Bug Out! Part 6: Motorhome Mayhem in the Rockies
Read Bug Out! Part 6: Motorhome Mayhem in the Rockies Online
Authors: Robert Boren
Bug Out! Part 6
Motorhome Mayhem in the Rockies
Robert G Boren
Previously - From Bugout! Part 5
Chapter 1 – Cliffs and Rock Piles
Chapter 2 – Army Interrogation
Chapter 8 – Into the Smokehouse
Chapter 12 – Privates Fly the Coop
Chapter 16 – The Lone Ranger's Car
Frank and Jane have been on the run since they left California, being chased through Arizona and into Utah with a group of fellow travelers they met along the way. They found relative safety in southern Utah, at Hilda’s RV Park, and took the time to regroup and gel into a force to be reckoned with. Things went bad, and they were forced to flee Hilda’s park, just barely getting out with their lives. They made one more stop in Utah, but were there less than a day when the enemy found them. They fought off their attackers, and fled to Colorado, where they found a new place to settle. It seems safe, but for how long?
Frank was up first.
The morning was overcast and cold when he got out from under the covers. They had both slept naked the previous night. He wished he could go back and live through that again. Lucy heard him….the sound of her claws on the linoleum approached the bedroom door, and then she whined softly.
“I’ll be right out, girl,” he whispered, as he was getting dressed. He carried his shoes out into the salon, careful to slide the bedroom door shut before Lucy could go in and wake up Jane, who needed more sleep. She had been on fire last night, and Frank had fallen asleep with her still caressing him. Now she lay on her stomach, softly snoring, one leg outside the covers.
Lucy jumped up and down, wanting to go out. Frank sat down on the sofa and put his shoes on, then took her out, trying to open and close the door as quietly as possible. It was still early, and there was drizzle in the air…not coming straight down, just swirling around, getting on his glasses. Lucy wanted to explore, so Frank let her lead. Nobody else was up yet.
“Let’s see what the perimeter is like,” he said to Lucy, as if she understood. They walked as far as they could towards the back of the park. At the end was a split rail fence. It would keep horses out, but not much else. There were large trees on the other side of the fence, and then a steep wall of rock with bushes here and there. Good place for snipers to hang out? Might be very difficult to climb up there. He followed the back fence to the right. It curved and headed to the front of the park. Still the split rail fence, but the hill was different. It was a gentle slope of small rocks, just a little bit bigger than gravel. He’d seen these kinds of hills before. You can’t climb up or down them easily, and you can’t sit on them easily either. He could see all of the rocks that had slid down the hill over the years…they almost made it to the fence. He could see the front of the park now. It was defendable to a certain extent…there were two story buildings on either side of the front gate, and there wasn’t a long approach in front of the park. No good place for intruders to hide. The roofs of the front buildings were flat with facades, similar to what was on the roof of the store at Hilda’s place. It looked like that roof had a 360 degree view of the entire park, including that steep cliff in the back. Frank crossed over the driveway and headed to the left hand side of the park. It was much more open. Same split rail fence, but then a large meadow with no cover. The swimming pool was on that side of the park, and the equipment room looked like it might make a suitable post for snipers. Another flat roof with a façade, from the look of it. Commanding view of that side of the park. The meadow was the weakest point, though. A group of enemy fighters could run through it before they could be shot, even with the AK-47s.
“Morning, Frank!”
It was Jerry, walking over to him from the side.
“Good morning, Jerry. Sleep well?”
“Jasmine kept me up last night. It was hard to keep her quiet,” he said, grinning.
“Must be something in the water,” Frank smiled back.
“Maybe we can bottle it. You out looking at the perimeter?”
“Well, that, and taking Miss Lucy out. This place isn’t half bad.”
“Yeah, I was out of bed an hour ago and took a walk around. The only part that scares me a lot is the meadow here. That cliff in the back might be a good place for snipers, but I think we can see it from the roof of the buildings up front. Jeb and Charlie and the Sheriff would have a field day up there.”
“Exactly what I was thinking. I wouldn’t mind getting the Toad unhitched and driving it around the local roads. It’d be good to see how easy an enemy force could sneak into the area.”
“Yeah,” Jerry said. “It would also be good to see how close this is to a major thoroughfare. It seemed pretty remote to me when we were driving in last night, but it was getting dark and I was tired. I had both eyes on the road in front of me most of the time.”
“Me too. I think I’ll get back to my coach and have a cup of coffee.”
“Okay, see you in a little while.”
Frank opened the door to the coach, and held open the screen as Lucy bounded up the stairs. “Hungry, girl?”
She looked up at him and wagged her tail as he unhooked the leash. Then he went to the fridge and got out the pet food cans. He filled both bowls and set them down. Lucy scampered over to hers. It took a few seconds for Mr. Wonderful to saunter over.
“What did you want, breakfast in bed?” he said to the cat as it walked by him. He laughed, and then turned on the coffee maker. It started to moan and hiss as it heated up.
The bedroom door slid open. Jane walked out, pulling a robe over her naked form.
“Good morning, honey,” she said, stretching, and running her fingers through her hair.
“You’re looking good this morning,” Frank said. “Really good.”
“Now don’t you start up again,” she said, smiling. “We have stuff to do today.”
“Want coffee?”
“Yes, sweetie, please,” she said. Frank put her cup into position, put one of her favorite coffee pods into the machine, and pushed the button. The machine sputtered and filled the salon up with the smell of rich coffee brewing.
“I love that smell,” Frank said.
“Who doesn’t? I take it you’ve already been out with the girl.”
