Bug Out! Part 6: Motorhome Mayhem in the Rockies (18 page)

Everybody finished their meals and sat around for about an hour, talking. Jeb poked his head in the door.

“Gabe, do I need a code to get into the showers? I don’t think the shower in my rig is going to do very well for this.”

“Yeah, the code is 4321. Hard to remember, I know,” he said sheepishly. “How’s the meat?”

“Looks like good meat. I’ll let it age overnight, and then cut it up and freeze it tomorrow. Nice facilities you have there, by the way. Probably the best I've ever seen.” He left, closing the door behind him.

“How about putting on the TV, so we can watch the news for a few minutes?” Charlie asked.

“Sure, we can do that,” Gabe said. He walked over to a cabinet, opened it, and pulled out the TV remote. He switched it on, and put on CNN. There was video of Congress.

The announcer came on.

“Congress has just passed the Articles of Impeachment, by a broad bi-partisan margin. The President, Vice President, and most of the cabinet have disappeared. We don’t know at this hour if they left on their own, or if the military has rounded them up, after the attempted military coup by the administration yesterday afternoon.”

“Holy cow,” Kurt said. “That General was telling the truth, sounds like.”

“Yeah,” Frank said, a shocked look on his face.

“The Speaker of the House has just been sworn in, and is taking over the executive branch at this hour. His first action will be a meeting with the Joint Chiefs of Staff to get the military focused on the enemy again. It is widely expected that all troops south of the border will be returning home as quickly as possible, to take on the invading forces.”

“We’re witnessing history on the level of the Civil War,” Jane said.

“Yes we are, and I think this is the beginning of the end for our enemies,” Charlie said.

“Martial law in California and along the east coast is rescinded immediately, and it is widely expected that local leaders involved will be tried for treason.”

There was a smattering of applause in the room.

“In international news, the government of China has executed most of the leadership of their military, after it came to light that they were instrumental in helping North Korea deliver nuclear devices to the United States, Europe, and Russia. A UN meeting is scheduled for tomorrow morning to discuss what the consequences of these actions will be for the remainder of the leadership of China.”

“I didn’t expect that,” Charlie said.

“I did,” Frank replied.

“Hurting us would be like cutting their nose to spite their face. If we aren’t buying their products, that country will fall apart.”

“In the short term, you’re right, Charlie,” Frank said. “In the next decade, though, they’re going to be in trouble, because cheap unskilled labor will no longer be needed to make the kind of products they manufacture.”

“Frank’s right,” Jerry said. “It’ll take about another decade for 3D printing to take over that kind of work, but it will happen.”

“There are significant challenges left to deal with,” the announcer continued. “Enemy forces have taken a foothold in the southwest, and part of the mountain region. Troops coming home from Mexico will help, but we are still looking at some difficult times ahead. Estimates of enemy strength remain high…over 400 thousand nationally, and we continue to have problems with infiltration of the military at the lower ranks. It will take several months to have enough troop strength to take out the enemy. If the US and its allies find themselves at war with China, the situation will become much more difficult.”

“That’s where you come in, Frank,” Jerry said. “Hey, no pressure.” He laughed as Frank got a sheepish look on his face.

“Getting tired, honey?” Jane asked.

“Yes, I really am. You mind if we go home?”

“Not at all,” she said.

“I’m getting tired too,” Jasmine said. “Let’s go hit the sack. You want to go back too, mom, or do you want to wait here for Jeb?”

“I go,” she said. “Jeb know where I am if he want me.”

Frank and Jane walked out the door with Lucy. It was very dark with the lights off. Frank pulled his little LED flashlight out of his pocket and lit the way. They heard a rustle off to the right side, and Lucy growled. Frank shot the light over there, and two eyes shined back at him. Another deer.

“That’s so beautiful,” Jane said. “Look how graceful she is.”

“Wonder if Gabe is going to have any flowers left come morning?” He chuckled.

They got to their coach. Frank unlocked the door. Lucy jumped up ahead of them, with Jane following her. Frank took a last look out over the dark park. He could see people walking back to their rigs, flashlights dimly shining here and there. He came in and shut the door.

“Drink, honey?” Jane asked.

“Not for me, thanks,” Frank said. “I just want to hit the sack.”

“Good, me too,” she said. “Door locked?”

