Bug Out! Atlantic Book 6, page 7
Mayor Fine chuckled. “The fact that he tried to take over by force should be enough.”
Tracy sat down, leaning back in the chair facing the Mayor’s desk. “The UN really blew it. I was in on some of the conversation about them. Yes, Simpson invited them in initially, but they went way beyond the US Constitution in doing that, and now we’ve had wave after wave of UN Peacekeepers attacking US citizens. There were some in the meeting who said it didn’t matter, and we must stop the blockade of UN Headquarters immediately. They were out-voted by a wide margin.”
“The executions,” Mayor Fine said.
“Yep, they really screwed the pooch with that. It’s obvious that they’re working with the Islamists as well. I’m for keeping that blockade. We might have to allow them food and water deliveries, though.”
Mayor Fine sighed. “Yes, I’ve already been thinking that. Part of me wants to overrun the place and burn it to the ground. That last execution they did in Boston almost pushed me to do it, frankly.”
“We can’t,” Tracy said, “but I felt the same way.”
“What do we know about Hank Borden?”
Tracy shrugged. “He’s a little old, almost 80. Some say he’s got cognitive issues, although I’ve had good conversations with him as recently as six months ago. He’s an extremely likeable fellow, I’ll give him that. Always charming. A little too physical.”
“Physical? He has problems with women?”
“He’s not the harasser type, exactly. He’s just a little too quick to touch, to get into women’s personal space. Plays it like innocent affection… might be his age as much as anything.”
“That’s not a valid excuse.”
Tracy nodded. “He touched my butt once. Was careful about it. Slid his hand from the small of my back down. Might not have been on purpose. I just moved away from him.”
Mayor Fine chuckled. “Geez.”
“He’s gotten flack because of that kind of behavior before, but it never seems to affect him, and he’s pretty clean other than that. No affairs that anyone knows about. His wife is with him all the time. Watches him like a hawk, and is very protective.”
“What was her name again?”
“Madison. She’s quite a bit younger than him… a good twenty years.”
“Well, if anything is there, the powers that be might overlook it, given the fact that the rest of the people in line are criminals.”
Tracy chuckled. “There is that. The progressives are up in arms over this, of course. They want new elections right away, and they’re pushing Senator Simon.”
“He’s a communist.”
“Yep, and given the bad behavior of the globalist left that we’ve uncovered, that’s just not going to play well in an election. The Speaker was part of that movement. I think she wanted to withhold the emails because it made Simpson look so evil.”
“Simpson wasn’t a progressive… he was more of a Neo-Liberal.”
“He ran that way in the election,” Tracy said, “but in practice he was significantly left of me, or you for that matter.”
“I’ve adjusted my thinking quite a bit, Tracy.”
She looked down a moment, then back at him. “Yeah. We can’t trust a cradle to grave government, that’s for sure. All this globalist nonsense… it’s not the noble movement I once thought it was. It’s radical and ruthless and evil. I’m not ready to go full Dannon, but I’ll never consider myself to be a progressive or a globalist again.”
“We need to think about holding statewide elections in New York, you know. There are two many people in this state for a two-person government.”
Tracy laughed. “We aren’t governing, we’re just trying to fight the invaders and survive. Look at Dan. He’s a commando leader at this point, not a State Senator.”
“That’s kinda my point, Tracy. We were lucky in the city… Jared tipped me off in time to get most of the government into a safe place before the attack happened. We still need to replace the city council, though, and sooner rather than later. The people deserve that representation.”
Tracy nodded. “I agree.”
“How hard are they gonna go after Simpson? We need to instill confidence in our justice system.”
“Oh, they’re going after him hard,” Tracy said. “They’ll find him. There are other problems I heard about in the meeting that worry me, though.”
“Like what?”
“The extent that the armed forces were compromised, for one thing,” she said. “Using new immigrants to fill in the ranks was a major mistake. The Airforce and Navy don’t seem to be a big problem, but the enemy infiltrated a large part of the Army and Marines.”
