Bug Out! Part 6: Motorhome Mayhem in the Rockies (2 page)

“I’ll go grab us some, honey,” Jane said. “You join the group so they don’t have to wait on us any longer.”

“Alright,” Frank said. He walked over to the table where everybody was sitting.

“Glad you could make it,” Charlie said, laughing.

“Sorry. We needed a little more down time.”

“Not a problem. You weren’t the only ones. Lets’ get started.”

“What did I miss?”

“Nothing, really. We spent most of the morning telling Gabe all about our adventures back at Hilda’s place.”

“I hadn’t heard all of those stories either,” Mary said. “Pretty exciting.”

Kurt nodded in agreement. “You guys have been through a lot,” he said.

Jerry walked over with Jasmine and sat down across the table from Frank, next to Rosie and Jeb. They were finishing some pancakes, and carried their paper plates with them. Jane walked over with two plates and sat down next to Frank.

Rosie looked at Jasmine and got a wicked grin. “I hope you not on birth control anymore.”

“Mom!” Jasmine said with a shocked voice. Jerry laughed.

“Too many people gone. We need more,” Rosie said. “You two young, need to have babies. It duty.”

Jasmine looked at Jerry, and he smiled. Her face reddened, but she still smiled back at him.

“Frank and Jane just practice,” Rosie said. “Too old, but not my Jasmine and Jerry. That OK, practice good.”

Jane was the one who looked embarrassed now.

“Alright, folks, let’s get started,” Charlie said. “I saw Frank and Jerry talking a little bit, early this morning. Did you guys walk around the park?”

“Yes, but not together,” Jerry said. “I was up really early and walked the perimeter. Later I saw Frank walking Lucy around the perimeter so I went out to him, and we compared notes.”

“What do you think?” Earl asked.

“I think this place might be a tad more defensible than Hilda’s place was, but both have their advantages,” Frank said.

“I agree,” Jerry said. “There’s a tall cliff in the back. Steep and sheer. Nobody is climbing down from there, but it might be a good place for enemy snipers to hang out.”

“Good luck with that,” Gabe said, laughing. “Know what’s on the other side of that cliff?”

“What?” asked Frank.

“The same kind of surface that we have to the right of the park. A hill made of loose rock. And by the way, the other side of the loose rock hill facing us is a cliff like the one in the back. We’re in good shape on those two sides.”

“Interesting formations,” Earl said.

“This area was used to quarry rocks for landscaping,” Gabe said, “until the locals passed a law against it. It’s a good thing they did. There are parts of this area that look like the surface of the moon.”

“So that’s the rear and the right side,” the Sheriff said. “I was over by the meadow this morning. I didn’t like the look of that much.”

“Yes, I’d say that’s the weakest part, depending on how easy it is to access,” Frank interjected.

“Did you go out and walk that meadow?” Gabe asked.

“No, not yet.”

“If you get back past the trees, you have another cliff, with loose rocks on the back side. It’s not quite as tall as the cliff on the back side, but it’s still too difficult to climb down, even if you get past all that loose rock on the other side.”

“Is that your property over there, Gabe? Beyond the fence?” Jerry asked.

“Yes,” he replied. “I own over a hundred acres. That’s why they never took all of my rocks. It’s on my property, and I have the mineral rights too.”

“Is there a way to get onto the meadow from the front side of the park?”

“On foot, it’s possible, but I do have chain link fence with razor wire there. I have a security camera setup too, but it doesn’t work anymore.”

“We might be able to fix that for you,” Frank said. Jerry nodded in agreement.

“So that leaves the front,” Hilda said. “It looks a little better than the front of my park because of those two front buildings, but if a tank comes down the road, we’re in trouble.”

“We’re probably in trouble even with a large number of troops on foot,” the Sheriff said. “We could use snipers on the roof if the number was small enough, but anything like what Hilda’s park was hit with the last time would be really bad.”

“There’s nowhere I can think of that would be safe from a force that size,” Jerry said. “Hell, they overran the army base, remember?”

“True,” the Sheriff said.

“What keeps vehicles from being able to get onto that meadow, Gabe?” Jackson asked.

“There’s a good sized creek that runs along the roadside there. It’s got a mixture of rocks, dirt, and trees on each side, and the banks are steep. It’s hard enough to get over on foot. It’s too deep for any kind of vehicle to get past….even a tank.”

