Bug Out! Part 7: Mile High Motorhomes (23 page)

BOOK: Bug Out! Part 7: Mile High Motorhomes
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“I know good man when I see,” she said. “You good like Jerry. Jasmine lucky. She doesn’t know how lucky.”

“By the way, I saw Jasmine in the store. Guess what she was buying?”

“What?”

“Pregnancy tests,” he said.

“Good. I push. Maybe works.”

“You’re pushing your daughter to get pregnant during times like these?”

Rosie laughed. “Of course. We need people with the country. We need people to build country. Hell, if I not old, I’d have you knock me up too.”

Jeb laughed again. “I’m not sure I’d be such a good father.”

“Oh, no, you be good father. I know. Wish you and me together thirty years ago. I pop them out for you. Many. We raise good.”

“You’re just saying that,” Jeb said, smiling. “Thanks, though. It makes me feel good.”

“I love you, you know,” Rosie said. “Age not matter. You make me feel young.”

“Well, then we feel the same way about each other,” Jeb said. “I haven’t felt this happy in years, and that’s the truth.”

“Thank God for that,” Rosie said.

They rode along quietly for a while, happy, but Jeb was worried. He knew there were hard times to come…hard jobs to do. He knew he’d be right in the middle of the worst of it. He hoped against hope that he’d survive. This crazy old woman was his reward, and he was happy about it. He wanted that more than anything he’d ever wanted before. He never would have expected it.

Jane got up and turned on the coffee machine, as the generator purred outside. She made coffee for Frank and brought it up to him. Then she made a cup for herself. She got back into the passenger seat. Frank shut off the generator.

“Oh, this tastes good,” Frank said. “Thanks, sweetie.”

“No problem,” she said. Lucy came up to her seat and begged, but Jane wouldn’t let her up yet. “Sorry, girl, I want to finish my coffee and check my phone first.”

She set the coffee down in the cup holder and picked up her phone, loading the long range app. She got a concerned look on her face. Frank saw it.

“What?” he asked.

“We’ve got some movement south,” she said.

“Oh, shit. Where?”

“Southbound on route 285. That connects to route 87 just a little north of Castle Rock. It’s a straight shot from there to Colorado Springs.”

“No!” Frank said. “How long is the drive?”

“Looking at that now,” Jane said. “We’re just going to beat them. That drive should take about an hour and twenty minutes. We’re about an hour from Colorado Springs right now.”

“Are you sure they aren’t just trying to flank and head back up to Denver, a little further to the east?”

“Too early to tell, but I’d expect a larger number if they were doing that.”

“How many do you see?”

“About twenty, pretty close together. Maybe two or three truck loads.”

“So if things go well, we’ll be past there twenty minutes before they arrive. That’s gonna be close.”

“Wonder how many people are going to need to gas up in Colorado Springs?”

“We can’t be doing that,” Frank said. “We shouldn’t have anybody running out of gas after less than two hours of driving, anyway. We should be fine, but we might want to pass the word around.”

“Who should I call first?”

“Jerry, then Charlie, then the Sheriff.”

“Okay, I’ll get on that now.” She dialed up Jasmine’s phone.

“Hey, girl.”

“Jane, what’s up?”

“You guys been watching the long range app?”

“Not for a while. Why?”

“There are a few truckloads of bad guys that are a little south of Denver. We can’t tell yet if they’re going to circle back up into the city a little further to the east, or if they’re going to try to shoot down highway 87 towards Colorado Springs.”

“Oh, no. How long?”

“We’re probably going to beat them by about twenty minutes…but we wanted to make sure nobody gets the idea that we ought to stop in Colorado Springs for fuel or anything else.”

“Okay. You want me to help spread the word?”

“Yeah, please.”

“Okay, talk to you later, Jane.”

“Okay, there’s one,” Jane said to Frank. She went on to call the others.

Frank drove along, silent, listening to the phone conversations that Jane was having, and thinking. Jane finished in about ten minutes.

“Okay, everybody knows,” Jane said.

“They’re all scared, aren’t they?”

