Disclaimer: I do not own The Outsiders. All rights go to S.E. Hinton.
I wasn't feeling too hot myself when I woke up. Ponyboy was lying in bed, sweating. I hated to see him sick like that. I remember when Darry had it when he was 16. He didn't go to school for months. He was always sick and tired and in bed. I looked up at the ceiling. It was cool how the dots formed something. Like words or a picture. I tried making a connection when I heard running water. It was awful windy out; it howling in my ears. That running water wouldn't stop. It was constant. Non-stop, annoying. I looked at Pony. He gave me a look that said make it stop. I nodded and ruffled up his hair. I threw off the covers and I put my feet on the floor. The floor?! It wasn't there. All there was was water to my shin high. I widened my eyes and quickly trudged through water and grabbed some clothes.
"Ponyboy! Wake up!" I hissed, throwing him a change of clothes. He sat up weakly and looked at me strangely. I looked at the alarm clock; 8:49am.
"Look at the floor!" He gazed down at it and gasped.
"Put on those clothes."
"But Soda-"
"Now!" I didn't want to yell at him, but I had to. No buts, no I want, I had to get him out of here. I wished we listened to Darry, I wish we left. I ran as fast I could with water rising. That wind was loud as heck.
"Darry!" I hollered over the wind.
"Soda!" It was coming from the attic. I lifted my knee up high as I could until I got to the attic.
"Darry!"
"Soda, I'm in the attic!"
"Me and Pony are down here!"
"I know!"
"Well, what do you want us to do?!"
"Get 2 changes of clothes with socks and sweatshirts! And then make Pony come up here!"
"Okay!" The wind was screaming now. I went back to the bedroom and got the clothes, handed them to Pony, and then pushed him to the attic stairs.
"The attic?!"
"Yeah. Darry's up there!" Relief came across his pale face.
"What are you doing?"
"I don't know. Darry wants you to go up there. Go!" The front door swung open and even more water and wind came through. My ears hurt so bad. The water was rising quickly. Raindrops sprinkled our faces, pelting. They hurt awful bad. Pony had to scream. His voice was gone half way through the scream. I couldn't help but hug him. I wanted Mom and Dad, I wanted Mom and Dad, I wanted Mom and Dad! I pushed Ponyboy on the stairs. The rain was penetrating my face.
"GO!" I hollered. He held his old blanket he's had ever since he was a baby. That thing was a rag now and he never used it unless something like this. He nodded and went up the stairs, quickly. Water increased up to my knees now.
"DARRY!"
"What?!"
"What do you want me to do?!"
"Get the bags of groceries on the counter!" I looked at the countertop and saw the 5 or 6 bags of groceries. I grabbed 3 and got up to the attic, dropped them off, and got the other 3. On my way to the attic, I stepped on something. Pain shot through my foot, something cut it deep. Blood rose to the surface of the water. Glory, it hurt. I tried as fast as I could to get up to the attic. Darry looked tired with those big bags around his eyes. But he looked like he could control this situation. Ponyboy looked so… feeble. He was shaking, scared, on the verge of tears with that blanket in his hands. He held onto Darry's chest and shoulder as Darry calmed him. He grabbed a bag and looked inside it. My foot hurt so bad, I was about to start bawlin'. I held it up in the air to inspect it. A piece of glass cut it. I thought we put away all tho- The picture of Mom and Dad. That was the only one we had that wasn't in Oklahoma! I looked down at the water. The picture was sinking to the bottom. I began bawling. I couldn't get it. My foot was bleeding. Pony certainly couldn't. Darry….
"Darry. Can you get that picture of Mom and Dad?" I asked over the wind. He looked at the water and widened his eyes.
"Hold on, Ponyboy. Soda, watch 'im," Darry started down the steps and looked around in the water. Ponyboy grabbed hold of me, hiding his face in my shirt. Darry dunked himself in the water. Please find it, please find it. Darry came back up seconds later, waving the soggy, smeared picture like a flag. Ponyboy looked up and widened his eyes. He was still the baby of the family. Even at 16, he was a little hopeless when we moved here since Johnny and Dallas died. He always told me about the sunsets, this book with some wind, and the movie with Paul Newman he saw a couple years back. I knew at school it couldn't be easy, so I went along with it. I didn't ignore him, but I couldn't keep track of everything. It was hard. He has quite a rep for bein' basically silent now.
"I got it!" He came up the stairs and handed me the picture. The ink was smeared, but you could still make out their faces.
"You did?" Ponyboy asked.
"Yeah, I did, Colt," Darry said. Pain shot up my foot.
"EY! Darry, look at this," I showed him my foot where the glass broke through y sock and skin. He sucked in his teeth.
"That's pretty deep, So," He said. I looked down at the water. It rose even higher.
"I know. What am I gonna do?"
"Hold up. Pony, hand me that first-aid kit," I was glad that if we didn't evacuate, that Darry remembered to bring this kind of stuff.
"Ok. Here, Soda. Wrap it up," He handed me some tan clothe bandage and took out that yellow thermometer.
"Put that under your tongue," The wind wasn't as strong. Wasn't as mean. I thought Sandy as the wind… You'd want it here sometimes, but when it got rallied up, you wanted it go away forever. Ponyboy took the glass and put it under his tongue. Rain began to hit his face from downstairs. The water was increasing. It was brown water too.
I claded my foot in only that and tried not to think about Mom and Dad or Johnny and Dally or missing Two-Bit or Steve. I hated this town, the greasers here, the culture wasn't my style. I hate the weather now.
"What is it, Darry?" I asked when he took it out from Pony's tongue. He put up one finger for me to wait a minute and I looked at the boxes around here. Ponyboy was just falling asleep, his head drooping and drooping down to his shoulder.
"102.1."
"Are you serious, Darry?!"
"Dead… PONYBOY!"