That morning, I opened my eyes to the sound of a dog barking. Not like a big bark, more like a small dog bark. What if it was dangerous, or even worse, a Chihuahua? I looked around, unsure whether to look for it or run from it. I pulled myself to my feet using the moss growing out of the bridge's concrete wall for grip as I struggled to wake up without a coffee. I continued to scan the surrounding area until I noticed a small brown dog strutting down the tracks. He appeared well fed and definitely had an owner, despite not having a collar. That, or he kept getting good meals from the local trash cans.

"Hello," I said awkwardly as he wagged his tail up to my feet, slapping my ankles like a whip. I leaned down as it pranced at my feet. It seemed friendly, so I risked it and gently reached my hand down. "What are you doing down here?" I asked, half expecting a response. The dog let out a small bark, and I watched as my small alarm clock ran up the hill and disappeared into the trees. I reached down and wiped dirt from my knees before looking around, rubbing my eyes to adjust to the bright sunlight. I quickly figured out where I wanted to go and decided to head up the hill to the creek so I could wash up. I clambered up the hill slowly and quickly caught sight of the creek.

I bent my knee down and knelt to wash my face. The water wasn't perfectly clean, but it was still nice and cold. The water ran through my fingers quickly as I reached down to grab another scoop of refreshing water. I still felt a little weird not waking up in my bed, but it was a good kind of weird. Now, don't get me wrong, I didn't come out here half-cocked expecting to become a beggar without a plan. I wasn't that desperate for money. I had been saving up for emergencies, and I was going to survive on my own two feet. I knew exactly where I wanted to go; San Francisco. I know it sounds like a long stretch. A very long stretch. But I had always wanted to go. My parents knew it, too. We had talked about it for a long time before... well, the incident. I was on my own now. The only thing was I would decide where I ended up.

After washing my face thoroughly, I reached into my bag and slid out my ammo box. I unclamped the side and pulled the lid up to see everything inside: A map of the state I had collected a while back, two-hundred and thirty dollars, a mini first aid kit with assorted bandages, dabbing alcohol, cotton balls and a few other things. I also had mini lotion, mini shampoo, and a bar of soap, all that I collected from a frequent hotel visit with my uncle; a flashlight with a sharp point on the end, a flint and striker, a mini measuring tape, a foldable canteen, and a military-grade survival kit. I know. More?

In the kit was a tactical knife that flips open with the push of a button, a multi-tool pair of pliers, a whistle, a small bundle of strong black rope, a small wire saw, a golden compass, a multi utensil, which was a spoon, fork, knife, bottle opener, can opener, and corkscrew all in one; a chrome emergency blanket, and a small bag of fishing supplies with line and things. I also had spare Co2 canisters and a pocket watch. The pocket watch was a sort of dirty gold color and had an eagle engraved on the front of it. I felt prepared for just about anything. But that's just what I believed.

I unfolded the map and examined it carefully. It would be a while before I arrived, but that was the risk I was willing to take. Just as long as I got away from here. I popped open the compass and found North, figured out the direction I needed to head, put the map up and realized I was getting hungry. I could eat the canned food cold, but I felt better with it being taste-worthy. I needed a fire. I searched around for some good wood for about ten minutes but there wasn't much in the middle of the woods that weren't just a twig. I needed better wood, so I pulled out the wire-saw from my bag and got to work. I located a thin tree by the edge of the hill and wrapped the saw around the tree.

It took a little while, but I managed to cut the tree down with minor effort. It slowly dropped and slid down the hill toward the tracks. My only thought was that hopefully no one would mind me cutting down a tree on their land, even if it was just as wide as the can of soup I was trying to open. I clambered back down the hill and began to cut the tree into smaller pieces, which was a lot more tiring than the first go-round. I piled them into a small little position I had learned from one of my many survival books I like to read called a trench fire, where you dig a hole in the ground and cook on top of it.

I dug my fingers into the dirt and realized this spot was way too hard. I searched for a few more minutes before I found a softer spot to dig. I scrambled to reposition the wood once I got a new hole and grabbed my flint and striker. The flint and striker weren't too hard to use, but it was a little exhausting. It drained the energy out of me quickly. Eventually, my dumb brain realized I was just striking plain wood. I thought to myself amateur and looked around for some dry grass I could use as tinder. Finally, I had a small ember once I fixed my makeshift trench fire. I leaned down and began to blow onto the ember when whoosh! The tinder burst into a small flame, and soon I was able to get all the wood caught into the fiery grasp of the flames. I had my first fire.

I created a small nook in the wood and carefully set my now open can inside of it. I had to stir the soup frequently with my multi utensil to make sure the soup cooked evenly before eating. Soon, it was nice and ready. Instead of taking the trouble to decant it, I carefully ate it from the can. It was a little challenging to remove the hot can safely, but eventually I figured it out with a couple sturdy sticks. I still had to wait for the food to cool down, and I didn't want to snuff the fire quite just yet. So, I decided to do a little exploring. I eventually discovered a path that allowed me to start my journey later in a perfect, open position with less exhausting obstacles. Soon I returned and found a nice spot by the warm fire while I ate from the can. It was better than usual. Just the pride of knowing you made a fire from scratch, then cooked this delicious food over it all by yourself was simply enough to make it taste better. But I also realized it took a lot of energy for a guy like me just to make breakfast. That was when I first truly realized this might not be quite as easy as I had expected.

