Bug Out! Part 5: RV Flight from Terror (6 page)

“Shit,” Frank said.

Jane’s phone rang. She looked at it.

“It’s Sarah,” she said. She reached over and turned off the radio.

“Sarah?”

“Mom, are you guys alright? We’re watching the news. It’s scary.” The panic in the young woman’s voice was infectious, unfortunately.

“We’re alright so far, but we’re on the run. The Army told us to leave the RV Park and drive east. We are heading for Colorado as quickly as we can.”

“Good. Oh God, I’m so scared, mom. There’ve been some incidents up here too, on the outskirts of town.”

“No.”

“Yes. A couple of people at a ranch about thirty miles outside of Boise were found beheaded. They had a bobtail truck and a couple of other vehicles. The Sheriff out there thinks that the Islamists needed those.”

“Makes sense. We just heard about the Islamists using civilian vehicles to hide themselves. It’s making it hard for the Air Force to take them out.”

“Steve says they’re building too fast. He’s taking me to the range to learn how to shoot today.”

“Good. I’m glad I know how to shoot. It helped me when we were in town a couple days ago.”

“I’d better go, Steve is calling me. Be careful, Mom. I love you. Tell Dad I love him.”

“Love you too, sweetheart. Will do. Try not to worry about us. You guys stay safe.”

“Alright.”

Jane put her phone back in her lap.

“Sarah?”

“Yep,” Jane said. “Would have put it on speaker, but it’s too loud up here.”

“Understand. She’s been watching the news, I’ll bet.”

“Yep. She also told me something disturbing about Boise.” She recounted Sarah’s conversation, adding, “And get this. They had a bobtail truck and some other vehicles, which are all gone now.”

“Hell, that’s probably how they are getting all of these civilian vehicles.”

“Good thing we got out of the RV Park in time, or they might have gotten about 25 motor homes.”

“Yeah, but we aren’t out of the woods yet,” Frank said.

“Tell me about it. I’m pretty scared.”

“I know, sweetie. What else did Sarah say?”

“Her new hubby is taking her to the range to teach her to shoot today. I’m very glad about that.”

“You and me both,” Frank said. “You should have told her that you saved me in town.”

Jane looked at him with an embarrassed smile.

“What?” Frank asked. “That’s something to be proud of, by the way.”

“I know,” Jane said.

“More jets coming. Listen.”

There was the roar, and another large group of military jets flew over them, heading west.

“I hope the General and the Major got away,” Jane said.

“Me too. I really liked those guys. Hopefully we can get on the security system tonight and see if it’s still up.”

“Jerry’s slowing down,” Jane said. “Better put on the brakes.”

Frank slowed down. Then his cellphone rang and Jane handed it to him.

“Frank here.”

“Frank, its Jerry. We have a problem. Jackson just had a blowout.”

“Should we pull over?
” Frank asked.

“Yes, for at least a few minutes, to see what we can do. Earl is right behind Jackson, and I’m a couple of coaches behind him,” Jerry said.

“Pulling over,” Frank said. He put down his phone and pulled over to the side of the road. He put on his hazard blinkers, and could see everybody else behind him pulling over too.

“Hope there isn’t a lot of traffic coming behind us,” Jane said.

“There’s enough room to get through. I’m going to go out and see if there’s anything we can do.”

“Alright, I’ll stay here just in case we have to move this thing in a hurry.”

“Alright, sweetie,” Frank said. He opened the side door and got out. Jerry was already heading forward, and Frank jogged to catch up.

“There he is,” Jerry said, pointing. Jackson’s old Class C was on the side of the road, leaning to one side. The front driver’s side tire was blown out.

“You alright?” Frank asked when he saw Jackson.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Dammit. I was due for new tires before all this crap started, but by that time there wasn’t much I could do,” he said.

Earl ran around from the other side of the rig.

“Jackson, let’s get the stuff that you need loaded into my rig and get the hell out of here. We’re sitting ducks like this,” he yelled.

“You have room?” he asked.

“Of course, man. I’m in a forty foot rig by myself. My pusher ain’t even close to capacity.”

“Alright, I’ll get the essentials out of my rig,” Jackson said. He ran into the coach and started.

