Bug Out! Part 10: RV Race to Battle (10 page)

“Yeah,” General Hogan said. “To make matters worse, we don’t know if the satellite access or the take-down in DC tipped them off. I hope it was the tipoff in DC.”

“Might have been both,” Frank said.

“What if they do this again?” General Hogan asked.

“No worries,” Frank said, smiling. “My program learns. I told you how long it took to re-acquire the icons the first time they tried this. This time was five minutes. Next time will be about thirty seconds. It will get down below a second after that.”

“You sure about that?” the General asked.

“Yeah,” Frank said. “The only way they can really escape us is to remove the chips, like we were talking about earlier. They don’t have a quick, practical way to hide themselves.”

“Good,” General Hogan said. “So now I get to worry about tactical stuff. We’re going into action soon. If you see me pacing around, don’t worry about it.”

“Hey, look,” Charlie said, pointing to the laptop that was showing the National Park camera system. “They’re driving the tank out the front gate.”

Frank clicked onto the satellite view. “Yep, I see it. Wonder if they think they’ll be able to bust through the roadblock with that thing.”

“I’d say that’s likely,” General Hogan said. “Look what’s happening now. The semi-truck is moving. It’s going to try to follow that tank right through the roadblock.”

“How fast can that tank go?” Charlie asked.

“Depends on if it’s damaged or not,” General Hogan said. “Most of the M-1 Battle tanks captured by the enemy were from a repair depot. They had various problems.”

“Yeah, the one we had at Hilda’s park had a messed up track.”

“I remember General Walker talking about that,” General Hogan said.

“What if it isn’t damaged?”

“Published top speed is 45, but if it’s one of the later models, it could go as fast as 60.”

“Wow,” Charlie said. “Really? Should we warn the roadblock?”

“No, we should order one of the fighters nearby to take them both out,” General Hogan said. “I’ll go do that now, but it will make it obvious that we’re watching.”

“I don’t think we have a choice,” Frank said.

General Hogan walked away and made the call.

“You think it’s time to get the meeting software loaded?” Charlie asked. “Things are gonna get hot quickly.”

“Yeah,” Frank said. “I’ll bring up the web meeting. You call the guys, okay?”

“On it.”

“We can help too, you know,” Jane said.

“Yeah,” Jasmine said.

“Okay, you two call George’s Jeep and Malcolm’s Jeep,” Charlie said. “I’ll call Jeb. We’ll have General Hogan call the Humvee.”

“Alright,” Jasmine said.

General Hogan walked back. “The fighter is about five minutes away.”

“Good,” Frank said. “We’re setting up that web meeting now. Want to call the Humvee?”

“Of course. I guess it’s time,” he said.

“Okay, the meeting is up and running,” Frank said. “Everybody can get on now. Watch the chatter though. I’m going back to the satellite view.”

***

Jeb was slowing down. “Something’s going on,” he said. “The Humvee just stopped.” Then his phone rang. He answered it.

“Jeb?”

“Yeah, hey, Charlie. What’s up?”

“Things are coming to a head real quick. We just started the web meeting. You guys need to get on.”

“What’s happening?”

“The tank has just left the park, and that semi-truck is following it. We think they will try to rush the roadblock.”

“Stupid idea. They won’t get far.”

“General Hogan just called in an air strike, and that’ll blow things wide open. Be ready and get on the meeting.”

“Got it, thanks.” He slipped his phone back in his pocket and grabbed his blue tooth headphone. “Okay, everybody, time to get on that web meeting. You guys know the codes, right?”

“What else?” the Sheriff asked.

“That tank took off out the front gate, and the semi-truck is following it. General Hogan just called in an air strike to take them out. It’s gonna get crazy in a few minutes.”

There was a loud rumble, and the sound of explosions. A ‘yahoo’ came from the Humvee.

Jeb got on the meeting. “Jeb here. Who’s on?” He heard dings as each person came on line.

“Frank here.”

“Kurt.”

“Private Jennings.”

“Charlie.”

“Jasmine.”

“Jane.”

“Private Brown.”

“George.”

“Malcolm.”

“Jerry.”

“Earl.”

The names continued. Everybody was on.

“What now?” Jeb asked.

“Well, first some good news, everybody,” Frank said. “That tank is toast, and so is the semi-truck. That means the nuke is ruined.”

“Good,” Jerry said. “Any change to our plans?”

