Bug Out! Texas Book 2: The New Republic Read online

  Bug Out! Texas

  The New Republic

  Book 2

  Robert G Boren

  Contents

  Previously - in But Out! Texas Book 1

  Chapter 1 – Barracuda

  Chapter 2 – Shoreline

  Chapter 3 – Westward

  Chapter 4 – Governor's Mansion

  Chapter 5 – East Texas Back Roads

  Chapter 6 – Caravan to West Texas

  Chapter 7 - Rumors of the Republic

  Chapter 8 – Stocking and Resting

  Chapter 9 – Forest Assault

  Chapter 10 – OPEC Creek

  Chapter 11 – Sonora

  Chapter 12 – Redneck Contact

  Chapter 13 – Federal Pressure

  Chapter 14 – Carthage

  Chapter 15 – Upgrades

  Chapter 16 – Last Leg to Fort Stockton

  Chapter 17 – Road Carnage

  Chapter 18 – Overture

  Chapter 19 – Past Palestine

  Chapter 20 – Rules of Engagement

  Chapter 21 – Sheffield

  Chapter 22 – Long Haul

  Chapter 23 – Friends United

  Chapter 24 - Hearne

  Chapter 25 – New Ballgame

  Chapter 26 – Clubhouse

  Chapter 27 – Venezuela

  Copyright - About the Author

  Previously – in Bug Out! Texas Book 1

  Something was wrong in Texas. A terror attack hit the Superstore in Dripping Springs. The attack was foiled by a group of armed citizens, rednecks led by Kelly, and off-duty Austin cops Jason Finley and Kyle Wilson. After the battle, Islamists behind the attack located those who’d foiled it, killing several, but being killed in large numbers by Jason and his wife Carrie, as well as Kelly and his band of rednecks. This enraged the Islamist leaders. They staged a major attack at a protest in Austin the next day. Kelly and his friends showed up and helped the Austin PD kill them. Meanwhile, Jason and his family and Kyle and his girlfriend Kate were ordered into hiding by their boss, Chief Ramsey. They took off in RVs with the enemy hot on their trail.

  The Islamists tracked down Jason’s parents at their ranch outside Fredericksburg and beheaded them. Jason told his brother Eric about the murders. Eric and his girlfriend Kim traveled from Florida in their motor home to help, but were stopped at the Texas border outside of Houston. They traveled north along the Texas/Louisiana border until they found a place to cross into Texas, while being hunted by Islamic fighters. Eric noticed the enemy, set up an ambush, and killed them. After the battle he discovered that they had been tracked by a virus on their cellphones. He warned Jason, who in turn warned Austin PD and Kelly. In the last scene of book one, Jason and Kyle used their hacked cellphones to lure the Islamists into an ambush.

  Meanwhile, Venezuelan troops and Islamist fighters were flooding across the border into Texas via Falcon Lake. Department of Public Safety Patrol Boaters did battle with the invaders. They stopped many but lost boats and men in firefights, as the invaders got more powerful. Texas National Guard leadership joined with DPS to fight off the invaders, using Juan Carlos Gonzales and Brendon Smith as pilots for new equipment and tactics. They did serious damage to the enemy, but their boat got disabled on the Mexican side of Falcon Lake at the end of book one.

  Kip Hendrix, President Pro Tempore of the Texas State Senate, was alarmed at the battles with Islamist/Venezuelan forces and the resulting pressure on the Muslim community in Austin. He conspired with other like-minded political figures to shut down those he considered to be vigilantes, and to attack the loose gun laws of Texas which were helping them. When Hendrix realized that the invasion was, in fact, a true invasion of foreign fighters from Venezuela and the Islamic countries of the Middle East, he publicly joined the Texas Patriots and vowed to fight the enemy with them. Behind closed doors, he had other ideas.

  Chapter 1 – Barracuda

  Carrie and Kate were dozing in the motor home. It was late, nearly two in the morning. Dingo was sleeping on the engine cover between the front seats. Her head lifted, looking around, making a low growl.

  Kate woke up and looked at Dingo, heart beating faster. “Carrie!” she whispered loud.

  Carrie woke and looked at Kate. “What? Hear something?”

