Bug Out! Texas Book 7: Flood of Patriots Read online

  “The Airforce brass was very upset with what happened in Galveston,” Ramsey said. “We heard that from Wallis.”

  “What’s to stop the infiltrators from taking out the brass?” Dirk asked. “We can’t tell them about those RFID chips, can we?”

  “No,” Nelson said. “Not yet.”

  “Why not?” Brushy asked.

  “General Hogan asked that we not say anything,” Nelson said.

  “We don’t have to listen, though, do we?” Dirk asked.

  “Yeah, we do need to listen,” Nelson said, sounding angry. “General Hogan is providing us with satellite imagery. You folks would be dead if not for that. We need to keep a cool head and trust Hogan for now.”

  “I agree,” Jason said. “I know it’s frustrating.”

  “Jason’s right,” Curt said. “We don’t want to tip off the enemy on those RFID chips. We’ll have a window of time to use the chips against them. It might be the only way we can weed the bad guys out of their hiding places.”

  “Exactly,” Junior said. “The RFID project is more important than we are, folks. Those are the cold, hard facts.”

  Everybody was silent for a moment.

  “Okay, so now what?” Eric asked. “We proceed with our mission, right?”

  “That’s what I would suggest,” Nelson said. “We have a good chance to do real damage to the enemy, and keep in mind that our success could save the very group we’re talking about. The enemy is racing supplies and men up that corridor through New Mexico, and it’s going to Colorado, which is exactly where Hogan’s group is right now. We’re working together with Hogan’s group. Remember that.”

  “I get it,” Jason said. “We’ll continue on. You’ll let us know if you find out where those other bombers are, correct?”

  “We will,” Nelson said. “I promise you that.”

  “Okay,” Jason said. “Folks, we need to do some fence mending and get ready to receive the additional forces. I suggest we concentrate on that which we can do, and not spend time worrying about everything else. We need focus.”

  “Spoken like a general,” Gallagher said. “Let’s leave them to it, Governor. They know what to do.”

  “Agreed,” Nelson said. “Talk to you soon.”

  “Thanks,” Jason said. The call ended.

  “Shit,” Dirk said. “We’re certainly not masters of our own destiny at this point.”

  “On the contrary,” Eric said. “We’ve got control over what we can do to the enemy, and as Nelson just said, it could be a game changer for the larger fight. This is bigger than Texas. We need to get into that mindset. We’re in a unique position to help. I say we focus on doing that.”

  “Here here,” Junior said.

  Chapter 2 – Recycling

  Roberto’s house was under mortar attack. Richardson’s men were trying to help with the guns of the patrol boat, still parked in the front yard.

  “What do we do?” Juan Carlos yelled, debris still falling out of the air from the mortar attack.

  “Fire that big gun in the direction of the bad guys while we go take them out with the M60s,” Richardson said. “Stop firing when we’re out of sight, though, okay?”

  “I’m letting the dogs loose again,” Roberto shouted. He looked down. “Sic ‘em.” The dogs flew off the porch in a full run, barking hysterically.

  Juan Carlos fired several more times in the direction that the mortar round came from; there was another pop and the area twenty yards in front of the house exploded.

  “Holy crap,” Brendan shouted, running forward with Richardson, Hannah following with the SMAW.

  The dogs snarled, and somebody began screaming and shouting in Arabic.

  “Hold your fire with that grenade launcher,” Roberto yelled, running after Richardson, Brendan, and Hannah with his shotgun.

  “The dogs probably nabbed the mortar crew,” Juan Carlos said. “We should’ve been hit again by now.” He started to get out of the boat.

  “Spotter,” Madison whispered. “See him? Tree, sixty yards in front of the house.”

  Juan Carlos grinned and got on the port gun, aiming it and shooting the man, who fell from the tree.

  “Scratch one,” Juan Carlos said. “Good eye.”

  Automatic weapons fire erupted towards the road.

  “M60s,” Lita said, clutching her M-16. “We’d better go to help.”

  “No, stay here,” Juan Carlos said, eyes scanning the area from behind the port gun. “We don’t want anybody getting behind us. Watch the edges. Tell me if you see anybody.”