Mayor Fine leaned back in his chair. “That’s not good.”
“No, it’s not good at all. We won’t feel the impact of that here, but in other parts of the country… the Southwest and the Midwest in particular, it’s been an enormous problem.”
“I figured, since we know General Walker and General Hogan are being hunted.”
“I’d better go, have another call coming up,” Tracy said, standing.
“All right, thanks for the info,” Mayor Fine said.
She left, the Mayor going back to his computer, looking at the no-go zone data Albena had sent him earlier.
***
Pat’s phone dinged with a text from Craig. She opened it.
Hi, honey. Seeds planted. Best be ready.
Perfect, I’m ready. Love you.
Love you too, sweetie. Don’t get killed.
Not in my plan. I’ll let you know how things went.
She looked around her cave, overlooking the Lock 60 Recreation Area. She wouldn’t fight from here, but she could see all the routes into the area. The rear opening had taken some time to dig out, but it was big enough for her to slip out unseen with her weapons. She made them ready while watching, listening. Then she heard it. A helicopter. Military, with its heavy thumping. She stuck her head out, looking for it, seeing an Apache approaching, following the river. The 30-06. The magazine was full, so she stuffed another six rounds into her pocket, then stopped, pulling out her phone, looking up the Wikipedia page for the chopper, reading. Shit. Crew compartment, rotor blades built to survive 23 mm rounds. I can’t even make a dent. She set her rifle down and went back to the front opening to watch. The Apache kept going past her, following the river. When it got dark she’d have to be careful, the night vision would out her even in the dense forest. “Craig,” she whispered to herself as the rotor thumping dissipated, picking up her phone, typing a message.
They sent an Apache chopper, too tough for the best rifle I’ve got. Hiding. It went past.
It took a few minutes for the reply.
You might do better getting out of there. They’ve got technology. Imagine at night, with their FLIR systems.
I know, thinking about that. If they land and get out I can nail some of the crew, but they’ll get into the air and light me up. Is our army dirty? It had the markings.
Some dirty, yes.
The thumping approached again.
It’s coming back.
Are you under cover, honey?
Cave. Won’t see me during the day. Night? Might be bad.
They’ll send troops in, but the chopper will be around. Get out of there. We’ll hook you up with a resistance group.
Suddenly there was a huge explosion outside. She rushed to the opening, in time to see the remains of the chopper raining down on the riverbed below.
Somebody just shot that chopper out of the air.
Resistance. They probably saw the bait. What did they use?
I have no idea. Watching. Maybe they’ll show themselves.
If they do, join them.
We’ll see. Take care, Craig.
Pat slipped the phone into her pocket, picked up the rifle, grabbed her pistol and binoculars, and slipped out the rear exit, climbing to the trail, walking hunched over through the brush, finding a good place to watch, the smoking wreckage of the chopper scattered all over the river bed, silt already building up on the rear fuselage. Three men appeared, coming out of the brush on the far side of the river with M4s, dressed in camo, poking around the wreckage, picking things up.
Are they good guys or bad guys? She fought the urge to call out to them. Then one of them called out to the others, wading through the river to the largest piece of hull, pulling his pistol, a man screaming please no as he fired several shots.
Good guys. Pat stuck out of the brush. “Hey!”
The men froze, one aiming his M4 in her direction, then grinning, lowering his weapon. “Pat Smetana?”
“Yes. Resistance?”
“And then some,” said another man.
Pat heard the sound of another chopper approaching. Oh crap.
“You got some cover?” shouted the first man.
“Yeah, up here, there’s a cave. Better hurry, they won’t go past with that mess.”
The men rushed through the river, running into the brush on the other side.
“Where?” the man yelled.
“Keep coming this direction,” Pat shouted. “I can see you. Might have to stop.”