“Want some help?” asked Jerry.

“I’ll tell you what,” Jackson said. “Why don’t you guys get going? We’ll catch up. I don’t want the group to be sitting here for more than a few minutes.”

Jackson came running out with a big hefty bag full of clothes. He set it down.

“What about your rig?” Frank asked. Jackson just shook his head.

“I only paid five grand for it. It’s a 1980s rig. I’ll get another one eventually…..or I’ll come back to get this one. Don’t worry about it.”

“Really, folks, get back on the road. We’ll be along shortly,” Earl said.

“Alright,” Frank said. “Good luck. Call either of us if you get into trouble – you have our numbers.”

“Will do, thanks,” Jackson said.

Frank and Jerry went back to their coaches.

“What’s up?” asked Jane.

“Jackson is going to grab his essential stuff and throw it into Earl’s pusher. They told us to get going, and they would catch up.”

“You alright with that?” she asked.

“Yes, we need to keep the main part of the group moving,” Frank said. He got behind the wheel and fired up the engine.

“Good. Let’s go, then,” she said. Frank looked in his mirror, turned off the hazard blinkers, and slowly pulled out, following Jerry.

“Great, the rest of the coaches got the message,” Frank said. “They’re getting back on the road.”

“What about Jackson’s rig?”

“He isn’t too concerned about it. It’s an old Class C. He said he only paid about five grand for it.” Frank smiled.

“Well, five grand is five grand, and a lot of people aren’t working these days.”

“I know. He said he might come back for it. Pretty hard to change a tire on an RV without the right equipment, though.”

“Radio?” Jane asked. He nodded.

The station they were on was too far away now, so Jane pushed the seek button. She found one of the national affiliates after a few tries.

The announcer came on.

“At this hour, the large Islamist force is expanding and moving towards Panguitch. The Army is trying to move in there to stop them, but it’s going to be difficult due to the size and speed of the enemy force.”

“Shit, they’re really close to the RV Park,” Jane said. “Really close.”

“I know,” Frank said.

The announcer continued.

“In Arizona, the battle for Flagstaff continues, but the Islamist Army is having difficulty taking that city. It appears they might be attempting to flee to the north now. The Army is trying to cut them off before they can get into southern Utah and link up with the larger force there.”

“Well, that’s some good news,” Jane said.

“Good news for Flagstaff. Maybe not such good news for us, though, if they are fleeing to the north.”

“We should be far enough ahead of them.”

“Let’s hope so,” Frank said. “Now I’m more worried about Earl and Jackson. I hope they haul ass.”

“Yeah, me too. Hope nobody else has any coach problems.”

The Announcer came back on.

“Meanwhile, in other news, there are unconfirmed reports that militias are becoming active again in California. Reports are sketchy, but it appears that a large section of the Inland Empire and Southern Orange County are no longer controlled by the State government. This might be a reaction to the prolonged martial law that has been in effect there. We will provide more details as they become available.”

“Sounds like Robbie was right,” Frank said. “How far away are we from Route 24?”

“Don’t know, let me get the GPS app on my phone going.”

The Announcer continued.

“This just in from Canada. A huge cache of weapons and supplies were found, just over the border from Montana. Royal Canadian Mounted Police rushed into the area, and were met with an extremely large enemy force. The battle in that area is raging right now. Canada has requested help from the U.S. Government, but as of right now all of the US Armed Forces are busy trying to halt the attacks in Northern Arizona and Southwestern Utah. Canada is rushing forces in from both the West and the East, but it’s possible that they will be too late.”

“They should blow the weapons cache with air strikes if they’re losing that battle,” Frank said. Jane nodded, still looking at her phone.

“We’re about an hour away from Route 24, according to my GPS,” Jane said. “I wish we could go faster.”

“Yeah, these switchbacks are getting tighter. It’s not safe to go above about 45 right now. Does the road straighten out up ahead?”

“Looks like it will get better after we get past Boulder. The Route 24 looks quite a bit better. It looks pretty straight all the way to I-70.”

“Good,” Frank said.

The radio started to sound scratchy.

“We are starting to lose the station, Frank. Want me to find another one?”

“Not on my account,” Frank said.

