Bug Out! Part 4: Mortars and Motorhomes Read online

“I am, Frank. Something about this guy doesn’t seem right. As soon as I can get rid of him I’m going to have a long chat with my CO about him.”

  “Good. See you in a bit, Major.”

  Frank slipped his phone back into his pocket.

  “They are on their way here in a few minutes,” Frank said. “The Major is starting to be a little leery of him.”

  “Did he say why?” asked Earl.

  “No, but I’d say let’s keep our guard up,” Frank said.

  “Maybe we should disperse a little bit,” the Sheriff said. “If this guy is going to try anything, I’d prefer that we aren’t all bunched up in here. It’s a death trap.”

  “You’re right, Sheriff,” Frank said. “Who stays up here?”

  “I will,” Jerry said. “Sheriff, I’d switch over to that shotgun.”

  “Yes, I think that’s a good idea,” the Sheriff said. Everybody but Jerry climbed down the ladder and spread around. Jerry checked his magazine and cocked his AK-47.

  “Jane, go back to the clubhouse,” Frank said.

  “No,” she said, automatically.

  “If anything happens, I’ll do better if I’m not worried about you,” Frank said. He hugged her. “Go. You can leave Lucy here.”

  “Alright, Frank. You be careful.” She went back to the gate and slipped inside the park.

  After a few minutes, Lucy looked towards the back of the park and growled quietly.

  “Here they come,” Jerry said quietly.

  Major Hobbs led the way through the gate, with Officer Simmons following, looking warily in all directions.

  “Something making you nervous, Simmons?” asked the Major.

  “There’s been a lot of action back here, that’s all,” he said.

  “How long have you been with the agency?” the Major asked.

  “Hmmm, let me think. About nine and a half years,” he said.

  “Really, you don’t know to the day, huh? Most of the agents I’ve worked with know it like their birthday.”

  Officer Simmons didn’t answer.

  “Sheriff, we’re coming back,” Major Hobbs shouted.

  “We see you,” the Sheriff said.

  “Have your men come out,” Officer Simmons said. “I want to talk to them.”

  “Alright, guys, show yourselves,” the Major said.

  Frank walked out behind a tree, Lucy by his side. She was still growling just a little bit. Then the Sheriff walked out, holding the shotgun.

  “Who’s in the blind now?” asked the Major.

  “I am, Major,” Jerry said. “Jerry.”

  “Good,” he said. “You can hear from there, right?”

  “Sure,” Jerry said.

  Earl and Jackson came out last, and cautiously looked forward.

  “You didn’t tell me those guys were here,” Officer Simmons said. He put his hand down by his side arm.

  “They’ve been with the group a while now,” Frank said. “They escaped the Williams Militia.”

  “I’m going to have to arrest these two and take them with me,” Officer Simmons said.

  “Oh, no you won’t,” the Major said.

  “You aren’t going to stop me,” Officer Simmons said. Then he pulled his side arm out of it’s holster.

  “Freeze!” said the Sheriff. “Or I’ll cut you in half.” He had the 12 gauge pointed right at him.

  “Better drop it, Officer Simmons,” Jerry said from up in the blind, chuckling. “That vest ain’t gonna to protect you from a shotgun blast to the face.”

  Chapter 2 – Chopper Transport

  “Well, what now, Major?” asked Officer Simmons. “It will be a pleasure to end your career.”

  Jerry laughed from up in the blind.

  “You’re no CIA agent, traitor. And now you’ve got four rifles and a shotgun pointed at you. Please don’t drop the gun.”

  Officer Simmons looked around at all the guns pointed at him. Then he shook his head and threw his pistol to the ground.

  “Sheriff, you got your handcuffs on you?” asked Major Hobbs.

  “Sure as hell do,” he said. “Everybody keep this jerk covered. I’ll cuff him and frisk him.”

  The Sheriff handed the shotgun to his Deputy, who had snuck around behind him in the bushes.

