Bug Out! Part 5: RV Flight from Terror

by Robert Boren

  “What views can you get on the PC in the shed?” Major Hobbs asked.

  “This one with all of the cameras in a grid, and it looks really good in there because of the nice big monitor that Hilda gave us. Also a cycle view that displays each camera, one after the other, in order, and a view where you can select by camera number.”

  “And the DVR view, if you need to look back at history,” Jerry said.

  “Excellent,” Major Hobbs said. “So we can put a private into the shed to monitor if we desire.”

  “Yes, Major,” Frank said. “One thing you might want to think about is getting an uninterruptable power supply.”

  “We can do that,” General Walker said. “Could I have you guys brief the Major and several of our privates on this thing?”

  “Of course,” Frank said. “Whenever you’re ready.”

  “Thanks very much,” Major Hobbs said.

  “Any idea when we’re leaving yet?” asked Jerry.

  “Yes, tomorrow morning,” General Walker said. “We’ll be bringing a Chinook chopper in to pick you guys up and take you to our base. You all ought to be able to get quite a bit of stuff into that – several boxes at least. Then we’ll send you off in a C-17 for the rest of the trip.”

  “Still going to Oklahoma City?” Jerry asked.

  “Yes, that’s still the plan. You’ll be taken to a base there. We’re trying to get all of the Motorhomes there before you arrive, but if that doesn’t happen, you can hang out there in the barracks for a few days.”

  “One other thing, General,” Frank said. “All of us had toad vehicles. Are we going to get an allowance for those? And for the Tow Bar setup?”

  “Yes,” Major Hobbs said. “I already mentioned that to the General.”

  “Excellent,” Frank said. “Thanks so much.”

  “Don’t mention it,” General Walker said. “You folks are doing us a big favor.”

  “Did you ever find out about the rest of the group?” Jerry asked.

  “Not yet,” General Walker said. “I think that’s going to be moot anyway, though. We‘ve already chatted with all of them. None of them really want to go. They’re hoping that they can just ride things out here.”

  “Interesting,” Frank said. “I can’t say I’m all that surprised, though. It’s nice here.”

  “What time do you want to hold the training session?” Jerry asked.

  “How about right after lunch time?” Major Hobbs asked.

  “Perfect,” Frank said. “We’ll be in the shed at 1:00.”

  “Sounds great,” Major Hobbs said.

  Frank and Jerry left, and walked back to their rigs, Frank carrying the laptop.

  “Why didn’t they let us know they were talking to the others?” Jerry asked.

  “Good question,” Frank said. “See you at 1:00.” Frank opened the door of the coach and stepped in.

  “How did it go?” Jane asked. Frank updated her and, before she asked, confirmed they’d be getting an allowance for a toad.

  It looks like we’re leaving in the morning. They are sending a Chinook over for us. He told us we can take quite a bit of stuff. They’ll transfer us into a C-17 after we get to base.”

  “Good,” Jane said. Her phone rang. She looked at it, and got a puzzled look on her face. “I don’t recognize this number.”

  “Answer it,” Frank said. She did.

  “Hello?” Jane said.

  “Mom?”

  “Robbie, I’m glad you called.”

  Chapter 04 – Get Outta Dodge

  “I’m going to put you on speaker,” Jane said.

  “Alright, Mom. I can only stay on for a minute.”

  Jane looked at her phone, and pushed a button on the screen. She put it down on the counter in front of her.

  “Can you still hear me?” Jane asked.

  “Yeah, mom.”

  “Good. Your father is right here too.”

  “Hi, Robbie,” Frank said. “Where are you?”

  “I’m on a pay phone in a hotel lobby. It’s really hard to find these things now.”

  “What did you want to tell us?” Frank asked.

  “The state government’s been corrupted. They’re doing bad things in California. Don’t come back here.”

  “What are they doing?” Jane asked, fear starting to take hold of her.

  “They’re tightening their grip on everything. You know about what they are doing with cars, right? Mileage restrictions, GPS Locators. That was the first thing that made me nervous.”

