Bug Out! Part 7: Mile High Motorhomes (22 page)

“I’m going to take a squad up there and watch a truckload of enemy fighters with your app. We’ll make sure they get into an accident. That ought to help me with my story.”

“Good idea, as long as it looks like an accident,” Frank said. “We don’t want them to know how we’re finding them…yet.”

“What happens when they find out and start cutting chips out of themselves?” the General asked.

“I’ve got an app running that is taking a snapshot of the continental US maps every so often, and saving the jpg files to several servers. We’ll at least know where they were located when they removed the chips…but timing is important.”

“You think two weeks is long enough?” Jane asked. “Before we release the apps?”

“I’m going to say yes,” the General said. “I can’t stick around here, though. I’m going to get my men set up on the I-70 job. Then I’m going to Washington DC. I’m going to find some trustworthy people. We’ll need to be ready to kill all of the bastards there as soon as the cat’s out of the bag, before they can hide themselves.” He rose out of his seat. Frank got up too, and they shook hands. “Frank, I don’t have the words. I hope we see each other again.”

“You and me both, General. Godspeed.”

He left the coach and disappeared into the night. Frank sat back down.

“Did he come knock at the door?” Jane asked.

“No, I took Lucy out, and he approached me. Scared the crap out of me.”

“He knew to keep an eye out for a group of motorhomes, I guess.”

“He’s got access to both drones and satellites,” Frank said, “and you know what that means.”

“What?”

“It’s more than likely that the cretins in DC have access to those also. They might know where we are right now.”

Jane got a sick look on her face.

“I wouldn’t worry about it yet,” Frank said. “We do need to get back on the road, though.”

“Well, it’s about 5:30. I’m going to whip up some breakfast. Want to make more coffee?”

“Yeah,” Frank said.

Gabe and Dobie both came out of their motel rooms at about the same time. Dobie had all four of his dogs on leashes, and started to walk them around.

“Want me to handle a couple of them?” Gabe asked.

“Sure,” Dobie said, passing two of the leashes over. “Warmer than I expected.”

“Late summer can be pretty nice around here,” Gabe said. “You been watching the apps?”

“Yeah,” Dobie said as they walked along the side of the road. “All the cretins left the ravine where the bridge was last night. Looks like they gave up.”

“I’ll betcha they were there partly because of those chips we left in the canyon area,” Gabe said. “Maybe that was a mistake.”

“Maybe. In any event, they’re probably wise now, since their friends haven’t moved an inch in over a day. They probably figured out the men are dead.”

“Probably,” Gabe said. “Looks like some of our friends are waking up. I hear a generator going over there.”

“Yeah. Charlie said 6:00. That’s why I’m getting the dogs out.”

“How about breakfast?”

“There’s a donut shop down this road a little ways,” Dobie said. “Let’s hit that place, and then go across the street.”

The Sheriff got out of bed and dressed. He cautiously slid his bedroom door open and peeked out. He heard the kids snoring. ‘Good, they’re still asleep,’ he thought to himself. ‘I’ll go get some donuts for us.’ He left the coach, closing the door as quietly as he could. The sound woke Terry up. He felt Trish’s arm across his chest. She was still snoring, on her side facing him, laying against him. He realized she was naked against him. His heart started to pound. She stirred, stretching, her warm body rubbing against him. Her eyes opened. She smiled as she looked into his eyes. Then she saw the mixture of excitement and embarrassment.

“Sorry, that bra isn’t good to sleep in,” she whispered. “Not that you mind.”

“No, I don’t mind even a little bit.”

“Well watch your hands,” she whispered, petting his hair, looking into his eyes. “You’ll get me, but not here, not now. Turn around, so I can get dressed.”

He turned towards the wall, and she sat up and put her bra and shirt back on. Then she got out of bed and pulled her jeans back on.

“You decent yet?” Terry asked.

“Yeah,” she said. “I’m going to the bathroom. You can get dressed when I’m in there.”

“Okay,” Terry said. He waited until he heard the bathroom door close, and then got out of bed and threw on his clothes. He pulled the bedding off and put it back in the closet. Trish was coming out of the bathroom just as he was finishing with the dinette.

“Your uncle was right, that is comfortable,” she said. “Should we wake him up?”

