by Robert Boren
“Well, I’d rather keep that than the old pickup. Wish I could take the backhoe.”
“You’ve got a trailer for it, don’t you?”
“Yeah,” he said. “The Suburban doesn’t have the guts to pull it, though.”
“Go talk to Earl and Jackson,” Dobie said. “They’ve got those rental rigs that belong to Kurt, and they don’t have toads. I’ll bet one of them could tow it.”
“Good idea,” he said. “I’ll go talk to them. I saw them going into the clubhouse a few minutes ago.” He trotted over to there. Earl and Jackson were filling their travel mugs.
“Hey, guys, you got tow bars for those rigs?”
“The one I’m in does,” Earl said. “Why?”
“Would you mind towing the backhoe? I’ve got a trailer for it.”
“Sure, no problem. The trailer’s in the barn, I take it?”
“I know where it is,” Jackson said. “It’s going to take the three of us to walk it out, though. Let’s go.”
The men set down their coffees and followed Gabe to the barn. They got the trailer pulled out and onto the access road.
“Okay, this ought to be good enough,” Earl said. “One of you guys is going to have to drive the backhoe up on the trailer after we get it hooked up, though. I don’t know how to run one of those.”
“Let’s get it out on the road, then I’ll drive the backhoe over the bridge. I’m going to push the bridge down into the moat when we’re all out. Why make it easy for those jerks?”
Earl and Jackson nodded, and went back to the clubhouse to retrieve their coffee.
Everybody was ready to leave in another ten minutes. Frank and Jane got into their rig and sat down, Frank in the driver’s seat this time.
“Who’s leading?” Jane asked.
“Gabe, in the Suburban. He knows these roads the best.”
“Good,” she said. “You going to stow the laptop?”
“Nope, I’m going to leave it running,” he said. “Might as well have it working on the encryption while we’re driving.”
“How much battery do we have?”
“At least three hours,” Frank said. “And after that, we could fire up the generator and re-charge it.”
“Looks like Rosie is riding with Jeb,” Jane said, smiling.
“Yeah, and I saw Terry get into the bobtail with Jake and Trish.”
“No shock there,” Jane said. “I saw Gabe, Terry, and Jake put a whole mess of food in the back of that bobtail.”
“Good, we’re going to need it,” Frank said. “Ready to go?”
“Onward,” she said. They drove to the access road and got in line. They were behind the Sheriff. Jake’s bobtail was behind them, then Jeb’s rig.
They got their turn to go across the bridge, and made the left turn, speeding up to about 45 miles per hour.
Jackson got across the bridge, pulled up the road a ways, and stopped, going to out to get the backhoe.
Earl was the last rig across the bridge. He pulled out onto the highway and stopped behind Jackson’s rig. Earl watched as he drove the backhoe up. Then we walked over to the bridge and undid the hinge pin that was on it. He left the bridge chain on the backhoe and drove over slowly, trying to keep the bridge from coming loose while he was on it. Then he continued to drive with the chain connected. The bridge fell sideways into the moat.
“Nice,” Earl said out the window of the coach. Jackson nodded, and unhooked the chain. Then he drove the backhoe onto the trailer, climbed off, put up the ramps, and fastened down the chains. He waved to Earl, and got into his rig. They were off, catching up with the rest of the group within a few minutes.
Frank took a sip of his coffee as he drove down the road. Jane was looking at her iPad.
“I think our friends made it to the place where the bridge used to be,” she said. “The front group of icons has stopped, and the others behind them. They’re fanning out in both directions, looking for a way to get past the ravine.
They heard a loud explosion.
“They’ve got the tank’s cannon going, I’ll bet,” Frank said. “Glad we’re out of there.”
“You and me both.”
There was another cannon shot, in the distance, and then a third, but the group was rolling along at a good clip now…almost 60 MPH. They wouldn’t hear it pretty soon.
“How much charge do you have on the iPad?”
“I charged it and my phone up as soon as I knew we were leaving,” Jane said. “We do have the car charger too, you know, so we’ll be fine.”
“Alright. If we get within half a mile of any bad guys, your phone will buzz, so put it somewhere where you won’t miss it.”
Jane nodded, and put it into her shirt pocket. “We’re going to be driving all night, aren’t we?”
“Yeah,” Frank said. “That’s why I put the coffee maker in the sink.”
“Radio?” she asked.
“Give it a try,” Frank said. “Once we get into this back country a ways, we’ll probably lose it.”
Jane turned the radio on. The local station they’d been listening to was still within reach, but there was more static.
The news was on.
“The Eagle police chief is waiting for reinforcements, but said it may be too little, too late. The enemy has several tanks, and has cut the town off on either end. The U.S. Army is busy defending Denver and the stretch of I-70 further to the east, so nobody in Eagle expects help to come anytime soon. Townspeople are continuing to take out enemy fighters, but the tanks are being used to destroy their cover.”
“Not good,” Frank said. “We got out of that park just in time.”
“Yeah,” Jane said. “Hey, the icons by the bridge are turning around, heading back towards Eagle.”
“Good,” Frank said. “We’ll need to watch for them finding an alternate route to this highway.”
