Author's Notes: I would like to thank Eternal Night Owl for their lovely review, mostly because it reminded me that I was almost finished with this chapter. I've been meaning to get into writing PPG content, and this seems like a good place to start. Thank you to everyone who reads and reviews my stories. You guys are awesome :)

Chapter 6

Runaway

The next morning, Marny awoke to find the gang was still asleep, as usual. She was starting to figure out that it was normal for these guys to sleep until at least noon, if not longer. Considering the nighttime robberies, that made sense.

She watched as Billy's stomach moved up and down as he snored, like a balloon being blown up by a halfhearted clown. He was so loud that Marny wondered how he didn't wake up the rest of the gang. Then again, she slept through it too, so it was probably just sheer exhaustion keeping them from hearing him.

As she stood in the middle of the room looking at her surroundings, a thought came to her all of a sudden. Nobody was watching her now. She could leave. That seemed like a good idea, given that most of the gang members were scary. Ace especially worried the girl, as he had proven that he was willing to hit people for little to no reason. Marny didn't need him for that. There were plenty of violent grown-ups out there without also dealing with the diseases of the city dump.

Slowly, quietly, Marny began tiptoeing to her backpack. She would have to pack quietly in order to avoid detection, and even then she feared the door opening would be enough to alert someone of her actions. Still, it was a chance she had to take. She couldn't count on someone else to rescue her. The Powerpuff Girls would take her back to her grandparents' house, and she simply couldn't let that happen. No, if she was going to survive, then she would have to do so on her own.

As she packed, Marny's attention went to the packs of Airheads they stole the other night. She wanted a few for the road, but she knew stealing from a street gang was just asking for trouble. She didn't want to do something wrong, but they looked so good…

Well, no one ever said the impulse control of a 7 year old was ironclad. Marny grabbed a handful of candy and stuffed it in her backpack. She could feel guilty later, but for now she needed to focus on actually escaping.

She considered skipping the creaky door and going through a window instead, but then she remembered the time her brother Chester tried that in order to get out of homework. Everyone in the house heard him thud and hit the ground, and their mom was so worried about him when she realized he broke his arm. Marny also remembered his cool cast, decked out with stickers and the names of all of his friends. That wasn't relevant to her situation, but she couldn't help but smile when she thought back to that time. She was actually jealous of his cast for a couple weeks.

Shaking her head, she decided on the door. It might make noise, but at least she'd be able to run away if someone noticed her.

She slowly opened the door, which just made it creak louder than if she had opened it normally. Marny frowned at her own bad luck, but none of the gangsters awoke. Marny breathed a quiet sigh of relief, and took her first step outside the door without Billy's supervision. She smiled triumphantly, proud of herself for outwitting the teenagers. Unfortunately, while in this mindset Marny blew a raspberry at her captors, and then quickly slapped a hand over her mouth when she realized she might wake them up!

Arturo stirred, and Marny's heart pounded.

"No Grubber, I don't want any," Arturo said drowsily before going back to sleep.

Marny slumped, relaxing now that she knew her cover hadn't been blown. Not wishing to try her luck any further, Marny ran into the dump and searched for a way out. The place was huge, but she knew she could find a way. Then she would find a new place to stay…somewhere.

Snake was the first to wake up that day. His fog-riddled mind cleared away his nightmares and tried to help him remember where he was and what they were supposed to do that day. It took a minute, but suddenly Snake remembered what he and Grubber saw last night. Marny had a huge burn on her stomach, and likely needed help.

Snake got up and went to the bassinet to see if he could coax the girl into letting him examine her. Gaining her trust was a dodgy game, and Snake never knew where they stood with her. One moment she was terrified of them, another moment she was annoyed with them, and yet another moment she was going along with them. Marny's actions seemed to have no rhyme or reason.

As it turned out, his brief ponderings were irrelevant. Marny wasn't in her bed, nor in the clubhouse. She was gone!

"Accce, wake up," Snake hissed as he shoved Ace's shoulder.

Ace reflexively punched at the air to try to hit Snake, but Snake dodged before he could land the hit. Ace woke up and put on his shades before opening his eyes, as if the light of the sun was too much for him to handle.

