Bug Out! Part 11: Motorhomes on the Dark Road (22 page)

“Of course,” the man said. “Three hundred dollars.”

Scott pulled out his wallet and took out the cash, handing it over to him. “Here you go.”

“Okay, we’re square. Enjoy your new coach.”

“Oh, one other thing. You sell propane?”

“Yeah,” he said. “But you won’t need any yet. Zeke filled it up after his last trip, and it’s just sat since then.”

“Thanks! By the way, what’s your name?”

“Drew.”

“Nice to meet you, Drew.”

Scott came back over to the coach. Kerry had the ice chest inside and was stowing the dry goods in the pantry. He went out to the storage compartment and checked it. It was chock full of stuff. Folding chairs, a small barbeque, fishing equipment, tools, and a lots of other junk. He shut that and went to the propane compartment.
Yep, it’s full alright.
He opened the valve, and then went back into the coach and got the fridge working.

“Kerry, you want to load up the fridge?”

“Sure, Scotty. Didn’t know it was on. There’s no power.”

“I just turned on the gas. It’ll cool down after a while, but put the bags of ice in there too, for now.”

“Okay, Scotty. Do we get to hang out for a while?”

“Yeah,” he said. “The storage yard guy said we can stay here for three nights.”

“That’s great, Scotty. I put your pillow on the bed back there, and mine’s up in the bunk.”

“Good. I think I’ll go catch a little shut eye. Wake me up before it gets dark, okay?”

“Won’t it be hard to sleep tonight?”

“I’ll be busy tonight, Kerry.”

***

The caravan made its way to the gate. Malcolm in his Jeep Unlimited, then Ted in his rental car, and Dobie and Gabe pulling the fifth wheel. Jake joined Terry and Trish on the porch of the clubhouse and watched them leave.

“You get dog duty?” Terry asked.

“Yeah,” he said. “This makes me nervous as hell. I hope Dobie and Gabe take care of themselves.”

“Oh, I think they’ll be fine,” Trish said. “They’re not going up against the enemy or anything like that.”

“I hope the roads are safe,” Jake said. “Long way to Columbus, and they’ll have to cross the Mississippi, too.”

“From what I’ve been hearing, there’s ways to do that now,” Terry said.

Charlie and the Sheriff walked out on the porch.

“Did I just see Dobie’s fifth wheel leave with Malcolm and Ted?” asked the Sheriff.

“Yeah,” Jake said.

“Shit,” Charlie said. The Sheriff had a worried look on his face.

“Didn’t they say they wouldn’t involve any of our people in this escapade?” the Sheriff asked.

“Yeah, but Dobie talked them into it,” Jake said, “and Gabe didn’t want Dobie to take off by himself.”

“I don’t like it,” Charlie said. “Wish they would have brought it up with the group first.”

“I don’t like it either, Charlie, but this is not a dictatorship,” Jake said. “People are free to come and go as they please.”

Charlie was silent for a moment, looking out at the road. The caravan was out of sight already. “I know, Jake. I’m just worried about them, that’s all.”

“You think they’re going to find anything at the house, after the incident at the jogging path?” Trish asked. “Scott and Howard might be in FBI custody, right?”

“I doubt it,” the Sheriff said. “Nobody’s heard from that missing FBI agent yet. Something went wrong. Our guys are liable to walk right into a trap.”

“Wonder what’s up with the general?” Jake said, pointing towards the barn. The general and his son were trotting towards them.

“What’s up, General?” Charlie asked. “Hear something about the WTO delegation?”

“Yeah,” the General said, trying to catch his breath. “They’re doing a southwest tour to survey the former battle areas.”

Frank looked up and saw the General
trotting towards him.

“Hi, General,” Frank said. “What’s up?”

“News on the WTO,” he said.

“Good,” Frank said.

“The WTO is taking a tour of the southwest, to survey the battlefields. New Mexico isn’t on the itinerary, but they won’t be far.”

“What is on the itinerary?” Frank asked. Jane turned to listen.

“They’re coming in through San Diego and touring some of the former hot spots in Southern California. After that they’re making several stops in Arizona, then Utah, Colorado, West Texas, and back to San Diego.”

“Isn’t Arizona still hot?” Jane asked.

“Yeah, in spots, but its calmed way down over the last few days,” General Hogan said.

“So if they’re going to hit New Mexico, they’ll probably do it on the way back to San Diego from Texas.”

“That’s what we’re thinking,” General Hogan said.

“When are they starting this trip?”

“Next week,” the General said.

“We gonna do something?” Frank asked.

