Patriots United Read online

  Bug Out! California Book 9

  Patriots United

  Robert Boren

  South Bay Press

  Copyright © 2018 by Robert Boren.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

  Publisher’s Note: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination. Locales and public names are sometimes used for atmospheric purposes. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or to businesses, companies, events, institutions, or locales is completely coincidental.

  Book Layout ©2017 BookDesignTemplates.com

  Cover Design: SelfPubBookCovers.com/Acapellabookcoverdesign

  Bug Out! California Book 9/ Robert Boren. -- 1st ed.

  For Kent G.

  There are no constraints on the human mind, no walls around the human spirit, no barriers to our progress except those we ourselves erect.

  ―Ronald Reagan

  Contents

  Previously, in Bug Out! California Book 8:

  The Patriots of Bend

  The Battle of Portland

  Southern Routes

  Two Fronts

  Towle Bridges

  Jacumba Hot Springs

  Earth Movers

  Clackers

  Three Roads

  The Wire

  Pool Pickup

  Boxcars

  Southern Strategy

  The Livery Stable

  Underground

  Gravel

  Colt Dragoon

  Cast Of Characters

  Previously, in Bug Out! California Book 8:

  As Book 8 opened, Jules’s group of battle wagons attacked an enemy communications center, but were surprised by M-60 tanks, which destroyed Gil and Tisha’s rig, killing them both. They also attacked Cody and Allison’s rig, rendering it useless. The team blew up the tanks with TOW missiles and escaped, leaving the communications installation in ruins.

  In Dulzura, Ji-Ho realized that the enemy planned to re-open I-8 for Islamists heading north from Mexico. Sam and Ji-Ho’s group was under almost constant attack, fending off the enemy but taking losses. They learned of a UN target in nearby Jamul, a staging area for new UN leadership, who were to be moved north to a new UN facility at an abandoned auto mall in Elk Grove. Sam and his team began planning an attack, coordinating with Ivan’s team in the north, who were planning to hit the Elk Grove site shortly afterward.

  On the way out of his hideout in San Francisco, Ivan set up a booby trap, leaving a body, a fedora and a pinstripe suit smeared with his DNA to fake his own death. The UN received tips about Ivan’s location and rushed to the high-rise, breaking into Ivan’s offices. The booby trap went off, killing the UN Peacekeepers and fooling the media into reporting that Ivan was killed.

  Ivan learned that the UN was bringing captive women to the Elk Grove auto mall to entertain dignitaries. Mister White and Mister Black set up the attack, with the priority on protecting and rescuing the captive women.

  The operation in Jamul was a success, Sam’s team killing all the UN operatives. At the same time, UN Peacekeepers and Islamists were moving to attack Dodge City, but were stopped on the road by Garrett’s cavalry.

  As the time for the Elk Grove operation approached, Ivan revealed that Jules’s next job would be at Folsom Prison. Surviving members of the California State Government were being held there. Ivan planned to spring them and put them back into place in Sacramento.

  The operation in Elk Grove started, the captive women protected right from the start, as Ivan’s commandos rushed into the facility, killing UN Peacekeepers by the dozen. Some Peacekeepers tried to leave the building and flee in their vans, but were killed by the battle wagons which had surrounded the building. Ivan set up for a TV shoot at the scene, which would include testimony by Morgan and the other women who had been held captive in the Torrance Police Station. Some of the women liberated at Elk Grove volunteered to join the TV broadcast as well. The UN appeared with tanks and Gaz Tigrs as the TV shoot was finishing, the battle wagons outside taking them on, with help from commandos on the roof, using M60s and TOW missile launchers. Jules and Ivan had another surprise for the enemy–several hundred armed off-roaders with M-19 grenade launchers mounted, using the gimbals designed by Curt in Texas. As the battle raged, the off-roaders flooded onto the scene from underground parking lots, cleaning up the remaining enemy fighters as the battle wagons picked up the hostages. Jules’s team got away clean. The video for the TV broadcast was edited together with closed-circuit video of the Elk Grove facility and the battle. Ivan planned to break into all California TV channels again, after the Folsom Prison breakout was finished.

  While the Dulzura away team was coming home from the Jamul operation, a massive enemy attack was launched at the Williams Place. The two battle wagons, the black-powder cannons, and the cavalry fought valiantly, but there were too many Islamists and UN Peacekeepers, all of them with modern weapons. They were on the verge of losing as Sam and his team arrived with their battle wagons, turning the tide of the battle. In a meeting afterwards, the team decided to abandon the Williams Place for Dodge City, which was easier to defend. They planned to leave right away, making several trips to move everyone during the late afternoon and early evening.

  Ivan’s video hit the airwaves and went viral on the internet. At the same time, unrest hit a tipping point in several Northern California cities, San Francisco and Oakland being the worst. Street battles exploded, patriots defeating the already weakened UN, taking the cities back. The enemy sent reserves from Folsom Prison to help, weakening their presence there. Ivan’s intel team saw this, and told Jules to leave for the prison immediately.