“No, he’s already up. He left the coach. That’s what woke me up. I saw a donut shop across the street…I suspect he’s over there picking up some breakfast.”

“Oh yeah, police food.” Trish giggled. There was a knock on the door.

“You guys decent?” the Sheriff asked.

“Yeah, uncle, come on in,” Terry said.

“Get the door,” he said. “my hands are full.”

Terry opened the door and held it, while the Sheriff walked in with a folded paper tray. There were three cups of coffee in their holes on the ends, and a white paper bag in the middle.

“Hope you two are hungry,” he said, setting the food down on the dinette table.

“Donuts…health food this morning,” Terry said, laughing.

“Well, we can eat them while we’re driving…why do you think cops like them so much?”

Trish cracked up. They attacked the food.

Charlie got out of his coach a little before 6:00. People were starting to get out of their rigs and walk over. Dobie and Gabe had their vehicles over next to the group again, and Jake was at his bobtail. He walked over when he saw people getting together.

“Everybody! Almost time to go!” Charlie said in a loud voice. The remaining people got out of their coaches and walked over, saying good morning to each other. “You all know where we’re going, right?”

“Yeah,” Jerry said. “Route 82 east, then route 24, heading for Buena Vista. Then making the curve towards the north and east, and on towards Colorado Springs.”

Jasmine walked out of the coach and got next to Jerry.

“That’s right,” Charlie said. “Anybody need to do anything before we blow this joint?”

Nobody said anything, so they all headed back for their vehicles.

“You guys going to ride with me again?” asked Jake, walking up to Trish and Terry.

“Love to,” Terry said. They walked towards the bobtail together.

Jerry led Jasmine back over to their rig, and they got in.

“Rosie still going to ride with Jeb?” he asked

“Yes,” Jasmine said. She was smiling at him, looking a little too happy. Then it dawned on him.

“We did it!” he said, grinning ear to ear.

“Yes, honey. Our baby is inside me.”

He kissed her, and they stayed in their embrace while coach engines were starting around them.

“Let’s go, honey,” she said. They got into their seats. Jerry started the big diesel, and they got into line behind Frank and Jane. Jeb and Rosie fell in behind them. They all snaked their way back to the highway, and were off.

“This road isn’t that much better
than the one we were on last night,” Jane said, gripping her arm rests.

“Oh, I think it’s a lot better,” Frank said. “At least none of it’s dirt, and it’s not dark out either.”

“Well, I think I’ll wait until it gets flat and straight before I start driving,” she said. “If you don’t mind.”

“I don’t mind at all,” he said, laughing. “I could use some coffee, though.”

“That coffee pod stuff going to taste good enough after the French press this morning?”

“It’ll be good enough,” Frank said. “When you’re camping, any coffee tastes good.”

“Baloney,” she said, laughing. “Romantic nonsense.”

“Well, it sounds good, anyway.”

“Alright, I’ll get the coffee machine cranking pretty soon, sweetie. Let’s see if the road gets straighter, though. I’ll probably fall on my ass trying to walk back there on this stretch.”

Mr. Wonderful sauntered up to the front of the coach and looked around.

“Well well, look who’s here,” Jane said. “I think the General spooked him. He was hiding under the bed back there earlier.”

“We’re making good time. There’s the sign for Highway 91 already.”

“Good. Maybe the road will straighten out soon.”

“I wouldn’t count on it. Look at the way that road goes on the map. It’s going around something…probably a bunch of mountains. Take a look at the terrain after we get past Buena Vista.”

Jane took a look at the GPS on her phone. “This isn’t as bad as you’re thinking. It curves that way because highway 91 turns back into highway 285 there, and then back into Highway 24 after a short distance. Wonder who dreamed that up? The terrain looks better, though. Once we get on Highway 24, it looks quite a bit better.”

“Good, maybe you can drive then. I’ll need to go mess with the laptop by that time. The battery will be about done, so I’ll have to plug it in and fire up the generator for a while.”

“Can you tell if it’s making progress?”

“There’s an indicator showing percent done, but it’s kind of meaningless.”

“You haven’t tried to hack their systems yet, have you?”

“No, not yet. I’m hoping I can do that when we get settled again.”

“Are we really driving until we get all the way to Kansas?”

