The Plan: How the Bug Out! War Began

by Boren, Robert

  One of the fake deputies split off from the group, climbing up the side of the hill behind the office. Sid aimed at him. The other three walked right up to the gate. One of them rushed for the office door. Sam moved out and shot him as he got on the porch. Sam and Clem opened up on the other two, hitting one, the other running. Sid pulled the trigger, hitting the man on the side of the hill square in the chest, his limp body sliding down. The running man was almost to the patrol car. Sid shot him, then put several rounds into the front of the car, steam rising from the hood. He took one more shot at the man lying close to the patrol car, hitting him in the back, insuring he couldn’t make a call on the radio. Clem ran out of the gate, up to the man who was lying in the driveway, who looked up at him, trying to reach his gun. Clem shot him in the head.

  Sid rushed down the hill, heart hammering in his chest, making it across the small meadow at the base of the hill, heading to the front of the park. He could hear women crying in some of the coaches.

  “Sam, is the one on the porch dead?” he yelled.

  “Yeah, dead where he fell,” Sam said. “None of them got back to the patrol car, did they?”

  “No,” Sid said. “There was one coming up the side of the hill to bushwhack you guys. Nailed him. One tried to run to the patrol car. Nailed him too. Clem and John got the last one.”

  Clem walked up, John following. “That’ll teach them,” Clem said.

  “The truck caravan knows where this place is,” John said. “They’re liable to be back. You know that, right?”

  “Yeah, I know,” Clem said. “We’d better get ready to high-tail it out of here.”

  “Can’t go out that road,” John said. “We’ll run right into them.”

  “I’ll go call the CHP and the local Sheriff,” Sam said, rushing to the office door. Connie ran up and hugged him, tears streaming down her face.

  Sid saw Yvonne rushing towards him and turned to her, his arm going around her waist as she sobbed against him.

  “Are we going to leave?” she asked.

  “I don’t think we should,” Sid said. John and Clem looked at him in disbelief.

  “Why would we want to stay here?” John asked.

  “To protect the people who can’t leave,” Sid said. “The people in park models. The people in trailers that haven’t been road-worthy for years. Our friends.”

  Yvonne looked up at him, tears running down her cheeks. “You’re a good man, Sid.”

  John and Clem looked at each other, then back at him.

  “I’m not trying to shame you guys into anything,” Sid said, “but I’m not leaving.”

  “Me neither,” Yvonne said.

  John sighed. “Okay, you’ve convinced me. How do we protect ourselves if they come back?”

  “We need to discuss that,” Clem said. “We’ve got resources. We know how to fight. We just need to figure out how to see them coming.”

  Sam came back out. “Heard what you said, Sid. Thanks. And you’re right. We need a plan.”

  “Yeah, if Sid wouldn’t have been in position to see that guy going up the side of the hill, at least one of us would be dead right now,” John said.

  “You get the CHP?” Clem asked.

  “Connie was on the line with them when the battle was going on,” he said. “She’s talking to the local Sheriff’s department now.”

  “Good,” Clem said.

  “I’ll call a meeting,” Sam said. “But first I’m gonna go take down my sign from the highway and lock the gate on the driveway.”

  “Got the sheriff’s office, told them what happened,” Connie said as she walked out of the office.

  “Great,” Sam said. “I’m gonna go get the sign.”

  “I’ll help you, honey,” Connie said.

  “Want to go help too?” John asked Clem.

  “You guys stay here and take a look at the ways up the side of the hills,” Sam said. “Closing the gate won’t keep men from walking in.”

  “I’ll go back up on the ridge and take pictures with my phone,” Sid said. “You can see everything from up there.”

  “Sounds like a plan,” Sam said as he got into his Jeep. Connie got into the passenger side and they drove off.

  “Are we gonna be okay?” Yvonne asked.

  “Yeah,” Sid said. “Why don’t you come up on the ridge with me. A second set of eyes might help.”

  She nodded and they walked towards the back of the park.

