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

“Hi, guys,” Frank said. “I have some disturbing news.”

“What now?” asked Jeb.

“The chopper that was taking Officer Simmons back to the base is overdue.”

“Did it get shot down?” Jeb asked.

“We don’t know yet,” Frank said. “I figured we should get back to the tasks at hand, though, while we wait for more info.”

“Makes sense,” Jeb said.

“Charlie, ready to start working the security system?” Frank asked.

“Sure am,” he said. “Alright if I take off for a while, Jeb?”

“No problem,” Jeb said. “I’m doing fine. Getting a little hungry, though.”

“I’ll ask somebody to bring something up to you,” Frank said. He went down the stairs with Charlie.

“What’s the plan?” Charlie asked.

“Back to where we left off,” Frank said. “We took pictures of the map we drew up in the clubhouse with the tentative locations for the cameras. Let’s break into two groups….you, Earl, and Jackson, and Jerry and I. We’ll walk the perimeter and mark spots that will work well for camera placement.”

“Sounds good. We’ve already marked the two spots in the back, before that last battle happened.”

“Excellent,” Frank said. He saw Jerry walking over from the back of the park, carrying his AK-47.

“Ready to get busy?” Jerry asked. “Don’t have much daylight left, but we can at least get most the places marked.”

“You must be a mind reader,” Charlie said, laughing. He poked his head inside the clubhouse. “Hey, Earl and Jackson, grab those tablets and the markers and come on out. We are going to try to get the perimeter walk done.”

Frank walked into the clubhouse, and motioned to Jane.

“Could you get some food together and take it up to Jeb? He’s getting hungry.”

“Of course,” she said. “You are going to get started on the security system stuff?”

“Yes, we should be able to get the perimeter walked and the locations for the cameras marked before dark, if we hurry.”

“Alright, good luck,” she said. She got on her tiptoes and kissed him.

Charlie and Earl and Jackson walked off to their side of the park. Frank and Jerry went to the other side.

“Got some news for you, Jerry,” Frank said.

“Uh oh, I’ve seen that expression on your face before,” he said.

“That chopper that was taking Officer Simmons to the base is overdue, and the base can’t raise them on radio.”

“Shit, I was afraid something like this would happen. They don’t know if it crashed or if the pilot was a plant, I suspect.”

“That’s about the size of it,” Frank said. “Major Hobbs is trying to keep up to date on it.”

“He’s sticking around for a while, I take it?”

“Yes, for at least a week. We are hiding their Humvees in the barn behind the maintenance shed.”

“Good,” Jerry said. “I’m impressed with our new Sergeant, by the way. Sharp as a tack, and he knows how to listen too. A rare combination.”

“There’s our first camera location,” Jerry said. “How about that tree right there?”

Frank looked over to where he was pointing.

“Perfect,” he said. They approached the tree and Frank pulled out the marker and made a large X.

They continued on to the next spot. It was in back of the buildings.

“There’s a good spot,” Frank said. “Wish these cameras had panning capability. We won’t get great coverage here.”

“Maybe we can get some more cameras in town,” Jerry said.

“Not a bad idea,” Frank said. He went over to the tree they both liked and put the big X on it with the marker.

They continued down that side of the park, and got just past the barn.

“Who goes there?” somebody said.

“It’s Frank and Jerry, setting up the security system,” Frank said.

Lieutenant James came walking around the corner, smiling.

“Security system, huh?” he asked. “Good idea. Where’d you get the equipment?”

“Hilda’s husband bought it a few years ago but never put it in,” Frank said. “It will take some work to tie it into the Wi-Fi system we have here, but it’s doable. We’ll be able to access the cameras from any device on the network once I’ve got it set up.”

“You know something about this sort of thing, I take it?” asked the Lieutenant.

“Yes, both I and Jerry worked on this kind of stuff,” Frank said.

“Excellent,” he said.

“How’s the barn working out?” asked Jerry.

“Well, now that we have all of the straw raked out of here, it’s going to be perfect. Thanks for turning on these swamp coolers. It’s nicer in here than it is in the clubhouse, believe it or not.”

“Good, glad to hear it,” Frank said.

“We have a little extra room. I was wondering if you guys wanted us to bring the militia vehicles in here too.”

