Bug Out! Texas Book 6: Citizen Vengeance

by Robert Boren

  “It’s the one on the end,” Eric said. “Red.”

  “Great, thanks,” Jason said.

  “The gate’s opening,” Curt said, watching.

  “I’ll drive the bobtail home,” Amanda said, walking out to it. The others got behind the wheels of the trucks and drove through the gate in a long caravan, arriving back at camp ten minutes later.

  “Back already,” Moe said, rushing out to the gate. “We’re almost done fueling up the flatbeds and the tanks.”

  “Perfect,” Jason said, following the other trucks through the gate. “We’ll get these delivered and then come back up to make plans. We need to make sure we’ve got the armed vehicles in the right places.”

  “Roger that,” Moe said. He saw Amanda drive through, following the last truck. He waved her over.

  “Ready to load the food and the audio-visual stuff?” Moe asked.

  “Yeah, where do you want me?”

  “Back up to the side door, around the far side of the clubhouse,” Moe said. “I’ll send the teenagers over to load and pack ice. Talked to them earlier.”

  “Okay,” she said.

  The flatbed trucks with M-1 tanks queued up on the access road.

  “Which way we going?” asked the driver of the first flatbed. Clancy walked over.

  “We’re taking 329 up to I-20, and going through Midland so we’re further away from the New Mexico border. You aren’t leaving until we are though, right?”

  “You want us to wait?” the man asked.

  “Yeah, in case you get hijacked,” Moe said, hearing the conversation. “You can pull out onto the access road now, though.”

  “Okay,” the man said. “We’ll do that.”

  “Good,” Moe said. “We’re going to work out the order of vehicles, so we have the armed ones strategically placed.”

  “Okay, brother, makes sense,” the man said. He drove forward onto the access road, pulling up far enough for the others to fit behind him. More vehicles began lining up at the gate.

  Jason and Eric walked over to Moe and Clancy. “Ready to go finish the order of vehicles?”

  “Yeah,” Moe said.

  “Those flatbed drivers aren’t taking off ahead of us, I hope,” Eric said.

  “No, I told them not to. They’re on the access road to make room for the other vehicles to queue up.”

  “Good,” Jason said. “They were hijacked once, and they can be hijacked again.”

  “Exactly,” Clancy said. “Let’s go work this out.”

  “Dirk and Chance over here yet?” Jason asked.

  “No, but they’ll be here in a few minutes, with Cindy and Kelly,” Moe said.

  They walked into the clubhouse.

  Chapter 22 – Scanner

  Jerry and Holly watched out the windows of the armored personnel carrier as it drove into the parking lot of the Capitol building, parking in the back.

  “Lots of people out and around,” Holly said.

  The driver looked back at him and smiled. “Yeah, things are almost back to normal in this area. Two officers will be over to escort you in a few minutes.”

  “We can’t just walk in ourselves?” Jerry asked.

  “Nope, we’re following protocol for everybody entering or leaving the facility,” the driver said.

  “No problem, officer,” Holly said.

  They waited nervously. Two National Guard officers approached the vehicle after a few minutes.

  “There they are,” the driver said. Their doors unlocked with a clunk, and both men got out.

  “Commissioner Holly?” the first officer asked.

  “Yes, and this is Jerry Sutton,” Holly said.

  “This way, please,” he said, leading them towards the front of the Capitol. There was a line of people at the door.

  “Metal detectors?” Holly asked.

  “Looks like it,” Jerry said. “No, those are body scanners, like some of the airports have.”

  Holly glanced at him, feeling sweat break out on his forehead in the warm Austin sun.

  “When did this go in?” Holly asked the officer next to him.

  “Just before the Governor’s Office moved in,” he said. “You know what happened to the Governor’s Mansion?”

  “Yes, we saw that on the news before we were captured,” Jerry said. They moved up slowly in line, Jerry’s heart pumping a little faster with each step. He looked at Holly, who shot him a calm down glance.

  Holly got up to the front of the line and walked into the scanner.

  “Stand with your arms extended, please,” the operator said.

