Chapter 26 – "One Step Closer and You'll Be Sorry!"

A few days had passed without much change. Steve was still mad; he ignored Sodapop at work and hadn't been by the house since. Dallas had stayed away too, but today he dropped by with Two-Bit. Sodapop and Johnny decided to leave again and Ponyboy went with them. Mostly because neither of them were in the mood for any more conflict.

It was a beautiful evening and Ponyboy had suggested they go somewhere to watch the sunset. First, they had picked up a couple of milk shakes at the diner, and now they were sitting on top of a hillside – Ponyboy's favorite sunset-watching spot. The sky was clear and the sunset just perfect. Pony and Johnny were both caught up in it, but Soda was sitting next to them, picking up small rocks and rolling them down the slope while slurping loudly on the last of his milk shake.

"Soda!" said Ponyboy, annoyed. Only Sodapop would find it more interesting to roll rocks down a hill than watching one of nature's greatest wonders.

Soda looked up at him. "Hmm? What?"

"You're spoiling it."

"Spoiling what?"

"The sunset! You're supposed to watch it."

"I have. It's real pretty," smiled Soda.

Johnny couldn't help but chuckle. Soda never could sit still for anything.

As the sun set, the air cooled and Johnny rubbed his arms. "Sure gets cold quick, huh?" he said and looked over at Ponyboy who also shivered a little.

"Yeah, come on," Pony said. "Better get back home."

They all got up and started to walk back. Johnny wasn't looking forward to get home. Dally would probably still be there, and there was no telling what he might say and do. Then again, they couldn't keep hiding. Maybe they should just act normal and eventually people would forget and things would go back to normal.

o0o0o

Two-Bit was entertaining Darry and Dallas with his latest conquests when the phone rang.

Darry picked it up.

"Hello? What do you mean, Andy Smith is out?"

He hung up and turned to the others, looking pale.

"They let him out?" asked Dally. "The fuckers let him out?"

"Two weeks early," mumbled Darry. "Good behavior..."

"And they didn't bother telling us BEFORE they let him out?"

Darry sighed. "Apparently not." Then his eyes got even more nervous. "Where is Johnny and Pony?"

"Didn't they go for a walk with Soda?" Two-Bit asked and then suddenly stared at Darry. "Oh shit..."

Dallas swore loudly. "We should split up. Find them easier that way." Then he was out the door and gone.

o0o0o

It was turning dark rapidly and cold even faster. Ponyboy hugged himself, shivering.

"Why do you always forget to bring a jacket?" asked Sodapop. "Do you want mine?"

Pony shook his head.

Soda took his jacket off, anyway, and handed it to his brother. "Take it. Darry'll have my head if you catch a cold."

Pony reluctantly took it. "It wouldn't be your fault..."

"Yeah. Everything is my fault these days. And I don't want you getting sick, either."

They sped up, all eager to get home, and turned down a dark alley to make a shortcut.

Johnny bit his lip nervously as they walked down the alley. He wasn't sure why he felt so nervous, since both Soda and Pony were with him, but he just had a bad feeling.

Half way through, someone suddenly stepped out in front of them.

"Well, well, well... what do we have here?" the guy drawled. He was clearly not from this side of town.

"Beat it, Soc," said Sodapop. "- If you don't want a good ass kickin'."

Johnny backed up a bit and flinched when he bumped in to someone.

"Funny how that's a habit for you," sounded a familiar voice. "Bumping into people..."

Ponyboy felt his blood run cold. He recognized that voice. He turned his head and saw Andy slowly walking down the alley from where they had come in. There were two other guys standing right behind them.

Sodapop quickly sized up the situation. There were three behind them and only one in front. And home was not far from that end of the alley. Before the guy could react, Soda had jumped forward and punched him hard in the face, knocking him in the ground.

"RUN," he yelled at Johnny and Ponyboy.

They weren't slow to react and sprinted down the alley toward the street, Soda following behind.

There was a gate half way through the alley, but it was always open. Except that now it wasn't. Pony reached it first and shook it violently to get it to open, but all in vain - it was locked. They had walked right into a trap.

They turned around, Pony and Johnny with their backs pressed against the gate, and Sodapop in front of them.

Andy came strolling towards them, his three goons following behind. One of them had a bloody nose and glared maliciously at Sodapop.

"Well, well," Andy drawled again. "If it ain't greaser-brat one and greaser-brat two. And their baby sitter."

"Y-you better stay back," Johnny stuttered, trying to sound tough. "You ain't supposed to come near us!"

