Chevy Suburban

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Just Cliff

Awesome Friend
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Joined
Jan 8, 2018
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Location
North Carolina
Here is part of my first shot at writing a short story. I'm not finished yet. It will be an ongoing project.
It has not been formatted or proofread by anyone else yet. I hope you like what I have so far.

Chevy Suburban



Chapter one



Daniel had been “on the road” for almost two years now. Most of it by himself. He scrounged what he could for food. Sometimes he fished. Sometimes he stayed in an area a couple days and tried his hand at trapping. It all depended what he could see in the way of wildlife. He carried 2 big rat traps and snares for squirrels and knew how to make snares for rabbits out of some sticks and rope. He didn't have a fishing pole or tackle box for the most part. He had a small tin with some line, hooks and sinkers but that was getting a bit thin on things.

He did have a net that he had made before everything went to hell. He had watched videos on line on how to knit fishing nets when he was laid up with a broken ankle a few years before it all went bad. It gave him something to occupy his time and by his way of figuring, it was better to go catching than fishing. Once he got the hang of how to make nets, he made him a nice one four feet deep and a hundred feet long. He made some ties on the ends so he could attach some sticks for handles. When he eventually got better and could walk well without his cast, he and a friend had tried the net out at a local reservoir being careful not to run afoul of the game wardens. They would start at the wide end of a cove and work their way back toward the back of the cove, one on either side. It worked out pretty well. They would get more fish than they needed and it didn't take all day. Sometimes he practiced using by himself. He would drive a straight stick into the ground on the bank. Small trees in the woods were good for that. They were straight with few branches so not a lot of work. Just cut it, sharpen the end and beat it in the ground. He did have to remember to get a right sized one though. A couple of times they were a bit too big around and left him with work to shave it down or go and get another right sized one. He would then walk out into the cove as deep and far as he could and circle around toward the bank. That did work pretty good when the water was warm enough to do that. It definitely would not work in the winter.



Daniel had always been the outdoor type. He wasn't much for staying inside like most young guys his age did. He had bought a large ALICE backpack at an Army surplus store. He didn't have a good deal of money. Only what he got for mowing yards, raking leaves or other odd jobs. He had grown up learning how to save where he could on everything. Weekends would usually find him out in the woods learning how to do all sorts of things. Making snares, building little shelters, finding water, practicing different ways of starting fires. That was fun for him. It gave him a sense of pride and accomplishment to be able to be proficient at being a woodsman.



He did buy a couple of canteens and carriers that would clip onto the backpack. It was big enough to carry almost everything he wanted it too. He had used the money he got for his 17th birthday to buy a mummy sleeping bag with the dry bag. That was much better than the old Wonder Woman hand me down sleeping bag he had been using. Besides, he had gotten too tall for it a couple years ago. He had equipped his pack the best he could. He always felt he was lacking in that department but, what he didn't realize was that he was far better equipped than most people. He had gotten a Schrade straight blade knife for Christmas one year. He really loved that knife. It had a OD green molded rubber handle that held well and didn't slip around when it got wet. It was strapped to the load bearing straps on his ALICE pack. He had his 3 blade folding Case knife that his grandparents had gotten him for Christmas when he was 15. It was always with him in his right front pocket. He felt naked without it. He wore a Leatherman Core multi-tool on his belt most of the time. He always had something sharp around and carried stones in his backpack to make sure things stayed sharp.







An old fella at the hardware store had told him one time, “Nothing much gets made in this world without something being sharp”. An interesting statement Daniel thought and took heed of the old fellas wisdom.
 