"Whaddya want?" Ace asked crossly.

"Marny isss misssssing!" Snake shouted, his nervousness making his lisp worse.

"Missin'?" Ace asked, "Ah, crud."

Ace was too groggy to think of much of a plan, so he did the one thing he could do: he whistled. The other gang members, despite being fast asleep, awoke and stood up immediately after hearing the call of their leader.

"Boys, we got a runaway kid out there," Ace announced, "Normally I'd let the brat go, but she's hurt right now and probably can't deal with the situation on her own."

"So? Since when do you care?" Arturo asked dismissively.

"I don't!" Ace insisted, "It's just, you know…she could…squeal! That's it. She could tell everyone what we've been up to."

"What have we been up to, boss?" Billy asked, puzzled.

"Enough talk!" Ace snapped irritably, "Just split up and search. I'll go that way, Grubber goes that way, Arturo goes that way, Snake goes that way, and Billy goes that way. Now let's go already."

"I hope we find Fluffy," Billy bemoaned, "She could get hit by the dump truck, or stuck in a sewer hole."

"Uh, Billy, only you're big enough to get ssstuck in a sssewer hole," Snake pointed out.

"Oh. Good," Was Billy's simple reply.

With those words the gang split up and began the search. Everyone was worried about their impromptu newest member, though some were more open about this fact than others. Ace didn't want to admit this to anyone, but he knew they were shooting themselves in the foot by looking for her. If Marny was gone, then they could no longer be held responsible for her. Marny's running away was a good thing for the gang, but Ace couldn't let this go. If anyone asked, he didn't actually care about her; he was just being stubborn.

A few hours later, Marny had not only found her way out of the dump, she actually found herself on the outskirts of Townsville. She was walking alongside the train tracks because she heard that train tracks lead to water. Or was it water that led to cities? Marny scratched her head, no longer able to remember which one it was. She just knew this path had to lead to something, or else there would be no reason for people to put it there.

Gravel turned to grass, and grass turned to longer grass. The wind was picking up, and Marny's feet were getting tired. Her old injury was starting to act up, and she held her stomach to try to make the pain stop.

Marny sat in the grass and rested, trying to not think about how alone and lost she was. To be fair, lost was probably the wrong word. In order to be lost, one actually has to be going somewhere. Marny had nowhere to go and all the time in the world to get there.

She thought about the pain she felt on her stomach, and memories of a hot pan and her angry grandpa came rushing back. She hated living with her grandparents. Her grandma tried to be nice, but it didn't matter. Her grandpa was a monster worse than even the Gangreen Gang, and it often surprised her how well he hid that fact. He didn't look like a monster, and he didn't act like one in front of grown-ups. She briefly wondered if she was the problem. She didn't know how it could be her, but her grandpa didn't treat anyone else that way, so…

She looked at birds flying over the field, and tried to puzzle this together. Maybe he wasn't a monster. Maybe she was the one that wasn't a person. Her grandpa yelled at her like she was an unruly animal, and Billy thought she was a pet. Maybe she was supposed to be a dog or a cat, and something just went wrong. Marny pulled some grass out of the ground. Maybe she was a cow.

Marny, testing her theory, ate some of the grass…and immediately spat it out.

"Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!" Nope, not a cow.

Well, Marny could figure out what animal she was supposed to be later. For now, she needed to find a place to sleep before it got dark, so she started walking again. The grass was so tall it came up to her chest, and she worried that there could be snakes or rats hidden within. She hugged herself, breathed in and out, and kept going. She moved quickly, more out of fear than anything else, and wondered if it was too late to go back to the heart of Townsville.

After a few minutes, Marny saw a building in the distance. It was at least two stories tall, cottage style, and there was a big oak tree in the front yard. There was nothing else around, but that didn't matter. To Marny it looked like the most beautiful house in the world, and she ran to it without another thought.

After getting a little closer however, she saw that the building was surrounded by a fence…with spiky wire.