“Yes,” she said. “So am I.”

“Check the long range app again.”

Jane nodded and loaded it onto her phone.

“They’re still coming this way, but slowly. They aren’t even off of route 285 yet. Wonder why that is?”

“Good question. Maybe there’s traffic, or roadblocks.”

“I don’t think they’re coming down here, Frank. I’m looking at the roads. It’s going to be a loop…and one other thing. I’m seeing a group break out to the north as well. Looks to me like they’re heading up to route 87 on the north side of town. They’re trying to flank the city.”

“I hope the General is seeing this,” Frank said.

“Seriously. Maybe you should call him.”

“Yeah,” Frank said. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and hit his contact. The phone rang.

“Frank?”

“General, how are you?”

“Busy. Make it quick.”

“Will do. We’re seeing enemy going to the north east and the south east of town. We got pretty concerned they were going to come down to Colorado Springs and intercept us. Now we‘re thinking they might be trying to flank the defenses on the west side of the city.”

“It’s okay, Frank, we’re chasing them that way, setting a trap…but keep in mind that some of them might flee to the south. Keep your eyes open. Don’t slow down until you get well past Colorado Springs, just in case.”

“Thanks. Talk to you later. Good luck.”

“Thanks, Frank. You too.”

Frank slipped his phone back in his pocket.

“Well?” Jane asked.

“They’re chasing the bad guys that way. It’s a trap.”

“You don’t look that relieved. What else?”

“He said that some of them might escape to the south, and that we shouldn’t slow down until well past Colorado Springs.”

“Oh,” she said, her brow furrowing. “Dammit.”

“We’ll probably be okay,” Frank said.

“Where was he?”

“He didn’t say, and I didn’t ask. He said he was busy.”

“Well, I’ll keep an eye on the app,” Jane said. They settled down and watched the scenery go by.

Charlie was driving his rig, with Hilda at his side, looking at her phone.

“You know anybody with a park in west Kansas, honey?” he asked.

“Yeah, but I don’t know if it’s still open…or if the person I know is still running it. He was about Chester’s age.”

“Where?”

“In the right area. Southeast of Sharon Springs. It’s in the boonies a ways.”

“Probably flat land,” Charlie said.

“It is. Farm country.”

“What’s the person’s name?”

“Chet,” she said. “I can’t remember his last name. Jer used to hunt with him sometimes. He was another friend from the RV Park Association.”

“Remember the name of the park?”

“No, but I remember where it is. I’ll see if I can find it on the net.”

“Good.”

“You worried about getting through Colorado Springs?”

“Not really,” he said. “We’re going to beat them there. The last time I looked at the long range app, they were still creeping along. I’ll bet the roads are all screwed up. People are trying to get out of Denver.”

“I can check that,” Hilda said. She focused on her phone again. “Wow. That road is all red. Bumper to bumper…so is the road east from Denver.”

“Yep, people are splitting. We’re going to beat these guys past Colorado springs. We’re only about half an hour from there now. There’re some switchbacks coming, though, as we get to the drop down into town.”

“We’re going to have to drive right through the middle of town, aren’t we?” Hilda asked.

“Yeah, but I wouldn’t worry about it. Do you think Kurt knows this person? Chet?”

“Probably, Hilda said. “I’ll call him in a few minutes.”

In Kurt and Mary’s rig, Mary was driving. She heard stirring from the bedroom, and saw Kurt walking up to the front, steadying himself on the kitchen counter and the couch as he came. He plopped down onto the passenger seat.

“How’s she running?” he asked, while getting on his seat belt.

“Purring like a kitten,” Mary said. “How are you feeling?”

“Much better,” he said. “I still have pain if I bend over, but sitting up and standing up is okay, and I can walk pretty well now.”

“Good. I need you back in the game.”

“I know, honey. Sorry. Where we at?”

“About twenty minutes out of Colorado Springs.”

“Wow, already?”

“Yeah, we’re making good time.”

“You look worried about something.”