Chapter Two



Daniel had decided to get off of the road and into the woods so he could maybe trap some food. His squirrel jerky was almost gone. Tonight would be the last of it for supper. He came to a break in the woods that opened up to a field. Fields usually meant a good chance for game. The animals had gotten used to feeding off the grain and made their habitat around them. He used his little binoculars to look over the land before heading off into the field. He saw the way the rolling hills came down into a wooded valley. Water? Maybe he thought. This seemed to be a good place so off he went walking the edge of the field being cautious. He came to a scraggly line of trees and saw a path going through it. He didn't follow the path, he just made his way through the wood line. It opened up into a small field maybe 3 or 4 acres. It had been planted in corn but never harvested. Most of it was blown or trampled down by animals it appeared. There were some newer looking stalks, probably volunteer plants standing but not very tall.

Daniel started to make his way down the left side of the field near the wood line when his inner voice got his attention. “STOP! SOMETHING IS WRONG HERE!” he thought as his heart started thumping from the adrenaline rush. He made for the wood line like a scared rabbit. “STUPID! STUPID MOVE!” He thought. He admonished himself for getting lazy about his surroundings. He pulled out his binoculars and scanned the area side to side. “WHAT THE HELL WAS IT?” Part of his brain registered something but he couldn't see it. “Settle down.” he said quietly to himself. He tried without the binoculars and didn't see anything. “Maybe I heard something that wasn't right”? He stilled himself and listened for several minutes. “What is that I hear?” “Moving water! That's what I hear!” But that didn't seem to ease his mind much. There WAS something else, he knew it. He had been doing this too long to be fooled into a false sense of security.



Time passed. Daniel wouldn't dare move or make a sound. He finally got his binoculars again when he had calmed himself and scanned the area. “Scanning, scanning,scanning” “THERE!” In the wood line across the field. “What is that?” he thought. “Mother nature doesn't like right or 45 degree angles.” Although partially obscured by some still standing corn stalks, Daniel could make out what appeared to be the front of a truck backed into the wood line on the other side. “But what else was it?” he pondered. He saw no movement around after watching for what he thought was forever. Daniel decided to make his way farther down the wood line to see if he could get a better view. A hundred feet down or so he found a better spot for him and a clearer view of the truck. “It's an awning” he said to himself. One of those that are just tubes put together with a tarp bungee corded to the top. “Ok, Lets wait this out and see if anything moves.



Daniel got as comfortable as he could. He took off his backpack and pulled his Army issue camouflage poncho out because “It always fu*%ing rained” and tried to put it on quietly. “These ponchos had to be the absolute loudest piece of equipment the Army ever issued” he thought to himself. It would be dark and getting colder in a couple of hours and surely it was going to rain. Maybe the inhabitants would start a fire to cook on or stay warm. Time would tell. He couldn't see them running a cold camp this far off the beaten path.
 
Night came and so did the rain, again, some more. Daniel sighed in disgust. He watched the camp all night, not sleeping even for a minute. When daylight came it found Daniel still focused on the camp. No fire. No movement. No sounds. That was a long time to have nothing going on in a camp. Daniel hardened his resolve and decided to make his way to the camp . He removed the “loudest poncho ever”, rolled it up and tucked it into the top straps of his backpack, hoisted his pack on his back and started out.



If he walked across the field, it was maybe less than a hundred yards but, he would make his way around the inside of the wood line to be safe. That would take him a little while but, he would be out of sight. A half hour or so later and Daniel was within 50 feet of the camp. Looking through his binoculars, he could see the truck under the awning. An old kind of white Chevy Suburban. There was a lot of dust on the windows and old leaves on the hood. Still no movement or sound from the camp. It was harder to hear now. The water must be close by. It sounded like the water was rolling over rocks.



“Well, here goes nothing” He thought. He stood up but was still crouched a bit and made his way to the camp. “What to say if I get caught?” “I'll worry about that if and when it happens.” Daniel thought to himself. There was no real use trying to be quiet. The leaves and sticks were everywhere and there was no getting away from them while approaching the camp.