“Good idea,” Frank said. “We don’t need to have those spotted from the air either.”

“From the air?” asked Jerry. “Does the enemy have aircraft again?”

“Forgot, you weren’t in on that conversation,” Frank said. “The enemy doesn’t have the ability to fly anything large. Our Air Force is blowing anything out of the sky that they see in short order. They do have some small drones, though. If you hear a model airplane sound and see one of those commercial drones flying around, shoot it down.”

“You know that the radio range on those puppies is short, right?” Jerry said. “If somebody is flying one around here, they’ll be within 100-200 yards of it.”

“I had a feeling that was the case,” Frank replied.

“By the way, I have one of those small drones in my rig, Frank,” Jerry said. “I’ve got a camera on it. Great fun. If we need it for some reason, just let me know.”

“Good,” the Lieutenant said. “Nice capability to have. We have some at the base, but they’re bigger and take trained personnel to handle.”

“We better get going, Jerry,” Frank said. “We’re running out of daylight.”

“Alright, let’s go to the next location.”

“See you guys later,” the Lieutenant said. Frank and Jerry nodded and kept going.

“You know what’s really going to suck?” asked Jerry.

“What?”

“If that chopper went down in some ravine around here, it might take years to find it. That means we’ll be looking over our shoulder for a long time.”

“I was thinking the same thing, and I know it’s chewing up Jane.”

“Yeah, I can imagine.”

“Wonder if we’d see smoke if it crashed?” Frank asked.

“Good question. Depends on a lot of things.”

“And of course, it might not have crashed.”

“Yes, the militia might have that chopper right now. Remember any call numbers on it?”

“No,” Frank said. “I’m kicking myself for that now. I’m going have to make myself remember to pull out my phone and take pictures in cases like that.”

“Was it a gunship?” asked Jerry.

“No, it was armed, but it wasn’t an attack helicopter. No mini-guns or missiles.”

“Good,” Jerry said.

“Next site,” Frank said. There was a good tree in the right position. He looked and Jerry, and saw him nod, so he marked it.

“We’d better hurry, it’s getting dark,” Jerry said.

“I don’t think we’ll get them all done tonight. There’s about ten to go. We’ll have to finish in the morning.”

“Agreed. We want a good view of the sites,” Jerry said. “One more?”

“Yes, we’re almost to the spot.”

“So what’s the world going to look like in five years, Frank?”

“I don’t know, but I’ve been giving it a lot of thought. Jane and I had planned on a lot of relaxing years, split between traveling in the motor home and hanging out in Redondo Beach. Now I’ll feel lucky if we survive the next few months.”

“Make plans and the devil laughs. That the next spot?” Jerry asked.

“Yep, that’s it. Nice tree right there.” Frank marked the spot. “Alright, let’s head back to the clubhouse.”

Jerry nodded, and they turned back towards the front of the park. They could see Charlie’s team heading back too. They met up on the Clubhouse veranda.

“How’d you guys do?” asked Charlie.

“We have eight or nine to finish. Got too dark,” Frank said.

“We only have three left,” Charlie said. “Catch them in the morning.”

“Yeah, it won’t take long,” Jerry said.

Jasmine saw Jerry walk in, and she ran over and hugged him.

“You done for the day, honey?” she asked.

“Yes, finally,” Jerry said. “How are you holding up?”

“I’m fine,” she said. “I’ll help you guys with the camera setup tomorrow. Maybe we can get it all done if we blitz it.”

“Hopefully,” he said.

Jane walked over to Frank and leaned against him. He looked at her and smiled.

“I’m going to go be with Hilda,” Charlie said. “She got moved into her bedroom. What about Jeb?”

“Somebody will have to relieve him,” Frank said. “Maybe we can get the Army to help us out.”

“Yeah, maybe,” Charlie said. “I’ll be back later.” He walked out of the clubhouse.

Major Hobbs and Lieutenant James walked in. They were talking to each other in hushed tones.

“Frank and Jerry, have a minute?” asked the Major.

“Sure,” Frank said. He walked over and Jerry joined him.

“Any news about the chopper, Major Hobbs?” asked Jerry.

“Nope, it just vanished,” he said. “They’re sending out some choppers with night vision to see if they pick up any heat profile. This area is huge with a lot of canyons, though, so it’s kind of like looking for a needle in a haystack.”

