by Robert Boren
“General Walker and Major Hobbs are dead. So is the doctor that patched you up,” he said. “You didn’t go back to the front of the park?”
“No, we figured we’d better gather up weapons and ammo and get the hell out of there,” the Lieutenant said. “What happened to them?”
“The bastards took them in the barn right after they blasted through the gate,” Frank said. “They beheaded them and put their heads on spikes out in front.”
“Oh, no,” Lieutenant said quietly, the pain evident on his face. “Oh no.”
“We have video of men in private uniforms killing your sergeant and the other men you had back by the blind,” Jeb said.
“Really?”
“One of the phony privates was a person named Simon Orr,” Frank said.
The Lieutenant got a shocked look on his face.
“That guy was in custody,” the Lieutenant said. “We captured him in a battle down in southern Arizona. He was involved with the Yuma attack.”
“Yes, we figured out that part,” Frank said.
“How?”
“We did screen captures of faces from the DVR video and put them up onto the FBI’s facial recognition engine.”
“Did you ID anybody else?” asked the Lieutenant.
“Yes, a man named Philip Carlson, and an Islamist leader who calls himself Saladin,” Frank said.
“Shit, we were trying to track those guys down,” the Lieutenant said. “That Saladin character is the commander of the forces that are coming down from the north. Carlson isn’t that important anymore, though.”
“We figured,” Jeb said.
“He was the liaison that helped join the southern Islamists with the militia, and now he’s attempting to do the same with the northern Islamists, but since Simon Orr is free, I’m surprised he’s still around.”
“How is it that you didn’t hear about any of this?” Jerry asked.
“Somebody took the radios out of the Humvees we took,” the Lieutenant said. “All I had was my cellphone, and I couldn’t raise anybody at the base on that.”
“Those aren’t your original Humvees?” Jerry asked, immediately concerned.
“No, ours were in the barn, and we didn’t go back there. These ones were good, but the radios were pulled out. The keys were in them, which is unusual.”
Jerry looked at Frank and Jeb.
“Did you check those vehicles for bugs?” Jerry asked.
The Lieutenant got a scared look on his face.
“That looks like a no,” Jeb said.
“C’mon, let’s go check them out,” Jerry said. “Now.”
“I’ll get ready to fight,” Jeb said. “If they’re bugged, we’ll have company. Soon. I’ll tell Kurt.”
Jerry, Frank, and Earl ran out to the army vehicles. The Lieutenant was following them, but Mary got his attention.
“I’m sorry, Lieutenant. The first man died, and the second one is in much worse shape than I thought. He’s not going to last through the night.”
The Lieutenant plopped down on a bench next to him, looking completely shell shocked. Mary looked at him, and turned to get her bag when Kurt came up behind her. He spoke quietly.
“Honey, the vehicles that the Army guys were in might have been bugged. We might need to leave right away.”
“Oh, no,” Mary said. Jane overheard their conversation and looked up from her iPad.
“Did I hear you right?” she asked.
“Yes, Jane,” Kurt said. “Jerry and Frank are out there looking at the vehicles now.”
“Lucy!” Jane said. The dog came running over, tail wagging. Jane pulled her close and petted her. “Keep your ears open, girl.”
Jeb and Earl ran out to Jeb’s rig with their rifles and climbed on the roof. They scanned the area looking for anyone approaching. They could see Jerry and Frank going over the Army vehicles carefully.
“Son of a gun,” Jerry said, climbing out from under the first Humvee. “Here’s one. They didn’t take much time to hide it.”
“What kind?” Frank said as he continued to look.
“GPS locator/transmitter. El Cheapo. You want me to disconnect it?”
“Is that the best thing, or should we have a couple of privates drive this thing away?” Frank asked.
“If they’ve been monitoring, they know the vehicles are sitting at an RV park right now. They’re on their way already,” Jerry said. “So it doesn’t matter. We need to leave. Quickly.”
