The Runaways
A short story
"Work with what you've got and try to make it better" – Anonymous
Chapter 1
"Sophie, it's time to get up". Sophie opened her eyes to find her big brother John crouched next to her bed with a backpack over his right shoulder, a suitcase in his left hand, and a little pink coat in his right. He had dark brown hair that parted to the right of his head, brown eyes, and a little scar on his neck. "We're going now?" Sophie asked rubbing her eyes. She had long blonde hair and baby-blue eyes. "Yeah, you ready?" "I think so" she answered. "You have everything packed?" John asked, "Your clothes, toothbrush, toothpaste, hairbrush, everything you need?" "Yeah", Sophie answered pointing to her little pink flowered suitcase. "Okay, let's go", John said as he helped his sister put her coat on. As they were walking out the door, John stopped and stared at a framed picture on Sophie's dresser. It was a picture of him, Sophie, and their mom shortly before she died. John stared at it sadly for a few seconds, then picked it up and stuffed it in his backpack and quickly and quietly followed his sister downstairs. Tonight was the night that they would run away from home, leave New Jersey, and go to New York City. Their mom was killed in a car crash by a drunk driver about a month ago and their step father, Derek was now their legal guardian. Derek was a wild card who could be sweet and caring one minute, and then harsh and violent the next. He was a smoker and developing alcoholic. He had been living with John and his family a total of seven months before the car crash. He was also the reason for the scar on John's neck.
It was a Friday night and their mom was still at work when Derek got home from poker night with the boys. He reeked of alcohol and tobacco. John was sitting at the kitchen table doing his homework and Sophie was in her room sleeping. When suddenly with no warning, Derek grabbed John by his shirt collar and flung him across the room. He then picked John up by the front of his shirt and pinned him against the wall. He grabbed a steak knife and with that crazy look in his eye, cut John's throat deep enough to draw blood. His scar was visible from the incident that happened about two months ago, and John knew that it would never heal completely. He would be cursed with it for the rest of his life. Another time, Derek had screamed and swore at Sophie when she accidently bumped into the kitchen table and knocked over his beer. John yelled at him for talking to Sophie that way, and called him a few choice words of his own. John was given a hard slap across the face for it. When their mom asked what had happened, John was told to lie and say that he was running down the driveway and tripped landing face first on the cement on his right cheek. He was told to lie about the knife incident too. Derek never laid a hand on Sophie, but John was sure that it was only a matter of time before he did. Ever since the night his real dad packed up his things and just left with no explanation or goodbye, John had become very protective of his baby sister and had taken on the role as man of the house. With life at home becoming more dangerous and unpredictable every day, John thought that running away from home and living on the streets would be much better then living with a drunk and careless step dad. "God what did mom even see in that guy?" John thought as he and Sophie tip-toed past Derek's room, down the stairs, and into the garage. John strapped his suitcase to the back of Sophie's buggy which was connected to his bike. Sophie got into the buggy while John strapped her suitcase on the back of his. "All set?" he asked as he made sure that both suitcases were secure. "Yeah", Sophie replied cuddling her teddy bear and blanket to her chest. John hoped on the bike and began pedaling out the garage, down the driveway, and onto the street. Even though he was busy watching the road, John heard Sophie whisper "goodbye New Jersey", and sniffle. "Yeah" John thought, "goodbye for good", and he refocused his attention on the cold, dark road and on what lay ahead.
