Bug Out! Part 4: Mortars and Motorhomes

by Robert Boren

  “He doesn’t look good. Let’s drag him further away. The propane tank is going to blow,”

  They each grabbed one of his arms and dragged him away from the Class C. Then there was another explosion, and the Class C lifted off of the ground and settled back down. The heat was intense.

  Jeb and Jackson ran out of the saloon.

  “Oh, no, is that Chester?” cried Jeb. He ran down to help Frank and Jane. They brought him up the porch steps and into the saloon just as Charlie rolled up in the Squad car. They laid him on a bench just inside the door. Jerry and Jasmine got up onto the wooden sidewalk, and nodded to each other. They turned facing outward and stood watch, just in case there were more militia folks around.

  “Oh, no, what did Chester do?” cried Charlie as he ran up. He was openly weeping, looking at Chester’s lifeless body.

  “He saved us,” Frank said. “He tossed a grenade into that Class C rig. We were taking fire. Sounded like there was three people in there shooting at us.”

  “I’m calling the Doc,” Charlie said, wiping the tears out of his eyes.

  “Dammit, Chester,” Jeb cried, tears streaming out of his eyes. Jane went over next to Frank and hugged him, sobbing.

  “The Doc is on his way,” Charlie said.

  Stella walked over. She was shaking and crying.

  “I was looking forward to catching up with you, you old fool,” she said to Chester, tears in her eyes.

  “What happened in here?” Frank asked.

  “Well, we got here and the place was deserted, but wide open,” Jeb said. “We started looking around, and found old Clarence lying behind the bar. His throat was cut ear to ear with his own knife. That one.” He pointed to the bowie knife sticking in Lewis’s back. “Lewis got the drop on us.”

  “Bastards,” Charlie said. He was still crying.

  “You guys went back a long way, didn’t you?” Jane asked.

  “Yeah,” Jeb said. “Chester was the oldest of us. My folks thought he was a bad influence. He was always coming up with some stupid plan or other. He was a dashing guy in his youth, that’s for sure. He took Charlie and me under his wing, and we had a lot of good times with him.”

  The Doctor came in, and looked at everybody. Then he looked closely at Chester.

  “There isn’t anything I can do for him,” he said. “That head wound. Nobody could survive that. How did this happen?”

  “Chester tossed a grenade into that burning motor home out there,” Frank said. “He couldn’t get far enough away before it blew.”

  “Geez,” the Doctor said. “I take it he saved you folks.”

  “Yep,” Charlie said.

  “Listen,” Jeb said. Everybody hushed up. There was the sound of a helicopter approaching.

  “That’s probably the CO,” Frank said. “Right on time, too.”

  “Major Hobbs told you he was coming?” asked the Doctor.

  “Yes,” Frank said. “Should be a large double rotor chopper.”

  “Probably a Chinook,” Jerry said.

  “I hear more than one,” Jeb said. “We’d better go take a look.”

  Frank, Jeb, and Jackson stepped out and looked up. They could see the choppers heading for the park in front of the Sheriff’s station. It was a Chinook, and two Apache attack helicopters were flying close by.

  “Let’s get back over to the Sheriff’s station,” Frank said. Everybody except for the Doctor and Stella piled into the squad car and SUV. They got to the Sheriff’s station just as the Chinook set down.

  “Wow, look at the size of that thing,” Jasmine said as Frank parked the SUV. Jerry nodded. Charlie pulled the squad car up next to the SUV

  The back door on the Chinook opened up like a ramp, and about ten men ran out, M-16s in hand, looking in every direction. One of them saw the SUV and the Squad car pull up, and pointed. Soon the two vehicles were surrounded by troops, all pointing guns at them. A General walked over to the vehicles.

  “Which one of you is Frank Johnson?” he asked.

  “I am, sir,” Frank said from the driver’s seat of the SUV.

  “Stand down, gentlemen,” the General said. The troops lowered their weapons, and Frank slowly got out. The General walked up and shook his hand.

  “I’m General Walker,” he said. “I’ve heard good things about you and your friends.”

  “Thank you sir,” Frank said. The rest of the group got out of the SUV and squad car.