  “Yeah, been through the drill,” Holly said, standing in the correct manner as the operator looked at the screen.

  “Okay, thank you. Stand over in the white square until you’re picked up, please.”

  Holly nodded and walked to the spot, watching as Jerry went through the scanner.

  “Well, that wasn’t so bad,” Jerry muttered as he joined Holly in the white square next to him.

  “That remains to be seen,” Holly muttered under his breath.

  “How long do we stand here?” Jerry asked.

  “Until somebody gets us, I suspect.”

  The two officers that brought them to the door appeared. “Okay, let’s go downstairs,” said the first one.

  “Lead the way,” Holly said. They got into the elevator and rode it down to the bunker level. When the elevator doors opened, they saw people rushing around from one room to another in front of the vault doors. The officers led them past that, down a longer corridor, then down a second set of stairs.

  “Why are you taking us here?” Jerry asked.

  “For a meeting,” the officer said, ushering them to the heavy metal door.

  “This is the old bunker,” Holly said. “It’s not hardened like the main bunker.”

  “Yeah, I thought this one got retired,” Jerry said. “Why are you bringing us down here?”

  “Orders,” the first officer said, holding the door open for them. They walked into the room, which contained a conference table and a second door in back. There was a TV screen on the wall opposite of the door.

  “We’re in quarantine, aren’t we?” Holly asked.

  “Sorry, I don’t have that information,” the officer said as he left, shutting the door behind him.

  “Dammit,” Holly said, sitting down at the table.

  Jerry went to the door and tried it. “We’re locked in.”

  “They saw the devices with the scanner,” Holly said.

  “Think so?” Jerry asked.

  “What else could it be?” Holly said. “Our families are gonna die.”

  “Shit,” Jerry said, sitting next to Holly, resting his head in his hands.

  There was a beep, and the TV screen came on. Nelson, Ramsey, and Gallagher’s faces appeared.

  “Welcome home, gentlemen,” Nelson said.

  Holly and Jerry stared at the screen, then looked at each other.

  “What’s going to happen to us?” Holly asked.

  “That depends on you,” Gallagher said.

  “What does that mean?” Jerry asked, trembling.

  “We know you’ve been chipped,” Ramsey said. “It came out in the scan.”

  Jerry and Holly were silent for a moment. Then Holly looked them in the eye. “They forced us. I hope you believe that.”

  “How did they force you?” Ramsey asked.

  Jerry started to cry. Holly glanced at him, his own eyes getting glassy, then looked back at them.

  “After they held us for a while, they brought in pictures of our family,” Holly said. “They said if we didn’t cooperate, they’d kill all of them.”

  “What did they ask you to do?” Ramsey asked.

  “Not much,” Holly said. “We had to agree to taking the RFID chips. That was all for right now.”

  “For right now?” Nelson asked.

  “Yes,” he said. “They said we’d be released in a couple of days, then th
ey told us to get back in with you guys and wait for instructions.”

  “What kind of instructions?” Ramsey asked.

  “They didn’t say,” Holly said. “These people are nuts. It could be almost anything. You know that.”

  “Yeah, we know that,” Gallagher said.

  “You put those scanners out there to find RFID chips, didn’t you?”

  “We’re not going to discuss that,” Ramsey said.

  “What are you going to do with us?” Jerry asked.

  “We don’t know yet,” Ramsey said.

  “Will you try to get our families?” Holly asked.

  “Like I said, we don’t know yet,” Ramsey said. “Probably. The enemy has a long reach, though. Are your families in Texas?”

  “Most of them,” Holly said.

  “All of mine are,” Jerry said. “What did you mean about long reach?”

  “They got to Landry’s daughter at her school in Europe,” Gallagher said.

  “You sure we should be telling them anything at this point?” Ramsey asked.

  Everyone was silent for a moment.

  “Look,” Nelson said. “Right now we don’t know if we can trust you, so you will stay where you are. We’ll try to recover your families. If they have people watching them already, that’s going to be risky. Do you understand?”

  “Yes,” Holly said. Jerry nodded in agreement.

