Silhouettes

Alex Raundahl Madsen

Beta reader/editor: M3535

A fan-fiction from S.E Hinton's "The Outsiders"

Chapter 1

It was hard to breathe. The fire and smoke made it difficult to see anything and every breath was filling his lungs with heavy smoke, making it unbearable to even try and suck in air. Ponyboy covered his mouth with his sleeve as he made his way through the burning inferno, Johnny right behind him. Burning embers fell from the ceiling onto his face, leaving marks as they went out, but he ignored it. All he thought about was the kids.

"In here! They're in here," Johnny yelled. He had passed Pony as he was looking behind some benches. He made his way to where Johnny's voice came from and found him in the small room at the end of the church.

Johnny was hammering on the wall close to the kids and as the boards started to budge, Pony could see Dally on the other side, pulling the boards out of the way.

"Here, Dal. Grab the kids," Johnny yelled as he lifted a kid towards Dally, who only took a hold of the child for a few seconds before letting it go as soon as it was through the hole, not seeming like he cared much about the child's safety at all.

"Get the hell outta there!" Dally screamed at them both.

Pony had only just let a kid drop outside the window, before Dally grabbed his arm, trying to drag him out.

Johnny was looking around, his eyes searching the small room.

"Johnny! Watch out," Pony screamed, halfway out of the hole in the wall. He kicked Johnny, making him take a few steps back, just missing a large beam that fell from the left side. Johnny looked at Pony with a scared but relieved gaze and sent him a small smile.

Pony smiled briefly but then noticed a large piece of wood, coming loose behind his friend. A few cracking sounds and the wood came at Johnny as a train at full speed, hitting the back of his head, making him sink to the ground.

Pony screamed and tried to get back into the church but Dally pulled him out with such a force that he fell out the window and landed on the cold grass. Dally climbed in through the window without any hesitation and dragged Johnny out, just before the church collapsed behind them.

Ponyboy crawled over to Dally, who was sitting with Johnny in his arms. He could feel the tears running down his face. "Is… is he," Pony started but Dally cut him off.

"Why the hell did you run into that damn church, huh?" he hissed, his hand pushing Johnny's hair out of his eyes.

Pony did his best not to cry as he looked at his friend lying completely still. The only thing telling he was alive was his chest heaving in shallow breaths.

"Johnny? Buddy?" Dally said softly as he moved his hand to Johnny's neck only to return it covered in blood.

Pony took Johnny's hand. It was cold.

"You boys alright?" a voice said. Jerry was suddenly standing next to them. His gaze flew over each of them. "Your arm is badly burned, son," he said as he looked at Dally. " We need that looked a-"

"Don't touch me!" Dally snapped. "I don't need any God damn help." He didn't take his eyes off his friend who was lying in his arms.

"The ambulance should be here soon," Jerry continued and kneeled down next to them.

"Don't you have some damn kids to keep an eye on?" Dally hissed, for the first time turning his gaze away from Johnny.

Jerry was about to speak but was interrupted by the sound of sirens. Pony turned his head, to see a couple of fire trucks and ambulances drive up the dirt road. A sudden relief came over him. He knew they would take them back to town and for once he didn't think about the murder. He just wanted his friend to be alright. He wanted to see Soda. He even wanted to see Darry. He just didn't care about all that had happened. He just wanted to go home.

oOoOo

Pony and Dally sat in the hallway of the hospital. The doctors had let them go after a quick check up. Dally's arm had a large burn, but it was only a second degree so he didn't have to stay in the hospital. Pony had a mild smoke poisoning but the doctors where not worried about him. The one all were worried about was Johnny. He had not woken up and no one would tell the boys anything other than that, since they were not family. Dally had yelled and screamed at them but that had just made them even more stubborn.

Pony leaned back against the wall with a smoke dangling from his lower lips. He must have looked really weird like that he thought to himself. His face was covered in soot and his fake blond hair was mixed with it as well, making it look even more lousy. But that didn't really matter to him anymore.

The doors at the end of the hall opened, making Pony turn his head. There was Soda, walking down the hallway towards him. Ponyboy got up and without thinking about his appearance he ran towards his brother and flung himself into his arms.

Soda held him tight for a brief moment and when he let go he laughed.

"Look at your tuff hair," he said, his voice breaking. Footsteps where heard from behind them and they both turned to look. And there stood Darry looking at Pony. It was clear he was not sure about what to do, but Pony immediately ran over to hug him.

Dally had gotten up and was watching them. He didn't say anything, nor did he move from his spot. Pony turned his gaze towards him. Dally looked lost. He had a look Pony had never seen on him before. He looked… sad and worried.

oOoOo

Darry had finally convinced the doctor who was in charge of Johnny's treatment that they were just about the only family Johnny had.

"He got hit in the back of his head by a beam. There is some swelling around his brain, but we have been able to get it down a little," the doctor explained.

"Can we see him?" Soda asked and put an arm around Pony's shoulder.

The doctor looked at each of them. His eyes stopped on Dally as he then spoke. "Okay," he agreed. He must have noticed the same look that Pony had, because he didn't argue with them this time.

The room was white and silent apart from the machines that made a few beep sounds once in a while. Johnny lay on his back, a bandage covering his forehead and a tube in his nose. He had a few burn marks different places on his face, hands and arms, but they didn't look too bad.

"Why did you run into the church?" Darry asked, looking at Johnny who lay completely still.

"The kids would have burned to death. It was the right thing to do," Pony said and walked over beside Darry. He knew it was their fault that the church had caught fire in the first place but that explanation sounded stupid. It sounded like a bad excuse to play hero.

Darry put a hand on his shoulder. "I know it was the right thing to do," he said in a soft voice. "I just… I just wish none of you had gotten hurt, that's all."

"Yeah well, you just had to play hero, right?" Dally said. He stood at the back wall. "You just had to run in there, not caring about you might get hurt! And you knew Johnny would run with you!" Dally walked towards Ponyboy, his eyes flaming with anger.

"You never think. That's for sure. If Johnny dies, it all your fault!"

Ponyboy's head dropped.

"Dallas Winston!" Darry started.

"Cut the crap, Darry! You always say he doesn't use his head, man. And now he proved it!"

Darry took a few steps towards Dally.

"Now you listen here, Dallas."

"Guys… please… keep it down," a small voice sounded. "My head hurts enough as it is."

The boys turned their attention in the direction of the voice.

"Johnny?" Soda said, his voice uncertain. .

The boy moved a few inches.

Dally rushed past Darry, completely ignoring the fact they had just been fighting.

"Johnny? Are you okay?" he said. He stood beside Pony, next to Johnny's bed.

Pony looked hopefully at his friend who had now opened his eyes a bit.

"Yeah… I'm okay," He said. "My head is just killing me."

The boys smiled to one another in relief at the fact that Johnny was now awake.

Johnny put a hand to his forehead and sighed briefly. "You guys mind turning on the lights? It's kinda dark in here."

The four froze.

"But, Johnny," Pony said. "The lights are on!"