As Daniel got to the camp, it was clear that no one had been there in a while. A thick coat of dust covered the windows as well as the rest of the truck. The tires, although not flat were a bit slack of air. A small pile of leaves gathered at the base of the windshield on top of the cowl. Walking cautiously around the camp, Daniel saw a fire pit built with rocks filled with leaves and a branch laying over it. Nearby there was a hunter green plastic resin chair tipped on its side halfway covered in leaves and sticks. About 30 feet away was a toilet seat strapped to a tree. “Pretty cool” He thought. “Well, it's obvious no one has been around here in a good while”



Daniel made his way back to the truck. The awning stretched over the back of the truck a good 5 feet. “That would have been nice to keep the rain out of the back of the truck” Daniel tried the drivers door. Nothing. He tried again harder and the door started to open then came open with a creak. The weatherstripping had stuck from not being opened in a long time. Though the outside of the truck looked like a crap box, probably even before all the dust and leaves accumulated on it, The interior was amazing. No rips in the seats, all the knobs were there, no trash on the floors. Daniel got in and sat in the drivers seat. It had been so long since he sat on something that soft. “Ha! The keys in the ignition!” Not that he had any hopes of driving away, it was just nice they were there. He tried to turn it over but nothing happened. Not a surprise. There was a stick on digital clock on the dash that worked. 9:47am. Daniel pushed a little button on it and it showed the date, April 17 2020. Sounded about right he thought. This was the first time that he knew when it was in almost 2 years. He looked in the rear view mirror and saw the back of the Suburban had a lot of stuff in it. He took the keys from the ignition and went to the back of the truck. “Interesting” He thought. This model had the barn door type of doors. “Better then the tailgate” he thought. He tried to open the doors but they didn't budge. He tried to unlock it with the keys and then tried them again. They stuck a little but then opened. “STUFF!' he said as if talking to someone else. In the center of the rear compartment was a made up mattress. On either side were plastic totes with stuff stacked on them. There was a propane Coleman stove and lantern, some dishes just all sorts of stuff. Daniel was so excited he had forgotten about where he was. He startled himself and looked around to see if anyone was there. “All clear” he thought. “Try not to do that again” he whispered to himself. When he felt more comfortable, he started pulling out the totes and going through them. “FOOD! CANNED FOOD! DRIED FOOD Oh Ravioli!” Daniel was like a hungry little kid grocery shopping with his folks. He was excited beyond measure.



Other totes contained clothes. Socks, underwear, tee shirts and pants some still in packages. But Daniels mind kept thinking of the food. He was hungry and seeing all of the food in front of him made it worse. He pulled out a small folding table and put the Coleman stove on it. He found a pan and used a bit of his water to rinse it out. He found and opened a can of Ravioli and dumped it into the pan. He hoped the stove still worked and gave it a try. “YES Fire!” He put the pan on the stove to cook and turned his attention to finding a bowl and spoon to eat with. After finding them, he rinsed them and then tended to the tasty goodness that was in the pan. Once again Daniel had to snap himself back around to his situation. He checked all around again. “No one around” “Good”
After about 5 minutes he turned the stove off and poured the ravioli into his bowl. “Daaaamn!” “That’s hot” Daniel set it aside on the table and fetched the plastic chair. He wiped it down well and set it at the folding table. He looked in the truck for some paper towels or napkins, something to wipe his hands with. He did find a roll of paper towels but he spotted something else. “TANG!!” a whole jar of Tang drink mix. He took a spoon and kind of measured the right amount into one of his canteens and shook it up. He took a big swig and it made him pucker a bit. He had not had anything other than water in months. “Man, Is that good or what?”

Daniel sat at the little table with his big bowl of ravioli and some Tang to drink. He felt like royalty sitting at the back of the Suburban under the shelter eating real food. He savored every bite. When done, he rinsed his bowl, pan and spoon and set them aside. He stepped over to a tree and tended some business there and just stopped and listened and looked around. Nothing but the sound of birds and bugs and the sound of water rushing in the distance. He was starting to relax. He was full for the first time in a long time. He went back to the drivers seat, got in and just wanted to sit for a minute. His weakness and lack of good sleep was no match for the comfortable cloth seats. Daniel never realized that he had drifted to sleep.
 
