Ponyboy was helping me pack my bags, and I was packing them slowly. Darry was also in the room leaning against the wall. We weren't silent, we were actually talking a lot. And I was surprised Ponyboy wasn't crying again.
Before I left the house, Darry said "Soda, I never told you this the first time you left, but try your best out there." "I will, Dar. I'm not only gonna do it for my country, but I'm gonna do it for us and all the greasers."
God, that sounded cheesy. But Darry smiled. "That's my boy." He said quietly. Usually I hated it when he did that; it reminded me too much of Dad. But now I loved it. He patted my back and I hugged him. I squeezed the living daylights out of Ponyboy. He was laughing and once I let him go he told me he loved me, so I said the same back.
After shutting the door, I said "I love you both!" And went off.
In the plane, I saw Ralph writing something. "What's that?" I asked. "A letter to my girlfriend Katrina." "Ooh, Katrinnaaa." I teased, punching his shoulder. He laughed. "Well actually she's my fiancée." He said, blushing. "Good for you man." I said, smiling. "I used to have this girl, Sandy, and I was in love with her. But then she broke up with me before I proposed." "Sorry, man." "It happened awhile ago. Plus a lot of girls fall for me where I work."
We laughed.
"GO! GO! GO!" I shouted from the bush. I was knelt down low with my huge gun in hand, gesturing Ralph and other men nearby to split up and move to other parts of the battlefield.
"COME ON MEN WE GOTTA MOVE, MOVE, MOVE!"
The enemy was closing in on us, they were getting stronger now.
"SHOOT!" I said, following along and pulling the trigger on my gun. After that I quickly got up and ran to join Mark, a guy in my platoon. I never really bonded with him.
He was hiding behind the tree, gun blending him in along with his camouflage uniform. I knelt down next to him and watched the dust rising, the sound of the gunshot's shooting, and the feeling of dirt and discomfort all over me. "Is anyone coming?" Mark asked. He wasn't facing where the enemy was coming from, and if he turned around, he was sure to get seen. "No," I whispered. "Let me know if someone does." "You know I will." He laughed. "Thanks, man. I never got your name." "Sodapop Curtis." "Your name is Sodapop?" "Yeah. I've got a brother named Ponyboy too."
Ponyboy. I missed him.
Mark laughed. "That's cool, dude. That's cool." I smiled. I liked Mark.
Then I saw someone coming. "Someone's coming!" I whispered really quietly, but Mark could still hear me. Mark blended in more, and I ducked down lower.
"I see you. Why don't you show your faces?" A voice said. I kept low. So did Mark.
"This is a war. You're not supposed to be a COWARD." It said again.
We still kept low.
He laughed, and then I heard a gunshot really close to me. I shut my eyes.
Silence.
"Mark?" I whispered. "Yeah?" "It was you who shooted, wasn't it?" "Yeah." I smiled. "Good work." "Thanks."
I felt free to lean up a little higher, just to see the person who Mark killed. I gasped, and stood up all the way. "Get down!" Mark said. I knelt down, but I was still in shock. I DID know who it was.
Randy Adderson.