Chapter 2
"Are we there yet?" Sophie asked for the hundredth time. "Almost", John reassured her. "But you said that long ago", Sophie whined. John sighed; he knew how to get to New York, he just didn't know how long it would take to get there. He did know that if they didn't get there soon, Sophie would get really cranky and possibly through a tantrum. They needed to attract as little attention as possible, even though there was a good chance that not a lot of people would be out at 2:35 in the morning. They finally made it to New York around 4:30 am. Sophie had fallen asleep, and John was trying to find a place to spend the night. They soon came across a junkyard, and right behind it was a small old house that looked abandoned. It looked like no one had lived in it in years and had wooden boards covering the windows. John parked his bike in the junkyard and started to walk toward the house. He soon heard footsteps and looked at the place where he left his bike. Sophie was still sleeping in her buggy. "That's weird" he thought, "Could've sworn I heard something". Just then, John heard the sound of footsteps again, along with the sound of a gun being loaded. Suddenly a figure jumped out from behind a pile of scrap metal with a loaded shot gun pointed right at John's heart. John couldn't move; he was so scared that he thought his heart had stopped beating. "Thought I heard something" the kid said with a smirk, he was now only six feet away. John couldn't see very well in the darkness, but he could tell that the figure was a teenager. He seemed to be about five foot nine with slicked-back brown hair that went past his ears and well-developed muscles in his arms and legs.
"Who are you?" the boy demanded. "John, John Carter", John answered in what he hoped was a strong confident voice. "What are you doing there?" the boy demanded again in a stern voice, "Just trying to find a place to sleep". The boy slightly lowered the gun. "Are you a runaway?" he asked in a softer tone. "Maybe" John shrugged. The boy smiled and held the gun at his side. "Well, in that case sorry, I thought you were some punk Clyde sent to mess with us." "Who's Clyde?", "and whose us?" "Nobody important, anyway sorry for scaring you, I'm Shane", Shane held out his hand for John to shake. John stared at it for a second then shook it. In the background, Sophie stirred in her sleep. Shane glanced at the buggy and then looked back at John. "She with you?", "Yeah, she's my sister", "How old is she?", "Five", "Dang that's young", "Yeah I know", "Well, if you guys need a place to crash, you're welcome to stay here", Shane pointed up to the old house, and then looked back at John. "Unless of course you'd rather spend the night in an alley" he said with a smirk, then turned around and started walking toward the house. John looked at Shane, looked at the house, and then looked at Sophie who was still asleep. John was cold, tired, and hungry and couldn't think of anything else to do, or anywhere else to go. "I guess we could stay there" he thought, "At least for a little while."
John walked over to where his bike and Sophie were and pushed his bike up to the house. He quietly unhooked the suitcases and set them on the porch. He gently lifted Sophie out of the buggy and carried her toward the door. Shane had been waiting, and held open the door for John, which was a screened-in door and had a lot of holes through it. "Thanks" John said. Shane nodded and disappeared out the door. John looked around the house; it was small, cold and filthy. The only light that was visible was coming from the little gas lamp that was sitting in the middle of the floor. John looked at the ground and realized that Shane wasn't the only one living in the "house". On the floor lay five other kids, three boys and two girls. All of them looked to be about fourteen, John's age. They were all sleeping on either an old mattress or in a sleeping bag. "I'll introduce you to everyone in the morning", Shane said as he walked over to the other side of the room carrying the two suitcases. "You guys sure came prepared" he smirked as he set the suitcases down on the floor. "Are they orphans?" John asked. "No, runaways; some ran away to escape abuse, others because of neglect; everybody's got a story" Shane answered as he set down two pillows and two blankets on two old patio couch cushions. "You can sleep there" Shane said, pointing to the slightly bigger cushion. "And she can sleep there", he said pointing to the smaller one. "I know it's not much, but it's all we've got". "It's okay" John said as he gently laid Sophie on her mattress and tucked her in. "Hey Shane", "Yeah", "Thanks for letting us stay there", Shane smiled. "No problem" he said as he layed down on a brown beat-up chair. "Night" he said with his eyes closed. "Night" John said as he lay down on his "bed". It wasn't very comfortable but he didn't care. He was so tired that he fell asleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow.
But one of the kids, a girl with short blond hair and baby blue eyes suddenly woke up, looked around the room, and spotted John and Sophie. She looked over at Shane, who had heard her wake up, and nodded her head toward John and Sophie. Shane nodded, and then smiled at the girl and gave her a wink. The girl smiled at Shane and winked back at him; then they both lay down and went to sleep.
