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Chapter 1:

The Beginning

            I could hear my dad yelling downstairs, it was 2:00 AM on a Tuesday. I thought, I wonder what they are arguing about tonight. I knew that they were arguing over how much money they should be getting from one another, and I was right. They had a "good day" in the drug dealing business, and from the sounds of it, most of it was Meth and Angel Dust. Good. The smell of meth when I was eating breakfast made me sick. My parents stopped arguing, but why? They were in the middle of a heated battle with each other; they had never stopped like this before. I heard gunshots. I got up quickly ran into my closet, and got my backpack, which I had bought for this kind of event. My backpack contained an emergency blanket, a bottle of iodine tablets, two water bottles, a box of heavy duty trash bags, a small first aid kit, a box of fire starters,  a small bottle of bleach, a small box of soap, a package of lighters,  a pocket knife, and $200 in cash, that I had stolen from my mother. I went into my closet and grabbed two pairs of pants (they turned into shorts), two T-Shirts, and a sweatshirt. I took my night clothes off and put them in my pack. I put on some street clothes (that I had already pulled out), and put on my shoes. I then pulled out a rope from my desk, and tied it to my bed post. I opened the window, slowly, so that anyone downstairs wouldn't detect me. I through the rope out, and slid down. When I got to the bottom, I heard people running towards me, so I ran through all sorts of allies and streets to go to the one place I felt safe at.

Chapter 2:

Day 1 - Home

 

            I awoke to the sound of thunder; it was 10:00 AM. I was sitting in my friend's tree house; he was on vacation, so no one was around. I noticed that it was raining really hard so I grabbed my backpack, pulled out a trash bag, and started out to find breakfast. So I went to McDonald's and ordered two cheeseburgers. $2.78. Only $197.22 left. As I finished my cheeseburgers, I began to think, were would I go now? I could go back home, but I don't know who or what could be there. So I finished, asked the McDonald's manager if I could have a job. The manager gave me an application, and told me that I would need approval from my parents. I said ok, and walked back to the tree house. When I arrived, I began to unpack my belongings. I said, this will be my home, until I find a real place to stay at. I made a bed out of leaves and pine needles. I found a hole in one of the floor boards; there I hid 100 of my $197.22. That left me with $97.22 in twenty's, tens, and ones. Perfect! No person would ever suspect me of stealing from anyone! I sat there for awhile thinking, if I am to stay here, I should get some furniture, like a chair and a table. Then it occurred to me that I wouldn't be staying there for long, because my friend gets back from vacation in three days! So then it came to me, duh, I need to find somewhere else to stay. So I grabbed my backpack (and got the money back out) and climbed down the ladder. Once I got to the bottom, I started off looking for a park of some kind, with a thick wood. Being in the city, this was going to be too difficult to find so I dismissed the idea of using the woods. I then remembered the old abdicated train station! It hadn't been used in so long; no person would suspect me hiding there! I ran back to the tree house, packed my belongings, and ran as fast as my feet could carry me to the Train station. ----"Station 59." The station was old, rotting, and full of cobwebs. There were boxcars and engines on the track. They were so old; that they're wheels had rusted to the track. So my adventure began, finding a new home. I walked in to the station, looking for a place to call "home." I noticed that it was coming on 6:00 PM, and said to myself, "You idiot, you are not going to find a place to stay in here!" Then I realized that I could stay in a box car! They had doors and they were good sized, so I could put a lot of stuff in them. As I was running over there, I noticed that most of the boxcars had wholes in them, and were unstable. (I knew this because I fell through one) So my attention turned to the engines. They were made of a stronger metal, so they might not be as rusted out. The first one I got into was about half the size of the boxcar, but had a place were I could build a fire. I began to unpack my stuff, and make my bed. When I was done, I left the train yard to go get some dinner. I went to McDonald's again, and ordered a Double Quarter Pounder for $4.98. This left me with $186.19. I still had my application in my backpack so I got it out, and forged my dad's signature to the best of my abilities and put a date on it, one before the gunshots were fired. I filled out the rest of the form, gave it to the manager, and he said be back here tomorrow at 9:00 AM. If I did not make it I would not make the job. As I turned to leave, I noticed that the rain had cleared up.