  The dogs trotted back to the porch, nuzzling Kris.

  “Dammit, you dumb dogs are getting blood all over my dress,” she said.

  Madison snickered. “That’s a good set of dogs you got there.”

  She nodded.

  “Here they come,” Juan Carlos said, pointing. Richardson, Roberto, Brendan, and Hannah walked towards the porch, all of them still breathing hard.

  “Thank God,” Madison said, coming over to them. She hugged Hannah. “You okay?”

  “Yeah,” she said. “That was intense. The enemy was about done when we got there.”

  “We heard machine gun fire,” Kris said.

  “We put them out of their misery,” Brendan said.

  “Think there’s more coming?” Madison asked.

  Richardson sat on the steps of the balcony next to Lita. “There’s no way to tell. We probably should high-tail it out of here. We don’t want to get our friends blown up.”

  Roberto chuckled. “They know where we are. We’d be safer if you stayed. At least we’ve got the guns on the boat.”

  “Sorry to put you in a lousy position,” Lita said, shaking her head.

  “These folks have been doing home invasions, taking our young women,” Kris said. She spat on the ground in front of the porch. “We can’t let that stand. I’m glad we took a bunch of them out.”

  “Perhaps we ought to find out exactly where they’re working from,” Richardson said.

  “I know where they’re working from,” Roberto said. “They took over a recycling center outside of town. Probably killed off the folks who were running it.”

  “You know that for sure?” Kris asked. “You never mentioned it.”

  “Gerald said he saw some strange folks hanging out by the recycling place out on Route 80,” Roberto said.

  “Oh really?” Kris asked, eyes showing anger. “And just when were you going to tell me about this? That’s not far from our house.”

  “I just heard about it a couple hours before these folks arrived,” Roberto said.

  “And you couldn’t have told me during those couple of hours?” Kris asked.

  “Dammit, woman, I was thinking about what to do,” he said. “If I’d have told you, the decision would’ve been forced on me whether I agreed or not.”

  “That’s why you had the shotgun out, then,” she said. “We talked about this when the Diamond’s place got hit. I told you not to hide anything. I told you we’d be leaving if the enemy was too close.”

  “Sorry, I’m not leaving my house,” Roberto said, nostrils flaring. “It’s all I’ve got.”

  “Tell us about this place,” Richardson said. “Might be a good time to hit them. Maybe we can nip our problem in the bud.”

  “Yeah, dude,” Juan Carlos said.

  Roberto looked at Richardson, then at Kris, and sighed. “Look, honey, I’m sorry. I made a call. Maybe it was the wrong one, and then circumstances came along to stop me from going further. Need I remind you that we had these friends arrive? Let’s all get on the porch and have a meeting. I’ll see if I can get Gerald over here. Maybe we should mount an assault. Hell, some of the missing girls might be there.”

  Kris stared at him, her anger fading. “Oh, all right, dammit. C’mon. Don’t keep me in the dark again. You get it?”

  “I get it,” he said. “Sorry. You know I love you.”

  “That has nothing to do with it,” Kris sa
id softly. “Never doubted that. Call Gerald. It’s getting late.”

  Roberto nodded, walking away to make the call.

  “I think I’d better stay on duty up here in the boat,” Juan Carlos said. “Just talk loud so I can hear you.”

  “You got it,” Richardson said. Roberto walked back over. “Gerald will be here in about five minutes. He was getting ready to come over anyway, after all the shooting and explosions. He’s only a half mile away.”

  “What kind of vehicle is he coming in?” Juan Carlos asked. “Don’t want to blast a good guy.”

  “An old International Harvester wagon,” Roberto said.

  “I’m sorry we got you guys into trouble,” Lita said to Kris.

  “Nah, don’t be sorry,” Kris said. “I’m not upset about that, but I need to stay on top of Roberto. He hides things if he thinks they’ll scare me.”

  The sound of a vehicle approached, driving past the broken enemy vehicles on the shoulder of the access road.

  “There’s the Harvester,” Juan Carlos said.

  The ancient vehicle pulled up in front of the house, a gray-haired old man getting out and looking at the boat.

