by Robert Boren
“Yeah, we seem to be safe for now,” Jerry said.
Frank walked back into the clubhouse.
“Hey, Kurt, you still have that fast PC we were using at your place?”
“Yeah, it’s in my storage compartment. Why?”
“I was thinking that maybe we ought to fire it up in here, and use it to continue running the encryption program,” Frank said. “It’s a lot faster than the laptop, and then I could use the laptop to concentrate on hacking.”
“Gotcha,” Kurt said. “I’ll go get it.”
“I’ll help,” Jerry said.
The two of them left the clubhouse.
“Anything else on the attack?” Frank asked.
“Not really,” Jeb said. “Just some really nasty pictures of dead kids.”
Jerry and Kurt came back in with the PC. They took it over to a small table next to the network outlet, in the far corner of the room. Frank followed them over.
“Glad there aren’t windows right by this,” Frank said.
“It doesn’t matter much,” Charlie said. “The glass guy will be out here in less than an hour.”
“Good,” Kurt said.
Jerry got the PC plugged in and put together.
“How are you going to get your program over here?” Jerry asked.
“I emailed everything to myself,” Frank said. “I’ll pick it up that way.”
The PC monitor showed the windows login screen. There was an icon with Frank’s name on it.
“Oh, yeah, I remember when you set this up,” Frank said. “Seems like a long time ago.” He pulled one of the chairs over and logged on. The internet connected without any problem. Frank opened the browser and went to his e-mail. The message was there, so he opened it and downloaded the attachments. It took him about three minutes to get the program running again.
“Looking good?” Jerry asked.
“Yeah, this sucker is fast,” Frank said. “I’ll probably still get to it by hacking faster than this, but you never know. Thanks, guys.”
“Go get ‘em,” Jeb said.
“That’s the plan,” Frank said as he left the clubhouse for the barn.
Hilda and Mary walked out towards the trailers, carrying large plastic bags. Trish saw them coming out the window, and left the trailer, running towards them.
“My stuff!” she said happily. “You should have let me know. I could’ve come over and gotten it.”
Terry came out and watched.
“We were coming out anyway,” Mary said. She handed Trish two of the large bags. Terry came over and took them from Trish.
“Dobie!” Hilda called. He emerged from his 5th wheel, a damp rag in his hand.
“Hi, ladies,” he said. “What’s up?”
“Here’s some bedding for you,” Mary said, holding up the bag.
“Oh, wow, thanks!” he said. “This is what you guys got at Walmart?”
“Among other things,” Mary said.
“What do I owe you?” he asked.
“Don’t worry about that now,” Hilda said. “We’ve got some financial stuff to discuss. Charlie’s planning on having a meeting later this afternoon, after the glass contractors are done.”
“Sounds good. Thanks!” he said, as he carried the bag back to his trailer.
Mary walked over to Jake’s trailer with a bag, and Hilda walked over to Gabe’s trailer with one as well. Then they walked back towards the clubhouse.
Terry put the two bags on the dinette table, and went back to dusting out cabinets and wiping down everything. Trish started pulling things out of the bags. There was two sets of bedding, pillows, bath towels, hand towels, kitchen towels, and bathroom supplies.
“Wow, you got a lot of stuff,” Terry said.
“Mary and Hilda were teasing me about it at the store,” Trish said, smiling. “They said I was nesting.”
“Well, we kinda are,” Terry said. He watched her reaction. Her face turned red, but she looked at him and smiled.
“Maybe,” she said quietly.
“You knew we’d be moving in together while you were in the store, didn’t you?” he asked.
“Yes,” she said, quietly again.
“But you wanted to tease me, didn’t you,” Terry said, shaking his head, smiling.
“You seem to be happy,” she said.
“You don’t know the half of it,” he said, walking over to her. He hugged her again, and they started to kiss, getting more and more passionate. Terry’s heart was pounding in his chest. She finally broke the kiss.
“Down boy,” she said, trying to catch her breath. “C’mon, help me make the bed. We still have a lot of work to do here.”