  “Dingo just growled,” she whispered.

  “Probably a hog,” Carrie said, eyes drowsy. She drifted off again when the pop of gunfire sounded in the distance.

  “Crap,” Kate said, sitting up.

  “The guys!” Carrie said, standing.

  More gunfire drifted towards them. Automatic fire from big weapons.

  “BARs,” Carrie said. “It’s happening. Let’s get our guns ready just in case.”

  “Wow, that’s a lot of gunfire,” Kate said, rushing towards the dinette table. She picked up one of the Thompsons and a box of ammo. Carrie grabbed her Mini-14 with one hand and a shotgun with the other.

  “I’m going on the roof of the motor home,” Carrie said. She left a sleeping Chelsea in the bedroom, and then left the coach, heading for the ladder on the back.

  “Be careful up there,” Kate said. “I’ll get behind the bushes in front of the trailer with one of the Thompsons.”

  “Maybe I better bring the other Thompson up here,” Carrie said. She climbed up the ladder and slid the Mini-14 and the shotgun onto the roof, then ran back into the coach and grabbed her Thompson. She was on the roof in a flash.

  “You set?” Kate asked.

  “Yeah,” Carrie said, pulling back the bolt on the Thompson and setting it aside. She picked up the Mini-14 and laid on her belly, watching down the road.

  The gunfire went on for several minutes, then stopped for a moment, a few short bursts of fire sounding every so often. Both women stayed still, listening.

  “Think it’s over?” Kate asked.

  “Listen. Vehicles. You hear it?”

  More gunfire from the BARs floated towards them, and the engines of the vehicles accelerated.

  “Somebody’s coming,” Kate said. “Oh, God.”

  Trucks came into view, flying towards them in the darkness. Carrie took aim with the Mini-14, squeezing the trigger, trying to hit the driver of the first truck.

  “The trucks are bouncing too much,” Carrie said. “I can’t hit them.” She continued to fire, and then Kate stood up behind the bushes and fired the Thompson, sweeping fire across the front of the first truck, killing all three men in the cab. Men leapt out of the truck bed in a panic.

  “Use the machine gun,” Kate yelled as she continued to fire, trying to stop the second truck now.

  Carrie grabbed the Thompson and fired, hitting men around the first truck as it rolled onto the side of the road.

  “That second truck is still coming,” Kate said. She fired again, hitting the driver. The truck stopped, and somebody inside opened the car door and shoved the dead driver out, getting behind the wheel, driving forward in a panicked zig-zag, making it hard for Kate to hit them. Her firing stopped.

  “What’s wrong?” Carrie yelled.

  “Damn thing jammed,” she shouted.

  Carrie’s heart was hammering in her chest. She opened fire on the second truck until it was too close, then shot at the third truck, hitting the engine compartment. Steam blew out of the radiator but it kept coming, zig-zagging like the second truck.

  “They’re going to get us,” Kate cried, trying frantically to put the magazine back on the Thompson. Suddenly there was an explosion, hitting the second truck, blowing it into the air.

  “What was that?” Carrie cried. She turned and saw a small off-roader flying down the road from the back side of camp, a can
non mounted above the roll cage. A bright flash erupted from the big gun and the third truck blew up in a huge fireball.

  “Who is that?” Kate yelled as she rammed the magazine back into the Thompson. She pulled back the bolt and opened fire, hitting the men who were fleeing from the burning wreck.

  “Nice shooting,” Carrie shouted. There were three men sprinting towards the motor home, trying to take aim at her. She picked up Jason’s auto shotgun and fired as fast as she could, killing them as Kate continued to fire the Thompson. There was silence for a moment, and then a Jeep was driving towards them full bore.

  “Another one?” Kate yelled.

  “No, it’s our Jeep. Hold you fire!”

  Carrie watched as the Jeep skidded to a stop and Kyle leapt out, firing his BAR at two men trying to get away to the right. Jason jumped out too, looking around with the night-vision goggles, checking the bushes.

  “They okay?” Kate asked.

  “Yeah, they just wasted a few stragglers,” Carrie said. “Where’s that dune buggy?”

  “Right here,” shouted a man’s voice.

