THE STREETS - NEAR MADRONA PARK

[Thy Dungyeon Maestyr]

Madrona Park was a woolly patch of trees, ferns, and rocks covering a few city blocks. It was a bit inundated with litter from kids doing bad things, and occasional temporary homeless camps.

Now the grassy or gravel areas on adjacent property had become littered with ferns and spreading plant chaos from within, and the trees had become dense enough to be truly ominous looking.

Like the rest of Madrona, this area had a mix of small nervous groups in hiding, transient scavengers, and sporadic monsters.

[Thy Dungyeon Maestyr]

Takuji practically sprang from the jeep like a jack-in-the-box when the people left, and ran again, south on Grand. The road was twisty, but he hoped it would intersect with a familiar street if he just headed generally south.

He crossed where it intersected with Newport Way, jogging around several zombies. Shortly after that, the road curved sharply and became East Spring, then intersected with Newport again. By then, the trees were overhanging the road so hard he imagined cars in their old paths would be brushing through them with no visibility. Gnats and mosquitoes tried to fly up his nose for no good reason.

He slowed to a brisk walk.

[◊◊BLOODBEASTER◊◊]

Obviously there wouldn't be any food in the park, and a few M&Ms and lychees weren't cutting it, though they were a sumptuous feast compared to earlier fare. We walked along, listening for the sounds of monsters or people, and glancing at the houses on the other side.

[Thy Dungyeon Maestyr]

There were a lot of zombies to dodge, as the street turned into 38th. That was weird. This stretch wasn't continuous with that dead end he'd been living on, but had the same name. This town was nuts. But yes, zombies. They made it hard to focus on anything else.

[Thy Dungyeon Maestyr]

A few saw him and shambled his way. Others didn't see him yet, but saw their fellows moving, and followed them.

[◊◊BLOODBEASTER◊◊]

He moved at a brisk walk, moving behind cars and branches as much as possible. He found it was better to not make too much noise, though if he caught enough following him anyway, he'd have to find a place to duck into until they got bored and wandered off.

[Thy Dungyeon Maestyr]

The overgrown lawns were hard to walk through themselves, but little, barely visible paths were cut here and there by stones tiles and such. The tall grass and miscellaneous boats and SUVs helped him lose the lead. Zombies frequently spotted him, but were soon too confused to track where he went.

One concern was that he was walking very close to houses, each with unknown people and/or monsters.

Ugh, there were so many weird things out here, it almost made him want to turn around and go back to the hill. There was a lot of mayhem there, but at least it was familiar mayhem. The fact that there were this many zombies wandering around out here seemed to be proof that there wasn't a squad of genocidal bikers wiping them out nearby, but he still stayed wary, looking and listening for unusual signs.

A human-shaped figure stood in a tall window near him, looking out. Was it alive or dead, solid or a phantom? He didn't want to find out. It didn't move at him, for the moment. He kept walking quickly and never found out.

He didn't like the look of Randolph Avenue, but East Columbia Street headed straight in the opposite direction of spooky Madrona Park, so he took it. That came to a T-stop at 37th Avenue, and he was able to head south again.

The zombies here thinned to only a dozen or so in sight, but he still stayed off the street as much as possible. Suddenly, he saw someone coming from the distance on a bicycle.

[◊◊BLOODBEASTER◊◊]

A BIKE? Wait-- just a bicycle. Bicycles weren't scary. He warily took a step back nearly into the bushes, watching the cyclist, ready to either hide, or hail the person. Demons couldn't ride bikes, could they?

[Thy Dungyeon Maestyr]

The guy on the bike had noticed Takuji, and rolled into the grass nearby. He ran around a truck to confuse any zombie witnesses and came out into the hiding spot next to the boy!

Man-
"Hey, kid. You look weak. Need some help?"

He looked normal enough - like some mild-mannered SU student - but smelled like he hadn't bathed or changed in three months.

[◊◊BLOODBEASTER◊◊]

Takuji was pretty grossed out about the stanky dude, especially after being in the hygiene house all that time, but decided to give him a chance.

Takuji-
"O-okay... Do you live around here?"


Man-
"No, I'm homeless. Looks like you are, too. Hey, that might be the safest thing to be - if you can get enough food."


Takuji-
"Yeah, I only found a little food. Mostly monsters. Is there somewhere good to go for food?"


Man-
"Nowhere totally amazing, but I remember everywhere I've been and what I left there. I could point you to a house nearby that might have something in it - at least a little."


Takuji-
"Yeah that would be really nice, thanks. I'm Takuji, by the way."


Man-
"Baldur. "

Oh hell naw. Now you gotta shake his hand.

Takuji offered his hand only cringing in his mind. Maybe he could sneak some hand sanitizer later...

Baldur-
"Takuji, are you from Japan?"


Takuji-
"Yeah, I am. I just came here to go to school..."


Baldur-
"I'm from Iceland, same thing. Anyways, Cherry is just around the corner, and there's a few houses just off of it that had more food than I could carry. You can take my bike and I can jog, maybe?"


Takuji-
"Okay, thank you very much. I only have some water and soap and things, but maybe we can trade later. Thank you for helping me."


Baldur-
"I expect nothing. I get you fed, we part ways, and I pretend you lived happily ever after, OK?"

He was totally oblivious to the hint. Takuji and Baldur went into the street quickly, gathered up the bike, and took off.

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