Prologue: A Big Loss

Fifteen-year-old Nathan has been holding his family together for too long. With their dad gone, their mom overwhelmed, and her boyfriend Ryan's anger filling every room in the house, Nathan is the only one trying to protect his three younger brothers; fourteen-year-old quiet Jeremy, ten-year-old anxious Carter, and nonverbal eleven year old Parker.

But things have reached a breaking point. After another night of yelling and blaming, Nathan knows they can't stay-not without risking something worse. So he makes a plan. In the dead of night, he sneaks his brothers out of the house, determined to get them somewhere safe, even if it means lying, stealing, and running into the unknown.