Bug Out! Part 3: Motorhome Madness (5 page)

“Ah, perfect,” Charlie said. He smiled at her as she handed him the cup.

“Here’s a couple bottles of water, too,” she said.

“What’s going on down there?”

“The army is looking around down by the blinds.”

“Good,” Charlie said. “This is going to get our people working together, but I got out of there so I wouldn’t come on too strong again.”

“You didn’t come on too strong, Charlie,” Hilda said. “Sometimes people need to figure out what’s right on their own. Remember that these folks were taken for a ride by some pretty bad element before you met them.”

“Yeah, I know,” Charlie said. “They are all good folks, too. We’re lucky they showed up. It could have been a lot worse.”

“I know. I had such a nice time at Happy Hour, until the thing happened with Arthur.”

“Did the Army ask about him?”

“No, they didn’t know,” Hilda said, ”until we brought it up.”

“Oh. I just figured that the Sheriff would have brought it up.”

“I don’t think he talked to them until the fire fight happened this morning.”

“Alright,” Charlie said. “Are any of the guests making noise like they want to leave?”

“A few, but the Sheriff is still saying that the road is too dangerous, and then we have those reports of Islamists coming down from Canada. But you never know what’s going to happen. If it’s obvious that we have more trouble coming here, we all may be leaving.”

“True.” Charlie turned and looked out into the distance in front of the park. He took a sip of his coffee, and Hilda came up alongside him. She put his arm around his waist, and he put his arm on her shoulder.

Back behind the park Jerry, Major Hobbs, and the Sheriff made it over the creek and into the flat meadow that was used as a parking spot. There was a beat up old Suburban sitting there. The Sheriff started to double time it over.

“Sheriff, don’t walk around there carelessly,” Jerry shouted. “We need to check for tire tracks around it.”

“You’re right,” he said, and he slowed down until the other two men caught up.

Looks like a militia vehicle to me,” Major Hobbs said.

“Yeah, sure does,” the Sheriff said.

“Look at those tire tracks next to it. Those are fresh,” Jerry said. “And look at those drops of blood.”

Jerry, the Sheriff, and Major Hobbs
looked down at the fresh tire tracks, and the spots of blood next to them.

“Well, It’s pretty obvious at least one man escaped that fire fight,” Major Hobbs said.

“Let’s follow the tracks to the highway. Maybe we can tell what direction they took off,” Jerry said.

The other two men nodded, and they followed Jerry as he tracked the fresh tread marks. They could follow them plainly all the way to the road.

“Looks like they turned left,” Jerry said, looking at the Sheriff. “What’s over there?”

“A few ranches, and then wilderness for a lot of miles,” the Sheriff said.

“So if we’re lucky, whoever escaped didn’t really know where they were going. If the driver was wounded badly, we may find him up the highway,” Jerry said.

“Alright, I’m going to call my troops back to the park, and we’ll get in our unit and follow the road in that direction,” the Major said. “Maybe we’ll get lucky. Sheriff, can you lead us from the front of the RV Park to this piece of road?”

“Sure thing, Major,” the Sheriff said.

“Wait a minute, before you guys dash off,” Jerry said. “This little parking area is only known by locals. These guys knew to come here in order to sneak into the RV Park. Whoever killed Arthur probably called them, and they’re probably still with us. How are we going to figure out who?”

“That’s a damn good question, Jerry,” Major Hobbs said. “Any suggestions, Sheriff?”

“I was here to do some interviews this morning, after we determined that Arthur was murdered,” the Sheriff said. “I was just starting that when we heard the shots fired.”

“I’ll tell you what, then,” Major Hobbs said. “After you get us out here, why don’t you go back to that? If we don’t figure out who the mole is, we’re going to have a big problem.”

“Agreed.”

“I think I’ll go up and keep Frank company for a while,” Jerry said.

“Got it,” Major Hobbs said. He pulled out his radio. “Lieutenant?”

“Roger.”

“Meet me back at the RV Park. We need to get in the Humvee and follow the highway. Looks like at least one person escaped from the fire fight. You see anything back here?”

“Well, we found a lot of fresh footprints. We were just following some that appear to be leading to the front part of the park.”

“How fresh?”

“I’d say this morning,” the Lieutenant answered.