He nodded and followed her into the bedroom.
Back in the clubhouse, Charlie, Jerry, and Kurt were all glued to the TV, when Mary and Hilda walked in.
“Uh oh, what happened?” Mary asked.
“The cretins used nerve gas in West Denver,” Kurt said.
“Oh, no,” Hilda said. “Those poor people. How many dead?”
“Lots,” Jerry said grimly.
“I hear somebody coming,” Jeb said. He got up and rushed to the window opening. “Hey, Charlie, the glass contractors are here. They brought two trucks.”
“Good,” Charlie said, getting up. They walked out to meet them.
In the barn, Frank was trying to find his way into the enemy system. He attempted to log onto the system at Hilda’s place. No dice…when they destroyed the hard drive, it brought the system down…or the bad guys simply turned it off. YouTube! Maybe the cretins still had their propaganda up. He went over there. Yep, there were the two videos. The one with the heads, and the other one showing all of the group’s faces at Kurt’s place. Maybe I can get to an IP address from here.
“Hi, Frank,” Jane said, walking into the barn with Lucy. “Need anything?”
“No, I’m fine,” he said, not looking away from the screen.
“Oh,” she said, seeing the still of the video on the YouTube page.
“Yeah, you don’t want to look over my shoulder,” Frank said.
“What’re you doing?”
“Trying to get to the IP address that this was posted from,” Frank said. “Tricky, but doable. I’m hoping that they set this up from their system, not from some random place.”
“Well, I think I’ll leave you alone, then. Good luck, honey,” she said, walking away.
“Thanks,” Frank said, still looking at the screen.
Dobie was walking his four dogs. Gabe saw him and went over to help, taking a couple of leashes.
“Thanks, Gabe,” Dobie said.
“How’s your 5th wheel coming along?”
“Surprisingly well,” he said. “How about your place?”
“It’s clean enough to sleep in now,” Gabe said. “What’s next on the agenda?”
“I want to take a look at the front of the park,” he said. “There’s no chain link up there by the front gate. I need to figure something out so I can put the dogs on patrol.”
“We could dig another moat, I suppose,” Gabe said, chuckling.
“I don’t think you brought any of that steel for a bridge,” Dobie said, grinning.
“Jeb told me there’s a section of fence gone back behind the barn, too,” Gabe said. “Big enough to drive through.”
“Yeah, I know,” Dobie said. “Charlie was going to see about getting a gate, so we have a back way out of here. Maybe we could put a gate in front too.”
“That’d be good,” Gabe said. “But if the bad guys get past the Kansas border, we’re cooked. You know that, right?”
“Yeah, I know. Been watching those icons at the air force base. I’ve got a bad feeling.”
“I know,” Gabe said. “What if General Hogan gave the apps to somebody that we can’t trust?”
“Yep, that’s what I’m afraid of. What if those guys figured out what we know, and removed the chips?” They might be sitting in a ditch by that base, and they might
be on their way here right now.”
“I don’t know, Dobie. I was thinking that through, over and over, and getting all worked up, but then I remembered something.”
“What?”
“I can still see all the icons around Denver, and along I-70. If the bad guys were on to us, I think they’d have removed them by now. I still see movement all over the place, too. The icons aren’t just sitting up there.”
“Oh,” Dobie said. “Good point. That’s something we should watch for. If the icons around Denver freeze on us, we’ve probably got a problem.”
“Well, there’s the gate,” Gabe said as they walked up. “The span isn’t really that wide. I’ve seen sliding gates that are long enough to close this up.”
“Yeah, that’s what I was thinking,” Dobie said. “We could close it against that registration building. I suspect we’ll have to beef up the other side, though. That chain link section doesn’t look strong enough to support a big gate.”
“Yeah,” Gabe said. “What are you gonna do with the dogs before we get this closed up?”
“Chain them up around my rig,” Dobie said. “I’ll probably let Princess sleep in the trailer with me, though.”
“Would they actually run away without the fence closed up?”