Chapter Three






He awoke in a panic as he did most times but this time was worse. “Where am I? What the hell?” It took him a good 15 seconds to figure things out. He sat back in the drivers seat and let his heart rate and breathing come down to something close to normal. He lifted his head and looked at the clock on the dash. 3:37pm. He still had time to get around before it got dark. He went to the back of the truck and started pulling everything out but the mattress.
There was all different types of foods. Ravioli (his favorite) soups,canned vegetables, several large bags of dried beans and white rice, a couple boxes of salt and pepper, various other spices and some large plastic jars of “tomato powder” whatever that was. There were plastic jars of dehydrated onions and peppers. Daniel thought to himself that there was enough food here for a couple months on a normal ration, he could stretch that out and maybe get another couple weeks to a month. Even better if he could scare up some meat or fish.
Daniel could hear the familiar sound of thunder in the distance. It wouldn't be long before it was raining again......some more...always. He gathered everything up and put it back in the totes and loaded that back of the Suburban close to the way it had been. Still not raining, Daniel got a few things together to catch some rain water and waited. He had not paid a lot of attention to the top of the Suburban but now that he was waiting doing nothing, he checked out the large roof rack. “Hmm. More stuff!” he thought. He used the trailer hitch as a step then stepped on the floor of the rear compartment to get a better look at what was on the top. A couple 20 lb propane cylinders, he lifted them and appeared to be full, a shovel and some other ground working tools, some more tarps, a couple of small solar panels and some 5 gallon buckets and a couple of 15 gallon plastic barrels. One of the buckets was black and had a spout of the bottom and a lid on top. Daniel got down all the buckets and barrels and started sizing them up. He took the lid off of the black bucket to find a rope with a small pulley on it and a shower head with an on and off valve. “A shower!” He said out loud to himself. Daniel quickly started setting buckets up to catch the coming rains. In the top bucket on the stack there was a large funnel. Daniel thought for a minute and figured it was to help get water into the barrels. “Oh, This is gonna be good!”



After getting everything set up to catch water Daniel got into one of the totes with clothes in it. He got him a clean pair of socks, a pair of underwear, “a little big but clean and no skid marks”. He made himself laugh. He got a tee shirt and a sweat shirt and a pair of sweat pants and even a pair of “Jesus Cruiser” leather sandals. All clean and ready for him to wear. He found some towels and wash clothes in another tote along with several bars of soap still in the boxes and two large squeeze bottles of Irish Spring body wash. “Man, I am gonna stink good tonight!”



As it started to rain, Daniel shucked off all but his underwear and got out in the rain to get all his buckets just right so they would catch as much water as possible. He got a rag and washed off the plastic lawn chair while he was at it. He cleaned some of the Suburban windows so he could see out much better. It was a bit of a cold rain but Daniels' excitement about his new found circumstances took his mind off of that.
As he waited for the rain to stop he made a plan on what he was going to do. He had the shower bucket tied to a tree limb ready to be topped off with hot water and hoisted up above his head. His towel and wash cloth just inside the back of the truck along with his new clean clothes. All he had to do now was heat the water on the Coleman stove and he was in business.

“There it is.” The rain was letting up. As soon as it was down to a sprinkle Daniel got the stove out, lit it and put the water on to heat. He had never been so excited to take a shower. The water boiled in the smaller pan he had so he dumped that into the shower bucket, refiled it and set it back on the stove while the large pan was heating. They came to a boil at about the same time. He poured them into the shower bucket and then some cold water to adjust the heat till it was where he wanted it. He hoisted the shower bucket in the air enough that he could get under it and still reach the on/off valve. He took his underwear off and slung it toward a tree. It made him laugh when they stuck to the tree. He reached up and turned the water on, squeezed out some body wash and went to work. He would shut the water off and wash part of him then rinse off until he was finished. He had water left so he washed his hair and nether regions again and let the water run till it was out.
He scurried to the back of the Suburban under the canopy and dried himself off. He then finally got to put on some clean clothes. When dressed he cleaned the stove and pans and put them away and closed the back doors of the Suburban. It would be getting dark soon. Daniel got everything he thought he would need and headed to the drivers seat for a good nights sleep.


