Bug Out! Part 5: RV Flight from Terror (7 page)

She tore off the bar’s wrapper and handed it to him, then sipped from her own drink.

“Here we go, we’re on 24 now,” Frank said.

“Hopefully clear sailing.”

“Any more towns coming up?” Frank asked.

“Torrey is right behind us.”

“Really? Didn’t even see it.”

“It’s small. The next town is Caineville. It’s just on the other side of Capitol Reef.”

“Oh, so we finally get to see Capitol Reef, huh?”

“Looks like it, although I don’t know how much we’ll see from the road.”

“Any other towns coming up?” asked Frank

“After Caineville, the next town is Hanksville. It’s right where route 95 connects with 24. After that there’s really nothing until we get to I-70.” She laughed.

“What?”
“We do get to go through Goblin Valley. Hope it’s not dark by then.”

Frank chuckled.

“We lost the radio again,” Jane said. “Want me to try to find something else?”

“Give it a try. We might be a little too far away from anything now, though.”

Jane hit the seek button. It cycled all the way through the dial without finding anything strong enough to pull in.

“So much for that,” Jane said. She shut off the radio and sat back in her seat.

They settled in and silently watched the scenery for another stretch. Jane started to drift off to sleep.

Frank drank the last of his soft drink, setting the empty can back in the drink holder. His phone rang. The sound woke up Jane. Frank looked at the phone number. It was the Sheriff. He answered.

“Sheriff, how are you?” Frank said.

“Been better,” he said. “The good news is that I’ve got my nephew Terry in the motorhome with me and we’re on our way east on route 12. The bad news is that the town’s in bad shape.”

“Oh, no. Enemy fighters?”

“Yes. We put up a good fight, but there were too many of them. People scattered into the hills. The rednecks have been picking these jerks off with their sniper rifles, but they can’t win.”

“What happened at the RV Park?”

“I don’t know, Frank. Never got back there. Heard a lot of gunfire and artillery coming from that direction, though. I also heard that the General told you guys to skedaddle.”

“Yep, and not a minute too soon. You going to try to catch up to us?”

“Love to, if I don’t run into trouble. I saw Jackson’s Class C on the roadside. He Okay?”

“Yeah, he had a blowout. He transferred his stuff into Earl’s pusher. They should hopefully be catching up to us pretty soon.”

“I’ll keep an eye out for them. Heading to I-70?”

“Yep, that’s what General Walker suggested.”

“Good, don’t tell me exactly where you are.”

“Understand,” Frank said. “Hey, the Doc get away?”

“I don’t know. I hope so. They hit the Hospital. I was lucky to get Terry out of there in time.”

“Bastards,” Frank said.

“Well, I’d better get off the phone. Heading into the switchbacks.”

“Alright, Sheriff. Take care of yourself.”

“You too, Frank.”

Frank put his phone back in his pocket, and looked over at Jane.

“That was the Sheriff,” Frank said.

“So I gathered. He alright?”

“Yes, he’s on the road in his motorhome, heading this way. The town took a real beating.”

“What did he say about the Doc?”

“He doesn’t know what happened to him, but the hospital got hit pretty badly, from the sound of it.”

“He doesn’t know what happened at the RV Park, I suspect.”

“No, he didn’t get back over there before he had to leave.”

“He’s going to try to hook back up with us, I hope.”

“Yes,” Frank said, “and I’ll be damn glad to see him.”

“Me too. Want me to drive for a while?” asked Jane.

“I’m good for now. Maybe when we get onto I-70. We still have a lot of daylight left, at least. Feels later than 2:30.”

“Wonder if Earl and Jackson are catching up to us?”

“Good question,” Frank said. “The Sheriff saw Jackson’s Class C on the side of the road.”

“There’s Caineville,” Jane said, pointing ahead. There were a few buildings there. The sign said two miles.

“Must be a pretty small town,” Frank said. “I don’t even see a gas station.”

“Yeah, I’m only seeing one motel and a small store in town, but there are a couple of RV parks nearby. Hanksville is bigger…..we could gas up there if we need to.”

The caravan blew by Caineville and continued on desolate route 24.

“I should call Jerry and let him know I heard from the Sheriff,” Frank said, pulling his phone out of his pocket.

“Hey, Frank, what’s up?”

“I just heard from the Sheriff.”