  Chapter 24 – Bug Out! California - Watchers

  Robbie was just about asleep on his mom’s office couch when he heard a loud thump, then a scream. He peeked out the window into the side yard, seeing one kid helping another over the fence by the garage. He could hear crying. Somebody knocked on his door.

  “Yeah,” Robbie said. The door opened and Gil walked in with his rifle.

  “What happened?”

  Robbie snickered. “Some stupid kid tried to bust through the back garage door. Sounded like he broke his shoulder.”

  Gil cracked up. “Why didn’t they just break the window there?”

  “All these windows are visible from the surrounding houses,” Robbie said. “The back garage door is the only one that’s well hidden. Probably why my dad blocked it up.”

  “Think they’ll be back?”

  “Hell, Gil, who knows? I need to get back to sleep.”

  “Yeah, me too,” Gil said. He left, closing the door behind him, going back to the front bedroom.

  Robbie laid back down, looking at the ceiling, listening. There were still gunshots every so often, but in the distance. The gangs had gone home for the night. He drifted off, not waking up until morning, then threw his dirty clothes back on and left the room, climbing the stairs. Steve and Justin were sprawled out on the two couches in the living room. Justin stirred and looked over at him.

  “Well, we survived the night, anyway,” he said.

  “Did you hear what happened around back last night?” Robbie asked as he headed into the kitchen.

  “What time?”

  “Had to be about three,” Robbie said. He turned on the coffee maker and filled the water tank.

  “Hell, I was dead to the world by then,” Justin said. “Drinking a couple of beers put me out.”

  “Hey, guys,” Steve said, sitting up and stretching. “What time is it?”

  “Seven-thirty,” Robbie said. The coffee maker groaned as it heated.

  “So, what do we do today?” Steve asked.

  “I’m going to my apartment to get the rest of my food and my clothes,” Robbie said. “You guys can do the same if you think this place is safer.”

  Steve laughed. “My place is in a worse part of town than yours is, so I’ll take you up on that.”

  “Me too,” Justin said. “What about work? I might have to go in later.”

  “My job is closed up for now,” Steve said.

  “I’ve got to call in,” Robbie said, “but I already know the answer. Nobody’s going to expensive restaurants at night anymore. They’ve kept me off for the last week and a half, and things are getting worse, not better.”

  “You’ve still got the writing gig, though, right?” Justin asked.

  “Yeah, but it doesn’t pay much. If I can get out of the apartment, it would be enough to squeak by.”

  “I’ll probably try to get to my parent’s place eventually,” Steve said. “I don’t know if my car will make it there, though.”

  “They’re in Tahoe, right?” Justin asked.

  “Yeah,” Steve said.

  “Wonder how much of the state is messed up?” Robbie asked.

  “You saw the news last night,” Justin said. “Lots of areas are bad.”

  “I’d go join my parents if I could,” Robbie said.

  “Why don’t you?” Justin asked.

  Robbie chuckled. “I thought you watched the news last night. The border is closed.”

  “Oh, yeah,” he said, sheepish grin on his face.

  “Where�
�s Gil?” Steve asked.

  “Probably still asleep,” Justin said. “That guy can sleep through anything.”

  “Oh, I don’t know,” Robbie said. “He’s the only one of you guys who woke up last night when the mongoloid busted his shoulder.”

  A door opened downstairs, creaking.

  Justin smiled. “Speak of the devil.”

  “Good, I’ll whip up some breakfast, and then we can get going,” Robbie said.

  Gil thumped heavily up the stairs. “Hey, guys.”

  “Get enough beauty sleep?” Justin asked.

  Gil smiled and flipped him the bird as he sat on the couch, leaning his rifle against the side.

  “Had your pea-shooter with you all night, I see,” Justin said.

  “Damn straight,” Gil said.

  “We need more guns,” Steve said. “Damn California laws make that next to impossible.”

  “Here it starts,” Justin said.

  “Just for the record, I agree with Steve,” Robbie said, “but I’m not going down that rabbit hole with you guys right now. We need to eat and get the hell out of here.”

