The Plan: How the Bug Out! War Began Read online

  “Good luck, my friend,” Harry said.

  “You too, Harry. Take care of yourself. Don’t get yourself killed over this place.”

  “I’ll try my best. Goodbye, Jane.”

  “Goodbye, Harry,” she said. “Take care.”

  They drove up to the road, and made a wide right turn. The I-10 onramp was about two miles down. Frank was glad it wasn’t further than that. The neighborhood looked as bad as home did. Trash and broken glass littered the sidewalks and the road. He carefully steered the coach through it, trying not to run over anything that would damage the tires. When they were finally rolling down the onramp, Frank sighed with relief.

  “Mind if I turn on the radio, Frank?”

  “Go ahead. Some news would be good.”

  Jane got out of her seat and leaned over to turn on the radio. She pushed the button to get to the news station.

  “Here’s more on that series of sigalerts to the east of the greater Los Angeles area,” the announcer said. “The CHP has closed down I-10 eastbound lanes at Ontario due to heavy traffic and a massive multi-car accident.”

  Jane looked over at Frank, a horrified look on her face.

  “I-15 is still open, but getting there is difficult due to the I-10 sigalert and extremely heavy traffic on the 210 freeway.”

  “Well, at least we are east of that mess on I-10,” Jane said.

  “I’m glad we left as early as we did.”

  “You and me both. Wow! Look at that!” Jane pointed to the westbound lanes. It was another military convoy, the biggest one they had seen yet. There was a long line of military trucks rolling along, with CHP cars alongside.

  “Are those tanks?” asked Frank. He pointed. There were several massive flatbed trucks with armored vehicles chained to the tops of them. They had gun turrets, but didn’t look as big as battle tanks.

  All of a sudden the traffic started slowing down quickly, and there were flares on the sides of the road, slowly bringing all the traffic down into just two lanes. Thanks to being so high off the ground, Frank and Jane could see far up ahead. There was a row of CHP cars and a military truck in the road, ahead about five hundred yards. An officer went up to each car and talked to the driver for a few seconds before letting them through.

  “Where did you put the guns?” asked Frank.

  “I put them in the drop down bunk above us and closed them in. Unless these folks know this coach, they aren’t going to know to look there.”

  “Smart.”

  There was shouting up ahead. The CHP officers were pulling people out of a dirty old mini-van that was parked off to the side of the road, past the check point. Somebody yelled “FIREARM”, and the CHP officers all drew their weapons and pointed them into the vehicle. Just at that moment several soldiers piled out of the back of the military truck, their weapons at the ready.

  “Shit, I hope they don’t shut this checkpoint down because of that,” Frank said.

  Chapter 15 - Bug Out! - Goodbye California

  “Oh, no,” Jane said. Her and Frank watched as one of the CHP cruisers pulled across the two lanes of traffic that were still open, blocking them. The CHP officer at the checkpoint on the left held up his hands to the line of cars waiting, then crouched down behind the CHP Vehicle and pulled his gun, pointing it at the mini-van.

  “If anybody starts shooting, get to the back of the coach,” Frank said.

  “And that means both of us,” Jane replied. Frank nodded.

  Suddenly there was movement on the far side of the mini-van. The passenger side door opened, and a person ran out, turning and firing a pistol at one of the CHP officers who was running in his direction. The CHP officer dove to the ground.

  “Uh oh,” Jane said. She undid her seatbelt. “C’mon.”

  Frank slowly started to unbuckle himself, but kept his eyes on what was unfolding in front of him.

  “The army is going to take this one,” he said. Jane looked back out just in time to see two of the soldiers step forward and point their assault rifles at the running person. They both fired, and the running person staggered and fell to the ground. There were loud screams coming from inside the mini-van. Then the driver’s side door opened, and a pistol was tossed out into the dirt. The driver came out with his hands up. He was an old man, his gray hair blowing in the wind. A CHP officer went cautiously around to the passenger side and slid open the side door. He helped out several people and had them sit over to the side of the vehicle. Then he looked at the other CHP officers and gave a thumbs-up sign.

