Disclaimer: The Outsiders is not mine, or the song Zombie by The Pretty Reackless.

I'm not listening to you. I am wandering right through existence with no purpose and no drive 'cause in the end we're all alive, alive. Two thousand years I've been awake waiting for the day to shake...

The loud sound of the T.V. woke me up. It was eleven. I got up. Dressed. Brushed my teeth. Went downstairs and sat beside my brother on the sofa, and started to blankly stare at the T.V. just like him. I still can't tell you what was on. It didn't matter.

The paper was on the coffee table, the headline being what we all expected:

Tulsa Up In Flames. Has Murder Striked Again?

Murder?

Dally's name was in there. On a normal day, he would be proud he made the final cut. It was all about him being arrested and they went into his record and background. Then there was that word again. Murder. They didn't know. The people reading this would never know what was really going on. What really happened last night. The news doesn't tell everything. It just doesn't.

I didn't need to read the article to know about Dally and what as going to happen. Ponyboy had read it. He didn't say anything but I knew what was going through his head, his body language said it for me. Dally wasn't going to get off on this one. This isn't a slap on the wrist type of crime they are charging him with. With his record, a jury will lock him away and throw away the key. That's how this worked.

Didn't we already know this though? Didn't we know it'd be this way before last night? We knew Dally was going to be going away for a long time. That's what we were all upset about. Or maybe it was just me. Maybe I should have stopped worrying about what I knew was going to happen and started worrying about the less obvious. What really happened last night.

Randy fled the scene after Dally was taken off. Marilyn slowly dissapeared too. All night I was trying to make her hurt. Make her and Randy hurt the way I was hurting. It wasn't clear at the time that they already were. That was the problem. I thought about going to the police after I left the hospital. I got to the door. I played out exactly what I would say to them and how I would play out my story to make sure Randy and Marilyn got in trouble the most. Then it hit me. An eye for an eye. Wasn't that how this whole thing started? They weren't smart enough to see what we saw. An eye for an eye makes the world blind.

Kathy was still sleeping up in my room. She held me last night until I got a hold of myself and finally feel asleep. There was too many things to cry about. Darry was next door with Ponyboy doing the same. I didn't want to sleep. I didn't want to cry either though. I had ran out of tears a long time ago. Kathy told me that Dally would be ok. She told me that everything was going to be ok. Kathy cried though.

Darry was gone. I don't know where he went but I didn't want to speak up and ask Ponyboy. He was still watching television. I stared at him, hoping maybe he'd say something first. His face was swollen. He didn't stop crying last night. I woke up a few times to hear him wake up sobbing and Darry coaching him back to sleep. You'd think sleeping would take us away from this living nightmare but it didn't. We saw it in our dreams too.

"Do you think..." He stopped mid-sentence. He ran his hand through his hair and started again, "do you think Cherry..."

He didn't finish. I stared at him as he faced the T.V. "She called me last night. I think...she was trying to help. Let us know."

He didn't say anything else for a long time. Ponyboy had felt so alone for a long time now and I was just now feeling what he was. I got why he stressed over Cherry for so long. Giving up someone you love, on such short notice, kills you. It was killing all of us.

I lied my head on his shoulder and shut my eyes. I wished tears would come out. At least that would give me something to do. Something to feel. I didn't feel anything. I felt alone. That was about it. I felt alone though my brother was right beside me. I wrapped my arm around his and sighed. I was so alone.

"Darry's at the hospital," he told me at a whisper. "I think he went early this morning. I don't think he slept any last night. Every time I'd wake up, he'd still be awake...crying mostly."

I kept my eyes shut. "Do you want to go?"

He shook his head. "Not now."

I swallowed. I didn't want to go either. I don't think I wanted to ever step foot in that place again. "Heard about Steve or Two?"

He shrugged. "Nothing new really. Steve's fine. He went home last night."

"Does he know?"

"...yeah, Darry told him."

I wanted some tears to come out right now. I didn't ask about Two-Bit. I didn't really want to know. It was too much already and I'm sure we'd hear soon. If he was dead we'd hear about it. That's all that matters, right? If they're dead or not? That's what everyone wants to know. That's all they care about. Are they dead?

Pony shook, and he let out a quivering sigh. "I can't believe it. Coma. Soda. He's in a coma. I don't know if that's worse or not."

"Worse than what?" I asked.

"Being dead?"

"Why?"

"We have to watch him slowly die now," he said slowly. "We have to see him just lying there dying everyday until he does. The doctors will tell us to have hope so we will and then once it finally happens, it's ten times worse than if it had just happened when he was brought in or before."

