Freeways and Dirt Roads Read online

  “Whoa, that woman can fight,” Angel said. He opened the door. A couple more shots hit the door frame and the wall, and then Seth fired, killing three men who were coming in from the left. Megan burst out, her AK-47 blazing.

  “Hope the Jeeps aren’t ruined,” she said, stopping behind theirs, trying to look it over. Seth was already inside his Jeep as Kaitlyn covered him. He started it up and rolled forward.

  “Good, theirs is okay,” Megan said. “Get in and start this puppy. We need to leave now.”

  Angel nodded and jumped in, starting the engine and backing out.

  “You get the ammo?” she asked.

  “Yeah, I got it. Let’s go out the back. Throw her in four-wheel drive. That courtyard is a good place for an ambush, and I don’t trust the street either.”

  “Yeah,” Megan said. “That’s what Seth is doing.” She got in and they took off towards the rear of the lot, guns out the windows. They went over the back curb and raced down the dirt road, which curved around the hillside quickly, picking up speed as they headed for the nearest of the canyons bordering the town.

  “How the hell did they find us?” Angel asked. Megan had her eyes peeled outside, looking for vehicles on their tail.

  “I don’t know,” she said. “This sucks.”

  “Maybe it’s our cellphones,” Angel said.

  “Look, Seth and Kaitlyn are stopping ahead.”

  Angel pulled up next to them. They got out with their guns.

  “Stay low, between the Jeeps,” Seth said. “For all we know they might have snipers around.”

  “Why didn’t they destroy our vehicles?” Kaitlyn asked.

  “Probably figured the noise would tip us off,” Seth said. “How the hell did they find us so quick?”

  “It’s probably simpler than we think,” Kaitlyn said. “There’s not that many places to check, and they knew what kind of vehicles we had. They might even have pictures of them from the earlier battles.”

  “Shit, you’re right,” Seth said. “They could take a map and look at how far we could’ve gone. Draw a circle, then check out every town within it. If they figured out we skipped I-8, that helps them a lot.”

  “You might be right about that,” Megan said, looking at her phone. “There’s not that many towns that have motels.”

  “How many motels does Jamul have?” Seth asked.

  “Three,” Angel said.

  “Dammit,” Seth said. “They might have seen us from that ridge last night too, you know. That would cut their search area way the hell down, if they took the time to see where our dirt road dumped off.”

  “Shit,” Kaitlyn said. “Forgot about that.”

  “Son of a bitch,” Megan said. “If they figured out what road we were going on, there’s only one town to check - Jamul. That means they had to check three parking lots to find us.”

  “How could we have been so stupid?” Seth asked.

  “We were tired and scared,” Kaitlyn said. “We would’ve been better off going to El Cajon. At least there are a lot more motels there.”

  “What do we do now?” asked Megan. “One of those slugs might have gotten a call out before we killed them.”

  “I know, I’m thinking the same thing,” Angel said. “Let’s look at the map again.”

  “Wait,” Seth said. “We should risk a call to Trevor.”

  “What if they’re tracking our phones?”

  “They are,” Kaitlyn said. “They were watching I-8. That’s why we saw them on the ridge looking for us.”

  “We need to find a land line someplace,” Angel said.

  “That’s gonna be tough.” Megan said.

  “We can’t send them a text?” Kaitlyn asked. “Not even one?”

  “Not sure how that would help us,” Seth said. “It’s not like they can state their location.”

  “Dammit,” Megan said. “Maybe it’s time to just go into San Diego and disappear.”

  “If they even let us in,” Angel said.

  Seth’s phone dinged. He pulled it out of his pocket. “Trevor,” he whispered. “Text. This is weird.”

  “What does it say?”

  “It says Samstown remember TV show on channel 6.”

  “What the hell?” Angel said.

  “Think,” Kaitlyn said. “It’s a message. You know it is.”

  “Sam’s Town – that was a casino at Laughlin,” Angel said.

  “Maybe he’s talking about Sam,” Kaitlyn said.

