Bug Out! Part 5: RV Flight from Terror (3 page)

“Ah, geez,” Jerry said. “I hope this is just a lot of nutcase bullshit. I’d really like to trust our government.”

“You and me both,” Frank said.

The three men continued to work until about 1:00, and got all of the cameras installed on their side of the park. It was starting to get hot outside, and they were tired and hungry. Frank already given water to Lucy a couple of times, and her little tongue was hanging out of her mouth.

“Let’s drop this stuff off at the clubhouse and grab a bite to eat,” Frank said.

“Yeah,” Jerry said. “We got what we needed to get done.”

The three walked back, and saw Charlie and Earl and Jackson walking towards the clubhouse. They met at the veranda.

“Well, how’d you do?” Charlie asked.

“Done with the cameras and the cables,” Jerry said. “You?”

“Same, we’re done. The hardest part was getting the cable back to the parking lot and blind cameras, but we got them strung just fine. There’s more soldiers in the back now, by the way.”

“Really?” Frank asked. “I didn’t see them come in.”

“I think they came in off of the back road,” Jackson said. “They’ve got a full up encampment back there now. I don’t think anybody is going to surprise us coming from that direction again.”

“Good, too bad we won’t be around to take advantage of that,” Frank said.

The men carried their left over supplies and the tools back into the clubhouse.

“Where should we install the DVR units?” Jerry asked.

“I’m thinking we put them in the shed where we found this stuff, on that big work bench,” Frank said. “I’ll move a wireless hub in there too. We have way more hubs than we need out in the park. I’ll grab one from the outskirts that nobody is close to.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Jerry said. “Why don’t you let me do that part of the setup, so you can get on the software?”

“That would be great,” Frank said. “I’ll go back to my rig to get started. Let me know if you need help with anything and I’ll come running. Otherwise I’ll see you guys at 4:00 in the clubhouse.”

The men nodded to Frank, and he left, with Lucy loping alongside of him. She was hot, tired, and hungry.

“Hey, honey,” Frank said as he entered the coach. The cool air felt good.

“Back here,” Jane said from the bedroom. She had some boxes and a couple of bags full of stuff sitting on the bed. She was loading up the two backpacks.

“Better save room in one of those backpacks for the laptop and iPad,” Frank said.

“Of course,” she said. “Hungry?”

“I could eat,” Frank said.

“Good, I made some tuna salad.”

“Excellent. I’m going to get the laptop going.” He stopped by the fridge and got himself a big glass of ice water from the dispenser. Lucy drank some water out of her dish, and then crawled into her bed. Frank chuckled as he watched her settle in. “Lucy’s done.”

“Yeah, I’ll bet she is,” Jane said. She walked out of the bedroom and opened the freezer. She pulled out a frozen loaf of bread, and put it on the counter.

“Nice to be in the air conditioning,” Frank said. “It’s getting a tad hot out there.”

“How did you guys do?”

“Good….all the cameras are installed and the cable is run.”

“Already? I’m impressed.”

“Jerry is going to hook up the DVR and get a wireless hub set up next to it, in the shed back by the barn.”

“What time do the festivities start?” Jane asked.

“The Funeral is at 4:00 in the clubhouse.”

“And the wedding afterwards. I’d hate to have my wedding right after the funeral of a friend.”

“I know, it must feel pretty weird, but you’ve got to do the best you can,” Frank said. The laptop was up now, and he loaded his C++ programming environment. “It’s times like this when I miss my desktop machine. This is going to take a while to compile.”

“You’ll manage,” Jane said. She slid a plate over to him that had a tuna sandwich on it.

“Mmmmmm, thanks.” He picked up the sandwich and took a bite. “Hear anything more about this martial law business?”

“No, not really. I tried to call Robbie several times. His phone rings, but it goes to voice mail.”

“He might be going through some of the Army induction stuff today,” Frank said.

“Hope it’s nothing more serious than that. I’m worried about him.”

“None of the guys heard anything about this stuff going on in California, but then none of them are from California.”

Jane sat down on the other side of the dinette with her sandwich and started eating. Mr. Wonderful sauntered over.

“No tuna for you,” she told him sternly. He stared back at her blankly. Then he meowed, and walked away.

