The Demon's Bowl: An Oakmont Story

Chapter 14

As Uri left the hospital, he was greeted with a sight that was alien. There was a vast sea of cars. Beyond the parking lot, he could see buildings, lots and lots of buildings. However, he did see an area not too far away that looked like houses. Without any other idea what to do, he headed for the houses, moving between the cars for concealment.

On the far side of the parking lot, there was a large open field, but it did have a few stands of trees, which Uri ran for. Moving from one stand of trees to the next, not that there were that many, he made his way to the neighborhood.

When he set his mind to it, Uri was able to hide incredibly well. He had some very unusual advantages, and at that time, they were in use. Aside from being disoriented, he was scared, which drove him to excel.

He knew his clothing would stick out, so he did something he'd done in the past. It took a little while to find a house with clothes outside, but he did find one. There were all kinds of clothes on the lines, but none of them looked like they'd fit him.

Uri waited in the bushes, trying to decide what to do. Just before he decided to leave, a woman came outside and hung up more clothes. This time, he saw clothes that looked promising. They were boys clothes, as well, and although they knew he was a boy, he'd always maintained the disguise of being a girl. Maybe dressing as a boy would, he'd be able to trick them. Of course, his hair was still a problem, but there was nothing he could do about that, other than cut it, which he didn't have the ability to do right then.

When the woman went back inside, Uri ran to the line and removed the clothes he'd already picked out. He returned to the bushes with a pair of the thick blue pants, a loose shirt with short sleeves and a pair of socks that barely went over his ankles. He didn't have shoes, and from experience, he knew that would be a problem.

Once he was dressed in the new clothes, which were still wet, he moved to the back porch. Uri was extremely happy when he saw shoes lined up outside. He stuck his foot beside each pair until he found one that was close, then grabbed that pair. He grabbed some string that was nearby, deciding to tie his hair back with it.

Returning to the bushes, he quickly put the shoes on, tying the strings at the top. They were too tight, but he didn't have any other options. He then tied his hair in several places with the string, so it was a long cord hanging halfway down his back, and tucked that inside the shirt. Uri was ready, or at least, as ready as he could be.

Worried about the woman coming back out and seeing him, he carefully made his way through the bushes, scant cover that they were, and emerged on the other side of the neighboring house. From there, he walked along the road. He was completely lost, as there was nothing that looked even remotely familiar, and the sun was completely hidden behind the overcast sky.

"Hey kid," he heard from behind.

He didn't look to see who had spoken. Uri put everything he had into running, hoping he could find some cover before they caught him. Finally, he looked over his shoulder, just as a hand was about to grab him. In that moment, he came to an abrupt stop, and dropped to the ground, the man running on past.

As his pursuer recovered from the dodge, Uri was already running the opposite direction. He turned between two houses, seeing trees and bushes behind them. As he got past the houses, he knew he'd made a mistake. There were tall wooden fences around the yards, and he had only a moment to choose which one.

Without much real thought, he ran into one, only pausing as he got to the opening into the yard. Trying to quickly assess what was available to him, he rapidly scanned the space. Unfortunately, there wasn't much.

"We aren't going to hurt you, I promise," he heard, the voice getting closer again.

What was before him was a mostly open, grassy space. Toward the back of the yard there was a small building, with some junk piled in front of it.