Bug Out! Part 4: Mortars and Motorhomes (2 page)

“How’s it going?” asked Jerry.

“Good,” Frank said. “Where’s the Deputy?”

“He’s down with the privates, going through the weapons we captured,” the Sheriff said. “It took me a while to calm that boy down. He’s not cut out for this line of work, I’m afraid.”

“Here comes Earl and Jackson. I told them you were on the way,” Jerry said. “Hey guys, come on up. Frank and Jane are here.”

“Be right there,” Earl said. The trees swayed slightly as the two men started up the ladder.”

“Can this thing hold all of us?” asked Jane.

“Sure, not a problem,” the Sheriff said.

Earl and Jackson sat down on the bench with the rest.

“What’s up?” asked Jackson.

“We got a visit by a CIA agent,” Frank said. “He’s up front with Major Hobbs now, checking out the bodies of the Islamists up there. Then they’ll be coming back here to do the same.”

“You could have just called us with that info,” Jerry said.

“The CIA agent is somebody we know,” Frank said.

“Who?” asked Earl.

“Officer Simmons,” Frank said.

“Crap, really?” Jackson asked. “I remember that guy. He’s a real Nazi.”

“He infiltrated the Williams Militia for the agency,” Frank said. “Or so he says, anyway. Major Hobbs got a call from his CO on their radio telling us he was coming, so it seems legit to me.”

“Why did he want to look at the bodies of the cretins?” asked Jerry.

“They’re trying to figure out if we have the Islamists from the north hitting us, or if it’s still the ones that came up from the south,” Frank said. “It’s a little worrisome that there haven’t been militia men with the last couple of groups that attacked us.”

“Yeah, I was wondering about that too,” the Sheriff said.

“So you want us to play nice with Officer Simmons?” asked Jackson. “I don’t like that asshole.”

“Well, if he’s telling the truth, you might’ve seen an act, not the real guy,” Frank said. “But bottom line, I don’t want any of you guys to blow his head off when he shows up over here.”

“Yeah, that might get the agency a little mad at us,” Jerry said.

“That guy wasn’t part of the Williams Militia when we were in it,” Earl said. “He was an enemy. Don’t know how he managed to ‘infiltrate’ it, since all of us knew who he was. His story makes me a little nervous.”

“Yeah, does he know that Earl and I are here?” asked Jackson.

“I don’t know,” Frank said. “He didn’t mention you, but he knew my name, somehow. He said he got it from Lewis.”

“He remembered that you shot him, though, right?” asked Jerry.

“Yes, he mentioned that pretty quickly. Said that he had a vest on, and it deflected the shot. Then he asked me why I was packing a .44 mag.”

“If you would have hit his vest with a 9mm or something like that, he probably wouldn’t have been injured,” Jerry said.

“Should have gone for the head shot,” Jackson said.

Jane had been listening to this, and was looking more and more worried.

“Frank, do you really think we can trust this guy? I don’t like what I’m hearing.”

“Oh, I’m going to watch him like a hawk,” Frank said. “We all should. I don’t think he’s going to be here very long, though. I expect him to be gone after he’s checked out the bodies.”

“That will give him enough time to thoroughly case the joint,” Earl said.

Frank’s phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket.

“Frank?”

“Major, how is it going? Jane and I are in the blind with the Sheriff, Jerry, Earl, and Jackson.”

“Good, I figured. Officer Simmons and I will be there shortly. He had to stop at the restroom.”

“Have somebody watching him all the time,” Frank said.

“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.”

“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.