“Watch out for yourselves, and stay on the target,” General Hogan said. “Use your apps. We may see enemy forces fleeing the area in a hurry.”

“Not seeing that yet,” Jerry said. “They are moving around though. Looks like somebody tossed water on an ant hill.”

“Okay, let’s get back on the road,” Private Brown said. “Anybody going to have problems driving with their lights off?”

“Not here,” Jeb said.

“Me neither,” George said.

“I’m doing okay,” Malcolm said.

“Okay, let’s move out,” Private Brown said.

The vehicles started moving again, slower now.

***

Back at the clubhouse, General Hogan got a phone call on his secure line. He got a grim look on his face, and then rushed over to Frank and Charlie.

“We got trouble,” he said.

“What’s the matter?” Charlie asked.

“The air force said they just saw several helicopter gunships heading this way, flying low.”

“As in
towards us
?” Jane asked.

“Yeah,” General Hogan said. “They scrambled some fighters, but the choppers will get here before they arrive. We need to move into the basement.”

“What can they do?”

“Hit us with mini-guns, maybe small missiles. How strong is that bunker down there?”

“It’s real strong,” Charlie said, getting up. “Concrete.” He smiled. “Jake just ran a monitor town there, and we have the Wi-Fi there too. Frank, could we move the modem down there?”

“Hell yeah,” Frank said. “How many people are outside?”

“Trish, Gabe, Jake, and Dobie,” Hilda said. “We’ll have to help Rosie down, of course.”

“Okay, everybody, let’s get on this now,” General Hogan said.

Everybody moved, picking up equipment and carry it down stairs.

“I’m going to have to unplug this PC,” Frank said. “So I’ll go dark for a moment.” He put his headset on.

“Everybody, listen up. We’ve just been informed that enemy choppers are on the way here to attack us. We’re going into the bunker. Everything will stay up except for the PC, which means the meeting is going to go down for a few minutes. I’ll fire it up on my laptop before I go down, so you’ll reconnect in about a minute.”

“Got you, Frank,” Jeb said. “Make sure somebody is looking after my Rosie.”

“We will, don’t worry,” Charlie said. “We’re well shielded down there.”

“What if they take out the internet?” the Sheriff asked.

“Then you guys will be on your own, so keep your fingers crossed,” General Hogan said. “You’re well staged, and you have your apps, so if you lose us, all you’ll really be losing is the web meeting.”

“Hey, I just had an idea,” Frank said. “I’ll start the meeting on a machine at work. I have access. That way, even if they knock out our internet, you’ll still be able to talk with each other. I’ll do that now while everybody else is moving stuff downstairs.”

“Don’t wait too long to get your ass downstairs, Frank,” Jerry said.

“I won’t.”

He got to work on the meeting and sent a quick e-mail to Rami just in case.

People streamed into the clubhouse, heading quickly into the basement with whatever they could carry.

“Damn, I’m glad we got things set up down there earlier,” Jake said.

“Seriously,” Frank said. “You might have saved us all, Jake.”

Charlie and Gabe helped Rosie down the stairs. Soon everybody but Frank was down there. He was still doing setup on his laptop.

“Frank, get down here!” Jane yelled.

“In a second,” he said. “There, the meeting is running on a company server!” He unplugged his laptop and stood up with it, heading for the steps. Then he heard it. The low, choppy rumble of helicopters approaching. Suddenly there was a large explosion.

“There goes the General’s Chinook,” Frank yelled, running for the trap door, now.

“Frank!” Jane yelled.

“I’m here,” he said, flying down the steps as fast as his feet would carry him. As he was pulling the heavy trap door down, he heard the .50 cal bullets ripping through the roof of the clubhouse, hitting the concrete floor and sending chips everywhere.

“Holy shit,” Charlie said.

“Anybody close that other trap door?” he asked.

“Yeah, it’s closed,” Gabe said. “Good thing we got a lot of tools down here. It’ll be rough if somebody blocks up both doors.”

“What tools do we have?”

“Chainsaws, saws-alls, and a lot of other stuff. Remember that workshop?”

“They’re strafing us pretty good,” Dobie said. His dogs were gathered around him, looking up at the ceiling as the small impacts picked up. Jane had a crouching Mr. Wonderful in his carrier. Lucy saw Frank and ran over to him as he got his laptop plugged in. He put on his blue tooth headset.

