Bug Out! Part 11: Motorhomes on the Dark Road (21 page)

“Maybe we should take both,” Ted said. “Always helps to be able to split up.”

“Well, maybe,” Malcolm said. “Suit yourself.”

“I’ll get her loaded up.”

Dobie walked up to Malcolm as he was closing the back of the Jeep.

“Interested in any company?” he asked.

Malcolm turned to him, smiling. “Love to have you, but I’d advise against it. It’ll be dangerous, and it could highlight you to some bad folks. You might end up with a target on your back.”

“Everybody in this park has a target on their backs,” Dobie said. “Besides, I’m interested, and I’m good in close quarters with my pistols. I’d be more use to you guys than I’d be here.”

Malcolm thought about it for a few minutes. “How many people does that fifth wheel sleep?”

Dobie got a smile on his face. “Six.”

“Hmmm,” Malcolm said. “What about your dogs?”

“Well, if I’m going to take the fifth wheel, I’d take Duchess. Princess, Simon, and Peabody can watch the park.”

“What are you guys talking about?” Ted asked, walking up.

“Dobie here wants to join us,” Malcolm said.

“I thought we weren’t going to get any of these folks involved,” Ted said.

“That was my advice,” Malcolm said. “He would be valuable though.”

“Why?” Ted asked.

“I’m a champion combat pistol shooter,” Dobie said. “And I can follow you guys with my fifth wheel. It’ll give us a place to sleep.”

Ted looked at Malcolm. “He up to it?”

“I’ve seen him in battle,” Malcolm said. “He’s good.
Real good
.”

“You told him he might end up with a target on his back, right?”

“Yeah,” Malcolm said. “He’s already got one.”

“Not with these folks,” Ted said.

“I beg to differ,” Dobie said. “I spent more time with Howard than anybody else here. He helped me get my fifth wheel hitch put into the truck. I’m well recognized as one of the people who took over this RV Park.”

Ted sighed. “Okay, Malcolm, if you’re good with it, I’m good with it. What about your dogs?”

“I’ll have Jake keep an eye on the three I leave here. I’ll take Duchess with me.”

“Our own K-9 unit,” Malcolm said, laughing.

“That dog’s had K-9 training, huh?” Ted asked.

“Yep,” Dobie said. “I’ve got experience using them, too. I trained dogs for the St. Louis PD. It was my last job before I started my own guard dog business.”

“Well, okay then,” Ted said.

“I’ll go get my rig ready. When are we leaving?”

“Half an hour okay?” Malcolm asked.

“Yeah.” Dobie trotted over to his fifth wheel and started working. Gabe noticed and walked up.

“Going somewhere?” he asked.

“Yeah, I’m going with Malcolm and Ted to Ohio,” Dobie said.

“What? Whose idea was that?”

“Mine,” Dobie said. “I’m taking Duchess. I’ll get Jake to keep track of the other three.”

“Hmmm,” Gabe said. “Remember what you said to me when you came out to my RV Park?”

Dobie stopped for a moment. “Huh?”

“You said that I was your last relative, and you wanted to make sure I was okay out there,” Gabe said.

“Oh, yeah. I remember,” Dobie said.

“Good, then I’ll be going with you.”

Dobie stopped what he was doing. “It’ll be dangerous.”

Gabe laughed. “Whatever. I’ll give you a hand with this. When are we leaving?”

“Half an hour,” he said.

“Okay, you go talk to Jake. I’ll get your hookups pulled off. It’s best to have two people with a fifth wheel anyway.”

“Guess there’s no talking you out of it, is there?”

“Nope,” Gabe said, smiling.

***

The general walked up to Frank. “How’s the facial recognition program working?”

“Between that and what George knew, we’ve got all the names but three,” Frank said.

“Good. Been on the satellite view lately?”

“No,” Frank said. “Been busy hacking. Why?”

“Something’s going on. Trucks have been going back and forth between the trailers and the industrial park all day long, one after another.”

“Want me to take a look with the long-range app?” Jane asked, sitting at her laptop.

“Yeah,” the General said.

She nodded and loaded that program. It came up and she studied it. Then an icon appeared and disappeared in the space of about two seconds.

“Whoa!” she said. “Icon just showed, then disappeared.”

“Where?”

“Where those double wide trailers are,” she said.

“They can’t pull vehicles all the way in there,” Frank said. “I’ve got an idea. Move over.”

