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The sun was starting to do down. It was going to be night soon and it was still very hot out but Sodapop still couldn't get himself to move. He continued starting at the man laying motionless on the ground, the man he had accidentally shot. He didn't know what to do, he didn't know what kind of trouble he was in.

He could be thrown in jail. Even though it was an accident, would it matter?

Soda licked his dry lips as the backs of his legs were starting to hurt from standing in the same place for such a long time. He kept waiting for someone to come around, a friend or family member the man could have possibly been hunting with, just like Soda had been, but no one came.

'No one lives around here.' Soda thought to himself, remembering just how far away his grandparents house was from a neighbor. Then, through the fear and nervousness he was in, he realized something.

Nobody saw what happened. No one needed to know.

He could leave right now and no one would ever find out.

'I'm not going to jail for this. I'm not going to jail for an accident.' He shook his head as he thought that to himself. He wasn't going to get in trouble for this.

Soda backed away from the body and picked up his fallen shotgun. He was about to run off, but something was stopping him. He just had to know.

He slowly went back to the man's body and carefully went into his pant's pocket. Soda found the wallet and opened it up. Inside, he saw the man's driver's license and looked at the man's name.

'Dominick Banes.'

"I'm sorry." Soda whispered as he put the wallet back.

He got back to his feet and as quickly as he could ran through the woods, back to the house. It took him about ten minutes to reach the front door and his heart was pounding like crazy as he gasped for breath while clutching at the door handle.

The sky was now black with no stars in sight as Soda went into the house, sticky from all the sweat and his cheeks burning hot. He placed the shotgun into the corner and kicked off his shoes. He felt like going upstairs to take a shower but a voice stopped him.

"Soda!"

Soda jumped when he heard his name and saw Darry standing by the doorway of the kitchen, looking very annoyed.

"Where the hell have you been? We're just about to have cake."

"Cake?" Soda asked, his voice scratchy and throat dry. He badly needed a glass of water.

"For Pony's birthday. We went to the store to pick up one. You know I was afraid you got lost out there. If you didn't come back in another hour I was going to call the police."

"Don't call the police!" Soda's voice broke as he yelled causing Darry's brows to furrow. "I'm here, I'm fine."

Soda then walked past his older brother to the kitchen. He saw Ponyboy sitting at the table, a cake in front of him but he ignored it as he went to the refrigerator and grabbed the pitcher of water. He didn't even bother grabbing a glass as he put it to his mouth and began guzzling it down.

"Hey, Soda." Pony greeted. "So, did you get that deer?"

"No." Soda responded as he took a seat.

Darry gave him an odd look as he sat down as well and began cutting the cake. Soda drifted off into space as Pony and Darry began talking, Soda tried to pay attention and speak up as well, but just couldn't get himself to focus.

After a few minutes, Ponyboy looked at Soda and then looked down at his plate.

"Is something wrong with your cake?" Pony asked.

"No, why?"

"Because it's still there."

Soda looked down and noticed the cake that he hadn't taken one bite of.

"Are you sure you're okay, Soda?" Darry asked. "I gotta tell you, you don't look well at all."

"You know, I am starting to feel sick. Do you mind if we went back home?"

"We just got here."

"I know, I'm sorry. I must have caught something."

"You don't think if you go to sleep you'll feel better in the morning?"

Soda shook his head and Darry sighed.

"Well, Pony?"

"I don't want to stay up here if Soda's not feeling well." Ponyboy said while looking at his brother in concern.

"Alright. Once you guys are done start getting your things. We'll leave tonight."

"Tonight?" Soda asked, trying to keep the sound of relief out of his voice. First thing in the morning was what he was hoping for, but the sooner the better.

"Yeah, traffic isn't going to be that bad at night."

Soda headed up the stairs and began packing as fast as he could but remembered he needed to keep up with the act that he was sick. Once he had everything in his bag he walked into the hallway and saw Darry coming out of the bathroom.

"I'm sorry, Darry." He apologized.

"It's okay, Soda. You can't help it if you don't feel good."

He followed Darry down the stairs and his eyes then went to the shotgun he sat in the corner when he came home.

"Darry, the guns you gave us." He began. "They're…pretty common, aren't they?"

"Yeah." Darry shrugged. "You can find them at any gun store in Oklahoma. Texas too."

Soda nodded as began thinking of other things that could be led to him when the police eventually found the body.

"And the…bullets. They're nothing special right?"

Darry laughed.

"No, they're cheap bullets that anyone can buy. Soda, why are you asking me this?"

"Nothing, I don't know."

"I think you were out in the sun too long."

Once Ponyboy came down the stairs with his backpack, Darry put everything in the trunk before starting up the car. Pony sat up in front as Soda layed down in the back.

All he could think about was getting back home, getting away from here as far as possible.

He placed his over his eyes, trying to fall asleep. Trying to forget about what had happened.

Maybe when he woke up everything would have just been a dream. He didn't really shoot anyone, he wasn't really a murderer.

'I'm not a murderer! It was an accident!'

Once they were home, Sodapop vowed to himself that he wouldn't think about this again. He wouldn't tell anyone about this, not Ponyboy, not Steve, not Sandy.

It would be like it never happened.