“Good. How’s he doing? Is he still in town?”

“No, he had to split. He’s in his RV heading in the same direction as we are. I suspect we’ll see him tomorrow.”

“Excellent. I was getting kind of attached to that old fart.”

“You and me both.”

“I was just about to call you, Frank.”

“About what?”

“I got a call from Jackson. Earl needed some diesel, so they stopped in Boulder.”

“Uh oh, hope there aren’t still problems there.”

“He called me from the gas station, and it looked OK to him. I told him about what happened as we drove through there.”

“How long ago was that?”

“Ten minutes ago.”

“I hope they didn’t get carjacked there,” Frank said. “This worries me a little bit.”

“I know, me too. I told them to watch themselves. Those two are pretty good, though. It wouldn’t be easy to take them.”

“True. Maybe you ought to call them back in a bit and make sure they made it out of there alright.”

“I was thinking the same thing. I’ll give them about twenty minutes, though. Takes a while to fill a big diesel rig like that.”

“Okay.”

“How far do you think we’re going today?”

“Good question. Wonder if we can make it all the way into Colorado?”

“Maybe, if I-70 is in good shape. I don’t know much about this road we’re on. Hopefully there are no more slow parts.”

“Jane checked it out on her phone…she said it looks fairly straight all the way to I-70.”

“Then we may be in good shape. Some of us will probably have to stop in Hanksville to fuel up.”

“I know, I was thinking the same thing. Hope nobody was counting on fuel in Caineville.”

Jerry laughed.

“Yeah, the only thing you might be able to fuel up in that town is a mule.”

“Pretty much,” Frank said. “I’ll get off the line. Let me know if you have a problem raising Jackson and Earl.”

“Will do,” Jerry said. “Later.”

Frank put his phone back in his pocket.

“He heard from Jackson?” Jane asked.

“Yep. They were fueling up about ten minutes ago.”

“Not in Boulder, I hope.”

“’Fraid so,” Frank said. “I know, I’m worried about them too. You heard me ask Jerry to call me back.”

“Yes,” Jane said. “I don’t have a good feeling about this.”

“Me neither.”

They rode along quietly for a while. Lucy got out of her bed and looked up at Jane.

“Alright, girl, come on up.”

Lucy jumped up on Jane’s lap and sat down, looking up at her with her sad eyes.

“We are going to need to stop at Hanksville for at least a few minutes, even if we don’t need to fuel up. Miss Lucy is going to need a break.”

“I don’t see a problem with that. How much longer?”

“It’s getting close. My GPS says about fifteen more minutes.”

“Good,” Frank said. “We are still on three quarters of a tank, but it might not be a bad idea to top it off if the others are going to stop for a few minutes.”

Frank’s phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket and answered it.

“Frank?”

“Yeah.”

“I can’t raise Jackson or Earl. Tried them both.”

“Oh, shit,” Frank said. He looked over at Jane.

“You can’t raise either one of them?
” Frank asked

“Nope,” Jerry said. “Tried both Earl and Jackson’s cell phones.”

“You need to stop in Hanksville?”

“Yeah, need to fuel up.”

“I’ll top off too, and we need to take the dog out. Let’s talk when we get there.”

“Alight, Frank. Talk to you then.”

Frank put his phone back into his pocket.

“They’re stopping for fuel, I take it?” Jane asked.

“Yes. You heard most of the conversation.”

“So what do we do?”

“I don’t know yet,” Frank said. “My gut tells me that we get over the border into Colorado, get a camp set up, and then bring the toad back here and look for them.”

“You sure that’s a good idea?”

“No, but we have to protect our own,” Frank said. “I think either one of them would do that for us.”

“Why don’t you try to get the Sheriff again when we get to Hanksville?” He might have seen something. He’s coming up the same way.”

“Good idea,” Frank said.

“I’ll turn on the radio and see if I can get a local station. It would be nice to know if things are going crazy in Hanksville.” She turned on the radio and hit the seek button.

“I’m going to call the Sheriff now. No reason to wait,” Frank said. He pulled his phone out again and dialed the number.

“Sheriff?”

“Hi, Frank, what’s up?”

“How are you doing?”

“Pretty good so far. Got past the switchbacks a few minutes ago. The road is damn near empty. I’m surprised. I thought there would be a lot of people trying to get the heck out of southern Utah.”

