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. 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. 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. 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. 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?

No Turning Back

“Nobody’s going to recognize us now,” Matt shouted.


Ash felt something much more terrifying than hunger pains ripping at her stomach.  31: Decision


Ash doled out raw corn and river water again the next day. They were camped by a creek.


Kevin groaned and held his stomach. “It hurts.”


“It’ll be okay,” Dayna told him. “We’ll find a town any day now. Ash and I will go and get some better food.”


Matt and Jon-Allen lay on the ground. Their clothes were ripped and dusty. They had barely spoken all day. The others fell asleep, and Ash leaned against a tree. Her chest was raw, and she could barely breathe. It felt like an invisible mountain hovered over her head, and every day it pushed down on her further. Maybe it wasn’t really her responsibility to be the leader, or to take care of everyone, or to have all the answers. But she felt like it was, and she should have never come up with this stupid idea in the first place.


Chapter 163