Bug Out! Part 8: RV Park Terror (23 page)

“See you later,” George said. He put his hand on Heidi’s shoulder, and they walked back to their rig as Malcolm took the fuel nozzle out of his coach.

“Sugar plum?” Heidi said, laughing as she sat back down in the passenger seat.

“He’s got a lot of affection for you,” George said. “You know that, right?”

“Yeah,” she said. “I like him a lot too. I’m not so sure that the worst is behind us, though.”

“I know,” George said. “Me neither.” He fired up the engine, and they followed Malcolm back towards the highway.

Back in Kansas, Frank was still struggling with his programming. Jane came in and saw how frustrated he was. She sat down next to him.

“You okay, Frank?” she asked, stroking her hand through his hair.

“Oh, I guess,” he said. “Just frustrated.”

“Don’t wear yourself out too much,” she said. “You’ve already got enough done to get us through.”

“I know,” he said. “It’s okay. I just hate problems I can’t solve. I’m stuck with both the PC version of the long range view, and the hacking to get the cross reference for the names.”

“Well, you and Jerry could man two laptops out in the field for the close-in view, you know,” Jane said. “It won’t be that bad.”

“I know, but Jerry’s an important tactical guy,” Frank said. “I’d probably better be training you and Jasmine to work this.”

“What’s so hard about it?” Jane asked.

“You’ll have to use the programming environment, and you’ll have to understand enough about the program to be able to fine tune it on the fly.”

“It can’t be that hard,” Jane said.

“It’s not if you have at least a little programming background.”

“Which I don’t have, of course,” Jane said. “How about the names?”

“Daan Mertens,” Frank said. “He’s my equal in just about every way. He’s got his system protected six ways from Sunday.”

“Well, that was colorful. How late are you working tonight?” she asked.

“Oh, maybe just a little while after dinner,” he replied. “Why?”

“I just wanted a little
us
time, that’s all.”

“You don’t know how good that sounds,” Frank said, leaning back in his chair, rubbing his eyes. “What’s everybody else doing?”

“Gabe, Terry, Jake, and Dobie are getting their trailers ready to leave,” she said. “I think they’re just about done with that, although Dobie’s going to have to take his truck to town in the morning for the fifth wheel hitch set up.”

“It makes me nervous every time one of us goes into town,” Frank said.

“Why? It’s not bad there, thanks to the border being sealed up.”

“I know, but it still makes me nervous,” Frank said. “I hope they’re keeping to themselves when they’re there.”

“Dobie saw some rednecks in a truck at Howard’s place, and got pretty nervous. The local app didn’t go off.”

“Uh oh,” Frank said, looking concerned.

“Don’t worry,” Jane said. “He got close to them and checked them out. One of them had a tank top on. No scars or bandages on the triceps.”

“Good,” Frank said.

“Yeah,” Jane said. “He said they were just hunters, and nice guys too.”

“Alright. I’m probably worrying too much.”

“No you’re not,” Jane said. “And by the way, our new trailer owners are in a panic to get their rigs ready for the road.”

“They’ve been listening to Jeb and Kurt,” Frank said. “This place has no cover at all. If we get found, the only thing we can do is run, unless it’s a small force that we can defeat.”

Jerry came in with Jasmine.

“You just about ready to knock off, Frank?” Jerry asked. “Getting close to dark.”

“That’s why I’m in here bugging him,” Jane said. “He’s tired.”

“I’m right here, you know,” Frank said, chuckling.

“I made some chili,” Jasmine said. “Care to join us?”

“Yes, we’d love to,” Jane said, looking over at Frank.

“Alright, alright,” Frank said, locking the screen on the PC. “I have to come back after dinner for a few minutes, though. I’ve got something compiling.”

“Only for a few minutes though, right?” Jane asked.

“Right.”

They left for Jerry and Jasmine’s rig.

Terry was finished up with the trailer. He joined Trish inside. She was dozing on the couch, a book opened face down on her chest. She stirred when Terry closed the door.

“Sorry, was trying to be quiet,” Terry said, sitting down at her feet.

“I wanted to get up anyway,” she said, stretching. The book started to slide off of her, and Terry caught it before it reached the floor. He noticed that there was a bullet hole in it, going through the top right hand side. He laughed.

“So you have to guess at some of the words, I see,” he said, chuckling.

“It’s not so bad,” she said. “Pretty close to the margins. Some of the other books aren’t usable anymore.”

Good thing those books were back there…they probably stopped the bullets from getting through to the cab of the bobtail.”

“I know,” she said, sitting up. She leaned against him. “Want to go raid the pantry for some food?”

“Sure,” Terry said. “Let’s go.”

The couple left the coach and went to the clubhouse. Hilda was just leaving the kitchen as they walked in.

“You two looking for some food?” she asked.

“Yeah,” Trish said. “Down there, right?”

“Yes, but watch your step,” Hilda said. “Those stairs are really steep. Close the trap door when you’re done, okay?”

“Of course,” Trish said. “We wouldn’t want anybody falling in at night.”

“That’s for sure,” Hilda said. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight,” Trish said. Terry opened the trap door, and she went down the steps. He followed her, hitting the light switch on the way down. They could hear voices down the long hallway.

“Jeb and Rosie, probably a few others,” Terry said. “Having a drink or two.”

“Or three,” Trish said, giggling. “My dad got pretty trashed down there yesterday.”

“I know,” Terry said, grinning sheepishly. “It’s okay. It was his daughter’s wedding day.” He pulled Trish close and kissed her.