“Yeah,” Frank said, walking towards the bedroom. He stripped off his clothes and got under the covers. Jane walked in and stripped, then got into bed naked. Frank felt her soft warm skin against his.

“I have a job for you tonight, remember?” she whispered, as they moved to each other.

The next morning, Frank awoke to the sound of the backhoe, and metal squealing on asphalt. He picked up his phone and looked at the time. It was 8:30. Jane was already out of bed. He got up and dressed himself quickly, then went out into the salon. The coffee maker was on, but Jane and Lucy were gone. He made himself a cup of coffee, and then went out the door. The morning was bright, but there was a breeze, and thunder heads could be seen in the distance, angry white and dark gray, set in a brilliant blue sky. There was a storm on the way. Jane and Lucy walked up.

“Out of bed, I see,” Jane said, smiling. “You slept like a rock last night.”

“Well, you wore me out,” he said.

“Blah blah blah,” she said. “Don’t look so proud of yourself.”

Frank grinned back at her. Lucy came over and jumped up at his shins, tail wagging.

“How are you this morning, girl?” he asked.

“You didn’t hear her barking last night,” Jane said. “You slept right through it. She woke me up a few times.”

“Deer?”

“Yeah, I think so,” Jane said “Watch your step. I just missed a meadow muffin back there a ways.”

Jeb walked over to them, laughing. “Meadow muffin, huh.”

“Good morning, Jeb,” Jane said. “Didn’t hear you coming.”

“My boots are still drying,” he said. “Got blood on them last night. These moccasins are quiet.”

“Well, I guess we’re not going to starve here,” Frank said.

“Oh, there’s a lot of game around here,” Jeb said. “I took a walk around today. There’s also gooseberries, raspberries, and dog rose around…plenty of vitamin c in those. We need to be careful, though.”

“Why?” Jane asked.

“I saw grizzly bear tracks back there too. Fresh ones. Don’t wander around at night without a gun.”

“Oh, crap,” Jane said. “I don’t like the sound of that.”

“There may be only one in the area,” Jeb said. “Might be a good idea to take it out, but I want to make sure Gabe doesn’t have a problem with that.”

“Could the bear make it more difficult for enemy scouts to sneak in here?” Frank asked.

“Well, an encounter would probably give us some early warning, but it’s unlikely that a grizzly will take out a guy with an AK-47.”

“Will Frank’s Winchester take one out?” Jane asked.

“It wouldn’t be my first choice, but yeah, they pack a pretty good punch,” Jeb said. “Just be careful, keep an eye out, and don’t leave any food or trash outside your coach.”

“Good advice,” Frank said. “Thanks. What are you up to today?”

“I’ve got to butcher that deer,” he said. “After that, I’ll probably help Gabe with that crazy moat of his, and then relieve the Sheriff or Kurt on the roof. You?”

“Make a shopping list for the electronics that I need, then start doing some research on the two cretins that led the attack on Hilda’s place.”

“Good idea on that last part,” Jeb said. “They’re probably pissed that we took out their errand boy.”

“Simon?” Jane asked.

“Yeah,” Frank said. “He was high enough up to be at Phil’s side, remember?”

“Don’t call him Phil,” Jeb said, cracking up. “Piss ant. I hope I get to off that creep.”

“I hope we never get within a hundred miles of him,” Jane said, “but if we could tell the army where he is, that’d be good.”

“The army isn’t trustworthy enough yet,” Jeb said. “Oh well, I’m off to carve up some meat. Talk to you two later.” He walked off.

“Grizzly bears,” Jane shuddered.

“This place is pretty rustic,” Frank said. “I’m not too surprised about the wildlife. We won’t be around here forever, though. It’s going to get too cold for most of these coaches come about late November. That’s only a few months away.”

“Could our coach handle it?”

“Better than most, I suppose, because it’s got dual heaters and heating pads on the tanks, but I suspect we’d be going through a crap load of propane. We also have to move the coach every time we need to dump the tanks. Pain in the butt if there’s snow on the ground.”

“Let’s go back and have breakfast,” Jane said. They turned back towards their rig.

There was more screeching of metal. Frank looked over to see Gabe pulling a large metal plate close to a trench which was in front of the driveway. Earl and Jackson were over there helping him, along with Charlie. He turned back and opened the coach door.

