Bug Out! Part 12: RV Alliance (15 page)

“Yes, he awake. I hand him phone.”

“Thanks,” Jasmine said.

Rosie rolled her chair closer to Jeb and held out her phone.

“Jerry want to talk,” she said.

“Great,” Jeb said, putting the phone to his ear.

“Jerry?”

“Jeb, how the hell are you?”

“Pretty well, considering,” Jeb said. “I can walk on my own again. Just don’t make me laugh yet.”

“How’s Rosie holding up?”

“She’s been great,” Jeb said.

“Good. You guys hear anything from Charlie about what’s going on now?”

“No,” Jeb said.

“Okay, I’ll tell you, and leave it up to you about Rosie, okay?”

“Go on,” Jeb said.

“The UN is going around the southwest handing out small pox vaccine.”

“Huh?” Jeb said. “Why them?”

“They’re also trying to disarm the population.”

“Oh, really now,” Jeb said. “Sounds like we got some work to do.”

“We just finished off about ten of them in a fire fight in Grand Junction.”

“You bring any extra rifles with you?” Jeb asked.

Rosie looked over at him, alarmed.

“Yeah, Jeb, but you’re going to take it easy until you’re ready, okay?”

“I hear you,” Jeb said. “General Hogan know about this?”

“Yeah,” Jerry said. “I’ll fill you in. We’ll probably be there tomorrow night.”

“You guys safe there?”

“I don’t know,” Jerry said. “We’re with another group organized by General Walker. They heard about us from him. Oh, and they know how to fight. We made short work of the blue helmets. General Hogan told us to kill them whenever we see them.”

“Okay,” Jeb said. “I won’t hide this from Rosie.”

“No problem,” Jerry said. “Keep your eyes open. Regular army still at the hospital?”

“Yeah, and in town,” Jeb said. “Maybe I can chat with the commander.”

“Don’t make any waves,” Jerry said. “We want to get there, pick you up, and get you home safe.”

“Understand,” Jeb said.

“Okay, I’ll put Jasmine back on so she can say goodbye to her mom.”

“Thanks, Jerry. Nice talking with you.”

“Same,” Jerry said.

Jeb handed the phone back to Rosie.

“Mom?” Jasmine asked.

“What Jerry tell Jeb? I worried.”

“It’s okay, mom. He’ll tell you. Take care, and don’t let Jeb rock the boat. We’ll be there tomorrow night.”

“Okay, honey. See you. Protect self.” She ended the call and put the phone on the table next to her.

“Don’t worry, I’ll tell you,” Jeb said.

“Good,” Rosie said. “Daughter always afraid I can’t handle. I can.”

“I know, sweetie. There are UN folks in our country, pretending to be helping with small pox vaccinations.”

“What they really do?”

“They’re trying to disarm citizens,” Jeb said. “The kids are with another group like us.”

“Like us?”

“Organized by General Walker,” Jeb said. “They just killed a bunch of UN guys.”

“Now me worry about Jasmine and Jerry.”

“I know, me too,” Jeb said. “But they’ll be okay. I can feel it. We’ll see them soon.”

“We fight our way home,” Rosie said. “Now I glad they have extra guns.”

“Me too,” Jeb said. “I’m ready to kill more cretins.”

***

Kerry tried to sneak back into the Class C. It was dusk. The rocking of the coach woke Scott. He sat up in bed, and Cindy woke up.

“Night already?” Cindy asked, stretching.

“Yeah,” Scott said. “Hey Kerry, that you?”

“Hi, Scotty,” he said. “I just got back from the pool.”

“You sound happy,” Scott said.

“I met nice girls there,” he said. “You getting up now?”

Scott shimmied his way out of the corner bed, and got dressed.

“You met girls over there, eh?” Scott asked. “Let me guess. One was tall and blonde, the other one shorter with dark hair.”

Kerry’s face lit up. “You met them too?”

“Yeah, they were in the spa with Cindy and me last night,” Scott said. “Cameron and Shannon.”

“I liked them,” Kerry said. “They were nice to me.”

“Good,” Scott said. Cindy got out of bed, buttoning her blouse.

“Kerry met the girls?” Cindy said. “That’s nice.”

“Yes,” Scott said. “Hungry?”

“Famished,” she said. “Probably shouldn’t go to the restaurant again. I peeked out the window. Lots more coaches here now.”

“Thursday night. The three-day weekend folks are showing up,” Scott said.

“Looks like it,” Cindy said. “What do we have to eat?”

“There’s some stuff in the freezer,” Scott said.