Chapter 3:

Day 2 – Getting a Job

            I woke up when the sun light hit my eyes. When I opened them, I looked at my watch. 8:45 AM. I then realized that I had to be at McDonalds to get a job! I grabbed my clothes, through them on, and ran as fast as I could. I got there and my watch said it was 8:57 AM. I walked in the door, and there was the manager, just getting ready to rip-up my job application. When he said, "Hello Dave!" I responded, "Good Morning Mr. Sirch." After me and Mr. Sirch exchanged greetings, Mr. Sirch led me into the kitchen

, and then to his office. He sat behind his desk, told me to shut the door, and have a seat. (At this point, I noticed that I was wearing clothes that smelled like smoke from cigarettes, this was abashing, and caused me talk a little different) I asked him how he would like me to address him, Mr. Sirch responded, "Chris or Mr. Sirch is fine with me." I said with a smile, "OK Chris or Mr. Sirch!" Chris smiled shuffled some papers on his desk and asked me, "Why do you want to work at McDonald's?" I answered, "I have no money, and in a great need of it, mostly because my parents aren't making enough money to support me, so I must earn my own money to get anything that I want or need." Chris asked a series of more questions, and then asked, "Why didn't you fill out your phone number?" I said, "I don't have one, my parents can't afford to have one, so when I need to place a phone call, I go to a pay phone." He also asked about why I hadn't filled out the Address line ether. I said, "I don't live with my parents that much, I always move to different places around the community, so I can't remember my house address."

After another hour and a half worth of questions, he stood up, shook my hand and said, "We will e-mail you when we are ready to take you in." I said, "Thank-you very much Mr. Sirch!" I then ran out of the kitchen, and then right out the front door. I didn't stop running until I realized that I had gone a quarter of a mile and that I was hungry. Well, I thought, since it sounds like I might have a job, I am going to go to Dairy Queen to get something to eat, and a nice cool desert. I went in, ordered and sat down. When I finished eating, I realized that I had spent $15.21 on my meal, which left me with $170.98. While I was sitting there, I also realized that I need to get access to a computer so that I can check my e-mail every day for my job information. I also noticed that I need paper, pencils, pens, and other small office-type things so I had a place were I could keep phone numbers, accounting, and other things I can't think of at the moment! I got up, walked to the store and drank the last of my water. I got there and got a sheet of paper and a pen from a cashier, and wrote down the following:

 

Things to Do/Buy before Friday:

1.          Water

2.         Library Card

3.         Check E-mail for job info

4.         Notebooks

5.         Pen/Pencils

6.         Binder

7.         Cooler

I walked around the store, and picked up six notebooks, 10 Packs of 10 Pencils, three inch three ring binder, a small plastic cooler, and a large case of bottled water. I walked to the check out lanes, and got all my stuff paid for. I walked outside, put all my water in my backpack, put 3 of my notebooks in my binder, and put the other three in the cooler along with my pencils. I found the receipt and it read that I had spent $28.23. Which left me with $142.75 I took out my binder and a pencil, and wrote "Accounting" on the top of the page, then I wrote, "Starting Balance: $170.98." On the line below that I wrote, "Purchases at the store: $28.23." On the line below that, I wrote, "Sub Total: $142.75." I dated all of the entries closed the binder but it and the pencil away, and started to walk to the train yard. As I walked home, I made a mental checklist of things that I had gotten done.

1.                    Water P

2.                   Library Card

3.                   Check E-Mail for job info

4.                   Notebooks P

5.                   Pen/Pencils P

6.                   Binder P

7.                   Cooler P

I got to my train, had a bottle of water, looked at my watch, and went to bed. It was 8:00 PM.

Chapter 4:

