by Robert Boren
“Wow, you are cold,” she said, pushing against him tighter.
Don looked at her, his hand roaming on her warm soft curves. “You mind?”
She smiled and moved more tightly against him. “No, I like it.”
They petted each other like two high school kids in love. Sydney felt herself getting out of control. She stopped and looked into his eyes, feeling sheltered and warm and safe.
“Enough?” he asked softly.
“Enough for now,” she said. “We’ve got a lot to do today. Up and at ‘em.”
Don groaned, but then laughed. “Okay, okay.”
They dressed, then got bowls of cereal and sat at the dinette, looking at each other more than their food.
“Happy?” Don asked.
“What do you think?”
“Yes,” Don said.
“Perceptive,” she said. “How much do we have to do on the trailer?”
“Stow what we got out this morning,” Don said. “Hitch her up. That’s about it. I did a lot yesterday while you were helping Amanda lock down the still equipment in the toy hauler.”
“Great,” she said. “Your SUV gonna handle it okay?”
“Yeah, I think so,” he said. “Used to hate driving that beast around. Too long and too wide for small parking lots. Now I’m glad I’ve got it.”
She giggled. “Yeah, all those people who used to make fun of SUVs are probably eating their words now.”
“Happened before,” Don said. “Remember that big storm that went all the way up the east coast, about ten years ago?”
“Yeah, I do remember that, and I remember the stories about SUVs too. Resulted in a surge in sales even though gas prices were still way high.”
“Yep,” Don said. “You go ahead on to Amanda’s place. I’ll finish up here and join you in a little while, okay?”
“Okay honey,” Sydney said, getting up from the dinette. She grabbed a few things and went out the door.
Don puttered around for a few minutes, then heard a knock on the door. He opened it. It was Alyssa and Chloe.
“Hi, Dad,” Alyssa said.
“Hi Mr. D,” Chloe said.
“Where’s Sydney?” Alyssa asked.
“She left a few minutes ago,” Don said. “Went to help Amanda. How are you two doing?”
“Good,” Chloe said.
“You need any help?” Alyssa asked.
“Tell you what. You two could guide me while I back the SUV up. Might as well get it hitched.”
“Sure,” Chloe said.
“Yeah,” Alyssa said.
“Good, I’ll go get her fired up.” He went out the door, the two girls following.
“Think Francis needs any help?” Don asked.
“He’s all ready,” Alyssa said. “Dirk and Chance helped. So did we.”
“Good,” Don said. “You guys can ride in the SUV if you want. Up to you.”
“I think we’re gonna ride with the guys,” Chloe said.
“The guys?” Don asked, glancing at them.
“The one’s we’ve been hanging with, from Gray’s group,” Alyssa said.
“Your daughter has a boyfriend,” Chloe said.
“Shut up,” Alyssa said, face turning red.
“It’s okay to have a boyfriend,” Don said. “Just be careful.”
“Chloe has one too,” Alyssa said. “Don’t you?”
“We’re just friends,” Chloe said, her face now red.
“Yeah. Uh huh.”
They looked at each other and giggled.
“Just make sure your car stays with the main group, okay?” Don said. “Call me if anything goes wrong and I’ll come get you.”
“I know, dad,” Alyssa said. “Go ahead and back up.”
Don nodded and got behind the wheel of his big SUV. He drove it into position and backed it up, following directions from the two girls.
“That’s good, dad,” Alyssa shouted.
Don shut off the engine and walked back to them. “Perfect, thanks!”
“Don’t mention it,” Chloe said.
The two girls walked towards the area where Gray’s group was camped, Don watching them until they were out of sight. Find out which vehicle they’re in.
Don finished hitching up the trailer and walked over to Amanda’s bobtail. There were several people loading stuff in the back. Don joined in while Sydney helped Amanda in the toy hauler.
“Your trailer ready to go?” Curt asked as he walked up.
“Yep,” Don said. “Already hitched up.”
“Good,” Curt said. “We’ll need some drivers to go into town with us. Interested?”
