Chapter 11 The Trip to Windrixville

After Dallas gave them everything they needed to escape, Ponyboy, Opal, and Johnny all ran back outside, dark enough so no one would notice them, and hoped to catch the train they needed to take to get to Windrixville.

When the three got to the train station and saw the train they needed to hop on was coming in, the three hid in the tall grass by the railroad tracks, and waited until the train came to a stop.

Once it did stop, the three looked around to make sure nobody was watching them, and all made a run for it when the coast the clear. They all ran as fast as they could, grabbing the rails outside one of the box cars and pulling themselves in.

Opal looked out for a moment to see one of the workers coming by, and motioned Johnny and Ponyboy away when he came up to the car. The three pressed against the cart, holding their breaths when one of the workers came by the car, and used a flashlight to see if anyone was around.

"Go check this other car," The worker told the other worker, not noticing Ponyboy, Johnny, and Opal in the car behind him.

"Yeah," He responded before he and the other worker went to look around for any other signs of intruders.

When the two workers left, Ponyboy, Opal, and Johnny all looked out the car to see them walk away, and finally released their breaths. The three sat down in the car together and began to prepare for their trip.

While waiting for the train to start moving, Opal slouched back with a sigh while Ponyboy just sat next to her silently. Johnny then began to fiddle with the gun Dallas gave him and Opal watched him.

Ponyboy, pulling his knees together to his chest, began stewing the thought that they were really in for it. They were really doing this because Johnny, being as quiet as a mouse and couldn't hurt a fly, had killed someone.

Soon enough, the train began to move again and started to head out for the night, traveling to where the siblings and Johnny needed to hide next.

Ponyboy stretched out, laying his head on Johnny's lap to get some sleep for the night.

Opal decided to rest as well and rested her head against Johnny's shoulder. She couldn't believe she was trying to sleep through the hell she, Ponyboy, and Johnny just went through, but Opal wasn't the one who would be having nightmares tonight.

It was probably more likely for Johnny to be the one dreaming badly, since he couldn't stop thinking about the mess he had gotten his friends into and what he had done.

As the train traveled through the countryside and the sun began to rise back up again, it wasn't soon before long when Ponyboy, Opal, and Johnny all jumped off the train together and to their destination: Windrixville.

When the three hit the dewy grass, they started to look around for the old church Dally had told them where to hide in.

"How do we find Jay mountain?" Opal asked, still sounding groggy with sleep. Her messy blonde bangs and raggedy ponytail also didn't make her look too good ethier.

However, nobody answered her question since Ponyboy and Johnny were staring at something far ahead of them.

Opal rubbed her eyes and stood next to Johnny to look at what they were looking at as well. Opal's question was answered, since she, her brother, and friend could all tell Jay mountain was just ahead of where they were.

Ponyboy looked at Johnny and his sister, and the two looked back at him as well, nodding since they knew where to go next. The three then ran into the direction they were staring at and started to run up the hill to find the church.

While running up the hill, Ponyboy was taking the lead, with Johnny and Opal struggling behind him.

"Pony!" Opal cried to her brother, struggling to catch up with him.

"Wait up, man!" Johnny called to Ponyboy when he saw him run past him. "Wait up!"

"Ponyboy!" Opal called to her brother again.

Johnny noticed Opal falling a bit behind and grabbed her hand to help her up the hill. "Why thank you, Johnny," She told him in a flirty tone.

When the three made it past the hill, they stopped for a moment.

"Well," Johnny began, making Ponyboy and Opal confused.

"Well what?" Ponyboy asked.

"Yeah," Opal agreed. "Why'd we stop?"

"Well, go on. Ask him where we are," Johnny gestured towards a truck in the distance, which Ponyboy and Opal failed to notice earlier.

Opal seemed confused at first. "You mean to tell me and Pony to ask someone where to go?" She asked, wondering why they needed to ask someone directions to a place to hide so they wouldn't be caught.

"Story won't be in the paper yet," Johnny informed the two.

Ponyboy began to wonder something as well. "Why don't you go ask him?" Ponyboy asked.

"Yeah, this is your fault," Opal said, somewhat in a rude manner.