  The others nodded as Robbie went into the kitchen. He cooked up the rest of the eggs. They ate quickly, then went downstairs.

  “We gonna go to our places separately and meet back here?” Steve asked.

  “Yeah,” Robbie said. “Save us a lot of time.”

  “Okay,” Steve said, walking out to his car, which was the last in the driveway. He froze. “Hey, man, we got to move stuff out of the driveway. Looks like there was a field day in the front unit.”

  “Uh oh,” Robbie said. He joined the others as they rushed out. There were boxes opened and rummaged through, a broken recliner, and various other things sitting in the driveway. The garage door was still open, stuff scattered all over the floor.

  “Hey, man, something’s missing,” Gil said.

  “What?” Justin asked.

  “There were two bodies here, remember?” Gil asked.

  Robbie looked at him, fear in his eyes. “Crap, you’re right.”

  “We better check inside,” Gil said. “Make sure nobody’s camping out. Then we should move the debris inside the garage and lock the place up. This will be like a magnet tonight if we don’t fix it.”

  “Yeah, you’re right,” Steve said.

  “I’ll go in first,” Gil said, cocking his rifle. He entered through the garage door, heading into the hallway. There was stuff laying here and there. He opened the closet under the stairs. Nobody there. Then he checked the first-floor bedrooms. A mess, but no people. Robbie got behind him.

  “We should take their food,” he whispered. “They aren’t coming back for a while.”

  “Let’s finish the sweep first,” Gil said. The front door was hanging open. Gill pulled it shut quietly, and locked the bolt. He put his finger to his lips and looked at Robbie, who nodded. They snuck up the stairs.

  There was trash all over the floor in the living room and kitchen. The fridge was hanging open, much of the food sitting on the floor in front of it. The pantry was open, a few boxes on the floor, but most of the food looked okay. They continued into the master bedroom, ransacked with broken pictures sitting on the carpet. The bathroom was a mess, pill bottles all over the floor.

  “That’s it, nobody here,” Robbie said. “I’ll see if I can find extra keys.”

  “Good idea,” Gil said. “This place is more defendable than your folks place in some ways.”

  “Mixed bag,” Robbie said. “There’s no sliding glass doors on the first floor. Only small windows. We could board them up. We could do the 4-by-4 routine at the back garage door and the front door. You can see up and down the street on the balcony. Decent place to shoot from.”

  “Yeah,” Gil said. “I’ll go help the guys move all the junk inside the garage. You want to handle the food?”

  “If I can find an extra key, I’ll leave the food here,” Robbie said. “We can get it later if we need it.”

  “Okay,” Gil said, rushing down the stairs.

  Robbie put the perishable food worth saving back into the fridge and shut it. Then he searched for keys, looking on the walls for key hangers. Nothing upstairs. He went downstairs and looked there too. No dice. Where would I hide them? Bedroom. He went back up the stairs and started looking. Nothing in any of the dresser drawers. Kitchen junk drawer.

  “Hey, Robbie, we got everything moved inside the garage,” Gil yelled from the foot of the stairs. “Find keys?”

  “Not yet,” Robbie said, pulling open kitchen drawers. “Bingo!” There were several sets of keys in a drawer full of small hand tools, twister seals, chip bag clamps, and other assorted junk. He grabbed them, racing down the stairs and into the garage. He went to the back door and tried them, one after another.

  “Hope one of them works,” Steve said, coming in to watch.

  “Me too,” Robbie said, trying keys and then tossing them on the shelf next to the door. “Here we go,” he said, holding up a key.

  “Yes!” Steve said.

  “Found it?” Gil asked.

  “Yeah,” he said. “Stand back while I close the big door, then we can go out this way and lock up.”

  Gil and Steve stepped inside and Robbie hit the garage door button. The door clattered down, and they went out the back door, walking through the wooden gate to the front yard.

  “Where’s Justin?” Robbie asked.

  “He got a phone call,” Gil said. “He’s in the driveway.”

  They circled through the front yard to the driveway. Justin walked up to join them.

  “What’s up?” Robbie asked.