Chapter 3
It was so dang cold when John woke up; he sat up in bed to find seven young teenagers staring at him. "Good Morning", Shane said; he was leaning against the wall. "Hey", John replied staring at the faces that were staring at him. He turned back to Shane. "How long have you been up?", "A few minutes" Shane replied. After a couple of seconds, one of the teens finally spoke up. "So, who's the new guy and the kid?" one of the boys asked Shane. He was wearing a beat-up black leather jacket, white T-shirt, and jeans with a lot of holes in them. He looked just like a "greaser" from the 70's, minus the greased hair. "John Carter, and that's his sister Sophie", Shane said pointing over where Sophie was still sleeping. "She's so cute" one of the two girls said in a very soft voice. She was wearing a red hoodie and black sweatpants. "So, do you guys know how long you're gonna stay?" asked another one of the boys. He was chubby and was wearing a dark green vest and cameo baseball cap. "I'm not sure" John said while looking at the floor. "Well you know you can stay as long as you want" said the last of the three boys. He had curly, dirty-blond hair that went past his ears, glasses, and was wearing a brown and yellow plaid shirt that had the top and bottom buttons missing. The other teens nodded in agreement. "Yeah", said the girl with the short blonde hair. She was wearing fingerless black leather gloves and a rainbow stripped wrist band on her left wrist. She had the most beautiful blue eyes John had ever seen. She also had a long scar on her neck. "She must have been abused too," John thought as he stared at her neck. She must have caught him staring, because she lowered her head slightly and raised one eyebrow at John. He stopped staring. "By the way, we call ourselves The Runaways" she said. "The Runaways?" John asked now looking at her. "We made up the name" said the girl in the red hoodie.
"Hi" said a small voice. Everyone turned around in the direction of the voice and looked to find Sophie staring back at them, teddy bear in hand. "Who are they?" Sophie asked as John reached over and picked her up. "The Runaways" he said as he sat her down on his lap and she snuggled into his chest. "Well" said Shane, "Now that you're both awake allow us to introduce you to our little gang here." "My name is Michael", said the kid with curly hair and glasses. "I'm Gus but you can call me "Big G", or just "G" said the chubby kid with the baseball cap. "The name's Chris" said the kid with the leather jacket. "I'm Lezlie, with a "Z" " said the girl with the wrist band and leather gloves. She gave John a small smile, causing him to blush. "And my name's Callie" said the girl in the red hoodie. She spoke so softly that John barley heard her. She was clearly the shy and quiet type. For a minute no one spoke; the only sounds you could hear were the sound of the wind blowing and teeth chattering. "Soooo" Lezlie said finally breaking the silence "Would you guys like a tour of the city?" "Oh yes please!" Sophie answered excitingly getting off of her brother's lap to jump up and down. "Can we John, please?" She begged pulling on his left arm. John looked at Shane and then at the others. They all nodded and smiled. "I think we can trust them" he thought, and then looked down at his sister's pleading face. "Sure" he said with a smile. "Yay!" Sophie hugged John and then looked up at Shane. "When are we going?" she asked. Shane looked at his friends, they shrugged, and then he looked down at Sophie. "We could go right now if you'd like?" "Yeah!" Sophie screeched. Shane smiled down at the little girl, and then faced the Runaways. "Okay then" he said with a smile, "Everyone grab your coat and we'll all meet at the fence".
After five minutes everyone was ready and waiting by the junkyard fence. Shane ran down to both sides of the fence and took a quick look around the corner. "All clear" he said to the others and then turned to John. "You never know when someone's watching" he whispered. Shane then walked over to a small opening in the fence, got down on all fours, and crawled through. Chris went next and was then followed by Michael, Lezlie, Callie and John. When it was Sophie's turn, she held out her hand for John to hold. Because Sophie was small, she ducked down through the hole in the fence. Shane and the others had to get down on all fours to squeeze through. "I'll be right back" Shane said and disappeared into the junkyard. John walked over to where the others were standing. "Do you guys always go through this way?" he asked as he wiped the dirt off his pants. "Yeah", Michael answered. "Every day?", "Yep, every damn day" Chris replied sharply. John looked at Chris for a second and then went to hold Sophie's hand. "You'll get use to it" Lezlie assured him. "Uh, guys" Callie said looking at the fence. They turned around to find Gus half way through the hole in the fence, struggling to get free.
