Creeping Tyranny

by Robert Boren

  “I’m gonna burn you out!” shouted another gang banger who ran over. Gil got a bead on him and fired, hitting him in the side. He yelped in pain and looked Gil in the eye. “I’m gonna kill you!”

  Gil cocked the gun and aimed again, but a car pulled up, and the wounded man was quickly pulled inside. The car sped away.

  Rick looked up. “Thanks! That Robbie?” he yelled, helping Diane cover herself.

  “Yeah,” Robbie yelled back. “You okay?”

  “I think so. We’re leaving. Maybe you should too. They’ll be back after this.”

  “Yeah, maybe you’re right,” Robbie yelled.

  “Take care of yourself. Say hello to Frank and Jane when you talk to them.”

  “You know where they went?” Robbie asked.

  “They told me they were going to Arizona in the motor home,” he yelled. “Gotta go.”

  “Be careful,” Robbie yelled back. He watched as they drove away in their Range Rover, running over the bodies of the gang bangers on the way out of the driveway. Gil and Robbie walked back into the living room, their hearts still pounding.

  “You just put a big target on our backs,” Justin said.

  “He did the right thing,” Robbie said. “Trust me. They were getting ready to rape Diane right in the driveway. They would’ve killed her and Rick if Gil wouldn’t have shot at them.”

  “They might come back for us after that, you know,” Gil said.

  “They’ll be back soon enough,” Justin said.

  “Don’t be so sure,” Steve said. “They have no idea how many of us are armed. We killed one of them and wounded another.”

  “Rick brained one of them with a baseball bat too,” Robbie said. “The one their dog had ahold of.”

  “He dead?” Justin asked.

  “Probably,” Robbie said. “Rick ran him over on the way out the driveway.”

  “How many rounds you got left?” Steve asked.

  Gil emptied his pockets. “Eleven loose rounds. Four left in the gun.”

  “Only fifteen?” Robbie said. “Dammit.”

  “Don’t worry, we’re pretty well protected here,” Steve said.

  “Except for those downstairs windows,” Justin said. “They could start this whole place on fire.”

  “Right now they’re worried about getting medical attention for their guy,” Gil said. “They won’t be back tonight. They’ll go someplace where they can get free stuff without getting shot at.”

  ***

  Sid climbed up the hill, looking for a comfortable place to watch the road. He got to the ridge and rested for a few minutes, and then lifted his head. The stretch of road was below him. He could see a mile on either side. Perfect. He heard an engine coming right away, his heart starting to beat harder. The vehicle came into view. It was an old station wagon pulling a utility trailer full of stuff. Family inside. Fleeing.

  The hot desert sun beat down on him, and it wasn’t anywhere near the heat of the day yet. His phone vibrated. He pulled it out of his pocket.

  “You in a good place?” Sam asked.

  “Yeah,” Sid said. “Just saw a family on the way out. Station wagon towing a trailer. Grapes of Wrath, man.”

  “You’re liable to see a lot of them,” Sam said. “Keep your head down. If the gang is still on the road, they’ll be coming through any minute.”

  “I’ll be watching. Are people ready down there?”

  “I’ve seen a lot of people walking around with guns,” Sam said. “John and Clem are up here with me, ready to fight. We’ll be in trouble if we get a truck-full of bad guys here, though.”

  “Get more people up front and be ready,” Sid said. “You’ve got signs up on the road. RV Parks full of retirees are easy pickings. They’re likely to show up.”

  “Just don’t do anything to help that along,” Sam said.

  “Don’t worry.” Sid said. He ended the call and went back to watching. Another car came by, loaded to the max with people and possessions, rounding the curve, driving a little too fast. Then an old Class C motorhome came into view, towing a small boat. Sid’s heart pounded as he saw it, afraid that it was going to turn down their driveway. It didn’t. Two more loaded cars drove by. One of them had steam coming out of its radiator. “Don’t break down here,” he muttered to himself, watching the old sedan until it was out of sight.

  He wondered how Yvonne was doing at the trailer. He told her to get ready to leave, just in case. When she asked where they would go, he had no answers for her. He had just shrugged, leaving her nervous and scared, her Ruger Security Six on her belt.

  A large truck rolled into view, military with a canvas cover over the back. There they are. Sid’s heart hammered in his chest as he saw it approaching the RV Park turnoff. It went past that, continuing down the road. Sid sighed, trying to settle himself down. Another one. Same as the other, but with some bullet holes on the side, part of its canvas top ripped, exposing the tired men in the back. It went past the driveway. The next cars he saw were two sheriff’s cars. They had men in white garb driving.

  What were they doing with the sheriff’s cars? Sid ran over the possibilities in his mind. Those patrol cars were a total bust. Probably had sensors in them, being tracked every inch of the way. Two more of the military trucks rolled into view, one of them slowing by the driveway. No. They’re looking at the sign. The truck picked up speed again and continued on. Then a third sheriff’s car appeared. This one had uniformed officers, both in the front seat and the back. That isn’t right. It turned into the driveway. Sid fumbled with his phone in a panic, almost dropping it. He hit Sam’s contact.

  “Yeah, Sid.”

  “Phony Sheriff’s car with four men on its way in. They were with the bad guys in the trucks. Be ready.”

  “Dammit,” Sam said. “Okay. You’re sure about this?”

  “Yeah, I’m sure,” he said. He ended the call and watched the road some more. There were no other trucks for several minutes. He called Sam back.

  “I think that was all the trucks,” Sid said. “I’m coming down. That Sheriff’s car make it there yet?”

  “No,” Sam said, worried tone to his voice.

  “You’ll have to kill them. I’m on my way to the ridge above the park.”

  “Be careful,” Sam said.

  “You too.” Sid slipped his phone back in his pocket and moved as quickly as he could to the ridge east of the RV Park. It wasn’t far. He got into place and checked his rifle. Wish I had the scope.

  He saw a flash of white on the road up to the front gate. The top of the police car, with its call letters. It pulled over, out of sight of the gate. The men got out, all of them holding AK-47s. Sid called Sam.

  “They got out of the car. Gonna walk in. All of them have AKs. I can probably hit at least one of them. You got good people by the gate? Don’t try to talk. Kill them.”

  “Roger that,” Sam whispered. He ended the call. Sid got prone in his spot and aimed the rifle at the men. He could see Sam, Clem, and John in position, rifles aimed at the gate.

  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 h
ear 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 4 - 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.