“They’ll never catch us with that tank,” Jane said.
“I know, but they might with those transport trucks.”
“In other news, there was a large explosion south-east of town, and somebody called the station with an anonymous tip that the old Holcomb Wash bridge has been blown up. We’re trying to verify this report. It’s possible that residents on the far side of that bridge blew it up. If this is true, the only way to get into that area now would be from the east, and it’s almost two hundred miles out of the way.”
“That’s good news,” Jane said.
Frank was deep in thought as he watched the road ahead of them.
“What’re you thinking, Frank?”
“We need to keep a good eye out for cretins coming down from I-70. If they come after us, that’s how they’ll do it.”
“Do you think they know that we’ve left?”
“Good question,” Frank said. “Shit, we forgot to check the other rigs for bugs…remember?”
“Crap,” Jane said, a sick look on her face.
Frank thought some more.
“You know, we shouldn’t worry too much about that,” Frank said. “We’ll see them coming now. It’s really a whole new ball game…and anybody with a brain that can read a map is going to know what direction we’re going, anyway.”
“True, but they might have thought we were going to stay at Gabe’s place. If they have a bug in one of our vehicles, they know we didn’t stick around.”
“Yeah, you’re right about that,” Frank said. “They may have some command and control problems, though. They fired several cannon rounds at the park. Doubtful they would waste those if they thought we flew the coop. It’s not like they can go down to the corner store and buy some more of those.”
“Finally, news from California. What was left of the state government has been taken into custody, and the last of the martial law areas have been freed. There were major celebrations throughout the state, especially in the bigger cities that were among the last to win their freedom back. We now see similar actions happening in the remaining areas of the east coast still under martial law
.”
“Why were they doing this martial law crap?” Jane asked. “Do they have no self-awareness at all? Do they think the people would put up with it forever?”
“Good question, but personally I’m glad that this element of our government has shown their stripes.”
“I suppose,” she said, pulling the iPad up to her face again.
“Anything?”
“Not in the direction we’re going, no. Most of the folks that were stopped at the bridge are already back in Eagle…except for the tank. It’s still several miles from town.”
Frank’s phone rang. He pulled it out. It wasn’t a number he recognized.
“Hello?” he said.
“Frank? This is General Hogan.”
Chapter 14 – There’s No Place Like Home
“General Hogan! Great to hear from you. So glad you were able to get away.”
“It was close, that’s for sure,” he replied. “Don’t tell me where you are, or what you’ve been doing. Not on this line, anyway.”
“Understood.”
“The bridge.”
“Yes, the bridge.”
“Don’t know if it was you guys or not, but that saved your lives and ours. There was a large force on the way. You just stay put. Like I did.”
“Good advice.”
“I’ll come for a visit soon, and we’ll talk.”
“Great.”
“There’s no place like home.”
“True. Can’t wait to get there.”
“Me neither. Talk to you later.”
“Bye.”
Frank put his phone back in his pocket.
“That was General Hogan?”
“Yes, that’s what he said. Sounded like him. He’s in the woodwork around here somewhere.”
“Why’d he call?”
“He called to tell us where to go.”
“He didn’t say it over a cell phone call, I hope.”
“He took somewhat of a risk. Islamists won’t get it, but militia guys might.”
“What?”
“There’s no place like home.”
Jane laughed. “He must be a mind reader.”
“There’s really no other choice,” Frank said. You remember what we saw on the Long Range app. Can’t go west. Can’t go south. Can’t go north. What does that leave? If the enemy was after us specifically, they know where we would have to go. It’s possible that they were ultimately after General Hogan, though, instead of us. In fact, it’s possible that they know less about us than we think. They might have thought that he was still holed up with us.”
“Really?”
“Think about it. Gabe’s park was the last time they knew where the General was. Remember? Maybe we’re wrong to assume we’re that important to the enemy.”
“We ought to be,” she said.
“You know that, and I know it, but they might not,” Frank said, chuckling. “If we’re lucky, they have no clue.”
Lucy got up next to Jane’s seat and whined at her. “Okay, girl, c’mon.” She jumped up, trying to see out into the darkness that was flying by outside.
“We need to be careful saying where we’re going, in any event,” Frank said. “If General Hogan is worried about that, then so am I.”
“Should we pass the word?”
“Yeah, why don’t you call a few and get the ball rolling.”
“Okay,” Jane said, pulling her iPhone out of her shirt pocket. Then she cracked up. “No need to worry now. No bars.”
“Already?”
“We’ve been driving at a good clip back here for quite a while,” Jane said. “We’re way out in the boonies now.”
“Remember what I said about the peer to peer phone app. Keep the phone in your pocket or in your hand, so you can feel it go off if there are cretins about.”
“You said it had about half a mile range, right?”
“Yes, but that can vary a little bit, especially in the mountains.”
“Which, of course, is right where we are,” Jane said, snickering.
“What was the next town again?”
“The next big one is Aspen,” Jane said. “Hope it isn’t big enough to have any cretins.”
“I think it’ll be okay. I zeroed in on that area with the Long Range app…nothing. It’s too far off the beaten path, and has no strategic value.”