Chris smirked at Gus and chuckled; "Stuck again Big G?" he asked mockingly. Gus shot him a nasty look and then looked at the ground sighing. "Yes", he grumbled while looking at the ground. Callie sighed and walked over to Gus, with Michael and Lezlie right behind her. Callie and Lezlie grabbed his left arm while Michael grabbed his right, and together, they started to pull. John watched for a few seconds and then walked over to help Michael. And after a few more seconds of pulling, they were able to free Gus. "Thanks dudes" Gus said as he wiped the dirt off his vest and pants. "No problem man" Michael said giving him a man-hug. Lezlie patted him on the shoulder and Callie gave him a sweet smile. "Yeah we really gotta make that hole bigger." Shane was back and gave Gus a knowing smirk; Gus just shrugged his shoulders and moved to stand between John and Callie. "Now then" Shane said walking towards the sidewalk, "off to the Big Apple!"
Chapter 4
"John" Shane whispered and motioned for him to come closer. John quickened his pace and walked next to Shane. "I just want to warn you that there are some messed-up people in this city, so I would stay close and keep an eye on Sophie if I were you." It was more of a command then a suggestion. John nodded, "Don't worry I will" he said looking down at Sophie who was holding his hand and staring in awe at all the buildings and stores they were passing by. "Hey Shane, why don't we show John and Sophie the heart of New York" Lezlie suggested. Shane gave Lezlie a worried looked, "I don't think that's a good idea Lez". "Why?" Sophie asked. Shane looked down at her. "Well, let's just say it isn't the friendliest part of town" Shane answered as best he could. "Oh", Sophie said moving closer to John.
"Well well well, look who it is." The Runaways turned around to find three tough-looking teenagers standing a few feet away from them. "Oh crap its Clyde" Gus whispered timidly. "What are those scumbags doing here this ain't their territory" Chris hissed to Shane. The teenagers looked to be about Shane's age, sixteen, maybe even a little older. The one in the middle, who appeared to be the leader, had blond spiky hair, both ears pierced, and was wearing a skeleton belt buckle. "What are you rats doing on this side of town, dumpster driving for scrapes?" The two boys behind him laughed. "Good one Clyde" said the one on the right. Michael rolled his eyes, "I wish those Neanderthals would go jump off the Brooklyn Bridge" he whispered to Chris and Gus. Them nodded in agreement and smirked at the thought. Shane took a few steps toward the bullies. "Hey Clyde, Ryan, Matt, didn't you get the memo, no dogs allowed" Shane said with a smirk. Chris, Gus and Michael laughed; Lezlie and Callie smirked. "Well at least we don't smell like horse crap" Ryan snapped back. Clyde and Matt laughed again. "Hey boys" said Matt, "check it out, they picked up two new ones." John pushed Sophie behind him as the bullies came closer. Clyde was towering over John as he stared him down. "So what's your name kid?", "John". Clyde smirked, looked down at Sophie, then back at John. "And what's your name?", "None of your business" John growled. Clyde bent down so he was at eye-level with Sophie. "So what happened squirt, did your parents kick you out or something?" Matt and Ryan giggled. Sophie looked like she was about to cry, John looked like he was about to crack. "Why don't you just shut up for once Clyde" Chris snapped. "Why don't you make us greaser" Ryan taunted. "Okay, I will" Chris snapped as he cracked his knuckles and started walking towards Ryan, but Michael held him back. "Chris don't, violence isn't going to solve anything." Ryan and Matt laughed at Michael's plea. "Oh so now the nerd's going to play peace keeper" smirked Matt, but Clyde wasn't listening. He looked at John. "Well if your folks did kick you out, here's some advice." John narrowed his eyes at Clyde. "Maybe if you pray real hard, maybe they'll let you come back?" Matt and Ryan laughed. John was just about to punch Clyde and Chris was ready to help when a car horn beeped. A black Escalade pulled up to the side of the road. A man in a business suit stuck his head out the window. "Clyde, Ryan, Matt!" he called. Clyde looked at the man, then back at John and the Runaways. He walked up to Shane so that they were less then arms length away, each daring the other to make the first move. "You trash bags are lucky my dad's here". Shane glared at Clyde, "Shut up and get the hell out of my face before I make you douchebag" Shane said aggressively, giving him a look of pure hatred. Beep! Clyde and his friends looked toward the car. "Run along Clyde" Lezlie said with a smirk, "your daddy's calling." Clyde glared at Lezlie, then at the others. "Catch you later losers" he said as he and his friends walked toward the car.
