[b] San Diego, California [/b]

[i] [center] Got on board a westbound 747
Didn't think before deciding what to do
Ooh, that talk of opportunities
TV breaks and movies
Rang true
Sure rang true

Seems it never rains in southern California
Seems I've often heard that kind of talk before
It never rains in California
But girl don't they warn ya
It pours, man it pours

Out of work, I'm out of my head
Out of self respect, I'm out of bread
I'm underloved, I'm underfed, I wanna go home
It never rains in California
But girl don't they warn ya
It pours, man it pours [/center] [/i]

Samuel stumbled into the abandoned gas station with a crash. The scorching sun was zapping him of his energy and he laid there in a heap for a while, breathing rapidly while he tried to reassess the situation for the millionth time. He reached for the water bottle out of habit even if he knew it would be empty, only to put it back. He had stumbled into the south of California during summer, a hot summer even for these parts, and water had proved to be hard to come by. He had expected and certainly hoped to find more resources, or remnants if you would, from the old days in San Diego. Like bottles of water or soda in abandoned gas stations, but this part of San Diego seemed to be thoroughly looted. Probably one of those damn gangs, Samuel just hoped they weren't nearby, he wouldn't stand a chance in his current state.

Not feeling any better at all he grabbed the small bottle of painkillers and put two into his mouth, not caring if he overdid it at this point. They were supposed to fight an infection, at least to a certain degree, but they weren't strong enough. He was eating them like candy and nothing seemed to happen, and he was running out of them. He chewed them up, hating the acrid taste of the pills, and tried to produce enough saliva to be able to swallow the chewed-up pills. He didn't succeed, and the taste of the pills just lingered in his mouth.

Slowly he managed to get back up on his feet, it only got more difficult for each time, and his fears was confirmed. This place was thoroughly looted, and there was nothing to drink or nothing to eat here. He still had some food in his backpack, but he couldn't keep anything down, except for small sips of water. He tried the faucet behind the counter but it was broken. Turning around, his head pounding, he saw some maps behind the counter. Moving over he picked one of them up. Even though he had a map over San Diego it wasn't detailed enough, it didn't show what he needed right now, a hospital. Maybe one of these maps did?

The first map was a map over the whole state of California, and useless for Samuel at this point. The next one was over the southern part of California. At least he was getting closer. The next one was indeed a map over San Diego, a detailed one. And there it was, the icon signalling a hospital, and there were more than one. Now he just needed to find his location, which he did, and look for a nearby hospital. There was one, the St. Luke's Hospital. It was close enough. Normally it would have been an easy walk, but today it would require all his strength and willpower.

Even though his body ached and begged Samuel to lay back down, take a breather, he knew that if he did he wouldn't get back up again. He had to keep going. Stumbling back into the sun he could feel it sting his skin. It burned. He had been sloppy with applying sunscreen and now he was paying for it, but that was the least of his worries. There was a real chance of dehydration, and the infection was ravaging his body, and he needed antibiotics, strong antibiotics. With his luck the hospital had probably burned down.

How Samuel actually made it to the hospital he didn't know, he just put one foot ahead of the other, time after time, getting up whenever he fell down, making it block by block until he saw the hospital. It was still standing.

The last hill up to the hospital nearly defeated him, and he had to crawl the last bit when his legs gave in for the last time. His hands and knees was soon all cut up and blistered from crawling on the hot tarmac. When he finally reached the entrance it was locked, thoroughly so. Laying there in front of the entrance, totally exhausted, Samuel knew that this was it. He didn't have enough energy left to go looking for another way in, it was a miracle he had gotten this far. No, this was definitely the end of the road, and by nightfall the rats would be feasting on his dead body.