A letter from a Ghostie

My name is Sandy. And I've been a "Ghostie" (a person infected with Red-Eye) for 20 years. I've been homeless for the better part of 20 years and so I've lived a lot of places. Some of them are what you might think of as typical, like parks, beaches, overpasses, or shelters, but others might surprise you. When you're a Ghostie, you are not legally allowed to have a house or home anywhere near the "uninfected" section of civilization. Thus, most Ghosties are homeless.
Now, I'm writing this letter in the hopes that someone will read it and understand. Ghosties are not monsters.
This letter will include tips on how to survive if you yourself have recently become a Ghostie, and are struggling to make it through life. It will also explain what being a Ghostie feels like, and how to accept it. Your first priority as a Ghostie is finding a safe place to sleep and sometimes that means you get creative. I've spent months living in an outdoor public bathroom, an airport, abandoned wagons, deserted cabins in the woods, and even storage lockers (which have sometimes felt so plush it doesn't really even feel like being infected!). Perhaps the worst one was when I lived in a tractor-trailer; they accidentally locked me in for four days and I almost died.
Being a Ghostie doesn't equal being uneducated.
When people think of a Ghostie they don't necessarily think of the guy who not only was a star athlete but also has an education, yet that's exactly what I am. I have an assortment of skills at my disposal, including how to read and write in the language of the Old Folk as well as write texts in Mazhkazor and Magadhan and even speak Lowtalk and Lowertalk and the six Languages of the Forests. And I wasn't the only one out there with similar credentials. There are plenty of extremely intelligent people who, for various life circumstances, end up becoming infected and homeless. And even the ones who may not have a formal education have to get smart in a different way if they want to survive.
There isn't just one reason why someone ends up a Ghostie.
It might make you feel better to think that you can pinpoint the reason someone ended up becoming a Ghostie: perhaps being infected by taking infected drugs or food or maybe spending too much time with friends who were Ghosties, because then you think that by avoiding those things you're safe. In some respects that isn't wrong and there are many Ghosties who had struggled with exactly those things. But the truth is that everyone makes bad decisions sometimes and whether or not your bad decisions end in infection has a lot to do with privilege and luck. Everyone is vulnerable. There but for the Grace of God go I... or you.
(P.S. Don't forget the children, who are definitely not Ghosties through any fault of their own.)
Not all Ghosties are jobless people.
Thanks to the high cost of living and low wages, it's possible for someone to have a job yet not be able to afford a house. At this point, though, you might be wondering why I ended up homeless for so long, even with an employable degree. There isn't a simple answer to that (apart from the fact that I'm a Ghostie) but the job market was very tight when I became infected and I was overqualified for most minimum-wage jobs. And I did struggle with drug and alcohol addiction. I got sober in 15 AE, however, and still experienced stints of homelessness after that.
Some people are Ghosties by choice.
The vast majority of Ghosties are in that situation because they had no other choice but there are a few who would rather not be tied down to anything. Some people choose to become infected. My dad and stepmom kicked me out of the house when I got infected and at that time I decided that I preferred having the clouds for my roof instead of a plaster ceiling. Plus, I am a Kristyan and Jiesous Krist was homeless so I figured if it was good enough for Him, it was good enough for me. That wasn't always the case for me, but there were times I preferred my freedom through my infection.
Ghosties are not going to kill you.
People give the Ghosties a bad reputation, making them look like murderers and psychopaths, but the majority are simply trying to find food and shelter, just like you. You don't need to be afraid of the average homeless Ghostie, you're far more likely to be hurt by someone you know. In addition, a Ghostie is more likely to be killed by a "normal" person than the other way around. There are some horrible people out there who get their kicks from abusing the Ghosties because they are easy targets. I can't even enter a town without people staring and pointing rifles at me like I'm some deranged animal.
There is a "homeless code"
If you learn one thing fast as a Ghostie, it's that no one is going to look out for you and so you learn to band together with other Ghosties. We do our best to help each other out, share tips, and stuff like that. There are even tent cities, homeless encampments, in some places. There's also a healthy barter system where you can trade for things you need without money. I'm actually working on a book of tips for Ghosties to help them survive on the streets; all the little things no one tells you but can make all the difference. This is what local food pantries wish you knew.
When you're a Ghostie, one tiny mistake can quickly become a massive problem.
When you have no safety net, the tiniest issue (an unexpected medical-bill, a serious injury, a lost wallet) quickly balloons into an emergency that can make you a bandit, or if you're already a bandit, make your life infinitely worse. An example I like to share is when I was living in a tree. One day it got cut down. There are "cutting" fees, fees for sleeping in forests, parking fees... before long you owe 2,000 Stones and you've lost the small bit of money you managed to save when you got infected. So now you don't have a sleeping-place and any of your stuff that was in it and you're stuck sleeping out in the elements. Sleeping outside makes you get cold which leads to other problems (especially since Ghosties can't stand the cold). One tiny mistake can spiral into a life-ending problem.
Homelessness and poverty kills.
I can't tell you how many Ghosties I saw die from a lack of simple medical care. A cut, a broken bone, or a wound left untreated can bleed out and end deadly very quickly. Once, when I was being attacked by a bandit in the woods, my attacker broke my jaw. I tried to manage but the pain was so immense I couldn't eat or sleep. The machines living in my community at that time did set my jaw, thankfully, or else I probably would have died from it. While you may think that hospitals are required to treat everyone, they discourage you from coming in for little things; when they do help, they don't always do a complete job. They just want to help you enough to get you out of there, not to help you get better.
Dental problems are the worst problems.
When you think of everything you need to be healthy as an infected Ghostie, a dentist isn't usually the first thing you think of. But your teeth are an essential part of survival. Unfortunately, when you're homeless and infected, simply taking good care of your teeth is tough, much less getting dental care like root-canals or crowns. Between a steady diet of stale food and a lack of access to toothbrushes and floss, many Ghosties have to deal constantly with rotting, painful teeth. And when your teeth hurt, everything is harder. Especially when you're a Ghostie.
Looking homeless is often worse than actually being homeless.
If you look (and smell) homeless, everyone automatically assumes the worst about you, and it becomes that much harder to find a job or an apartment or get medical care. Plus, police or security guards immediately see you as a problem or potential criminal when you're a Ghostie. One of the best things I learned was to keep a cheap gallon-jug and use an outdoor-spigot to shower every few days. A bar of soap can last you months that way. Being clean can make the difference to being allowed to sit for a few hours nursing a coffee in a warm restaurant and getting kicked out as soon as you walk in. This is why Ghosties, no matter how badly infected, should at least maintain a standard hygiene.
Being a Ghostie doesn't have to be a life sentence.
About five years ago, I decided I was done being homeless. I was able to start a side business as a Gunsmith. This money allowed me to start a new life. But I'm the exception to the rule. Escaping homelessness, once you're trapped in the cycle of infection, is incredibly difficult, and resources to help the infected are terribly underfunded and under-served. If I'm being totally honest I still feel like I'm one mistake away from being out on the streets again and that's terrifying.
How to help.
People often ask me what they can do to help the Ghosties and I always say, "Just look around you!" When someone has so little, it doesn't take much to help. You can start by not judging the infected. Don't say that they deserve to be in that situation; no living being deserves being a Ghostie. After that, donate to causes that support the Ghosties in nearby communities, like local churches, outreach-programs, or other charities. If you'd donate to someone after a natural disaster, donate to a Ghostie: they are living a natural disaster every single day.
Thank you for listening to me.
Best regards,
Sandy Newmaker (infected with Red-Eye for 20 years).