I do not own The Outsiders

"Shitshitshitshitshit!" Ponyboy sprinted down the street, a bag of food in his hand, Johnny not far behind. Those two were the smallest, and although Johnny was slow, he was fast enough.

"C'mon, hurry up!" Soda exclaimed, looking anxiously past them at the figures that lurched past shops not far behind.

Johnny tried to adjust his grip on the bag that he was carrying, and tripped, landing on the pavement. There was a sickening pop that could be heard as the bone in his wrist broke. His face was contorted in pain, but he got to his feet.

Not fast enough.

There was a flash of pain as one of the Infected bit into his arm, the same one with the broken wrist. Johnny let out a strangled cry, trying to get himself free from the person that was currently trying to rip the flesh from his arm off completely.

He was afraid. The disease had been declared no longer contagious, but that wasn't through contact with the person. If the saliva entered his bloodstream... could he get it again. The very thought terrified him, and he tried harder to pull away.

One minute, the person was chewing on his arm, and the next it was laying on the sidewalk, the skull cracked open. Soda stood behind it, a bloody board clutched in his hands.

"Are you okay?"

There was no response. Johnny was staring at his arm, watching as the blood poured from the wound and dripped onto the sidewalk. There were deep teeth marks, and in one particular one Soda could see white; bone.

"Johnny?"

When Johnny looked at Soda, the greaser felt himself break out in a cold sweat. That look... Soda knew that look. He had seen Johnny with it before, and Two-Bit had had it, and he had had it as well... that despairing look, that half-crazed hungry look...

Johnny was infected again.

"Shit... uh... DALLAS!" Soda yelled, not even bothering to consider the fact that he had given away their location. There was some commotion from an alley, before Dallas appeared, a banana peel in his hair, looking disheveled and irritated, but okay.

"Huh?"

"Johnny got bit... he doesn't look to good, man."

Dallas approached Johnny, inspecting the wound with a frown on his face. Granted, he was not a doctor, nor was he good in the field of medical science, but he knew a bad thing when he saw it.

This was, indeed, a bad thing.

He swore, holding onto Johnny's shoulder as the younger boy swayed; his eyes glassy. "Johnny, can you hear me?"

Ponyboy approached slowly, watching Johnny for any signs of movement. "Maybe you should carry him back, Dal... or Soda, you can..."

Sodapop surveyed Johnny for a moment and then sighed. "We gotta get moving, then... he's changin' faster than last time."

-enigmatic-

By the time they got back to the Curtis' house, Johnny was burning up, but he complained about being too cold. Every once in a while, as shudder would run through him, and he would feel that hunger for flesh again.

"Soda, I—what the hell happened?" Darry closed the door behind the group, telling Two-Bit to get some bandages or something to stop the blood that continued to come out of Johnny's arm.

"He got bit, Dar," Soda said, depositing Johnny on the couch. "We gotta lock him up again."

Darry looked down at Johnny, who had begun to shake. His fingers were digging into the couch, and his face was screwed up, although whether it was from the pain or because he was keeping himself from doing something, Darry wasn't sure.

Two-Bit reappeared with the bandages, and handed them over to Darry, who handed them to Ponyboy, who began to try and stop the blood (by this time it was drying, which didn't help much).

All at the same moment, the members of the gang felt something pass through them. Soda shuddered, feeling afraid and almost... guilty. Darry felt the need to step up and stop something from hurting his friends and family. Dallas felt concern and fright. Steve felt anger and shock. Two-Bit felt familiar... and somewhat responsible. Ponyboy felt afraid and anxious.

It was then that Johnny, who had been unconscious, opened his eyes. His pupils were cat-like slits, and he growled, pushing himself off the couch and lunging at Darry, trying to sink his teeth into his side. The man jumped aside just in time, letting out a startled yell.

"Shit," Two-Bit hissed, afraid to go near Johnny. He watched as the boy jumped at Darry again, and instead fell into the coffee table.