“I don’t know yet,” General Hogan said. “I’m not even sure if Daan Mertins is making the trip.”

“How about the full members?” Frank asked. “Some of them are shady.”

“I assume they’ll be coming, but we’ll have to wait and see.”

“Is the army going to escort them?” Jane asked.

“No, the Army doesn’t know what they’re doing. I found out from other sources.”

“Interesting,” Frank said. “You trust these sources?”

“Yeah,” General Hogan said.

“Anybody in the army know about the New Mexico situation yet?” Jane asked.

“I haven’t told them,” General Hogan said. “I think I’d have heard about it by now if there were
officially sanctioned
activities going on.”

“This seems crazy to me,” Jane said. “Why would these folks be coming here? Seems way too risky to me.”

“I’ve been banging my head against the wall on that one,” General Hogan said. “I got a hint this morning.”

“What’s that?” Frank asked.

“Chatter about Europe,” General Hogan said. “Bad chatter.”

“You saying there might be an attempt to do in Europe what they couldn’t get done here?” Jane asked.

“Starting to look that way,” General Hogan said. “Could just me being paranoid.”

“If I were the enemy, I would have started with Europe,” Frank said.

“Why?” Jane asked.

“I know why,” General Hogan said. “Most Europeans allowed their governments to disarm them.”

***

Malcolm was tired of sitting in traffic. His phone rang.

“Yeah.”

“Hey, Malcolm,” Ted said. “Didn’t know Kansas City had such a bad rush hour.”

“Neither did I. This reminds me of friggin L.A.”

“Seriously,” Ted said. “Where should we stop for the night?”

“We need to get up to Route 36 in order to cross Big Muddy,” Malcolm said. “Maybe we ought to stop where I-35 runs into that road.”

“Looking on my GPS. That would be a city called Cameron,” Ted said.

“I’ll call Gabe. He’s got free hands, and he knows RV Parks. Maybe he can get a reservation.”

“Okay, talk to you later, Malcolm.”

Malcolm ended that call, then called Gabe.

“Hi, Gabe.”

“Hey, Malcolm. Traffic sucks.”

“Sure does. Just thinking about where we should stop for the night. How about Cameron? It’s right up by Route 36, so we could head straight for the Mississippi in the morning.”

“Yeah, that’s a good point to cross, from what I’ve been reading. I knew a guy who owned a nice park in Cameron. I’ll see if he’s still there.”

“Okay, let me know,” Malcolm said.

“Will do.”

Gabe looked over at Dobie.

“Malcolm?” Dobie asked.

“Yeah, they’re thinking about stopping up by Route 36 for the night.”

“You know anybody with an RV Park there?”

“Yeah, Steve Fowler had a park there. He was about my age, so he’s probably still there. Haven’t talked to him for a few years.”

“You have his number?”

“No, but I got the name of his place. It’s pretty goofy. Hard to forget. I’ll see if I can find it on the web.”

“We’ll still be on the road a couple hours,” Dobie said. “Can’t believe this traffic.”

“Well, there aren’t as many ways across the Mississippi anymore,” Gabe said. “Route 36 might be a nightmare because of that, but I’m not sure how to get around it.”

“Yeah,” Dobie said.

“How’s Duchess doing? Doesn’t she need to stop pretty soon?”

“Yeah, after we get away from Kansas City, we’ll need to stop,” Dobie said. “Be needing gas anyway. Pulling this fifth wheel takes a toll on my mileage.”

“Here it is. Uncle Jasper’s RV Park and Resort. I’ll call.” He tapped the phone number.

“Hello?” a woman’s voice answered.

“This Uncle Jasper’s?” Gabe asked.

“Yeah,” she said.

“Steve still running the place?”

There was a pause on the line. “Did you know Steve?”

“Yeah,” Gabe said. “From the RV Park Owner’s Association. He okay?”

“He passed about a year ago,” the woman said. “I’m his widow.”

“Oh, no,” Gabe said. “So sorry. What happened?”

“Heart attack,” she said. “Unexpected.”

“That’s too bad,” Gabe said. “He was a good guy.”

“Yes, he was.”

“Is the park still open?” Gabe asked.

“Yep,” she said. “You need a space?”

“Yeah, for a fifth wheel, and two other vehicles.”

“Sure, we can accommodate you. When are you coming?”

“A few hours,” Gabe said.

“Okay, I’ll pencil you in. What’s your name?”

“Gabe,” he said.

“Okay, Gabe, see you soon.”

“Thanks.” Gabe put his phone back in his pocket.

“Your friend’s dead?” Dobie asked.

