"Ponyboy! Wake up!" I screamed. He was next to me, crying and screaming. He scared me to death when he did that. This seemed worse than usual.

I shook him hard and screamed, "Wake up!" in his face. He woke up, shaking and crying.

"Are you all right?" I asked. Luckily, his feeding tube was taken out earlier, or it wouldn't be on now.

He looked at me, then his eyes went big and he ran out of the room and into the bathroom.

Darry's Point of View

"3:15?" I said to myself. What woke me up this early in the morning?
I turned over and I could see the light from the bathroom was on. I got out of bed, not knowing what to expect.

When I went to the bathroom, Pony was leaning over the toilet. He was crying and gagging, and Soda was holding on to him from around the waist. He spoke in a gentle tone.

"Easy, Pony. Easy. You're okay now. Just calm down."
Apparently, Pony didn't listen. He started gasping for breath, the tears rolling down his face.

"Calm down, Pony. You're making it worse." His voice held a stern tone, but he was still being kind.

"Is he okay?" I asked, finally finding my voice.

"Yeah, he just had a nightmare."

I went to the hall closet and got a wash cloth out. When I returned, I poured some cool water over it and handed it to Soda.

He took it and made Pony lean back off the toilet. He wiped Pony's brow gently. "Calm down." He told Pony again, and this time he did . . . a little.

Pony leaned his head against Soda's leg and calmed down. Soda sat down, and held Pony against him.

When Pony quick shaking so much, Soda asked gently, "You want to talk about it?"
Pony sat there, his head resting on Soda's shoulder, and then he said, "It was awful."
He squeezed his eyes shut, as though blocking the view of the nightmare. "I was in a car, with you and Soda, and even Mom and Dad. I was real happy at first, but then I realized that we were on the train tracks. When Dad stopped the car, I screamed at him, telling him to get off the tracks, but he didn't listen. So we sat there. I was terrified. When a train came towards us, I yelled at Dad again. When he didn't do anything, I reached over and tried to open up the door. It wouldn't budge. When I tried all the other doors, they wouldn't open either. So I tried going through the window, but it wouldn't open. So all I could do was wait for the end." He paused, reliving it, and tears streamed down his face again. "I watched them die. I watched Mom die. I watched Dad die. I watched Darry die. And I watched Soda die. It was the hardest thing I'd ever experienced in my life. It was terrifying. All I could do was scream, but it didn't do any good."
He looked down at his hands, and he cried some more. Soda and I looked at each other, not knowing what to do.

Pony looked up and said, "It was almost as bad as when I was away. Sometimes I'd forget what you look like." His voice broke, and sobs took over.

I rushed to his side. Soda was already there and we both held him. He was terrified of losing us, just as I was of losing him or Soda. We all knew the feeling, and it made life horrible for all of us.

Pony grabbed hold of my arm, and then took hold of Soda's. He was letting himself know that we were here. I put my other arm around him, and Soda did the same.

We were all together. We didn't need to worry. We'd always be together, no matter what.

No! It's not the end! More will come! Don't cry!