😞  Chapter 5  😞

                           Quba's pov

  The solar battery percentage was low, and the light gleamed red. I glance at the note I found sticking out of the firewood that morning, and I sighed in anticipation. CA HAS AWAKEN WITH A TERRIBLE COUGH, WE HAVE TAKEN HER TO THE DOCTOR. Only the pile of wood remains, and it was almost evening, yet they still haven't returned. How badly sick can she be, and I hope they haven't admitted her. The rain began to drizzle with gusts of wind, causing the trees to creak violently. Figuring they may be hungry when they get here, I set about preparing a meal.

  Using some of the woods to make a barricade against the wind, I lit the fire and proceeded to grill chicken, and then I made a cheesy pasta. I made a pot of tea and ate some of the food after I finished cooking, it was really good. I packed the pots safely inside the highlander as the rain began to fall and took the small shovel hurriedly, going some distance away to do my business. After that, I hastily tidied myself and felt freshly relieved. It hurt to see the woods getting wet, but apart from the tent that seemed to come with the camping gears, I had nothing else to cover them with.

  I snuggled on the mattress and closed my eyes to rest them a bit. Something knocked on the vehicle, and I awake with a start seeing dusk falling. I looked about and saw that it may have been a piece of tree branch. The ground was soaked when I got out to pee, and I grew terribly worried that Mom and Candice hadn't come back with the girls. I walked to where I could look about, but the wind was discouraging, so I made my way back to the overlander and got inside. I needed some clothes, personal items and underwear. I checked the time and turned on the radio to listen to the news.

  News reporter : Good evening, and welcome to CNN news. Police investigators hurried to the county hospital this afternoon after a nine one one call came from Miss Beverly Bloomfield, mother of the deceased victim Keeble Dacosta. The grieving family is now in the protection of the police and is presently undergoing comfort and evaluation. We'll have more in the next news broadcast. Following the events of the murder of Mr. Keeble Dacosta, several arrests have been made when investigators discovered that hackers were trying to tap into the family's location search. It is not clear if any information has been leaked, and at this moment, the perpetrators are being interrogated by the crime scene investigators."

  I touched my cheek and then my forehead to check if I was okay. My heart drummed hard inside my breasts, and I've never feel more alone than I do now. I switched off the radio, cutting off the man's voice, who was giving the weather update. After replaying what the woman had said in my head, I turned back on the radio and switched to another news channel to catch the news replay. After a few minutes, I got out and went to collect a few pieces of the woods that hadn't gotten soaked and packed them inside the overlander. I walked to the far side and listened while looking intently if there were any vehicles approaching before walking hastily back to the overlander.

  My left foot sunk down into the soaked earth, and I lost my balance falling forward. My outstretched hands saved me from hitting the ground with more force, and I got up dirty. My sneakers were muddy, and the left foot came off in the mud. I look at the sunken earth, remembering that it was where I moved the woods from the day before. The ground was packed all around, but here seemed as if it had been dugged up recently. I looked down at my dirty clothes and thought it was worth trying to see if Keeble hid the money he won there. If he wanted us to come camping, his money could very well be hidden here.

  I got the shovel and started digging. It didn't take long for me to hit on something solid, and I hurriedly dug around the medium-sized thick plastic container. I looked about nervously as the evening light faded, then opened the container quickly. I wiped my muddy hands on my clothes and opened the backpack folded inside it. There were two iPhone boxes, a glock with two extra loaded clips, a brown envelope, and several wads of cash wrapped with blue rubber bands. I zipped the bag shut and carried it quickly to the overlander, placing it inside and then refilling the hole and packing a small stack of wood over it.

  I cleaned off the plastic container and myself quickly and dressed into the extra work suite that normally stays inside my gym bag in my car trunk. I start the overlander and drive to the Walmart I had passed the night before. I choose random jeans pants, shorts, blouses, dresses, joggers suite, sweaters, jumpers, panties, and braziers all in my size. Then I chose two pairs of sneakers, a pair of slippers and a winter boot. The cash out lines were long over by the food section where I ventured, so I took up a few essentials and personal items and went to cash over on the clothes side.

  Lightening rents the sky as I pack everything inside the passenger side of the overlander, get in, and drive off into the night. I turned into a Chinese restaurant drive thru, only because I wasn't sure in which direction to go and still hadn't decided what to order when it was my turn to do so. I glanced up at the brightly lit up menu display and order three random meals. A spicy pork soup with spaghetti and vegetables, malau shrimps with fry rice, and two side dishes of brown stew duck and lamb pilaf.

  I quickly took out the money and paid, wiping away the tears from my eyes discreetly. I have just ordered all of Keeble's favorite chinese food without realizing it at first. I collect the bag of food a short while after and set it down carefully before driving away with tears blurring my vision. A quick stop at the gas station helped me to get myself under control, and I drove back to Walmart parking lot to spend the night. I ate the majority of the food, then packaged the rest in a sleek, tight lidded dish. I took care of my hygiene in the bathroom there, filled up the water bottles, put on a comfortable set of joggers, and made up the mattress to get a well needed sleep.

  After putting my few important documents that I had with me into the bag, the money was in, I checked inside the brown envelope and found new Sim cards, memory chips, and some copies of the lotto ticket. I insert a sim card and a memory chip into one of the iPhones and proceeded to set it up. "Woa! Wifi is on the overlander?!" I say in surprise.

  I was expecting the phone to connect to the Walmart wifi or the other stores nearby. Not wanting to worry about my Mom, Candice, and my neices, I downloaded a few social media apps, games, and news networks. A thought crossed my mind, and I took out most of the money from the knapsack bag, tied it inside one of the Walmart plastic bags, and hid it under the small camping refrigerator. It fitted neatly, and I inhaled deeply and exhaled on a sigh. Turning on the radio, I listened to the latest news bulletin, then lay down and thought about where I'm going to go and what I was going to do.

       
  It was five forty-four when I awake the following morning and looked directly at the converter display. I move the window cover a bit and look outside. The sky was dark, but no rain was falling, so I quickly got up and went to use the restroom before the Walmart store opened up for business. Curiosity made me check inside the cupboard where the inverter was situated and snorted seeing the two storage batteries, I connected one of them and saw that it was fully charged and shook my head. The other vehicles that had obviously spent the night in the parking lot began driving away one by one, but with a plan of where I'm going to go, I drive to the department store and waited for it to open for business.

  Harmed with tools and essentials, I drove to the grocery store and stocked up on more food stuff and other necessities. I bought a cup of coffee and breakfast from a Jamaican restaurant a short while later, ate sitting around the steering on the curb opposite, then when I was finished, I checked that everything was secured before driving off. I could be a ghost writer to earn, and I could work off grid. I could do many things Keeble and I always talked about, such as owning lands, starting a farm, practicing healthy eating, and being our own bosses. Keeble is no longer here, and I can not call him ever again.

  To be continued...