Driving off that part of town was a total challenge. Like fixing a puzzle with a million pieces, or fixing a Rubik's cube with hundreds of pieces.

There was this part where the engine started smoking, we were barely a meter away from the house, forcing us to pour it some water to cool the magma hot engine. A few seconds later, the exhaust pipe fell off.

Midway the journey, we met a lightning-struck tree that had toppled on the road. We were unable to maneuver with the old locomotives engine. Its capacity was too wide to fit in the distance between the tree and the houses at both the trees edges.

Alighting it, I noticed my whole back from my neck to my legs was filled with dirt. Like one that had been lying on desert sand. They were also aching, until I cracked some bones with stretch ups.

The area was beginning to flood, water level risen to the height of my uncles. We didn't have much time.

"Get met the hell out of here!" The old car trunk thud vigorously as Neptune punched.

Noodles opened him out.

"Who on earth was driving?" Seemed like Neptune didn't have a good driving experience.

He jumped of the trunk. "And where do you think you are takin' me?"

None of us spoke sign language so we all stared as Neptune soaking. Typically, old people were vulnerable to diseases so he was or would soon catch a cold.

His dress cord was nothing to face the violent downpour, "take this," Camilla sacrificed one of her heavy jackets and handed it to him. "We want to get you out of here." He couldn't hear her but we hoped he could read her lips. 

Hesitated, Neptune looked at the jacket and then Camilla's face. He clasped it, thanked her with a ghost grin around his face, and swiftly put it on. It was an oversize to Camilla but to Neptune it was nothing below his hips.

We still had to get him a trouser or something that could cover his lower body.

A house that had undergone total rampage seemed like a nice place to start. The front windows were all broken, walls scratched, there was no door, and the veranda roof was half broken.

We welcomed ourselves.

There was literally nothing in the pallor apart from the brownish walls, the mahogany floor, and a dead ash on the fire place.

A trouser wasn't that hard to find, though we found a female design, black, faded, slinky jeans.

He looked like an ostrich in it.

"Hey, stop making fun of me," that did not change the fact that he looked funny. "If I hear one more snicker, I will kill you," we stopped snickering, and started guffawing. He groaned in irritation.

All we had to do was give ourselves up to the authorities so we would get rescued out of downtown. That would be an easy way to get through but there didn't sound any blaring of police siren, nor red and blue lights swarming anywhere near us.

There was no network, so calling the cops it rescue us or arrest us, either way, was impossible.

"We should go over the tree, and see if we can find a car," that would be a rather smarter idea than seating on a floor waiting for help that we were not sure would find us before the water did.

I agreed by nodding my head.

Neptune appeared from one of the rooms to the parlor in an even clowner outfit. A female designed hut, high heels, the same slinky ostrich-displaying-like outfit, and Camilla's jacket.

The tree wasn't that hard to jump over, at least that was my perspective. If I wasn't wrong, Neptune's perspective was a way total contrast. With the high heels and the goofy chicken-like walking style he had a long journey to go.

A few yards ahead of us on a driveway we could make a car. Scuttling for it as quick as we could, Camilla hopped for the drivers seat. Glad she hadn't lost her wire.

Conjuring with the ignition lock, the engine ignited to live. A second later, we realised that three of the tyres were flat.

From year, to decade, to century, to forever was what if took us to get to the police barrier. About the timing, I was certain we had disappointed Alma.

Of all the bad things that happened to us down there, at least we did one good thing in return. Saving an innocent old man... Okey I take back the innocent part. I wasn't sure of he was.

Brian  had texted us that he went back to school, so it was up to us.

We couldn't continue with the flat-tired. Never. The cops took a look at its state and sympathized with us.

They were generous and borrowed us a lift from a car that was passing by driven by an old lady probably in her late sixties. Shoulder height well kempt greyish hair, a little wrinkled, blue eyes and some freckles around her cheeks. She was clad in a a blue scarf snaking around her neck, a pink dress and had covered her upper part of her body with a green-blue coat. It was a total colour clash but that wouldn't count, no, not in such a cold weather state.

Since no trick or anything to do with butchering had happened to us via all the journey from downtown. I guessed that was it. The old lady.

"So, did you girls live in downtown?" She enquired after realising how silent the journey had been so far.

"No, we were just passing by," I lied still looking for a riddled meaning of her word. I didn't find any.

She did give me an incredulous look but did not quiz deeper into the topic.

We cruised the rest of the way to uptown in silence, where she dropped us off somewhere in the middle of the town.

We thank her in unison and she gave us a lopsided grin in return.

Could that be it?

"Your welcome" she muttered as her land rover engine revved of, debris particles excusing it.

"So, what next?" Isabella quizzed hoping someone would come up with an adventurous idea.

"Go to school!" Camilla did not much of want to argue with anyone. She toddled for Isabella's place, where she had offered to keep for us the excess unschool clothes we had dressed in to face the downtown weather.

There was nothing more left for Noodles to do, besides she had already done enough work out for the day. We parted after she got us to Isabella's door.

