Once I step into the intersection, I get a good look at what has been hidden behind the buildings until now. The people milling around the parking lot are just one half of the camp, if you…

There are people on the street. Not a lot at first, but as the sun starts to beat down on the waking city, more and more people start coming out of whatever hiding places they spent the…

I dig into my pack for a protein bar for an early—or very, very late—breakfast as I try to make up my mind what to do now. Part of me is still expecting me to wake up…

Up, up, up the stairs I creep, doing my best to find my way without bumping into anything.  It takes me fucking forever to reach the roof, and I’m quite sure that behind two separate windows something…

I’m sure most people who live in this city are smart; probably smarter than me, seeing as I’m crouching underneath a picnic table, afraid to even draw breath as not to alert anyone or anything. They likely…

One thing becomes increasingly clear to me as I try to make sense of what is going on: I am incredibly ill equipped for this situation—and I’m not even talking about my choice of shoes and bathrobe. …

The wail of the sirens is deafening. Call me naive, but until now I’ve never been subjected to such a level of auditory assault. Sure, noise can drive you crazy—ask anyone living in a city that never…

I know it’s stupid, but I still try the door of the apartment to see how the situation in the stairwell is developing. Only the emergency lighting is on, casting the corridor outside in even deeper shadows…

I check twice that the door and windows are locked as securely as I can get them. Adrenaline is making my entire body shake. The more I think about what happened, the more irrational it gets. Group-meth-murder-hobo-neighbors…

I do what most people in this situation would do: I freeze. Why? Because I have time to think. This situation is beyond surreal. Sure, living in a city of millions might mean that I could, theoretically,…