Chapter 5: Blood-Soaked Mornings

A/N: Hi guys! Wusup my Greasers? My greasy life is goin' great! How 'bout yours? I really hope you like this chappy! Please keep reading and reviewing! I really appreciate everything! Thanks so much!

Ponyboy's POV:

My eyes open to tight little slits as the fire-red sun rises right in my eyes. I start to remember what happened last night and despite myself, begin to cry. I can't even wipe the tears out of my eyes since my hands are tied behind my back and to an old telephone post. My shirt is soaked in my own blood and it's dried and caked on my face and arms. I miss Soda and the gang somethin' awful and I don't even know where I am or where the Socs are that jumped me. Maybe they just dumped me here. That'd be nice. I could get out of these ropes soon enough and then start walking towards the road so I could catch a ride home. But first, I gotta find out where I am. Craning my head to the right, I just see a whole bunch of trees. To the left I see a little clearing and a reflection of the sun. There must be a lake or somethin' there. I can't see a house, or a road, or a car but they're probably 'round here somewhere. I feel somethin' strange tingling near my stomach. I glance down and gasp. A thick line of red blood is oozing out of my stomach.

"How the Hell," I say quietly and begin to feel light-headed.

I find myself in a coughing fit and it hurts my stomach somethin' fierce. I bet all the cuts that've clotted up have all ripped open and started bleedin' again. I wish I was home in bed with Sodapop and that Darry was makin' us breakfast. I just wanna go home! I'm so tired but I'm too scared to sleep. Why did they have to jump me? Why did I even have to follow that Cherry Valence behind school? I should've just ignored her in school like she's been doing for the past few months and I just should've walked home and none of this ever would've happened.

"Why can't I use my head like Darry's always tellin' me to?" I ask pretty mad at myself.

Even though I don't want to, I start to fall asleep. I think I'm bleedin' too bad to stay awake. Maybe when I wake up, it'll all be gone and over.

Darry's POV:

"Hey, c'mon, Steve. You awake?" I ask shaking his shoulder lightly trying to wake him from his exhausted slumber on the couch.

"Huh? What is it?" he asks groggily.

"Hey, I'm goin' out again."

"Okay, gimme a sec and I'll come with ya." Steve answers.

"Nah, I'll probably be gone a while, if not a few days. Stay here. I'll call you when I can to give you updates. Tell Dally, Sodapop and Two-Bit where I am alright?" I ask as a rhetorical question.

"What d'ya mean you're goin' by yourself?"

"I mean, I'm goin' by myself. You tell the rest of the gang when they wake up. I'll call you tonight if I won't be coming home."

"Ya sure man? I'm fine with goin' with you." Steve tries to push me.

"Yes, I'm sure. Just tell them. I'm gonna go." I say walking back into my bedroom to grab an extra pair of clothes.

As I'm walking back out to the door, I step into Sodapop's room. He is still curled up into Dallas. I chuckle a bit at the strange sight: Rough, New York City thug sleeping next to my big, concerned cuddle-bug of a kid brother. I walk into the small dark room and gently tug the covers over both of them and kiss Sodapop's right cheek before quietly leaving. I walk out of the front door, throwing my small bag of necessities in the backseat of my truck before pushing the key into the ignition and driving out onto the empty, dark road.

I must have been driving for hours. The bright orange sun is finally visible and I'm just now reaching the gas station where Steve and I turned around last night. I know that up ahead the houses really thin out and it would've been late when the two cars came through here last night. I also know that after the few random houses on this road, it turns into empty, wide open fields with not a soul around. My truck navigates the tight twists and turns of the road and the narrow farm driveways I drive up to inquire about the two cars. A few people say yes, but most don't answer the door or say they don't know. I keep following their trail for hours on end. I'm starting to wonder if they didn't drive out of the whole state. A moment of panic hits me when I come to a fork in the road. The left one looks like it goes into the forest and the right one follows the fields. Crap. And there isn't a house anywhere nearby. I close my eyes for a moment. If I chose the wrong road, I could be driving for miles in the wrong direction and it doesn't look like Ponyboy can wait for me to figure out a mistake. The one thing I do notice that different is that there are tiny strips of tire on the road leading into the woods, as well as a few skid marks. Everyone said that the two cars were driving fast; no doubt they sped up on these back roads. I ease the truck onto the left road and pray to God it's the right one.

