Rebellion Read online

  Bug Out! California

  Book 3

  Rebellion

  Robert G Boren

  Contents

  Previously - in Bug Out! California Book 2

  Chapter 1 – Newsroom Horror

  Chapter 2 – Julian

  Chapter 3 – Scan and Post

  Chapter 4 – Abductions

  Chapter 5 – Recruitment

  Chapter 6 – Holding Cell

  Chapter 7 - Tunnels

  Chapter 8 – Bulletproof

  Chapter 9 – Warehouse

  Chapter 10 – Motion Detectors

  Chapter 11 – Control Room

  Chapter 12 – Meat Market

  Chapter 13 – Romanian DJ

  Chapter 14 – Dark Journey

  Chapter 15 – The Furnace

  Chapter 16 – Tunnel Warfare

  Chapter 17 – Trails and Tracks

  Cast of Characters

  Copyright - About the Author

  Previously, in Bug Out! California Book 2

  As book two opened, the Dulzura group had just completed their demolition of an important pass on Highway 94, cutting off a major enemy supply line. As a result, they got a huge target on their back, and were repeatedly attacked. After one attack, they found documentation detailing the plans for subjugation of California citizens. Sam and the others decided to become partisans, instead of simply defending themselves. They realized that their lives depended on defeating the invaders.

  Saladin leaned on the lackeys in the state government to increase their pressure on citizens after their setbacks at the hands of Ivan the Butcher and other patriots. Governor Sable resisted and was threatened. He woke up to what Saladin and President Simpson were planning and vowed to stop it.

  Seth and the South Torrance group were still at Ji-Ho’s mansion in Palos Verdes. Gus, who they’d met at the gun range, tried to recruit them into the resistance on a conference call. The group was interested, but wanted to see how bad martial law was before deciding. Gus told them he’d heard that UN Peacekeepers were being brought in to man checkpoints in Southern California. As the call was ending, North Korea had missiles fueling on the pads, ready to launch against the US and other countries as an impending attack on their country loomed—retaliation for the nuclear devices they’d provided to the terrorists. Before the missiles could be launched, they were destroyed. North Korea’s army surged over the DMZ to attack. As soon as they got to South Korea, their privates fragged the officers and surrendered to the South Korean and American forces.

  John, Sid, and the others at the Dulzura RV Park were getting ready to burn the bodies of enemy fighters who’d attacked them earlier. Sid noticed the scars for the RFID chips, and one mangled arm had a capsule sticking out of it. They checked closer and found that many of the bodies had evidence of RFID chips, digging out a couple with pocket knives. They called Sam and Clem over to look. Clem realized what these were right away. He suggested that they burn the chips along with the bodies to destroy them.

  The top three leaders of the Highway Patrol were thrown into an abandoned prison by Saladin and the new acting head of the CHP–who happened to be Governor Sable’s nephew. Saladin was leaning on Governor Sable to kill the prisoners. Sable refused, and then snuck to the prison in the middle of the night to talk with the CHP leadership, bringing his nephew along. It was a suicide mission. Sable brought guns and his security staff, who were killed by enemy troops while Sable and his nephew were inside. He had enemy data on a thumb drive which he wanted to put out, and he knew the CHP leadership had access to the state-wide computer system for that agency. Once the data got out there, it could be moved all over in a short period of time. He’d arranged for a new Jeep Wrangler with WiFi to be in the prison yard waiting for them. As the enemy forces began their attack, Sable and the others fought back, while the head of the CHP snuck out to the Jeep and began the upload of the enemy data. He saw the data upload finish just as he was killed. Sable and the others were killed as well, but the data got out and was spread all over the internet, causing a tremendous problem for the enemy.