“Oh, to pick up the new tow vehicles,” Don said. “Sure, I’m game.”
“Great. We’re going in about an hour.”
“Perfect,” Don said. He walked over to the back of the third toy hauler, where the women were locking down the still. “You two need any help?”
“Yeah,” Amanda said. “There’s some more raw material in those big plastic containers. They have handles but they’re heavy. Watch your back when you lift them.”
“Will do,” Don said. He walked over to them, trying to pick up two but then setting one down. He carried the first one to the back of the toy hauler and set it on the tailgate, then went to get the others.
“Got you busy, I see,” Jason said, walking from his coach. “Your trailer ready to go?”
“Yep, already hitched up,” Don said, breath laboring. “You?”
“Carrie’s stowing the rest of the stuff now. I’m gonna get the Jeep hitched up.”
“Need somebody to watch for you?”
“Nope, not with these telescoping tow bars. I just have to be straight and within a range.”
“Okay,” Don said, lifting another plastic container.
Curt cleared space in the back of his toy-hauler and drove the Barracuda up the ramp, parking it and connecting straps from its frame to the floor of his rig.
“Well, there we go,” Curt said, walking down the ramp. “Want to give me a hand lifting the tailgate?”
“Sure,” Don said. He set down the last of the white plastic containers by the back of the mobile still and trotted over. They closed up the back, Curt fastening the big latches as Don held the door in place.
“That’s it. This puppy is ready.”
“You fired that gun on the back yet?” Don asked, nodding at the machine gun pointing backwards from the roof.
Curt chuckled. “Nope, not yet, and I hope I don’t have to on this trip.”
“We won’t be very inconspicuous,” Jason said. “Jeeps and trucks with grenade launchers or machine guns. Reminds me of a Mad Max movie.”
“Shut up, pencil neck,” Curt said. “You don’t like my handiwork?”
“I like it a lot,” Jason said. “If the world ever settles back down we’ll have to remove all this stuff.”
“Yeah, I know,” Curt said.
“Shit, if we win this war, a lot of this stuff will end up in a museum,” Don said.
“Think so?” Jason asked.
“Hell yes,” Don said. “These are wild times. Some of us might end up being famous.”
Jason laughed. “I could just see an exhibit for Curt. It’ll say something like Shut up, pencil neck.”
Jason and Don cracked up. Curt eyed them, smiling. “Yeah, what you just said.
“Boys, don’t get out of control,” Carrie said. “Chelsea is listening.”
“Oh, yeah, sorry,” Don said.
Eric and Kim walked over with Junior and Rachel.
“Hey, brother,” Jason said.
“Hey,” Eric said.
“You guys all rigged up?”
“Yeah,” Eric said.
Junior smiled. “Me too. Got the old Brave ready to go. Kelly was just finishing up when we left.”
“Wonder how Moe’s taking this?” Rachel asked.
“Probably hard,” Junior said. “This place is his pride and joy.”
&nbs
p; “Yeah, I gathered that,” Kim said. “Nice guy, that Moe. Clancy too.”
“Yeah, good people,” Eric said. “You need any help over here?”
“We could use a few more drivers later,” Curt said. “When we go pick up the tow vehicles from town.”
“You think it’s safe over there?” Kim asked.
“Should be,” Curt said.
“Nowhere is a hundred percent safe,” Jason said. “We’d best keep that in mind all the time. We need to stay sharp on the road.”
“He’s right,” Eric said. “We should plan out how to space the vehicles with weapons. We should have some at the front and some at the back of our caravan.”
“Yeah, seriously,” Junior said. “Wish I had one of those machine guns mounted on the old Brave.”
“Ran outta time,” Curt said. “Maybe we can get that done when we’re in Amarillo.”
“Love it,” Junior said.
“You’d let him put a big gun on the roof of our home?” Rachel asked.
“Sure, why not?” Junior said. “What if somebody comes up behind us?”
Rachel was silent for a moment. “Even with a gun, we’ll be a sitting duck in that motor home if anybody shows up.”
