Disclaimer: I do not own The Outsiders nor the small idea I am using from the show The 4400.
o-o-o
Another crash of glass made the boy that was sitting outside on a wooden bench flinch. He wished he could go inside with his gang, but Darry told him not to enter because he was "too young". Ponyboy Curtis sighed and flipped to another page in his novel that was held tightly in his hands. He combed his fingers through his greased auburn hair.
"Sure is still loud out here…" Another boy muttered.
"I wonder why we still had to come even though we have to wait out here for them. They are probably just in there playing pool or chatting up some skimpy broads," Ponyboy complained, rolling his green-grey eyes. "We could have been watching a movie, or something. What would you like to do in the meantime, Johnny?"
Johnny shook his head in uncertainty. He was never the one to really make the decisions.
Another half an hour passed and the other members of the gang did not leave Buck's.
"Seriously, how long are they going to be in there? Did they forget about us or something?" Ponyboy asked as he flipped to another page in his nearly finished book.
"Want me to go check?" Johnny asked, standing up. Ponyboy just shrugged and Johnny ran over to the front doors and slipped inside.
Ponyboy went back to his book. But it was not long until he was interrupted. A bright, golden light shone on him like a spotlight, making his attention to snap towards the source. As soon as his eyes looked upwards he froze. He could not move. The light shone from the sky, and no matter how hard Ponyboy tried to pry his attention away, he was too mesmerized to look away. The light seemed to get brighter as the seconds passed. It looked like something was reaching towards Ponyboy.
A book fell onto the seat of the bench; the owner was out of sight like he disappeared in thin air. The light dimed away as if it was never there at all.
Johnny stepped out of the bar a minute later. "They said to wait another half-" Ponyboy was not there. "Ponyboy?"
Johnny jogged over to the bench and picked up the book. His eyes grew wide with worry. Ponyboy would never leave a book behind like this. Johnny ran back to the bar.
o-o-o
Two years had passed since the youngest greaser of their gang has disappeared. There had been no clue as to where he was taken. Ever since then, the gang has been quieter. It just was not the same without Ponyboy. Soda had stopped smiling as much and always seemed out of it, Johnny does not let out even a peep anymore, Two-Bit started to drink more from stress, Steve took all of his time in trying to convince Soda to do stuff with him, Dally visited the Curtis house less, and Darry started to work less in hopes Ponyboy would pop up at the doorsteps.
It seemed strange that Ponyboy, someone who hardly spoke to the others, was the string that held them together.
Two years.
Ponyboy would have been sixteen by now.
"Soda, do you want to watch the comet that will be passing by tonight?" Steve asked.
Soda sighed. "Sure. I'm sure Pony would have loved to see it."
It was Steve's turn to sigh in exasperation. "I'm sure he would, but you should stop hanging yourself on him. Kid's gone. But knowing him, he'll annoyingly come back."
"Two years, Steve! What are the chances of him coming back?"
"You guys are so loud!" Two-Bit whined as he trudged out of the bathroom. His hand was placed on his forehead as he tried to shake off the nausea.
"Sorry, Two-Bit…"
The day slowly passed and night was coming up. In that time, Johnny and Dally walked in the house together. They must have been close by. Darry walking in the living room and yawned.
"You all going to see the comet?" Dally asked.
"Eh, I think I'm going to watch some Mickey," Two-Bit replied.
Steve and Soda nodded as well as Darry. Johnny did the same.
"Anyone know what time it should be passing?" Steve asked. But no one needed to answer.
"Have you ever seen a star that bright?" Someone from another house asked loudly. The remaining gang members, minus Two-Bit walked outside. They all looked at the sky and was astonished at the sight. Never before, besides Johnny, had they paid attention to the sky. Billions upon billions of stars were scattered across the dark sky. Each one was just as bright as the others. But one stood out compared to the rest. This one was planted right in the center of the stars. It shone a hundred times brighter than the rest.
"Is that the comet?" Soda asked. "Aren't they supposed to be moving?"
The gang just stood gaping at the star. They had all seen one comet in their lifetime, but none of the comets had stayed in place like the one they are observing now.
"Hey! What happened to Mickey?!" Two-Bit screamed. Darry sighed and walked in the house to check up on Keith.
"What is it?" Darry asked.
"The news switched of Mickey!"
Darry looked at the screen. The TV now portrayed a male reporter with a worried look on his face. Darry walked to the TV and turned to knob to change the channel. The channel knob must have moved and changed the channel. But the same news reporter was on the next channel. Darry turned to each of the few channels the TV would offer. All of them were the same.
"The comet that was supposed to be flying passed the earth has somehow changed course. I know what you are all thinking. 'Comets can't change course!' But it has. It is now coming towards Earth at an accelerating speed. It will hit down in about twenty minutes. If something so large and fast hits earth… I don't even want to think about it." The reporter spoke.
"Everyone. Inside!" Darry ordered. Everyone rushed in quickly at the tone Darry used. His tone was full of urgency. He motioned towards the TV where the reported had his hand on his ear.
"It's just in. China and Russia had shot their missiles at the comet. America will be next."
"What's going on?" Johnny asked.
"The comet changed course towards Earth." Darry explained.
The screen changed over to another reporter that was outside. Behind her was the sky. She turned around when the missiles from America were shot and everyone watched them rocket to the sky.
The screen changed back to the front desk.
"We had just gotten news that the each missile hit their target, but it was all futile. The comet is still going as fast as ever."
"What's going to happen?" Soda asked.
"The comet has once again changed course. It is now directly going down to Tulsa, Oklahoma. Tulsa residence, prepare and I am sorry."
Everyone's eyes widened at the news.
"We're all going to die…" Steve mumbled.
"What? How's that possible?" The newsman had a troubled look on his face as he was being talked to through his headpiece. "Ladies and gentlemen, it would seem that the comet had slowed down…like it is landing… We had gotten the location of where the comet would land, we will switch out for that camera."
The screen changed to a fielded area. Cops and other agencies were already there waiting. The camera looked at the larger light as it came closer. The screen shook as the cameraman looked upwards in fear. You can now see the comet as a large glowing blue and white ball. It slowly drifted down and hover thirty feet from the ground.
Everything went silent.
"What's it doing?" A random agent asked to no-one-in-particular.
The comet started to grow smaller until it became a small ball. Then it grew big, the spherical shape turned into a bright light that consumed everything, its force pushed everyone back causing the camera to turn off.
"What happened?" The man in the front desk yelled as he popped up again. Then the camera back at the spot turned back on. The ball of light was gone and in replacement there were clouds of dust. People started to get up from the ground one by one.
"What the hell?" The cameraman said and pointed it towards the dust. In the dust were the silhouettes of people. The dust started to clear away and everyone gasped. Thousands of people were standing in the middle of the field, each one of them looking around with confused faces. The camera zoomed in on the people and then the camera passed by one person and Johnny gasped in surprise.
"What is it, Johnny?" Dally asked.
"Ponyboy… he's there…" Johnny answered, eyes locked on the screen.