  “If he tries anything, blast him,” the Sheriff said. He walked over to Officer Simmons, spun him around, and got his hands behind his back. Then he put the cuffs on. He frisked him, stopping at his left calf. He pulled up the pant leg, and pulled a switchblade off that was taped onto his leg. He threw it in the dirt a few feet away. Then he continued on the other leg and stopped. He lifted the pant leg and pulled a small auto pistol out of there.

  “Well well well. CIA issue? C’mon, let’s walk this guy back to the front,” the Major said. “Sheriff, can you come too?”

  “Jerry, you mind holding down the fort up there?” asked the Sheriff.

  “Sure, no problem, Sheriff. And nice job, by the way.”

  “Thanks,” he replied. “Alright Major, let’s go. I have my squad car up there, and it will hold a prisoner if we need to keep this creep on ice for a little while.”

  “Excellent,” Major Dobbs said. “Private Jones?”

  The private came out of the bushes with his weapon in his hand.

  “Yes sir,” he said.

  “Set to get the drop on things, eh? Nice job. Ready to go up the ladder a bit?”

  “Yes sir,” he said.

  “Good, I hereby promote you to Sergeant. Congratulations.”

  “Thank you, sir,” Sergeant Jones said with a wide smile.

  “You earned it,” the Major said. “Now, I want you to take command of this back section. Work with our civilian partners to secure the area, and also guard against another attack. We aren’t out of the woods yet. I’m going up to the front of the park with Officer Simmons here.”

  “Yes sir,” he said.

  Sergeant Jones turned, and several of the people there clapped. He nodded.

  “Private Bates? Let’s talk. Up in the blind, with Jerry,” he said. “The rest of you keep your eyes and ears open, and let’s keep that mortar ready.”

  “That’s very touching,” Officer Simmons said sarcastically.

  “Shut up, traitor,” Frank said.

  “I’ll get you, Frankie,” he replied. “Nobody shoots me and gets away with it.”

  Frank cocked his Winchester, and his knuckles whitened around it.

  “Stand down, Frank,” Major Hobbs said. “This asshole will get his reward soon enough. This is wartime and we still shoot spies.”

  Frank settled down.

  “Earl, Jackson, and Frank, want to go up there with the Sheriff and I?”

  They all nodded.

  “Alright, traitor, move it,” the Sheriff said, and he prodded him forward.

  They walked back to the gate, single file, all of them looking around except Officer Simmons, who was looking down at the ground in front of him.

  There were more people out and around in the park, now. The terror of the battles was starting to wane, and it was a comfort to most people that the army was there in force.

  Frank moved up next to the Major.

  “So what now, Major Hobbs?” he asked.

  “I’m going to get on the horn with my CO and talk about this,” he said, but then he nodded towards Officer Simmons. “We’ll talk more when the traitor is out of earshot.”

  “If you think there’s any chance this guy is going to get away, I’m going to shoot him,” Frank whispered. “I’m not looking over my shoulder for the rest of my life.”

  The Major nodded.

  They got to the Clubhouse. The Sheriff walked Officer Simmons over to his squad car. He threw him in the back, behind the mesh, and locked it up. Then he came back over and joined the group as they entered the clubhouse. Jane ran over to Frank. She’d been watching them through the window.

  “I didn’t think he was a good guy,” she said. “What did he do?
”

  “He tried to arrest Earl and Jackson. He pulled his weapon. We wouldn’t let him do it. The guy is a traitor, that’s pretty obvious.”

  “I’m going to go out to my radio and have a chat with the CO,” Major Hobbs said. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

  “Alright. I’m going to run up to the roof and chat with Jeb and Charlie. I want to make sure that they shoot this jerk if he gets loose.”

  The Major nodded and left the room. Frank went over to the store and up onto the roof.

  “Hey, guys,” Frank said. Jeb and Charlie turned around.

  “Looks like we were right about Officer Simmons,” Charlie said.

  “Yep,” Frank said.

  “What did he do?” asked Jeb.

  “He tried to arrest Earl and Jackson.”

  “Figures, those two are traitors to the militia,” Charlie said. “I had a feeling he was going to do something like that.”

  “What’s on your mind, Frank?” Jeb asked. “I know you didn’t just come up here with a news report.”