Her parents were midmorning goers so they were gone by then.

°*°

Sneaking into school was way easier than we thought, more so since the guards did less of guarding during the day. No one would risk climbing up such a cold hill during the day when it was even colder. Not even us. We were dropped off by a bus just a few meters from the main gate, then went around the tall school hedge standing between us and the school compound.

If Camilla had played her cards right there was supposed to be a dog-hedge-hole somewhere. It didn't take us long to locate it. It was not too far from the gate.

Isabella had quite of a challenge to crawl in due to her leg, but she made it eventually. After a little of our help.

Her leg was not getting any better. She played strong and healthy, but she wasn't. I could tell by the way she unnerved rapidly and stumbled at times but still played strong.

Then that we had discovered nothing useful, it felt like a waste of her precious recovery time.

We crept into the school compound, one of the hallways, and joined the others in the cafeteria for lunch.

It was a perfect timing though we thought that we were late. Just a few minutes to History class where Mrs Hannah could have notice out absence. She could have been a tough one to manoeuvre especially if we lied with anything to do with our health. She would have contacted our parents, and that could have definitely not end up well.

Brian and Alma were seated at our clique table and so was everyone else including Wade. I made him immediately I set foot in the cafeteria. Ted, Wade and all his other friends were seated around their clique table each taking a different expensive meal.

I couldn't tell if he didn't notice me but he did not set a single glance on me. So, maybe he didn't. One thing that completely bemused me was the quiz, if he had been in school all that time.

That would be a question Alma might have had answers for.

We spilled the tea to both Alma and Brian, who were all ears to the story that sounded in sane.

Alma didn't share most of the morning lessons with Wade, so she did not know much about his whereabout. Though she did see him during snack time, she wasn't sure he was fulltime in school.

Suddenly, Isabella's phone beeped which snapped me back from gazing at Wade which was beginning to feel awkward. On removing the phone it wasn't her's it was Gwen's.

"Have you been carrying that for all that time?" My mouth was quick to enquire some food crumbles escaping mannerlessly off my over filled mouth.

"Maybe."

"What? They could have been tracking us," I groaned in irrigation.

"Look."

Wade had sent another text, but the phone had automatically locked itself. Showing it Gwen's picture in Alma's phone, it swiped itself open. It was a thumbs up, and seemingly it was sent while we were still in downtown. Our bad. There was no network there.

"What time was it sent exactly?" Alma seemed deeply concerned.

"Eleven twenty."

"That is a lesson before the previous one."

"He was in class," Brian shared Geography lesson with him.

That was a cast iron alibi. How could he have sent us a text while we were still in downtown while he was in class? Not like we were accosted by anything to do with him, but a thumbs up was evidence that he was pleased
with our work.

There was no network in downtown so the text must have been sent while he was still in school. Did he have a stalker on our asses in downtown, and how could he communicate to him, or was he being framed by a character behind everything? Maybe we were blindly targeting the wrong person.

Only one way to find out. Approach him with every gut had got left.

I returned my gauze back to Wade and the worst thing happened. Gwen strode close to him and gave a peck to him right at the core of his lips.

I could almost swear I saw Gwen steal a furtive glance at me just to make sure it hurt, and it did. It did very badly.

It hurt so bad that I felt tears starting to form inside my eyes. I couldn't take it.

I've got to confront him, I've got to confront him, I've got to confront him, I'VE GOT TO CONFRONT HIM. The words roared in my head each roar highly pitched than the previous one.

Tension and pressure build up drastically like a falling storm, I found myself on my feet having put on my big girl pants. I wanted answers, I wanted to know whether he had anything to do with the dead guys, whether he had been cheating on me with Gwen or either of the other girls he hanged out with, whether any of it was ever real. He wasn't going to ignore me, not with the zeal erupting inside me.

My friends watched in bemusement as I animatedly walked off our table. Whether I was being paranoid or it was real happening I didn't care, but I felt like millions of eyes were glaring at me.

I roughly stepped on the copper-fitted mahogany floor, my boots padding harder and harder. All the voices around me went grave silent the moment I entered in my little brain cage all my attention focused on him though he was a pro in playing dumb. Like he he didn't see me approaching his table all the way. Go, go, go.

Just a few steps from his table, he activate his 'ignoring me' mechanism. He got to his feet and stretched like he always did when he was about to leave his table. He still played like he didn't see me though the fact that he left his table alone leaving his clique behind meant that he had a bone to chew with me.

A few steps off his table, I increased my speed to catch up with him. Somehow I felt afraid of calling his name. My tongue felt numb every time I tried to.

He made it to one of the hallways alone. Galvanizing my short steps, I was able to catch up with him and tap his shoulder.

He halted immediately and sighed. Afraid of what he would say or was thinking of, I stood behind him. A second or two after, he swiveled his head and his eyes fell right on mine.

I got bemused more than ever, sweat trickling at places I never knew had sweat glances. I lost my composure and my tongue went completely numb.