Frank went over to Jane’s laptop and went into the settings of her long range app. He set a recording switch on by clicking on a check box.

“What’s that?”

“History. You’ll need to keep this running, at least in the background. It will record any icon that pops up, even for a split second. We’ll get a timestamp and the data on the chips for each.”

“Good,” the General said.

“Just got a hit,” Jane said. “Little longer this time. They’re loading or unloading something by the double-wide trailers. Oh, there’s another one.”

***

Rosie woke with a start. Jeb was up, walking towards the bathroom, pulling his IV stand with him.

“You walk?”

“Yeah,” he said. “I feel a lot stronger than I did yesterday. I’m gonna beat this.”

“Yes, you beat,” Rosie said. “But don’t push self too hard.”

“I won’t, sweetie.” He went in the bathroom for a minute. Rosie sat up, trying to shake off the sleep. After a moment, she heard the toilet flush, and Jeb headed back to his bed.

“This war is winding down,” Jeb said. “I’ve been watching cable news while you were sleeping.”

“Yes, apps kill them off,” Rosie said. “Kill them good.”

“When’s the last time you heard from the park?”

“Yesterday,” she said. “Everything go fine there. No more attacks.”

“Good,” Jeb said, lying back. He pulled the sheet over himself. “Doc should be coming in today. Hopefully they’ll have a better idea when I can get out of here.”

“No rush,” Rosie said. “We have all time in world.”

“I know, but I’m getting a little stir-crazy.”

“Me too,” Rosie said. “But we not go until ready. You don’t push doctor.”

“Don’t worry, honey.”

***

Kerry and Scott were sitting in the storage unit.

“What are we gonna do with the station wagon if we buy the motor home?” Kerry asked.

“I don’t know yet,” Scott said. His phone rang. He answered it.

“Hello?”

“Hi, I’m at the motor home,” a woman’s voice said.

“Great, we’ll be down in a minute.” Scott slipped the phone in his pocket. “Let’s go. Remember what I said.”

“Okay, Scotty,” he said. They left the unit, Scott pulling down the door and locking it on the way out. They hurried down the stairs and walked out onto the blacktop. There was a woman of about thirty five standing by the motor home. She looked like bar trash to Scott; tight top and short skirt looking about a size too small, teased bleach-blonde hair, chewing gun. She smiled when she saw him coming.

“Hi there,” she said. “I’m Cindy.”

“I’m Scott, and this is Kerry. Thanks for coming.”

“Thank you,” she said. “Hope we can make a deal. I want to be rid of this thing.”

“Does it run?” Scott asked.

“Of course. My idiot ex-husband spent way too much money on this thing. The last big purchase was tires. Those are only about eight months old. Cost a shit-load of money.”

Scott watched as she unlocked the side door and opened it.

“I take it you ended up with this in a divorce?” Scott asked, squeezing by her to enter the door. She reeked of cheap perfume.

“Yeah,” she said, chomping her gum. “I took it to spite him. He loved this thing. Screw him.”

The inside of the coach was nicer than Scott expected. Everything was clean. There was a flat screen TV mounted on the wall, and the seat cushions looked new. So did the microwave.

“Wow, lots of new stuff in here,” Scott said.

“Yeah, like I said, the idiot spent way too much money on this thing. Then he took his floozy out in it.”

Scott studied her.
What a piece of work.

“Hey, Scotty, can I check out the bunk?”

“Of course,” he said.

“He a little slow?” Cindy whispered.

“Yeah,” Scott whispered back, getting closer to her. “He’s my brother.”

“You take care of him?” she asked, her eyes softening.

“I’m the only family he’s got left,” Scott said. “We’re buddies. I’m glad he’s with me.”

“What do you know, there
are
nice men left in this world,” she said, moving a little closer to him, looking into his eyes. He could smell the spearmint from her gum, mixed with a touch of gin.

“Can I fire up the engine?” he asked, breaking her out of her trance.

“Oh, yeah, sure. It’s had an engine rebuild. That’s how Zeke got it so cheap. The engine was blown when he bought it. He rebuilt it himself.” She handed him the keys. “Help yourself. Drive it around the lot.”

“Okay, thanks,” Scott said, taking the keys and climbing into the front seat. The engine turned over quickly. He let it warm up for a few seconds, and then drove off, circling the building a couple of times, trying everything in the cockpit. He parked back in the space and turned the engine off, then came into the back.

“We gonna buy it, Scotty?” Kerry asked.

