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Houston, Texas
Summer 2016/present day

Houston, TexasSummer 2016/present day

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Omniscient

Megan had snuck into a random open garage in a gated neighborhood. This was not a part of her plan at all. She was wandering, walking in one set direction with no map, no phone, no nothing. On top of that no Jaime. She remembers getting in the back of the van, but doesn't recall any further interaction except for small talk with the other woman.

As soon as she gets access to a phone she fully intends to get a couple minutes to call her and figure the rest of this out. To say she's scared is a damn understatement. Mentally, she's beating herself up for not thinking her disappearance through. Now the cops will stop at nothing to find and catch her because she's just made herself look a thousand percent more suspicious.

Speaking of showering the earth to find her, Megan was headed towards Lousisiana, but Jaime picking her up set her back a lot more, so she's unfortunately back in the Houston area, although, father than where her now abandoned apartment is.

She woke up after an hour by the shore of the lake. The coolness of the water brought her water temperature down a couple of notches and she was able to gain her footing again. Her head was pounding though, and she had unexplainable bruising and road burns. She managed to fish out her purse that was poorly buried under some straw at the string of a tree and started her trek.

It took her a couple of days, due to the lack of food and water. Megan thought she would actually meet her maker.

She is now laying in someone's garage. She thinks it's a woman's house. She caught a glimpse of some long black tresses.

She's been hiding in a large tool closet that is probably the size of a port a potty. It's got ac and when it gets cold at night, with the heat, she's taken care of. She hasn't eaten in a couple of days, though so that's what's been making Megan think the unthinkable, stealing.

A thin layer of sweat makes it's home on the surface of her skin. She fans herself a bit. It's a while before she gains the courage to walk out the shed and stretch a little. Each limb and knuckle pops as if she was a zombie in a comedy movie. Megan sighs feeling a lot of relief since she stays in a crouching position in the shed pretty much the whole time.

She hears loud meows. Then suddenly a grey cat leaps onto the hood of the car and meows. The cats don't look aggressive, but it scares Megan a bit the amount of attention they are drawing.

"Where did you guys go now?!?" A woman's voice is heard in an exasperated tone from a distance.

The cats both go back to the door that leads from the garage to the kitchen.

Megan goes back into hiding.

She expected someone to live here, after all, she timed how to sneak into the garage, but she's unsure how much time she has before she will have to bolt. Surely this woman would call the cops on her if she found her.

Imagine finding a bewildered woman in the tool shed of your garage, covered in a thin layer of sweat, and a disgusting smell coming from her. That's enough to get Megan put away for squatting or something.

Megan looks fifty years old in the face. And even that description doesn't fully encompass the ache in her bones from all that hiking through the woods. Every time Megan goes to stand up she feels like she has sea legs. The more she thinks on it, the more she realizes that maybe being having the cops called on her, might be in her favor. But not with what's going on with King right now. She's already made things too suspicious. In jail, she'd be able to guarantee some food, water, shelter and medication for this fever she'd been unable to break for a couple of days now.

However, it's in this town shed that Megan drifts off with an inevitable sense of nostalgia. She is instantly reminded of hiding around in nooks and crannies. As an only child, she was surrounded by older folks and had to make her own fun. One time she hid for so long that they declared her missing.

She sniffles hard while her stomach growls. A few days she hasn't eaten a thing and she doesn't know what to do. She hears the woman groan and stomp into the garage.

"Star! Cookie!"

The cats meow and their tails whip around. The pitter patter of their claws with the gel caps on them against the metal of the garage door as their owner looks on annoyed with the two of them.

"Come in, please!!!"

They just meow, their giant eyes looking back towards the shed.

"Know what? Y'all can have this and y'all can come in when y'all want!" She raises her arms in surrender before leaving the door slightly cracked open for her cats.

Megan holds her breaths as she hears the woman walk back into the house.

The two cats eat very little from their bowls. They are just so curious about this woman, constantly running over to stare and sniff in her direction after every bite.

Megan feels a bit chastised.

The smell of cat food fills the garage within minutes and Megan's hungry stomach won't stop. The cats eventually get enough of Megan and continue eating. The grey cat however leaves most of her bowl unfinished. Star, the fluffy one goes into the house through the crack in the door and The gray cat waddles over to Megan.

She meows and meows. As if she could speak, she was trying to get Megan's attention.

"What?"

Megan eyes the bowl of cat food. About two spoonfuls of it left. She yells at herself internally.

But then again, she had her moments, eating handfuls of dirt and sand in her toddler years. She's an adult now with all her vaccines and shit, so her immune system is even stronger now. If I eat it, surely I have even lower chances of getting sick.

The smell of the cat food both makes Megan want to hurl and it also makes her stomach growl. Since the door and the shed are almost about 6 feet apart, it's not a big distance.

Right when she's thinking of going for it, the cat hops onto a shelf on the wall. Non perishable foods. People food.

Megan sighs in relief, she finds a can of corn and spam. Is it the best? No. If it makes her sick, she doesn't care. It's better than another day starving.

"Thanks..." Megan gently reaches over for the grey cat's collar as she hops down from the shelf with another meow. "Cookie. Thank you, Cookie."

She pets the cat before the two of them finish the rest of the food off and skip back indoors.

Megan is appalled that she's basically just stole from someone, but she swallows her pride. She's gotta find a way out of there with minimal damage and attention as possible.

________

thoughts? sorry for my absence...

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