Junior asked.
“Who’s that?” Gaylord asked.
“He goes by Junior,” Jason said. “He’s smarter than he looks.”
“Gee, thanks, Jason,” Junior said, cracking up. Kelly laughed.
“Sorry, no offense,” Gaylord said. “General Hogan pulled everybody out of here. Left us on our own. Then Islamists started flowing up I-25, and in from the east, out of your state. We barely survived.”
“Oh,” Jason said. “I could understand that. He didn’t mean you harm.”
“We know that,” Frank said. “Rufus, you need to settle down about that. We’ve been over it with the chief.”
“Our state was written off as a no-man’s land,” Gaylord said. “You okay with that?”
“No, but I understand it,” Frank said. “Rather than messing with these guys, we ought to be asking how we can help them.”
“We’ve got everything we need,” Jason said. “If there’s any info you can pass along about the roads, we’d appreciate it.”
“Where you going?”
“Alamogordo,” Kyle said. “At least for overnight. Maybe for a couple of days.”
“That town is about the same as this one,” Gaylord said. “They’ve got a hard-as-nails police department who’ve been keeping the Islamists and those militia guys out. Be careful around the Air Force base, and the White Sands area. I woul
dn’t be taking Highway 70 through there. I’d go south on Highway 54 and then come back in through El Paso.”
“Good advice, thanks,” Jason said. “You mentioned militia? They active around here?”
“Yeah, they forage quite a bit. We see them more often than we see the Islamists now. They’ve got an alliance, you know. The militia guys forage for the Islamist Army.”
“We heard,” Junior said. “Ever heard of Simon Orr?”
Gaylord froze for a moment, then looked Junior in the eye. “You know where he is?”
“Yeah, he’s ashes,” Jason said. “General Hogan blew him up and then burned his body with the rest of the people who attacked their position.”
Gaylord smiled. “Good. That guy’s been after me.”
“Yeah, now you can relax a little bit, Rufus,” Frank said.
“You know that for sure?” Gaylord asked. “How?”
“General Hogan told us, and I believe him,” Jason said. “Simon Orr’s treachery cost us some good people a while back.”
“Join the club,” Gaylord said. “I’ll call the police chief in Alamogordo and let him know to expect you guys. I’ll tell him that you’re all right. Fair enough?”
“Yes, thanks,” Jason said, stepping forward and extending his hand. They shook.
“Be careful,” Gaylord said. “Mind the women and children. It’s rough out there.”
“We will,” Jason said.
“Sorry I gave you a hard time.”
“Don’t worry about it. The people of Roswell are lucky to have somebody like you looking out for them.”
“Thanks for that. I’ll let you guys have your meeting. Good luck.”
Gaylord nodded to Frank, and they got into the car and drove away.
“Holy crap, that was a little scary,” Carrie said, walking up with Chelsea.
“Tell me about it,” Jason said.
“Nicely played, brother,” Eric said.
“Yeah, not bad, pencil neck,” Curt said.
“I didn’t think about the locals much before we came down here,” Junior said. “We’re liable to run into a lot of desperate folks. Some of them might want to do us harm.”
“We need to watch ourselves, and not consider we’re safe just because we have these new apps,” Eric said.
“What about the militia?” Rachel asked. “They don’t have chips, do they?”