When they were gone, John turned to face the Runaways. "What the hell was that?" "Well, Clyde and his goons just insulated us, as usual" Michael answered. John turned to him. "I could see that" he snapped. Gus walked up to John and gave him a pat on the shoulder. "Don't worry about it man, Clyde's a douche to everyone". "Because he's got no life" Leslie added. "Well technically, neither do we" Gus pointed out. They all looked at him and then stared down at the sidewalk for a few seconds, knowing that in a way, he was right. Shane looked at his watch, then at the Runaways. "It's almost twelve, come on" he said and the gang followed him into the crowed city.
"Why do you kept looking at your watch and then looking around" John asked Shane as they walk down a crowed sidewalk. "The cops patrol around these parts, they've seen us doing trade-offs with some of the local homeless groups a few times but they've never had any real reason to question us. The stuff we trade is perfectly legal, but because of our social status it's better to be safe than sorry" Shane answered. John raised his eyebrows but asked no more; he switched to focusing on everything that was going on around him.
New York City was flooded with people. Most of them were wearing suites, fancy outfits, and other expensive types of clothing. A man in a business suit that was talking on his cell phone and holding a briefcase was walking right next to them. As he walked past, Lezlie looked at his coat pocket, looked around, then stuck her hand in his coat pocket and pulled out a wallet. She did it so fast that the man didn't even notice and just kept on walking. John stared at Lezlie in disbelief; he saw what she did and looked back at the man she stole from, he didn't suspect a thing. John was both impressed and shocked with Lezlie. "That man doesn't even know he just got robbed" he thought. Lezlie walked up to Shane and flashed him the wallet. He smiled at her and then motioned for the others to pick up the pace.
He led them down an alley between two buildings and then took the wallet from Lezlie. "Nice pull Lez" he said as he looked through it. Lezlie blushed. It had three credit cards, the man's ID, and $50 bucks cash in it. Chris grabbed the ID and looked at it. "I hope Mr. Williams doesn't mind if we borrow his wallet" he joked. Callie and Michael rolled their eyes. Shane looked at his watch again. "Time to go, the cops will be here any minute" he said. As they headed back to the junkyard, Sophie walked beside Lezlie. "Why did you do that?" she asked. Lezlie looked down at her. "Do what?", "Take that man's wallet", "Because we need the money" she said. Sophie looked confused. Gus walked up to her. "We know it's wrong, but it's one way to get easy cash" he said. Sophie still looked confused. "Sometimes you have to take action instead of sitting on a street corner begging for spare change" he explained. Sophie looked down at the ground; she still didn't understand.