“Yeah,” Frank said. “Punch in Buena Vista to the first town over the Kansas border. Let’s see how many hours we’re looking at.”

“Okay,” she said, looking at her iPhone again for a few moments, using her finger to manipulate it. “Heck, this isn’t going to be that bad at all.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, really,” Jane said. “Sharon Springs is the first town in Kansas that we’ll run into. It’s only a four and a half hour drive from Buena Vista. We can do that in a day, standing on our heads.”

“You do it that way. I’ll sit.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” she said, laughing.

They rode along silently for about ten minutes, and then the transition showed up ahead of them.

“This is confusing as hell,” Jane said. “I guess highway 91 and highway 24 are the same road for a while.”

“Yeah, they are. On the map app, it’s called highway 91 way up north, but it turns into highway 24 down south. On the road atlas I was looking at this morning, it was called highway 91 all the way down. Geez.”

“I’ll make coffee after we get onto 91 or 24 or whatever the hell it is,” Jane said. “That road looks like a straight shot down a valley. Should be easy.”

“Good,” Frank said. “Looked at the long range app lately?”

“No, I guess I’d better.”

“See if anybody’s coming south from Denver. Especially towards Colorado Springs.”

Jane loaded the app and used her fingers to move to the right area. “No, Frank, nobody is coming down that road, but there are more enemy fighters in the south west part of town than there were. They still look like they’re trying to find a way into Denver, though. Nobody is below the south west suburbs.”

“Good. We should be checking that every so often. How many hours are we from Colorado Springs, anyway?”

“Well, it’s not that far from Buena Vista. An hour and forty five minutes.”

“Good,” Frank said. “I’ll be glad when we get past that.”

“You and me both.”

Terry was driving Jake’s bobtail, with Trish in the middle of the seat, and Jake against the passenger side door.

“You guys have a nice night?” Jake asked. He chuckled.

“We just slept, Dad,” Trish said, an exasperated look on her face. “Most dads would be a little more protective.”

“I’m very protective,” he said. “Believe you me.”

“My dad’s a hippie,” Trish said, looking at Terry, shaking her head. “Free love and all that.”

Terry was getting embarrassed. Trish saw it, and put her hand on his arm. He grabbed her hand and intertwined fingers with her. Her hand was soft and warm and comforting. Jake wasn’t done teasing, yet.

“You tell her yet, Terry?” Jake asked.

“Dad!” Trish said.

“I didn’t have to,” Terry said.

“You didn’t have to? What do you mean?”

“She wasn’t really asleep yesterday,” he said, looking over at her and grinning. “She’s a sneaky one.”

“Wait a minute,” Jake said. “You didn’t tell her. You told me. That don’t count.”

“Dad!” Trish said. “You’re embarrassing me again.”

“Yeah, and I enjoy it…but it’s true. He told me, not you. He has to tell you.”

“Maybe he doesn’t want to, dad,” she said. She looked up at Terry. She had a smug little smile on her face. Terry saw it and melted. She was so cute. His eyes started to tear up.

“Jake’s right,” Terry said, squeezing her hand tighter.

“Oh, he’s just pulling your chain,” Trish said. “Better get used to it. He’s never gonna change.”

“Still,” Terry said. He paused, looking at her as long as he could get away with while he was driving.

“Watch the road, silly,” she said softly.

“Trish…I’m in love with you,” Terry said.

“Now we’re talking,” Jake said, grinning.

“Dad!” Trish said. Terry looked over at her, and saw her eyes were tearing up.

“What are you looking at?” she said to him softly. “Look, you’re making me cry. Happy now?”

“Yes,” Terry said. “I have been ever since you told me last night.”

She leaned up against him, and they rode along silently for a while.

Jeb and Rosie were sitting silently, enjoying the view. It was really pretty.

“I like sitting co-pilot,” Rosie said. “I don’t get to do much with Jerry and Jasmine.”

Jeb looked over at her and smiled. “This
is
pretty country. I don’t get up here often enough.”

“Where you settle down when this is over?”

“Haven’t gave it much thought,” he said. “Probably wherever you want to settle down.”

“You want stay with me after this?” she asked. “You sure? I can be pain in butt.”

Jeb laughed.

“What funny?”

“You’re the first woman who wants to be around me in years,” he said. “You have the patience of Job. You think I’m letting you go?”