"...and when we catch up to them, we're gonna have to figure out how to get him to pull over- maybe we'll have to follow them till they run out of gas-" Tom was thinking out loud. His voice was calm and rational, but the volume of his tone hinted at how grave the situation was.

Dally listened to all this, knowing that there was no easy way to get Robert to pull over. If he even realized they were following him, he might just shoot Johnny right on the spot. If...

"Dally?"

Tom and Will both looked over at Dally. He was white as a ghost and breathing raggedly.

"Oh, man, Dally... you ok, kid?" Tom asked, glancing past Will who was sitting in the middle.

Dally looked up and before glancing at Tom, he caught the expression on Will's face. Will was near panic. Dally could read it easily, it was the same look Johnny would get when he was really scared. But coming from Will, it did nothing but worry Dally even more. Will was the adult. Will was supposed to have everything under control. Dally wished he hadn't looked at him.

Desperately, Dally looked past him to Tom and gained a shred of relief from his face. Tom was in control. He would fix this. He had to. Didn't he?

Tom held Dally's gaze a moment before glancing back to the road. "We'll get him, Dally. He'll be all right."

But Dally sensed his doubt. Johnny was in serious trouble. A thought occured to him then, a thought that chilled his blood and turned his stomach. A thought that terrified him more than anything he had ever experienced in his life. Johnny might be dead.

A strange noise escaped Dally's throat as he gripped the door.

"Dally," Tom's voice resonated the commanding presence that Dally needed. "Dally, it's all right."

They all saw the tail lights up ahead. No one spoke for a long time, they just followed the car from a safe distance.

Finally, Dally couldn't take the silence. "Where is he taking him?" he started out quietly, but the panic was quick to rise into his chest, blurring his thoughts and cutting off his air supply. "Where is that bastard taking him? What are we going to do?" Dally was yelling now.

"Settle down! We're gonna follow him for a minute.We can't make any sudden moves. He's probably headed back to Tulsa, though I don't know what route he's taking."

Inside the car Johnny sat shivering in the passenger seat. He had never been more afraid of his father than he was then. His father... a murderer? How had Dally known that? What did Dally mean? Johnny was so confused... and so horrified. He hadn't seen him do it, but he'd seen the body behind the shed. He'd seen the gun pointed at his face. He knew what had happened.

He wanted to cry. He wanted to just curl up in a ball and sob. His eyes began to blur as he thought of his mother. She had never seemed to care about him, but she'd come back for him, hadn't she? And his father had... His father had killed her... Johnny's mother was dead. Johnny let a soft sob escape, but quickly controlled himself when Robert shot a look at him.

"You cryin', boy? I'll give you somethin' to cry about when I get you home!" He looked back at the road, his hands gripping the steering wheel with a fierce determination. His breathing was angry and loud.

So that's where they were going. Johnny tried to stop shaking. He was getting so scared. He wished that he'd never left the house. He wished he'd never said horrible things to Dally.

"That damn lying whore!" Robert said to the windsheild. "She got what was coming to her!" He smiled slightly then, as if satisfied that he's done the right thing.

There was a long silence. A long silence during which Johnny had time to build up so much panic that he couldn't even think straight anymore. He had to get out of the car. He had to! He unlocked the door and opened it, and of course Robert grabbed at him, dragging him back into the car. But in this small amount of time, which to Johnny had seemed like an eternity, the car had gone off the road. Robert was unable to stop it from careening over a steep embankment.

Dally, Tom and Will watched in horror as the car in front of them started to swerve all over the road, finally going right over the edge into the rushing river below.

"JOHNNY!" Dally reached for the door handle.

"Will, GRAB HIM!" Tom ordered.

Will held Dally inside the truck as Tom drove towards the spot where the car had gone over the edge.

Dally and Will jumped out before Tom even stopped the truck. But Tom was right behind them as they started climbing down the side of the steep wall of rocks. They could see the back end of the car sticking out of the water.

Dally lost his balance several times. The rocks were slippery and he was moving too fast. But he didn't care. At one point he heard Tom yelling to Will, something about going back to the truck. Dally glanced back and saw Will headed back up the cliff. Dally was momentarily shocked by this, but too focused on Johnny to care that Will was too much of a coward to save his own kid.

The car was sinking fast. Johnny couldn't believe he was still alive, let alone conscious. The door wouldn't open, and had he not been more afraid of Robert Cade than he was of dying, Johnny might not have actually had the sense to roll down the window to get out. He took a deep breath and unrolled the window. Water rushed into the sinking vehicle as Johnny pulled himself out and swam to the surface. He struggled against the waves and narrowly avoided really hurting himself on a few rocks, but he managed drag himself out of the deep water onto the bank. He was choking on water when he heard someone calling his name.

"There!" Tom shouted. "JOHNNY!"