  Daan Mertins packed up his team and fled San Francisco, telling Saladin to head for Southern California, to help with the battle to re-open I-8. Daan also mentioned that the EU Navy ships carrying another sixty-thousand UN Peacekeepers were being diverted north to Oregon.

  Seth was asked to develop an RFID history application, which would show movement of RFID hits, and would make it obvious when shielded vehicles were used to hide enemy movement. Aided by access to the high-res PC version of the RFID apps provided by General Hogan, Seth set to work. This new app would become a crucial tool.

  The Folsom Prison operation went well, and forty surviving California State Government officials were freed, taken to Sacramento in prison buses. Jules’s rig was knocked over by a nearby explosion of an enemy ammo dump, giving him a mild concussion, but the team got away safely.

  Dodge City was attacked with mortars, Islamists using a shielded van to hide their RFID chips. Garrett, Sid, Yvonne, and Tyler put down the attack quickly, and passed the word about the shielded van to Ivan. Sam warned that the attack was a test, and that they should expect a larger attack using shielded vehicles in the near future.

  The California officials made it safely back to Sacramento, most of them not understanding what happened to the state while they were locked up. They bickered until Mr. White showed them how many Islamists were still in California. That and some discussion led them to understand what the situation was, and they started planning a counter-offensive.

  In Bend, Oregon, a small group of young patriots were watching the EU Navy ship as it headed towards Portland. They were experts with social media, and had been recruiting like-minded people on a small level, hoping to join the coming battle of Portland with a force of several hundred. Portland was lo
cked down with martial law, the city and state governments complicit, violent leftist activists ruling the streets like Nazi thugs of the 1930s. One of the Bend group had been on Ben Dover’s recruitment site, and took advantage of its affiliate page, setting up a Central Oregon charter group. They used it to recruit people locally, but another member, who had connections to the Portland music scene, helped get the recruitment links into that community.

  Robbie was on the high-res app, watching a line of Islamist RFID hits heading into California from Nevada on I-80. They were spaced out, trying to hide their numbers. He wondered where they were going, and noticed a few stray hits in Sacramento, right next to the state headquarters of the CHP, which had recently re-formed after the release of the California legislators. Robbie notified Jules and Tex, who came over with Sparky. Jules called Ivan, who told them to go to the CHP headquarters immediately. Ivan mentioned that the CHP officers at the headquarters had been given M60s and M4s, and said he’d let them know what was coming so they could set up an ambush. The team fired up their battle wagons and took off, the off-roaders joining them. The action started right as they arrived, the enemy trying to set up mortars to pound the CHP headquarters, CHP officers on the roofs wailing away with M60s, the battle wagons and off-roaders getting into the battle.

  In Bend, the affiliate recruiting link on Ben Dover’s page was going viral. The number of recruits went from six-hundred to over eighty thousand in a short period of time, and was still rising fast. The Bend locals saw that most of the recruits were coming from Portland. Worried that the band web sites publishing recruitment links for the Bend group might be targeted, they called, not getting answers from any of them. One of the group reminded everybody that if the enemy had the phones of the band contacts, they now knew who tried to call them, which put the Bend patriots into a panic. They packed, getting ready to take off before they were captured by the State Police or worse.

  The battle for the CHP headquarters ended, the enemy losing all their fighters. Jules’s group met with the CHP brass. The building where the three stray RFID hits showed up was across the street from the CHP building. They decided to search the building, using special forces men only. Jules, Tex, Ted, and Sparky all had such experience and volunteered. The CHP lead accepted and provided two of his men who had similar experience to join them. They were walking to the building as Book 8 came to an end…

  {1}

  The Patriots of Bend

  T ex was leading a small force to the apartment building across the street from the CHP headquarters in Sacramento. Jules, Ted, and Sparky followed, along with CHP Officers Teter and Goldberg. The building was pockmarked with bullets, a few residents coming out, more driving in to survey the damage, having left when the gunfire started.

  “Who’s gonna clean this up?” Sparky asked. Tex shot him a smirk as they neared the door to the lobby.

  “Where enemy bodies?” Jules asked.

  “Fourth floor,” Goldberg said. “Middle of the building. Room 405.”

  “Is it over?” asked an old woman, standing on the sidewalk with a cart full of belongings.

  “Yes, but we’re going to check for any enemy fighters who might still be alive,” Officer Teter said. “Please stay out here until we’ve given the all clear.”

  “Yes sir,” she said. “Thank you.”

  The group went into the front door. “Want to check out their apartment first?” Goldberg asked.

  “Might as well,” Ted said. “Stairs.”

  “Yeah,” Sparky said. Teter led them to the stairwell and they raced up, winded at the top.

  “I need to be in better shape,” Jules said, huffing and puffing.

  “You and me both, boss,” Sparky said.

  They followed Teter down the walkway to the room, the door hanging open. “Watch yourselves. We killed these guys as the battle was raging. I’m assuming we got them all, but you never know.”

  Jules nodded, and the group went into the building in two-by-two formation, aiming their M4s as they searched, getting to the living room which opened onto a balcony facing the CHP building. The bodies were there, lifeless, staring into space.

