Beaten and thrown out of his home by his father, Guy ends up on the streets. A few days later he's 'adopted' by two strays, a German shepherd mix and a gray kitten. Later that night, when he returns to a vacant house he'd found the previous day, he meets three other homeless teens -- Mack, Tone, and Dani. After a false start, because they think he's a punk looking for trouble, they become friends. Dani insists the animals need names, and she decides to call the kitten Ghost, while the dog becomes Shadow. When Mack and Guy are threatened by two real punks in the alley behind the house, Shadow defends them, with Mack's help. This leads to their decision that it isn’t safe to remain where they are. As they move on, the quartet's friendship deepens, and Guy eventually trusts them enough to tell them he's gay ... which they accept with no problem, as it turns out so are Mack and Tone. Now they have to continue dealing with life on the streets while COVID ravages the country, making being homeless a fight for their very survival.

Strays in the Time of COVID

“Hell, I can deal with veggie sandwiches,” he told them, dividing the rest of the hamburger between them. It was gone before he taken two bites of his own meal. He smiled when the kitten pawed his knee, shaking his head. “I don’t think you’d like bread, lettuce, and tomato. You, on the other hand…” He tossed the dog half a slice of bread. “That’s it for now, you two. Maybe we’ll get lucky in another alley. Well, if you stick around.” He wondered what the chances were of that. Sure, they followed me to the Dumpster, but that might be it.


“Or not,” he said a minute later when he got up, put on his backpack and mask, and started down the alley, keeping a cautious eye open for anyone who might be interested in him in a bad way. They passed a couple of homeless men sitting in doorways, who pulled back into the shadows when the dog growled at them, but thankfully didn’t attack.


Chapter 3