  “I just wanted to make sure that you knew that if Officer Simmons gets away, we need to shoot him on sight.”

  “Good, hope I get to do the honors,” Jeb said. “What’s going to happen to him?”

  “Don’t know, yet. The Major is going to talk with his CO about this.”

  “Alright,” Charlie said. “Good luck with that. I don’t really care what the army thinks at this point. That man is a danger to this group, and if the Army won’t do what’s needed with him, then I will.”

  Frank nodded.

  “Exactly what I wanted to hear,” he said. “I’d better get back down there. You guys need anything?”

  “I’m good,” Jeb said. Charlie nodded in agreement.

  “Talk to you soon,” Frank said as he left. He got back to the clubhouse just as the Major was walking in. The two walked up to the group, who were gathered at one of the tables.

  “The CO was a little surprised, to say the least,” Major Hobbs said. “Simmons had pretty air-tight credentials.”

  “So what now?” asked Earl.

  “The CO has some old friends in the agency, so he’s going to ask around and see if he can find anybody who’s heard of this character,” the Major said. “I’m supposed to get back with him in about twenty minutes. Meanwhile, he stays on ice.”

  “Begging your pardon, Major,” Frank said, “but I really don’t care what the Army or the CIA says about this guy. We aren’t letting him go free.”

  “No worries, neither am I,” the Major said. “We may have to take him into custody at the base, but I expect him to be shot there. We aren’t fooling around with enemy spies at this point.”

  “I don’t want him taken to headquarters by people we don’t know and trust,” Frank said. “This guy is slippery, and we can’t trust a lot of people in the military at this point. He’ll get away if we aren’t really careful.”

  “I want to know why he risked trying to arrest Earl and Jackson here,” Major Hobbs said. “Is there some history that I don’t know about?”

  “Remember Hank and Lewis and Ken?” asked Jackson.

  “Yes, of course,” the Major said.

  “Earl and I were getting ready to leave the Williams Militia and join this group,” Jackson said. “Hank and Lewis caught us before we left, and forced us to agree to be spies.”

  “I see,” the Major said, looking concerned. “And did you ever act in that capacity?”

  “No,” Jackson said. “We probably would have just disappeared instead of staying with this group, but then the air attacks happened, and there was the incident where Hank and Ken got killed. We decided it was better to stay with this group. We are with them 100%, and we will fight the Williams Militia with them.”

  “They already have fought with us against the Williams Militia, Major,” Frank said. “I trust these guys. They’re with us .”

  “I see,” the Major said.

  “I still don’t understand why Officer Simmons decided to attempt an arrest,” Frank said. “He had to know that we wouldn’t allow it.”

  “He probably thought his cover was strong enough to keep me on his side,” Major Hobbs said. “I fought with you guys, side by side. Earl saved our bacon more than once today, so there’s no way I’m buying what Officer Simmons was up to. Besides, the things he was interested in while we were up in the front made me question why he was here. That’s why I called Frank. He hardly even looked at those bodies, but he was real interested in the defenses of this park.”

  “He was here to case the joint, and if he got lucky enough, to settle scores with Frank, Jackson, and me,” Earl said.

  “Yeah, I’d have to agree with that,” the Major said.

  “How are we going to handle him?” asked Jane. “I don’t want this guy getting away.”

  “Is there a jail in town, Sheriff?” the Major asked.

  “Yes, there is, but it isn’t the best, and my department is really small. I’ve got two deputies there keeping track of the town, but if some militia fighters were to storm the place, they’d spring him in a second.”

  “I was afraid of that,” the Major said.

  “How far away is the base?” Frank asked.

  “About two hours,” the Major said.

  “Why don’t you see if the CO will send a chopper?” asked Earl.

  “Good idea,” the Major said. “In order to trust that, though, I’ll have to be sure that the CO understands who this guy is. If he’s still thinking that he might be in the agency, even as a double agent, he’ll turn him loose.”

  “We can’t have that,” Frank said.

  “Yes, I know,” the Major said. “I’m going to go call the CO again and see if he’s found anything out yet.” He got up and left the clubhouse.