“Have you seen Earl’s pusher?”

“Nope, haven’t seen any other motor homes.”

“Shoot,” Frank said.

“What’s wrong?”

“They called Jerry when they were in Boulder getting fueled up. Jerry tried to call them a little later. He can’t raise either one of them.”

“Well, don’t worry yet. There are some parts of this drive where there’s no cell coverage, you know.”

“Any of that left between you and Hanksville?”

“Yeah, it’s going to be a little spotty.”

“Well, maybe that’s the problem,” Frank said. “I hope so.”

“You’re stopping in Hanksville?”

“Yeah. Some of us need to get fuel.”

“Good little town. There’s a big truck stop there that caters to RVs, and they have a good diner too. Been there many times on my way to Colorado. They have propane and a dump station, too.”

“That’s probably where we’ll end up. Jerry’s got a pusher, so he’s going to need diesel.”

“Yeah, Charlie too.”

“Well, we are almost on top of the town now,” Frank said. “I’d better get off.”

“Okay, see you later, Frank.”

Frank put his phone back in his pocket.

“He hasn’t seen them,” Frank said to Jane.

“I was afraid of that.”

“Did you notice any spots where you lost cell coverage between Boulder and here?”

“No, but I wasn’t on my phone for some long stretches…especially back in there where all the pretty rock formations were. And I slept for a while too, remember?”

“Oh, yeah,” Frank said. “The Sheriff said there were a few places that had no coverage. If that’s all this is, we’ll be able to contact them eventually.”

“There’s the off-ramp. Look at that big truck stop.”

“Yep, the Sheriff said there was a good one here.”

Frank put on his turn signal a little early, to make sure that the rigs behind him got the idea. He slowed, and got ready to get on the off ramp. Lucy got out of bed and started to get excited.

“She really needs to go,” Jane said.

“Not surprised, it’s been a while now. She’s been good.”

“Yes, she has,” Jane said.

The rig went down the ramp, and stopped at the light. Jerry was up ahead of him, his right turn blinker on. He made his turn, and pulled into the truck stop. Frank followed him in, and went over the gas RV lane, which was a few lanes over from where Jerry pulled in.

Frank got out of his seat and stretched, pushing on his lower back with his hand.

Jane opened the door and got out with Lucy. They made a bee-line for a grass section, watching out for other rigs coming in.
Looks like the whole group has stopped
, she thought to herself. There were RVs that she recognized all over the place. Some were just parked on the side, but many were pulled up next to a fuel pump. After he got the gas flowing into his rig, Frank walked over to where Jerry’s rig was. He was already talking to Charlie and Jeb.

“Hear anything from Earl or Jackson?” Frank asked.

“Not yet,” Jerry said. “But I’ll try them again in a few minutes.”

“I just talked to the Sheriff,” Frank said. “He’s past the switchbacks.”

“Good, that old codger got out of dodge too,” Jeb said. “He on his way to us?”

“Yep, he got his rig on the road. Things weren’t good in town. They got overrun.”

“Does he know what happened at the park?” Charlie asked.

“No, he didn’t get back there, but he said that he could hear artillery and small arms fire coming from that direction.”

“What happened in town?” Jeb asked.

“They hit the place full force. Knocked out the Hospital, too,” Frank said.

“Oh no,” Charlie said. “How about the Doc?”

“He didn’t know if the Doc made it out alive or not. He said some of the rednecks where still sniping at the enemy when he got out, but he didn’t think they were going to be able to do much with a force of that size.”

“Damn,” Jeb said.

“So what should we do if we can’t raise Earl or Jackson?” Charlie asked.

“We go back for them, of course,” Jeb said.

“I agree,” Jerry said.

“Me too,” Frank said. “But we probably should get our rigs settled somewhere, and then go back there in our toads.”

“If you want to make a stop before Colorado, I know a park in Green River that’s nice,” Charlie said. “I know the owner.”

“Kurt?” Jeb asked.

“Yep,” Charlie said, grinning.

“Is it safe there?” Jerry asked.

“I think so. It’s pretty flat there. It doesn’t have a lot of cover like Hilda’s place, but you can see people coming from a long way off.”

“Well, it looks pretty good here, and that’s even further north and east,” Jerry said. “And we’re all tired. Maybe we ought to take the chance.”