  Megan laughed. “Where did Sam live?”

  “Crap, that’s got to be it,” Seth said. “Dulzura.”

  Megan looked at her phone. “That’s right down Highway 94 from here.”

  “Can we get to that road without going back into Jamul?” Angel asked.

  “Yeah,” Megan said. “See?” She showed her phone to the others.

  “That’s only part of the puzzle,” Seth said. “Show on channel 6. That’s a San Diego station.”

  “Dude, you still got Ji-Ho’s walkie-talkie?” Angel asked.

  Seth smiled. “It was in the glove box, but remember that I didn’t drive this the whole time. Somebody might have grabbed it.”

  “Let’s check,” Kaitlyn said, opening the door. “Yep, it’s here.” She turned it on. “Looks like there’s still battery, too.”

  “Perfect,” Seth said. “Let’s get going before our friends find us again.”

  “We’ll be lucky if we don’t run into them on Highway 94,” Megan said. “I think we need somebody in the back of these Jeeps with guns again.”

  “Worked last time,” Kaitlyn said. “Let’s get out of here. You mind driving, Seth?”

  “Not at all.”

  They got into their Jeeps and took off, moving south-east towards the highway.

  { 3 }

  Producer

  J ules walked back into the house after the others left the meeting. He pulled out his phone and hit Ivan’s contact. When it clicked, he punched the speaker button, then put it on the bar in the living room, freeing his hands to mix a drink.

  “Finally,” Ivan said. “How’s it going? You settled in for the night?”

  “Yes, Ivan. I drink your friend’s booze. How’s it going up there?”

  “We’ve got everything in place. We’ll knock the UN out of power even quicker up here.”

  Jules took a sip of his drink. “Which first? Frisco or Sacramento?”

  “We’re hitting Frisco first,” Ivan said, “I’ve got a lot of recruits up here already. You guys will be PR at first. That’ll be as important as the number of UN thugs you actually kill.”

  “PR? What is PR?”

  Ivan laughed. “We need you guys to make a big show. We’ll have as many people with video cameras there as you have in the attack force. I’ll break into the TV stations again and make a big deal.”

  Jules chuckled. “That good, boss. Rally citizens.”

  “How’s the team dynamics?”

  “You never ask before? Worry about? What different this time?”

  “You’ve got a bunch of damaged women with you,” Ivan said.

  “Some already fought,” Jules said. “We had management meeting. Rate team. Better than I expect. These women tough as nails, boss.”

  “Glad to hear it, but remember that your objective is the job, not protecting your new girlfriends. Think you can handle that, Jules?”

  “I do okay before, no?”

  “I understand that, but now there’s all these women, and I saw pictures. At least the UN thugs have good taste.”

  “They be fine,” Jules said. “Trust me.”

  “When we get to a good break up here, I want you guys to help Ji-Ho,” Ivan said.

  “I do what I can,” Jules said. “We go down south first?”

  “No, we have to plant the seeds up here, in both cities,” Ivan said. “It’ll snowball. Then you’ll go down there.”

  “You got plan already, boss. I hear in voice.”

  Ivan laughed. “You know me too well, old friend. Yes. We have six more battle wagons almost completed. We need to get them to Ji-Ho’s team. They’ll finish cleanup in the Inland Empire and San Diego County, outside of the main city.”

  “Feds still control San Diego?” Jules asked.

  “Not anymore,” Ivan said. “Top secret. Don’t tell the team yet. Understand?”

  “Why?”

  “The Feds don’t know they don’t control the Navy anymore,” Ivan said.

  “So, who control?”

  “At this point, they control themselves,” Ivan said. “They work with General Hogan part of the time. Same with the US Air Force, but the enemy has infiltrated there more than the Navy. There have been some regrettable incidents. The Air Force leadership is trying to lock it down. It’ll take some time. Hard to tell who’s good and who’s bad.”

  “I don’t see help from either of those forces,” Jules said.