Johnny just gave her a look. "My ankle hurts and I don't wanna walk on it," Johnny responded, pointing to his ankle. "And Opal looks like someone cracked her head open and then left her to dry."

"Thanks!" Opal replied sarcastically. She and Johnny were having a bit of a show-down today, only because the two were still a little mad about what happened last night.

"What am I gonna say?" Ponyboy asked.

"Just act like a farm boy taking a walk or somethin', he'll never know." Johnny told him.

"Do I look like a farm boy to you?" Ponyboy shot back at Johnny.

"He has a point," Opal agreed.

Johnny looked at Ponyboy and knew he looked nothing like a "farm boy". But they also didn't have time to argue about this. "Just ask him, ask him where, uh, Jay Mountain is. Don't worry about it," Johnny said, looking through his pockets.

"They're gonna know who I am as soon as they look at me," Ponyboy argued.

"They're not gonna know." Johnny informed him.

"Pony, just ask him," Opal ordered her brother, who looked back to where the truck was.

"I'll ask him if you ask him." Ponyboy retorted, making Opal annoyed.

"Oh, just ask him!" Opal said, giving her brother a shove as Ponyboy finally went to ask the man in the truck for directions to the church.

After asking for directions, Ponyboy, Opal, and Johnny finally made it to Jay Mountain and climbed up towards the church. While climbing up towards it, Johnny had to help Opal up after half the way up. She was so tired that her legs felt like led and she could barely walk anymore after all the things she'd been through.

About a half an hour later, Ponyboy, Opal, and Johnny had finally reached the old abandoned church. The three could see it sitting on top of the hill, and it looked exactly like a creepy and perfect home for ghosts.

Opal even looked a bit unsure and was kind of freaked out by its appearance.

"The church." Ponyboy said when the three saw the church standing before them.

"Do we have to stay here?" Opal asked, not wanting to enter the creepy building.

Ponyboy, however, didn't pay attention to his sister and instead stepped forward to walk up to the church.

"C'mon Opal, it'll be alright," Johnny told her, grabbing her hand and walking her up to the church as well.

"Yeah, maybe it's not as bad on the inside."However, Opal was completely wrong.

When the three stepped closer towards the church, they could see how it was pretty much rotting and how it looked like it hadn't been cleaned for years.

When walking up the front steps to the door, Opal could hear the creaking and how it felt like the steps would snap at her feet any moment.

When the three finally made it inside the church, they could now see its full place was covered in cobwebs and dust, the walls were cracked and falling apart, and there were even some wayward pews still in the building.

However, the three weren't really surprised by the church's state since it had been abandoned for years.

Actually, the three didn't even say anything to each other about it and looked around while taking a seat on some of the pews.

But while Opal was about ready to sit a pew close to her, her foot landed in a puddle of water and she tripped and fell back onto the pew! She fell back with a yelp and hit her head hard on the wood of the pew.

Ponyboy and Johnny immediately ran to help her up and thank goodness the impact of her head hitting the wood didn't crack her skull in half.

But it did make her very angry.

"Opal. you alright?" Johnny asked while helping his friend back up.

"Yeah, I'm alright," She responded before looking back at the puddle she slipped in. "Man, curse this place! Nobody coulda cleaned it up before they left it?!"

"Opal, it's alright. You're okay, right?" Ponyboy asked her.

'Yeah, I'm just fine!" She replied, somewhat sarcastic. She then kicked towards the puddle of water and lied down in the pew with annoyance.

Opal was having a rough day, but who could blame her? She just got into a fight with her oldest brother, her friend killed someone, and now she's lying in an abandoned church waiting for Dallas to pick her up. Who else would want to be in her shoes right now?

After Opal lied down, she began to drift off to sleep since for once in her life, Opal actually wanted sleep. After noticing her falling asleep, Ponyboy decided to do the same and Johnny soon joined them.

The three then made themselves comfortable in the old church and began to wonder what they would have to do next.

Sorry, I wanted to upload this chapter last night, but I got tired and decided to work on my Pinocchio fanfic and Anastasia parody instead. But now that Ponyboy, Johnny, and Opal have finally made it to Windrixville, the next chapter is when they'll get their hair cut and bleched, and it'll actully be pretty funny, so stay tuned :)