The next morning, Johnny and Ponyboy just like the days before were dropped off at school by Darry. Johnny got out as Ponyboy started scooting over to get out.

"Hey Pony. I'm sorry about last night. I was just upset," Darry said.

"Sure," Ponyboy said but Darry grabbed his arm.

"No I mean it. I've been coming down hard on you lately," Darry said releasing his arm and Ponyboy looked up at him.

"It's okay Darry. Last night I was being stupid. I just hate being cooped up in the house all the time," Ponyboy said.

"And you shouldn't be. You should be outside playing football and getting some fresh air, not worrying about a killer," Darry said and looked away from Ponyboy staring at the steering wheel. He gripped the wheel tightly as he slowly took in a deep breath before letting it all out. "How about this?" He said looking at Ponyboy again. "Tonight after Soda gets home we'll all go out and play football again; just like we use to. I'll even be on your team if you want," Darry said.

"Alright!" Ponyboy said before the warning bell went off. "Well I gotta go. I'll see you later. Oh and Darry? I love you too," Ponyboy said and got out of the truck before closing the door. Darry flashed a grin before driving away.

Break*Break*Break

The bell for the end of lunch and all students got up to head back to class. Ponyboy and Johnny walked back inside the building and headed down the right hallway where the gym was. The gym was towards the back of the school that led right outside to where the track and football field was located. As the two were getting closer to the gym, Mr. Glass walked passed them in a hurry.

"Hi Mr. Glass. Are you alright? Looks like you just ran a mile around the track," Johnny said noticing Mr. Glass sweating.

"Me? Oh don't worry about me Johnny. I'm just fine; never been better. You know how hot the science room gets. I'm just running out to my car to get something; be right back" he said and sprinted pass them out the back door. The two friends just looked at each other.

"I don't think the science room is…" Johnny started but was interrupted by someone walking right in the middle of the two hitting their shoulder. The man was a red head wearing all black with one hand in his pocket.

"Excuse me," he said and walked into the cafeteria. All of a sudden, the piercing sound of a gun went off. The two turned around and saw students running around frantically after tossing their books to the ground. Screaming was all that could be heard as hundreds of students ran into different hallways which echoed throughout the school.

"We gotta get out of here!" Johnny shouted over the screams. The two threw their books to the ground and ran towards the door where Mr. Glass had gone out. Ponyboy pushed open the door with all his might and ran out holding the door open behind him for Johnny. Ponyboy took two steps forward before he stopped dead in his tracks and gave a high gasp.

Mr. Glass lay on the ground in front of them in a fetal position. His lifeless eyes were open staring up at them with no light left in them. His mouth was slightly open with blood starting to drip out slowly. His hands were clutching his chest where his now white shirt was saturated in red blood with more in a large puddle that he was currently lying in. As soon as the thick copper smell reached Johnny's nose, he started to breathe quick gasps and started backing away from the scene but he couldn't look away. All of a sudden Johnny felt a fiery pain in his skull and he fell to the ground unconscious. Ponyboy heard his friend grunt in pain and turned around. Before his mind could make sense at what was going on, a large hand covered his mouth holding a gun against Ponyboy's temple.

"Boo," his attacker said in his ear. The man was a little taller and muscular then Darry as well as Ponyboy coming up to his chest. He had short blond hair with emerald green eyes that were filled with joy and excitement. He also wore a dirty, short sleeved navy blue shirt with jeans and black boots that had seen better days. His partner that had struck Johnny was a man with black hair and a moustache wearing an orange jumpsuit along with white disposable gloves.

"Hurry up and load him in," the blonde haired man told his partner. "I can't wait for us to get started," he said in Ponyboy's ear. It was then that the man turned his head so that Ponyboy could see what was on his left cheek. It was a deep scar that ran from the bottom of his eyelid all the way down to the side of his chin. Ponyboy stopped breathing as he saw the scar that confirmed his worst fear. He struggled with all his might to get out of this killer's grasp but Lynch just held on tighter while giving a slight chuckle.

"Hang on; what's that in his pocket there on his jacket?" Lynch asked turning his attention to Johnny. His partner who had Johnny hoisted up on his shoulder checked Johnny's pockets and found his switchblade. "You two aren't suppose to have knifes and chains; that's mine to provide. Get some of his blood and put it on the ground a little away from Glass. It'll make the crime scene more…interesting," Lynch ordered. "And make it quick, they'll be out here soon." Lynch's partner took the switchblade and cut into Johnny's wrist that made him groan. Ponyboy started to protest behind Lynch's hand while still trying to move around. "Hey don't worry Ponyboy you'll get your turn; just not yet," he said as his partner took some of Johnny's blood smearing it across the blade before dropping it to the ground.

