Bug Out! Part 7: Mile High Motorhomes Read Free

to transmit, it’ll only send the message to our closed loop system.”
    “Yeah,” Frank said. “This is going to be complicated.”
    “There is an alternative to messing around with a lead box, and risking that a stray file gets out, you know.”
    “What’s that?” Frank asked.
    “We take one of the motorhomes way out in the boonies, where there’s no cell reception at all. Then we can excite these things to our heart’s content and pick up the chip’s transmissions, without the worry of the message getting to the enemy.”
    “You’re right, Jerry. Great idea. We just cruise out until we get no service. It would be perfect. We’ve got the generator in the RV for power, too.”
    “Let’s put these things back in the safe,” Jerry said.
    The two men walked over to Gabe and talked to him for a few minutes. Then they went into the office with the lead box. They came out a minute or two later. Jerry and Frank walked over to Jasmine and Jane.
    “That was fast,” Jane said, putting her arm around Frank’s waist as he got next to her.
    “We decided we’d better not excite one of those chips here…because it might dump its payload back through our phones and onto the internet. It might be addressed right to the bad guys.”
    “Hey, Dobie,” Gabe said, as his cousin walked in the door. Dobie was short and chubby, middle aged, with a mustache and kind of a goofy smile. He had hair turning gray and receding, and looked a little bit shy.
    “Hey, Gabe,” he said. Gabe walked over and started introducing him to people around the room.
    “I expected a big mountain man type,” Jerry said, laughing.
    “What’s that I smell?” Jane asked. “It’s making me hungry.”
    “Venison, probably,” Jerry said. “Somebody knows how to cook it. It doesn’t smell gamey.”
    “Rosie and Hilda,” Jasmine said. “They’ve been in there for quite a while with Jeb and Mary.
    Gabe walked over with Dobie.
    “Folks, this is my cousin Dobie. Dobie, this is Frank, Jane, Jerry, and Jasmine.”
    “Great to meet you, Dobie,” Frank said, shaking hands. Dobie had a damp palm. He was nervous, but smiled warmly. He shook hands with Jane and Jasmine, and then Jerry.
    “Gabe’s told me a lot about you and your group,” Dobie said. “I’m very impressed.”
    “Thanks,” Frank said. “We’re impressed with Gabe. He’s been real good to us, and he’s just full of ideas, too.”
    Dobie cracked up. “Yeah, Gabe’s always been the most resourceful member of the family, that’s for sure. I think he’s hit a new level with the moat and drawbridge.”
    “You been doing dog training for long, Dobie?” asked Jerry.
    “Quite a while, actually, but I’ve only been in my own business for a little while. Of course I had to start right before things went nuts.”
    “Where’d you work with dogs before that?” Frank asked.
    “Salt Lake City PD, mostly,” he said. “I trained all of their K-9 units, both the officers and the dogs. I would have stayed there, if it wasn’t for mom’s passing. It was a good job.”
    “Dobie and I are about all that’s left of our family,” Gabe said. “All of my immediate family are gone now. So are his, after Gwen’s passing.”
    “Sorry for your loss,” Jane said. Dobie nodded and smiled.
    “I inherited my mom’s house in town, along with some commercial space next to it. Was hoping to build up the business there.”
    “Someday you will, when this mess is over,” Gabe said. “You’re welcome to be here as long as you want though, of course.”
    “Yeah, I’d rather stay here for the time being,’ he said. “I don’t think it’s safe in town.”
    “Why?” Frank asked.
    “Now that the military base is gone, we’ve had some bad road people coming through, pushing people around, shoplifting, doing robbery and burglary.”
    “I was afraid of that,” Gabe said.
    “People are disappearing at night, too,” Dobie continued. “Especially women. Some folks are starting to