“Everybody still on the meeting?” he asked.

“I’m on,” Jeb said.

“Me too,” Malcolm said. “I think we’re good. We’re almost to the kickoff spot.”

“You guys hear that?” Jake said. “Sounds like one of those choppers set down.

“I see it,” Gabe said. “Look, your cameras are still up.”

Several of the men gathered around and watched as two Islamic fighters leapt out of one of the larger choppers. Everybody in the basement jerked as their short range apps buzzed them.

“Cretins!” Gabe shouted.

“Okay, we need to go out and take them on,” Charlie said. “Otherwise they’re liable to pour a bunch of gasoline down here and light it up. Hurry, before they find the trap doors.”

“Princess!” Dobie said.
She came to attention. “Let’s go!” She looked at the three other dogs, and they followed him towards the trap door in the kitchen. He checked his pistols on the way. Charlie followed with his rifle, and Gabe with his shotgun. They hurried up the steps. Dobie slowly pushed the trap door open. The dogs went out first, then Dobie, his handgun in a two handed combat grip as he walked. They could hear the chopper, still on the ground, blades idling, the wind throwing debris around. Charlie and Gabe got up out of the trap door and quietly closed it, then walked forward in a crouch with their weapons ready.

Dobie was at the entrance of the clubhouse when Princess growled and pointed. Simon and Peabody did too, so Dobie peered out around the corner. There they were. They saw him at the same time he saw them, but Dobie was ready, firing off a shot to the head of each. They fell, and then the chopper blades went faster. Gabe ran out and let loose with the shotgun, peppering the windshield while Charlie got down on one knee and aimed his rifle. He shot, hitting the pilot, who fell over the controls. The chopper spun, coming slightly off the ground and then slamming down again. The co-pilot was trying to get unstrapped, but Gabe ran up and hit the window with several blasts of the shotgun, hitting him in the face, splattering blood around the cabin. The chopper’s blades slowed as it sat on the ground.

“Jake, anybody else get out of any choppers?” asked Charlie through the blue tooth headset.

“They were the only ones that I saw. Those other choppers are around somewhere, so watch out.”

“I still hear them, but they don’t sound close,” Gabe said. “Where’s Dobie?”

“Looking around for others,” Dobie said into his headset. “Crap, here comes the other two choppers. We’d better take cover.”

Suddenly there was a bright flash, and one chopper exploded in mid-air, about three hundred yards out. There was the sound of a fighter jet as it shot past them, banking, turning around.

“Yes!” Gabe cried. “The other chopper is trying to split, but here comes that fighter again!”

They felt the rumble as the fighter passed back over them, and then the last chopper blew up.

“That got them,” Dobie shouted, watching pieces of the choppers fluttering to earth.

“How’s the damage out there?” Charlie asked.

“The clubhouse is a little shot up, not terrible,” Gabe said. “Nothing we can’t fix. Your Chinook is toast, though, General. Sorry. Doesn’t look like any rigs got hit badly.”

“Why don’t you guys get your butts back in here?” Hilda said.

“Yeah, I agree,” the General said. “Those fighters are going to hang around the area for a while, and more are coming. The enemy won’t be getting anything else into the air.”

“I think we should leave the dogs out here to patrol,” Dobie said. “We can keep track with the cameras. Remember those icons we saw up north? They haven’t shown back up yet.”

“That’s a good idea, if you don’t mind,” Gabe said.

“It’s what they’re trained to do,” Dobie said.

They met back in the kitchen and went below.

“Nice shooting, Dobie,” the General said as he walked up to greet them. “Saw the whole thing. You’re fast.”

“Thanks,” Dobie said, a sheepish grin on his face.

“Hey, the team is at the kick-off point right now,” Frank said, sitting in front of the PC.

Everybody except Dobie gathered around the PCs, watching silently. Dobie sat in front of the monitor showing the video camera output. He reloaded the magazine of his pistol as he watched.

***

“We’re here,” Jeb said, pulling the Jeep up against the side of a pile of rocks. The other four vehicles stopped too, and the men got out, checking weapons.

“The first ring of sentries should be right over this next hill,” Jeb whispered. Kurt and Malcolm came closer to him, and they got their bows set up.

“How come the short range app hasn’t started up yet?” Kurt asked.

“They might not be quite close enough yet,” Frank said. “I’m not seeing any sentries out as far as they were. You’ll need to walk in a ways.”