  Martial law ramped up in the South Bay, with the area laid out into grids, checkpoints being erected between them. After they were in place, the regional authority forced everybody to go back to work. Morgan was ordered back to her job as a cocktail waitress at the card club in Gardena, and had to go through a checkpoint to get there. She was questioned and intimidated, but allowed to pass. When she arrived at the card club, there were several UN Peacekeepers there playing poker. Her boss Sparky was keeping an eye on things. One of the UN Peacekeepers harassed Morgan, trying to get her to sit on his lap. When she refused and walked away from the table, the Peacekeeper followed her. Tex, one of Sparky’s friends who was at the next table, tripped the Peacekeeper. A fracas ensued, with Tex and Sparky killing all the Peacekeepers who were there. Sparky called his boss Jules, who promised to be there shortly, with men to clean up the mess.

  CHP Officer Ryan, still at the Dulzura RV Park, saw the enemy data that Sable had released, recognizing it for what it was right away and forwarding it everywhere he could. He looked at the data for north San Diego County and found a supply depot in nearby Fernbrook, telling Sam and the others. A hit was planned, with the help of Sid’s friends from a nearby Indian reservation. They left the RV park while Officer Ryan continued to spread the enemy data far and wide.

  Jules arrived at the card club with several of his men. He revealed a plan to take out checkpoints in LA County, and enlisted the help of Sparky and Tex. They hit the checkpoint that Morgan had come through earlier, killing all the UN Peacekeepers and hanging their bodies from the light posts.

  Morgan went home and called Robbie, who left work early. They watched video on TV of the checkpoints being hit. The screen went black, and came back up with a hijacked signal which played on all stations. Ivan the Butcher came on in pinstriped suit and fedora, describing what he was doing to the enemy checkpoints and encouraging everybody to resist the UN.

  Thanks to the released enemy data, the South Torrance group learned of a large supply depot in Harbor City, near Ji-Ho’s mansion. Gus joined the group, and they planned an attack, to coincide with a statewide hit being organized by Ivan and others. Ji-Ho showed the military hardware he had in a walk-in safe downstairs. He had everything from machine guns to mortars to a small armed drone. They staged the attack, while the Dulzura group hit the large depot in Fernbrook. Attacks happened all over the state, doing great damage to the enemy.

  Ivan the Butcher came back on TV after the attacks and provided video proof that Governor Sable was killed at the abandoned prison. He also showed a picture of Saladin, Governor Sable, and President Simpson meeting on the airport tarmac next to Air Force One. He told the people that Saladin was part of the Caliphate, trying to open a new front in the US to defeat the infidel.

  Ji-Ho and the South Torrance group were attacked at the mansion, but killed all the enemy fighters involved. They took the enemy weapons and prepared to leave the house, planning to pick up two motor homes in nearby storage lots. Before leaving the mansion, Ji-Ho turned on his video surveillance system, and set up the armed drone to be remotely detonated, hoping to use it as a booby trap for the UN. They suspected they were being tracked by their cellphones and shut them all down. Ji-Ho owned a casita at an exclusive RV park outside of Temecula. They planned to head there before the checkpoints were up again.

  Sam and the Dulzura group saw that their RV park was attacked after the battle at the Fernbrook enemy depot via the online surveillance cameras there. The entire population of the park was killed, beheaded bodies being put on display in front of the main surveillance camera.

  The authorities declared martial law across California, and brought in tanks to shore u
p checkpoints at key locations in LA county. Ivan and his forces, including Jules, Sparky, and Tex, attacked the checkpoints again, using TOW Missiles to take out the tanks. They escaped to Ivan’s Marina Del Rey penthouse.

  Ji-Ho and the South Torrance group made it safely to the Temecula area with their motor homes, Gus and his men joining them there.

  UN Peacekeepers and local authorities found Ji-Ho’s mansion and broke into it. Saladin arrived to check it out. Ji-Ho got notification from his burglar system right away. The UN team searched, Saladin supervising. They found the walk-in safe in the downstairs room. The lead UN Peacekeeper saw the drone and mentioned that there was a red light blinking on it. Saladin bolted for the back windows, leaping out as the drone blew up, destroying the entire house.

  Chapter 1 – Newsroom Horror

  Morgan and Robbie sat on the couch, watching the TV. They heard the front door open.

  “I hope that’s Gil,” Robbie said. “It’s almost nine.”

  “Hey, guys,” Gil said as he walked up the stairs. “Anything new going on?”