“No, but they might attack somebody walking by,” Dobie said. “I don’t want them to hurt somebody who’s not the enemy.”
“Oh. Not a lot of people around here,” Gabe said.
“True, but I’m not willing to risk it. Remember that little lake behind us. That might draw some fishermen.”
They made their way back to the spaces. When they got there, Dobie went to his truck and pulled out a big plastic bin. It had chains inside. He set them up around his trailer, and hooked the dogs up.
“Might want to see if that awning still works,” Gabe said, pointing to it on Dobie’s trailer. “It’s going to get too hot for the dogs this afternoon without some shade. That awning’s a hand cranker, so I’ll bet it’s still good, if it isn’t rotted out.”
“Ah, yes,” Dobie said. “I saw the crank handle inside.” He ducked into his trailer and came out with it.
“Yeah, that’s it,” Gabe said. He watched as Dobie engaged the handle and turned it. The awning made a cracking noise, and then broke loose and started to open up. It took almost a minute for Dobie to crank it all the way out.
“Wow, not bad,” Gabe said. “You’ve got a little fraying on that side over there, but it’s not torn. Doesn’t look rotted, either.”
“Yeah, this is nice,” Dobie said. “Makes me want to sit down and crack a beer.”
“I’ve got a few in my fridge…want one?”
“Hell, yes,” Dobie sad. “Don’t have any chairs, though.”
“No matter,” Gabe said, as he walked back to his trailer. He saw Jake standing by his bobtail as Trish and Terry carried things into their rig. “Hey, Jake, want a beer?”
“Don’t mind if I do,” Jake said. He walked over to Gabe’s rig, and then followed him back over to Dobie’s with the beer.
“Where’d you get this stuff?” Dobie asked as he opened it.
“From the bunker,” Gabe replied. “There’s a ton of it in there.”
“Not bad,” Jake said, taking a first sip.
Charlie and Hilda walked over.
“How’s it going, guys?” Charlie asked.
“We’re just about set up,” Dobie said. “You have a line on some chain link, I hear.”
“Yeah, there’s a contractor in town. Know what we need?”
“We need a standard sized gate for the opening back behind the barn, and a large sliding gate for the front. We’ll need some post and cement work, too.”
“Okay, let’s talk about that when we have our meeting,” Charlie said.
“Oh, we’re meeting? When?” Jake asked.
“As soon as the window guys are done. It’ll be a couple of hours yet…so about 2:00.”
“We’ll be there,” Dobie said.
“Want beer?” Gabe asked. “I still have a couple in my fridge.”
“That the stuff from the bunker?” Charlie asked.
“Yeah,” Gabe said. “Decent, not great.”
“Maybe later. See you guys in a while.” Charlie and Hilda walked slowly back to the clubhouse.
“We’ll probably get the bill for all this in the meeting,” Gabe said, chuckling. “Still a bargain over paying for spaces, though, I expect.”
“Hope so,” Dobie said.
“Hey, dad, we’re done unloading,” Trish said. “You can move the truck back now.”
“Okay, honey. The keys are in her. Why don’t you have Terry drive her back over next to my trailer?”
“Okay,” she said. Terry walked out in a couple of minutes, nodded to the men, and got into the bobtail. He drove back over next to Jake’s trailer, where it was before, then walked over to Jake and handed him the keys.
“How’s it looking in there?” Jake asked.
“Good,” Terry said. “Trish certainly knows how she likes things.”
“Oh, yeah she does,” Jake said, chuckling. “Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it.”
Terry walked back over and joined Trish in the trailer.
“Think Terry’s going to be strong enough to handle her?” Dobie asked.
“Yeah, they’ll be fine,” Jake said. “She’s a lot like her mother, God rest her. She’s a take-charge kind of woman, but that’s not all bad. Not by a longshot.”
“You miss Kate, don’t you?” Gabe asked.
“Every day,” Jake said, staring into space. “Every day.”