  “I’ve got a really bad feeling about this,” Jackson said.

  “Yeah, me too,” Jane said. She came over next to Frank and put her arm around his shoulder.

  Jasmine walked over.

  “Where’s Jerry?” she asked.

  “He’s up in the blind,” Frank said. “I need to get him back down here pretty soon, though. And I need Charlie too. We need to get that surveillance system up and running.”

  “We need some good men to be watching for attacks while our best are busy with that,” Jane said. “Wonder if there’s any chance that the army folks will stick around until you’re done?”

  “Worth asking about,” Frank said. “This place is a magnet for the bad guys in the area. If I were in charge of the army I’d leave people here.”

  “There may be quite a few other small groups of people going through the same thing we are,” the Sheriff said. “I’m surprised they aren’t attacking the town instead of this RV Park.”

  “We had a good discussion about that earlier,” Frank said. “We have a growing number of their weapons and ammo, and they’re having problems with re-supply. They know we have their stuff. We are also an easier target.”

  “Yes, that’s true. We have a lot of rednecks in town, spread out all around in houses. A lot of them are cinder block. It would take a pretty overwhelming force to take that town. They’d need heavier weapons than we’ve seen them with so far.”

  “Oh, I don’t know,” Jackson said. “That M-1 Tank was in their arsenal, and they had mortars too. I think this RV Park might have been their stop on the way in to town. Their plan may have been to pick up the supplies, kill everybody here, and then go take the town.”

  The Sheriff got a worried look on his face.

  “You know, you’re probably right,” he said. “Wonder if they have more heavy weapons? If they do, they’ll try it again.”

  “Maybe the Major can tell us how much stuff they took when they knocked over the bases in New Mexico,” Earl said.

  The major came back into the clubhouse. He had a smile on his face.

  “Good news,” he said. “The CO got conformation that Officer Simmons is not part of the CIA. H
e’s a spy, and the agency’s been trying to find him for a while now. We have a chopper arriving in any minute to pick him up. There was one in the area doing reconnaissance.”

  “Excellent,” Frank said. “Any chance you guys can stick around here long enough for us to get the security system set up?”

  “Yes, I already cleared that,” he said. “We’ll be around for at least a week. This is where the action is right now. We will try to hide where we are, though. We’ll need someplace to stash our vehicles so they can’t be seen from the roads or from the air.”

  “I thought we had air superiority?” Earl asked.

  “We do, but they’ve been flying small drones, according to the CO. He said to shotgun them if we see any. They aren’t very sophisticated and they can’t fly very high. Basically hobby stuff, but they have cameras and they’ve given us some trouble in other areas.”

  “Wonder if we’ve already had them over us?” asked Frank.

  “You’d hear them,” the Major said. “They’re pretty loud. They sound like a model airplane.”

  Suddenly the thumping of helicopter blades was approaching.

  “Here it comes,” the Major said. “Sheriff, let’s get ready to transfer the prisoner.”

  “Right,” the Sheriff said. They both went out the door. The rest of the group followed, and got outside just in time to see the chopper put down in the parking lot. Several of the privates ran over and pulled the door open.

  The Sheriff opened the door of his car and pulled Officer Simmons out, as the Major held his pistol on him. Jeb and Charlie had their rifles pointed at him from the roof as they hurried him over to the chopper. The privates held the door open as the Sheriff got in and pulled Simmons up. There was an airman inside waiting. He put ankle and wrist bracelets onto Simmons, and then the Sheriff removed the handcuffs and hooked them back onto his belt. He climbed out of the chopper, and the privates shut the door. They all backed off, and the chopper took off and headed southwest.

  “Sheriff, could you take me into town to pick up Lieutenant James?”

  “Certainly, Major,” he said. They walked back to the clubhouse.

  “Alright, folks, you saw him leave. Could you help us figure out a way to stash the Humvees?”

  “Sure thing, Major,” Frank said. “I’ll go talk to Charlie. There’s a big building behind the workshop that I haven’t been in. It looks like a barn. Maybe we could put your vehicles in there.”