Hobo Tough -

Should we explore Artie's and what drove him to the rails, or

"The steel wants to eat you," Artie said, leaning back against the vibrating wall. "It’s a giant heat-sink. Never sit directly on the floor when it's sub-zero. Sit on your pack. Or sit on your pride, if it’s thick enough." hobo tough

It was mid-November in the High Desert. The temperature had plummeted forty degrees in three hours, turning the air into a razor. Artie was hunkered down in an empty grainer car, the kind with the "suicide" porch—a narrow metal ledge that offered no protection from the wind. Should we explore Artie's and what drove him

"How do you do it?" the kid asked. "How do you stay out here?" Sit on your pack

"I'm... I'm fine," the kid gasped, his fingernails already turning a bruised purple.

They lay flat against the freezing floor, Artie using his own heavy wool coat to bridge the gap between them, sharing the meager warmth. He’d survived the Great Flood of '93 and the winter of '08 by knowing exactly how much a human body could take before it broke.