A/N: Disclaimer I'm no expert on CPS laws and stuff, but I did do some research on how it's like to live in a group home and stuff like that. Never had any experience with those sorts of shit, but I'm gonna write to the best of my ability.

There was someone knocking, so Max opened the door to see two CPS agents, their figures looming over Max. A small green haired girl was sandwiched in between them, clutching a small duffel bag. One of the CPS agents spoke up. "Hello, we are CPS agents. I'm here to talk your caretakers. Are they here?"

"Oh, hold on a second. GWEN, DAVID, WE HAVE SOME CPS AGENTS HERE!" Max shouted.

"Wait we have CPS agents here!?" David exclaimed. Gwen and David came running into the living area, stepping all over the freshly mopped floor and leaving wet footprints all over it. David was a new caretaker, and was still getting accustomed to his new job working with apathetic teens and preteens.

Max scoffed; they could have made an effort to step on the dry spots. Then again, having CPS agents at your front door is a pretty big deal.

"Hello, this is the Campbell Group Home, how may we assist you?" David asked.

"Are you guys at full capacity?" one agent asked, motioning over to the green-haired girl.

"Well, one of our occupants recently been adopted." Gwen replied. "Why don't you come over into our office and discuss this with us?" THe CPS agents nodded.

"Max, make sure our guest feels at home." David reminded Max as they headed off towards the caretakers' office.

So there Max was. Standing in awkward silence with this new girl who no doubt was facing tough times. But he didn't want to have a pity party. "Great, I have to mop this floor again. You guys came in during our afternoon chores." Max grumbled, breaking the uncomfortable silence. The girl walked over to the sofa, creating yet again more footprints, and made no acknowledgement of Max. "I'm Max. Make yourself at home or whatever. Cause this place sure sucks." Max continued mopping the floor.

"I'd rather get adopted by wolves than be here." Nikki scoffed.

As the day continued, the Campbell occupants learned about Nikki. Her dad had died recently. Her mom lived far away, and didn't have custody of Nikki so she was stuck here for now. Nikki was strangely open about her life. She also bit David several times to establish dominance.

Soon night came about. David and Gwen waved the occupants goodnight; they were done with their day shift. For the night shift the Quartermaster came to monitor the children, making sure the kids don't run away at night and stuff like that. His supposed duty was to check into each kids room every two hours, but he didn't do that. He would open the door once or twice a night, and that's about it. Everyone either slept on the second floor or third. Max and Nikki slept on the second floor.

Somewhere around midnight, Max walked out of his room to grab a glass of water. There was rustling from Nikki's room. Then was there was the thud of something falling to the ground. What the fuck was Nikki doing? Max wondered. He found himself holding the doorknob of Nikki's room, once occupied by Ered.

Max considered knocking, but that might wake up Quartermaster. But if he opened it without warning, that would be an invasion of privacy. He decided to open it anyways, after all that's what the Quartermaster was going to do. He might as well find out what Nikki was doing.

"What the hell are you doing?" Max whisper-shouted, once he opened the door. Nikki was struggling to remove the screen from the window. A semi-humanoid lump was underneath her bedsheets, presumably pillows.

"Running away. Like I said, I wanna get adopted by wolves." Nikki replied almost nonchalantly.

"I didn't think that you were serious!" Max stared at her, and the window. There was the option of living in the woods without the internet, shelter, or steady source of food. At the same time, it also meant no school, no Campbell Group Home, and best all: No David. The woods didn't seem like too bad of an idea. He sighed. "You know what, count me in. I'm sick of this place."

He helped Nikki push the screen out the window. It fell down outside with an audible crash.

"You're gonna want to wear more than just your t-shirt out there. Grab your hoodie." Nikki said. After Max grabbed his hood they shimmied down the tree outside the window.

They heard rustling from inside, once they've gotten down on the ground. "We gotta hurry." Nikki said, lowering her voice. So Max followed her, this strange new girl he barely knew. Maybe today's the day he dies. Maybe he shouldn't have followed Nikki after all. They continued, cutting through alleyways, taking random turns, even climbing fences at some point.

"Are you sure you know where we're going?" Max asked.

"Hmm, perhaps I should sniff my way to the woods." She got down on all fours and started sniffing the ground. Max rolled his eyes and facepalmed.

"You're not a dog, and you can't sniff your way into the woods."

This definitely seemed like this was his worst decision he ever made. Nikki continued sniffing the ground without acknowledging him. "Hmm, nature seems to be… this way!" She bounded off in a different direction, still on all fours. Max had no choice but to follow.

"So, what makes your mom so bad that you would rather run away?"

"My dad told me she did terrible things."

"Such as?"

"Well, he said she was really strict. He said that she was a horrible woman, and it was her fault that we were stuck in this situation."

"Yea, but did he ever say why?"

"He said she cheated, and she didn't care about the family at all" She paused. "Why are you here?"

"Well, it because I hate the Campbell Group Home, I hate school, and I hate David. Ugh, David especially."

They finally arrived at the edge of the woods. Max climbed a tree and leaned against a particularly thick branch. Nikki dragged a few dead branches and leaned them against the tree, building a makeshift shelter.

Before they drifted off into sleep, Max said one final thing. "You know Nikki, just because they seem all cool and stuff, doesn't mean they're not prone to lying."

They woke up to the sound of sirens. "Please get down from the tree young man." A policeman shouted into a microphone. Other policemen had already gotten a hold of Nikki, despite her constant struggling. How did they find us? Wait a minute. Max reached into his hoodie pocket and pulled out his phone. Of course.

Of course.