“Exactly what we’re worried about,” Frank said.

“How much chance is there that the crew of that chopper were plants?” asked Jerry.

Major Hobbs looked down for a minute, thinking.

“Of course that thought has crossed our minds,” he said. “So far the plants have been lower level folks who joined since the administration started the service for citizenship program. The pilot of that chopper was a twenty year man, so I don’t see him being in on it. There were two airmen on that chopper that were recent enlistees, though.”

“Could either of them fly a chopper?” asked Jerry.

“I don’t know, but I’ll try to find out,” Lieutenant James said.

“What’s on your mind, Major?” asked Frank. “You came over here to talk to us about something.”

“Yes, I’d like to have some of my men relieve your folks, in the blind and up on the roof of the store, and perhaps have some of them patrol the perimeter. I need to keep them busy and alert.”

“I was hoping you were going to offer,” Frank said. “Jerry and I were just talking about it. Jeb and the Sheriff have been at it all day long. They could really use a break.”

“Good,” he said. “Could you call the Sheriff and let him know?”

“Sure,” Frank said. “And I’ll walk over to the store and let Jeb know.”

“I’ll do that,” Jerry said. “You call the Sheriff.”

“Thanks, Jerry,” Frank said.

Major Hobbs looked over at the Lieutenant. “You may proceed,” he said.

“Yes sir,” the Lieutenant said. He nodded to Frank and Jerry, and left.

Frank pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed the Sheriff.

“Sheriff?”

“Hi Frank, what’s up?”

“The Major is sending some of his men to relive you in the blind.”

“Good, I was hoping that was going to happen. Getting tired.”

“They are on their way now. We are also going to have a few men patrolling the park perimeter.”

“Good. You in the clubhouse?”

“Yes, we’re still here,” Frank said.

“Alright, I’ll see you in a few minutes.”

Frank put his phone back in his pocket.

“How’s the barn working out?” he asked.

“Perfect, thanks,” the Major said. “I saw that the Lieutenant moved those two militia vehicles into there as well.”

“Yes, we talked about it when we were back there scoping out camera sites.”

“Pretty nice digs in there. Especially those swamp coolers. We’ll use it as our command post, if that’s alright with you guys.”

Chester hobbled quickly into the Clubhouse.

“Hey, guys, turn on the TV. Big problems up in Canada. I was just watching it out in my rig.”

Jane walked over to the big screen and turned it on. The channel was already set on CNN. There was a picture of smoking ruins.

“Oh, no, those poor people,” Jane said, putting her hands up to her face. Frank rushed over and hugged her.

The commentator started talking.

“Vancouver was hit by a nuclear device about forty-five minutes ago. It appears to have been another pleasure craft attack, inside Vancouver Harbor. This is in the middle of a large population area. We are looking at casualties in the millions. This is second only to the attack in Paris.”

“This is part of their attack on us from the north,” Major Hobbs said, shaking his head. “That harbor has been bottled up since the nuclear attacks started. This device was sitting there for a long time, waiting. They waited until a perfect time to get Canada and the northern US states focused on something other than their fighters flooding over the border.”

An alert came onto the screen, and the video switched to a different city, also in flames.

“This video is coming from Montreal, Canada. It appears to have been hit with an attack similar to the incident in Vancouver. The center of the blast was the pleasure craft harbor.”

“How many devices do these cretins have?” Frank asked, tears running down his face. Jane put her hand on his as they sat glued to the TV.

“Has to be another sleeper,” Major Hobbs said. “We were briefed on that harbor too. It’s been totally shut down.”

Jeb and Jerry walked in and saw everybody sitting in front of the TV screen. Jasmine ran over to Jerry and hugged him. She was crying.

“Oh no, what happened now?” Jerry asked.

“Two more nuclear attacks, both in Canada. Vancouver and Montreal.”

“I thought the harbors had been bottled up,” Jeb said, putting down his rifle.

“Sleepers,” Jerry said. “I was afraid this was going to happen.”

The Sheriff and Deputy walked in.

“Oh, shit, what now?” the Sheriff asked.

“Attacks in Canada, Sheriff,” the Major said.

“I thought that garbage was over,” he said.

“If they hit Montreal, that means they might have more assets in the Great Lakes,” Jane said.