Barb wire is what they use in prison to hurt people who escape…

That was what Billy said to Marny just the day before. This house didn't look like a prison though. It had yellow paint and blue shutters. Now that she looked closer however, she saw that the paint was peeling, a few windows were boarded up, and the grass was just as overgrown here as in the field.

Marny walked around the gate to see if there was a hole in the fence, and after a few minutes she found an open door. On the door was a sign, its paint worn by the elements and pictures of happy stick figure children scratched away by the sands of time. There was writing on the sign, and while Marny's reading skills weren't great she could make out two words: ABC Land.

ABC Land was the first place Billy ever see barb wire…

Marny didn't know what ABC Land used to be, but it was a place that caused Billy great sadness. Marny remembered how quietly he had spoken to her, very different from his usually overexcited tone of voice. Marny wondered if Billy was afraid of this place. He seemed to be. But…this wasn't a prison. It was just a house, abandoned now but clearly once quite beautiful.

Marny walked around the front yard and to the tree. As she made her way there she tripped and almost fell down. She discovered what she tripped on was a red rubber ball. It was covered in dirt, but hey, a toy was a toy. Marny shoved it in her backpack and went to sit by the large sturdy tree.

With nothing else to do, Marny took out her journal and started to write about what she had done that day. Her sentences were simple and her spelling was crude, but writing down her feelings made her feel better. With no one else to listen to her, she counted on her trusty journal to hold her hardest emotions and deepest secrets. If only she could make herself tell someone what she was thinking. Then, maybe then, someone could finally help her.

Billy didn't know where to look for Marny, but she was nowhere near his direction in the dump. He checked in trash bags, in cars, under broken bottles and dishes, and even the medical waste section. She was nowhere to be found, not even a clue or a footprint.

Billy looked toward the street, but all he saw was the setting sun and people. There were pedestrians, cars, and water spurting from the ground. Wait, what?

It took a moment for Billy to realize something was off, but then he saw that a car had crashed into a fire hydrant. Billy worried the car could have hit Fluffy, so he ran over and pulled the driver's side door off the hinges to check inside.

Marny wasn't there, but there was a white dog with black ears and spots. Billy recognized him as the talking dog, a local character of note in Townsville. No one knew why he talked, but he seemed to always be near the action.

Billy gently pulled the dog out of his wrecked vehicle and cradled him. The dog looked up at Billy and smiled.

"Gee, thanks pal. That crow came outta nowhere!" The dog chuckled goodnaturedly, "Um, do me a favor, will ya pal? Don't tell the cops I was driving. My license was suspended after a misunderstanding with a Powerpuff Girl, and uh…just keep this between us, okay?"

Billy didn't really understand most of that, and in fact wasn't even listening. The rusty gears in his head were turning, and a crude plan was forming.

"Uh, Doggie?" Billy finally spoke up, "Can you smell?"

"Why yes, I can," The dog replied cheerfully, "It's so nice of you to ask. Humans always forget to check on my nose after an incident like this. I don't know why. It's not like you don't have noses."

"Dah…can you smell Fluffy?" Billy asked.

"Fluffy? Is that some sort of cat?" The dog asked, affronted, "I'll have you know I have never associated with the feline persuasion, nor do I ever intend to!"

"No, Fluffy's my pet girl," Billy tried to clarify, "She's missing, and Billy can't find her. Can you find her please?"

"You want a bloodhound, do you?" Talking Dog surmised, "Well, I suppose you did get me out of my wrecked car. Alright, I can help."

"Yay!" Billy cheered and hugged the dog tight.

"*Hack*," The dog choked, but then once Billy let go he was able to breathe again, "Alright then…if we're going to track your missing…whatever it is, I'll need something with her scent."

"Huh?" Billy asked in confusion.

"Bring me something she has touched," The dog explained slowly, "I can smell it, and then I can track her for you."

"Oh, okay."

Billy then picked the dog up again and walked back to the dump. The dog was less than pleased with this new development, and wondered how he kept getting himself into such crazy situations.

Billy went into the clubhouse with the dog, and no one else was home yet. The dog was grateful for that, because he realized after seeing this place that it was the home of the Gangreen Gang.

"Oh great, I'm in with the mob," The dog muttered under his breath, "Alright, show me where her scent is."

