Untitled: 2

It wasn't like the movies portrayed it. There wasn't a group of haggard old men huddled around a fire in a trash can, surrounded by shopping carts. There weren't people wearing shoes that were too small for them with the tops cut off so their toes poked through. No one had a blanket made of newspaper. It was simply a group of people that were, for lack of a better word, camping indefinitely.

"We call this The Square," Darryl explained, extending his arm and waving his hand with a flourish. "It's kinda like our version of a community center; where we all come to hang out and try to have some fun."

After their introductions on the street earlier, Jane had allowed herself to follow Darryl back to where he stayed. Almost a half hour later, she found herself walking into what looked like a run-down neighborhood. The Square was an old soccer field behind a high school that had closed down years before but was never built into anything else. Behind the field were a series of alleys leading into different wings of the school which itself was shaped like the letter E. Darryl led Jane past The Square, which was equipped with benches and an old barbeque grill. There was a handful of people lounging on the benches, talking and laughing. Continuing on, Darryl pointed to each alley as they passed them.

"These alleys are where we sleep. Their kind of like streets in a neighborhood to us. This first one is called Ned's Alley. Named after a man named Ned, surprise surprise, who was one of the first people to set up this place. The second one is Brick Lane cause the wall on one side is crumbling and bricks tend to fall out- just be careful if you ever go down there. And this," Darryl stopped in front of the third alley and once again held out his arm, "this is where I reside. Welcome to The Yellow Brick Road, or the YBR. It used to be called Third Street but once I got here I changed the name immediately. My daughter's favorite movie was The Wizard of Oz, so it just seemed appropriate to me."

"You have a daughter?" Jane asked, looking at Darryl. His eyes quickly fell and he scratched at his beard.

"Yeah." he paused then quickly stood up straight. "Alright, let's go meet everyone, shall we?"

Jane nodded. She would make sure to find out more later.