“Alright, then I’m shutting it off.” She reached over and turned it off. Lucy came over and looked up at her, wagging her tail. “Want to come up, girl?”

Lucy bounded up into Jane’s lap and turned about three times, trying to find the most comfortable position, finally settling in.

“She doesn’t like the switchbacks much,” Frank said.

“I’ll bet she likes them better than Mr. Wonderful does.”

“Yep.”

“Look at those rocks up there. Beautiful,” Frank said.

“Yes, I wish we were just on vacation. I’ll bet there are some nice places to camp around here.”

“Here comes more jets,” Frank said, pointing upwards.

“Good,” Jane said. “I hope they’re able to do some good.”

They drove along for a while in silence, just taking in the scenery. The switchbacks started to become scarcer, and Frank was able to speed up to about 55.

“Ah, there’s Boulder,” Jane said.

“What’s that pillar of black smoke over there, east of the town?” Frank asked.

“I don’t know,” Jane said, “but it doesn’t look good. I’m going to see if I can find a local radio station.” She pushed Lucy off of her lap and bent over towards the radio. She found a station quickly. The announcer on this station sounded like a country music disc jockey.

“The Sheriff has asked that all people stay indoors until further notice. We don’t know who started the fire at the city yard, but it appears that someone is attempting to steal the school bus and several maintenance trucks. Sheriff’s Deputies are in route. It’s possible that these are enemy fighters, so please stay in your homes for now. Exercise caution.”

Frank’s phone rang.

“Frank, Jerry here. Are you seeing this?”

“Yes, and we just turned on the local radio station. Enemy fighters are trying to steal vehicles from the city yard.”

“What’s the station number?”

Frank looked over at Jane, pointing at the radio.

“It’s 730,” Jane said. “Jerry?”

“Yep. Jerry, it’s 730. I hope we get past this before they start to take off. They’re liable to want to grab our motor homes.”

“Over my dead body,” Jerry said. “Talk to you later.”

“Good, the road is widening out,” Frank said. “Look, Jerry is speeding up.”

Soon they were cruising along at about 70. The big V-10 liked going at that speed…it smoothed out nicely.

The Announcer started again.

“We have word that there was a gun battle at the city yard, and two Deputies have been killed. Towsn people have rushed to the scene, and are now engaging the enemy. The citizens appear to be winning. It’s estimated that there are about 50 armed citizens in the fight now. It’s unknown how many enemy fighters there are in the area” He paused. “This just in. The enemy fighters are attempting to flee in the school bus, but they are being pursued by town people and the remaining deputies. The Sheriff has put up a road block on the access road to Route 12.”

“Yesss!” Frank shouted. Lucy looked over at him, her ears going back.

“If they get away in that school bus, I hope they don’t come this way,” Jane said.

“If they do, we’ll blow out their tires,” Frank said.

“They might do that to us before we get the chance, Frank.”

“Keep the radio on.”

The announcer got back on.

“The school bus attempted to break through the road block, but the driver lost control and crashed. The bus is on its side, burning. As fighters try to escape the fire, they are being shot by towns people.”

“Alright!” Frank said. “Don’t mess with us, assholes.”

“You know there could be others around here looking for vehicles, and we have exactly what they need,” Jane said. “We need to keep our speed up.”

“How we doing? How close are we to Route 24?”

“We’re getting close. Only about 15 minutes. Helps going this fast.”

“Good,” Frank said. “As I remember from the map that should take us east for a while before it juts up north.”

“Yes, that’s what I’m seeing. How we doing on gas?”

“Good,” Frank said. “Glad we topped this sucker off.”

“Want a soft drink?”

“Yeah, that’d be great, honey,” Frank said. “Maybe bring some bars up here too.”

“Will do,” Jane said. She got out of her chair and went into the back. There was a meow.

“Ah, Mr. Wonderful came out of hiding, eh,” Frank said.

“He’s sitting under the dinette table,” Jane said. “He doesn’t look happy.”

Frank laughed. “Hey, there’s a sign for route 24,” Frank said. “Two miles.”

Jane came back up and got in her seat. She opened up a soft drink and handed it to Frank. He took a big swig out of it, and put it in the cup holder.

“Ah, that tastes good,” Frank said.