When the blood moon reigns, the boundaries between dream and reality blur.
On the fifth day of being on the run together, Ponyboy woke up earlier than usual that morning. Johnny was huddled up right next to him for the warmth; Dally wasn't kidding when he said it would get cold out here in Windrixville. Pony quietly got up so not to disturb his best friend. The dawn was coming as Pony took a seat on the steps and pulled out a cigarette. All the lower valley was covered with mist, and sometimes little pieces of it broke off and floated away in small clouds. The sky was lighter in the east and the horizon was a thin golden line. The clouds changed from gray to pink, and the mist was touched with gold. There was a silent moment when everything held its breath, then the sun rose.
It was beautiful.
"Golly-" Johnny's voice beside Ponyboy made the younger teen jump in surprise, "that sure was pretty."
"Yeah." Pony sighed.
Little did they know this would be the last beautiful thing they would ever see. Not for quite some time at least.
"You know," Johnny continued as he took a seat next to Pony, "I never noticed colors and clouds and stuff until you kept reminding me about them." Johnny looked up at the sunrise again. "It's too bad it can't stay like that all the time."
Pony blew a smoke ring.
"Nothing gold can stay."
Johnny glanced at him.
"What?"
Smiling to himself, Ponyboy was about to explain the poem written by Robert Frost when suddenly the loud, audible sound of a scream got their attention. Ponyboy and Johnny both sprung to their feet, wide-eyed as it echoed through the air. Someone was out here, near the church and by the sound of it, appeared to be in distress. Johnny quickly ducked back inside but Pony continued to look around, hoping to spot whoever it was. The natural instinct to help had kicked in as he had forgotten about being on the run for murder.
"Pony, come on." Johnny hissed, motioning him inside with his hand.
The younger teen looked like he was about to head in with him, then another sound, this time of a painful moaning stopped him in his tracks. Pony looked out into the field, at a nearby barn the two of them had steered clear of. Pony had observed that everyday around this time, farm kids rode their horses by the barn, but today no one was around. He walked off the steps of the church and began heading in the direction of the barn as Johnny swore under his breath and reluctantly followed after Ponyboy.
Once they got to the side of the barn, Ponyboy suddenly noticed drops of blood all over the ground.
"Whoa."
It was a blood trail. He kept following it to the door of the barn. A putrid smell of what only could have been a dead animal had now started wafting into the boy's nostrils. Carefully poking his head inside, Ponyboy saw a man sitting on his knees, his back to him, kneeling over something that Pony couldn't see or tell what it was.
"Are...are you okay?" Pony carefully asked.
The man slightly turned his head. He was old, his grey hair was fuzzy, and he had on a black suit and tie. He looked like a mortician. What was he doing out here? Once the old man turned his head to face him, Ponyboy could see that he looked sickly pale. Thats when he looked into his eyes. They were like a blind person's eyes. White, lifeless. Johnny walked a few feet away from Pony, over to the side of the barn, trying to see what the old man had his attention on before they interrupted.
"Pony..."
The sight made Johnny's blood run cold. It was a body. It was a woman's body that had been mangled and torn apart.
Johnny ran back over to Ponyboy, attempting to stop him from getting any closer to the old man, but it was too late. The old man unleashed a hellish moan and to Ponyboy's shock, sprang right at him. It knocked Ponyboy right onto his back, the old man on top of him, snarling, teeth gnashing right at his face.
"Get off!" Ponyboy yelled. "Get off me!"
Johnny quickly grabbed the collar of the old man's suit, trying to pull him off. The old man turned his attention to the hand, grabbing Johnny's arm and sinking his teeth right into his wrist.
"Ahhhhh!" Johnny cried out. He desperately tried to wrench his arm away and finally was able to, falling back onto a wheelbarrow. Ponyboy reached up and grabbed the old man by the throat. The man let out another groan as Pony's fingernails began to dig into his throat, hard enough to draw blood on this...thing above him. However, it did nothing to stop it. Ponyboy couldn't think, he could barely struggle. It was now the second time this week Ponyboy thought he was going to die, before a gurgling sound left its mouth and it fell over off of Pony to the ground beside him.
Johnny just stabbed the old man in the side of the neck with his switchblade. He grabbed Ponyboy's hand and hauled him to his feet. On shaky legs, the two boys ran back to the church as fast as they possibly could, slamming the door behind them once they were inside. "What are we going to do?" Johnny asked.
They looked over at one of the rickety church benches. Ponyboy and Johnny went on the opposite ends of it, picking it up and barricaded it at the back door.
Ponyboy and Johnny anxiously waited, the seconds, the minutes, hoping whatever that was out there would just pass the church by. Sure enough, the boys saw the silhouette of the old man as he approached the door. He slammed the palms of his hands against the door but wasn't going to be able to get in that way. The old man began to meander down the front of the church.
This is a nightmare. This couldn't be real. This can't really be happening.
"Pony."
Ponyboy looked down at what Johnny was staring at. Beneath Johnny's jacket was the gun Dally had given him. Pony thought back to the hunting trips he and his brothers use to go on before their dad died. Sodapop had bragged to the gang that Pony had the best shot. While he had, Ponyboy hated shooting at living things. However, today was the day he was going to make an acceptation to that. Ponyboy reached down to pick the pistol up, taking off the safety. He pointed it at the door.