Day 3 – My New Home

     I found myself on the ground when I awoke, I was damp and cold. Some how I rolled out of my bed onto the ground. But how? My bed was positioned so that it was impossible to get out without standing up and walking. I finally stood up, and noticed that the floor were my bed had abated down to the ground. I guess that was why I was on the ground when I woke up. I got my clothes on, hung my wet ones up, and started unpacking my backpack. I took out a large portion of water, leaving only 3 bottles in my pack and put as many as I could in the cooler. I then realized that my cooler was too small for all of my water, so I took what was left and placed it on the ground. I left my binder with all my paper and pencils in the pack. While I was looking through my binder, I noticed my check list, and remembered that I need to go get a library card from the library so I could use the computers and books there. I put my binder away, and got my bedding picked up and put in a trash bag, so I could change trains. I left my stuff, and looked for a new train to live in. After many hours of searching I had come to the conclusion that all the train cars had bottoms that had been rusted through. Then, when I was about to give up all hopes of living here, I saw a storm drain that didn't have a lid. So I climbed down into it, noticed that it had a ladder three large pipes a person could walk through, and an "island" of concrete that wasn't wet like the rest of the drain. I started walking down one of the pipes and it started getting really dry, in fact I got to a point were there was no moisture in the air at all, the pipe turned and there was a small "room" that was just big enough for me and all my stuff. I left and went back to storm drain opening. I realized that I couldn't live in darkness, so I would need a fire of some sort, so that I could have warmth and light, but were was I going to put a fire in a pipe? All my oxygen would disappear causing me to suffocate and die. So I climbed out of the drain, and "followed" the drain above-ground. When I got to were I thought my "room" was at, I found a lot of these ducts for furnaces. I took the biggest ones I could find and built a box about the same height as the pipe. At the top there was an opening were I could attach a dryer hose to and pipe the smoke out of the pipe. As I was standing their proud as could be, I noticed that I would not be able to make a fire in this box, because there was no opening for me to put fuel in for the fire! I took the bottom piece off and placed a piece that was similar to the top piece that I had just installed. I decided to try making a fire in it, and placed the dryer hose on the top and started building a small fire. I tried to light it, and it stayed lit for about a minute, and then just went out. I was so mad at my self that I kicked the side of the "furnace" and all of the sudden my fire was back! I bent down to see what I did and I had made a small opening, that let oxygen in to the furnace. I made some more small openings in the same manner. Soon my fire was roaring, and was kicking off a lot of heat. I stepped away from the furnace, and noticed that it got cold quick. I found a smaller metal duct, and attached it to the opening along the bottom of the furnace. Heat and light started coming out of the duct! I then blew out my fire and took my furnace into the pipe. I noticed when I got the furnace in the pipe were I wanted it, that the smoke duct would hit the floor, causing all the smoke to flood the furnace, and then eventually the entire pipe. So I started feeling the pipe to find some sort of ledge. After about three minutes of looking, I found hooks all along the top part of the pipe. I took the dryer hose and hooked it around all of the hooks, until I got to the opening. After that I had no more hose left, which was ok because I didn’t need to run it all the way outside of the storm drain. I went back and let a fire in the furnace. The fire started, with a little blowing, and then the fire was roaring, and hot. I went back to the opening to see if the smoke was coming out of the hose properly, but I couldn’t see any smoke. I climbed up the ladder and out of the drain and got an armful full of leaves. I ran back to my furnace, put two large hand fulls of leaves in the fire, ran to the opening, and smoke started pouring out of the hose. It worked! I looked at my watch and noticed that I had missed breakfast and was coming up on lunch. I got out of the storm drain, and returned to were I had found parts for my furnace. I found lots more firewood, and carried it to the storm drain. I left it there, and then I walked to the library and bought a sandwich from a vending machine. This sandwich was $1.50. I ate it, finished my water bottle, and then went up to the check out desk and bought a library card for $20. When I was done, I opened up my backpack and got out my binder that contained my banking notebook. I wrote “sandwich 1.50 library card (expires 05/05/10) $20 remaining balance: $132.39.” I then walked to a computer and clicked on “Internet Explorer” the library’s home page showed up. In the address bar, I typed http://www.hotmail.com/ I logged on, and checked my e-mail. The first message on the list was my about my job application at McDonalds! I read it and it said:

 

 

I sat there in amazement, wondering how I got the job, but then I didn’t care I was just happy I got the job. After sorting through the rest of my inbox, I logged off of my computer and found a table and started to make a schedule of my day-to-day life. I made a table and looked a lot like this:

Time:	Mon	Tues	Wed	Thurs	Fri	Sat	Sun
3:30 AM	Wake	Wake	Wake	Wake	Wake	Sleep	Sleep
4:30 AM	Shift Starts	Shift Starts	Shift Starts	Shift Starts	Shift Starts	-	-
6:00 AM	-	-	-	-	-	Wake	Wake
6:30 AM	-	-	-	-	-	Bfst	Bfst
7:00 AM	-	-	-	-	-	Start Day	Start Day
12:00 PM	Shift Ends-Lunch	Shift Ends-Lunch	Shift Ends-Lunch	Shift Ends-Lunch	Shift Ends-Lunch	Lunch	Lunch
1:00 PM	Shift Starts	Shift Starts	Shift Starts	Shift Starts	Shift Starts	Cont’	Cont’
5:00 PM	Shift Ends	Shift Ends	Shift Ends	Shift Ends	Shift Ends	-	-
6:00 PM	Dinner	Dinner	Dinner	Dinner	Dinner	Dinner	Dinner
8:30 PM	Bed	Bed	Bed	Bed	Bed	Free	Free
9:30 PM	-	-	-	-	-	Bed	Bed
11:00 PM	Restock Fire	Restock Fire	Restock Fire	Restock Fire	Restock Fire	Restock Fire	Restock Fire

