Chapter 1: Take it on the lam

safe house: a house in a secret location, used by spies or criminals in hiding.

It was a bright, sunny morning. Birds chirped and a gentle breeze blew across the horizon. And on a lonely highway, an old and run down bus, nearly empty, was going about its journey as buses do.

The bus was empty, save for five young teenagers who sat staring out of the window into the distance, wondering what fate had in store for them. Sometimes one of them would peer backwards nervously and then breathe a huge sigh of relief when they found there was no other vehicle in sight.

The five youths who sat together were lifelong friends, or at least three of them were. The other two had only recently joined the circle of friends, but nonetheless demonstrated fierce loyalty to the others. The two that had only just joined had until recently, unfortunately been enemies to the other three but had promised to mend their ways as best they could and were forgiven for their actions of the past.

There were three boys and two girls, the three boys all had Ed as their names, or at least variations of it anyway. They were called Ed, Eddward or Edd for short and Eddy and though they were all flawed in their own ways and different to each other in so many aspects, it was these differences and imperfections that made them appreciate each other all the more even if they did not admit it often. It was because of these flaws after all, that they depended on each other for support and security in an unforgiving and cruel world where trustworthy people were hard to come by.

The two girls had been bullies until of them more so than the other. They admitted that.
They told the boys that they were deeply regretful of their actions of the past, and that though they could not change the things they had already done, they promised the boys that if they were but given another chance then they would make a positive difference where they could. They vowed to change for the better, and so sincere were their apologies that the boys (or the Eds as they were more commonly known as) forgave them.

The two girls were known as "Sarah" and "Nazz". It was Nazz who first realized how wrong her actions were, and Nazz who persuaded Sarah to change for the better too. They were once bullies too albeit to a lesser extent than some of the other worse bullies in their neighborhood, but they were bullies nonetheless. Nazz later told Eddy that she only harassed him and his friends because Kevin (the "mob leader" of the bullies in the neighborhood) forced her to and that he threatened to kill her unless she bullied the Eds alongside him. Nazz told Eddy that though this did not lessen her guilt in the slightest, she wanted Eddy to know that she never held a grudge against him or any of his friends and that when she did bully him, it was never intentional nor was it with the intention to hurt or inconvenience anyone. She would much rather have Eddy as her friend, but Kevin would not allow it, he would murder her if he caught her hanging around Eddy and his friends.

And that was when Nazz decided it was time to rebel against Kevin, that day when she saw Eddy lying on the ground unconscious from Kevin's beating. She realized that day, that she had been selfish in leaving Eddy to be brutally tortured by Kevin and the other bullies when she should have taken action to stop this unfair and harsh treatment.

In that moment, she no longer cared if it would make her enemies with every bully in the neighborhood, she decided it was time to become what she had wanted to become a long time ago. A double crosser and a turncoat. She stood up to Kevin and after a long and violent fight, she sent Kevin fleeing in shame, and took from him his wallet which was full of money he had stolen from Eddy. She handed the wallet to Eddy and in return, Eddy forgave Nazz and accepted her as a friend who he could trust in.

She later stood up to Rolf, Kevin's evil minion and taught him a lesson he would not soon forget as punishment for all the horrible things he did to Eddy over the years. For a while, Kevin and Rolf left the neighborhood and for a while, an uneasy truce came into being. But that short yet sweet bliss ended when Kevin and Rolf returned. They had changed. They had become alcoholics and heavy smokers who had no sense of right and wrong. And because Kevin and Rolf were popular among the neighborhood, they had turned the neighborhood on the Eds once more.

Kevin said in that moment, that if Nazz were to betray her new friends the Eds, and come back onto his side, he would spare her and her alone. Nazz refused and because lady luck was smiling down upon Nazz and her friends that day, they escaped the neighborhood by the skin of their teeth. They realized that to go back to that horrible place was suicide, and thus had no choice but to flee. They knew if Kevin and his gang found them, then the Eds would all be as good as dead and Nazz would spend the rest of her days as Kevin's pet, a life she never wished to return to ever again.

It was hard to believe how Nazz had changed in the last weeks, the girl that once hung with Kevin wherever he went and seemed desperate for his attention at every turn, that girl now held Kevin as her most bitter enemy. People really could change if they just set their minds to it, Eddy had learned.

"I never liked Kevin, he isn't a nice person" stated Nazz, making small talk "But if I didn't do what he told me to do, he'd murder me".

"That's okay, Nazz" replied Edd, though it was easier for him to talk without stumbling around Nazz now (for Nazz was one of those so very attractive people who made every boy who saw her into a shy and shivering mumbler) he still could not help blushing madly "We know now you're sorry for what you did, and that you mean differently now".

"Thanks dude" said Nazz gratefully "that's nice of you."

"Its all water under the bridge now" sighed Eddy, as he breathed a huge sigh of relief "And soon we'll be far away from Kevin and his group of losers and we can start over. Have a new life in a good place where people aren't selfish jerks."

"You said it Eddy" exclaimed Ed cheerfully as he grinned with the idea of being away from Kevin and his gang of evil bullies "You said it".

"Yeah" chuckled Sarah nervously, it was still hard for her to accept the fact that the Eds had long forgiven her as she still felt so much regret for what she once did to them, especially her brother "Ed".

Sarah had been another bully in Kevin's gang not too long ago, and worst of all was that though Ed had been a very kind and loving brother to Sarah, she still chose to abuse him mercilessly. She tried to get Ed into trouble at every opportunity simply because she was sadistic and liked seeing Ed suffer simply because he was the less popular child in the family. But Ed had been incredibly patient with her, though he was strong enough to bust every bone in her body (for he was much bigger and stronger than Sarah), he loved Sarah so much he never complained in the slightest when she came to abuse him. He really was the best brother anyone could hope to have. And now Sarah could not help but feel as if she was the worst person alive, when she thought of all the times she had not repaid her brother's kindness, and chosen to bully him instead.

"Ah its okay, Sarah" soothed Ed, putting his arm around Sarah's shoulder when he saw she was about to cry "no one's perfect and I could never hate you no matter what you did to me. I love you." "Thanks brother" replied Sarah, smiling weakly "thanks for always being there for me. You're the best".

The group sat in silence for the next hour, asleep. They had paid for the bus driver to drive them as far as the bus went, and they had no idea how far they had left to travel and where they would end up. All they cared about was that whatever place they ended up, they would be safe from Kevin and his evil mob.

The bus continued to speed along the highway, the engine roaring as it went. And the five friends knew full well they had almost no possessions with them. Yet they took comfort from the fact they had each other, and that was a lot.

Yet trouble was never far behind. And though the gang were not looking for trouble, trouble was looking for them.