“Is that the main source of water?”

“No, thank God,” Gabe said. “It’s not safe to drink without purification. Quarries ruined it. We have a spring, though, back by the cliff behind the park. That’s what’s feeding us here. I think it would be pretty tough to shut off.”

“So what now?” Hilda asked.

Suddenly the sound of a helicopter was approaching.

“Get many choppers around here?” Charlie asked.

“Medical, every once in a while. You know what happens sometimes at an RV Park full of old people.”

“That’s how somebody could get onto that meadow, I bet,” Jerry said. “Let’s go see who this is. Hope it’s not bad guys.”

Everybody ran out to the veranda. Lucy started to bark. There was dust blowing around beyond the swimming pool, but the chopper wasn’t visible.

“Let’s get out there and see who this is
,” Charlie shouted, trying to be heard against the noise of the chopper. Gabe nodded and went with him.

“Grab your weapons,” Frank shouted. Then Frank and Jerry joined Charlie and Gabe.

There it was, coming into view. It was a US Army chopper. A big transport Chinook, not an attack chopper. Frank recognized Private Jenkins right away as he climbed out and joined the officer that was walking towards the group of them.

“It’s our friends,” Frank shouted. “That’s Private Jenkins.”

“Good,” Charlie said. “I was hoping that’s who it was.”

“Hi, Frank,” Private Jenkins shouted when he got close enough. “This is Major Donaldson.” He was a little bit older than Majors Hobbs and Darcy….Frank guessed him to be in his late 40s. He was black, with a shaved head and a warm smile.

“Good to meet you, Frank,” the Major said, extending his hand. “I’ve heard a lot about you and your group. Very impressive.”

“Thank you, sir,” Frank said. “Let’s go into the clubhouse so we can talk.”

“Yes, please,” Gabe said. “I’m the owner of the park…name’s Gabe.”

“Nice to meet you, Gabe,” the Major said. As they walked, Frank looked back and saw eight to ten men climbing out of the chopper. They kept watch in all directions. This gave Frank a lump in his throat.
Are we in a hot spot?
he thought to himself.

Jane, Hilda, and Jasmine were all on the veranda, holding their weapons, watching their men walk up with the Major and Private Jenkins.

“Isn’t that one of the privates that was with us on the trip up here?” asked Jasmine.

“Yes, that’s Private Jenkins,” Jane said. “Nice kid.”

“Jane, this is Major Donaldson, and you know Private Jenkins already,” Frank said. “My wife, gentlemen. And next to her are Charlie’s wife Hilda and Jerry’s wife Jasmine.”

“Nice to meet all of you,” the Major said. “Is this where we can talk?”

“Yes, go on in. We have some coffee that’s still warm, if you’d like some.”

“That sounds great, thanks,” the Major said. He looked over at Private Jenkins. “Want some?”

“Sure, Major, thanks. Black.”

“Yep, make mine black too,” the Major said. The sat down at the first row of benches. The major looked around the room. “Very rustic, very charming.”

“Thanks, Major,” Gabe said. “My dad and grandfather built it, many years ago.”

Kurt and Mary came walking over with the Sheriff. Rosie also walked over. Jackson an Earl were at the next table over. They turned around to face the group.

“Anybody else in the core group?” asked the Major.

“I don’t see Jeb or the Deputy,” Private Jenkins said. “Are they still with you?”

“Yes,” Gabe said. “Jeb wanted to walk the grounds.” Suddenly Jeb slipped in through the door, his hunting rifle in his hand.

“You guys scared the crap out of me,” Jeb said, laughing. “I was worried until I saw Private Jenkins. How are you, son?”

“I’m great, Jeb, good to see you again. This is Major Donaldson.”

“He OK?” Jeb asked, grinning.

“I hope I am,” Major Donaldson said, laughing. He extended his hand and they shook. “Heard some crazy stories about you. Apparently you’re pretty good with a bow.”

“Ah, shucks,” he said. “Simple technology for simple folks.”

Everybody laughed.

“Rosie, you hit on this guy yet?” Jeb asked. “He looks like fresh meat to me.”

“Oh, I get around to,” she said. “Right now I only have eye for you, big boy.”

More laughter, but you could tell that people were wondering what the Army was doing there. The group hushed quickly. Everybody was nervous.

“I guess I should get down to business,” the Major said. “You are charming people…I can see that - and good friends with each other.”