Frank spent the next several hours working on his software, as Jane continued to go through things in the coach.

“Frank, it’s almost 4:00,” she said, breaking him out of the programming trance he was in. “We’ve got about ten minutes to change and get over there.”

“Alright, thanks, honey,” Frank said. He saved his work and shut down the laptop. They both got dressed.

“Maybe we should feed the animals,” Jane said.

“Sounds good,” she said.

They walked Lucy, then fed the critters.

“We need to take at least a few cans of pet food,” Frank said. “In case we can’t get to a store quick enough.”

“I packed some already,” Jane said. “What’re we going to do about a toad?”

“That’s a good question,” Frank said. “We should ask the General about that.”

“I’m ready,” Jane said, walking out. She looked beautiful in her dress. Frank took her in.

“Wow,” he said. “Aren’t you a dish.” She blushed and shook her head.

“Let’s go,” she said. They left the rig and headed towards the clubhouse. People were streaming in ahead of them.

The room was filling up fast. The Sheriff was there, with a few people from town who knew Chester, Charlie, and Hilda. The Reverend was already up at the podium. There were flowers on either side.

“I’ll bet the Sheriff brought those flowers in from town,” Jane said. “They look nice.”

Jerry came in with Jasmine and Rosie, all dressed nicely. They sat down on the bench next to Frank and Jane. Jackson and Earl came in and slid next to them. Charlie and Hilda were dressed for their wedding, and were sitting up on the front row with Jeb, the Sheriff, and the town people.

The Reverend cleared his throat and put his hands up.

“Let’s take our seats, Ladies and Gentlemen.”

People sat down, and a hush came over the room. Major Hobbs, Lieutenant James, and General Walker snuck into the back of the room and sat down.

“Thank you all for coming,” the Reverend said. “Today we are here to honor our fallen friend Chester Simpson. I see old friends and new friends out in the crowd……”

The Reverend went on for about ten minutes. Then he said the final prayers, thanked the crowd, and sat down.

Charlie and Hilda and Jeb got up and left the room. People murmured amongst themselves for about five minutes or so. Then the Sheriff got up and went to the front. He pulled a boom box out of the credenza and plugged it in. He pushed play, and the wedding march started playing.

A hush came over the room. The Reverend came back up to the podium. The office door in the front of the room opened and Charlie walked out. He slowly came over next to the podium. He looked at the back door. Jeb entered, with Hilda on his arm. The crowd stood and turned towards them as they walked slowly up to the front. When they got to the front, Jeb kissed Hilda on the cheek, and sat down. She turned towards Charlie, a smile on her face and tears in her eyes. The sheriff shut off the music, and the crowd sat down.

The Reverend started to speak.

“Good afternoon and welcome again. Charlie and Hilda are so glad to have you here on this beautiful day. Love is a miraculous gift, and a wedding is a celebration of that magic, and that is why we are here today. We are gathered together to be overjoyed for, and with, Charlie and Hilda, who are so wonderfully suited to one another that it is a pure delight to see. We are here to celebrate, witness, honor, dance, laugh, sing, eat, and be glad because these two people have found each other at this stage of their lives.”

A few of the women started to cry. The Reverend continued, asking Charlie the familiar, yet warm words of the Wedding Ceremony.

“I do,” Charlie said.

When asked, Hilda also agreed, luckily for Charlie, who was unconsciously holding his breath.

“Do you have the rings?”

Jeb got up and handed the rings to the Reverend, and sat back down. The Reverend handed one to Charlie and one to Hilda. They put the rings on each other, smiling like school children.

“Charlie and Hilda, by the power invested in me, I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride.”

Charlie pulled Hilda to him and kissed her tenderly. The crowd stood and clapped. The couple turned around and faced them.

“I now present Mr. and Mrs. Charlie Ackerman,” the Reverend said.

The Sheriff hit the boom box again, and played the recessional music. Charlie and Hilda walked arm in arm to the back of the room, and out the door onto the veranda. People were clapping and laughing and hugging each other and crying.

“Alright, let’s get this party going,
” the Sheriff said after he shut off the recessional.

