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No Turning Back

The punishment for a seventh-grade dropout runaway is probably pretty harsh, but Ash Barker doesn't care. She can’t waste time or emotions on anyone but her brother, Matt. They were placed in separate foster homes, so Ash runs away to find him. If she fails, she’s headed back to juvenile detention.<br><br>Everything is going right on schedule until two kids, Dayna and Kevin, barge into her hideout -- which just happens to be in their house. She ditches the pair fast, but can’t stop thinking about those bruised, skinny kids.<br><br>Dayna and Kevin live with abusive parents who force them to stay in their room most of the time. If they go to the authorities for help, they’ll be split up, too. Ash knows how that feels, and she goes back to help, taking the two with her. With any luck, they’ll all help each other along the way.<br><br>Meanwhile, as Matt waits for Ash, he can’t resist telling his foster brother and best friend, Jon-Allen, about the plans. They stash food, earn money, and keep watch for the night Ash appears at their bedroom window.<br><br>Ash is so happy to be reunited with Matt and to discover she’s falling in love with Dayna that, at first, she doesn’t worry about what they’ll do next. But life on the road begins to take its toll -- they have to resort to shoplifting and scavenging to survive. Ash feels a growing sense of guilt at the disaster she’s made of everyone’s lives. Can she somehow keep her newfound “family” together despite hunger and sickness? Or will she be able to find the strength to reach out for help?

Kim Flowers · LGBT+
Zu wenig Bewertungen
165 Chs

Chapter 144

Ash ducked behind a tree. The car drove past without slowing and Ash felt like she would collapse. When the taillights disappeared she ran to the alley and slid into the shadows.

“I found the house. Somehow we’ll have to cross the street, and…Kevin what are you doing?”

“Savaging,” he whispered. He was crawling on his hands and knees.

Ash looked at Dayna, who shrugged.

“It was keeping him quiet,” she said.

“Now is not the time. Let’s go.” She led them across the street and behind the first house she came to. They tiptoed through back yards. And then…

“Here it is,” Ash said, unable to believe it. The back yard didn’t have a fence, either, but there were some bushes at the edge. “Hide there,” she whispered.

Dayna and Kevin crouched. Ash put the cooler beside them and knelt behind a maple tree in the back yard, gasping for air. Matt’s bedroom window was the first one on the left.