  “I’m General Walker. What’s your names?”

  “I’m Jane,” she said as she got next to Frank.

  “Jackson.”

  “Charlie.”

  “Jeb.”

  “Ah,” the General said. “So you’re the famous Jeb. Major Dobbs is very impressed.” Jeb nodded, looking a little embarrassed.

  “Jerry,” said Jerry.

  “And Jerry, heard good things about you too. Former military, right?”

  “Yes sir. This is my wife.”

  “Jasmine,” she said.

  “Well, it’s really nice to meet you. Is that all of you?”

  “Earl is in the hospital, along with the Sheriff and his Deputy,” Frank said. “We just lost a person. His name was Chester. He’s responsible for that smoke over there.”

  “The major said you guys were here to rescue the Sheriff from this ‘Officer Simmons’ character. I take it you were successful?”

  “Yes, except for losing Chester,” Jeb said.

  “What happened to him?”

  “We were taking fire from that Class C motorhome that Lewis was driving,” Frank said. “Chester snuck over to it and tossed in a grenade. He moves pretty slow, and couldn’t get far enough away from the blast.”

  “Sorry to hear that,” General Walker said. “So Lewis showed up back here, huh? We’ve been trying to find him, but there are a lot of places to hide around here. Is he alive?”

  “Nope, I stabbed him with a bowie knife,” Jeb said.

  “Damn,” the General said. “Bow and Arrows and Bowie Knifes too? Were you born in the right century?” He chuckled.

  “Probably not, I reckon,” Jeb said. “I do like this Weatherby, though. Nothing like this back in the old days.” He held it out, and the General took a closer look.

  “Yes, that is one beautiful weapon,” he said. “I hear you have a prisoner for me.”

  “Yes, sir,” Frank said. “The kid who was manning the .50 cal on that chopper over there.”

  “Good. Where is he?”

  “Over at the hospital,” Frank said. “We were about ready to go over there. Want to join us?”

  “Yes, but give me a minute,” he said. He looked over at his Corporal. “Back my Humvee out of there, Corporal Barnes.”

  “Yes sir,” he said, and he trotted back to the Chinook. Soon the Humvee was backing down the ramp. It was a battle version, with a .50 cal mounted in the back. He drove it up next to the SUV and Squad car.

  “Alright, folks, lead the way,” General Walker said.

  “Will do, but we should go by way of the Saloon and get the Doctor.”

  “I’ll just call him, Frank,” Charlie said. “He’s on speed dial, I’m afraid.”

  “Alright, you do that, and then lead the way,” Frank said. “I don’t even know where the hospital is.”

  “Will do,” Charlie said. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed.

  “Doc?”

  “Yes, Charlie.”

  “Can you meet us at the Hospital? The General wants to talk to the prisoner.”

  “Of course, be there in a minute.”

  “Thanks, Doc,” Charlie said. He shoved his phone back into his pocket.

  “Alright, let’s go,” he said. He jumped into the squad car and drove slowly down the street. The SUV and Humvee followed.

  The Hospital was on the outskirts of town. It was a two story building that was surprisingly large for the size of the town. Charlie pulled into one of the parking stalls up front, and the Humvee pulled in next to it. Frank par
ked the SUV in an open spot opposite of the front row. Everybody got out of their vehicles, and were collecting up in front of the wide double doors when the Doctor drove in. He parked, and then walked up to the group.

  “Hi, all,” he said. The General walked up to him and extended his hand.

  “General Walker, Doc. Good to meet you. Thanks for doing such a good job patching up Lieutenant James.”

  “You are quite welcome, Sir,” he said. “Follow me.”

  He walked towards the door, and both sides slid open. Everybody went through to the lobby.

  “There’s a conference room over to the left there,” the Doctor said. “Why don’t you all take a seat in there, and I’ll get some coffee brought in. Then I’ll take the General back to see the prisoner.”

  “Coffee sounds great,” Jeb said.

  They all went into the conference room. It had a long table, with twelve chairs on each side and one chair on each end. There was also a row of chairs along the back wall, and a large credenza on the opposite wall. After a few minutes, an orderly came in with a cart. As the group all sat down, the coffee maker and cups and condiments were set up.