  “We will send interviewers in to talk to you,” Nelson continued. “We want to know every detail about your capture, captivity, and release. Understand?”

  “Yes, Governor,” Holly said. Jerry nodded yes.

  “Okay,” Ramsey said. “There are beds and a bathroom behind the door. Also some snacks and water, but we’ll bring in meals too. You will be well taken care of while we investigate. The better your cooperation, the better your chances of surviving this mess. Do you understand?”

  “Yes,” Holly said.

  “Good,” Nelson said. “We’ll talk later.”

  The screen went dark.

  “Shit,” Jerry said. “Should we have asked for lawyers?”

  Holly looked at him like he was nuts.

  Chapter 23 – Trailering

  “It’s time,” Richardson said, his phone alarm ringing.

  Lita stretched. “I slept better than I expected to.”

  “Good,” Richardson said. “We’d better wake the children.”

  Lita snickered and got off the waiting room couch. “Children?”

  “I heard that,” Juan Carlos said, walking over from the other waiting room.

  “Sorry,” Richardson said. “How’d you guys do last night?”

  “I slept like a rock,” he said. “I think Madison had a hard time getting comfortable.”

  “How about Brendan and Hannah?” Lita asked.

  “Don’t know, they found another place down the hall,” Juan Carlos said.

  “Oh, they wanted to be alone, huh?” Richardson asked.

  “Shut up,” Lita said. “Men.”

  “Hey,” Madison said, moving towards them quickly on her crutches.

  “Wow, you’re moving around better,” Lita said.

  “I’m a lot stronger. I won’t need crutches much longer. My foot doesn’t hurt anymore.”

  “Follow the doctor’s instructions,” Juan Carlos said. “You could re-damage your foot if you don’t.”

  “Yes, daddy,” she said, rolling her eyes.

  “Yes husband,” Juan Carlos said.

  She giggled. “I like the sound of that.”

  “I’ll go wake the other children,” Richardson said, walking down the hall.

  Madison shot a quizzical look at Lita. She shrugged.

  “It was a joke,” Juan Carlos said.

  “No gunshots for quite a few hours now,” Madison said. “That’s a good sign, isn’t it?”

  “I think so,” Juan Carlos said. “When we take off in the boat, I want you girls behind armor the whole way, though, all right?”

  “You don’t have to ask me twice,” Madison said. “I’m still pretty scared. Always expecting the other shoe to drop.”

  “I know, me too,” Lita said.

  Richardson walked back over. “They’ll be over in a few minutes.”

  “I’m hungry,” Lita said.

  “Me too,” Juan Carlos said. “Maybe there’s a McDonalds we can pull the boat up to.”

  Richardson chuckled and shook his head.

  “I wish there was,” Brendan said, walking up with Hannah.

  “Seriously,” Hannah said.

  “You two sleep okay?” Lita asked.

  “Yeah,” Hannah said. “After this one left me alone for a while.”

  “Shhhhhh,” Brendan said. “You’re not supposed to tell people that.”

  Richardson’s phone rang. He answered it, then put it on speaker and set it on the counter he was standing next to. “Hear me?”

  “Yeah,” Jefferson said. “The trailer and truck are ready to go. We didn’t get a second vehicle yet, though, I’m afraid.”

  “Maybe a couple of us should ride in the boat,” Brendan said. “If some bad guys show up, we could use the weapons.”

  “You know, that’s not a bad idea,” Richardson said. “At least until we get away from here.”

  “Is that legal?” Hannah asked.

  “Who cares,” Brendan said. “Nobody’s gonna pull us over for that.”

  Jefferson laughed. “Yeah, you’re probably right about that. You shouldn’t have trouble around San Antonio, at least. We destroyed the enemy there.”

  “What about the stretch between San Antonio and Houston?” Lita asked.

  “We don’t think it’s as bad as it used to be,” Jefferson said. “I’d keep your eyes open and your weapons ready, just in case.”

  “Where do we take the boat?” Richardson asked.

  “I’m not sure yet,” Jefferson said. “I’ll let you know, but I don’t want to wait around on you leaving. The water level is gonna start receding soon. We need the boat out of there before that happens.”

