I'm sorry it has taken me a little while to update but I have very good reason. We have had some serious family problems and things are just starting to settle back down. I know this isn't one of my best chapters but things will start to get a little better in my story and I hope y'all like it. Now the stuff in italics are the memories that Ponyboy sees when he is well, dying. Ok I hope ya'll enjoy and Review!

Salvation-

Williams was unconscious but still alive.

That seemed to be the only good thing right now. My only friend was alive but unfortunately he was dieing and so was I. I felt weak, I gave up on eating. My decision has been to live as long as I was supposed to but in the case I wasn't sure how much longer that would be.

I was never really a big believer in God, I had gone to church a few times and prayed every now and then but now it seemed like everyday I either believed or didn't. I stopped believing when no help ever came but I always started again by praying that help would come. Now I was praying for a new kind of help. I prayed for death, everyday.

I was banging my head against the wall; with no one to talk to things seem to be worse. I had nothing on my mind, there never seemed to be anything to think about. Then I remembered something that seemed like years ago.

I had to have been 15 or 16. I was sitting on the grass by the school talking to a girl. She had to have been around my age, her hair was long and blonde, and her eyes were blue. We were studying something to do with science but that wasn't what we were talking about.

"So if I'm the one who has to do all the work for this project and you do absolutely nothing than what do I get for being so nice?" I asked her curiously.

"Well nothing because if I do nothing and you say that I would have to do something to make up for the fact that you did everything and I did nothing which means that I would have to do something." She said as she toyed with my brain

"What!??" I asked laughing.

"You heard what I said." She said this as she leaned in and kissed me.

I remember that feeling. Her name was Sara. I thought I loved her but nothing ever seemed to last with us. We dated for a while and eventually we drifted apart. She was the first girl that I ever loved and to this day is the only one.

I remembered the day we broke up.

It was Saturday nigh. Sara and I walked down the road (not holding hands like we used to) to the party. She looked great that night, even though she had old blue jeans and an old t-shirt on.

"What time do you need to be home?" I asked her tiring to break the silence.

She looked at me with a look of hatred "mid-night" she said. She walked ahead of me and tried to not focus on me.

"Sara, what are we doing? You don't seem happy and I know that I'm not." I said as I leaned my head back tiring to avoid her eyes.

She turned around and looked at me for a moment and then said whispering "I don't know Pony, we were happy but we're going in different directions and I think we should just end this. We may have loved each other but now I…." She was cut off by me.

"What, we may have. You know as well as I do that we do still love each other and always will that just doesn't stop one morning when you wake up!" I screamed.

"Yes it can, look at us. How can you say that we still love each other, we may love the thought but we don't love each other because if we did then we wouldn't be here?"

"Fine! Let's just cut our losses and end it here and never speak again because obviously we don't love each other so why even spend time together!"

"Ok, fine we are now officially broken up! I am so relived!" She screamed as she walked away from me.

I watched her leave and smoke a cigarette before heading to the party to get as drunk as possible.

That had been a long night. I was supposed to be home by mid-night but I did get really drunk and the time just slipped away. Before I knew it it was 4am and Darry and come to get me. He yelled about that for weeks but it was one of those things that the few hours of having fun was better that the punishment.

Darry. He raised me, sort of. He took care of me and made me wish I hadn't done some of the things that I had done.

'What in the name of God were you thinking! Going out on a Saturday night and getting so drunk that you didn't even know that you were four hours late for your curfew!" Darry yelled at me. He was walking back and forth in the living room as I was sitting in the couch just looking at him with a drunken gaze.

"Sorry Dar, it was an accident. I just planned on hanging out with friends but Sara and I broke up so I decided that a couple of beers couldn't hurt." I said sympathetically.

"An accident. Ponyboy do you think that when I have a hard time that I go out and get wasted? No! I am responsible as should you. Soda is out there fighting and you are out with your friends getting drunk. Exactly how many beers did you have?"

Well about six beers and a few shots of Tequila along with a bottle of Whiskey. I aid and after I did I wanted to kick myself, just stick to the beer.

"What, you drank all of that, I can not believe you. Just go and lie down we'll talk about this in a few days."

"A few?" I asked.

"Yes a few. Do you think that after you drank all of that that you will be able to sit up tomorrow? Just go lie down and rest. I'll come in and check on you in a bit."

I walked back to the room that I shared with Soda. I don't I have ever had a beer feel that good before. I fell asleep almost instantly.

Just as Darry had said the next morning my body ached, my stomach hurt, and my head throbbed. This was the first time that I felt like I was dying and right then and there I swore of alcohol for the rest of my life. Darry took care of me until I got better than he yelled at me for a while and then grounded me for three months.

At the Curtis household.

Darry and Soda sat in the living room. Darry was reading the paper while Soda was watching TV. Both of them were thinking about there little brother, Ponyboy had been missing for a year and a half. Still no word had come if he was alive but the hope that he was alive was slim and they were starting to give up hope that he was even alive.

They always sat in silence and never uttered a word anymore. They went to work, came home and never said a word, they only prayed that their little brother would come home.

I heard yelling and banging. Williams was pale and it was hard to tell that he was even breathing but he still was. The yelling and banging continued. I sounded like there was someone coming into the base.

I mustered all of the strength that I could to stand up and walked over to the metal door and banged my fist against it. A voice was yelling to someone "where are they? Where are they?"

"In here." I whispered before falling to the ground. Tears filled my eyes as I realized that this might finally be over.

Footsteps echoed through the hallway and then there was the banging on the door. I moved out of the way towards Williams.

The door swung open and entered men in United States Marine uniforms. One of them came over to me. "Your alright, we're taking you home." He said and all I could do was nod my head before I passed out.

Well I hope that you like this chapter and there is still much more to come, if he survives and all of that other fun stuff. Ok once again please review, I'm begging. Thank you to all who have done so, it means a lot.- Kat