“Can I eat the leftover Kraft Dinner?” Kerry asked.

“Of course,” Scott said.

Cindy looked in the freezer. “Tilapia loins,” she said. “I saw some potatoes in the pantry, too.”

“Yeah, brought those from my house in Columbus. We also have some veggies.”

“Great,” she said. “I can work with that.”

“Cook plenty of veggies,” Scott said. “Kerry, I want you to eat some veggies, okay? Kraft Dinner isn’t that good for you by itself.”

“Do I gotta?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Scott said.

“I’ll make them tasty, don’t you worry,” Cindy said, smiling. “Sit down, Scott, and let me take care of this.”

“Okay,” Scott said. He sat in the dinette and watched her work. “This is what turned me.”

“What?” Cindy asked.

“Watching you,” he said.

“Really?”

“Yeah,” he said. “Don’t know why. I think you leave your bar persona behind.”

She laughed. “You like moms.”

“Well, maybe that’s part of it,” Scott said.

“I didn’t like my mom,” Kerry said. He had a worried look on his face.

“She can never hurt you again, Kerry,” Scott said.

“Mom was a problem?” Cindy asked. “What happened to her?”

“She got killed in that biker thing that Howard and I were involved in,” Scott said.

“Oh,” she said. “Wouldn’t she also be
your
mom, since you’re brothers?”

“We’re cousins,” Kerry said.

Cindy glanced at Scott, questioning. He shook his head no.

“Kerry, why don’t you get the chairs pulled out of the storage compartment? Set them up under the awning.”

“Okay, Scotty.” He went out the door.

“What’s the story?” Cindy asked quietly.

“My dad raped his mom,” Scott said. “He had self-control issues.”

“Kerry doesn’t know?”

“He’s not going to understand, so I just leave it at cousins instead of half-brothers,” Scott said. “I only found out about this recently.”

“How?”

“She told me,” Scott said.

“Oh,” Cindy said. “Must have been a nice conversation. What are we going to do? Leave tomorrow night?”

“Yeah,” Scott said.

“Still want to snatch Shannon?”

“If we can do it without getting nailed, yeah,” Scott said. “I’m not going to be stupid. I’ve cooled down since last night.”

“Well, if we go to the spa and they show up, maybe we should leave.”

“You don’t want to play the game with her?” Scott asked.

“Oh, I’d love it, but there will be other chances, and it’d be better for us if we were further away.”

“All right,” Scott said. “I’ll try, but no guarantees. I know myself too well.”

Kerry came back in. “I set up all five of the chairs,” he said. “In case Cameron and Shannon come by.”

“They know which coach we’re in?” Scott asked.

“Yeah, they walked me home,” Kerry said.

Scott shot a wicked glance at Cindy.

***

“You just quit the FBI?” Ted asked, after Agent Williams tossed his badge in the trash.

“Not officially. I guess I shouldn’t be so rash,” he said, fishing the badge out and throwing it on the table. “I can’t trust them now. The brass is going along with what the UN is doing.”

“Shredding the Constitution doesn’t bother them?” Malcolm asked.

“They don’t look at it that way,” Agent Williams said. “More like the way we looked at Japanese interment during the war.
It’ll just be temporary.”

Malcolm cracked up. “Yeah, whatever,” he said. “It’s been suggested to us that we resist.”

“Who made that suggestion?” Agent Williams said.

Ted held up his hand. “Don’t say anything. This room might be bugged.”

“Let’s go outside and chat,” Malcolm said.

They went out into the parking lot. Agent Weiss and Agent Simone had just pulled in, and were walking towards the door with bags of food.

“Everything okay?” Agent Weiss asked.

“Yeah,” Agent Williams said. “We’re just getting some air. Take the food inside. We’ll be there shortly.”

The two nodded and kept walking towards the door.

“Okay, who are you guys working with?” Agent Williams asked.

“General Hogan,” Malcolm said.

“I had a feeling,” Agent Williams said.

“You know him?” Ted asked.

“Not well, but I knew General Walker, and Hogan was his protégé. He been hiding out with you guys?”

“I didn’t think of it as
hiding out
originally,” Malcolm said. “Now I’m getting the idea that he’s part of the resistance.”

“He’s wanted,” Agent Williams said. “Hope he’s in a safe place.”

“Well, the enemy knows where he is,” Malcolm said. “At least the
Islamist
enemy. They blew up his chopper on our front lawn.”

“What do we do now?” Ted asked.

“I’m joining the resistance,” Agent Williams said.

