NOT DEAD YET… (lV)
I was quick to conceal the bright light emitting from the phone’s screen, but wasn’t fast enough to muffle it’s sound. At impulse, I swiftly ran my fingers all round the phone and was able to temporarily mute it. But it was now too late, the milk has been spilled. Irene had picked the sound and was now trying to locate it.
She tried calling again but I already deadened the ringtone. She became confused but wouldn’t stop trying. I could spot her frantically searching other parts of the room as she failed to emphatically spot whence the sound had come.
At this point I knew I must make a daring move or I’d be busted. Irene intensified her search, she was determined to track and retrieve the phone at all cost, even if it meant turning the whole room upside down.
After a futile search at the section where the candle stood and shone, Irene turned to the heap of bags and did a quick scan. It was the last place she expected to find her phone.
“Haba!” She exclaimed, frustrated “I thought I heard it ring. Where could it be?”
She made to walk away, but on a second thought returned to the bags again. This time she began by disassembling the bags one after the other starting from the top. I knew it was right about time, and if there was any better time to act, it was now.
I quickly unzipped one of the bags that contained the bundles of cash, removed a bundle and aimed it at the burning candle. The launched bundle did hit the target, knocking the candle stick off the table and finally to the ground. The light suddenly went off and darkness was restored. I swiftly but stealthily made for the opening from where I had come, fighting my way through and into the outside darkness. I left the phone behind.
Now Irene had spotted my presence but not my identity, she retrieved the phone and then raised an alarm. Everyone in the forest became alerted, some masked men were also seen running towards the cabin. I set out on all four again, this time crawling as fast as my strength could carry me.
Sporadic gunshots soon filled the air, drawing everyone’s attention as the men began to assemble before the cabin in their numbers like foot soldiers. There were loud murmurs and strict commands.
“Arm yourselves, brothers!! There is an intruder in our midst!!” I heard a voice echo through a loud mic “You must search everywhere, capture and bring them dead or alive… Shoot at sight, anyone without a mask! Go! Go! Now! Now!”
And with those command, the men all masked themselves and began to disperse, scattering about the forest bearing firearms and brilliant torchlights that could travel far through the woods.
I had now gone quite a distance, trying to dodge the many flashlights that ransacked the forest when I soon discovered my movements had left big trails on the wet ground. I turned behind and observed a troop of the gunmen following the trails. Fear began to set in.
I knew if I continued that way, I will be caught and killed in no time, so I had to improvise.
I soon got on my feet and then took to my heels. I was tired, thirsty and famished. But I kept running, limping, falling and rising, trying very hard to avoid the many flashlights behind me. Sometimes the lights would spot me, but I didn’t care. My escape was all that mattered.
Finally, I arrived at what seemed like the outskirt of the forest, with a small pathway that cut through like a demarcation. I was confused on which way to go. I wouldn’t stop panting and gasping for breath. I also spotted one of the trucks the gunmen uses in conveying food and ammunition to their camp in the forest. I set for the truck, and luckily I arrived to meet it empty. I got into the driver’s seat but couldn’t find a means of starting the engine. It looked old and abandoned.
I was still thinking of my next move when I suddenly heard the voices of the gunmen. They had now trailed me right into the open, heading for the truck. I somehow had to sneak from the driver’s seat into the backspace of the truck where goods were lodged during transportation. It was just an empty space, save for some pile of dry log of woods. There was no place to hide.
I had to lie on my face amongst the woods as I awaited my fate. As I shut my eyes, Mama’s face came to view, my eyes began to well up and the tears streamed freely. My whole body began to tremble as well.
Just then I felt a slithering movement on my legs. The movement continued all the way up to my thighs and then to my back, and when it got to my neck, there came a hissing sound. It was a Cobra. A spitting Cobra.
As the Cobra advanced all the way to my head, the gunmen had already closed in on the truck and were set to launch a search therein. This time I knew my fate was sealed. I was either going to die by gunshots or by the cobra’s venom. Either way was sure, and guaranteed.
To be continued…
Úncle Nnamdi wrote it ✍️