  “The internet’s still down,” Morgan said.

  “Yeah, I knew that,” Gil said. “Can’t get LTE on my phone. Been down all day.”

  “It’s down on purpose,” Robbie said. “Has to be. What’s going on outside? Why so late?”

  “I had a long heart-to-heart with my boss,” Gil said.

  “How’d it go?” Robbie asked.

  “Good,” Gil said. “We buried the hatchet. I think he’s just glad to have people around who he can trust at this point. He’s scared to death. The state has basically taken over his business. They tell him what hours he can operate and who he can do business with. They also put taxes on any employee who lives on the other side of a checkpoint, and are making him keep records of employee arrival and departure times.”

  “You don’t have to go through a checkpoint to get there, do you?” Morgan asked.

  “No,” Gil said. “The factory is right on the border, though.”

  “How about your real address?” Robbie said.

  “It’s inside the checkpoint border too,” Gil said. “They probably think I’m still there.”

  “Good,” Robbie said.

  “They might start knocking on doors, you know,” Morgan said. “To see who got caught outside of their assigned quarters when the checkpoints went up.”

  “I know, that’s crossed my mind,” Robbie said.

  “You guys see what they put at the checkpoints now?” Gil asked.

  “I thought you didn’t have to go through any,” Robbie said.

  “I can see the one close to work,” Gil said. “They have a tank sitting there.”

  “Figures,” Robbie said. “They’re getting us into a stranglehold.”

  “Wonder how martial law is going over in the hinterlands?” Gil asked.

  “The news has been quiet about that,” Robbie said, “other than to say that it’s been declared by Governor Sable.”

  “They’re still lying about him?” Gil asked. “After Ivan showed his body on TV?”

  “All the stations are saying that Ivan’s video was a hoax. They’re lying about the attacks last night too. Pretending that the reports were way over-blown.”

  “The sheep around here will believe it,” Gil said. “What happened to the card club, Morgan? Figured you’d be gone when I got home.”

  “Sparky told me to stay home until he called,” she said. “No call. I hope he’s okay. I’m worried.”

  “Well, I’m glad you didn’t have to go in,” Robbie said.

  There was a loud explosion outside in the distance.

  “Holy crap!” Gil said, running out to the balcony. “Look at that fireball rising.”

  Robbie and Morgan rushed out and looked.

  “Machine gun fire,” Robbie said. “Listen.”

  “Yeah, I hear it,” Morgan said. “That smoke looks like it’s coming from my checkpoint.”

  “Sure does,” Robbie said. “I haven’t heard a tank cannon go off.”

  “Maybe somebody blew it up,” Gil said.

  “Hopefully,” Robbie said.

  They went back inside. “It’ll be interesting to see if there’s anything on the news about it,” Morgan said. She picked up her phone. “Hey, I got a text message. It was a while ago. Missed it.”

  “From work?” Robbie asked.

  “Sparky’s personal number,” she said, opening the message. She read silently for a moment, her brow furrowed.

  “Something wrong?” Gil asked.

  “He said the card club came under attack and he escaped with Tex and Jules,” Morgan said.

  “Oh, geez,” Robbie said. “I wonder if they had anything to do with those explosions?”

  “If they did, they got some better hardware,” Gil said. “Hear from Justin?”

  “Nope,” Robbie said. “As far as I know he’s still at Katie’s place.”

  “How about Steve?” Gil asked. “Colleen still here?”

  Morgan giggled. “They’re here. Acting like a couple of bunnies. I don’t think they know how loud they are.”

  “That boy is in love,” Gil said. “Good for him. I’m gonna go take a shower. Talk to you two later.”

  He went down the stairs.

  “It’ll get bad around here in a hurry,” Morgan said.

  “Hear that?” Robbie asked.

  “What?”

  “My phone,” he said. “The email tone just sounded. Maybe LTE is back up.”

  “Where is it?” Morgan asked as Robbie got up.

  “I put it on the charger a couple hours ago,” he said, rushing into the bedroom. He came back out with the phone, eyes on the screen. “Whoa.”