“Good, follow those through to the end if you can. If the footsteps lead to a motor home, make note of which one it is, but don’t do anything. Meet me back at the clubhouse when you are done.”

The Major put his radio in his pocked.

“Alright, you guys heard that. Let’s go back to the clubhouse.”

The three men walked back across the creek, and over to the blind.

“Frank,” Jerry shouted. “I’m coming up.”

“Alright,” Frank said. Jerry put his carbine on his back with the sling and climbed up, as the Major and the Sheriff continued on to the gate.

“Well, what happened?” asked Frank.

“There was an old Suburban parked back there. Looks like a militia vehicle.”

“How can you tell?”

“It just screamed redneck, for one thing,” Jerry said. Both men cracked up.

“Interesting. Good that it’s still there, that probably means we got them all.”

“Nope. There were fresh tire tracks right next to it, and there were drops of blood on the ground. Somebody got away.”

“Shit. What now?”

“The Lieutenant saw some fresh foot tracks that appear to be leading from back here into the front half of the park. He’s tracking those with the rest of the troops.”

“Interesting,” Frank said. “I was thinking that somebody inside must have tipped off these scumbags. Otherwise how would they know about us? How would they know somebody was in the blind?”

“Yeah, I could see them coming to the front of the park, but how did they know about that parking area back there, and the trail over the creek?”

Frank nodded at Jerry.

“Yep, I’m guessing whoever killed Arthur also called these folks in.”

“Fraid so,” Jerry said. “The Major knows it too. He asked the Sheriff to lead them to the highway by the parking area so they can follow in the direction that the second car went. Then he told the Sheriff to come back and continue to investigate the murder of Arthur.”

“That Major is sharp. The Sheriff…..not so much.”

“Yeah, you got that right. That Sheriff is as dumb as a box of rocks. Probably no problem when all he had to do was keep rowdy campers under control.”

“Yeah,” Frank said. “And his partner reminds me of Barney Fife.” Both men cracked up again.

“I wish Jeb wasn’t hurt. He’s the only other good man we’ve got.”

“We should patch things up with Charlie if we are going to stick around.”

“I agree,” Jerry said. “How about Jackson and Earl?”

“I don’t trust them anymore,” Frank said. “Somebody is the mole. Might be one of them.”

“Could be. They were asking more questions than anybody else this morning when the Sheriff was briefing people on the fire fight.”

“Really? That’s interesting. We shouldn’t jump to any conclusions yet, though. Could be somebody else.”

“Agreed,” Jerry said. “How much booze is left?”

“A lot.”

“Good thing Rosie can’t get up here,” Jerry said, cracking up once again.

“Yeah, she’s a card. I can see why you like her so much. She’s the life of the party.”

“Yep. Jasmine tries to keep her in line. It’s funny to watch.”

“I take it you two don’t have any kids?”

“Nope, we got married a little too late for that. Second time around for me.”

“Where did you guys meet?”

“Work. Jasmine is pretty sharp, by the way.”

“I can tell.”

Franks phone rang. He answered it.

“Frank?” asked Jane.

“Yes, sweetie. What’s up?”

“Just wondering how much longer you are going to be out there.”

“Oh, probably not too much longer. I’m sure Lucy needs to get down and do some business, for one thing.”

“You alone?”

“No, Jerry is up here now.”

“Good. The Sheriff just took off with the Army guys, to show them how to get back to road by the parking area.”

“Did the Lieutenant say anything about the footsteps?”

“What footsteps?”

“Well, I guess not,” Frank said. “Apparently there were some fresh footsteps back here that looked like they came from the front part of the park. The Lieutenant and the four men found them. Major Hobbs told them to continue to track.”

Jerry got his attention.

“Just a sec, honey,” Frank said. “What?”

“Tell her not to say anything about the footsteps to anybody at the park,” Jerry said. “The Major didn’t want his guys to do anything if they led to a motor home.”

“You hear that, Sweetie?”

“Yes,” Jane said. “Understand, I’ll keep quiet.”

“How are things going down there?”

“Well, the clubhouse is more fun now that Rosie is here.”

Frank laughed.

“Yeah, Jerry and I were just talking about her. What’s going on with Charlie?”

“He’s still on watch, on the roof of the store. Hilda has been up there with him for a little while. She was taking him some coffee.”

“OK. I won’t be too much longer, I promise.”

