Chapter 10: Lost and Hungry

Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I do not own "The Outsiders" or any of the Curtis' Gang. Sigh. The real owner of "The Outsiders" is my favorite author, the fabulous S.E. Hinton. I also do not make a profit from the stories that I write here on this site.

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Ponyboy's POV

"Soda?" I asked tentatively.

"Yeah, Ponyboy?" He responded absentmindedly.

"I'm hungry," I told him. He gave me a sad smile.

"I know. I am too. I'll find a job soon, don't worry," he assured me. I stared out the car window. We had been driving for hours and I wasn't even sure where we were.

"Where are we?" I asked finally after a moment of uncomfortable silence.

"I think we're in Wichita," he told me. Just as he said that we passed a sign that read 'Now entering Wichita, Kansas.'

The sun was just setting behind the rolling hills. It was a beautiful light show. I couldn't help but smile even though we were driving to nowhere and were out of money.

"Where are we going?" I asked finally.

"Um... I haven't thought about it, really. I'm just driving. Maybe Topeka," he admitted between yawns.

"Need me to drive, Soda," I offered but he shook his head.

"I don't have any money for a hotel. We'll have to sleep on the road," he told me as we pulled over.

"'El Dorado state Park'" I read. Soda laughed.

"Are you so bored that you feel the need to read signs?" He questioned. I punched his shoulder lightly.

He pulled the car into the parking lot and leaned the seat back.

"This is home for the night," he told me. I nodded and leaned my seat back. I closed my eyes and heard Soda say goodnight, but I was too tired to respond.

X

I felt someone's eyes on me. I pushed open my heavy lids and saw someone trying to get into the car. I bit back a scream.

"Soda! Wake up," I shook him and he immediately sat up. The boys were dressed in leather jackets and looked hard as nails. They were clearly in a gang.

With shaking hands I locked the door, but one of them threw a rock through my window. I didn't have time to react and it hit me in the side of my head. I felt sticky warm liquid drip down my head and into my auburn hair.

Soda jumped out of the car immediately.

"Wanna fight you cowards? Bring it, come on. Or are you scared?" He taunted. This is so dumb, I thought. They were going to kill us. We were surrounded by five guys, not Socs that weren't good fighters, these people were real gang members.

When I opened the door I was dragged out by two of the guys. When they let go I swung, but he blocked my punch. He swung back, but I ducked just in time. Being small does have its advantages; I'm quicker than most guys.

He pulled out a blade and I pulled out mine. His eyes widened, he probably thought I didn't have a blade. Soda took out his, but he was taking on three guys.

I almost got cut, but I moved out of the way just in time. Soda swung around and stabbed the guy in the stomach. The guy moaned and fell to the ground; Soda didn't even blink, just kept taking on the other guys. Now that my opponent was down I jumped on the back of the bulkiest guy who reminded me of Darry and began choking him. He threw me off of his back and my face made contact with the pavement.

"Come on, these guys are crazy! Take Will and let's get out of here before they kill us," one of the guys shouted. Two of them grabbed me from behind and began choking me. Soda had a knife pressed against his neck. They put Will into our car, still holding Soda and I, and when they released us we didn't have time to react before they took off in our car.

The clouds were gloomy to go along with our mood.

"Soda! You almost killed him," I yelled.

He shrugged like it was nothing.

"It doesn't bother you? Soda, you would never kill a fly," I was so confused. War changed my brother.

"That's was before, Pony. I needed to defend us. Let's not talk about it, okay? It looks like rain and we don't have anywhere to go." As if on cue it began to rain. Great, I thought. My luck wasn't the greatest. It seemed as if whenever I had nowhere to go it rained.

Aufenthaltd Gold,

~Alee