As he sat there he looked around inside the truck. He found an LED flashlight that worked. That would be a great help. He had not had a flashlight for almost a year now. While going through the glove box he found the registration. Haney, Jeffrey Robert was the owner. “Well, thank you Haney, Jeffrey Robert for the food,clothes and the shower and anything else that you left.” He didn't mean it the way it came out. He really was appreciative of what he had found.



Daniel was torn on weather to sleep in the drivers seat or to climb back to that wonderful looking bed in the back. He thought that he might get too comfortable while sleeping and get caught off guard. “Screw it!” The bed it was. Daniel was tired. He was physically and mentally drained from the last two years. “If I’m gonna get caught with my pants down, I might as well do it on a full stomach and a good nights sleep.” Daniel slipped off his sandals and climbed into the back onto the bed. He pealed the covers back, took off his sweat pants and sweatshirt and laid down. “Two years without a bed.” Daniel smiled and closed his eyes and quickly drifted off to sleep.
 
Chapter Four







Morning came and Daniel awoke with a start as usual. It took him a few minutes to get his bearings on where he was. He got dressed and put on his sandals then headed out the back doors of the truck. He shuffled around for a little bit while waking up the rest of the way. It looked to him that it would be a good day. The sky had only a few wispy clouds with just a little breeze.



Daniel got some water together and got the old coffee percolator going on the gas stove. He found the tote with the coffee and put a few scoops in and let it do it's thing while he got dressed in some proper clothes. Jeans, tee shirt and boots for now.

He got one of the small pans and put some water on to boil for some of the instant oatmeal he had found. He found a cup for his coffee and a bowl and spoon for the oatmeal. “2 packs of oatmeal should do it” he thought. “1 cup of boiling water” he said out loud to no one there.

As he sat and ate his food and drank his coffee he thought about what he would do today. Today would be a good day to take a thorough inventory of everything in the camp.

He had gone through most of the Suburban already but felt it needed “a good going through”.



He started in the front and worked his way back making mental notes to himself about what was there and where it was. Starting on the drivers door pocket, he found a small adjustable wrench, another LED flashlight that worked, a 16' tape measure, a can of pepper spray, a collapsible metal baton and a screwdriver with changeable bits.

Next was the console. “DAMN!” He exclaimed. He found one Colt 1911 in a leather holster, 4 extra magazines in 2 leather cases, a small binocular in a carrying case, one box of .45 cal bullets, one box of .40 cal bullets, a Cold Steel knife in a sheath, a Leatherman multi-tool, 4 Life straws in the packages and a lot of other little odds and ends.

He got out and went to the passenger side door and checked it's contents. A couple cans of Off bug spray, a bottle of hand sanitizer and a red plastic box containing a bunch of different bits for the screwdriver. As he got out of the front he thought to himself that he better check under the seats. Sure enough, there were 8 boxes of 12ga. 00 Buckshot under the passenger seat. He went back around to the drivers side to check that. 4 boxes of 550 22. cal bullets. He started to get back into the drivers seat and grabbed the cup holder in the console to pull himself up from his awkward position and it came part of the way out. As soon as he got settled in the seat he pulled it the rest of the way out. There was the answer to the .40 cal and the 22. cal bullets. He pulled out a S&W .40 Compact and a stainless Ruger MkIII 22/45, both in nice leather holsters. “Damn Jeff, you didn't waste and space did you?” He said. Daniel got out of the truck and strapped on the Colt and on of the leather magazine pouches. Somehow he felt better now.