"Alright, now let's do a check of our scene shall we? Dead traitor? Check. Knife? Check. Blood everywhere? Double check," Lynch said as his partner put Johnny in the trunk of his black and white mustang that was parked on the side of the road next to them. "Oh and leave your baton behind," Lynch said and his partner once again obeyed. "Are we ready? Yes. Good," he said and before anyone could blink, Lynch pointed his gun at his partner and shot him down making Ponyboy scream closing his eyes tight. Lynch's partner fell to the ground already dead with his eyes nearly identical to Glass's.

"I'll do that to your friend if you don't co-operate. And I hate to get rid of a victim so early when we haven't had our fun yet," Lynch said to Ponyboy pointing the gun back up to his temple. That's when a few students and teachers came running out the back of the school. "Time for the show to start," he said and released the hand that was over Pony's mouth.

"HELP! SOMEONE HELP!" Ponyboy shouted as Lynch started dragging Ponyboy to the car shoving him in the front.

"No wait! Stop!" One of the teachers screamed but Lynch was already in the car and took off with Ponyboy and Johnny.

Break*Break*Break

"Hey Darrel, you got a phone call! It's from your brother's school," Darry's boss yelled up to Darry who was on a roof working.

'What?' Darry said to himself and made his way to the latter to climb down. "My brother's school?" He said to his boss confused when he reached the ground.

"Yeah, said it was an emergency," his boss told him and patted him on the back as Darry went over to the phone.

"Hello, this is Darrel," he said.

"Hello Darrel. This is Principle Grant from Tulsa High. I apologize for calling you during work hours but there's been some…trouble," he explained.

"What kind of trouble Mr. Grant?" Darry asked his old principle.

"I…I really don't want to discuss this over the phone Darry. Is there any way you can come down and meet with me right now?" he asked.

"Yeah sure. I'll be right there," Darry said and hung up the phone.

"Go on Curtis," his boss told him who was standing right behind him.

"Thanks Mr. Clark," Darry said and grabbed his tools heading for his truck taking off as soon as the door was closed.

A half hour later, Darry arrived at the school and his heart skipped a beat when he saw the outside the high school a complete mess. There were busses loading up hundreds of students and cars everywhere with parents running around trying to get into the school. What got most of Darry's attention were how many police cars, ambulances, and policemen were there with even more pulling up to the school. Darry turned the truck off and slowly got out to start making his way to the front doors.

As he continued to take in the scene that in front of him, he walked a bit faster with the police and ambulance sirens started to fade away becoming distant as he focused on getting past the crowd of students, parents, officers, and medical staff all standing on the grass. Darry tried to listen to their conversations but the only word he could make out was "…shooting…" With this, Darry switched into a jog as he tried to make his way to the door that seemed to be getting further and further away with each step he took.

At last, after shoving a few people out of the way, he managed to squeeze his way to the front door of the school. As soon as he was inside, he immediately walked to the left where the very first door led to the main office with staff and officers running around. Darry walked up to the receptionist desk who stood up as soon as she saw him.

"Darrel! Good, you're here. I'll inform Mr. Grant," The receptionist said and picked up her phone just muttering that "he's here." After that, she hung up and looked up at Darry in guilt. "H-he'll be right with you," she said.

"What exactly is going on here?!" Darry demanded crossing his arms.

"All will be explained in due time Darrel," she said.

"Explain why there are cops everyone and I keep hearing 'shooting'?! Tell me what's going on and where my brother is!" Darry demanded.

"He…" she started refusing to make eye contact.

"Ah Darry! There you are! Why don't we go talk in my office?" Mr. Grant said running in from the side hallway where all the offices were. Mr. Grant led the way to his office closing the door as soon as Darry was in. He took a seat in one of the wooden chairs while Mr. Grant sat behind his desk in his leather chair. "Thank you for coming so quickly Mr. Curtis. First off, it's good to see you again," Mr. Grant told him.

"Likewise, now can you tell me what the hell is going on?" Darry said.

"Of course. As you may have probably overheard, we've had a school shooting here today that began around 12:45 when lunch got out and class changes were occurring. Naturally our first priority is our students and getting them out safely. Some of the faculty including myself guided some students the back way out of the school where the football field and track is located," Mr. Grant explained.

"Okay, now I'm a little confused at why you're telling me this. I get that there was a shooting and an evacuation happened but why call a meeting about this?" Darry asked.