“I’d advise you not to burn your bridges with the bureau until it’s absolutely necessary,” Ted said. “It’s still a good source of information.”

“Agreed,” Agent Williams said.

“You want to join us?” Malcolm asked.

“If you’re with General Hogan, yes,” Agent Williams said.

“What about those two?” Ted asked, nodding towards the police station.

“They’re young career-oriented agents,” Agent Williams said. “They’re good, but they aren’t ready for this. After we get finished with the task at hand, I’ll send them on their way and disappear for a while.”

Malcolm laughed out loud. “Yeah, I can see this. You disappear, and they’ll be folks in the bureau that think I took you out, along with Agent Keith.”

Agent Williams chuckled. “Nah, they aren’t going to think that. I already gave them the evidence on Agent Keith, and we’ve had a team of people going over the house in Columbus. They know you didn’t do it. Even the guys who used to believe Agent Keith.”

“What tipped the scale?” Malcolm asked.

“Same thing that tipped the scale with me,” Agent Williams said. “Agent Keith’s semen in the coed. There’s also the fact that you guys were nowhere near Columbus when the crime went down.”

A car pulled into the parking lot, and a short man, bald, with horn-rimmed glasses hurried out, looking at his watch.

“Hey, you the guy from Akron?” Agent Williams asked. “I’m Special Agent Williams.”

“Yes, yes, I’m Charles Delson,” he said, walking over, hand extended. “You have a badge, right?”

“It’s inside,” Agent Williams said. “C’mon.”

The men walked into station.

“Hey, Ted, you want to let Chief Hanson know that Mr. Delson is here?”

“Sure,” Ted said, walking towards the front desk.

Malcolm, Agent Williams, and Delson went into the office. Agent Simone and Agent Weiss were in the corner wolfing down burgers.

Chief Hanson rushed in with Ted.

“Took you long enough,” Chief Hanson said.

“I know, sorry,” Delson said. “Big roadblock on I-70. Damn UN.”

Agent Williams glanced at Malcolm and Ted. Chief Hanson had a quizzical look on his face.

“What’s the frigging UN doing here?” Chief Hanson asked.

“Helping with small pox vaccinations,” Delson said, “but they were throwing their weight around way too much. A bunch of folks revolted and smashed through their barricades. They were trying to search everybody’s cars. I’d be later if it wasn’t for the folks who fought back.”

Agents Weiss and Simone looked up from their burgers, trying to hear the conversation.

“Those creeps better not try that crap here,” Chief Hanson said. “I’ll call out the frigging riot squad.”

“Exactly the right attitude to have, Chief,” Malcolm said, smiling.

“You making fun of me?” he asked.

“No, I’m deadly serious,” Malcolm said. “Really.”

“Let’s get finished up with Mr. Delson and be on our way,” Ted said.

“I’m probably not going to be much help,” Delson said. “Just bought this business a few years ago. Have a whole string of places. They all had different computer systems. We’re trying to get them all up on a new system, but we haven’t gotten to this place yet.”

“Shall we go over there?” Chief Hanson asked.

“Might as well,” Delson said. “I can at least get us into the office. Maybe there’ll be some notes that’ll tell us where the cop killer’s unit is.”

“That would be nice,” Malcolm said.

“What are you expecting to find, anyway?” Delson asked as they headed for the door.

“Clues to his whereabouts and identity,” Agent Williams said.

“How’s my guy?” Delson asked.

“Drew,” Chief Hanson said. “Still in a coma.”

“Oh, that’s so horrible,” Delson said as they got to the parking lot.

Four vehicles pulled into
the parking lot at the storage yard. The men met at the office door as Delson fumbled with a large key ring. He got the right key after several tries and opened the door.

“Sorry, folks, haven’t been here since the sale went through,” Delson said. He found the light switch and flipped it on. Malcolm, Chief Hanson, Ted, and Agent Williams followed him inside. Agents Simone and Weiss stayed outside.

“Is that blood on the floor by the back door?” Malcolm asked, pointing.

“That’s where we found Drew,” Chief Hanson said, grim look on his face. “Poor kid never hurt anyone.”

Delson went behind the front counter, looking around the PC monitor and keyboard. “I don’t see any notes lying around,” he said.

“That’s the station wagon from the house, right?” Ted asked, pointing out the window into the yard.

“Yeah, that’s it,” Agent Williams said.

“Wonder if that’s the same space that the Class C was sitting on?” Malcolm asked.

“Looks like it to me,” Chief Hanson said. “We were here a few months ago, due to an altercation over it.”