“They’re gonna fill this riverbed with fire, trust me,” the man yelled, running in a crouch, almost to where Pat was.
“Okay, come on,” she said when they got to her, turning, running through the cover, heading for the mouth of the cave, diving in, the men following as automatic fire started, peppering the opposite side of the river, along the wooded embankment and up towards the walls, moving in their direction as the last of the men got inside.
“What the hell is that?” Pat asked, trying to catch her breath.
“That would be an M230 Chain Gun,” the first man said. “I’m Derrick.” He was in his late twenties, with a military haircut and demeanor.
The chain gun continued to fire, on their side of the river now, coming up the side of the bank, but not as far up as their cave was. Then it stopped, the chopper turning, thumping off the direction it came.
“They’re gonna flood this area with troops,” said an older man with a shaved head and gray stubble. “I’m Bailey.”
“Tell her your first name,” said a third man, build large and solid.
“Shove it, Hymie.”
“Quiet down, they might have people here already,” Derrick said.
Hymie snickered, showing a wicked smile, his black hair hanging down over his forehead like bangs. “It’s Bill. Get it?”
Pat rolled her eyes. “Who are you guys?” She eyed Bailey. “You look familiar. From the back of a pickup, on the way to hit a check point.”
“It was her, I told you,” Bailey said. “Yeah, that was us and a few friends.”
“You knew I was here?” Pat asked.
“We saw your bait on the web page, figured we’d better get down here,” Derrick said. “Knew they’d send Apaches. Didn’t think you had any Stingers. That hunting rifle sure ain’t gonna do the job.”
“Well thanks,” Pat said. “I was trying to figure out a way to get out of here before dark.”
“Yeah, none of us want to be out here when they send in the choppers after dark,” Hymie said. “Damn FLIR systems are so good now they’d probably see our breath coming out of this cave, and then it’s game over.”
“That’s a slight exaggeration,” Bailey said, “but just barely slight.”
“That didn’t make sense, grandpa,” Hymie said.
“You guys are talking too loud again,” Derrick said, looking out the cave opening. “This is a good cave, but not when you’ve told the enemy where to look.”
“Got anymore Stingers?” Pat asked.
“Forget it,” Derrick said. “We shoot down another, they send more and carpet bomb the whole area. They got rockets and Hellfire missiles. Could turn this pretty little spot into a sea of fire if they felt like it.”
“We do know where they keep their choppers,” Hymie said. “We ought to go start some shit.”
Bailey shook his head. “Dammit, Hymie, we ain’t got enough men or good enough weapons for that yet.”
“We got surprise.”
“Do you really know where they’re based?” Pat asked.
Derrick eyed her. “Yeah, but it’s well fortified.”
“My hubby’s got connections, you know.”
“Craig,” Bailey said, looking choked up. “That’s why we got interested. That man is a National treasure. Him and Clancy.”
“Wish I would’ve realized it earlier,” Pat said.
“Huh?” Hymie asked.
“Never mind,” she said. “We need to get out of here, don’t we?”
“Yeah, like right now,” Derrick said. “We’re on this side of the river, at least. What do you have that’s worth taking? That hunting rifle ain’t… we can give you one of these M4s.”
“My bow, and my pistol.”
“Bow?” Hymie asked.
“I’m an expert,” Pat said. “I could take out a sentry’s left nut at fifty yards, in the dark.”
Hymie laughed. “Hey, I’m liking her.”
“Quiet, dammit,” Derrick said. “Let’s go now.”
“There’s a back way out,” Pat said. “Not visible from that side.”
“Good, because they might have people down there already,” Derrick said. “I know a lot of those guys.”
“You’re Army?” Pat asked.
“I deserted when they started this trash,” Derrick said.
Pat stared at him. “How long ago?”
“Last week.”
Hymie snickered. “I know what you’re thinking. Known him since the third grade. He ain’t with them.”
“Yeah, he’s okay,” Bailey said. “Let’s get out of here.”
