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

The first thing he did when they got there was tie Shadow to a tree before visiting the men’s restroom. It wasn’t exactly clean, but it served its purpose. Thankfully, he had half a roll of toilet paper he’d taken from a gas station john his first night on the streets. Thus far, he hadn’t had to use it, as he made it a point to look for other gas stations, but now he needed it. Putting his pack down, he dug it out, telling Ghost to stay put, then took care of business, and went back to get Shadow.


Chapter 7