  “Curt!” Carrie said. “Thank God.”

  “That Jason and Kyle mopping up?”

  “Yeah,” Carrie said.

  Jason and Kyle rushed over. Kate got up, running to Kyle, leaping into his arms as he dropped his weapon, arms around his neck, legs around his waist. She cried and kissed him and touched his face.

  Carrie came down the steps of the ladder and rushed into Jason’s arms, hugging him and sobbing. They could hear Chelsea crying inside the coach. “I’d better go to her.” She ran into the coach.

  “Jason!” Curt said, walking towards him.

  “Man, am I glad to see you,” he said. The men embraced.

  “I got here none too soon, but your women were putting up one hell of a fight.”

  “What is that thing?” Jason asked, looking at the dune buggy behind him.

  “Oh, just a little toy I cooked up,” he said.

  Kyle came over with Kate. “Curt, we owe you big time,” Kyle said.

  “Hell, I owe you,” he said. “A truckload of these cretins was almost to me when I figured out their phone hack. If you wouldn’t have tipped me off, I’d be dead right now.”

  “You figured it out?” Kate asked.

  “Oh, this is my girlfriend,” Kyle said. “Kate.”

  “I’m your girlfriend now?” Kate asked.

  “You have a problem with that?” Kyle asked.

  She looked at him, eyes teary, and shook her head no.

  Curt laughed. “Somebody finally nailed him, huh?”

  “Looks like it to me,” Jason said. “It’s a good thing.”

  “Yes it is,” Kyle said, pulling Kate close.

  “Well, great to meet you, Kate.”

  Kyle smiled. “Now what were you saying about the phones?”

  “I figured out how to see who was tracking me. Saw them coming.”

  “I figured you’d be able to do that,” Kyle said. “I have one of the Islamist’s phones on me. Android. Took out the battery. Maybe you can use it.”

  “Yeah, maybe I can,” Curt said. “There’s probably other numbers stored in it that I can hack into.”

  “Can you tell if there’s people on the way here now?” Kate asked.

  “Yeah,” he said. “Rigged up my phone so it’ll buzz if any phones I haven’t input get within half a mile. Wouldn’t work in the city, but out here it’s perfect.”

  Carrie came back out.

  “She okay?” Jason asked.

  “Yeah, she’s back asleep already. What’d I miss?”

  “Curt figured out how to use the hacked phones against the Islamists,” Jason said.

  “Really?” Carrie asked.

  “Yeah,” Curt said. “It’s pretty simple.”

  “Is he a genius?” Kate asked.

  Curt laughed. “No, but I read a lot. Come check out my new toy.”

  “Yeah, what the hell is that thing?” Carrie asked.

  “Just your basic Barracuda dune buggy, but I added some extra hardware. C’mon.”

  They walked over to the vehicle. Curt pulled out his cellphone and turned on the flashlight, shining it on the strange looking buggy. “I built the vehicle from a kit. Single seater, faster than hell in the dirt, small profile in the front so it’s hard to hit with gunfire.”

  “Nice,” Kyle said. “Wouldn’t want to roll it though. That would be the end of the gun up on the roll cage.”

  “I’ve got an idea for a better roll cage,” Curt said, “but it’s low priority. If I’m in action and I roll it, I’m probably dead anyway. There’s other improvements I have in mind that are more important.”

  “Where did you get that gun, and that gimbal mount?” Jason asked.

  “The gun is a Mark 19, mod 3 automatic 40 mm grenade launcher,” Curt said. “Rather not say where I got it. I’ve got more. We’re gonna need them. The ammo is the hardest problem, but I got some ideas on that.”

  “I’ve read about these,” Jason said. “How about the gimbal?”

  Curt laughed and got into the buggy. He pulled down a sight, which went in front of his face. “Buttons on either side of the steering wheel control the gimbal. Up-down on one, left-right on the other. Takes some practice. It’s connected to the cross hairs on this sight. The left-right button is also the trigger.” He pushed the ignition button. The engine started, settling into a purr. Then Curt used the buttons to move the gun around.

  “Holy shit,” Kyle said.

  “I made the gimbal and sight parts with my 3-D Printer, which is in the back of my toy hauler,” Curt said.