“Frank,” Jeb said, as loud as he could without shouting. “Pickup truck heading this way. Four guys in the back. They are going slow, trying to find us. Get Kurt and the Sheriff out here with their rifles.”
“Will do.” He ran for the clubhouse as Jerry checked the other Humvee.
“Hey Sheriff, Kurt,” Frank said. “Enemy coming down the road in a pickup. Grab your rifles and go get with Jeb. Everybody else, start packing up the computers and stuff. We need to get ready to leave fast.”
“Why?” asked Mary. The Lieutenant snapped out of his shell-shocked state, got up, and turned towards Frank.
“There was a bug in one of the Humvees,” Frank said. “The enemy knows where we are.”
“Alright, you heard the man,” Charlie said, getting up. Jane ran over to their laptop and shut it down. She put it in the backpack, and then stuffed in the iPad. Jasmine did the same with their laptop.
“What about the wounded soldiers?” Charlie asked.
“They’re both dead,” Mary said. “The second one just passed a couple of minutes ago.”
“Jackson, you good enough to walk now?” Charlie asked.
“Yeah, I can make it,” he said. “Got a spare rifle nearby?”
“Here,” Charlie said, handing him one of the AK-47s. Charlie grabbed his hunting rifle and headed out the door.
Frank picked up his Winchester and ran out the door too. He went back to where Jerry was.
“More bugs?” he asked.
“No, I think the one in the lead Humvee was the only one.”
“Good. Might as well yank that thing. We’ve been made anyway, and we might need this vehicle.”
“Will do,” Jerry said. He slid underneath the front of the vehicle, and then came back out with the bug in his hand. There was a barrel over by the side of the Clubhouse. Jerry walked over and opened it. “Rainwater, perfect,” he said.
“Don’t throw it in yet,” Charlie said. “It doesn’t look like these idiots see us. We shouldn’t tip them off.” Then there was several rifle shots. Jeb, Earl, and the Sheriff all fired at once. “Never mind.”
The truck rolled into a ditch alongside the road, the driver’s head smeared all over the inside of the windshield. It was about two hundred yards down the road. Then there were several more shots…..Kurt and Charlie were shooting at two of the men who jumped out of the back of the truck and were running for cover. They got both of them. The light in the cab turned on as the man in the passenger seat tried to get out the door. Kurt nailed him and he flew off to the side. There were still two men in the back, aiming their AK-47s at the park. It was too dark to see anything other than the lights of the clubhouse, so they fired in that direction. Glass broke, and there were screams from inside the clubhouse. Jeb and Earl opened up, killing both of the shooters before they could jump out of the truck. Then there was silence.
Frank and Jerry ran into the clubhouse.
“Anybody get hit?” Frank shouted.
“Yes, the private sitting by the window,” Mary said, crying. The Lieutenant and several other privates were huddled around him.
“He’s dead,” the Lieutenant said. “We’d better get out of here now. Did you take the bugs out?”
“Yes,” Jerry said.
“I’m so sorry about this, everybody,” the Lieutenant said.
Frank and Jerry just nodded back at him.
“Alright, everybody, let’s load up and be out of here in five minutes,” Frank shouted. Jane came over to Frank with the backpack.
; “All packed,” she said. “Let’s get out of here.”
“We’re packed, too,” Jasmine said. “Jerry, could you go help Mom while I carry this out to the rig?”
“Yeah, I’m on it,” Jerry said. He went over to Rosie. She was already heading to the door.
Earl, Kurt, and the Sheriff came running in to see what had happened inside. They looked down at the bloody private on the floor.
“Jackson, you alright to drive?” Kurt asked.
“Sure,” he said.
“Good,” Kurt said. “C’mon guys, let’s go get you in those two rental rigs.” Earl and Jackson followed Kurt out the door. Kurt ducked his head back in. “Mary, grab whatever you want from here and meet me at our rig. Be ready to go.”
“Will do,” she said. She gathered up her medical stuff and threw it in the bag. Then she went into the kitchen with a backpack and filled it up with first aid stuff and dry foods. She went out the door after that and headed towards their rig.