I closed my notebook packed up and went back to the pipe. When I arrived to my home, I noticed the fire had gone out so I restocked the fire and started working on moving my belongings from the old train to the pipe. I made a bed on the concrete ground. I put my stuff in the corner and began to think how was I going to survive down here? What happens if it rains? I have no means of moving water around were I was living. This started to bother me and I began to sketch up ideas on ways to move the water. I could channel the water with pieces of metal duct, but they would not work if there was more than a little bit of water. After several hours of planning, I got my things together and walked out of the pipe and went to Subway to order a sandwich for $5.00. There I continued to plan an apparatus for moving water around my “home.” I sat there for several hours, and still no answer. I left Subway disappointed that I could not solve the simplest problem. When I arrived back in the pipe I discovered that someone had been in the pipe…but who?

Chapter 5:

Day 10 – First Day of Work

            As planed, I woke up at 3:30 AM. I woke up this early, just because of all the chores I must complete before I can leave my “house.” The chores were simple, but tedious and required a lot of effort. My first chore was to restock the fire, and clean out some of the ashes. At 3:15 I packed up my things that I would need at work. I then climbed out of the pipe to find a place to clean myself up. This was done at a truck stop by the train station. I then looked at my watch, and began to run, because it was 4:15 when I got finished. I arrived at work breathing heavily with only 3 minutes to spare. Mr. Sirch gave me my uniform, I then went to the bathroom and put it on, and put my other shirt in my backpack. Today was really a raining day for me, all I really did was clean tables and toilets. However, I did learn how to use the fryer and the cash register. After my lunch break, I got to use the cash register, and I took orders, instead of cleaning the entire time. At the end of my shift, I cleaned tables, swept the floor, and prepared for the dinner crowd. I then left before dinner and went home to restock the fire that had burned down to embers. After restocking the fire I left to go to the library. Upon arrival at the library, I went to the computer and double clicked on Internet Explorer and then went to Google and searched for how to articles on making furniture out of natural materials. There were many articles, and I finally printed one off, but it cost me $ 0.90 for 6 pages. I started to read my instructional article as it was printing off, but I soon became confused at what it was saying. I placed the papers in my binder and left the library.

            Upon my arrival home, I restocked the fire some more and ate a sandwich that I had bought from the library’s vending machines. I ate my turkey and cheese sandwich drank a bottle of water, and lay down on to my bed. I sat there starting to dose off when I heard a noise, and then footsteps coming towards my makeshift home. I stood absolutely still, because I had nowhere to run to, except towards the footsteps. The footsteps stopped, close to the doorway, and then the footsteps presumed to my doorway. The person I saw was a girl, shorter than me, and kept some of my same characteristics. The only difference was she was in tears.

            “Hello?” I said. She paused for a long time, and then responded, “My name is NONAMEF1, what is yours?” I responded with my name. She paused even longer this time, but this time I asked, “What are you so upset about?” She looked at me differently and walked deeper into the pipe, and I followed.

            She eventually started to walk and a very quick pace, most likely because I was following her. Then she ran, and I followed. She turned a corner, and then she was gone.

            “Weird,” I said out loud.

            I walked back to my shelter and dismissed any thoughts of what just happened. I fed the fire, and went to sleep.

Chapter 6:

Day 11 – Rain

            Rain. I have discovered that my shelter is not very water resistant. I have also found out that cotton is in fact, very rotten. I am soaked almost head to toe in rain water and to make it worse I am 10 pounds heavier than I was before I was wet. My bed is soaked, my fire has long gone out, and my firewood has washed away. I pull out my lighter and light it to see anything could make this moment worse at 1:30 AM. I find out that most of my firewood had actually gotten caught in the furnace structure, and in my bed. I started moving things around, and put some of the “drier” pieces of wood in the furnace. I used 5 fire starters to light the furnace again. I took my clothes off, and started to dry them on the now hot metal. The ironic thing, all of the things in my backpack were dry. In fact, my backpack was dry.

