Bug Out! Part 7: Mile High Motorhomes (2 page)

“Okay, I’ll see you over there in a little while.”

Frank went back into the coach.

“Jerry?” Jane asked.

“Yeah, he had a thought about the chips. We’re going to do a short experiment when we get over there.”

“Good,” Jane said, getting off the couch. “When do you want to go over?”

“Oh, anytime, I guess,” Frank said.

“Okay, I’ll freshen up a little, then,” she said. “Want to feed the kids?”

“Sure,” Frank said. He went to the kitchen and got food put into the pet bowls, then put them on the floor and stood back as Lucy and Mr. Wonderful attacked.

“Think we should take Lucy over there?” Jane asked.

“No, let’s leave her here, at least to start with,” Frank said. “If we need to make introductions with the big dogs, we can always come over and get her.”

“Okay, sounds good. I’m ready.”

“I’ll just run a comb through my hair and we can go,” Frank said.

They left their coach and headed to the clubhouse. There was a truck parked by Gabe’s house, in front of the clubhouse area. It looked like an animal control truck…the bed had four kennels built in. The side of the truck said “Dobie’s Guard Dogs” on it.

“That’s his truck,” Frank said, pointing.

“Wonder if the dogs are in there?”

“Probably.”

“Does this make you nervous?” Jane asked.

“No, I actually kind of like the idea. Those dogs will be both early warning and protection.”

“They won’t just get shot?”

“Easy to shoot one. Not quite so easy to shoot four. Not that it’s impossible, of course.”

They climbed up the steps to the veranda and went in the door. Charlie, Gabe, Hilda, and Kurt were standing up by the front of the room, talking. Mary was sitting down on a nearby table, looking at her iPhone. Jeb came out of the kitchen and walked up to Hilda. They chatted for a moment, and then the two of them went into the kitchen. Earl and Jackson walked in the door with the Sheriff and Terry.

“Hi, Frank. Hi Jane,” Gabe said, smiling as they walked up.

“Hi, Gabe. Your cousin here yet?”

“Yeah, he’s over by the barn getting a kennel ready. We had the bare bones of one from my dad’s days, but I’ve been using it for other things.”

“We saw his truck out front.”

“Yeah, he’s been here for about an hour,” Gabe said. “He’ll bring the dogs in and introduce them to everybody later.”

“Here come’s Jerry and his clan,” Kurt said, looking towards the door.

“Where my Jeb?” Rosie asked.

Jeb stuck his head out of the kitchen door. “I’m in here, Rosie. Want to take a look at this venison?”

“Yes, be there in minute,” she said.

Jerry and Jasmine walked over.

“Hi, everybody,” Jasmine said, smiling.

“Hello yourself,” Gabe said, smiling.

“Frank, you want to try that experiment?” asked Jerry.

“Sure, if we can bother Gabe to get the chips out of the safe.”

“No problem, guys,” Gabe said. “Let’s go.”

The three men went into the office, and came out a few minutes later. Frank had the lead box in his hands.

“They aren’t wasting any time, are they?” Jasmine asked, getting next to Jane.

“Nope,” she replied. “I don’t mind, though.”

“Me neither, I guess,” Jasmine said.

Frank and Jerry sat down on the back table, by the PC. Jerry was getting the signal detector ready. Frank stopped what he was doing, and sat there, thinking. He had a concerned look on his face.

“We can’t do this here,” Frank said. “At least not with a normal cellphone that has access to the internet.”

“Ah, crap,” Jerry said, sheepishly. “You’re right. The chip will pass a stub file, and it’s probably addressed to go right to the enemy. It’ll lead them right here if it gets on the internet.”

“Yes, there is that risk, although the chips were exposed to all of our cellphones before we stashed them in the lead box.”

“What should we do? Risk it because they probably already know we’re here anyway?”

“I’m gonna say no,” Frank said. “Let’s not press our luck.”

“Okay, maybe you’re right.”

“Here’s what I think we should do. Let’s take our stuff into town, and do the test there, just for a second or two. Only long enough to see if it’s LTE we need to generate. Then let’s get a signal generator capable of LTE at the electronics store.

“We’ll need to make another lead box, with antennas for the LTE transmit and receive inside, so when the chip starts to transmit, it’ll only send the message to our closed loop system.”

“Yeah,” Frank said. “This is going to be complicated.”

“There is an alternative to messing around with a lead box, and risking that a stray file gets out, you know.”

“What’s that?” Frank asked.