Chapter 5
2 months later
Shane woke with a start to find a little black mouse sitting on his chest cleaning it's face. He wasn't that surprised to see it. He picked it up gently by its tail and stared at it. "How did you get in here little guy?" he asked the mouse. "Like I don't already know" he answered himself. Mice had gotten in the house before, so it wasn't a big deal. Shane got up and walked toward the door still carrying the mouse by its tail. He looked at the screened-in door, which had more holes in it then he remembered. He opened the door and set the mouse down gently on the porch. As he was walking back over to his chair, John woke up. He looked at Shane, "What's going on?" he asked. "Nothing, it was just a mouse". John looked at Shane, then at Sophie who was still asleep. Shane sat down on the floor. "We can't keep doing this", he said suddenly. John turned his head and stared directly at Shane. "What do you mean?" he asked. "I mean we can't keep living like this", Shane said as he looked at the others who were still asleep. "We've put up with this crap long enough" he said in a frustrated tone. John then noticed that Shane's eyes were starting to fill with tears. John got up and sat down next to him. "Shane, I know you've been here longer then I have but what can we do, I mean no one cares about us, nobody wants us, there's no place for us to go where we can all stay together; face it man we're screwed." Shane looked at John, "Yeah, well that's all gonna change" he said with a crocked half smile. John knew that smile, he would know it anywhere. "No, not another one of your plans to get easy money". "What's this about a plan?" John and Shane turned around to find Chris, Gus, Michael, Lezlie and Callie awake and staring at them with curious looks. "You got another idea to get us some dough Shane" Gus asked. "Yeah" Shane answered. "Oh no, not another one" Callie said as she tried to make herself look as small as possible. Shane looked at Callie and let out a small chuckle. "Don't worry Cal, I'm positive that this one will work". "That's what you said last time", Lezlie said with her arms crossed over her chest. Shane, Lezlie, Gus, Chris and John still had bruises from their last attempt at robbing a group of young tourists. Shane looked at Lezlie and sighed. "Look, I know what I said but this is a good one, this time." Shane looked around the room and then beckoned the teens to come closer. "This time" he said in a whisper, "we're gonna rob…a store".
"What!" the teens all screamed at the same time, then shut their mouths remembering that Sophie was still asleep. Then they all stared blurting out questions in hushed voices at Shane. "Are you crazy?!", "We can't rob a store!", "That is so illegal", ""We don't have the tools to pull it off", "What if we get caught?", "Have you finally lost it?!", "They'll put us in foster care?", "Shane, this is New York, it's logically impossible for a bunch of -" "Quite!" The whole room fell silent. Shane closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and then looked at his friends. "We are not gonna get caught, we are not going to be put in foster homes, and it will work because it has to". Shane took deep breaths while starring at the ground. "It just has to" he whispered. The Runaways looked at each other, then back at Shane. "Well, what did you have in mind?" John asked. Shane looked up at him and smiled, "the CVS/Pharmacy downtown". Chris raised his eyebrow, "And what exactly are we going to steal?" Shane smirked, "What do you think; food, water, medicine, and of course, cash" he said while rubbing his thumb and index finger together. Callie let out a small cough, "Well, I do need some cough medicine." Gus's stomach growled. "Yeah, and I'm starving" he said while patting his stomach. Chris glared at him, "We all are butterball", "Don't call me that!" Callie shot them both a glare warning them to cut it out. Lezlie looked at Shane, "When do we strike". Shane looked at her and smiled, "Midnight tonight".
Everyone stared at Shane, then looked at each other and nodded. Shane smiled, "Then it's settled." John suddenly stood up and faced Shane, "I just have one question." Shane raised his eyebrow, "And what's that?" "Why do this?" For a moment no one spoke; the others looked from John to Shane, waiting to see what would happen next. Shane walked up to John and spoke in a low voice. "Because it's our last resort" he said with sadness and desperation in his eyes. "Well there is always prostitution" Chris added as he smirked at Lezlie and Callie and wiggled his eyebrows at them teasingly. Michael reached over and slapped Chris over the back of the head. "Ow!" he yelped glaring at Michael. John signed and Shane turned his attention toward Chris. "Chris, leave the girls alone and focus", he ordered. Chris shrugged his shoulders, "Whatever" he muttered. Shane then turned to all of The Runaways and stuck out his right hand. "So who's with me?" he asked. Everyone, except for Sophie, put their right hand in. "One, two, three, Runaways!" they all cheered.