“Yeah, heart attack,” Gabe said. “So sad. He was barely sixty.”

“Sorry to hear that,” Dobie said. “His widow is running the place?”

“Yeah,” Gabe said. “I think I met her once. She was younger. A looker as I remember.”

“Why don’t you call Malcolm and let him know that we need to stop after we clear the city?”

“Okay,” Gabe said. He pulled his phone out and punched Malcolm’s contact.

“Hi, Gabe, got a place?”

“Yeah, Uncle Jasper’s. I knew the owner. He’s passed now, but his widow is running the joint.”

“Okay,” Malcolm said.

“Dobie needs to stop for gas and dog duty after we clear Kansas City.”

“Good, I could use a break myself,” Malcolm said. “I’ll pull off when I see a truck stop.”

“Sounds good, see you soon.”

Gabe put his phone away. “We’re all set. He’ll pull off when he sees a truck stop.”

“Good,” Dobie said.

“You want me to take the wheel for a while after that?”

“Nah, I’m okay,” Dobie said. “I’m enjoying this, actually. I could get used to the RV lifestyle.”

“People seem to like it,” Gabe said.

“You’ve never been an RV’er yourself, have you?”

“Nah,” he said. “Funny, really, since I owned the park for all those years.”

“You never got the itch at all?” Dobie asked.

“Yeah, from time to time, but I ran that park by myself for a lot of years. Ever since dad passed. It was hard for me to get a vacation.”

“Well, when this settles, maybe I can spell you every once in a while, and you could take this thing out.”

Gabe laughed. “I’ll be surprised if there’s anything left of my place, but even if there is, you’d be the person I’d want to travel with.”

Dobie laughed. “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe you’ll find yourself a woman again.”

“Maybe,” he said, a faraway look in his eyes. “Haven’t found one like Judy.”

“How many years has it been?”

“Fifteen,” Gabe said. “Still miss her.”

They rode along silently for a little while, and the traffic let up. They were back up to full speed, the countryside whizzing by them.

“Finally,” Dobie said.

“Yeah, that was bad,” Gabe said.

Gets sparse out here real fast when you get out of the city,” Dobie said.

They rode along silently for a while.

“Look, Malcolm’s found a place,” Gabe said. “He’s getting on that off-ramp.”

“I see it,” Dobie said, smiling. “Good.”

They followed Malcolm’s Jeep and Ted’s rental car to the truck stop. Dobie carefully pulled up to the pumps. “I got to remember not to cut it too hard when we leave,” Dobie said.

“Yeah,” Gabe said. They both got out of the car. “Why don’t I fill it up while you take Duchess out?”

“That’d be great, thanks,” he said, pulling out his wallet.

“I’ll pay for this round,” Gabe said. “Go tend to your pooch.”

“Thanks, Gabe.”

Dobie opened the door, and Duchess bounded out, tail wagging, nuzzling Dobie. “C’mon, girl,” he said as he put on the leash.

Malcolm and Ted were both filling their cars with gas, at pumps next to each other.

“Maybe we should grab a quick bite,” Ted said. “They got a diner, and plenty of parking in the back.”

“I’m good with it,” Malcolm said. “I’ll check with Gabe and Dobie. Mine’s about done fueling.”

The pump nozzle shut off, and Malcolm put it back on the holder, then drove to a parking stall by the diner and walked over to Gabe.

“Hey, Gabe, we were thinking about getting a quick bite at the diner. You guys okay with that? There’s rig parking in the back.”

“I’d like to do that,” Gabe said.

“Me too,” Dobie said, walking up with Duchess.

“Okay, we’ll meet you in there,” Malcolm said. He walked back over to Ted, who was finishing his fueling, and then walked back to his Jeep.

Dobie let Duchess back into the trailer and locked it. He met Gabe at the cab and got behind the wheel.

“She enjoy getting out?” Gabe asked.

“Oh, yeah,” Dobie said. “That was a long ride for her.” He pulled away from the pumps, heading for the back, parking in a long spot under a light pole. They walked into the diner and saw Ted and Malcolm sitting in a large booth. They joined them.

“Hey, guys,” Dobie said. “That traffic sucked, didn’t it?”

“Yeah,” Ted said, looking at his phone. “I got a few messages.”

“Any from the FBI?” Malcolm asked.

“Yeah, and two from home. I’ll listen to them after we’ve ordered.”

“Okay,” Malcolm said. The waitress walked over to them. She was in her mid-forties, dark haired with tanned skin. There were tattoos peeking out from under the sleeves of her white blouse.