“Yes, we are,” Charlie said. “We’ve been through a lot together.”

“Private Jenkins said you guys were on your way to Leadville. We wanted to warn you about that area.”

“We had pretty much decided against going there,” Frank said. “When somebody blows up a bridge in the area, it makes you think twice.”

“Good,” the Major said. “The problem is really in New Mexico. There are a lot of Islamists there. They got kicked out of Texas, and they haven’t been able to move into Arizona, although they’re trying hard now that there is an offensive going on with their brothers from the north. They have to cross a lot of open territory to get into Arizona, and the Air Force has been pounding them as soon as they show themselves. They can’t go south….we’ve got the border completely closed. That leaves Colorado, so they’ve been creeping up towards that area. We think they just want someplace to hide at this point. We don’t expect them to try to attack Denver or Boulder or any other major city, but they have made it into the less populated areas in increasing numbers.”

“So, do you think that they blew that bridge to keep forces from going south and killing them?” asked Frank.

“That’s exactly what we think,” the Major said. “Like I said, this isn’t a huge force like the one that is currently in Utah and Arizona. It’s more like a few hundred, not thousands. They’re stragglers, but they’re still plenty dangerous. You don’t want to be around them.”

“I suspect we don’t want to be around there if you guys get a good air campaign going against them, either,” Jerry said.

“Yes, that’s the other thing,” the Major said. “We would rather not have more good guys in there right now. We don’t want to kill the wrong folks.”

“So what do you suggest we do?” Charlie asked.

“It’s really up to you guys, but if I were you, I’d try to stay here. This is pretty safe. We took a look at the topography as we flew in. It’s much more defendable than the place in Utah that you came from.”

“Are there enemy fighters around here?”

“Not that we’ve seen so far,” the Major said.

“As the crow flies, that bridge isn’t all that far from here,” Jeb said.

“True,” the Major continued, “but it’s a lot longer to get here if you have to drive, and the roads around here are being watched pretty closely. We have a staging area right on the other side of I-70 in Eagle, and the Government wants to make sure it doesn’t get overrun like the Utah base did.”

“What was that ‘as the crow flies’ number, again?” Jackson turned to Gabe. “I forgot already.”

“Roughly 40 miles,” Gabe said, “but keep in mind - this isn’t flat desert that they could just walk across. It’s the Rocky Mountains. The 40 miles I’m talking about isn’t passable. You’d have to be repelling sheer rock walls more times than I’d like to consider, and there are plenty of rivers and creeks. And bears. And extreme cold, even this time of year, when you’re near the peaks. So they aren’t coming as the crow flies, and the 60 miles of roads they would have to take to get here aren’t easy either. They’re mostly two lane roads, going through a bunch of small towns full of rednecks. A large group would never make it here without us knowing about it. They probably wouldn’t make it here alive, period. The rednecks would just love to collect a few ears.”

“Eewwww,” Jasmine said.

“I’ve got to agree with Gabe on that,” the Major said. “If the bad guys get here, it’ll be because they’ve overrun Utah and Arizona, and can navigate on the big roads such as I-70 without getting blown to hell. It would be the northern faction. I think that’s unlikely.”

“Well, we were supposed to be safe at my place,” Hilda said. “We know how that worked out.”

The Major looked down silently for a moment.

“You’re right, Hilda, we did think it was fairly safe there, and we were caught with our pants down. Nobody knows that better than me, and I’m really sorry. The General was my mentor and friend. I was also close to Major Hobbs, and Major Darcy. That incident keeps me up at night.”

“We had constant problems there, and both of them warned us about it,” Jeb said. “I’m not blaming them for what happened there. No way in hell. I do blame the jerk weeds in DC for allowing all of those sleeper cells to settle here un-molested, though.”

“Yeah,” Jerry said. “I’m not real happy about the lack of seriousness on the borders over the past thirty years, either.”

“Well, you guys are preaching to the choir,” Major Donaldson said. “There
are
things you can do to fortify this area. I suggest you start thinking about that.”

“What kind of things?” Jane asked.

“Things similar to what you did in Utah,” he replied. “Set up watches on the roofs. Work on a security system. Patrol. Stay sharp, and stay ready.”

“We want to go beyond that,” Jeb said. “We want to go after the enemy. We’re really just looking for a safe home base.”