  “Look at that…the people in back are all children,” Jane said. “How sad.”

  “I’ll bet the old guy is the father, and he was trying to get his son out of the action. Poor man.”

  The CHP officer got into the cruiser blocking the two lanes and pulled it out of the way. Then he joined the other officer at the checkpoint, and made a gesture for the next two vehicles to move forward. They went back to the routine; looking, questioning, letting each vehicle go after a minute or two.

  “Look, they’re bringing up the body,” Jane said, pointing. “Good Lord, that’s only a kid. Look at him. He looks about sixteen.”

  “I was afraid of that.”

  They watched as two soldiers carried the body over next to the military truck. CHP officers were talking to the rest of the people from the mini-van. All of them were crying. Frank got a big lump in his throat. He was fighting back tears. Jane was crying.

  “They should have chased down that kid instead of just shooting him like that.”

  “He had a gun, and was shooting at the officers. The military isn’t going to play nice, I’m afraid. Bringing them in is a double-edged sword. Remember Kent State?”

  Jane nodded. There were only two vehicles in front of them now.

  “If they ask about guns, lie,” Frank said.

  “Don’t you think I know that?”

  “Sorry. I’m a little shook up,” Frank said.

  “No worries, honey.”

  The car in front of them pulled away, and Frank slowly drove the motor home up to the officer. The butterflies in his stomach were getting out of control. He slid the side window open. Lucy started to bark, but Jane held her close and quieted her down.

  “Driver’s license, please,” the Officer said.

  Frank pulled it out and showed it to him through the screen, trying to keep his hands from trembling. The officer looked at it for a couple of seconds, and then nodded.

  “That your wife?” he asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Anybody else in the coach?”

  “Just a dog and a cat.”

  “Where are you folks headed?” asked the officer.

  “Quartzsite.”

  “Do you have any firearms? Say no.”

  Frank gave him a puzzled look, and said “No.”

  “Alright, we’ll let you through. Don’t stay in Quartzsite too long. Don’t go too close to the border. I would suggest going north east.”

  “Thank you, officer,” Frank said. “Take care of yourself.” He drove forward, and gave a sigh of relief.

  “Geez, I almost peed my pants back there,” Jane said.

  “You and me both. How about that firearms question? That took me by surprise.”

  “I know. It’s like he had to ask the question, but didn’t really want to know.”

  Frank looked over at her.

  “It was more than that. I got a really scary vibe from him. I think he was hoping we were armed. He thinks we need to be armed.”

  Jane sat silently for a couple of minutes, thinking as she watched the scenery go by.

  “There’s something that we aren’t being told,” Jane said. “The state bankruptcy and the problem with the banks is bad enough, but something else is going on.”

  “Yeah, how about those comments about the border? What the heck was that all about?”

  “Exactly,” Jane said. “I think we ought to follow the officer’s advice. Overnight in Quartzsite
. Maybe pick up the solar panels there, and then head up to Utah or Idaho or Wyoming or Montana.”

  “Agreed. I don’t think the Southwest is going to be safe.”

  “Want a coke, honey?” asked Jane, as she was getting up.

  “Sure, sounds good, thanks. I could use a pick-me-up.”

  Jane went back to the fridge, undid the bungee cord holding the doors shut, and pulled out two cokes. Then she re-attached the bungee cord and started up front. She looked down and noticed the cat carrier under the dinette table.

  “Hey, honey, should I let Mr. Wonderful out? He’s been in the carrier for a while now.”

  “Yes. Where’s his cat box?”

  “I put it in the shower, but I’ll pull it out here so we don’t have to block the bathroom door open.” Jane opened the door of the carrier, and reached in to pet the cat. His head slowly poked out of the door. Then she opened the bathroom door and pulled the cat box out. She put it in front of the dinette.

  “No power slides, Frank, or we’ll have cat litter all over the place.” She laughed. Frank shook his head and snickered as Jane walked back up to the front with the two cokes.

  “Yeah, I could see it now. Lucy would go on an Almond Rocca hunt.”

