"Give the kid a bath, David."
Pony tried to duck as the massive figure advanced. He felt firm hands grip his arm, twisting it the wrong way with an almost inaudible Snap! Pony's eyes widened and he is met with a splash of frosty water.
A steady hand grasped his neck, sending chills careening down his spine, but it was the least of his worries at the moment. He struggled, screaming into the water for release, twisting his body every which way, but it was futile. The hand on his neck clenched, causing Ponyboy to cease his writhing.
He tried to hold his breathe, but it was already spent. He let out what was left in a rush, feeling the bubbles sliding up his pale face. He choked on the icy fountain water, feeling it clog his throat, he gagged, trying one last time for escape.
Water flooded down his throat and filled his lungs. His eyes dimmed as he felt his lungs constrict with need for oxygen and his vision blurred and suddenly everything was so far away… He blinked groggily, trying to remain conscious, but death had won. Ponyboy surrendered, slumping against the Soc's sturdy hold.
Johnny he thought, I hope Johnny makes it out….
Everything is fading, but pony doesn't care. He begs for sweet release, and his wish is granted. Blue lips form words, but they are met by deaf ears.
Goodbye…
Johnny watched in horror, helpless as the Soc grabbed pony and proceeded in trying to drown him. Johnny felt himself move, but soon he too is caught, held captive by a pair of strong arms that encase him and hold him like a prison.
He watches Pony's body spasm and is powerless to do anything about it. Ponyboy's body soon grows limp and the youngest member of the gang is released. The air is suffocating, a winding tension, so thick that Johnny could taste it.
The Soc's are frozen, but then, one snickers, a breathless, hiccup typed snicker, but the meaning was the same. And Johnny can't believe his ears, he wants to say something, do something. He wants to fight and kick and run and scream and cry and cry and cry…
But somewhere in his heart, a place where anger should live, where it should rage passionately into his eyes, it is gone. It was never there to begin with, he thinks. He feels himself falling and the ground catches him.
He watches with numb eyes as the Socs scatter, the growl of their engines drowned out by the roaring of blood in his ears. Johnny is alone, and feeling like the only being for miles. He glares at Ponyboys still form, wishing him back to live, waiting for him to sit up and wearily ask Johnny is he was alright.
The loud silence is choking him, and it feels like the longer he stays there the more smothering it becomes. He staggers to his feet on weak legs, his eyes trained on Pony, He staggers to his feet on weak legs, his eyes trained on the boy.
Maybe all he needed was a little shake and he would bounce back to life. Johnny stumbles and catches himself on the gleaming fountain, untouched by the night. He sees himself in the reflection of the pearly stone, his ghostly white face, his dilated pupils, and the fog of cold night air as he breaths on the stone.
This is the hardest part.
With shaky hands he reaches over. He hesitated, his eyes wide and scared, he takes heaving breathes, trying to clear his mind. He grasps Ponyboys cold shoulder, pulling him out of the water and onto the ground. Ponyboy falls with a sickening thump! The sound that could only be the sound of a dead body as it hits the floor.
Ponyboy's head rolls to the side, his hair slick against his head and his face a chalky white. Droplets of water slide down his face bleeding out of his eyes like teardrops. The moonlight strikes him at an odd angle, showering him in an unearthly light.
And suddenly Johnny cant breath, he tries to suck in a breath his lungs won't accept and everything is spinning… He shakes his head, letting out a trembling breath. He crawls overs to Ponyboy and shakes him.
"Ponyboy… wake up…" He rasped. But there was nothing, only silence. Silence that covers the area like a blanket and makes Johnny want to curl up and die but he knows he can't do that because he has to wake up Ponyboy.
He shook pony with more urgency. "Come on Ponyboy…" He pleaded "We gotta get you home… Your brothers are probably worried…"
The absence of sound is getting to him, and he needs to hear something else besides his own voice. His trembling accelerates and he grips Ponyboy with both hands, his panic at its peak.
"Pony… Pony… Pony… He whispers, his voice escalating, repeating pony's name in his head like a mantra, until the words are too jumbled together to tell apart. And soon he is shouting, not screaming, because Johnny screams for no one, but yelling with such pain and anguish to the heavens to just bring his friend back.
"No! No… please!" he whimpers, his mind racing and his heart fluttering. And he cries broken sobs that fill the air with the distress and sorrow that only a faithful friend could make.
Something inside him snaps, Johnny heaves himself to his feet, tottering unsteadily. His eyes flit nervously to the side and his breath catches in his throat. He takes a few wobbly steps, but then he is running, eager to escape the overpowering sense of dread heavy in the air where Pony died.
His mind is occupied with thoughts of Ponyboy, and he lets his feet lead him, almost unconsciously, to the place he could go for comfort. Pony boy's brothers, he thought. They have the right to know.
The right to know that their youngest brother was dead dead dead and all Johnny did was watch.
The right to know that Ponyboy died fighting, and Johnny did nothing.