  “That’s one hell of a machine,” he said, walking over. He was in his mid-60s, rail-thin in overalls, sporting a railroad cap. Long gray hair was hanging below it to his shoulders. “I’m Gerald, but my friends call me Gerald.” He laughed.

  “Good to meet you. I’m Juan Carlos. DPS.”

  “Oh, yeah, that’s where I’ve seen one of these,” Gerald said, getting closer. “Article about Falcon Lake. This is a long way from any water.”

  “Get up here, you old coot,” Roberto said. “The clock’s running.”

  “Oh, you finally coming to your senses?” Gerald asked. “All you wanted to do was think about it earlier. Guess having some lead flung at you changed your mind.” He climbed the steps. “Where’s the beer?”

  “Let’s not partake right now,” Roberto said. “After this is over I’ll get shit-faced with you, but right now we got serious business.”

  “Okay,” he said. “My my, pretty ladies. You with them?”

  Lita smiled, putting her arm around Richardson’s waist. “I’m with this one. Name’s Lita. That’s Madison, wife of Juan Carlos, and Hannah, who’s married to Brendan here.”

  “Nice to meet you,” Brendan said.

  “What, you mean you’re all taken?” Gerald asked, doing his best to put on a smooth demeanor. Roberto cracked up, and Kris shook her head.

  “What do you know about the recycling place?” Roberto asked. “Find out any more?”

  “Yeah, I went over there with Jay about an hour ago,” he said. “There were about fifteen men, from what we could see. I think they got some of the missing women there, too.”

  “You see them?” Richardson asked.

  “No, but there was a Toyota Yaris sitting in the parking lot,” he said. “Looked like the one Frenchie’s daughter had. She went missing a couple days ago.”

  “Marissa is missing now too?” Kris asked. “Those assholes.”

  “If women are being held there, we’ve got a complex situation,” Richardson said. “We can’t just blow up the whole area.”

  “Wonder how many of these fifteen guys were killed here?” Brendan asked. “I counted about ten from the action we’ve had since we got here.”

  “That’s the real question,” Richardson said. “Well, that and the accuracy of Gerald’s total. You might have seen fifteen men. There might really be thirty or more.”

  “Can’t argue with that,” Gerald said amicably.

  “Why haven’t the townspeople hit them?” Brendan asked. “We’ve seen armed citizens getting involved all over the place. Should have seen them in San Antonio.”

  “Wait, you guys were one of those boats in the water there, weren’t ya?” Gerald asked. “Hot dog, that was some intense shit.”

  “Let’s stay focused,” Richardson said. “Is there a way to sneak next to the place?”

  “We saw enemy folks watching route 80 and route 12,” Gerald said. “Not sure what they’re doing there exactly.”

  “Is there a way to get in there without going down those two roads?” Brendan asked.

  “There’s a way to get there through Purgatory Creek,” Roberto said.

  “We saw that dry creek behind our campsite,” Lita said. “If we’re planning on using the boat for the assault, we’ll have a problem.”

  “There’s other roads back there,” Roberto said. “I know a couple ways you can haul that boat over.”

  Gerald laughed. “You read my mind, man.”

  “How are they in the dark?” Richardson asked. “We’re gonna lose the daylight pretty soon.”

  “I know that area like the back of my hand,” Gerald said. “We can take off right now if you want.”

  “Wait,” Roberto said. “Let’s talk this through. We might want to bring some friends in, too.”

  “Jay said he’d come,” Gerald said. “Said he could go in there and take out quite a few of the bad guys with his bow and arrow.”

  “How are you guys set for weapons?” Roberto asked.

  “We stocked up in San Antonio,” Richardson said. “We’re in good shape. Plenty of ammo in the boat, too.”

  “Yeah, we’ve got plenty left,” Brendan said. “We need to sneak a few people in first, though, if we’re gonna mount a rescue.”

  “This is gonna be dangerous,” Lita said. “I’m going too. I can shoot now.”

  “Yeah, count me in as well,” Hannah said.

  “What about me?” Madison asked. “No way are you guys leaving me here.”

