Author's Note: This one's a bit longer. A bit sad. Dally drives like a maniac, I bet he parks like my sister...that's a joke! Sis, I don't mean anything! Thank you to all the people who reviewed!

Disclaimer: I don't own The Outsiders, no, Susie Hinton didn't call me and offer the book to me for my birthday (how unfair). NOT MINE...

Chapter Ten

Barbecue and Fires

Dallas Winston drove faster as he hit the highway. He would drive like a maniac, but the cops would follow him to get him to stop. He didn't want any of the cops to be near him. He drove around the small town, but didn't stop for directions. He was Dallas Winston, why bother to ask for directions when someone's going to tell you to fuck off? He turned onto a road that led up to a hill. He took a guess and was lucky, there was the old church!

There were no signs that anyone was there, and if Dally hadn't known this was the church, he'd have left. Instead he threw the car into park and walked quietly up to the church. He peered into the cracked windows and found the entrance of the church. He opened it and looked at the floor. Johnny and Pony were asleep on the floor. He nearly chuckled, Pony's hair was bleached blonde and he looked funny without his hair slicked back. Johnny's hair was thinned out and without grease. He bent down and tousled Ponyboy's hair. "Hey, Blondie, wake up." He shook Johnny, "Hey, Johnny, rise and shine!" Johnny and Pony sat up.

"Hey, Dally!" Ponyboy greeted.

He sat down upon the seat near the pulpit. "Hey, is the fuzz after us?"

"Is Darry really mad?"

"What-"

"Hey…hold it, one at a time, you guys hungry…I'm starving."

"You're starving! Try bologna for five days!" Johnny squeaked.

"Hey, I've got a letter for a Ponyboy Curtis."

"Who's this from?" Pony asked taking the sheet of paper.

"The President, of the United States of America," Dally joked. "It's from your brother Soda."

Dally asked Johnny for a cigarette and lit up. He watched Ponyboy read the letter and Pony wiped off a tear from his eye. Dally felt bad for the kid.

"Hey, Dally, what's up with the cops? Did you hear anything?"

"How come you got hauled in?" Pony asked him.

"Those boys at the station know me by now," Dally said it like it was a prideful thing, but he didn't feel proud. "While I was there, they sort of 'beat' it outa me that you guys were headed for…get this one…Texas. Texas, man, God!" Dally laughed.

"So you guys wanna get something to eat?" he asked, changing the subject.

"You bet," the boys said and followed him to the car.

The T-Bird sat there waiting for him and they climbed in. "Man, it'll feel good to get back into a car," Johnny commented.

"Well, I'll give you a ride for you money," Dally promised.

He started up the engine, it revved for a moment and then he took off at a speed of 95 MPH. Dally watched Johnny and Pony turn a bit green and he pulled out onto the highway.

"Hope you're in the mood for barbecue!" He yelled, making a ninety degree turn in three seconds.

"Two barbecue sandwiches, three Pepsis, one hamburger, and three fries, and three banana splits," Dally ordered and they sat in the car and ate. Dally swallowed a huge bite of his hamburger while Johnny and Pony sat there gulping down their sandwiches.

"Chill, guys, I got plenty of money. And here I thought I was hungry," he watched Johnny gulp it down faster. He brought them up to speed and finally remembered something important (something other than the rumble, which was the most important.) "I forgot to tell you, we got ourselves a spy."

"A spy, who?" Johnny asked, sucking up the last drops of his Pepsi.

"That good lookin' broad I tried to pick up the night you, ah, wasted that kid? The red-head," Dally didn't know her name.

"Cherry?" Pony gagged.

"Cherry the soc?" Johnny asked for confirmation.

"Yeah…" he told them about her saying she'd testify for them and letting them know about the socs plans. "Man, that little broad sure does hate me, I offered to take her over to the Dingo for a coke and she told me to go to hell. Man, next time I want a broad, I'll pick up my own kind."

Pony's face paled for a second. Dally sighed and looked around. He commented that it was boring and Johnny spoke up.

"We're going back to turn ourselves in."

Dally had bitten into his hamburger at the exact moment he said that. Dally swallowed halfway and choked on the burger. Unable to get it down he coughed it up onto the ground. "What?"

"We're going back to turn ourselves in. It was self defense, Pony and Cherry can testify to that."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure, it ain't fair for Darry and Soda to worry about Ponyboy all the time." Johnny waited for Dally's reaction. Dally didn't say a thing. "I-I don't suppose my parents are worried about me-"

"Hey, man, the boys are worried!" Dally threw in angrily. I was worried, you're like my brother. I don't want anything to happen to you! We all were worried! "Do you know that Two-Bit wanted to go to Texas to hunt for you!" His brow furrowed in anger.

"Dally, I asked if my parents asked about me," Johnny said.

"NO, THEY DIDN'T ASK ABOUT YOU! So what? Do you think my old man gives a shit if I'm drunk or in jail or dead in a car wreck! No, he doesn't care! But that doesn't bother me none!" Dally was pissed. He threw his fist against the console of the car. "You're-you're not goin' anywhere! I get you a hangout, a hideout, a hangout, and now you want to split, this is terrific." He threw the car in gear.

They headed for the church to get their things and Dally turned to Johnny for a second. Ponyboy was being awfully quiet. "Johnny, you don't know what a few months in jail can do to you! I just don't want to see you get mean in jail, like it happened to me, man." Dally pushed his hair from his eyes. His ice cold eyes seemed to melt for a second.

"Do you think I should spend all my life in that church?" Johnny asked Dally. Dally opened his mouth to say 'yes' but slammed on the break.

"Glory!" he said. The church was a blaze.

Ponyboy hopped out to see what the trouble was. "Get back here before I kill you!" Dally yelled, throwing the car into park and Johnny hurried out as well. Dally hurried over to them. They went into the church and Dally hurried around the back and began to tear the boards off the windows. The hot wood hurt his fingers, but he kept pulling them off.

"Here, Dallas, take this kid!" Johnny pushed a kid through the gap in the window.

"Get them and get out!"

Pony gave him a kid and soon all the children were out. Johnny shrieked and Pony turned to go back for him. Dally grabbed hold of Ponyboy and threw him out of the church. He swore and smacked his hand to Pony's back. Pony fell to the ground.

"Shit," Dally thought he'd broken his neck and bent to check on him. Johnny screamed and Dally hurried over to get him.

He threw himself into the window and hurried over to Johnny who was getting burnt pretty badly. Dally handed him out the window and the roof fell down upon Dally's arm and Johnny's back. They pulled Johnny out and Dally fell backwards. His wrist fell upon a smoldering board with hot ash. He didn't scream, didn't cry, just lifted himself out and tumbled from the window.

---

Dally's eyes opened. He didn't know where he was. He noticed some people and figured, Shit, the police are here to take them to the electric chair. He turned over to see Johnny's face, not burned but they were giving him a few things through needles. Dally couldn't tell what they were. The medical technician was wrapping his arm. The tightness of the cloth hurt his wrist, but he just lay there watching it all happen.

"Is he going to be ok?"

The med tech looked startled to see he was awake.

"We certainly hope so."

Dally felt tears well up behind his eyes, but didn't let them fall. He merely glared at the roof of the car, anger building up.

Be ok, little buddy, be ok. I can't go on without you.