The old man was scratching at the front door, fumbling around with the knob.
BANG!
Both Pony and Johnny jumped as they heard a gunshot from outside which was followed by the sound of a thud as the old man's body hit the ground. The door suddenly busted open which nearly caused the two of them to hit the floor for cover. Ponyboy never thought he be so happy to see Dallas Winston, who had a revolver in hand.
"Dally!" Both Ponyboy and Johnny yelled at the same time.
The older greaser didn't waste any time.
"Come on, let's go!"
"Go where?" Pony stepped over the body, seeing that Dally had shot him in the head. "Who is that? What is that?"
"I'll explain on the way, come on." Dally motioned for the two of them to follow him to where Buck Merrill's T-Bird was parked. Once he was in the backseat, Johnny tied a rag around his bleeding wrist. They sped away from the church and down the red dirt road off Jay Mountain doing nearly eighty-five miles per hour. Pony had always liked fast driving and Johnny was crazy about drag races, but they both got a little green around the gills when Dally took a corner on two wheels with the brakes screaming.
"Where are we goin'?" Pony asked as he clutched his seat. "Home?"
Dally let out a humorless laugh.
"Home? Yeah, right. The whole town is a war zone."
Pony could feel the blood drain from his face.
"What about, Soda-"
"Don't worry, he's fine. They're all fine, they're waitin' for us."
"Where?" Pony asked again.
"Your grandparents old house in the country."
Darry, Sodapop, and Ponyboy hadn't been there since their parents died. It was a beautiful town, but the deserted streets made it feel lonely, the old country back roads were curvy and twisted. The small town of Collinsville had about 3500 people who lived there, maybe less. It is a quiet, calm, and nice place to live. After a few minutes of driving, Dally spotted a small dirt road splitting off from the main one. Dally figured that it was a short cut, and he'd might as well try it as he made a sharp turn onto the dirt path.
"What's happened?" Johnny asked, wincing as he rubbed his now aching wrist. Dally didn't respond, he just turned on the radio. It was static for a few second as Dally fiddled with the knobs before a broadcaster's voice was made clear.
"Citizens faced with the collapse of local police and fire departments have taken the law into their own hands. Civil and social services have been disrupted or suspended. Most areas are without telephones, many are without power, some are without gas and water." The three of them focused their attention on the radio before it went to static once again. Dally slammed the side of his fist against the radio in frustration a couple of times before it cleared back up. The broadcaster then spoke the words;
"Biologists have released a report stating that the bodies of the recently deceased are returning to life."
Dally couldn't help but frown at the now terror-stricken look Ponyboy's face now held. But he wasn't about to lie to him or Johnny and tell them everything was going to be alright. Especially since Dally himself sure as hell didn't believe that. A couple of more minutes went by before the dirt path took them back on the main road. Dally cracked a little smile, they were getting closer.
"Is this some kind of joke?" Pony asked, finally able to find his voice. "Or prank-"
"Do you see me laughing? Did what happen to you two back at the church look like a joke?" Dally demanded. "This is not a damn joke, or hoax, or whatever. It's..."
"Hell on earth." Pony finished for him.
Dally couldn't argue with that. Static then returned for a few more seconds before coming back on.
"-driven by an unknown force that enables the brain to function." The broadcaster continued. "However, doctors at the CDC in Atlanta reject that theory, calling it preposterous beyond belief. The only reasonable explanation is a germ, a bacteria, or a virus, that has a mind-altering effect. Although, how a germ could have been spread over such a vast area remains a mystery."
The buzzing sound of static returned as it brought the news to a halt. Dally went back to punching the radio, taking his attention off the road before Ponyboy's panicked voice rang out;
"Dally, look out!"
A tractor trailer crossed the median and headed straight for their car. Dally jerked the wheel in time to avoid a fatal head-on collision, but the tractor clipped the back end of the T-Bird, causing it to flip on its side and it rolled three of four times before coming to a grinding halt. Sparks flew out of the engine while little pieces of metal were scattered all over the road.
Groaning, Dally unbuckled his seatbelt before kicking the car door open. That's when the radio static cleared up, one more time.
"It is being called Judgment Day by..."
That's when the broadcast went out for good. Dally was still conscious as he took several deep breaths as he willed himself to stay awake. He needed to get them to Collinsville. If walking corpses didn't kill him, Darry sure as hell would if Dally failed to bring Ponyboy to his grandparents' house in one-piece.
"You guys still alive in there?" Dally questioned.
"Dally..." Pony groaned as he struggled over the window. He then cursed out the driver of the tracker under his breath. Whoever was driving it didn't even bother to stop and help them. Dally couldn't help but half-grin at younger greaser's language and how many 'f' words he had managed in a single sentence.
"Don't count on anyone for help, Pony."
Johnny then muttered.
"I don't feel so good."
"Na, don't worry." Dally said as he helped pull Johnny out the car. "You'll be fine."
Ponyboy studied Dally and he definitely looked too happy for somebody being in this horrific, nightmarish situation. It was the outlaw part of him that was, for lack of a better term, 'enjoying' the anarchy all this had caused.
"What do we do now?" Ponyboy asked as a little bit of blood trickled down his left eyebrow.
Dally reloaded his gun.
"It looks like we're walkin'."