  “Yes, we’ve been hearing a little bit about that. What else?”

  “People who’ve been protesting about anything the state government wants to do have been disappearing. The state police have been confiscating weapons at the drop of a hat. In some areas, they’ve actually been looking up gun registration info and collecting guns for no reason at all.”

  “Is the U.S. Army involved with this?” asked Frank.

  “No, and that’s the strange thing, dad. It only appears to be the state government. That’s one of the reasons I joined the Army. It’s the only way to get out of here now.”

  “Are you on your way to the base now?” Jane asked.

  “Yes. I figured I’d better call you guys on the way.”

  “So you still trust the U.S. Army?” Frank asked.

  “Yes.”

  “How about the federal government?” Jane asked.

  “Yes and no,” Robbie said. “Remember when the President was saying that we needed a new kind of civilian security force?”

  “Yes,” Frank said. “I thought they deep-sixed that idea.”

  “Nope. They’re active here, and appear to be helping the state to lock things down. I’m hearing all kinds of strange things about them. Lots of theories. There were some stories showing up in the press about them, but all those reporters got locked up.”

  “What’re you going to do?” Jane asked.

  “Learn how to be a soldier, fight the enemy. If the U.S. Army turns, I’ll go AWOL and fight them. Along with a lot of other folks.”

  “Why aren’t people resisting this nonsense in California?”

  “Oh, they are. There’ve been rumors that the state government has actually lost control of certain parts of California. Inland, and in the Sierras. But the greater LA area and the Bay Area are all locked down. San Diego isn’t, but that’s only because the Armed Forces are in control of that area. It’s still the main staging area for the war in Mexico.”

  “And I’ll bet you can’t enter San Diego anymore,” Frank said.

  “You got it. I can’t believe what the state legislature is debating today.”

  “What?” asked Frank.

  “A law that makes it illegal to quit your job.”

  Frank and Jane looked at each other.

  “We’re about to be moved to another location by the U.S. Army, via airlift. Should we trust them?” asked Jane, hoping her son would say yes.

  “I would say yes, for now. If the Feds are involved with the crap that’s going on in California, they probably aren’t going to pull anything nasty outside of this state until the enemy is put down. They need the people on their side. If the Feds are against what’s going on in California, then the U.S. Army is going to be in here shutting down this garbage eventually, and a whole lot of creeps are going to prison.”

  “We aren’t getting this news,” Frank said.

  “Uh oh, I gotta go,” Robbie said. “The bus is ready to take off.”

  “Alright, love you Robbie,” Jane said, relieved and afraid at the same time.

  “Me too,” Frank said. “Take care of yourself. Call us when you can.”

  “Love you guys. Bye.” Robbie hung up.

  Frank and Jane just looked at each other for a few moments.

  “So what do we do now?” Jane asked.

  “We need to tell the others about this. I think we probably should stick to the plan at this point. I trust General Walker. But we have to be h
onest with the rest of the group.”

  “Are you going to bring it up to the General?”

  “No. I think that would be a mistake at this point. We need to keep them thinking that we trust the government.”

  “Alright,” Jane said. “Let’s have some lunch. Then you’ve got to get over to your training session.”

  “I’m not very hungry. A Clif Bar would be enough, and another cup of coffee.”

  “Eat one of the apples too. They won’t last much longer,” Jane said.

  “You okay?”

  “No, I’m scared out of my wits,” Jane said. “What if the Army flies us to their base and then just locks us up?”

  “That thought’s crossed my mind,” Frank said. “If we aren’t allowed to have our guns with us when we get on that chopper, I’ll really get worried.”

  Suddenly there was a loud explosion, coming from behind the park.

  “Shit, that’s the tank,” Frank said. “Grab your weapon.”

  Jane’s mouth dropped open. “Oh no!”

  “Come on, pull yourself together!” Frank said sternly. “You proved yourself in town, remember? Get that M-16. I’ll get Lucy on the leash.”