  “They’re keeping outsiders from joining the war,” Ivan said. “There’s much more danger of that than you know. The UN has been pressuring the EU countries to help the Feds in the areas with martial law. They don’t have enough UN Peacekeepers to handle the job.”

  “Like Cali,” Jules said. “We kill lot of UN punks.”

  “Yes, like here, and also Washington state, and all the eastern seaboard between Maine and North Carolina. The citizens are fighting back almost everywhere now.”

  “Air Force threaten enemy?”

  “Air Force, Navy, and our main Allies,” Ivan said.

  “Who main allies?”

  “Britain, Japan, Russia, South Korea, and Israel. A handful of Eastern European countries.”

  “Let guess,” Jules said. “Countries that reject globalist tyrants.”

  “Pretty much,” Iv
an said. “We’re lucky Britain got out of the EU when they did.”

  “They still have warrant for our arrest?” Jules asked.

  Ivan chuckled. “In the open, yes, but I’ve been dealing with them through back channels for a while now. Where do you think I got the mini-guns?”

  Jules chuckled. “The limeys give? No way.”

  “Ji-Ho got his through Asia, but the UN figured it out and clamped down on the arms dealer he was working with. The final straw was that stupid drone. The CIA found out.”

  “Well, at least he almost get Saladin with it. Wound him, no?”

  “He’s recovered, and now he’s acting like a wounded animal,” Ivan said. “The only good thing to come out of that was his manic reaction. Saladin spent too much time and resources chasing down Ji-Ho. Made our job in LA County easier.”

  “Where Saladin now?”

  “He’s building a big base in Utah,” Ivan said. “His team thinks nobody knows.”

  “They’re stupid, no?”

  “Saladin’s not stupid,” Ivan said. “The people who surround him aren’t that bright, though.”

  “What about EU? I hear grip of globalists falling apart.”

  “Where’d you hear that?” Ivan asked.

  “Sister in Belgium,” Jules said. “She say ministers worried. France run another nationalist. Better chance to win than before.”

  “They had the last one killed,” Ivan said. “Those globalist creeps are capable of anything. They might pull that off again.”

  “They might, boss. Wish we could help. German leadership on ropes too, no?”

  “Same situation,” Ivan said.

  “Jules?” a woman’s voice asked from the entry way.

  “Who’s that?” Ivan asked.

  “Shelly,” Jules said. “Woman on team. Good one.”

  “Oh, I see,” Ivan said. “We’re done. I’ll talk to you later. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

  Jules chuckled. “Talk later, boss.”

  “Jules?”

  “I here, Shelly. In living room, at bar. Want drink?”

  He heard her footsteps, slowly moving into the room. Shelly poked her head into the archway, her short, shiny blond hair swaying. “Oh, there you are.” She smiled and walked over. “What’re you drinking?”

  “Gin and tonic,” Jules said. “You want? Tonic a little flat, but okay.”

  “Sure, what the hell,” she said, sitting on a barstool. Jules mixed the drink and handed it to her, pausing for a moment to watch her pretty face. She noticed, turning red.

  “What you do? Are others settled in?”

  She took another sip of the drink. “This is good.”

  “Something wrong?”

  “I think Dana wanted me to make myself scarce,” she said.

  Jules chuckled. “She make time with Sparky, no?”

  “She’s trying,” Shelly said. “Made me feel a little uncomfortable. I told them to take the bedroom. Hope you don’t mind.”

  “Fine,” he said. “I might stay here tonight. You join?”

  “I’m not sure that’s such a good idea,” she said.

  “We drink, then decide, no?”

  She giggled. “I’m sure that seems like a good idea to you. What were you doing in here, anyway? Everybody else is in their coaches already.”

  “I talk with Ivan,” he said.

  “Oh, did I interrupt something important?”

  “No, it fine,” Jules said. “We done anyway.”

  “Anything wrong? Are we safe here?”

  “Safe?” Jules asked, smiling. “World too crazy. There no safe anymore. Not yet.”

  “That sounds a little more pessimistic than you let on in the meeting.” She gulped down the rest of her drink.