Chapter 6
It was quarter after midnight on a Sunday and most of downtown New York was dark and deserted. The Runaways were all crouched down hiding behind a dumpster, each carrying a worn-out backpack and flashlight, waiting for Shane's signal. He was at the front door of the pharmacy, trying to pick at the lock on the door with his pocket knife. Shane had picked open locks before, so this one wouldn't be too hard. A few seconds later, Shane appeared around the corner and motioned to the others that it was okay to come out. They walked slowly into the store with Shane, Michael, and Chris in the lead. When they were all inside, they turned on their flashlights and split up into three groups, Lezlie with Callie, Michael with Chris, and Gus with John and Sophie; Shane went by himself. They all went down a different aisle, taking whatever would fit in their backpacks.
Shane was at one of the Check-Out counters trying to pick open a cash register with his pocket knife. Suddenly, the doorknob on the door that read Storage Room began to shake and turn slowly. All the Runaways stopped what they were doing and looked at each other with shock and fear. "Don't just stand there HIDE!" Shane whispered loud enough for them to hear. All of the teenagers turned off their flashlights and ducked in the first hiding place they saw. The beam of a flashlight swept across the store. "Hello, anybody here?" a male voice called out. Sophie started to whimper. John held her closer and put a finger to his lips. "What have I done. I promised mom I wouldn't let anything bad happen to her" John thought while he was under one of the check-out counters with Sophie sitting in between his legs and Gus squished next to him on his right. Suddenly the voice spoke again, and it was close to one of the Check-Out aisles. "Whose there, show yourself!" the man demanded. Shane popped up from behind the check-out counter, knife out ready to defend himself. When he saw the man's face he put his pocket knife away, "Hi Kev."
Chapter 7
The man walked up to Shane, still holding his flashlight. Shane showed no signs of fear and Kevin looked at him with disappointment. "Come on out guys" Shane called, "Its Kevin." One by one, the teens and Sophie came out and walked over to where Shane stood. Kevin shined his flashlight on each of them, then turned back to Shane. "What are you guys doing here?" he asked in a calm voice. "Just doing a little late-night shopping", Gus replied in a timid voice. "And just trying to survive in this crazy messed up world we call Earth" Chris snapped. "What are you doing here" Lezlie challenged. Kevin looked at her, "I'm the new night watchman". He then looked at all of them. "I cannot believe that you guys would be stupid enough to pull something like this" he said. "We had no choice" Callie whispered. Kevin looked at her. "Everyone has a choice". "Not us" Michael said gesturing to his friends. Kevin looked at them with sad eyes and sighed. "So instead of just asking for some money or going to a shelter you decided to break into a store and steal it" he said. Lezlie frowned at him and then stepped closer towards Kevin. "Yes, no one in this freakin' world has ever cared about us, our own parents didn't give a crap about us." She was starting to cry. "We're unwanted, we're outcasts, throwaways, trash; we're nothing don't you get it? We are nothing!" she screamed. Kevin stared at Lezlie in disbelief, dismay, and sadness. He then walked over and took her hand in his. He looked straight into her tear-stained eyes. "That's not true, you are not nothing; you are a group of brave, spirited, and dedicated children. The people who caused you to run away from home were stupid because they couldn't see how amazing you guys are." The Runaways stared at Kevin and Lezlie gave him a small, sad smile and walked back to the others. Shane walked up to Kevin so they were arms length away. "So, what are you gonna do Kev?" he asked. Kevin looked at him, "Well, I should turn you in to the police". The Runaways sighed, and looked at the ground. Callie and Sophie stared getting tears in their eyes. "But…I'm not".
The Runaways looked at Kevin, stunned at what they just heard. "Really", "You're not mad", "Your gonna let us go, just like that". Kevin smiled at them; "Yep, just like that". Shane smiled at Kevin and shook his hand. "Thanks Kevin, for not turning us in, and for being so nice to us for the past few months that we've known you". Kevin smiled, "You're welcome, but there's something I want to ask you guys." The Runaways looked at Kevin with curiosity. "Okay, shoot" said Shane. Kevin looked at them with a hopeful smile, "Would you like to come live with me in Montana?"