“Maybe we should spend the night there.”
“Maybe. If it takes more than a couple of hours to get there, we might have to,” Frank said.
The engine started making more noise, downshifting.
“Here it starts,” Jane said. “The grade. How we doing on gas?”
“We’re in good shape,” Frank said. “Why don’t you snooze for a while if you can? I might be pretty tired in a couple of hours.”
“I’ll try,” she said.
“Kind of nice to be alone for a while, Jerry,” Jasmine said, watching the dark road from the passenger seat of their rig.
“We’ve got a grade starting,” Jerry said. “Glad we aren’t in a front-engine coach.”
“You and me both, honey,” she said.
“What do you think’s going to happen between Rosie and Jeb?”
“I don’t know,” Jasmine said. She sighed. “My mom can be a little fickle.”
“She hasn’t had a boyfriend since I’ve known her.”
“It wasn’t fun growing up with her, especially when she couldn’t get nursing work in the states. That’s when she was tending bar. She used to bring men home. I walked in on them more than once when I was in my mid-teens.”
“Really?”
“Really. She was quite a looker when she was younger.”
“Not as pretty as you, though.”
“I wouldn’t say that,” Jasmine said, “but thanks.”
“Well, I hope she’s careful with Jeb, and doesn’t hurt his feelings. I love that old guy.”
“I know, me too,” Jasmine said. “I must say that mom has much stronger feelings for him that she had for the last few guys she was with. That much I can tell.”
“How do you think our thing is going?”
“Our thing?”
“Getting pregnant.”
“Oh,” Jasmine said, smiling. “When we get to a decent sized town, I want to buy a few pregnancy test kits.”
“Might we be getting good news?”
“I feel pregnant, but don’t get your hopes up just yet.”
“What do you mean, ‘you feel pregnant’,” Jerry asked.
“I’ve been pregnant before, you know.”
“I didn’t know that. You never told me before.”
“It was with my first husband. I miscarried, fairly early on,” she said. Her eyes started to get glassy. Jerry could see it even in the low lights of the coach.
“Oh, honey, I’m sorry,” he said. “You didn’t try again?”
“No, that marriage was heading for the rocks. The pregnancy was an accident. Once I was pregnant, though, I wanted the baby.”
“Would it have kept your first marriage together?”
“No way,” she said. “In fact, I think he was getting ready to disappear when I got pregnant. He was definitely the deadbeat dad type.”
“So I take it your body feels similar to that time?”
“Yes, it does. If I were a betting woman, I’d say I’ve got a bun in the oven right now. I should, after we’ve been trying so hard.”
Jerry laughed. “Yeah, it’s been rough on me. A real sacrifice.”
“Shut up,” she said, laughing.
Jerry flashed her a smile. “I love you so much, honey,” he said.
“I know. I love you too. I think all of this has brought us closer together.”
“You don’t think we were having problems before, do you?”
“No, not really,” she said, “but we weren’t thinking about having kids. That takes our relationship to a deeper level.”
“I wasn’t interested, I’ll admit,” Jerry said
. “I can’t explain why I changed my mind.”
“I think my mom’s right. It’s instinct. Protection of the species when under stress.”
“Does that mean that Jake is going to have to keep an eye on Trish?” Jerry said, laughing.
“All kidding aside, I’d say yes, if he doesn’t want them together. I don’t get the impression that he’d be against them being a couple, though.”
“They aren’t married,” Jerry said. “Maybe we’ll have another wedding.”
“Hell, that guy’s an old hippy,” Jasmine said, laughing. “He probably doesn’t care about that. In fact, he’s probably an ordained minister of some crackpot church himself.”
Jerry cracked up. “You know, you might be right.”
“Trust me. If he sees that they get along well together, and that Terry’s kind to her, he’s going to be thrilled.”
“Probably,” Jerry said. “How do you really feel about your mom and Jeb?”
“I’m hopeful, but I say let’s just enjoy the break while we can, and not worry about it.”
“The grade is getting pretty outrageous now,” Jerry said. “I’ll bet Frank and Jane can’t even talk.”
Jasmine nodded. “Here come the switchbacks.” She gripped her armrests tighter.
“You ever drove one of these bobtails, Terry?” Jake asked.
Terry looked over at him. Trish was sleeping, leaned up against him. It was the most comfortable feeling.
“Yeah, a couple of times, when I helped people move. It’s an automatic, right?”
“Yeah. My eyes aren’t gonna last too much longer. Maybe when we get to the next town you could take over for a while.”
“I’d be glad too,” Terry said. “You’ll have to man the shotgun, though.”
Jake laughed. “Yeah, that’s the only kind of gun that I can hit the broad side of a barn with.”
“I can teach you to shoot, if you want. I was taking lessons…it’s not that hard.”
“I just might take you up on that,” Jake said. “Where you from, anyway?”
“Utah,” he said. “A really small town, just south of Panguitch. Smithville.”
“Mormon?”
Terry laughed. “No, not Mormon. A lot of my friends are, though.”
“I could imagine. Your uncle was the town Sheriff?”
“Yes, he was. I was his Deputy, but I wasn’t cut out for it.”