They loaded up and left the cave.
{ 6 }
Broad Street Boomers
P resident Simpson was sitting at his desk on Airforce 1, ignoring calls from his cabinet. Finally Rose came out.
“Are you on a call or something? You’re half an hour late.”
“What’s the point? We’re all dead.”
“Dammit, grow up, and get in there. Nobody’s ready to surrender, and we aren’t killing ourselves either. This plane is running low on fuel, you know.”
He sighed, standing, following Rose into the conference room.
“About time,” Cleo said, sitting forward in her chair, looking like she needed a shower and sleep.
“Sorry,” Simpson said, taking his seat at the head of the table. “Jimmy, how much more fuel do we have?”
Colosimo shrugged. “We got enough to get to Missoula, but not Canada, as if they’d let us in.”
“We’ll be arrested in Montana,” Cleo said.
“No, that’s not likely,” Colosimo said. “I’ve got contacts in the area. I can arrange for transportation, but where should we go?”
“My brother-in-law has a place at Flathead Lake,” Rose said. “Might not be on the books. I never disclosed it.”
“It would’ve come out in the background checks,” Colosimo said, “and you know the Airforce is tracking this plane. They’ll be on us in no time, but we need to land no matter what. Can’t think of a better place that’s close enough. We should go someplace remote and unknown once we get vehicles.”
“All right,” Simpson said. “Missoula it is. What happens after that, I don’t know.”
“Why wouldn’t you come to the meeting?” Cleo asked.
“Despair, I guess,” Simpson said. “We’ll be arrested or killed within the next twenty-four hours. What else is there to talk about?”
“They’ll put us on trial, and that will take months, maybe years,” Rose said. “Then we’ll go to white-collar prison and be up for parole, right?”
Colosimo burst out laughing. “We participated in the nuclear bombing and invasion of our country. That’s not a white-collar crime. We’ll be executed, and I doubt they’ll bide their time much.”
“Executed?” Rose asked, horror on her face.
“They wouldn’t dare,” Cleo said. “Cities will burn if they do that.”
“Yeah, right. All of your people are gonna get mad because we got punished for killing millions of citizens,” Colosimo said, shaking his head. “How did you get into the government, anyway?”
“I’m gonna gut you,” Cleo said, standing, trying to walk towards Colosimo, Simpson shoving her, sending her sprawling to the floor, hitting her head.
“Oops,” Simpson said. “Looks like I knocked her out. We got any handcuffs in here?”
Colosimo nodded. “Yeah. Where should I lock her?”
“One of the seats,” Simpson said. “When she comes to, lay off, okay? We’ve got enough problems. It’s not like she can turn states evidence… everything the DOJ needs is in those emails.”
Colosimo left the conference room, coming back with the cuffs. “Give me a hand.”
Simpson got up, and they carried her to a seat, locking her wrist to the frame.
“Tell the pilot to take us to Missoula,” Simpson said. “I’m going back to my office.”
***
Todd, Justin, and Tamera were watching the chopper video footage sent to them by Jared.
“This is a gold mine,” Justin said. “How many locations you guys find?”
Tamera glanced over from her screen. “Just one, and I’m almost to the end.”
“I’ve got two,” Todd said, “and a third possible.”
“Four,” Justin said. “We need to get back into the sedans and deploy roach drones.”
Tyra walked in. “They got us a new set of sedans.”
“Why’d they do that?” Tamera asked.
“Henry said it was because the enemy might have video of us at South Station,” Tyra said.
“Yeah, that’s a real danger,” Justin said. “We’ve allowed way too much surveillance in our cities. When this war is over we ought to outlaw that crap.”
“We won’t,” Todd said. “It catches too many street thugs.”
“I think I’d better stay out of that discussion,” Tamara said.
Todd nodded. “I didn’t say I agree with it, but the authorities will get back to policing us again. Wait and see.”