“What’s the plan, Frank?” asked the Lieutenant.
“Get on I-70 and head for Colorado, like the General suggested,” Frank said. “You guys going to follow us?”
“If you don’t mind,” he said. “We’ll get behind you and watch the rear.”
“Good, make sure all your men are ready to fight. We’ll be lucky if they only sent one truck full of pajama boys after us.”
The stream of RVs heading towards I-70 was starting as Kurt pulled up next to the clubhouse. He jumped out and checked inside. It was empty. He ran in, pulled the plugs on the desktop machine, and ran back to his coach with the CPU and keyboard and mouse. Then he ran back in and grabbed the monitor and modem and a few other odds and ends. He stowed all of it in one of the storage compartments under his rig, and then turned off the lights in the clubhouse and locked the door. He got back into his rig and drove towards the driveway. He looked over and smiled at Mary. She forced a smile, but her eyes were glassy and she looked terrified.
Frank and Jane got back into their rig. Frank got into the driver’s seat and fired up the engine as Jane stowed the backpack and unhooked Lucy. They fell into line right behind Jeb’s rig. Charlie and Hilda were in front of him. Kurt fell in behind Frank and Jane’s rig. They were followed by Jackson and Earl in the rental rigs, then Jerry and Jasmine. There were a few more coaches behind that, and then the two Humvees and the military truck got behind the lineup.
“Well, so much for a good night’s sleep,” Jane said to Frank as she buckled her seatbelt. “You alright to be driving again?”
“Yes, thankfully I drank all of that coffee,” he said. “How are you holding up?”
“I’m alright,” she said. “I’m glad you guys thought to look for bugs. That was not a second too soon.”
“Seriously,” Frank said.
“So, is that Lieutenant stupid, or is he on the other side?”
“I don’t know,” Frank said, shaking his head. “He should have thought about checking for bugs, though. Sounds like those Humvees were placed on a silver platter.”
“I know,” Jane said. She pointed ahead. “There’s I-70. That’s a big road. I hope we don’t run into any problems on there.”
“I’m glad the Lieutenant is behind us. That ought to make it difficult to do a clean road assault.”
“Let’s hope so,” Jane said.
“Hey, were you ever able to figure out why the enemy left the RV Park in such a hurry?”
“As a matter of fact, yes,” she said. “I was just about to show you when you and Jerry ran out to check for the bugs.
“Well?”
“They went to the regional headquarters and overran it,” Jane said. “That’s why the Lieutenant couldn’t raise anybody.”
“Shit,” Frank said. “I’d better call him about that. We don’t need him giving those folks our position.”
“Good idea,” Jane said.
Frank pulled his phone out of the pocket, went to recent calls, and hit the call button for the Lieutenant’s number.
“Lieutenant?”
“Yeah, Frank.”
“We have some info for you. Jane was just getting ready to tell me when we were so rudely interrupted.”
“What is it?”
“The guys who hit the park left from there and overran your base. That’s why you couldn’t get them on the phone.”
“No, really?”
“Yeah, really. I asked Jane to try to figure out why the enemy left the RV Park in such a rush. We saw it on the video. They got out of there fast. Really fast.”
“The location of that base was a secret. The privates didn’t even know the coordinates. They got somebody to talk.”
“It appears so. Anyway, I just wanted to make sure you knew in case they try to get location data out of you.”
“Understand. Thanks. What happened to the bug?”
“Jerry dropped it in a barrel of rain water that was sitting next to the clubhouse.”
“Good…..although I suspect that the guys in the truck probably radioed their position before we took them out.”
“Probably. Keep an eye out back there.”
“Will do. Talk to you later, Frank.”
Frank put his phone on the dash.
“How did he take it?” Jane asked.
“He sounded surprised,” Frank said.
“Do you trust him?”
“I don’t know, Jane, like I said. In some ways I wish we would have just stayed on I-70, but then we might not have the Sheriff and Deputy, and we wouldn’t have Kurt and Mary either.”