  “Ready to go, General?” asked the Doc.

  “Sure,” he said. “Maybe we should take a representative of the group back there with us. Who would you guys like?”

  “Frank,” Jeb said. Charlie and Jerry nodded in approval, and then the rest did.

  “Ok, Frank, guess you’re it,” General Walker said. Frank kissed Jane on the forehead, and joined the Doc and the General as they left the room.

  “Is the prisoner badly wounded?” asked General Walker as they went down the long hallway.

  “No, not really,” the Doctor said. “He had a concussion, but I don’t think it’s serious.”

  “Good, so I could take him with us without causing a problem?”

  “I don’t see why not,” the Doctor said. “We don’t want to keep him longer than needed. I don’t want any of his friends shooting their way in here to rescue him.”

  “You have any armed security here?” Frank asked.

  “No, not really, and that’s a bigger problem now since the Sheriff and his surviving Deputy are both out of action.”

  “I’d like to chat with the Sheriff before we leave, if he’s up to it,” the General said.

  “No problem,” the Doc said, with a smirk. “It will take the pressure off of the nurses for a few minutes. He’s a terrible flirt, that Sheriff.”

  “Good sign that he’s going to be okay,” Frank said. “We need him back in fighting trim. Jeb is getting all the attention for his prowess, but I’ll never forget the Sheriff picking off Islamic fighters running at him 200 yards out with his bolt action hunting rifle. That was something to see.”

  “Heard about that from Major Hobbs. You guys have an impressive team,” the General said.

  “We’ve been lucky too, though, and your Major has saved us more than once,” Frank said. “Hobbs walks on water in my book.”

  “Yes, Major Hobbs is one of our best,” the General said.

  “Here’s our ‘prison ward’, such as it is,” the Doc said, laughing. He unlocked the door and they all went in. The prisoner looked over at them, and then spit on the floor.

  “Hi, Son,” the General said.

  “I’m not your son,” he said sarcastically.

  “What militia group were you in?” General Walker asked.

  “You can take a guess. I’m not telling you shit, asshole.”

  “Well, he seems to be in decent health,” the General said. “Full of piss and vinegar, isn’t he?”

  “Jeb wanted to blow him away,” Frank said. “Maybe that would have been the best idea.”

  “You stupid sheep,” the prisoner said. “Your days are numbered.”

  “What, you mean you still have a few people left?” Frank said. He laughed.

  The General looked over at Frank…..his look told him to shut up.

  “That’s right, bow to the ‘General’, Frank,” the prisoner said mockingly.

  “How do you know his name?” asked the Doc.

  “Everybody in the movement knows who Frank is. He murdered two of our best. They were only trying to help him out.”

  “Make that four as of this morning,” Frank said.

  The General gave him the look again.

  “Sorry, General Walker. Maybe I shouldn’t be in here.”

  “No worries,” the General said. He turned to the Doc. “I’ll send a detachment of men over here to pick up the prisoner. We’ll take him back to base with us.”

  “Fine with me,” the Doc said. “We’ll be glad to be rid of him.”

  “Good, then I think we are done here for now,” he said. “See you soon.”

  “I’ll see you hanged,” the prisoner said.

  “Take your best shot,” the General said as they left the room. The Doc locked the door back up.

  “Belligerent little son of a bitch, isn’t he,” the General said. “I doubt we’ll get much out of him, but we’ll make a big deal about having him at the base so word spreads far and wide. That should keep his inbred friends from trying to hit the town looking for him.”

  “I’d appreciate that, General,” the Doc said. “We’re the only hospital still operating in this area. It would be a big problem to lose it.”

  They continued down the hallway towards the conference room.

  “This was the first major action the town has seen, wasn’t it?” the General asked.

  “Yes, that’s correct,” the Doc said. “They’ve been messing with the RV Park a lot, though.”

  “We think that’s because we have a growing assortment of their weapons and supplies,” Frank said.