The skies had clouded up and once again the sound of thunder and the breeze turned cool. “Oh Yay! More rain.” Daniel made a round and made sure everything was picked up that he didn't want wet. made sure the buckets were in position to catch water and got into the truck once it started to rain. He pulled the Colt from it's holster and ejected the magazine. It was full. He racked the slide and a round came flipping out into the passengers seat. He cycled the gun a couple times then reloaded it. He pulled both magazines from the pouch and checked those. Both were loaded and ready to go. Feeling satisfied, Daniel leaned the seat back and let sleep take him to a better place.



When Daniel woke the rain had stopped so he thought he should get busy doing his inventory. Then he thought he would put that off for a little bit and look around the area and maybe check out the water he was hearing. He didn't really find anything else in the camp area so is was down the hill toward the water. Toward the back of the camp there appeared to be a path cut into the woods. The small trees had been cut off at the ground and the branches of larger trees had been cut off above head height. Taking his time and looking at his surroundings as he walked he passed by a large tree and was startled. Fumbling with the Colt on his side, he got it drawn and pointed at the person behind the tree. This was the most scared Daniel had been in a long time. He was shaking so badly from being surprised. A million things ran through his mind while trying to aim the gun. The person didn't move, they just sat there. Daniel told them “not to move!” There seemed to be a stand off for a bit while Daniel came to his senses. Slowly he realized that the person wasn't going to move and it had been a long time since he had moved. Daniel realized that the person was dead and had been for quite some time. He holstered the Colt and approached the body sitting and leaning against the base of the tree.

His best first guess is that he had just met Jeff Haney, the owner of the Suburban and all of it's contents. There wasn't a whole lot left of Jeff, his denim pants, green flannel shirt and denim jacket were what was holding him together. Daniel leaned against the tree and thought for a few minutes. “I guess I ought to do the right thing and bury him at least.” he said to no one else there. He headed back to camp and got a shovel and a rake off the top of the truck and headed down the path. Daniel started racking the leaves away from an area a little way from the base of the tree so he didn't have to cut through too many roots when digging. He figured he didn't have to go too deep on this grave, if anything was going to get to it, it would have done it by now.

When Daniel thought the hole was deep enough, he did the best he could to roll Jeff over onto a small tarp and drag him to the hole. When he rolled the body over, Daniel checked the wallet in the back pocket. Sure enough, It was Jeff according to the license in the wallet. On Jeff's left hand was a gold ring on the wrist was a watch with a webbing band. A heavy old Timex. He checked the watch but it didn't work. He thought about it for a second then he tried to wind it. He heard the familiar clicks while winding and the second hand started to move. He would keep the watch not because he always had somewhere to be but, because he liked knowing what time it was. He also got the gold ring and stuck it in his pocket. “Somebody might want to trade for something one day” he thought. He slid Jeff into the grave and covered him up. He'd try and find a grave marker later. It just seemed the right thing to do. Jeff had brought a bucket with him on his way down the path so Daniel grabbed that on his way back to camp. Daniel set the rake and shovel back on top of the Suburban and rinsed the bucket out a little bit and set it to catch rain water.



Once finished with that he headed off again on the path down the hill. He had walked maybe 50 yards when he came to the stream. It wasn't very large but made a bunch of noise. He walked down stream a short way and it opened up into a larger pool, “Good enough for some fish” he thought. He would try it out later. He headed back toward the camp after hearing the familiar sound of thunder in the distance. Back at the camp, he gathered up anything he didn't want getting wet and made sure the buckets were set to catch water. He got the two 15 gal. barrels and the large funnel off the top of the truck and started filling the with the water that was already in the buckets. He got one all the way full and the other just a little bit. “Maybe after this rain I can finish filling that one” he said to himself.

He got in the drivers seat and waited for the rain to come. He wiped down the watch and wound it the rest of the way and then set the time the same as the clock that was on the dashboard. He took the ring out of his pocket and tossed it in the ashtray or the truck then sat back as the rain started and it was off to sleep again.
 
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