  “That’s disgusting,” Jane said, cracking up.

  “You know I’m right.”

  The landscape was getting sparser as they made their way past Cabazon. Soon they were into the Palm Springs area, and there were more buildings. The traffic got heavier. It didn’t look like the rioting and looting had come out this far. No litter and broken glass on the streets, at least that you could see from the freeway. No billows of smoke.

  “Do we need to stop here?” asked Frank.

  “Not on my account. Let me know when you’re hungry and I’ll get us something.”

  “Alright. I’m good for now.”

  After they got past Indio, the landscape transformed into barren desert, and the hills of Chiriaco Summit could be seen in the distance.

  “Look, more military coming in,” Jane said.

  “Wow, look at that. There must be a hundred trucks in this lineup.”

  “More of those tank things,” Jane said, pointing.

  “Shit. Those aren’t what we saw earlier. Those are battle tanks. Why would they need those?”

  Jane looked at him and shook her head.

  “What’s the difference between these and the earlier ones?”

  “Look at the size of the turrets, and the length of the guns. I think the earlier ones were armored personal carriers. Battle tanks are in a whole different category.”

  “Maybe they're going down to the border.”

  “Maybe,” Frank said. “Or maybe they’re being brought in to protect cities. They're overkill for fighting looters, that’s for sure. There’s definitely something else going on.”

  Frank could feel the coach slowing down.

  “Just about to the Chiriaco grade,” Jane said.

  “Yep, it’ll be hard to talk for a little while. That’s the only drawback to these V-10s.” Frank gave the rig more gas, and watched the tachometer moving towards four grand. Soon he was back at sixty-five miles per hour. As the climb got steeper, he couldn’t hold the speed. He pushed the tow-haul button and felt the engine downshift. It sounded like a tractor.

  They got to the summit in about ten minutes, and then started the descent. Frank left the tow-haul button on, letting the engine brake them as they came down from the summit. Soon they were back to flat land, and the engine went back down to its normal cruising rpm.

  “You’re right, this thing does get noisy when it works that hard,” Jane said. “Guess that’s why people spend the big bucks for a diesel pusher.”

  “I guess. This thing has a lot of heart, though. It will run above five grand all day long. I was watching the temp gauge.”

  “What’s that little town up ahead?”

  “Desert Center. Really just a wide spot in the road. I remember being in traffic jams there, though, believe it or not.”

  “Traffic jams out here?” asked Jane.

  “Heck yeah, right before the big summer weekends. You go through there to get to Parker and Lake Havasu. Havasu was a zoo on those weekends, big time. Wish we were on that kind of a trip now. Great memories.”

  “Oh, I get it. You want to go look at all of those college girls taking their tops off,” Jane said with a smile on her face.

  Frank just looked over at her and grinned.

  “How long till we get to Quartzsite?” asked Jane.

  “Probably under two hours.”

  “Good. You want me to drive for a while?”

  “I think I’m good for now. Take a nap if you want to. I got to nap in the car earlier.”

  “Not a bad idea,” Jane said. “I’m really tired. What time is it?”

  “It’s about 2:30.”

  “If I fall asleep, don’t let me sleep past 4:00, OK?”

  Frank nodded.

  The rest of the drive was non-eventful, except for a few more sightings of military convoys heading towards the coast. Lucy had retreated to her bed, which was behind the passenger seat. Mr. Wonderful made an appearance, slowly walking up between the front seats. He looked like he was going to settle in on the engine cover, but he didn’t like the vibration, so he slinked off towards the rear of the coach.

  As they were approaching the Arizona border, Frank could see activity. It looked like there was a checkpoint in place on the westbound side of the road, just over the borderline. Assets were being put in place for a checkpoint on the eastbound side, but they weren’t going to be done before he got there.

  “Jane,” Frank said loudly. “Wake up, we're at the Arizona border. You have to see this.”

  She sat up straight and rubbed her eyes. “What?”

  “Check point on the westbound lanes is already set up, and it looks like they're setting one up on the east bound side too.”