“Jane called a little while ago. There are some bad guys heading south from Denver. We’re going to beat them through there, but what happens after that?”

“Once we get onto highway 94 we’re gonna fly,” he said. “If we have much of a lead, they’ll have a hard time catching us.”

Kurt’s phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket and answered.

“Hi, Hilda.”

“Hi, Kurt, how are you feeling?”

“Well, I’m up and around. I just came up to the passenger seat. What’s up?”

“You remember that guy who had an RV Park not far from Sharon Springs?”

“Chet. Yeah, he was a great guy.”

“Was?”

“He passed about six years ago.”

“His park still there?”

“Oh, I get it, scoping out places to stop. I don’t know. His son took it over, but it’s not in that great of a location…it was mostly full timers there, and most of them were at least Chet’s age. The place might have died out. He’d probably have been okay if the place was on I-70.”

“He wasn’t on Route 66, was he?” Hilda asked.

“No, that was way south. Went through Oklahoma, not Kansas. Route 66 wasn’t the only old road killed by the interstates, though.”

“What was the kid’s name?”

“I’m trying to think,” Kurt said. “Scotty, maybe. He didn’t like the business. He might have closed her down in a hurry.”

“Think it’s worth checking out?”

“You can’t find anything about it on the net?”

“No, but I can’t remember the name, which doesn’t help.”

“I remember the name. Kansas Prairie RV Park.”

“Okay, I’ll punch that in.”

“Don’t worry if that doesn’t pan out…we’ll find something. We should stop in Sharon Springs…there’s a big truck stop there that we could overnight in if we need to. We might want to go further east after getting some shut-eye there.”

“Okay, Kurt. Thanks.”

Kurt put his phone back in his pocket. Mary looked over at him.

“Well?”

“Looking for RV Parks…Hilda remembered an old friend of ours named Chet who had a park southeast of Sharon Springs. I think it’s died out now. Might we worth taking a look, though.”

“Check that long range app again,” Mary said. “I’m nervous as hell about that.”

“Okay.” He pulled his phone back out and tapped the long range app. He got a grim look on his face.

“Uh oh, I know that look,” Mary said.

“They made it past route 285. They’re on 87 south, at about Castle Pines. They’re making better time now than they were.”

“Shit. We still going to beat them through?”

“Oh yeah, by over an hour, I suspect.”

“You think they’re looking for us?”

“No, I doubt it.”

“Why?”

“Because the Air Force Academy is right down the road from them, and I’ll bet we’ve been flying sorties out of there.”

 

Continued in Book 8. Available Now!

Copyright

Bugout! Part 7
copyright © 2015 by Robert G Boren. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any format without permission in writing from the copyright holder.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

Thanks to Laura Thomas for editing this book!

About the Author

Robert G Boren is a writer from the South Bay section of Southern California. He writes Short Stories, Novels, and Serialized Fiction. Most of his work is about people from the South Bay.

Other Books by Robert Boren
Never A Loose End - The Franklin and Davis Files Book One
Serial Killers. Maniac Ex-cops. CIA Assassins. White Slavers. Strippers

In 
"Never A Loose End"
, they all come together, racing towards their frightening destiny.

This is the story that started it all for George Franklin and Malcolm Davis. Some of you know them from the later episodes of the 
Bug Out!
 series, set seven years later. This is the story of how they met, and the battle that forged them into a formidable team.

George and Malcolm are both targets, marked for death, but why?

A clan of Serial Killers is active again, after hiding for years. What has brought them out?

Follow George and Malcolm as they dash through the Southwest in their 
Motorhomes.

Murder, gun battles, bombings, and general mayhem reign in "Never A Loose End"

Who will survive? Will the hunted be brought down, or will they become the 
hunters
 instead?

Find out in "
Never A Loose End - The Franklin and Davis Files Book One
"

Note: This full length novel carries a hard R rating, unlike the PG-13 Bug-Out! series. "Never A Loose End" contains graphic violence and sex. Discretion is advised.

BOOK: Bug Out! Part 7: Mile High Motorhomes
8.3Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
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