Hey all! A fast update AND a long chapter all about Ponyboy. How lucky can you get?

So, if I was nice enough to update twice in one day I think you all can leave me two reviews in one day can't you? Wags fingers at readers ;)

Pleeeeeeeeassseee?

Blondie is a 6:30pm EST update good enough for you? Haha…thanks for the review! Also Blondie and xodamhsoirxo I didn't get the links you sent. Can you give me the web addresses again? Thanks!

Disclaimer: I own none of the characters and there is a cliffhanger at the end of this chapter.

XXXX

I seem to you to seek a new disaster every day
You deem me due to clean my view and be at peace and lay
I mean to prove I mean to move in my own way and say
I've been getting along for long before you came into the play

--Fiona Apple

XXXX

Pony POV

Well I wasn't in a POW camp yet. But it sure felt like it. I didn't know if my ribs were broken or just cracked. All I knew is that after about two weeks, they still hurt like hell.

I shifted on the ground, grimacing as I did so. "Yep, definitely broken," I muttered through clenched teeth.

My captors had trekked me through the jungle, occasionally stopping at small villages to sleep and get food. As they looked at maps, pointing and talking with each other, I had come to understand that the POW camp was still a ways away.

This morning we had arrived at a tiny village. Mostly occupied by VC and a few families, I supposed.

I was sick of everything. Sick of walking, sick of getting the shit kicked out of me and probably genuinely sick. I didn't feel too hot these days…as usual.

Glory, am I ever going to be healthy? Thinking hard, I tried to remember if I had been sick a lot as a child. Mom would have known. I would have to ask Darry when I got back. Then I laughed out loud…if I got back. The Boss looked over, glared at me and I glared back.

I was sitting under the shade of some trees, hands bound in front of me, bugs swarming around. Wishing I had a book, I leaned back against the trees as the sun beat down on my face. The younger VC approached dropping a bowl of mush at my feet. Only, after scrutinizing it closely, I realized that it wasn't mush. It was vegetables…and it looked healthy.

I smiled wanly at him in thanks. He seemed not to see me. I ate quickly and set the bowl aside.

Since I was alone with my thoughts I started to think. Not a good idea for a kid with too much time and imagination on his hands.

I wondered about Darry and Soda. If they knew and how they were handling it. I shook my head knowing they were probably terrified. I was terrified for them, hoping that they wouldn't fall apart. I prayed that Two-Bit wouldn't stop cracking jokes and that Steve was there for Soda.

Then I turned to my squad. Were Crock, Shep, and Sergeant Caplan, looking for me? It didn't really matter much anymore.

Because tonight I was taking my chances with escape. Broken ribs be damned.

XXXX

I was back in the lot. The fountain was eerily still, the water glass-like. My face peered into it, my green eyes searching. For what I didn't know.

"Take a closer look, Kid." I cocked my head and calmly turned around.

"Hi guys." Dally and Johnny stood before me. "Come to rescue me?"

They both smiled, Dally a little more menacingly than Johnny. "We would if we could Ponyboy," Johnny said.

"I know. Don't worry I have a plan."

"Glad to see you have a little more ambition than you did a year ago," Dally smirked.

Their forms wavered in the balmy darkness.

"I thought I did. Now look where I am." I raised my arms and gasped at the chains that had appeared around my wrists and were bolted to the ground.

"That wasn't your fault though. You were just in the wrong place at the wrong time," Johnny said reassuringly.

"Seems like it happens a lot," I said morosely, tugging at my chains.

"Glad to see you haven't changed," Johnny said smiling at me.

I did a double take. I thought I-

"Oh you're still a smart-ass kid," Dally said. "But you're still..."

"Gold," Johnny put in. Dally raised an eyebrow, but continued.

"…Sure you're different. Maybe you're not that much older, not that much tougher in the sense of the word, but you're wiser. And that makes up for everything." All of sudden, Dally was nose to nose with me.

"Give it a shot," he whispered. "Watch out for the belly flop."

I blinked. "Wha-? Huh?"

Johnny sat on the edge of the fountain. I twisted around to him and pointed to Dally. "Isn't he supposed to be the sane one?" A mustang drove by in the background, I couldn't help but tense.

"Thing's will get worse-" Johnny began, I frowned, "-think they'll get better?" he finished. I stared at him mutely.

"Kid," Dally growled, then stopped.

A splash made me jump. Johnny had fallen into the fountain and was floating face down in the water. "Dal?" I turned to him but he was gone. Anxiously I jumped in myself, grasping for Johnny. I flopped him over, but it wasn't him.

It was me. The eyes rolled up in the back of the lolling head, the water a crimson stain.

I opened up my mouth and screamed.

I was still screaming when I was shaken awake roughly. An old woman stood over me, her finger to her lips. Her stringy hair fell in front of her face. She knelt next to me and smoothed my hair back, wiping away my sweat and tears.

I pulled myself into a sitting position. "Thank you," I said softly, taking the bowl of water she had brought and drank it. Her sad eyes watched me tremble and she patted my shoulder. "Poor child," she said in broken English.

"Thank you," I repeated and handed her back the empty bowl. Silently, she got up and disappeared into one of the huts.

God. What a nightmare. I frowned, remembering the dream.

DallyJohnny.

Shocked, I realized that if I hadn't had the nightmare I never would have woken up in time to escape tonight. "I wish you were here," I whispered to the dead night.

Fortunately, it looked like my screams had not woken anyone else up. The Boss had apparently chosen to spend the night with one of the village women, while the younger VC had fallen asleep on guard duty.

I grinned. They were getting sloppy. It was the time.

With hurried determination I pulled myself into the fetal position, my bound hands grasping for the inside of my left boot. Two days ago I had snatched a small blade that had been left lying carelessly around.

Shakily, I pulled it out and rocked myself up, balancing the blade between my knees. Holding it tightly, I rubbed the rope around my hands back and forth, until the edges frayed and it snapped in half. "Yes, yes, yes, yes," I chanted softly.

I needed a gun. But the only one outside was hanging on the hip of the young VC.

Screw that, I thought. I'd rather not take the chance and wake him up. I'd get one later. But I did have a flashlight, I thought inanely. I could always blind any approaching figures. I stifled a hysterical giggle.

Standing up clumsily, I sucked in a harsh breath and held my right side with my left hand. Running wouldn't be easy. But then again, nothing had been easy lately.

I passed through the village clearing and neared the outskirts of the dense jungle. As I was about to plunge into the thick foliage I gasped and clapped my hands to my mouth, stifling a scream.

Four sets of eyes stared back at me.

XXXX

Ok-sorry to end it with a cliffy…but my brain needed a rest. Don't worry I know where the story is going so be patient people.

Hopefully, you all aren't getting sick of Pony being in trouble. I just love him so much and love putting him in perilous situations. Makes sense doesn't it? Haha!

Thanks for reading!