“She’s got a point,” Eric said. “We’ll be vulnerable.”
“Gets right back to what I was saying,” Jason said. “Nowhere is a hundred percent safe. Not while this war is going on.”
Kelly and Brenda walked over.
“You guys done?” Junior asked.
“Yeah,” Kelly said. “The fuel trucks are coming. Saw them on I-10 before I walked up here. They ought to be going through the gate any minute now.”
“Can those flatbeds keep up with the group?” Don asked.
“Probably,” Junior said. “Might be a problem if we didn’t have a bunch of RVs. We won’t be doing eighty.”
“True,” Jason said. “Our rig feels pretty good at about sixty-eight.”
“Same here,” Junior said.
“I like to go a tad slower while towing my trailer,” Kelly said.
A loud truck horn tooted from the gate.
“There’s the fuel trucks,” Kelly said. “Wonder if they need a hand?”
“Let’s go down there,” Junior said.
They took off.
“Our trip into town is gonna be the long pole in the tent,” Curt said. “Maybe we ought to take off now. See if they’re ready a little early.”
“I’m game,” Don said.
“Yeah, I’ll go too,” Eric said.
“And me,” Kim said. “I can drive.”
“I can go,” Jason said. “We still need a couple more.”
“I’m available,” Kyle said, stepping out of his truck. “How we getting down there?”
“Want to pile in the back of my bobtail?” Amanda asked.
“Sure, that’ll work,” Curt said.
“We got enough drivers?” Jason asked.
“We need seven,” Curt said. “So one more.”
“I’ll go,” Sydney said. “I can drive anything.”
“There we go,” Curt said. “Let’s saddle up. Sure there’s not too much stuff in the back of that bobtail?”
“Yeah, I’m sure,” Amanda said. “Moe’s gonna stuff a bunch of food and his audio-visual stuff in the back, but we aren’t doing that until we take off. Gonna have to ice a bunch of the food. No sense in having it melt for two hours before we split.”
“Let’s go, then,” Curt said. “I’ll call the guy on the way.”
“Ride in the cab with me,” Amanda said.
Curt nodded. Everybody piled in, Kyle joining Curt and Amanda in the cab, the rest getting into the back.
“Should we pull down the back door?” Don asked after he helped Sydney in.
“Yeah, it unlatches from the inside,” Sydney said. “I can help.”
“Okay,” Don said, reaching up to the heavy canvas handle. Jason got up to help. They closed and latched it, then Sydney went to the front and knocked on the wall.
“What’s that, your secret sign?” Don asked.
“Of course,” Sydney said. “Rode back here more than once. You know what we deliver, right?”
They all chuckled and sat down as Amanda drove to the front gate.
“I can’t quite picture you running moonshine,” Don said as Sydney sat next to him.
“I grew up with it,” she said.
“Yeah, funny that you were doing that business right next to a whole family of police officers.”
“I don’t think my dad liked it much,” Jason said. “But he loved your old man.”
“I know, the feeling was mutual,” Sydney said. “He’s gonna be really upset when he finds out what happened.”
“You haven’t talked to him since all this started?”
“No, he’s at a remote location in Montana, and since we’ve been involved in all this, I’d just as soon keep it that way.”
“They can’t hack our cellphones anymore,” Eric said.
Sydney laughed. “You think papa would own a cellphone? Hell, he bitches and moans that there’s no phone booths around anymore.”
“He thinks cell phones are too expensive?” Don asked. Both Eric and Jason snickered.
“What? I missing the joke?” Don asked.
Sydney sighed. “I guess you’re going to find out about the family sooner or later.”
“Maybe now’s the time,” Eric said.
“Shut up,” she said.
“Sorry, you know I love the old guy,” Eric said.
“Anybody going to fill me in?” Don asked.
“My dad is kind of a conspiracy nut,” Sydney said.
“Kind of?” Jason grinned.
“Hey,” she said. “Anyway, he believes the stuff about cellphones causing brain cancer.”
Don chuckled. “Well he’s not the only person I know who believes that.”