“Bye, honey. I love you.”

“Love you too,” Frank said. He put his phone in his pocket.

“Sounds like Rosie is doing what she does best,” Jerry said.

“Yeah, sounds like.”

“If you want to go down, no problem. I’ll stick around up here.”

“Maybe in a little while. I’d rather wait until the Sheriff gets back, at least.”

“Alright,” Jerry said.

Back at the clubhouse, Hilda was just walking back in.

“Hi, all,” Hilda said. “How’s the coffee holding up?”

“We still have plenty,” Jane said. “How’s Charlie doing?”

“He’s fine. There hasn’t been much traffic on the road so far. What did the Major say before he left?”

“They found an old Suburban in the parking area, but there were also fresh tire tracks next to it, and a few drops of blood on the ground.”

Hilda got a sick look on her face.

“That means somebody escaped,” she said. “That’s not good.”

“Yep. The Major took his folks and went around to see if they could find the vehicle. It looks like it turned left on the highway.”

“Left, huh?” Hilda said. “Nothing back there other than a couple of ranches, and a lot of desert. Good way to get north, though.”

“Well, the Major is hoping that the person driving was wounded badly enough to have passed out down the road.”

“When Jerry come back?” asked Rosie, as she was walking up to them.

“Shouldn’t be too much longer,” Jane said. “I just talked to Frank on the phone. Jerry is up in the blind with him now.”

“Oh, that blind with booze?” she said, grinning.

Jane shook her head and laughed.

“Yes, that blind with the booze. And don’t forget the girly magazines.”

“Jerry not need girly magazines. He has my daughter. She better.”

“Oh, yes, I’m sure of that,” Jane said. She glanced over at Hilda, and all three ladies laughed.

“You keep Charlie warm at night?” Rosie asked, looking at Hilda. She got an embarrassed smile, and her face turned red.

“Well, I guess it’s really no secret,” Hilda said. “Charlie and I are together. We used to date in High School, by the way.”

“Really. But you married other man later?” asked Rosie.

“Yes, I married Jer instead. And Charlie married another lady. Both are gone now, so why not get together?”

“That good,” Rosie said. “Wish I could have old boyfriend now. He in Philippines. Maybe not alive anymore.”

“I know I’m lucky,” Hilda said. “I feel like a kid again.”

The Sheriff’s car drove up in front of the clubhouse. The Sheriff got out, and he had his deputy with him this time.

“Well, the Major is hot on the trail of that other car now,” the Sheriff said. “I need to continue my investigation on Arthur.”

“Good,” Jane said. “We need to figure that out.”

“Can you call Frank and Jerry, please?” I’ll send the Deputy back there to man the blind.”

“Sure, no problem,” Jane said. She pulled out her cellphone.

“Frank?”

“Hi, honey,” he said.

“The Sheriff is back, and wants to continue the investigation on Arthur’s death. Could you and Jerry come back here? The Deputy is coming out to take over in the blind.”

“Sure, we could use a break. We’ll come after the Deputy gets here.”

Jane hung up the phone.

“Alright, Sheriff, they’ll come back here after the Deputy gets out there.”

“Great, thank you,” he said. “Deputy, go on back, and take the rifle that I put in the trunk, with some ammo.”

“No problem,” he said as he was leaving. “I’ll radio you if I see anything.”

“Any more of that coffee left, Hilda?” asked the Sheriff.

“Sure, help yourself,” she said. “You want Jeb back here? He went back to his rig to sleep for a while.”

“Later,” he said. “The Doc left, I take it?”

“Yeah, he took off about the same time that the Major left.”

“Alright.”

Frank and Jerry walked through the door after about five minutes. They walked over to the Sheriff.

“Sheriff, maybe we should talk somewhere more private,” Jerry said.

You guys can use my office,” Hilda said. “It’s that door back in the rear of the room, next to the stage.”

“Thanks, Hilda,” the Sheriff said. “Let’s go.”

The three men walked back to the office door. The Sheriff opened it and ushered Jerry and Frank in.”

“Have a seat, guys,” the Sheriff said. Everybody sat down.

“Where’d the footprints lead?” asked Frank.

“Well, they definitely led into the park, through the side gate up towards the front, but after they got in a little ways, they were pretty well wiped out by other foot traffic from this morning.”