“We take one of the motorhomes way out in the boonies, where there’s no cell reception at all. Then we can excite these things to our heart’s content and pick up the chip’s transmissions, without the worry of the message getting to the enemy.”

“You’re right, Jerry. Great idea. We just cruise out until we get no service. It would be perfect. We’ve got the generator in the RV for power, too.”

“Let’s put these things back in the safe,” Jerry said.

The two men walked over to Gabe and talked to him for a few minutes. Then they went into the office with the lead box. They came out a minute or two later. Jerry and Frank walked over to Jasmine and Jane.

“That was fast,” Jane said, putting her arm around Frank’s waist as he got next to her.

“We decided we’d better not excite one of those chips here…because it might dump its payload back through our phones and onto the internet. It might be addressed right to the bad guys.”

“Hey, Dobie,” Gabe said, as his cousin walked in the door. Dobie was short and chubby, middle aged, with a mustache and kind of a goofy smile. He had hair turning gray and receding, and looked a little bit shy.

“Hey, Gabe,” he said. Gabe walked over and started introducing him to people around the room.

“I expected a big mountain man type,” Jerry said, laughing.

“What’s that I smell?” Jane asked. “It’s making me hungry.”

“Venison, probably,” Jerry said. “Somebody knows how to cook it. It doesn’t smell gamey.”

“Rosie and Hilda,” Jasmine said. “They’ve been in there for quite a while with Jeb and Mary.

Gabe walked over with Dobie.

“Folks, this is my cousin Dobie. Dobie, this is Frank, Jane, Jerry, and Jasmine.”

“Great to meet you, Dobie,” Frank said, shaking hands. Dobie had a damp palm. He was nervous, but smiled warmly. He shook hands with Jane and Jasmine, and then Jerry.

“Gabe’s told me a lot about you and your group,” Dobie said. “I’m very impressed.”

“Thanks,” Frank said. “We’re impressed with Gabe. He’s been real good to us, and he’s just full of ideas, too.”

Dobie cracked up. “Yeah, Gabe’s always been the most resourceful member of the family, that’s for sure. I think he’s hit a new level with the moat and drawbridge.”

“You been doing dog training for long, Dobie?” asked Jerry.

“Quite a while, actually, but I’ve only been in my own business for a little while. Of course I had to start right before things went nuts.”

“Where’d you work with dogs before that?” Frank asked.

“Salt Lake City PD, mostly,” he said. “I trained all of their K-9 units, both the officers and the dogs. I would have stayed there, if it wasn’t for mom’s passing. It was a good job.”

“Dobie and I are about all that’s left of our family,” Gabe said. “All of my immediate family are gone now. So are his, after Gwen’s passing.”

“Sorry for your loss,” Jane said. Dobie nodded and smiled.

“I inherited my mom’s house in town, along with some commercial space next to it. Was hoping to build up the business there.”

“Someday you will, when this mess is over,” Gabe said. “You’re welcome to be here as long as you want though, of course.”

“Yeah, I’d rather stay here for the time being,’ he said. “I don’t think it’s safe in town.”

“Why?” Frank asked.

“Now that the military base is gone, we’ve had some bad road people coming through, pushing people around, shoplifting, doing robbery and burglary.”

“I was afraid of that,” Gabe said.

“People are disappearing at night, too,” Dobie continued. “Especially women. Some folks are starting to leave town because of it.”

“Seeing any militia folks, or Islamists?” Jerry asked.

“That’s the other thing,” Dobie said.

“You’re seeing militia and Islamist folks in town?
” Frank asked.

“Not exactly. I’ve seen them going by the town, heading east,” Dobie said.

“How?” asked Jerry.

“I’d been taking some patrol jobs with my dogs,” Dobie said. “It was all I could get for my business after everything went to hell in a hand basket. One of my clients had a place right next to I-70. I’ve seen trucks going by in the middle of the night. Some have had people in Islamist garb sitting in the back.”

“Was this before or after the military base got destroyed?” Jane asked.

“After,” Dobie said.

“Wait a minute, you’re a security guard?” Jerry asked. “You carry a gun when you do that?”

“Don’t let Dobie’s looks and gentle demeanor fool you, Jerry,” Gabe said. “He’s a champion combat pistol shooter.”

“Really,” Jerry replied. “Impressive.”

“I’m a little rusty these days,” Dobie said.

“You don’t lose that ability,” Jerry said. “It’s like riding a bicycle. You bring any hardware with you?”