“Do you think Kurt and Mary would have been alright if we hadn’t stopped there?”
“Maybe,” Frank said. “Maybe not. Who knows? If the enemy has a decent intelligence detail, they might have figured out that Hilda and Charlie both know Kurt and Mary. They might have been jumped before they knew what was coming.”
“True,” Jane said.
“How many miles is it to the Colorado border?” Frank asked.
“Jane pulled her phone out of her purse and looked at it. “It’s only about eighty miles.”
“That’s not too bad,” Frank said. “Should be there in about an hour and a half.”
Frank’s phone rang. He looked at it. It was Jerry. He picked it up.
“Hey, what’s up?”
“What do you think about the Lieutenant?”
“Jane and I were just talking about that. I’m not sure.”
“Seems awful stupid for a Lieutenant, Frank.”
“Did Jasmine tell you about the base? Jane just told me.”
“Yes, it was overrun. That might have been the real reason why they hit the park. They didn’t know any other way to find out where the main base was.”
“We’ll have to watch ourselves, Jerry.”
“Right. Jeb and Charlie are both leery as well….I just talked to both of them.”
Frank’s phone beeped.
“Jerry, I’ll call you back. The Lieutenant’s trying to call me.”
“Alright, Frank, talk to you later.”
Frank switched over to the Lieutenant’s call.
“Frank here.”
“Frank, we have company. Coming up behind us.”
“What is it?”
“Several pickup trucks. Looks like there are men in the backs of all of them.”
“Nothing heavier than that?”
“Nope, Frank. Just wanted to let you know. If they get any closer I’m going to have the privates in the truck open up on them.”
“Might want to do that either way. We don’t really want them to know where we are going.”
“Shit, gotta go,” the Lieutenant said. The line went dead, and then were was the pop of gunfire behind them.
Jane looked at Frank.
“We’ve got somebody coming up behind us,” he said. “The Lieutenant is taking them on now. Several truckloads.”
“Military trucks?”
“No, just pickup trucks. Call Jerry. I think
I’d better have both hands on the wheel.” He tossed his phone over to Jane. She picked it up and hit recent calls, then re-dialed Jerry as the gunfire continued behind them.
“Jerry, we are getting attacked from behind.”
“Yeah, we hear it.”
Chapter 12 – Welcome to Colorado
The gunfire behind the line of the RVs intensified. Then there was the sound of squealing tires. Frank looked in his rear view mirror and saw a Humvee rolling off of the road, headlights dancing around. Then it rolled and caught fire, lighting the dirt around it in a hideous glow. A moment later he saw headlights coming up the left lane. It was a pickup truck trying to come up beside the motor homes.
“Crap,” Frank shouted. “I just saw a Humvee eat it, and now one of the pickup trucks is trying to get along side of us. Get the shotgun.”
“Will do,” Jane said, and she unbuckled and ran back into the bedroom. She was back with the gun in a second. Instead of getting back into her seat, she got on the couch and opened the side window. She pointed the shotgun out the window and waited. Then there was a loud explosion.
“Scratch one truckload of cretins,” Frank shouted, looking at the rear view mirror.
“What happened?”
“They got up next to the Sheriff’s rig. I’m guessing that the Deputy tossed one of those hand grenades into the truck. It’s burning by the side of the road now. Nobody got out of that one alive.”
“Good,” Jane shouted.
More gun fire started coming from the back of the line.
“That sounds like M-16s to me,” Frank said. “Several of them.”
“Hope they did a better job this time than they did on that first pickup.”
“Whoa, they did,” Frank shouted. “I just saw another truck cartwheel off the road. Bodies were flying away from it. Some of them might have survived that time, though. Too dark to tell.”
More gunfire started up.
“See anything?” Jane asked.
“Nope, not yet,” Frank said. “Wonder which Humvee we lost?”
“Good question, but judging from the amount of M-16 fire we heard, we still have that truck.”
“I can still see the truck every few seconds,” Frank said. “It’s wide, and whoever is driving it isn’t keeping it straight in the lane very well.”