  “What was your idea on the ammo?” Kyle asked.

  “I’m trying to reverse engineer it. I think I can make a lot of the parts with my 3-D printing setup. Not the best way to manufacture, but it’s workable. I save the shell casings when I can.”

  “Hate to stop the reunion here, but we need to figure out what we’re going to do tonight,” Carrie said. “We’re low on sleep, and the enemy knows where we are.”

  “She’s right,” Jason said. “We need to split, right?”

  “That would be advisable,” Curt said.

  “Where’s your rig?” Kyle asked.

  “Three hundred yards down the road,” Curt said. “I can be ready to go in a hurry. All I have to do is drive the Barracuda into the back.”

  “Not much we have to do either,” Jason said. “Throw the patio stuff into the storage compartments. Hitch the vehicles back up. Ten minutes.”

  “Where should we go?” Kyle asked.

  “West,” Curt said. “Talked with some old friends. That’s where they’re going.”

  “Old friends?” Kate asked.

  “Don’t tell me, let me guess,” Jason said. “Kelly and his band of rednecks.”

  Curt grinned.

  “You sure that’s a good idea?” Carrie asked. “Doesn’t that put all the targets together in the same place?”

  “Yeah,” Curt said. “It’ll drag them right into the lion’s den.”

  Chapter 2 – Shoreline

  “What do you think?” Brendan asked, wading into the water. Juan Carlos was looking at the engines in the early morning light.

  “We were lucky, dude,” Juan Carlos said. “Looks like they shot the stern armor, and the bullet bounced off and nicked the fuel feeder line.”

  “Can you fix it?”

  “Temporarily,” he said. “I need the tape. It’s in the tool box. Want to grab it for me?”

  “Sure,” Brendan said. He got into the boat and looked under the row of seats in the back, pulling out a small toolbox. “Found it. Here.”

  Juan Carlos reached up and got the roll of tape. “Any safety wire left? The adhesive might come loose.”

  “Yeah,” Brendan said. He fished a spool of the wire and the pliers out of the box and put them on the stern.

  “Wonder what happened at the base?” Juan Carlos asked.

 
“Don’t know, man, but it was bad. You had the radio on?”

  “No, I turned it off last night to save the battery,” he said. “If we get the engines running again, we’d better make a call right away.”

  “Seriously,” Brendan said, watching the shore and the water. “How long till they find us?”

  “You worry too much, dude,” Juan Carlos said. “I’m just about done.” He finished with the tape and then wrapped it with the safety wire, being careful not to twist too tight. “That ought to do it.”

  Brendan watched as Juan Carlos waded out of the water and climbed on the bow.

  “You’ll have to push us off,” Juan Carlos said. He slipped into the pilot seat and pushed the ignition button. The engines turned, grinding a few moments and catching, settling into their raspy purr.

  “Bitchen,” Brendan said. “I’ll push us off.” He scrambled off the bow and jumped onto the sand, heaving with all his might as Juan Carlos put the engines into reverse and gave them gas. Brendan jumped back on when they were floating free.

  “Hey, dude, go look at the tubing. Make sure it’s not leaking, okay?”

  “Yeah,” Brendan said, rushing to the stern. He peered over. “Looks good, man. Let’s blow this joint.”

  “USA here we come,” Juan Carlos said, pushing the throttle forward. “See if you can get somebody on the radio.”

  Brendan nodded as they cut into the center of the lake, flipped on the radio power button, and picked up the mic. “Zapata, come in. Over.”

  Nothing but static hiss.

  “Keep trying,” Juan Carlos said.

  “Zapata, come in. Over.”

  “Switch channels, dude.”

  “Yeah,” Brendan said. He turned the dial. “DPS, come in. Over.”

  “This is DPS. Who’s on? Over.”

  “Gonzales and Smith, boat 18. Over.”

  “Where’s Chauncey? Over.”

  “Dead. Shot by a sniper off Arroyo Chapote. What happened to Zapata Base? Over.”

  “Attacked last night. The enemy took control of the lake north of Rio Salado. Over.”

  “So we’re just gonna let them do that? Over.”

  “Negative, we have forces taking the base back now, and air support on the way. Over.”