“They’re really going to town out there,” Frank said.

“Think that’s going to do any good?”

“Good question,” Frank said. “It’ll keep anybody from driving vehicles up on the property, I guess. It’ll also force anybody on foot to deal with getting over the creek through those boulders and trees.”

“They could get past that, though, right?”

“Yes, but it would probably slow them down enough that Jeb, the Sheriff, Kurt, and Charlie could pick them off.”

“Oh,” she said. “I could see that. Want oatmeal?”

“Sure, that would be great. I’ll feed the critters while you’re cooking.”

“Okay,” she said, going to the pantry.

“You look quite a bit more relaxed this morning,” Frank said.

“I don’t feel so hopeless anymore,” she said.

“Why?”

“Because of what’s going on in Washington. Because they’re lifting martial law, and bringing troops home from Mexico to deal with the enemy.”

“Oh,” Frank said. “I thought it was because of me last night.”

“Brother,” she said with a giggle. “You’re good, but you’re not
that
good.”

Frank laughed, clutching his chest. “You’ve hurt me deeply.”

“Blah blah blah,” she laughed.

“Here you go,” she said, sliding a bowl of steaming oatmeal in front of him, with brown sugar, frozen blueberries, and nuts on top. Frank stirred it as he watched her walk back over with her own bowl.

“What’s your plan for today, again?” she asked.

“Well, there’s the shopping list,” Frank said. “Although I don’t think Gabe is quite ready to run off into town this morning.”

“You know it’s Sunday, right?” she asked.

“Shoot, no, I kinda lost track of the days.”

“There’s a good chance that the electronics store isn’t open today.”

“Yeah, a real good chance. Not many businesses in SoCal are closed on Sundays anymore, but once you get east very far, a lot are. Used to run into that when I was on business trips that spanned the weekend.”

“So that means you can’t do much on the chips today,” she said.

“That’s okay. I still want to get back onto the system in Hilda’s park and see if I can save the DVR info down to a machine here.”

“Think it’s still working?”

“Possible, if nobody came back in there after the bad guys deserted the place.”

“Why do you care? Does it matter anymore?”

“There was somebody I saw that looked really familiar, hanging around by Phil. I think I might know who it was. I want to take another look.”

“Who?”

“Some government IT Security guru. He was working for Department of Homeland Security back when I was still on the job. He was a big deal guy. Wrote a lot of cutting edge papers.”

“Oh, you mean he’s like you?”

“Basically,” Frank said. “I might find a clue about how these chips work by looking at his white papers.”

“If you can’t prove to yourself that it was him, maybe you could still look over his stuff,” Jane said.

“Good idea, but even so, I still want to have another look at the video on that DVR if possible.”

“Okay, then let’s go over to the clubhouse after this. Maybe I can find something useful to do over there.”

Frank nodded, and they finished eating and left the coach with Lucy.

Jerry and Jasmine were just leaving their coach, too, so the two couples walked together.

“Talk to Jeb this morning?” Frank asked.

“Yeah,” Jerry said. “He told me about grizzly bears.”

“Good. He told Jane and me about that too.”

“What are you gonna to do today, Frank? Looks like Gabe is too tied up to go to town.”

“I was going to see if the system at Hilda’s place was still up, and save some of the video down here,” Frank replied.

“Oh, not a bad idea,” Jerry said. “Wonder if anybody else is there?”

“We’ll see.” They made it to the veranda and entered. Frank walked back to the PC in the corner and fired it up. He pulled a slip of paper out of his wallet and put the IP address for Hilda’s system into the browser. After a few seconds, he saw the console.

“Hey, Jerry, I’m in,” Frank said. Jerry walked up and looked over Frank’s shoulder.

“Well I’ll be damned,” he said. “Let’s take a tour of the cameras and see what the place looks like.”

Frank nodded. He pulled up the camera view and cycled through. The camp was deserted, and getting dirty.

“Why is that acting so sluggish?” Jerry asked. “Performance was better before.”

“Oh, jeez,” Frank said, as he reached around and yanked the cable out of the back of the PC. The browser showed an error.

“What?”

“They might be tracking the IP addresses of anybody who hits that server,” Frank said. “Easy to do. We need to find out what internet service Gabe is using.” Frank got up and headed for the door.