“He thinks 911 was an inside job,” Eric said. “Also thinks that the mob killed JFK, and that JFK and his brother killed Marilyn Monroe.”
“He must be having a field day with what’s going on right now,” Don said.
Sydney smirked. “He saw it coming from a couple years out. I’m actually amazed at how close to correct he was.”
“You don’t think he knows about this?” Jason asked.
“He knew about the terror attacks. That’s why they decided to stay up there. I doubt that he knows all this stuff about the government, the Islamists, and the UN.”
“Truth is stranger than fiction,” Eric said.
“We’re slowing down, making a left,” Jason said. “Probably be there in a couple minutes. The RV Park isn’t far from town.”
“Town is stretching it a little for this burg,” Eric said. “The population of our park rivals the place.”
“Be nice,” Jason said. “Probably good people living here. Small towns are like that.”
“Yeah,” Don said. “Deadwood is small, but we had a nice town there until the enemy came along and ruined it.” His eyes teared up.
“You’re really hurting over that, aren’t you honey?” Sydney asked, pushing his hair out of his eyes.
“I lost people,” he said. “Close people. I won’t get over it. Not for a long long time. Maybe never.”
“You want to go back there?”
“I don’t know, sweetie,” Don said. “I just want to be where you are at this point. If it’s there, fine. If it’s here or in Dripping Springs, fine.”
“We just stopped,” Eric said, standing up. The vibration of the engine ceased, and they heard people getting out of the cab.
“Let’s open the door,” Sydney said, getting up. She undid the latch on the inside, then Jason and Eric pushed the door open. They squinted in the morning light.
“Big dealership for a little town,” Eric said as he jumped out.
Don jumped out and helped Sydney down.
“I can get in and out by myself,” she whispered as the others got o
ut.
“Yeah, but this way I get to touch you,” he said. She rolled her eyes, and they walked to the office, catching up to Amanda, Curt, and Kyle.
“What are we getting, anyway?” Sydney asked.
“Mostly pickup trucks,” Jason said. “Several of them with fifth-wheel hitches.”
“How about roll bars?” Curt asked.
“Most of them will have roll bars,” Eric said. “We planned ahead.”
“Can we run the 3D printers while we’re driving?” Amanda asked.
“Could, but I wouldn’t bother,” Curt said. “We’ve already got several sets ready for the truck mounts. I’d rather not risk the vibration and movement messing with the material as it’s coming out of the printer nozzles.”
“Here early,” the man behind the counter said. “Was just about to call you. Everything’s ready to go.”
“Fantastic,” Jason said.
“Yeah, that’s great,” Kyle said.
“Who’s signing?” the man asked.
“I will,” Jason said. “How long is this gonna take?”
“Few minutes,” the man said. “The keys are lined up here, the trucks in the back section of the lot. Go ahead and get them lined up by the gate if you want.”
“How do we know which is which?” Sydney asked.
“Key fobs,” the man said.
“Oh,” Sydney said. “Duh.”
Jason started signing paperwork as the others grabbed keys and went back outside.
“You guys are gonna see some action, I take it,” the man said. “I’m Frank, by the way.”
“Jason.”
“Heard about what you guys did a few nights ago. I wanted to join in, but my wife talked me out of it. She’s pregnant.”
“Hey, you’re helping here,” Jason said. “We all do our part.”
“Think there’s gonna be action around here?”
“Possible,” Jason said.
“You guys coming back?”
“I have no idea,” Jason said.
“Where are you going?” Frank asked.
“Rather not say,” Jason said. “Sorry.”
“Oh,” he said. “Yeah, I understand. You don’t know me.”
“It’s nothing personal,” Jason said. “This all?”
“Yep. Here’s your copies.” He tore pages off each of the multi-page forms.
“Thanks,” Jason said.
“Welcome,” Frank said. “I’ll get the gate opened for you guys. Be careful. Godspeed.”
Jason nodded and left with the papers in hand, heading onto the back lot. As he approached Eric tossed him keys.