  “Uh oh,” Jane said. “They can’t stop people from moving across state lines, can they?”

  “Not normally, no.”

  “How much further is Quartzsite?”

  “About twenty minutes, I think.”

  “What time is it now?” she asked.

  “About quarter to four. You slept pretty well.”

  “How are you holding up?”

  “Good so far. The drive was easy. I saw more military convoys going west.”

  “Any more tanks?”

  “No, just trucks this time. And no CHP escort like the earlier ones had.”

  “Goodbye, California,” Jane said as they rolled across the border.

  The Arizona Hwy Patrol were setting up light bars and barriers. There were cars that said Arizona DPS on them. They looked like CHP vehicles.

  “What does DPS stand for?” asked Jane.

  “Department of Public Safety, I think.”

  “Oh. Hungry?”

  “I can wait till we get to Quartzsite.”

  “OK. I’ll check out the RV parks on my iPhone. Maybe we’ll be lucky and find one with hook-ups for cheap. I don’t think this is the best night to try boondocking.”

  “Agreed,” Frank said. “I’m beat. I want to pull in, hook up, and have a drink.”

  “That sounds good, doesn’t it? I see several parks, and they're all in the

  $25 range. That’s a whole lot better than California prices.”

  “Good, pick a close one.”

  “There’s one a little before Hwy 95,” Jane said. “It’s five bucks more per night than some of the ones that are further in, but I don’t care. It’s got good ratings. Exit seventeen. It’s coming up. See it?”

  “Yep.” Frank took the off ramp. They followed the road around, and saw the front gate. Frank pulled in slowly and drove to the staging area. It was a tight fit. There was only room for a couple of rigs, and one was already waiting. He shut off the engine and turned to Jane.

  “Want me to go do the honors?”

  “No,
Frank, you just sit tight and keep Lucy company. You just want one night, right?”

  “I think so. I want to see some news. We should be able to add a day or two if we decide it’s safe.”

  “Okay, I’ll be back in a few minutes.” She got out of her seat and picked up her purse. Then she was out the door. Lucy ran after her, tail wagging.

  “Wait, girl,” Frank said. “I’ll take you out in a minute.” He got up out of his seat, and reached for the dog leash. Lucy got excited, jumping up and down and whining. Frank hooked the leash onto her collar and they went out the door and over to the grass median next to the parking area. It was warm, but not as warm as he expected, and a soft breeze blew towards him from the mountains in the distance. Lucy got done with her business quickly, and then went right to sniffing everything in sight. Frank let her lead him around as he looked the place over. There were a lot of coaches there for this time of year. The spaces looked nice.

  Jane came walking back out to the coach, a card in her hand. She was shaking her head.

  “What?” Frank asked.

  “They jacked their price up a little bit. Only by five bucks, but it kind of makes me mad. The people who have the rig parked in front of ours got really mad. I think they're going to leave.”

  “Well, opportunity knocks, I guess. So what’s the damage?”

  “$35 bucks, plus two bucks each for Lucy and Mr. Wonderful.”

  “Oh, well. Who cares? Let’s just get set up and relax for a while. It’s been a hell of a day.”

  Jane smiled at him, and they opened the door of their coach. Lucy bounded inside quickly, and got into her bed. Frank got into the driver’s seat, and Jane sat down in the passenger seat.

  “Where are we going?” he asked.

  “We have space U-15. It’s towards the back. Make a right after the office, then take that road all the way to the back of the park, then veer to the left. We are about half way down that block.”

  “Got it.” Frank started the Georgetown and they were off.

  The space was nice. There was a good shade tree, a table, and a BBQ. Frank pulled up in front of the entrance and stopped.

  “Let’s get the Jeep unhitched.”

  “OK,” Jane said. They went out into the back. Frank unhooked it, and Jane got behind the wheel and backed it up. She parked on the side of the road, leaving Frank enough room to maneuver. Frank got back into the coach, and pulled it into the space. As Jane was driving the Jeep up next to the coach, she could hear the leveling jacks working, and the coach lurched back and forth until it found level. Frank had the slides out by the time she got through the door.