The Runaways couldn't believe their ears. Kevin, a successful accountant by day and security guard by night who had always been nice to them, and sometimes bought them McDonald's, had just asked them to come and live with him, and in Montana no less. John stepped forward, "Really, you mean it?" Kevin smiled at him, "Of course, you guys are so young and you need someone to look after you and keep you out of trouble." Michael looked at Kevin, "You do know it will cost you a crap load of money to adopt all of us right?" "Yes I know" Kevin replied. "And let alone buy a house big enough to hold all of us" Gus added.
Kevin smiled, "you guys won't have to worry about the money". Chris crossed his arms and looked at Kevin. "You know we'll never be able to fully trust you". The Runaways looked at Kevin, waiting to see how he would respond to that. "I understand" he replied. Sophie looked confused, "But, Shane takes care of us" she said as she pointed to Shane. Shane smiled down at her, "Yeah, but I'm just a kid too, you guys need an adult to look after you and guide you through life." The Runaways looked confused. "What do you mean, you are coming too" Lezlie said as she walked up to Shane. He stared down at her, "No Lez, I'm not".
Chapter 8
"What!" all the Runaways shouted in unison. Shane stared at each one of them meaningfully. "You guys need to be with Kevin not me, he's a good man and I know he'll take care of you guys." Lezlie walked up to Shane, "Then why aren't you coming with us?" she sniffed; she was starting to cry. Lezlie had known Shane longer then any of the others, and had a crush on him ever since he found her on the streets and took her in when nobody else would. Shane wiped her tears away with the pad of his thumb. "It's too late for me Lez, but it's not too late for you, besides, I belong here." Lezlie seemed unconvinced as she stood there shaking her head, tears streaming down her face. Then suddenly without warning, she charged at Shane, wrapped her arms around him, and pulled him into a tight hug; a hug which he sadly, but gratefully, returned. "Promise you'll write, I mean, when you get the address" she whispered into his shoulder. Shane smiled, "Don't worry, I will." He then leaned over and planted a sweet kiss on her right cheek. Lezlie blushed, Callie awed, Chris whistled. WHACK! "Ow! What'd you do that for?" Chris snapped at Michael as he rubbed his now-sore arm. "Shut up! You know want you did" Michael hissed. Sophie, Callie, Michael, Gus, and Chris all walked up to say their goodbyes. As Gus hugged Shane, he started to sniffle. "Dude, are you crying?" Shane asked as he hugged his chubby friend. "I'm not crying; it's allergies" Gus said as he began to bawl on Shane's shoulder. "Oh come on man, keep it together" Chris said as he pulled Gus off of Shane.
When it was Sophie's turn to say goodbye, she started crying. Shane knelt down so he was at eye-level with her."Hey" he said while gently lifting her chin up so she would look at him. "Be good and be strong". Sophie smiled, "I will". "And look after your brother for me alright" Shane said with a smirk at John. Sophie giggled, "Okay" and gave Shane one final hug. "I heard that" John said as he walked up to Shane. Shane smiled, and stuck out his hand. John looked at it, and then shook it with a small smile that quickly faded. Shane looked at John and frowned. "What" he asked. John stared at him, "Do you really want to do this?" Shane nodded, "I've been on my own for over three years; I'll be fine." He then clasped John on the shoulder, "Take care of them, you're in charge now" he said with a small smile. John smiled back, nodded, and gave Shane a "man" hug. "You take care of yourself, and don't do anything stupid". Shane laughed. "Hey, you know me" he said and gave John a slap on the back.
Shane started walking toward the front door, but then turned to take one last look at the only family he had ever loved. They stared back with sadness, concern, and hope written all over their faces. "I'm gonna miss you guys, I'll never forget any of you" he said as walked backwards toward the exit, not taking his eyes off of The Runaways. "You guys are gonna be fine, you're all gonna make it in this world, I know you will. You prove to everyone that they were wrong about you! You all live your lives to the fullest you hear me! You live for each other…for me…for yourselves!" Then without another word, Shane walked out the door and disappeared down the cold, dark streets of New York.