“Yeah, I brought all of my pistols. Don’t have any rifles.”

“What’s your gun of choice?”

“Glock 17,” he said.

“You still use 9mm?” Jerry asked. “Not much stopping power. Why not something that fires .40 S&W or .45 ACP?”

“Why deal with the recoil?” Dobie said. His eyes were lighting up. “The .45 is a great round, but none of the guns have a big magazine.”

“You can get a big magazine for .40 S&W,” Jerry said.

“True, but I like the feel of the 9mm better,” Dobie said. “As for killing power…I’ll put anybody down with a 9mm just as well as a larger round. It’s all about the placement.”

“Sounds like you should have been an officer instead of a dog trainer,” Frank said.

“Too short and too fat,” he said, chuckling. “Besides, the dogs are more interesting to me. I like pistols a lot, but I love my dogs.”

“Getting back to the problems in town,” Frank said. “How many times did you see these enemy forces heading east?”

“For the last week, almost every night,” Dobie replied. “Something bad is going to happen in Denver or beyond. I thought getting off of the radar would be a good idea. This whole area is liable to get hot.”

“You didn’t see any of these folks get off in town?” Frank asked.

“No, but I was just past the last off ramp to the east. If they made any stops, it was before I saw them.”

“What’s left in town in terms of people and supplies?” Jerry asked.

“Well, like I said, some folks are starting to take off. The big chain stores are still open, but they’re under-staffed. A lot of the mom and pop places are boarded up now - including my place.”

“How about the electronics store?” Frank asked.

Dobie laughed. “Old Jake isn’t going anywhere. I just talked to him before I left. He’s sleeping on a cot in the back of his store.”

“He’s still open?” Jerry asked.

“He was as of this morning,” Dobie said. “Why do you ask? Need something from there?”

“Yeah,” Frank said.

“Well, when you want to go, let me know and I’ll go along. He’ll be less nervous.”

“That’d be great, Dobie,” Frank said.

“Well, let’s go finish the introductions,” Gabe said. “Talk to you guys later.”

“Nice meeting you,” Dobie said, as they walked away.

“Well, what do you think?” Frank asked.

“I like him,” Jerry said.

“He’s a damaged guy,” Jane said. “You can see it in his eyes.”

“I picked up on that too, but I’m not getting a bad feeling about him,” Frank said. “I think he has some personal demons that he’s fighting.”

Jeb walked over.

“Hi, folks,” he said. “What’s cookin? I see you met our new person.”

“Yeah, we did,” Jerry said. “You?”

“He came into the kitchen and met us,” Jeb said. “Nice guy.”

“Smells good,” Jasmine said.

“Rosie and Hilda make a good team,” Jeb said, cracking a smile. “They know what they’re doing. Same with Mary.”

“Good, I’m really hungry,” Jasmine said.

“I had a thought,” Jeb said. “I’ve got an extra big screen TV in my rig. I took it out to put in a cabinet in the bedroom. How about if I bring it in here? We could put it over by the surveillance system.”

“That’s a great idea,” Frank said. “How big is it?”

“It’s a 40 inch. They overkilled with TVs in my pusher.”

“How old?” Jerry asked.

“Last year,” Jeb said. “Came new with the rig. One of you want to give me a hand? We can go get it now.”

“Sure, I’ll go,” Jerry said.

“I’ll go too,” Frank said.

The men walked out the door.

“There they go again,” Jasmine said. “Off to get another toy.”

“Tell me about it,” Jane said.

“I’m hoping that Jeb takes Rosie to his coach tonight,” Jasmine whispered. She giggled.

“Uh oh, what’s up? You going to be naughty?”

“Jerry got it into his head that having a baby is a good idea. I’m ovulating.”

“Oh, really,” Jane said, grinning. “You going to pass a hint to her?”

“No, I couldn’t do that,” Jasmine said.

“You probably won’t have to. I saw the way those two were looking at each other. It amazes me that your mom is able to…you know.”

“Her knees are screwed up, but other than that, she’s a lot stronger than she appears,” Jasmine said. “If I could get her to use a walker, she’d be all over this place. She’s too vain. Doesn’t want to look like an old lady.”

Both women cracked up. Hilda walked over, smiling.

“What’s going on here?” she asked.

“Oh, just talking about my mom and Jeb,” Jasmine said.

“I haven’t seen Jeb interested in a woman for years,” Hilda said. “Kudos to Rosie. I was watching them together in the kitchen. They can’t leave each other alone.”