"Does it look like we care, grease ball?" one of the Socs asked as they all stepped up closer.

Sodapop desperately looked around for something they could defend themselves with – a bottle, a rock or something - but there was nothing.

Johnny gulped and pressed himself back against the gate. There was no way they would be able to beat this. There were four of them. Had they been smaller, then maybe. But Andy was huge and capable of taking care of both Johnny and Ponyboy, and Soda wouldn't stand a chance against three guys on his own.

"What do you wanna do, Andy?" one of the Socs asked, smiling as he kept his eyes on the three. He looked like he was ready for a fight involving blood and broken bones.

"Oh, I just want to teach each of them a lesson they won't ever forget," said Andy, cracking his knuckles. "Now, let's see..." he continued, as if he was trying hard to make up his mind. "Which one to start out with…"

Sodapop took a step forward. "How stupid are you, you fathead? Everyone will know you did it! Everybody saw you in the courtroom. And you'll be put away for a lot longer this time!"

"Well... we'll just have to fix the problem of you telling on me now, won't we?" Andy said and moved in on them, the three others following him.

Andy stepped up to Sodapop and with surprising speed he grabbed a hold of him and threw him to the others.

"Have fun boys. Brian, come join me. Let's have some fun with these two."

Ponyboy just stood there, paralyzed with fear. They didn't stand a chance. They were going to be pummeled to a jelly - or worse... He instinctively moved closer to Johnny and grabbed his arm.

The tall Socs, to whom Andy had referred as Brian, took a few steps forward. "Hey there, kid," he laughed, looking at Ponyboy.

Andy also moved closer, his eyes set on Johnny. As he reached out to grab a hold of Johnny, Ponyboy dodged Brian and pushed Johnny out of Andy's reach.

"SODA!" Pony called and tried to get around the Socs.

Johnny made it past Andy, but again Andy was faster than one would expect of such a big guy, and he caught the much smaller boy by the arm.

"Not so fast, greaser-brats!" he hissed, spinning Johnny around. "I got some unfinished business with both of you."

Brian grabbed Ponyboy by the hair and punched him hard in the stomach with the other hand.

"LEAVE HIM ALONE!" Sodapop yelled and fought like crazy to get free of the two Socs that were holding him.

Then, in horror, he saw Andy slam Johnny up against the gate and pull out a switchblade. He flipped it open and held it up right in front of Johnny's nose.

"I'm gonna slice up your face," he grinned. "Give you something to remember me by."

"A-Andy, man," said Brian. "Ain't that a bit much?"

One of the Socs holding Sodapop seemed equally startled by Andy's action, because his grip on Sodapop slackened. Soda took advantage of that. He wrung his right arm loose and punched the other Soc in the face. Then he threw himself at Andy, pushing him away from Johnny and knocking him over.

Sodapop positioned himself in front of Johnny and screamed, "PONY – BEHIND ME!"

Distracted by the turn of events, Brian had let go of Ponyboy's hair and Pony jerked himself completely free and moved over behind Sodapop to join Johnny at the gate.

Andy got up, still holding his knife. Pure hatred stood painted on his face.

"Andy," said Brian and took a few steps back, looking at the blade in his friend's hand. "Let's just leave it at this, man. They got a good scare..."

Andy ignored him and stepped closer to Sodapop, who was doing his best to shield Ponyboy and Johnny.

"Move, greaser!" he snarled.

"One step closer and you'll be sorry!"

"Oh, will I?" Andy stared Sodapop in the eye for a second; then he lunged forward and thrust the blade into his stomach.

Ponyboy froze as he saw his brother slowly sink to his knees in front of them. It was unreal – like watching a movie.

"S…S..." Johnny started. He took a step forward, dropped to his knees and caught Sodapop as he fell backwards against him.

Soda's white shirt had started to blacken around the midsection and Johnny watched in horror as the spot grew larger and larger.

"Stupid greaser..." Andy said.

"What did you do? Andy!" yelled Brian. "I'm gonna call for an ambulance!"

He ran off and the other Socs followed, leaving Ponyboy and Johnny alone with Andy.

Johnny pressed a shaking hand to the wound and held it there as hard as he could. Ponyboy sank to his knees beside them, his eyes full of shock as he stared at Sodapop.

"One down..." Andy said. "…two to go." He took a step forward, pulling his hand with the blade back for more force, as he got ready to stab again.

And then, the deafening sound of a gunshot rang through the alley.

A/N: Link to the illustration for this chapter on my profile (or check Zayhad's account on deviantart)