  “What happened?” Morgan asked. “Is it really back up?”

  “LTE is,” Robbie said as he sat down. “Email message from Ivan the Butcher.”

  “Really?” Morgan asked. “To you personally?”

  “No, this is a broadcast message,” Robbie said as he read. “This is great. He just took responsibility for blowing up the tank at the Artesia checkpoint.”

  “That was fast,” Morgan said. “I’ll bet Sparky was in on it.”

  “He also says he got the Internet back on line,” Robbie said. He went to his phone settings and turned Wi-Fi back on. “Yes! The broadband is up again too. I’m gonna get my laptop.”

  Morgan picked up her phone. “I’m back up too.”

  “Hey, you guys get the email?” Steve shouted from downstairs.

  “Yeah, man,” Robbie shouted back down as he fetched his laptop from the kitchen table.

  “There’s pictures of that attack, look,” Morgan said, holding her phone up to Robbie as he sat down next to her with the laptop.

  “Wow, look at that tank!” Robbie said as his laptop booted up. “It’s blown all over the intersection.”

  Steve and Colleen came up the stairs. “This is great, dude.”

  “I’ll say,” Robbie said.

  “Hi, Colleen,” Morgan said, slight smirk on her face.

  “Oh, crap, you could hear us,” she said, face turning red.

  “Don’t worry about it,” Morgan said. “You can probably hear us too. It’s nice to be in love.”

  Steve caught that and looked at Colleen, melting as she smiled back at him.

  “Wow,” Morgan whispered.

  “Don’t rush things,” Colleen said softly. Steve pulled her closer and kissed her forehead.

  “We’ll go as fast as you want to,” Steve whispered.

  “Maybe you two should go back downstairs,” Robbie said.

  “Shut up,” Steve said.

  Robbie and Morgan chuckled as Colleen turned red again.

  “The enemy took some big hits in northern San Diego County,” Robbie said, scrolling through messages. “They tried to hit back at an Indian reservation, but it was booby trapped.”

  “Which reservation?” Steve asked.

  “Barona,” Robbie said. “Crap, th
ey went into an RV Park in Dulzura. Beheaded a bunch of old people.”

  “How brave of them,” Steve said.

  “This is interesting,” Robbie said. “That pass that was blown up a week ago is nearby, and rumor has it that folks from this park did that job. Also said they repelled several attacks.”

  “They all dead?” Morgan asked.

  “Nobody knows,” Robbie said. “The enemy around Poway got destroyed. That’s the best news on here.”

  “Who did it?”

  “Sounds like Native Americans again,” Robbie said. “With help from the local population. Crap, they were gonna attack Santee too.”

  “The enemy?” Morgan asked.

  “Yeah,” Robbie said. “The population figured it out and counter-attacked. It was a rout. There’s a bunch of pictures in here. Dead Islamists.”

  “Wonder how martial law is gonna play into this?” Morgan asked.

  “Martial law isn’t enforceable statewide,” Robbie said. “They’re fooling themselves if they think it is.”

  “Who’s running the state?” Steve asked. “We know that Sable is taking a dirt nap. I don’t buy the hoax stories. Not even a little bit.”

  “The major news outlets are still sticking to the story that he’s alive, and Ivan’s video was a hoax,” Robbie said.

  “It’s not,” Morgan said. “The state has bitten off more than they can chew.”

  Gil came up the stairs in gym shorts and a t-shirt, his hair wet from the shower. “Something happened. I’ve got LTE again.”

  “Somebody blew up the tank at the checkpoint on Artesia,” Robbie said. “Ivan took credit.”

  “That’s what that was,” Gil said. “Rumbled the shower.”

  “Yeah, it was pretty loud,” Steve said. “There’s still smoke rising. See? Out the window to the balcony?”

  “Yeah,” Gil said, stepping over to look. “Awesome.”

  There was an explosion in the distance, and then another, coming from a different direction.

  “You hearing this?” Gil asked.

  “Ivan’s taking out more tanks, I’ll bet,” Robbie said.

  Steve grinned. “Let’s hope so.”