"I sure hope this is the right road." I mutter.

It's probably around four or five o'clock and I'm starting to get hungry. I haven't eaten since five or so this morning. I hope the gang's takin' care of Sodapop alright and maybe even convinced him to go work today. The road is starting to lead out into some open clearings in the midst of the dark, thick forest. I see one house, but it looks like it's been abandoned for a decade. Close to six I see something glistening by the edge of the road.

"Huh, I didn't know there were lakes out here." I state as I see the small creek by the road flowing into a large body of water.

Out of the blue, I see the top of a telephone pole and bits of the lake the creek must be flowing into. There's a driveway that looks like it's been laid with fresh stones and a shadow of a house back in the trees. Scratch that, an estate back in the trees. Driving up the driveway I see more and more of the lake. My stomach's getting all nervous. I feel like Ponyboy's here somewhere. But where? I hop out of my truck and decide to be a little sneaky. I don't want any Soc to sneak up and jump me. 'Cause that ain't cool. The forest is quiet and damp. Only slits of sunlight seep through the thick foliage creating slightly disorienting dapples of light. The air turns cold and unfriendly. I shiver a little bit while walking to the lake and the strange telephone poll. I see something that looks somewhat like a person near the poll and I start getting excited. I start getting nervous. What – What if Pony's no longer alive? I'm not exactly eager to find out.

"Pony? Ponyboy?" I call quietly. I don't know if anybody's around to hear me and attack so I try to stay quiet. I think I hear somebody moaning. "Pone? Pone!"

I round the corner and find the bottom of the poll and the lake in its entirety and see my little kid brother tied to the poll and covered head to toe in blood. I don't see anyone around, just my little bloody Pone.

"Oh, baby, I'm so sorry. Come here, sweetie, are you okay? Oh, baby I – I." I choke and burst into tears, my arms wrapped around Pony's skinny body. The poor kid's barely conscious and it looks like he just took a beating. "C'mon. Let's get you outta here." I murmur, untying my little brother from the poll as Ponyboy starts crying hysterically.

I finally get him fully unbound and start to check over his wounds. He's still bleedin' pretty heavily and he has a black eye starting to show through.

"Oh, oh, baby, what happened?" I ask brushing his long hair out of his eyes.

I start to pick him up off the ground when I hear a lot of snapping twigs suddenly and ten figures armed with knives stepping out of the shadowy timber. I quickly place Ponyboy back on the ground and reach for my knife, knowing this isn't going to be a verbal fight.

"Why'd you take my kid brother?" I demand.

They don't respond and surround me in an even tighter circle.

"'Cause he deserved it." One of them growled.

"Excuse me? My brother hasn't done anything to deserve this. You deserve to go to Hell and I sure hope you do." I growl back.

One of the Socs jump at me and before I can even register what's happening, we're all fighting. I hear Pony yelling in pain and I try to get to him but I'm kicked in the head and sent into dizziness. Pone is spluttering and when I can glance up, I see four Socs on him in the water.

'They're drowning him!' I realize and feel a new burst of energy surging through me as I try to get to my kid brother.

Another Soc jumps on me and I stab him with my knife. I don't know where it stuck but he screamed nonetheless. I try to scramble to my feet but another one pins me down. I see something huge in his hands and vaguely feel it crashing down on my head.

'Pone…' I think before everything suddenly turns black and endless.

A/N: So….cliffy! Sort of… I hope you liked it! I'm really sorry these chapters are so short but I like to get them to you guys regularly. With all of your reviews, favs and follow, you guys definitely deserve it! Thanks so much for the support! I'm so happy you like it! #PeaceoutGrease