Note: I don't own The Outsiders
Chapter 1: Who Are They?
It has been three months since the tragic loss of Dallas Winston and Johnny Cade. The gang has gotten mostly over it. Especially Ponyboy, who was sitting outside of the movie theater. He was waiting for Soda to come and pick him up. Socs walked by. They didn't try to jump him this time. They just eyed him while walking by. Ponyboy pretended not to notice. Ever since the rumble, the socs knew how strong Darry was. They didn't want to tangle with him. Ponyboy felt safe then. Well, he thought he was safe.
Three people came behind Ponyboy. He saw the shadows of them in front of him. And heard them demand,
"Give me your money."
'Socs' he thought, but was surprised when he turned around. These guys didn't look like socs at all. They kind of seemed like a mixture of socs and greasers. But they didn't seem like middle people either. It was strange. They had on nice shirts, but greaser like jeans.
"Did you hear me! I said give me your money!"
Ponyboy started to back up and then he ran for it and they guys chased after him. He kept running, he was pretty fast, but one of them was keeping up. A car stopped up the street and Soda, Two-Bit and Steve jumped out. Ponyboy ran and grabbed Soda's arm.
"Ponyboy! What's wrong?"
Soda then looked up and saw the three guys running up to them. They skidded to a halt in front of the greasers.
"What are you guys trying to do with my brother?" asked Soda coldly. All three greasers put on their tough stance. The other three guys didn't have a blade with them. They didn't bring it out of the car. They didn't think they'd need it for a little kid. Two-Bit smiled and Steve flipped out his blade. He then continued and said,
"There are more of us around if you plan on doing anything."
The three guys saw they couldn't do anything. They stalked off. Ponyboy was still looking at them and one of them mouthed,
'This isn't over yet.'
"Ponyboy, you okay?"
"Yeah, Soda. I'm fine."
Soda saw that Ponyboy was still a little spooked so he put his arm around him.
"Let's go home."
The four of them drove home in silence. Right when Ponyboy got home, he went to bed. Soda, Steve and Two-Bit were watching TV when Darry walked in from work. Soda looked at Darry with one of the 'something's wrong' looks.
"What happened! Is Pony okay?"
"He's fine Darry," answered Soda. Steve broke in.
"These three guys were chasing him down the street. But they weren't socs."
Darry thought for a second.
"What did these guys look like."
"They were kind of a mixture. They had on nice shirts or pants. But then had on dirty pants or shirts."
Darry realized something.
"They must be a new gang."
Everyone looked up at him. A new gang?
"I passed their neighborhood on the way home from work. They came out of no where. There are millions of them."
Soda started to get worried. They could try something. Darry was thinking the same thing. Except he had more precaution. He spoke up.
"Steve, Two-Bit. Do you mind staying over the night. Just in case they plan on doing something in this part of town."
They both agreed. Soda was releived.
"Good thinking Darry. Ponyboy was pretty scared when they finally left."
The phone rang. Darry picked up the phone.
"Hello, this is Darrel."
"Hey Darry. This is Shepard."
"Yeah."
"A couple of my boys saw the guy that tried to get Pony. You want us to look them up for you?"
Tim Shepard started being more of a friend after Dally died. Now if they needed something, they could call him.
"No, that's okay. I'll let you know if we do need you to do something to them. Okay."
"Alright, call me if you need me."
Darry hung up the phone.
"All right. Steve, Two-Bit; make yourself at home. But keep the TV down. I'm gonna head to bed. Get ready Soda."
Soda went back to his room and sat on the bed. Ponyboy was still sleep. Darry came in and sat on the other side of Ponyboy and rubbed his hair.
"We'll have to keep a closer eye on him. This gang seems pretty intense. I don't want him in anything that would break us apart."
Soda nodded and looked down at Ponyboy again. He looked so peaceful. Soda still had the image of the look on Pony's face when he was running towards him. He hadn't seem him that scared in a long time.
"I guess he was real scared. Because of the last time he had been jumped," said Soda.
Darry nodded. He said goodnight and walked to his room. Soda got ready for bed and layed down beside Pony. He put his arm across and him and said softly,
"Everything's gonna be okay Pony."