Darry slammed his foot on the gas pedal and sped towards the woods, right across the school grounds. He ignored all the people shouting at him. He didn't care if they called the police. He had to make it to the woods. He had to make it to Ponyboy and Johnny.
Dally was unconsciously chewing on his fingers, his eyes blazing. He was mumbling something that Darry couldn't quite make out.
When they reached the trees, they had to get out of the truck and run on foot. Dally was out and running before Darry came anywhere near a complete stop.
"Two-bit, take the truck around the woods and meet us on the other side." Darry said as he slid out of the driver's seat. Two-Bit jumped out of the back and did as he was told.
Johnny and Ponyboy hurried around the woods into the open field on the other side. Johnny was about out of breath. He was feeling horribly sick, but he knew he had to keep going. There was no doubt about it now. A twister was coming, and they had to find some shelter. Johnny was starting to wonder if they'd make it back to the house in time. He glanced towards the small forest. There was very little light from the sky due to the cloud cover, which made the woods that much more imposing. Beyond the trees there was only blackness. They had gone around the forest and were now were moving away from it, but not nearly fast enough for Johnny's liking. He wasn't sure what Ponyboy was thinking. He was pretty sure he was scared, but the whole story, he knew, was a lot to take in at one time.
And then Ponyboy's voice interrupted Johnny's thoughts, almost making him jump. "Do you think he's in there?" he asked, looking towards the trees. Johnny could hear the fear in his voice.
"I don't know, Pony."
Johnny tried to tear his eyes away from the trees, but he couldn't. He watched. He watched the forest and the darkness and knew that something horrible was lurking just beyond it. The thought that he'd just run through it earlier made him shiver. He continued running and watching as the limbs rustled and swayed against the strong winds. And suddenly, through the branches, Johnny saw movement of another kind, and then color... color that would not naturally be found in the forest. His stomach froze as a man leapt from the trees, running towards them, his face covered with a bright red mask that only showed his eyes.
Dally caught sight of movement up ahead. Movement and a flash of red clothing. Berry bushes and sticks ripped at his arms and caught on his jeans, but he kept running. Darry was right beside him. As they neared the edge of the woods, he had a clearer view of what was going on. The person they were chasing was definitely wearing something over his head. And Dally could faintly make out two people way across the open field that he knew were Ponyboy and Johnny.
But then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw more movement. And two people sprinted through the woods away from him. They were a good distance away, so Dally could not see who they were, and for a second, he slowed down. Was that Ponyboy and Johnny? He looked back to the field. No, one of those boys had jet black hair. It was the only distinct feature he could make out. That had to be Johnny.
He didn't know if Darry had seen the other people in the woods, but at this point, he didn't care. He knew where Pony and Johnny were. He could see the man in the mask. He had one focus.
The man had a knife.
A realization struck Johnny. Ponyboy would be able to out run him. Johnny knew he couldn't. He pulled out his switch and shoved Ponyboy forward.
"Go!"
Ponyboy yanked Johnny's arm. He screamed at Johnny in terror, "C'mon! Johnny, run!"
Johnny stood his ground. It was one thing if the guy was just after him. But now it was a different story. And if he ran, the man would catch up to him eventually and bring him down. And Ponyboy would run at Johnny's pace and be caught too. "Ponyboy! Get out of here!"
The forcefulness of Johnny's voice surprised Pony. But he stayed put.
And when both of them stopped running, so did the man in the ski mask. They all stared at eachother for a brief moment and then a voice broke the silence.
"JOHNNY!!" Dally screamed and started running towards them.
The man in the ski mask turned around. He took one look at Dally coming towards him and took off. Bewildered, Johnny and Ponyboy stood there for a second and watched the man run. Then, regaining their senses, they started running towards Dally and Darry. As the boys got closer to Dally, they realized he wasn't going to stop. He was headed for the fleeing man and he'd catch him if it took his last breath. But the storm was getting worse and they could all see the funnel cloud moving towards the ground.
Johnny reached out and grabbed at Dally's jacket as Dally sped past him. But he missed and Dally just kept on going. Johnny started after him, but was quickly tackled to the ground by Two-Bit, who had just showed up with the truck.
"Get them in the truck, NOW! Take them home!" Darry yelled as he took off after Dally.
Two-Bit and Ponyboy dragged Johnny towards Darry's pickup. He struggled against them.
"NO!! He'll kill him- Two-Bit, let me go-"
But Two-Bit had a firm grasp on him, and with Ponyboy helping and Johnny being so weakened from exhaustion, he could not get away.
"Johnny, no! Get in the truck-"
Johnny looked at him desperately. "We have to get them- Please! He'll kill them both-"
"Johnny! We will. Just get in the truck. We'll go get them!" Two-Bit loosened his grasp as he felt Johnny relax slightly. "We'll go get them."
Darry was fast. Running was a skill that ran in the family, but Pony was really the only one who had chosen to do anything with it. Darry felt a slight exhilaration as he ran after Dally, pushing himself to move faster and faster. But it was fear that was really driving him. He wondered if he'd have been able to move like this if he were running without the sense of urgency. He was gaining quickly on Dally who had no chance of catching the man in the mask. He was pulling away at an amazing speed. Ponyboy might have been able to catch him, Darry thought for a moment, but what then? And, if Two-Bit had listened to him, Ponyboy was safely on his way home.
Two-Bit started up the engine. leaves and branches were blowing everywhere. He thought briefly about breaking his promise to Johnny and heading back to the house like Darry had told him to do. But he knew that if he did, both boys would be out of the car going after Darry and Dally and there would be nothing he could do to stop them. He could contain one of them, but not both. Ponyboy hadn't said anything, but Two-Bit could tell he was one impulse away from jumping out of the truck and taking off after his brother. So he turned the truck in the direction that Dally had gone in and floored it.
Darry came up behind Dally and lunged. He landed much more forcefully than he intended, and Dally came crashing to the ground with a thud and a grunt that indicated the wind had been knocked out of him. Darry knew he'd probably hurt him, but he'd had no choice.
But the pain didn't slow Dally at all. He squirmed underneath Darry and kicked at him as hard as he could. "GET OFF ME, CURTIS!!" he yelled. "What are you doing?! You get off me right now, I'm going to kill that guy!!"
Darry knew he was serious. Coming from anyone else, 'kill that guy' would've meant 'mess him up real bad'. Coming from Dally, it meant the guy would be six feet under before he even saw Dally coming. And Darry understood. He had the same rage inside him. Someone had threatened his brother's life and his friend's. He wanted nothing more than to break the neck of the person responsible. But Darry had foresight too. Something Dally lacked. Darry knew if he killed that man, he would go to jail and Pony and Soda would go to a boys home.
At that moment, off in the distance, they both heard a loud cracking and another sound, one very hard to make out over the wind, but it sounded very much like a scream. They both stopped for a moment and listened. It had come from the direction that the masked man had gone.