“We’ll see,” Scott said. He looked at all of the appliances in the kitchen, checked the bathroom, and the bed.

“That bed isn’t bad, even though it’s just a corner bed,” Cindy said.

“Feels okay,” Scott said, checking the curtain that pulled across the opening. “Not a lot of privacy, but it’ll do.”

“I’d show you better if your brother wasn’t here,” Cindy whispered.

Scotty glanced at her, a sly smile on his face.
My, aren’t we forward?

“What do you think?” she asked. “It comes with everything in it. Kitchen stuff. Tools out in the storage compartment, and some folding chairs. There’s even some food in the pantry. Oh, and bedding. Nice stuff, but I don’t want it, since the bitch used it.”

“Everything in here comes with it, eh. How about you?” Scott said, shooting her a flirtatious look.

She shot him a sexy glance. “Seriously, you interested in the coach?”

“Give you nine grand,” Scott said.

“I’m asking eleven,” she said.

“I know, but it’s old,” Scott said. “Got cash. Right here, right now.” He pulled the wad of hundred dollar bills out of his pocket and counted them out. Cindy’s eyes got wider, and she smiled.

“Cash, huh?” she said.

“Yeah,” Scott said. “You’ve got the title with you, right?”

“In my purse,” she said, pulling it out. “Registration was paid up a couple months ago.”

“Wouldn’t it be nice to be rid of this?” he asked.

She leaned against the kitchen counter, thinking it through for a few minutes. When she looked up, Scott shot her the flirty glance. She smiled. “Okay, you’ve got yourself a motor home. Let’s do the paperwork.”

They sat at the dinette and took care of the transfer documents. Scott handed over the cash, and Cindy handed over the keys.

“Okay, it’s all yours,” she said, getting up. She walked to the door. Scott followed her. When they got outside, she turned to him and got closer so she could whisper. “You really interested?”

“Sure,” Scott said, eyeing her heaving breasts and her sly smile.

“Good, then come by and see me later,” she said. “My address is on the paperwork. You already have my phone number.”

“Maybe I’ll do that,” Scott said. “Probably won’t be tonight. Got a lot to do. Tomorrow or the next day?”

“Sure, but call me first,” she said.

As she turned to leave, he slapped her butt. She giggled, turning around and smiling at him. Scott went back into the coach as she drove away.

“Scotty, this is so neat!” Kerry said, climbing out of the bunk. “It’s got a better bunk than Howie’s motor home. It’s got windows on both sides that open.”

“Good, glad you like it,” Scott said, smiling. “I’m going to chat with the owner of this place about storing the station wagon here. I’ll be in the office for a few minutes. Why don’t you bring the ice chest and pillows here and make yourself at home for a while?”

“Sure, Scotty,” he said. Scott handed him the keys to the station wagon and walked towards the office.

“Hello, sir,” the man behind the counter said. “Anything the matter?”

“No, far from it,” Scott said. “I just bought a motor home.”

“Oh, that’s why I saw Cindy here,” the man said, grinning. “Zeke’s gonna be pissed.”

“Oh, you know the ex-husband?”

“Yeah, total redneck, but fun to go drinking with, if you don’t mind a brawl every once in a while. That coach was his pride and joy.”

“He doesn’t have access to this place, does he?” Scott asked.

“His card doesn’t work anymore,” the man said. “But he probably still knows the gate code.”

“Wonderful,” Scott said.

“Don’t worry, we all know him. If he shows up, we call the cops. He tried to come in here and steal it about four months ago, after his wife took it in the divorce. He got warned. The cops told him he’d better not be back.”

Scott leaned on the counter. “I’d like to keep that space if I can.”

“You going to leave the coach here?”

“Most of the time I’ll be in that,” Scott said. “I’m between houses right now. I’d like to leave my station wagon there for now.”

“Sure, no problem,” he said. “You even get a discount since you have a unit here.”

“Good, then sign me up.”

“We go by the foot,” he said. “You want to keep it at the twenty three feet, so you can leave the coach here if you want to?”

“Sure, that’s a good idea,” Scott said. “One other thing. Could we stay in the coach here for a few nights?”

“You mean camp?” he asked.

“Yeah.”

“Well, normally we don’t allow that, but in your situation, I’ll make an exception, as long as it’s only three nights.”

“Great, thanks so much,” Scott said. “How much for a year?”

“Nine hundred,” he said.

“I’ll pay you for three months, if that’s okay,” Scott said.