“Later,” she said, smiling. “What do you want to eat?”

“Something easy,” he said.

“How about corned beef hash?” Trish asked, looking at the can.

“That’s a big can,” he said.

“They’re all big…we probably should be eating as a group. We’d waste less.”

“We have a freezer,” Terry said. “We could probably get three meals out of that can. It’ll keep. What should we have with it?”

“Green beans alright?”

“Sure, and how about some mashed potatoes?” he asked, pointing to the large box on the shelf.

“No, there’s starch in the hash, and besides, I’d want to take a good look at those potato flakes. There might be bugs.”

“Added protein,” Terry said, laughing. Trish socked him on the arm.

“Eewww.” Laughter erupted down the hall. “You want to go down there and say hi?” she asked.

“Naw, let them have their fun,” Terry said. “Besides, it kinda gives me the creeps down there now.”

“Okay, then let’s go back to the trailer,” she replied. They climbed the stairs and headed out into the dusk.

At Jerry and Jasmine’s rig, dinner was over. Frank and Jane were sitting across the dinette from Jerry, as Jasmine was putting dirty bowls in the sink.

“You’re thinking that we ought to plan out our attacks sooner rather than later?” Jerry asked. “You think there’s no chance you’re going to get the names added to the apps?”

“Not if I can’t crack the enemy system,” Frank said. “Damn Belgian.”

“Let’s be real,” Jerry said. “I can probably guess who the number ones are that we can see, just by the country codes. Saladin is sitting out in Capitol Reef, and either Phil or Daan are at the air force base.”

“I know that,” Frank said. “I was hoping to be able to show names to help General Hogan, mainly. I was thinking about the icons we have wandering around in DC.”

“Oh, I get it,” Jerry said. “You’re still having trouble with that long range close-in view, too, aren’t you?”

“Yes,” Frank said, “but we can work around that. I’ll teach you and the girls how to run it in test mode. I’ll have to load the programming environment on a couple more laptops. Does Jasmine have programming experience?”

“I’m right here, you know,” Jasmine said. “Yes, I do have some background.”

“Good, then I’ll teach you and Jerry first, and then you could help Jane while I keep trying to hack the enemy system.”

“Sounds like a good plan, as long as it starts tomorrow morning,” Jane said.

“So we’re looking at a couple more days of prep, then,” Jerry said.

“When did our guests say they were going to arrive?” Frank asked.

“Probably late tomorrow, or the following morning.”

“Well, then I think that’s the most important time factor right now,” Frank said. “We’re going to have to spend a little time prepping to show them everything.”

“They’re going to be most interested in the dungeon, aren’t they?” Jasmine said.

“Probably, but we need to get their interest onto the enemy as quickly as we can,” Frank said.

“You’re going to tell them everything, aren’t you?” Jane asked.

“Yeah.”

“Sure that’s a good idea, honey?” Jane asked, looking nervous.

“I do,” Frank said.

“I’m a little apprehensive about that,” Jerry said, “but Jasmine’s been selling me on the idea, and she knows more about these folks than I do.”

“I’d better go check that compiler,” Frank said. “I might have to make a quick tweak and run it again.”

“Okay, Frank, I’ll go over there with you,” Jerry said. “What are you trying to compile?”

“My last attempt at getting the long range close-in view to work,” Frank said. “If this attempt doesn’t do it, we’ll be doing the training I was just talking about.”

“You don’t sound very confident,” he said.

“I’m not. Let’s go.”

Frank and Jerry left Jane and Jasmine behind, and walked out into the night.

“Peaceful here,” Jerry said, as they walked. Most of the coaches had lights on now.

“It makes me nervous now,” Frank said. “Knowing what used to go on in that dungeon. Doesn’t that bother you?”

“Yeah, but past is past, and I don’t believe in ghosts,” Jerry said. “I think it bothers Jasmine a little bit. She’s got kind of a hero worship thing going for Malcolm, though. She’d be more freaked if he wasn’t coming.”

“Why?”

“Because she thinks that Scott is still alive,” Jerry said. “I hope she’s wrong.”

They entered the clubhouse, and turned on the lights. It was deserted. Frank slid onto the chair in front of the PC and unlocked the screen.

“Shit!” he said. He pulled the network cable out of the PC.

“What?” Jerry asked.

“Somebody was on there, searching through files.”

“Son of a bitch,” Jerry said. “Can’t tell who, I suppose. Shoot, what about the laptops out in the barn?”

“Jane took ours into the coach before we came over, and I saw both of yours on the driver’s seat in your coach,” Frank said.

“Oh, good, Jasmine picked them up,” he said. “Whew. Now what?”

“I need to stick a firewall program on all of these machines,” Frank said. “Tomorrow. I’m beat.”

“Me too,” Jerry said. “Let’s go.”

The two left the clubhouse.

In Columbus, Ohio, the man sitting in front of the PC slammed his fists down on the messy desk, screaming with rage, as the message told him he was disconnected. There was a whimper behind him, coming from the cage against the wall. A dim single light bulb lit the dirty basement room.

“Shut up,” the man shouted at her. The girl tried to sink into the stone wall behind the cot she was laying on. She was trembling, her eyes wide, her mouth open in a silent scream.

The man looked over at her and snickered. “It’s going to be a long night for you, bitch. Time to tie up my loose ends here.”

Continued in Bugout! Part 9, available now!

Bugout! Part 8
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!

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.

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

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

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

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

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.