People were filing out to the veranda to congratulate Charlie and Hilda, who were still standing out there as the sun was setting. Then they came back into the clubhouse. Some of the towns people went back outside and picked up some trays of food from the van they came in. They got it set up on the table by the window. Jeb went into the kitchen and rolled the cocktail cart back out. Somebody brought in a case of champagne and got that set up with some ice and plastic glasses next to the food table.

“Maybe I bartend,” Rosie said. “Since we don’t have Chester…” She broke down and cried. Jasmine rushed over and hugged her.

General Walker and Major Hobbs walked out on the veranda as the crowd out there died down.

“Congratulations,” the General said.

“Yes, Congrats,” Major Hobbs said.

“Will you stick around for some food and drinks?” Hilda asked.

“For a few minutes,” General Walker said.

“Great!” Charlie said.

People lined up for food. Not too many people wanted to drink. Jeb opened up a couple bottles of champagne. Charlie and Hilda walked in, and people turned and clapped. They mingled with the crowd, and got themselves some champagne and some food.

Jane and Frank were sitting down at one of the tables, starting to eat. They watched the crowd.

“I don’t know whether to be happy or sad,” Jane said. “This is strange.”

“I know, I’ve got the same feeling,” Frank said.

“Hopefully it won’t go on too long.”

Jerry and Jasmine walked over to them with their food.

“Mind if we join you?” Jerry asked.

“Of course not,” Frank said. “Kind of a somber affair.”

“I know, this is strange,” Jasmine said. “Mom just started crying over there, when she remembered Chester tending bar at the Happy Hour. That seems like so long ago now.”

“Yes, it does,” Jane said.

“Everybody seems so uneasy,” Jerry said. “Are we doing the right thing by leaving?”

“I don’t know,” Frank said. “I think so. Time will tell.”

“Mom’s not happy about it. She thinks we should stand and fight,” Jasmine said.

“She doesn’t know how many there are,” Frank said. “If we could make a difference, I’d agree with her, but this is the army’s job, and they’ve got good folks stationed here. We’re just in the way at this point.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Jerry said. “I’m nervous, but I think I’d rather be on the road in the safe zone than hanging around here, even if we do have to worry about a few people trying to track us down. I think we can be pretty tough to find, if we put our minds to it.”

“I agree, but it’s still going to be hard to leave this place,” Frank said. “It was starting to feel like home here.”

Jeb walked over.

“Charlie and Hilda are leaving to have their wedding night,” Jeb said. “You guys sticking around?”

“I don’t know,” Frank said. “What do you think, sweetie?”

“I think I just want to go home and relax for the rest of the evening,” Jane said.

“Me too,” Jasmine said. “Will you take us home, Jerry?”

“How about your mom?”

“I’ll check with her. If she wants to stick around for a while, we could come get her later.”

“Judging by the rate that people are slipping out of here, I don’t think there’ll be people here for her to chat with anyway,” Jeb said. “This was a tough day.”

Jasmine got up and walked over to Rosie. They talked, and then Jasmine looked back over at Jerry and nodded.

“Good, she wants to go home,” Jerry said. He got up. “See you folks in the morning.”

“Let’s go home, Frank,” Jane said.

“I’m ready. I don’t even see Earl or Jackson around anymore.”

They got up, and worked their way to the door, saying goodbye to people as they went.

“Oh, wait,” Jane said. “Maybe we should carry all that food into the walk-in fridge.”

Frank looked back at the crowd.

“Okay, looks like there’s nobody waiting to have any.”

They carried the food trays into the kitchen and put them away. Jeb pushed the cocktail cart back into the kitchen too.

“I’ll just leave the champagne on the table,” Jeb said. “It’ll keep.”

Frank nodded, and looked over at Jane.

“Let’s go,” she said.

They got out into the cool evening air.

“I’m so glad to be out of there,” Jane said. “I hope this wasn’t as depressing for Charlie and Hilda as it was for me.”

“Me too,” Frank said.

They walked silently back to their coach. Lucy started barking when they got onto their site. Frank unlocked the door and held it open for Jane. Lucy rushed past her, jumping, tail wagging.

“Somebody wants to take a walk,” Jane said. “I’ll go too. It’s nice out here.” She reached for the leash, and came back out. hooking up Lucy as Frank locked the door back up.

“I know we’re getting another coach just like this one, but I am feeling so sad about leaving this one behind,” Jane said.