My first response was to tell Morgan she was just fooling around with us, but I could see the cold terror in her eyes, and I knew this was real. This was right now. Morgan was as pale as her old winter coat, which her face was now buried in. Kelsi was crying, Morgan was shaking, and I had no clue what to do. I didn't know if I was scared, or still with shock. Time seemed to go in slow motion, my hands covering my face so the tears wouldn't have chance of falling. This is when I really needed to be strong. I knew it was now or never.

"Guys…we have to keep walking. She may know where we are, and I didn't come this far for all of us to be brought back to our old lives." I tried to keep calm, but my voice was becoming shaky, and my knee was bouncing up and down. I got up off of the cold, concrete steps and shook the pain out of my sleeping right leg. I helped Morgan and Kelsi up, and gestured for them to grab their bags. I grabbed mine, and it felt like a whole new weight was being added to the heavy burden I was currently carrying. It was silent, but our breath was shaky, our silhouettes dancing along ahead of us, as if to say "Hurry, hurry!"

My mind was racing with "what ifs" and I was scared. I was honestly and truly scared. What if she catches us? What if we don't make it? What if one of us gets hurt? I couldn't take the nagging rumble my stomach made, almost yelling at me for leaving that last bacon slice on my plate. We walked by bakeries, the smell of fresh bread and doughnuts teasing us. We finally agreed to stop and get something to eat.

Our table was a creamy brown color, with wooden chairs to match. The chairs had cushions that were pastel green, to match the color of the wall. The room was so inviting, I thought I could stay there forever. The bakery's walls were neatly arranged with cute pictures of cupcakes and muffins with smiley faces on their tops. I never thought I would say this, but I wish I were as happy as those muffins.

When we were finally done eating, (and it took a while, because Morgan's a slow eater, and I had coffee that was boiling hot) we scraped up the money to pay, and then bundled back up and pushed our chairs in. The bell to the bakery door clinked as we opened it, and we were immediately face with the bright rays of the sun.

It was hotter than it was when we got in, I'd say about 20 degrees hotter, and about 70 degrees total. It took a while, but we stood outside the shop, got un-bundled from our winter wear, and stuffed it in our oversized bags. We continued walking.

There were more people on the streets, mostly the typical working people on lunch break making light conversation over lemonade and salads. Some were chatting on cell phones, and others were busy typing on laptops. Either way, it was a pretty typical day in Puyallup. Not that I've ever been here, but I'm sure this is what it's like.

I go over a mental checklist in my head.

1. Make sure the girls and yourself are well fed. Check

2. Make sure you are dressed accordingly to the weather. Check

3. Occasionally check money supplies. I pull out the money from my backpack. I have about 5 crumpled up 50 dollar bills and 2 100s. Oh, and 4 ones. That's about 454 dollars, plenty.

4. Don't talk to anyone strange, unless absolutely necessary. Check

5. Make sure you stay safe…

This one gets me. And it hits me like an icy snowball on a warm day. I don't know if we're safe of not. As far as I know, we're just a lone group of stranded children, fighting for survival in the streets.