            I awoke again, at 2:30 AM, and now my clothes are not only dry, but warm. I put my now dry clothes back in my pack. I walk out of the drain, and get some fresh air. I grabbed some more wood to put in the furnace and came down the drain once again. I set the wood with the rest of the newly stacked wood. I picked up my bedding, and placed it on the furnace to dry, and moved the rest of my bed next to the vent leading into my room. I found a dry spot in the corner of my room and sat there, once again thinking of how to water proof my room. I came up with several ideas, including using mud, and sculpting a wall, that would go around my furnace structure, and around my room. However, moving that much mud would be a hassle, and shaping it would be even more of a hassle. So I decided on a more “modern” way of moving water around my shelter. I decided to use sand bags, which were relatively cheap, considering that I have a job and could always get more money. I also decided that I would use pipe and place one end were the sand bags and the wall meet, and at the end of my sand bag wall structure. Water would flow through the pipe, so there wouldn’t be as much pressure on the “seal” with the wall, and I could use some of the water to drink, if I distill it properly. I drew up plans in my notebook, and found that it would take a wall about three sand bags high, and about 10 sand bags long, for a grand total of 30 sand bags. I also decided to get the largest pipe I could find, so that a lot of water could pass through the wall. After several hours of sketching, I had a water proof structure, at 3:45 AM.

            Work was very slow, beings that it was [August 12, 2007], and I wanted to go get materials for my water proof structure.

            When I left work I started walking towards the hardware store and almost bought 30 sand bags for $392, but I didn’t. I decided that I would need a “less expensive” way to water proof my room, and looked at several different options. One was to use a sump pump, but I do not have any electricity so I ruled that out. Another was to build a wall out of PVC pipe then, caulk it to the floor. Another was to dig a “trench” around the perimeter of my room and furnace, and hope that the trench doesn’t overfill. In the end, after presented with many more options, I chose to build a wall of PVC pipe. It was cheap, and I was told it was very low maintenance. I bought 15 feet of flexible PVC pipe, and caulk for $108.75. I only had $17.74 left for the remaining four days that I had before I got my first pay check.

            Upon my arrival to the pipe, I began build a 7.5 long wall around the furnace, and my room. This was difficult, mainly because the pipe would not stay still long enough for the caulk to begin to grip the pipe. So I began to hold the pipe in place after I caulked it to the ground. The next layer of pipe went together with no problems. Keep in mind, I cut the pipe in half, so that it may help the flow of water around my shelter. So I had 7.5 feet of pipe that had been cut lengthwise. I put this in my room while I put more caulk in the seams of my wall, so that there was a good, snug, and most importantly, water tight fit. I placed some large rocks that I had found in the train yard and placed them snugly, against the side of the wall facing my room, once again, for added support. After I had built the wall, I left to go get something to eat.

Chapter 7:

Day 11 – Who I Met Along the Way 

            Upon my departure from the train yard, I noticed the girl who had previously ran away from me when we first met. I began to follow her, and finally caught up to her when she stopped, waiting for traffic. This time however, I said, “Remember me?”

            No response, so I stood in front of her, staring right into her eyes, and said, “Remember me?”

            This time, she looked at me funny then looked down and said, in a very quiet tone, “yes.”

            I noticed that the crossing signal had changed, and told her that it had changed, and asked while we were crossing the street were she was headed. I found that she was heading to find something to eat, so I asked if I could walk with her, because I am also going to get something to eat. Once again, in a very quiet and innocent tone, “yes.”

            I began to ask her why she ran away from me when we first met in the drain pipe. She however, ignored me, and after several attempts, she finally said, “I would rather not talk about it.”

            I stopped talking, and just let her guide me to where ever she was going to eat. A block or two later, we arrived at the McDonalds where I work, and she asked, “Are you going to follow me in as well?”

            I responded, “Only if you would like me too.”

            She said, “Well, I appreciate the company.”

            We walked in, and I sat down, because I was very tired from all the work I had done today. I noticed that she had sat down with me.

            “I’m catching my breath, you can go ahead and order if you would like.”

            She sat there and stared and saw me beginning to recover, and made for the counter. I then followed. Chris came to the register, and smiled, “What may I do for you?”

She responded, “I would like two cheeseburgers and a small diet coke.”

I then said, “Chris what ever she wants, I want to pay for it, please take it out of my paycheck.” Chris nodded, and I ordered a number 4.