  “We’re getting ahead of ourselves,” Richardson said. “Gerald and Roberto, call whatever friends you think are up for the job, and let’s start mapping out a strategy. Can somebody draw us a picture of the recycling center?”

  “Yeah, I can do that,” Gerald said. “I’ll call Jay first.”

  “I’ll call a couple other guys I know,” Roberto said. “We can have everybody over here in a half an hour.”

  “We taking those dogs?” Madison asked.

  “I’ve got to leave them home to watch out for Kris,” Roberto said.

  “No you don’t,” Kris said. “I’m not staying here by myself. I’m going. I can shoot.”

  Chapter 3 – Visitor

  Kip Hendrix looked at Maria, then back at the console monitor. Maria’s sister Celia had escaped from the mental institution, and was at the gate.

  “Well, I guess we have to let her in,” Hendrix said.

  “No way,” Maria said. “We can’t have her anywhere near our systems. She’s got some real unsavory friends. She’ll manage to get them here somehow.”

  “C’mon, guys, what do you want me to do?” the guard asked.

  “You’ve got a vehicle with a holding area, right?” Hendrix asked.

  “Yeah, the back seat is set up like a normal police cruiser,” the guard said. “We could take her into custody, but we can’t hold her for long.”

  “She escaped from a mental institution,” Hendrix said. “We need them to come pick her up. Take her into custody.”

  “We can do that, Mr. Hendrix,” the guard said.

  “Okay, thanks. I’ll have Maria make the call. Fair enough?”

  “Yeah,” the officer said. “I’ll have to pull two guards to help me. She’s aggressive and pretty damn strong.”

  “Go ahead, but don’t get hurt,” Hendrix said. “Let me know when you’ve got her locked up.”

  “Maybe they can pull the car near the entrance so I can chat with her,” Maria said.

  “You sure that’s a good idea?” Hendrix asked.

  “Yeah,” Maria said. “Don’t worry, I’ll be fine.”

  “Okay, you heard the lady,” Hendrix said to the officer. “Get her locked up in back and then drive the vehicle to the elevator entrance.”

  “Roger that,” the officer said. He got off the line.

  “
Dammit,” Maria said. “She’s tricky. I figured she’d find the place eventually. Never dreamed it would be this fast.”

  “Why does she want to be with you anyway?” Hendrix asked. “Why didn’t she just disappear and find these friends of hers?”

  “I always looked after her when we were kids,” Maria said. “We didn’t have much of a mother. She was much more interested in her boyfriends than us. Half of the bastards were more interested in us than they were in mom, too. Celia enjoyed that. Me, not so much.”

  “Sorry,” Hendrix said.

  “I turned out okay,” Maria said. “Don’t worry. This will pass. If the doctors can get Celia back on a good set of medications, she’ll settle down. I’ll bet they were close to getting her stable before she escaped. It’s happened before, the last gasp of craziness.”

  “So she’s been helped by the meds before?”

  “At times,” Maria said. She looked down for a moment. “I really shouldn’t say that. She’s okay for a while, and then she slips into problems. It’s happened repeatedly. She might end up being in an institution permanently, or she might succeed in one of her suicide attempts. Not a bright future.”

  The console monitor buzzed. Maria clicked on it. “You got her?”

  “Oh, yeah, we got her,” the officer said, trying to catch his breath. “For a small woman she puts up quite a fight. You sure you want to talk to her? She’s madder than a wet hen.”

  “I can get in the front seat to talk to her, right? She can’t break out?”

  “She can’t break out, I guarantee you that,” the officer said. “We frisked her. She had a knife.”

  “Wonderful,” Hendrix said. “We could have these guys drive her back to the facility, you know. She probably doesn’t know for sure that we’re in here.”

  “You might be right about that, sir,” the officer said. “I didn’t tell her you were here.”

  “No, I want to talk with her,” Maria said. “I can usually calm her down. Worth a try.”

  “Okay,” Hendrix said. “Bring her back, officer.”

  “No problem,” he said, ending the call.

  The two waited in the console room.

  “Maybe I should go out there with you,” Hendrix said.

  “No,” Maria said. “I don’t want her to see you. She’ll focus on you, and we don’t want that. Trust me.”