  “Where’s the trailer?” Juan Carlos asked.

  “In front of the Alamo,” Jefferson said. “There’s a crew there to help you and the other two boats get loaded. You’ll probably get wet.”

  Juan Carlos chuckled. “So what else is new. I’m ready to go any time.”

  “Yeah, I think we’re ready,” Richardson said.

  “Okay, call me if there’s any problems,” Jefferson said. “Talk to you soon.”

  The call ended.

  “Well, let’s get going,” Lita said.

  “Yeah,” Madison said, getting back to her feet without help. She got on her crutches.

  “Nicely done, sweetie,” Juan Carlos said.

  The group picked up their stuff and headed to the stairwell, going down to the third floor. The breeze from the broken window flowed down the hall as they walked towards it.

  “Wonder if there’s bad weather coming?” Hannah asked.

  “Hope not,” Madison said. “I’m going to be in the water, aren’t I?”

  “Probably,” Juan Carlos said.

  “I’ll need to clean my wound out as soon as possible, then,” Madison said, “Who knows what kind of garbage is in this water.”

  “Yeah, you definitely should clean it out,” Lita said. “I’ll help you.”

  They approached the window and looked out. The boat was still there, tied to the window frame.

  “Shoot, we’re all gonna have to swim, aren’t we?” Hannah said, looking down. It was about twelve feet from the opening to the boat.

  “We might be able to lift you down,” Brendan said, looking over her shoulder. “I’ll go in first and see how high I can reach from there.”

  “Yeah, do that,” Richardson said.

  “What about our cellphones?” Lita asked.

  Brendan tossed his onto one of the seats in the boat. It bounced and landed on the deck. “Hand them over.” The others gave their phones to
Brendan and he tossed them.

  “I don’t know why we’re bothering,” Juan Carlos said. “We jumped into the water with them before. They didn’t get messed up.”

  “True,” Richardson said. “But why push it? We have to take the guns through the water too.”

  Brendan tossed the last of the phones into the boat.

  “Okay, dude, go for it,” Juan Carlos said.

  Brendan nodded, held his weapon tight, and leapt into the water. He swam around the side and climbed up the back, using the port outboard as a step.

  “Is the water cold?” Hannah asked.

  “No, it’s not bad,” Brendan said.

  “Then screw it,” she said, jumping in. She paddled over to the back of the boat, and Brendan lifted her up.

  “There’s two,” Richardson said. “Guess I’ll jump in too.” He went out the window. “Want to get wet, sweetie?”

  “Do I have a choice?” Lita jumped in next to him. They swam to the back of the boat, Brendan helping them in.

  “Okay, what’s it gonna be, Madison?” Juan Carlos asked.

  She sighed. “I’m afraid I’ll fall if you try to lift me down,” she said. “That boat moves around a lot. You guys won’t be able to brace yourselves enough.”

  “Probably right,” Juan Carlos said. “I’ll jump in. You follow me, okay?”

  “Okay,” she said, nervous look on her face.

  Juan Carlos jumped in, holding his weapon. He tossed his rifle into the bow of the boat and swam to the window. “Hand me down your crutches.”

  She laid on the floor and handed them down. Juan Carlos tossed them into the bow. “Okay, honey, come on in.”

  She nodded and slipped into the water, coming up next to him. “I thought you guys said it wasn’t cold.”

  “Trust me, this isn’t cold,” Juan Carlos said, taking her arm. They swam to the stern together, Brendan and Richardson helping Madison out of the water. “I’ll go get the rest of the guns, and the grenades.”

  He paddled back to the window, climbing up by the ledge, using the bow rope to steady himself. Brendon got back in the water and helped. They were done in a couple minutes, then climbed into the boat.

  “Okay, pilot, get us out of here,” Richardson said.

  “Aye aye, Captain,” Juan Carlos said. He got behind the wheel and fired up the engine. “Keep your eyes open. Some bad guys might have showed up overnight. Ladies, stay low, beneath the sides, okay?”