  Frank ran into the bedroom and put on his holster. Then he grabbed his Winchester. He ran out into the salon as Jane checked her weapon out. He hooked Lucy up on the leash and they jumped out of the coach. Mr. Wonderful tried to rush the door, but Jane grabbed him just in time, tossed him inside, and shut the door. They ran towards the barn, and were joined by Jerry and Jasmine, with Earl. Jackson, Jeb, and Charlie were ahead of them. Small arms fire started to erupt in the back, and the sound of mortars. Another blast came from the tank, and then a mortar shell landed inside the park and blew up. Instinctively they turned away from it. Luckily it hit in a place where there weren’t any coaches.

  “General, where do you need us?” Charlie cried out as they made it to the barn door.

  The general saw them, and told Major Hobbs that he’d be back in a second.

  “Well, our plan is going to have to change, folks. Sorry.”

  “What do we do?” asked Frank.

  “Get into your motor homes and get the hell out of dodge. NOW!”

  “Is that safe?” asked Jasmine.

  “There are about forty thousand enemy troops on their way here right now. We’re going to get over run. You have about half an hour to get out of here. That noise in the back….that was just a scouting party. We can see the larger force coming via our drones.”

  “Where should we go?”

  “Get back on route 89. Take it to route 12, then to route 24. Then get on I-70, and try to make it into Colorado. You’ll probably be alright if you make it there. We still control the air, so I’ll tell headquarters to look out for a long line of motor homes, and protect you if possible.”

  “What’re you guys going to do?”

  “Evacuate,” General Walker said. “Regroup. Hit them.” He had a scared look on his face.

  “Are we driving to our deaths?” Jasmine asked.

  “Enough talk, folks,” General Walker said. “I’ve got to get back to work. Get the hell out of here as quickly as you can. If you stay here, you will be killed. No doubt about that.”

  “Alright,” Jerry said. “C’mon, folks, let’s spread the word and get the heck out of here now!”

  Everybody ran back to their coaches except for Frank. He ran over to the squad car, jumped in, and drove it into the middle of the RV spaces. He got on the loud speaker.

  “Everybody, this is Frank. There is a large group of enemy fighters on their way here right now. We have to leave right away. Get back to route 89. Then go to 12, and then 24, and then I-70. We have about 15 minutes to get out of here.”

  Frank ran from the squad car to his coach, and unhooked the electrical and water. He saw the rest of the group doing the same. He pulled out the black water valve to dump the tank.

  “Jane, go ahead and start bringing in the slides,” Frank yelled.

  “On it,” she replied, out of breath.

  Frank got the tow bar out of the back compartment and put it on the back of the coach. Then he got into their toad and pulled it in back, ready to hook up.

  “They’re all in, Frank,” Jane shouted. “Should I bring in the levelers?”

  “Yeah, go for it. Start the engine first.”

  The coach engine roared to life, and Frank saw the coach lurch and settle. He shut the black tank valve and pulled the grey tank valve out. He could hear the water flowing through the thick sewer hose. He pulled on rubber gloves from the back compartment. When the water stopped flowing from the grey tank, he shut that valve, pulled off the sewer hose, and stowed it. Then he shut all of the compartments on that side of the coach and locked them. He ran around to the other side, picked up the chairs and table, and threw them into the rear storage compartment.

  “Shall I let her idle?” asked Jane.

  “Yeah, all I have left to do is hook up the car. Bring in the awning.”

  “Okay,” she said. Frank heard the motor for that spring to life. He jumped into the car and inched it forward, and then got out and hooked the car up to the tow bar. He put in the pins, put on the safety chain, and then hooked up the electrical. He pulled the auxiliary brake out of the rear storage compartment and got it set up. Then he locked up the rest of the compartments and ran into the coach.

  “OK, let’s go,” Frank said as he got into the driver’s seat. He put on his sunglasses, pulled the parking brake, and got the coach into gear.