Back at the clubhouse, the window replacement was almost done. Charlie paid the contractor when they finished, and they loaded their trucks up and drove away.
“Well, there’s a good job done,” he said. “Took less time than I expected.”
Jerry cracked up. “Yeah, in California, they probably would have forced us to replace the whole shebang with low-e dual pane windows. That’d be more like a couple of days for this place, big bucks too.”
“If I thought we were going to stay here the winter, I might have sprung for that,” Charlie said.
“You don’t think we’ll last here that long?” Mary asked.
“Well, the army better start bringing their A game against the enemy in Denver, or they’re going to spread in this direction,” Charlie said. “Wonder why there’s been no news on that air force base?”
“Cretins still there?” Jerry asked.
“Yeah, just checked a couple minutes ago,” Jeb said.
“Something doesn’t smell right,” Kurt said.
Suddenly the PC started to beep. Jerry got up and ran over to it.
“Somebody go get Frank. This thing just cracked the encryption!”
Chapter 8 – The Lounge
Charlie bolted out of the clubhouse, running for the barn.
“Frank!” he yelled.
Frank looked up from his laptop screen, and turned to see Charlie running in. “The encryption program says it’s done,” he said, trying to catch his breath.
“Really? Wow, that was fast,” Frank said. The two men hurried back to the clubhouse, and Frank rushed over to the PC.
“Well?” Jerry asked.
Frank looked up at him and grinned. “Looking good. I’ll need to add some code to the apps to take advantage. Maybe I’ll just work on that here.”
“Excellent,” Jerry said.
“Will it bother you if there’s a meeting going on?” Charlie asked.
“No, not at all. I don’t have a lot of deep thinking to do on this part of the job,” Frank said. “I’ve already got most of the programming done. If it bothers me, I’ll just email everything to the laptop and finish up out there.”
“How long?” Jeb asked.
“It’ll take some time…I’ll probably have it done in a couple of days. This breaks me into the payload, but I’ll need to write code to translate the content, and to
present it in the apps in a way that can be read,” Frank said.
“Okay,” Charlie said. “I was just about to call everybody in.”
“Go for it,” Frank said.
Charlie and Hilda walked out of the clubhouse together. Jeb picked up the remote and turned off the TV. “Enough of that,” he said grimly.
“Hey, Jeb, you want to go fetch Rosie?” Jerry asked.
“Was on my way,” he said, getting up. “Want me to get Jasmine?”
“I’m going out there anyway,” Jerry said. “I’ll join you.”
The two men walked out together, leaving Frank at the PC, and Kurt, the Sheriff, and Mary chatting softly on the far side of the room.
People started to trickle in. Jane came in with Lucy, and walked over to Frank.
“I hear your program made a breakthrough,” she said. Frank turned up to her and smiled.
“Yeah, it broke the encryption. Now I have to code the apps to un-encrypt and display the info.”
“How long will that take?”
“A day or two,” Frank said.
“Good,” she said. “You going to be able to break a few minutes for this meeting?”
“Yeah, for the gist. Then I’ll get back on this and just listen.”
Jane nodded. “I’ll save you a seat.” She took Lucy and walked over to one of the long tables, joining Jasmine and Jerry, who had just come in.
Soon everybody was there, chatting softly. Charlie and Hilda got up in the front.
“Everybody hear me alright?” Charlie asked.
People hushed and looked at him, nodding and murmuring yes. Frank saw that, and came over, sitting down next to Jane.
“Thanks for coming, everybody,” Hilda said. Then she looked over at Charlie.
“Well, what do you think of our new home?” he asked.
There was a smattering of applause.
“Still needs a might bit of cleaning up,” Gabe said, laughing.
“Sure does,” Jeb said. “I like it, but it’s not defensible. If the cretins get past the border, we’ll find ourselves in a straight up battle that we probably can’t win.”
“I agree,” Charlie said. “If Kansas stays safe, we’ll be fine. We do have Frank’s apps to give us early warning, at least.”
“I heard that Frank break code,” Rosie said. “Is going to work?”