I traced his arm with my finger slowly. "Don't say that. Did you see him last night?"

"I don't know if I want to." His voice shook again and he sighed, trying to control it. "I really don't, Danni. I know that sounds bad but I just can't. Hell, I can barely look Darry in the eye. He says not to be like that, but I know he's mad at me. I know he's mad we didn't tell him Soda was going to fight because he could have stopped him and none of this would have happened. He just doesn't want to say it and make it worse!"

I slipped my fingers around his. I breathed out slowly. "I know."

He sniffed, trying to stop some more tears. He was tired of crying too. "I'm sorry...about Dally. I know he was going to go anyway but it's gotta be harder this way. What did he say to you before he left?"

I stared at the ground. "Nothing."

"It looked like something," he said, pressing on. "Seemed pretty intence, you just standing there and all."

I traced the tip of his finger. Pony had soft skin. I always envied it. "He told me he loved me."

"He really said it?" His tone came out surprising.

I nodded, not wanting to talk about Dally anymore. I didn't want to talk about much of anything, just sit here and watch...whatever this is on T.V. Ponyboy was different than I was though. He liked to talk about things in these type of situations. He was hurting just as much as I was and I wasn't going to ignore that. He didn't know what was going on behind the sences though. What this was really about and what really happened two years ago. He'd never know. He'd never know what happened.

Pony cleared his throat and readjusted himself, still keeping me on his shoulder. "Did you see any of them last night? The Socs?"

"No," I answered. "Didn't see a one."

Pony would never know. I'd hide him from that. I'd hide everyone from that. They didn't need to know everything. Not yet.

"I can't believe you guys!"

"How many fucking times do I need to say it? It was a mistake!"

Marilyn James hadn't stopped crying. She refused to go home, afraid of what he parents might do to her. They were too focused on Michael right now to see that she was gone. She was most scared of them. No one knew Marilyn started to fire that spread throughout Tulsa, but her parents could see through her wall. They made that wall for her. Marilyn was shaking in her boots and she had nowhere to turn. She didn't mean to do it. She was only doing what she was told. If anything were to happen to her brother...she didn't know what she'd do with herself. This just wasn't happening. She just couldn't convince herself that.

Cherry sat on the sofa, her face in her hands. Randy was with them, sitting beside her, a blank stare on his face. He'd yet to say anything to Marilyn despite the fact that she was sobbing and pleading with everyone. Randy didn't even blink.

Marilyn sniffed and wiped a tear. "Cherry..."

"What about Jane?" Cherry asked rudely, ignoring Marilyn's cries. "How exactly did it happen, Mar?"

Marilyn didn't want to think about that. She didn't tell anyone what she saw last night. What happened to Jane. Marilyn hid her face again, shaking her head. "I-I don't remember...I told you that."

"You told the police that," Cherry said blantinly. "You told the police a lot of things as I recall."

"Shut-up!" Marilyn shouted, angry. "I'm tired of having all the blame thrown on me. I'm sorry! I'm sorry, ok! Just stop!"

Cherry shook her head and leaned back on the couch. Randy was still quiet in the corner. Marilyn and Cherry both knew what he was thinking and who he was thinking about. There was a lot of things to think about, though Marilyn and Randy both wondered the same thing. Did she tell?

Cherry rubbed her face and sat back up. "What happened to Jane, Mar? I'm your friend. You can tell me."

Marilyn brushed tears away and tried to recompose herself. "I can't go home. You have no idea what they'll do to me."

"Jane, Mar. What happened to Jane?"

There was a pause, then Marilyn's ruby red upper lip twitched. "They'll kill me. Really kill me. I-I can't lie to them. They already know. M-Michael...they'll blame me. God..."

Cherry was getting agravated with this. She slammed her fist on the end table. "Marilyn! What happened to Jane? What happened last night?"

Marilyn's swollen, red, tearstained face gazed up at her. Her body trembled as the image burned her brain. She wanted to scream just at the sight, but instead, powerful tears shot out of her eyes. "S-She didn't hit it right. I-I tried to tell her but...i-i-it was too late. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I-I-I should have stopped her!"

Cherry still didn't understand and opened her mouth to ask more questions when Randy spoke for the first time, clearing up everything, "She burned, Cherry. She got caught on fire."

Cherry covered her mouth and shook. She let out a gasp. She didn't believe him at first, then Marilyn went screaming around the corner to the bathroom and slamming the door shut behind her. Cherry ran after her, knowing her best friend all too well.

Cherry pulled on the door. It was locked. She banged her fists against it. "Open this door, Marilyn! Open the goddamn door!"

