No Escape // MCYT High School Au

Prologue

"No! Please!" I screamed as I raced to the door. "You can't just leave us here!"

My older brother was behind me, sobbing on the floor. "H-how can I take care of b-both of us?" He stuttered out.

I fell to my knees in front of them, ready to beg them to stay. Prepared to do anything to keep our parents from waltzing out that door. They'd warned us that they were going to leave eventually, but neither of us thought they were being serious. Or, at least, I didn't. For some reason, a small part of me had always believed they still loved us. But Punz knew better. He had been reaching out to their friends' families, relatives, anyone who could help us. But this was too soon, and there wasn't enough time.

How was a child supposed to stay home alone at eight? How was an eleven year old supposed find work? Even at that age, I understood being abandoned wasn't normal, so I believed we could convince them to at least try to help us in some way.

I was wrong.

When my mother began turning away, I lunged forward, grabbing her hand. "Mommy, p-please!" She stared down at me with cold, unforgiving eyes. There was disgust there. Disgust that I hadn't noticed before. I shrunk away from that gaze, but I couldn't force myself to let go of her hand. I squeezed it tightly, my body shaking.

I glanced back at my brother, hoping he might back me up. Hoping he would help me convince them. I wish I hadn't looked back. I wish I had kept my eyes on my mother and father. I wish I hadn't paused my pleading. I wish I had looked back in time to see my mother peel my fingers off of her arm, for my father to step forward and shove me backwards, making me lose my balance and fall to the ground.

But I couldn't tear my eyes away from Punz. From his heartbroken expression. He didn't look up when I hit the floor. He didn't jump when the door slammed shut behind our parents, and he didn't even blink when the starting of a car engine could be heard from outside.

My brother simply stared at the floor with eyes void of all emotion. Even as silent tears streaked down his cheeks and splashed to the floor, his eyes held no sadness. He was numb, and I knew I could do nothing to help him.

That was the day I truly lost everyone I cared about, although I didn't know it yet.

Neither of us moved for hours after they left. My head spun from the impact of hitting the floor, and there was a static in my ears, although that had nothing to do with the injury. The walls twisted and swayed around me. I couldn't bring myself to move, to wash my face of the tears long dried. When Punz finally tried to speak to me, his words fell on deaf ears.

Nonetheless, I followed him to our room, watching as he packed a small bag to share between us. I scurried behind him when he left the house, the fear of being abandoned twice in one day keeping me moving.

We walked down the roads for hours. I don't think he had a goal, a destination. But neither of us wanted to stop because we were scared that if we stopped, if we sat down, if we took a break... we wouldn't get back up again.

Punz and I continued on for days, sleeping on benches and eating the small scraps of food an occasional generous person would give us. After a few weeks on the streets, we found an old, abandoned shack. It wasn't much, but it was able to protect us from the elements. For years, neither of us went to school. Punz was constantly working, trying to earn us enough money to survive.

Our hunger was always on our minds, absorbing our every thought. Whenever Punz managed to find a coworker to cover a shift for him, he came home early to teach me a few things. We were hoping that we would eventually have stable enough living conditions to go back to school, so we didn't want to fall too far behind.