  “Go!” Jane said. Frank drove out of the space and onto the access road. There was a small line up at the gate, but it was moving quickly. They ended up behind Jerry’s rig, driving down the road as the sound of gunfire got louder.

  “Poor Hilda,” Jane said, her heart beating wildly from the adrenaline. “Can you imagine what she must be feeling right now?”

  “I know, I was thinking the same thing,” Frank said. “Jeb’s behind us, and I see Charlie’s rig behind that.”

  “Good. Hope everybody gets out alright. Good idea on the loudspeaker.”

  “Well, it probably saved us five minutes,” Frank said. “The stinky slinky is going to be kind of a mess. I didn’t have time to rinse it out or flush the black tank. Did you turn on the water pump?”

  “Oh, no I didn’t,” Jane said. She went into the back and did that, and then noticed that the bungee cords weren’t on the fridge doors yet. She put them on, and then got back up into her seat.”

  “Good thing I went back there. Forgot the bungee cords.”

  Lucy got out of her bed and looked up at Jane, crying.

  “OK, girl, come on up,” she said. Lucy jumped up on her lap. “This poor dog is trembling.” She cuddled the small dog, calming her and herself down.

  “She senses that we’re scared, and she doesn’t like that noise back there,” Frank said. “There’s route 89. I’m getting on. Looks like no traffic.” The motor home labored up the onramp.

  “Yep. You remember where we are going, right?”

  “Yes, to route 12, then to route 24, then to I-70.”

  “Good, Jane said. “Think I can get on the security cameras with my phone?”

  “Yes,” Frank said. “Or you could use my phone. I’ve already got it set up in the browser.” He pulled his phone out of his pocket and gave it to her.

  “I don’t want to look right now,” she said. “I’m glad we got out of there, and frankly I’m glad we didn’t have to get onto a chopper. That conversation we had with Robbie really got me scared.”

  “I know, me too,” Frank said.

  “Look, route 12 is coming up already,” Jane said. “Didn’t know we were so close.”

  “Why don’t you pull up your GPS and see how twisty that road is,” Frank said.

  “No problem,” Jane said. She picked up her phone and pulled up the map application.

  “We’re going to go through a lot of pretty country, but you are going to get some
switchbacks,” Jane said. “Doesn’t look too bad. Capitol Reef is right up where the 12 runs into the 24. Wonder why Hilda has that as part of her advertisement? Her park is really quite a ways away from there.”

  “I was wondering that before,” Frank smiled, calming down now and focusing on the drive ahead.

  The road started to tighten a little bit, and it slowed the group down.

  “Why don’t you turn on the radio?” Frank asked.

  “Good idea,” Jane said. She reached over and switched it on. The station they were using at the park was still close enough.

  The announcer was speaking quickly. He sounded nervous.

  “A large force of Islamists are massing in southern Utah now, and have been running through towns one after another. They are facing stiff resistance from towns people and local authorities, but the force is large enough that citizens are having to flee. So far no word from the Army about where this force came from, or how such a large force was able to surface and start an attack of this size. The Air Force has not yet gotten involved, but we are hearing reports that fighter-bombers are on the runway as we speak, getting ready to attack.”

  “Wow, where’d these cretins come from?” Frank asked. “Sleepers? Wonder if a bunch of folks are missing from Dearborn?”

  Jane shook her head. “C’mon, Frank.”

  “Well, they came from somewhere. I know they didn’t all just come from there.”

  “Maybe the policy of not getting between the citizens and protesters has backfired.”

  “Maybe,” Frank said.

  The announcer came back on.

  “The Air Force has indeed started to fly sorties, and they are pounding enemy positions where they can. The Islamists appear to be moving around in civilian vehicles, so it’s difficult to see them unless they are engaged in a battle. That is problematic, because when they show themselves they are in the middle of populated areas.”

  “Human shields,” Frank said. “Same shit they pull in their own countries.”

  Just then they heard the roar of jets above them.

  “Look at that!” Frank said, pointing high in the air in front of them. There was a large group of jet fighters and B-1 Bombers heading west.