  Tex and Sparky rushed over, kneeling next to them, checking their pockets.

  “What are you guys looking for?” Goldberg asked.

  “Car keys,” Tex said. “Bingo.” He stood up, key fob in his hand. Sparky was checking the last body.

  “Nothing in the rest,” Sparky said. “Looks like the UN Peacekeeper was the driver.”

  “What kind of key is that?” Goldberg asked.

  “Mercedes,” Tex said, tossing the key fob to him.

  “UN van,” Jules said. “Wonder if marked?”

  “I suspect we’ll find out in a minute,” Ted said. “Let’s go to the parking garage.”

  “Wonder where the residents of this apartment are?” Sparky asked. “Look at the décor. This was an old person, or maybe an old couple.”

  “You’re right,” Goldberg said. “Looks like my grandma’s place.”

  “You check the closets for bodies?” Tex asked.

  “We checked them for hiding enemy fighters,” Teter said. “Would’ve seen bodies. Nada.”

  “Okay, let’s go,” Ted said. The men left the building, Tex going slowly, falling behind as he looked at the floor of the walkway.

  “C’mon, Tex, while we’re young,” Ted said.

  “Hold it,” Tex said, looking at a small smudge of blood that turned into a thin trail, going into the next unit.

  “What?” Jules asked, looking at the spot he was staring at. “Uh oh.”

  “Yeah, uh oh,” Tex said, walking towards the door as the others gathered around. He stood to the side of it and knocked hard. No answer.

  Teter and Goldberg glanced at each other, then approached, not standing in front of the door, but off to the side as Tex was doing. Goldberg pounded on the door.

  “Highway Patrol,” he shouted. “Open up!”

  Silence.

  “Let’s kick it in,” Tex said.

  Goldberg nodded. “Yeah, I think you’re right.”

  “I’ve got it,” Teter said, his massive leg kicking the door, breaking it open with the first try. The men got back into formation and slipped inside, aiming their rifles as they went.

  “Oh, God,” Teter said, lowering his weapon. The living room floor was covered with bodies, a mixture of elderly, middle aged, and children, all with their throats cut.

  “They must’ve killed everybody on this floor,” Sparky said, turning away from the carnage.

  “Well, this side of the building, anyway,” Goldberg said. “Those sick bastards.”

  “Time for us to take out the trash,” Teter said, fire in his eyes. “Can’t wait to kill more of these thugs.”

  “Let’s check garage,” Jules said. “Afterwards send CHP officers to search entire building. This might not be only dead people around.”

  Goldberg nodded in agreement, and the men went to the stairwell, taking it down to the underground garage.

  “We’d better be careful when we go in here,” Sparky said.

  “Yeah, back into formation, guys,” Ted said.

  The men got their guns to their shoulders, and Teter opened the door, holding it as the others hurried through. He followed them. Goldberg took out the key fob and pushed the unlock button. There was a click and headlights went on, around the corner from where they were.

  “Over there,” Tex said. They rushed around the corner, staying in formation, their footsteps echoing in the cavernous garage.

  “There,” Sparky said. “UN van without the insignia.”

  “Just what I expect,” Jules said. The men trotted to it, guns still up.

  Teter led the way, getting next to the side sliding door. “Get ready.” He grabbed the door handle and opened it. Everybody’s short range app went off, and a gunshot sounded. Jules opened fire, killing the lone Islamist before he could hit anybody.

  “Son of a bitch, look a
t the inside of this sucker,” Tex said, sticking his head in. “Lead, lining the entire inside.”

  “So, UN creeps drive, others in shielded back compartment,” Jules said. “This bad development, no?”

  “How many could they have?” Ted asked. “Lead in this amount is hard to come by, and they could only shoehorn about eight fighters in here, max. They’d need hundreds of semi-trailers set up like this to field a usable force.”

  “I call Ivan,” Jules said. “We might not be only team that see this.”

  “Yeah, partner, you do that,” Tex said.

  ***

  Jonathan was driving his battered pickup truck east on Oregon Boulevard, the Bend traffic sparse for a late afternoon. Courtney was in the passenger seat, eyes on her phone. She looked up.

  “Why are we going this way? We hitting Jared’s place?”

  Jonathan shot her a worried glance. “I want to make sure he’s leaving. He didn’t answer my last text.”

  “Maybe we better split. They might be looking for us right now.”

  “They might,” Jonathan said. “Wish we had one of the long guns up here.”

  “They’ll throw us in jail if they catch us with a gun up here.”

  “They’ll throw us in jail if they catch us, period,” Jonathan said, “once we get out of Bend, anyway.”

  “You don’t think the local cops would bust us?”

  “No,” Jonathan said. “I know all of them. They’re on our side. They know what’s happening with the EU ship full of UN Peacekeepers. I think some of them will join us.”

  They rounded the bend, getting onto Hawthorne Avenue.

  “Look, roadblock, just past Hill Street,” Courtney said.

  “Oregon State Police,” Jonathan said. “Dammit.”

  “They’re not on our side?”

  “Nope,” Jonathan said, slowing to a stop and parking on the curb, half a block from Hill Street.