"Because Darrel…when we got outside…..Harrison Lynch was waiting for us. And I'm sorry to tell you this but…I'm afraid he's taken your brother," he finally got out. Darry didn't say anything. He just had a blank look on his face with him mouth slightly opened as he took in the news. He stared straight ahead refusing to look his principle in the eye for a solid minute before bending over, tilting his head down looking into his lap.

"No," Darry whispered to himself putting his hands on his forehead.

"I know this must be troubling for you, but we believe Ponyboy wasn't the only person kidnapped. Jonathan Cade has not been seen since he left lunch with Ponyboy. I know those two like to hang around together and a few students saw them leave together out the front door that the shooter was blocking so we were unable to reach them right away," Mr. Grant continued but Darry wasn't listening. Johnny's name was all that stuck out to him. Darry took a few deep shaky breaths to come out of his state as best he could. Quickly, he jumped up out of his chair throwing his fists into his pockets.

"So what am I supposed to now to get my brother back!?" he asked as gently as he could but he couldn't hide his anger.

"I'm afraid all we can do at this point is wait. Harrison Lynch is a clever man and has eluded police custody for months as I'm sure you've heard. Sergeant Names is second in command on this investigation and needs to talk to you about some quick information on Ponyboy but he'll meet you at your house later. Also try to find a recent photo of him. The sooner we get his name and picture out, the better chances we have of finding him and Jonathan even though I've yet to make contact with his parents. I'm so sorry about all this Darrel," Mr. Grant said.

"Well Mr. Grant, I have to go now. It appears I have some things to take care of," Darry said wanting to get out of that office right away.

"Yes of course and I really hope you find Ponyboy," he said and Darry just left the office without muttering a goodbye or thanks. The entire facility just watched him leave slowly with his fists still shoved in his pockets looking at the ground. Once he got back outside, the sirens and hundreds of parents, students, officers, and medics were once again silent to him as he made his way back to the truck. Once he did, he didn't get in right away. He just stared at the back of his truck with hundreds of scenarios going through his mind. Suddenly he pulled his fists out of his pockets and slammed them against the siding of the back as he gave an angry shriek.

"Johnny?!" a petrified voice came from behind him but Darry didn't turn around to face him. "Darry, what the hell is going on here?! Where's Johnny!?" he asked again but Darry still didn't turn around. He heard him sprint over and spun him around so fast that it made him slightly dizzy. In front of him was Dally with those murderous, brown eyes he'd only seen a few times before.

"Curtis you have three seconds to tell me what the f*** is going on here!" Dally demanded pinning him against the door of the truck.

"Lynch was here…..Pony….." Darry whispered to himself. Dally's features softened up a little as he continued to hold Darry against his truck.

"Johnny man…..What happened to Johnny?" Dally asked as his eyes got glassy and voice got slightly higher than normal. This time, Darry looked into Dally's eyes as the dam in his eyes overflowed letting the tears slide down his cheeks.

"He's got them," Darry whispered. Dally face went pale as he gradually released his grip on Darry turning away from him. His eyes grew wide-eyed as he felt his cold heart skip a few beats.

All of a sudden, Dally started breathing heavy out his nostrils as they began to flare up with his hands turning into fists. His eyebrows were angled down towards the top of his nose as his heart rate began to speed up tremendously. His teeth were clenched tight as he directed his attention to one of the nearby police officers. Dally's eyes turned murderous again as he made his way over to the officer.

"YOU SON OF A BIT**! YOU COULDN'T EVEN KEEP HIMSAFE!" Dally shouted but before he could tackle the officer down, a few officers came up behind him restraining his arms but Dally kept pushing forward with all his might.

"Whoa take it easy. We got the shooter son," one of the officers said.

"YOU JUST LET LYNCH GET AWAY! YOU BASTARDS STOP DOING YOUR DAMN JOBS BECAUSE HE'S A GREASER?! HE'S JUST A KID!" Dally continued to shout still trying to escape the grip.

"Son, if you don't calm down I'll place you under arrest for attempting to assault an officer," the officer warned.

"That's all you care about?!" Dally said in a deep threatening voice. This gave him the strength to escape the officers' grasp briefly letting out a yell, but one of the guards quickly pulled out a taser and tased Dally. He fell to the ground and one of the officers jumped on top of him and put handcuffs on him.

Uhhh…I don't know about you guys, but I personally don't want to be anywhere near Dally when he's in one of his moods like that. Anyways we've finally reached the part everyone's been waiting for…..well almost.

Like it? Hate it? Let me know.

Until next time

LaurenHardy13