Billy plopped the dog into Marny's bassinet wordlessly.

"Okay then," The dog sighed longsufferingly, "Let's see…*sniff sniff sniff*…Well, I definitely smell you. I also smell apple shampoo and dyed denim…with a hint of human skin…ooh, I smell blood and puss. The subject might be injured."

"What's the subject?" Billy asked obliviously.

"Your missing person," The dog replied longsufferingly, "Also, I must say I learned something today. I didn't know humans kept each other as pets. Now I don't feel quite so degraded."

"Can you find her?" Billy asked as he wrung his hands in worry.

"We're about to find out," The dog replied calmly.

With that the dog started sniffing the trail, no easy feat in a place as putrid as the dump, and Billy followed behind him.

Inside the abandoned house, Marny saw holes in the walls and everything covered in a layer of dust half an inch thick. Being near the train tracks likely made the dust worse. Marny knew that because her grandparents lived near a train, and her grandma was always complaining about coal dust.

There was no electricity, so while it was still barely daylight outside the house was cast in a bland darkness that made even the sunlight through the windows look desaturated. A classic mantle draped over a fireplace with burnt logs overlooked a worn dusty armchair and a broken wood paneled TV set.

Marny rubbed her arms together and took a deep breath. Everything in here was spooky, but at least no one lived here. She could be by herself in this big dusty old house surrounded by barb wire. After a moment of thought however, Marny realized that might be a bad thing. What if she was attacked by a monster or a wild animal? Being all alone meant no one to protect her, and she began to cry as she realized no one would help her now.

She sat on the dust covered floor for ten minutes and cried. She was scared, yet finally felt free to release months' worth of pent up emotion. Finally no one would get mad at her or judge her. Finally she had time to do whatever she wanted.

After a moment however, Marny realized what she really wanted was to rest. Not wanting to be in this depressing room anymore, she climbed the stairs in the hallway so she could explore.

Upstairs she found rooms full of bunk beds. There were six bunk beds in each room, all of them child sized. Marny could tell this was a place for children, which meant she would likely find toys. Maybe she'd even find a candy stash…maybe.

One room was different from the others. Unlike the neat bunk beds of the other rooms, these bunk beds had been broken down into nothing more than splinters and spring mattresses that had been torn asunder. Marny gasped in horror. What kind of creature could rip a mattress to pieces?

Despite her fear she found herself walking into the room. She had to know more, but she didn't really know what she was looking for.

As Marny gingerly walked over broken furniture and exposed springs, she found scattered papers under some cotton stuffing. She pulled them out and saw that they were crayon drawings, likely made by kids around her age.

She looked at them one by one. One was a singer on a crudely drawn stage. It said Sam: age 9. Another one was a fireman with a name she couldn't read but the age said 12. The next was a green cyclops riding on a rocket ship and it read Brittney: age 8. There was another cyclops drawing, sort of, but it was much harder to make out what was going on and it had pinkish skin instead of green. This one read Billy: age 8.

The wind blew and Marny held onto the pictures so she wouldn't lose them. That was when she realized the window was broken. It was boarded up, but the wood was rotting and letting the wind in. Marny groaned, opting to leave the room rather than deal with the inconvenience.

The next room she entered was another uniform bunk bed room, neat and clean except for the dust. All these beds looking the same was rather creepy to the little girl. Oh well, at least this window wasn't broken or boarded off. Marny looked outside, and could see the barb wire fence surrounding the compound. She also saw a big hole in the mesh. It looked like a mini-bulldozer crashed through the thing.

Marny remembered then…Big Billy said he escaped ABC Land by breaking through the fence. This was likely his doing. She knew he was strong, but seeing a metal fence breached by what was likely a very large child…

Marny still felt fear while staying in this place, but the eeriness now came from a mixture of the unknown and the history of this building. Billy lived here. This was not only a place for children to live, but a prison for the bad ones as well. Billy was so strong that he wrecked the place and escaped. Marny knew ABC Land made him feel helpless, but evidence told a different tale. Billy was dangerous even back then, so there was no way she could let him find her now.