  “Well, there’s another reason, and you just heard it in there,” General Walker said. “They are using you folks as a rallying cry. You are the people who murdered their precious leaders. You have become their own sort of Nazi Blood Flag.”

  “Nazi Blood Flag?” Frank asked.

  “Yeah, it was a flag that was at the failed 1923 coup attempt. It was used to soak up the blood of dead Nazis at that event. The Nazis used it in ceremonies for years, to rally the faithful.”

  “Great,” Frank said, shaking his head.

  “We need to talk about that and some other things,” the General said. “I was going to suggest going back to the RV Park for that, but perhaps we could use this nice conference room instead. I can smell the coffee from here.”

  They walked through the door of the conference room. Everybody hushed as they came in. Earl was with them. Frank nodded to him as he walked through the door, with a big smile on his face. Earl smiled back at him warmly.

  “Sit down everybody, and we’ll talk,” the General said. He went over to the credenza and got himself a cup of coffee. Frank and the Doc did as well, and they all sat down.

  “First of all, I’d like to say how impressed I am with your group,” the General said. “I’ve been getting reports on your situation and your actions ever since Major Hobbs and Lieutenant James first arrived. You are the best of American society, and it gives me great hope when I see you rally to the fight.”

  “We’ve been very impressed with your team as well,” Jerry said. “Major Hobbs, Lieutenant James, and your new Sergeant, and the privates too. Top notch.”

  “Thanks, Jerry, I’m proud of them too,” he said. “I’ve got two things to discuss with you.”

  He walked back over to the coffee area and added a little more cream to his coffee.

  “Strong stuff,” he said, laughing. “First of all, I’d like to have permission to keep Major Hobbs and his detachment at the RV Park for the time being. I’d also like to augment his force to replace the people we lost there.”

  “I think all of us in this room are for that,” Charlie said, “but the park belongs to Hilda. We’d have to get her okay. I’d be shocked if she would have a problem, though.”

  “Can you be sure that the replacement troop
s aren’t going to turn?” asked Jerry.

  “We think so,” the General said. “There was an intelligence breakthrough on that a couple of days ago, and we were able to pinpoint who the remaining plants were. They’re all in the brig now. I’m not going to lie to you and tell you we are 100% sure we got them all, though. We still need to be careful. We’ll only bring longer-service assets into the RV Park this time. We think that will protect against any residual issues.”

  “Well, that’s good news,” Jeb said.

  “What else?” asked Jerry.

  “Here is the difficult part of the conversation,” the General said.

  Jerry shot a glance over to Frank and Jeb.

  “Go on,” Frank said.

  “This area has become very dangerous, because it is where the Northern and Southern branches of the enemy forces are attempting to link up. They can’t go east, because of the Rocky mountains on the north end of that corridor, and New Mexico on the south. Texas is helping New Mexico to mop things up now that they’ve stopped the enemy in the south.”

  “Does that mean we can move east to get out of here?” asked Jane.

  “Maybe, but let me finish,” the General said. “The enemy would like come down through Idaho into Nevada and use that as a staging point to attack California, but the terrain there is just too difficult, and forces in California are now starting to focus on the eastern border of that state and on into Nevada.”

  “What happened up in Washington State?” asked Jerry.

  “That was a real blood bath, but the local forces and the citizenry won. The enemy won’t be trying to come through there again. They are coming down through Montana and Wyoming and into Utah….and right down our throats.”

  “Don’t we have Arizona locked up now?” asked Jackson.

  “Yes and no,” the General said. “We control all of the cities, but there are a lot of forces hiding around the Grand Canyon area. We aren’t going to bomb around there, so we are having to root them out with ground forces.”

  “Where do these guys think they are going to go?” asked Earl.

  “Well, that’s the real question,” the General said. “They can’t go east in large numbers. They can’t go west in large numbers. We are now starting to pull assets from Northern California into Idaho and Montana, so pretty soon they will be cut off from coming down through there or even escaping back to Canada. The Canadians are making real headway against these folks too. We think that they are going to rally in Utah and then try to break into much smaller forces and cause as much damage as they can. They know they’re essentially on a suicide mission now. They can’t even go back to Mexico at this point.”