Johnny saw them and tried to stand shakily.

Dally felt some relief in the fact that Johnny was at least able to pull himself up. He was very obviously hurt, but he could stand.

And then Dally's relief was shattered. Several yards beyond Johnny, Robert Cade was pulling himself out of the water. He stumbled a few times but he too was able to stand, and he started walking towards Johnny.

Johnny didn't see him. It was pretty dark out, but the moon illuminated things well enough to make out the gun that Robert had pulled from his waist band.

Dally was filled with terror. He ignored the shouts from Tom coming from behind him. The only thing he was aware of was that he had to get between Johnny and that gun.

He shouted at Robert to draw his attention. Robert turned towards him glaring. Dally reached for Johnny as he approched. Everything was a blur from there. There was yelling and shouting and then a white hot pain in his arm. As he fell to the ground he heard Johnny screaming, "Dally! DALLY!"

Dally's vision burred and he fought to stay conscious. His head throbbed and ached from whenre he had fallen. He could hear shouting and a struggle just a few feet away. And then he heard barking in the distance.

Coal? Oh, no, Dally thought. How? No, that was crazy. It had to be some other dog.

He pushed himself up, pain shooting through his bleeding arm and radiating across his entire body. Through blurred vision he watched as Tom and Robert battled for possesion of the gun.

Robert had a hold of Johnny with one hand and was trying to fend off Tom with the other. Tom was finally able to get Robert to drop the gun and let go of Johnny, but Robert kicked him hard when he did, knocking Tom back momentarily. Seeing his window, Robert lunged for Johnny, slamming him down to the water.

Dally saw Johnny's head hit the rock. Johnny didn't look conscious and he was far enough into the water for the waves to actually start pulling him back into the river. Tom went for Johnny and when he did, Robert regained possesion of the gun.

Dally forced himself up, ignoring the intense pain and ran towards Robert. But the gun was already aimed at Johnny, and Dally was too far away to stop him. From behind Dally came a loud snarl and a blurr of black. Like a fast moving shadow Coal lunged at Robert's arm, and knocked him down, just as he pulled the trigger.

Johnny was in the water now and so was Tom, the waves tumbling over both of them as Tom tried desperately to get to Johnny.

Without a second thought, Dally went in after them. It wasn't long before he realized that his arm was not going to allow him to swim. Seconds before being sucked underwater, Dally heard another loud gun shot.

To the reviewers:

Hahukum Konn: Sorry about the cliff hangers! I can't help it. Glad you liked the plot twist! I was hoping to surprise a few people with that.

lynneanne: I know! I'm sorry, the previous chapter was WAY too short, but I needed to give you something! I have several pre-written chapters coming up that are long, I promise!

rebelgirl4ever: Thanks so much for reading! I'm so glad you're enjoying the story!

JamesDeanismygod: So glad you're still reading! I will try to keep the updates coming as fast as possible, but I have to make sure the chapters don't suck! Thanks for the review!

FlaminSquirrelz: Appologies for the many cliff hangers. Have to keep you all on your toes! Thanks for reading!

soulsisterofthedead: Thanks so much for the comments! I do appreciate knowing what the readers think of the story. I'm trying to keep Dally in character as much as possible and I often worry that I'm not doing that. He's definitely different than he is in the book, but this is how I think he'd react to Johnny leaving. I think we'd see a different side of him. He reacted pretty drasticly to Johnny dying, so I figure his behavior might change a little even if Johnny just left town instead of died. As for keeping track off it all... the more chapters I add, the harder that is becoming! Fortunately, I have the ending figured out, so I know where I'm going. I'm still doing a little work on HOW to get there, but it will come. Thank you so much for reading!

pony's girl : Thanks so much for reading! Glad you're enjoying the story!

Sodapop's#1gurl: I really appreciate your reviews! Thank you!

Sarah126: I'm so glad that you like the story so much! Thanks for all the reviews!

Liberty2005: Ha ha! Thanks! So glad you like it!

Coca-Cola3012: Don't die before I finish the story! I will try to update ASAP!

ivy45663: Thanks! I will try to keep the updates coming!

Kimmerkay: Thank you so much, I'm so glad you always take the time to review, I really appreciate it!

WhatGraceHasGiven: You are too kind! Thanks for the encouragement, hope you enjoyed this chapter!

fire stormwing: Thank you for your kind review! I'm glad you liked the songs and felt that they added to the story. I'm always glad to hear that there are people who have not been following the story that will take the time read it start to finish.

Chica: You are VERY perceptive. I don't know if anyone else caught that yet... the whole "Coal imagery" thing... very good! Yes, that was intentional and more to come on that. Thanks for the long reviews. I love reading them and hearing about what you think of the story. Keep reading. It's a ways off and I can't say too much about it, but I think you will find the ending very interesting.