Darry scrambled back, and Johnny turned toward Dally. His eyes narrowed and he growled again, advancing toward his prey. "Dallas..." The word sounded foreign, and the voice itself was so different from Johnny's normal soft, slightly raspy one that it shocked Dallas.

Dally backed up, until he found himself against a wall. Johnny continued to advance, a cruel smile slowly spreading across his face.

Just as Dally was about to wet himself from fear, a pair of strong arms wrapped around Johnny's waist and Darry pulled the young boy to him, holding him while Dallas scurried away. His usual façade was gone, replaced by naked fear.

"NO! YOU BASTARD LET GO OF ME! YOU FUCKING ASS! LET ME GO!" Johnny yelled, thrashing and trying to wriggle out of Darry's grip. He snapped at the man's arm, but wasn't able to get through the skin. Johnny tried clawing at Darry's arm, but nothing happened, except some shallow scratches.

"Johnny... Joh—stop..." Darry tried to reason with the small boy, but nothing happened. He still continued to struggle, still continued to shout at Darry, saying things that normally Johnny would never say.

"I'LL KILL YOU!"

"Soda, open the door to your room... I'm gonna try and get him in."

Soda walked down the hall to his room and held the door open while Darry struggled to get Johnny inside. He snapped at Darry's hand, and almost got ahold of it before Darry delivered a swift punch to Johnny's face. Normally, Darry would never have hit Johnny, but this... this wasn't Johnny. This was some beast from the lowest layer of hell who was inside one of his friends.

When Johnny was finally inside and far from the door, Soda slammed it and locked it from the outside. There was pounding and the sound of nails on wood as Johnny tried to get through the door to the people on the other side, but it was no use. At last he seemed to realize this, and there was a shrill, animal-like scream.

"Jesus..." Dallas whispered.

"Was I ever like that?" Soda asked, sitting wearily on the couch.

"Sort of... just... not as wild."

"How 'bout me?" Two-Bit questioned.

Steve shrugged. "You were actually... quiet."

Ponyboy said nothing, as he sat down in the easy chair and pulled his knees up to his chest. He hated seeing everyone go through this. It was bad enough the first time, but now it just seemed different. Johnny was more insistent.

How long would that door hold?

-lovely-

Three days passed, and Johnny had quieted down. Nobody would dare open the door, for fear that it was all just an act and he was ready to pounce, but by the third day they figured it was okay.

Two-Bit reluctantly volunteered to go get him. He eased open the door to Soda's room and found the bed overturned, the mattress pressed up against the other wall, and the sheets strewn about the room. There were blood marks on the walls, and deep scratches in the door that had dried blood in them.

There was no sign of Johnny.

His blue grey eyes anxiously scanned the room, and his eyes landed on the closet. It was closed, but it was the only other place in the room that Johnny could be. Two-Bit walked quickly across the room and pulled the door open.

Johnny sat in the far corner, his knees pulled up to his chest and his arms resting on his knees. His eyes had a far-away look, and there were dark bags underneath them, like he hadn't slept in a long time. Sweat ran down his face, like he was burning up, and chances are he was. If Johnny was no longer sick, and had been freezing, he probably felt like it was 100 degrees or so.

His nails were broken and bloody, and his arms had deep scratches in them, the blood dried on his arms. There was a part on his right arm where the skin seemed to have been peeled away. Two-Bit gagged, wondering how desperate Johnny had become.

"Johnny... are you okay?"

The boy's lip trembled, and he bit down on it, hard until he tasted blood. Pain... it was love... forgiveness... oh god he was sick...

"You... you should get those cuts and stuff checked out..."

No response.

Two-Bit held out his hand to help Johnny up, and he reluctantly took it. When he stood up, Two-Bit noticed through the holes in the knees of his friend's jeans, parts of his legs where more skin had been peeled away.

How desperate had he been?

-break-

Er.

Not a fan of this chapter
and I'm sorry for breaking my updating schedule...