After some time, I continued down the path I had discovered before and watched my compass carefully as I came up to an opening. A large grassy clearing. In the midst of the clearing was a pair of railroad tracks that led to the town next over to the north. I approached the tracks and realized a train was just blowing and chugging it along toward me from the south. Perfect. I backed away from the tracks and dropped down in the grass to avoid being seen as the train grew larger and larger. As it slowly passed me, I recognized it as a freight train. I tried to figure out a way to hitch a ride but couldn't find an opening so easily.

I noticed a few cars had ladders on the side, and the train wasn't moving very fast, so I figured out my game plan. I decided to try my luck and approached the side of the train. I began to run alongside the train for a moment, which was kind of tiring with all the weight in my bag. I looked over my shoulder as the next ladder drew closer to me. I reached my arm out, and when it was close enough, I grabbed the bar. The train seemed to drag my boots along the gravel for a few moments, but I managed to pull myself up. I reached up and began to pull myself higher, hoping no one in the front would notice me. Eventually, I found the top and pulled myself up.

As I laid on top of the train, I noticed a small trapdoor in the car ahead of me. It had a lock on it, but maybe I would get lucky. Instead of standing, I decided to try and make my way to the trapdoor via crawling. It wasn't that it was hard to stand, it was actually pretty easy. I just have a thing about heights, if I'm being honest. I slid my belly along and made it to the gap between the two cars. I realized I couldn't make it just by crawling, and I was too short to slide down and climb back up on the other side. So, I figured I had no choice but to stand.

I placed my boot down firmly and pushed my way to my feet. Feeling the wind in my face gave me a rush, but I realized I couldn't stand there long. I leaned forward and tried to aim myself down in the center, that way I wouldn't slip and fall off the side of the train. That was definitely something I didn't want to do. I took a deep breath and leapt forward with my arms outstretched. I landed pretty roughly but managed to balance myself without falling. I quickly dropped back down to my stomach and took another deep breath. I army-crawled up to the latch and tried the handle. Locked. I muttered under my breath and tried to figure out my next move. I decided it would be best if I just went back to the gap and sat in the small area between. I swiveled my way around toward the back of the train car and swam up to the edge.

I slid my arms down and grabbed the edge before turning and dropping each leg down carefully. Finally, I released my grip on the ledge and fell. While trying to land I lost balance and stumbled a second before falling backwards. But hey, I made it, and it sure beats walking. I made myself comfortable and watched the world pass by to pass the time. Open fields, grass, trees. I went ahead and opened my notebook to start my first of many journal entries. Eventually, grass turned to dirt, and dirt turned to roads. Trees turned to buildings, and the sky turned to the roof of the train station. Slowly, the world around me transformed into a town, and it was time to disembark my ride.

Several men began to surround the train to unload the doors, and it was time for me to disappear. I turned and dropped off the side of my small platform, causing my boots to crunch in the gravel. Hoping no one would notice me, I made a quick but quiet run for it and disappeared around the back of the train. I looked around and realized I was among a train yard. Tracks and trains everywhere. Just past the train yard were buildings and cars, along with everything else you'd see in a small town such as this. I took one last deep breath before grabbing the arm of my backpack and taking a step across the numerous rusty tracks toward the streets. After I passed the curb, I came up to the familiar sight of two rows of cracked sidewalk on each side of an even more cracked street. In the sidewalk, baby weeds began to spread and grow tall. On the street, there were a couple of potholes. The street itself was covered in slow infrequent traffic and surrounded by numerous buildings.

On the outskirts of this side of town I spotted a long ocean of trees with some kind of wooden building that might be worth checking out. It was overgrown, clearly abandoned, and would make a perfect checkpoint for me. I also noticed a cat staring at me from across the street. However, for now I had been hankering for something. A nice big bag of jerky. So, I decided to hit the nearest store. I peered down the road and caught the eye of a store named Fred's. As I walked up and pushed the door open, I instantly felt the cashier's face staring down at me. I quickly realized it was probably the pellet gun on my side and laid it down on the floor by the door. I tried to ignore it best I could and started toward the aisles. I found a nice bag of jerky and snagged it, along with a soda and loaf of bread.

As I approached the counter, the cashier leaned forward and studied me. "You new here?" he asked. I nodded and reached into my bag to pull out some money. The cashier seemed to either find my appearance amusing or he could just tell I was homeless, because he told me it was 'on the house' and rang it up for me. "Thank you," I said. "No problem," he said, flashing me a kind of creepy smile. I slowly turned and pushed my way back out the doors, grabbing my pellet gun again on the way. By the time I made it back to the sidewalk, something suddenly introduced my face to the pavement.

I pushed myself to my feet and looked at what tripped me. A gray, fluffy cat with fat eyes. The same cat I had caught staring at me. "You following me?" I asked, brushing myself off. The cat began to circle around and stared at the grocery bag in my hand. "Oh, I see." I reached into my bag and pulled out the bag of jerky. I have to admit, I wasn't sure if cats could eat jerky. That was until the little fur ball scarfed up that piece of jerky without tasting it. The cat rubbed against my leg and then turned and hightailed it down the street. I felt like a vending machine who had just gotten scammed out of money. Or in this case, a decently sized piece of black pepper jerky. Whatever, I'm more of a dog person anyway.

I continued to make my way down the street and to the building I had spotted before. Despite it being engulfed by trees, I could now see it was a little charred. As I carefully dodged the limbs sticking out from the several trees in my way, I heard a crunch and noticed something was moving inside the thought empty building. Just in case, I slid my pellet pistol from its holster and pulled the loaded clip from a small pocket in my bag, snapping it into the pistol. I pointed the pistol ahead of me as I neared the empty door frame at the back of the building. I couldn't quite peek around the corner of the door frame and figured I might as well risk it. So, I took a deep breath and pushed inside.