There was nothing but sobbing coming from the other end and the same words over and over. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

Randy slowly walked over to Cherry and stood beside her. Cherry looked to him for assistance but Randy was dead inside. It hadn't quite registered just yet for him. Cherry banged on the door again and again and again until her knuckles started to burn.

"Marilyn, please!" she begged. "Don't do anything stupid. Just come out. Come talk to me about it."

There was a disturbing sob on the other end. "Everyone hates me! They should hate me! T-t-this is m-my fault!"

Cherry pulled on the door, hoping to get it loose. "Marilyn, what are you doing? Answer me!"

Randy stood against the wall, listening to her on the other end. "I-I can't go home. I can't go anywhere. Michael's probably dead by now and Jane...Janie. S-she was so pretty. She was so pretty, so young."

Randy tapped lightly on the door, reaching out to her for the first time since that night. "Mar, babe, open the door. Don't do this."

Cherry started shaking again. She knew Marilyn did things for attention, a lot of things, but this was a whole new side of Marilyn. The old Marilyn was dystroyed last night. Cherry was worried. Very worried.

Nothing came from the other end and Cherry and Randy both started to panic. "Marilyn, godfuckingdamnit, say something!"

Nothing.

Cherry turned to Randy. "You're going to have to bust it down."

Without heisatence, Randy ramed his shoulder into the thick wooden door. He was sorta glad, raming and hitting something. It made him feel a tad bit better. The door flew open, revieling a blody blonde, trembling girl on the cold floor. A girl neither Randy or Cherry recognized. The both stood, mouths open and baffled by the sight. Then it hit them who this was and the ran to her.

Cherry grabbed her body and pulled it into hers. Marilyn fought a good fight, but she was too weak. She started to sob. "Let me do it! They're going to do it to me anyway! I deserve it don't I? Oh my god!"

Randy stared at the blood on the ground, becoming sick. He remembered what obscene amounts of blood looked like. It was almost black. He remembered all that blood. All of it. His body shook and he looked away, standing up and leaving. Cherry yelled after him but he didn't turn back. His head was spinning. Everything was spinning. What had he done?

Marilyn sobbed uncontrolably in Cherry's arms. "Cherry!"

Cherry sushed her, holding her tight. "It's ok, Mar. It's ok."

"It's not!" Marilyn cried, louder this time. "It's not ok. Why does this keep happening to us?"

Cherry rocked her back and forth and then what Marilyn said sunck in. "What does that mean?"

Marilyn zipped her lips, just continuing to cry. She was thinking about it though. What if she was the one to spill? What was going to happen to her if she did? She was going to be going through hell anyway. Why not shed a little light on things? Marilyn James loved to shake things up. She lived for the unexpected. Why not act now? Let's change things.

Cherry grabbed a towel from the floor and wrapped it around Marilyn's arm, stopping the bleeding. She could hear Randy in the living room just pacing back and forth. She thought it was because of the events last night and that was partaly true. Marilyn knew something different though. She knew what Randy was thinking. After two years, Randy Adderson was going to crack.

Marilyn looked at the blood on her arm. Cherry was trying to stop the bleeding but it was no use. Cherry yelled at Marilyn, telling her they needed to go to the hospital for stitches, but Marilyn didn't move. She kept thinking about it. She thought about Sam. She missed Sam. Sam would know what to do right now. He always knew what to do, didn't he? The bastard was dead. He got the easy way out and now they were all living with what he left behind. Danni's words were finally becoming clear to Marilyn.

Randy came back to the door of the bathroom and stared at the two. Cherry was panicing and sweating. "You've all went too far!"

Randy shook his head and caught Marilyn's eyes. "We've been going too far for too long. We should have known this was going to come up again. Nothing dead stays dead."

Cherry gawked at him. "What are you talking about? Help me get her up! We have to get her to the hospital!"

"She won't go," Randy informed her. "You'll have to drag her."

Cherry was becoming annoyed by her friends. "You guys aren't telling me something. Randy..."

Randy kneeled down to where Marilyn sat. He scooped her up and carried her out, Cherry following behind him, not saying anything else. Randy got Marilyn into the car and buckled her up. Cherry hoped in to the passenger's side and cried.

Randy bent down, kissing Marilyn on the head. "I'm sorry. We'll fix this. I promise. We'll make it right."

Blow the smoke right off the tube. Kiss my gentle burning bruise I'm lost in time. And to all the people left behind you are walking dumb and blind, blind. And two thousand years I've been awake waiting for the day to shake.

A/N:Thank for reading! I have a Supernatural story out now for anyone who's interested in reading. :)