  “My brother,” he said. “Taking his family up north to the cabin in Bishop.”

  “You going?”

  “Nah,” he said. “They were asking if I could take one of their dogs.”

  “Fine by me,” Robbie said. “Good early warning.”

  “What kind is it?” Gil asked.

  “Pit bull,” Justin said. “Scary dog, but a real sweetheart when you get to know him. His name is Killer.”

  “Why didn’t they take him?” Steve asked.

  “They had three other dogs. Not enough room, and you know how people feel about pit bulls.”

  “How’s Killer gonna feel about us?” Gil asked.

  “I’ll introduce you guys. He’s actually a good guard dog.”

  “Alright, bring him over, unless you want to go with your brother,” Robbie said.

  “His wife hates me,” Justin said. “Feeling’s mutual. He asked, but I don’t want to crash their marriage.”

  “Okay, we ready to go?” Robbie asked.

  “I am,” Steve said. “I’ll back out.”

  He trotted to his car. As he was backing down, a man in his early thirties approached from across the street.

  “Who are you guys?” He eyed them, his muscles rippling under a tank top.

  “My parents own the back unit,” Robbie said.

  “You’re Frank and Jane’s son?” he asked. “Got proof?”

  “Driver’s license?” Robbie asked.

  “We don’t have to listen to this,” Justin said.

  “Knock it off,” Robbie said. “It’s not bad to have somebody around who looks out for folks.” He showed the license.

  “Same last name,” the man said. “I’m Cody. You see what happened to Rick and Diane?”

  “I shot the two gang bangers that were messing with them,” Gil said.

  “I wasn’t home last night,” Cody said. “What happened?”

  “Two gang bangers tried to rape Diane right in the driveway,” Robbie said. “Gil shot one of them. Their dog grabbed the other one, then Rick brained him with a baseball bat.”

  “You said two gang bangers got shot,” Cody said.

  “Yeah, one came over and tried to save the other two,” Gil said. “I shot him in the side, and then a car came by and picked him up. Should have shot him again. The creep probably lived.”

>   “Is this the first time this street has been hit?” Robbie asked.

  “No, but it’s by far the worst, from the look of things,” Cody said. “Your folks left after the first attack, but it was minor. It wasn’t hard-core gang bangers. It was mostly kids from Lawndale. Where did your folks end up, anyway?”

  “I haven’t been able to raise them,” Robbie said. “Rick said they were going to Arizona in the motor home.”

  “Good,” Cody said. “Hope they’re okay.”

  “Me too,” Robbie said. “Where do you live?”

  “Front unit on the corner there,” he said, pointing across the street to a large condo complex on the corner. “I’m a reserve police officer. We kinda morphed into a militia. We helped with the problems at the Galleria last night. That was a mess.”

  “Yeah, saw some of that on TV,” Gil said. “How late did you get home?”

  “After five this morning,” Cody said.

  “Oh, so you didn’t see who took the bodies.”

  “I didn’t notice any bodies when I drove up,” he said. “Just the junk in the driveway. That’s good. Means they’re only coming after dark. They’ll be back, though. You guys better either split or be armed.”

  “I’m taking off,” Steve said from his car. “See you.”

  “Later, man,” Robbie said. “I’ll be back here in about three hours.”

  “What are you guys gonna do?” Cody asked.

  “Get clothes and stuff from our apartments and come back,” Robbie said. “All of us live east. Too dangerous there.”

  “It’s not that safe here, either,” Cody said. “Okay, I’ll talk to you later. Got to get some shut-eye.”

  He walked back across the street.

  “Maybe he’s a good friend to have,” Gil said.

  “I don’t like him,” Justin said.

  “So what else is new?” Gil said. “I’m outta here.”

  “Me too,” Justin said. They all got to their cars and took off.

  ***

  Sam was sitting on the porch in front of the RV Park office, rifle cradled on his lap, sipping coffee in the morning sun.

  Connie came out of the office. “Honey, the CHP is out at the gate by the highway. They want you to let them in.”