AN: Thank you to anyone who reviewed by other stories, it was very much appreciated.
I don't own anything
The sun had begun to set, making it a cold and gloomy atmosphere, perfect for a rumble. Johnny anxiously shifted his weight from one foot to another, watching as Ponyboy bit his fingernails. He could feel the anger and hatred fill his heart, and from the look on the other greasers' faces, they felt it too.
Ponyboy lunged, holding his friend's shoulder tightly, pointing to the horizon. The socs approached, tall and proud. He observed each and every one of them. They weren't fighting for their rights, or to keep their small shred of dignity, or for their friend, who was possibly dying as they stood there.
They were fighting because they felt like it because they had nothing better to do. Some would say that they were fighting for Bob, but that wasn't true. If they won or lost, it wouldn't matter because they would still be socs in the end, and they would still have it made.
No matter what Dallas Winston, the most feared Greaser in all of Tulsa would be forever crippled, and his buddy Johnny Cade, the only thing he cared about would be thrown in jail. The police had made it very clear that once he had healed a bit emotionally, he would be sent to the cooler straight away.
In a way, it was like the socs had already won.
Johnny watched bitterly as Darry had an uncomfortable conversation with one of the socs. His palms itch, and he felt restless, just like he did before every rumble. Darry and the soc nodded once and each other, finally breaking the awkward eye contact, then all hell broke loose.
Johnny found himself being thrown to the ground by one of the socs. He wasted no time and began to kick his legs, and furiously throw punches as best as he could from the ground. But the soc held him down as tightly as he could. The dark haired greaser thought fast, spitting right in his face.
He went to throw another punch when he got a good look at the guy's face. He mostly looked like a typical kid, except for the bright blue, cold eyes, that reminded him of a certain greaser. The soc raised a brow, as he had suddenly stopped struggling, and Johnny's eyes rolled back into his head, as he lost consciousness.
He didn't remember anything after that, but he sure did remember Darry lightly shoving him through the hospital door, murmuring something about Dally. Ponyboy and Soda jogged after them, as they searched the halls for a nurse.
They finally found one, and Johnny asked her the room number, his voice cold and expressionless. He walked quickly beside Darry, as they followed the nurse's directions to get to Dally's room.
"He'll be okay, honey." He tried to reassure him. It was the first time anybody had called him a pet name, excluding Johnnycake of course. Any other time he would have been delighted with the affection. But that was the farthest thing from his mind at the moment.
"I promise." Sodapop finally caught up with them, Pony hot on their heels. "You can't tell him that, Darry." He warned lowly. Johnny had the feeling he wasn't supposed to hear that.
Johnny stepped into the room, and it felt like the longest most painful moment of his life. He would rather take a thousand beatings from his father than spend another second of looking at Dallas lying in his hospital bed.
He looked incredibly pale, except for the dark ugly burns on his back and arms. He could hear the long, harsh breathing, and watched as he struggled to make his chest rise and fall. If you didn't know him well enough, you would never know it was him. In a way, he supposed that he wasn't really the same person anymore.
"Johnnycake, come 'ere." Dally rasped, reaching out towards him. "Did ya beat em'?" He asked a smirk on his lips despite all the pain he was in. Johnny returned it.
"Yeah, we beat 'em. Real good too, Dal. The older greaser's smirk left as quickly as it came. "Bullshit." He said. "That's bullshit and you know it." He said, his eyes narrowing, and his mouth pulling into a snarl. Now he looked like the Dally he knew. Angry and cold, but couldn't care less about his attitude towards the world.
"We didn't win nothing. And we never will. You gotta rebel, for me, Johnnycakes, you can't follow the rules." He yelled, and with a burst of energy, he reached forward and gripped his shoulder. "Don't follow 'em Johnnycake."
Johnny had never seen anyone die before. He didn't even know Dally was gone, he just blinked, and his eyes didn't open, and the younger boy observed that even his eyelids got burnt up. Then he heard Ponyboy sobbing. And it hit him. The realization was like a lightning bolt, coming out of nowhere, despite the signs of the storm, and electrocuting him.
He had cried when he watched Dallas burning in that church. He had sobbed like a baby. But at that moment he just stared at Dallas. Even dead he didn't look peaceful, he still looked restless, and cold. He just wanted for him to open his eyes one last time, to talk to him one last time.
But it was way too late to do any of that stuff. And with that thought, he felt his knees start to give out. He collapsed to the floor, while Darry wrapped his arms around him.
Please review- Macky