  Jules snickered. “Meeting for rally troops. This just you and me. Another drink? I have one.”

  “Sure, why not,” she said. “I’ll probably regret it, but what the hell. We might be dead in a couple of days.”

  “You not be dead,” Jules said. “I make sure of that.”

  “What, you’re going to protect me?”

  “You valuable,” Jules said. “I see.”

  “What do you see? You don’t know me.”

  “You like to organize. I see in warehouse. What job, before?” He slid a fresh drink to her, then mixed another for himself.

  “You don’t care about that,” she said.

  “Come on,” Jules said. He took a sip of his drink, eyes on her.

  She giggled. “That’s so European.”

  “What?”

  “You take a sip but your eyes are still glued to the person you’re talking to.”

  “Oh, that,” Jules said. “Maybe I like what I see. Where worked?”

  She sighed. “You see, this is the problem. I know I’ve got a look that men like. We can tell when you’re looking at us that way, you know.”

  “You missed last part of question. Where worked before?”

  She was about to shoot an answer back at him, but stopped herself, thinking for a moment. “Why do you care?”

  “I see management and organizational skill. Trust me, I good judge. Run business as manager. Know types, and how to use in organization.”

  “Okay, I’ll bite,” she said, downing her drink. She set the glass on the bar and slid it over to him, smiling demurely. “I was a producer for a fashion magazine. I arranged things, and got teams together. For shoots, mostly. They gave me some video production stuff to run right before everything went crazy. I was hoping I’d make it into TV eventually.”

  Jules smiled. “Exactly what I expect. You do producing job for us.” He mixed her another drink and slid it towards her.

  “Thank you,” she said. “What I was doing is nothing like what this world is throwing at us.”

  “You wrong about that,” Jules said. He tossed back his drink and mixed himself another. “You gather resources and decide how to use. That skill translates everywhere. You manage one thing well, you can manage others. Trust me. I see.”

  She took a big sip of her drink. “You’re just trying to butter me up so you can get into my pants.”

  “No,” Jules said. “Not that I don’t want. We have small team. You only person other than me and Ted that has demonstrated skills.”

  She giggled. “So what, I get the job if I put out?”

  “No,” Jules said. “You get job no matter what. If we get together some day, all the better, but not requirement. We need to win and stay alive. You understand that, no?”

  She looked at him, not sure what to say, then pushed her glass away. “Maybe I’ve had enough.”

  Jules downed the rest of his. “I have enough. Can still fight after three. More, no.”

  “You expect to fight?” she asked.

  “Wartime. Never know. We talk tomorrow about job. If you want.”

  She eyed him cautiously. “I’m not sure I can trust you.”

  “You can trust,” he said. “Not Hollywood trust. Real trust.”

  Shelly snickered. “Oh, please.”

  “I mean what say, but you learn on own. You want to take bedroom here? Inside house?”

  “I’m not sleeping with you,” she said.

  “And I’m not sleeping with you either. Many bedrooms. Pick. All upstairs.”

  She eyed him again. “How do I know you won’t sneak in later?”

  He laughed. “Hey, you don’t trust, go back to rig and sleep with Dana and Sparky.”

  She thought about it for a moment, her mind starting to cloud as the gin hit her system.

  “You okay?” Jules asked.

  “Maybe I drank too fast,” she said, getting off the barstool. She felt dizzy and had to grab the bar to keep from falling over.

  “Okay, let’s sit on couch for while,” Jules said. “Talk more. I grab snacks from fridge. Sober up.”

  “Now I feel like an idiot,” she said, watching as he came around the bar to her, taking her by the arm, helping her to the couch. “I make toast to soak up some. Jam?”

  “Just butter would be fine,” she said, leaning back, looking up at the ceiling. “I actually feel kinda good.”

  “Don’t look up for too long. Get spins.”

  “Oh, shoot, you’re right,” she said.

  Jules went to the kitchen, shaking his head. He found the bread and the toaster. The butter was buried in the fridge, but he found it just in time for the toast. He rushed back out with two pieces on a plate.