“Yep, we made the rounds.”
“How does it look?” she asked.
Frank handed her the cup of coffee, and then put his cup into place and put another coffee pod in. He pushed the button, and turned back towards her.
“It looks somewhat defensible, at least. It doesn’t have all of the advantages of Hilda’s place, but it’s got other features that are better. I think we could defend it against attacks like the ones we were able to handle back there. A large force like the one that hit after we left would take us, though.”
“What are the advantages over Hilda’s place?”
“The biggest one to me is that there’s no place in the back to sneak into. It’s a sheer cliff back there. Steep and tall. I could see a sniper or two getting up there, though.”
“Any defense against that?”
“Well, from what I can see, yes. We could put folks like Jeb or Charlie on the roof of the building in the front. It’s flat with a façade like the roof of Hilda’s store. You would have a 360 degree view from there. People who are good with hunting rifles would probably do pretty well there.”
“How about the sides?”
“The right side is the safest place, I think. It’s got one of those loose rock hills. Hard to climb up or down. No cover. Not even a good place to hang out and shoot from. No way to come over it quickly, either on foot or with vehicles. I don’t think anybody can come at us from that direction.”
“And the other side?”
“Probably the weakest place…..a good sized meadow. There’s an equipment building next to the pool that could probably be manned with snipers, though. It won’t be easy to get people into that area via a large road, from what I can see here.”
“How about the front?”
“I think it’s easier to defend here than it was at Hilda’s place.”
“Good. So what now?”
“I chatted with Jerry for a few minutes. We want to un-hook one of the toads and take a run around the local roads, to see if there are any easy ways that a force could sneak in here. We were both too tired to get a good look last night.”
“Well, all of this sounds hopeful. Maybe we should see if we can get some news.”
“I’d wait on that,” Frank said. “I noticed there was a satellite dish on the roof of the clubhouse. We can probably get local and national news off of that. Maybe even internet, depending on the service that Gabe has.”
“That would be excellent….if there’s a feed, maybe you and Jerry can set up a wireless hub.”
“Maybe, but I’ll bet bandwidth isn’t the greatest. We’ll see.”
Lucy started to growl. Then there was a knock on the door. Frank walked over and looked out the window. It was Charlie. Lucy barked as he opened the door, but she stopped when she recognized him. She wagged her tail and came over.
“Hi, Frank. We got pancakes almost ready at the clubhouse, and coffee too. Come on down when you’re ready.”
“Sounds good,” Frank said, “we’re finishing our first cups of coffee, and Jane has to get dressed. Then we’ll be over.”
“Great, thanks,” he said. “See you in a little while.”
Charlie walked over towards Jeb’s coach as Frank shut the door.
“I really have to get dressed already?” Jane asked.
“You aren’t hungry?” he asked.
“Yeah, I guess,” she replied. “Just wanted to lounge around a little longer, I guess.” She got up and walked down the hall into the bedroom. She turned back towards him, made eye contact, and then dropped her robe. She made a finger gesture for him to come over, and smiled.
“That’s not fair,” Frank said, as he walked over to her. She snaked her arms around his neck and kissed him, as he slid the bedroom door shut.
Afterwards, they laid on the bed, on their sides, facing each other. Jane had tears in her eyes, but she was smiling. Frank was petting her head, and he wiped her tears away.
“Why the tears, honey?” he asked softly.
“I’m happier with you than I have been in years,” she said, “but I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop.”
“I know what you mean,” he said. “It’s like we don’t have that much time left, and we need to get as much living in as we can.”
She reached over and pulled his head in for a kiss. It was passionate, and Frank started to stir again. She realized it and pulled back from him.
“Again?” she teased. “Aren’t you a little old for that?”
“Not today,” he said, and they melted back into each other.
After a little while, Lucy growled. There was a knock on the door. Frank looked out the window. It was Jerry.
“Frank?” he asked cautiously.
“Yeah, we’ll be over soon. We got side-tracked.”
He laughed. “Me too…Charlie was just over to bug me. He came at a bad time. Rosie was already over there, at least.”
“Like I said, we should bottle the water here,” Frank said.
“Alright, I’ll tell them you’ll be over before too long.”
“What’s that about water?” Jane asked, as she sat up and lifted a blouse out of her drawer.
Frank snickered. “Jerry and Jasmine went at each other last night. I told him we did the same, and we said it must be the water.”
“You told him?” she asked, looking embarrassed.
“No details…but sometimes we compare notes…and by the way, he and Jasmine are late to the clubhouse for the same reason.”
“Well, maybe I’d better compare notes with her,” she said as she pulled her pants on.
“Go ahead, but make sure Rosie isn’t around, or we’ll never hear the end of it.”
They both laughed. Frank threw his clothes on as Jane went into the bathroom to brush her hair. Lucy came trotting over.
“Should we take her?” Jane asked.
“I think so,” Frank said. “If she isn’t allowed inside the clubhouse, we could hook her up on the veranda for a little while.”
“Good. You ready?”
“Yep, as long as you don’t molest me again.”
She grinned and shook her head as they left the coach.
Lots of people were milling around now. The sun had finally burned through the clouds, and it was warming up. They got on the veranda and went through the door. Frank made eye contact with Gabe.
“Alright if I bring my dog in here?” he asked.
“Is that the famous Lucy?” he asked.
Frank laughed. “Who told you about her?”
“Charlie and Hilda gave me a run down on your battles,” he said. “Sure, she can come in, as long as you leave the leash on her. Still hungry? There are a few pancakes left. Just zap them in the microwave.”