Barry ran through the streets of Metropolis. He had discovered that, compared with Los Angeles, there were fewer homeless people on Metropolis's streets. The place was cold and by the sea, with brutally cold winds. Its streets had not been designed for warmth either, so many of them became wind tunnels. At temperatures like these, ten-odd minutes in the freezing wind meant there was no point in trying to save someone.
There were some in sheltered alleys. Most wore thick padded coats and sleeping bags, sitting against the walls in a half-awake daze. Not everyone was on drugs. Most did not move simply because the food they found did not provide enough calories to sustain physical activity. Sitting still conserved energy better.
Most homeless people chose to gather together. Some centered themselves around shelters and stayed on nearby streets, so they could get inside whenever someone came out.
Most of the rest centered themselves around food distribution points. The areas within reach of the three food distribution points held the greatest concentrations of homeless people. It did not take much calculation to realize that, in order to eat two meals a day, the time spent going to get food, lining up, receiving it, returning, and then going out for the next meal could consume every daylight hour.
Some might think there was no need for two meals a day. They were just sitting around, so one meal should be enough. But it was not, because the distributed food did not contain as many calories as people imagined. Getting the meals also consumed calories. One meal a day was not enough to make up the deficit.
Many charity meals looked fairly substantial, with meat patties, bread, beans, and so on. Yet strangely, none of the absurdly high-calorie desserts seen in sensational