Kaleidoscope- a Cherry Valance fanfic

Church Fire

The sun poked through the holes in Dally's blinds as I felt around me. When I opened my eyes, I saw Dallas throwing on a t-shirt.

"Get ready, kid. We're going soon," he said.

I did as told, changing and brushing my teeth before leaving the room with him. We hopped into a car that was parked in the lot outside, but I knew it didn't belong to Dally. We sat in silence as he drove out of the city, the only exception being when I told him off for his reckless driving. I grew more and more tired by the long drive, not even knowing where we were going.

"So," I began, "Where the fuck is Windrixville?"

"Don't worry about it. We're almost there," he said, turning the radio up as he noticed my drowsiness.

Elvis Presley played loudly in the car as we both nodded our heads along silently.

"Hold the wheel," Dallas said suddenly.

"What?" I asked.

"Hold the wheel," he repeated, this time more sternly.

Without saying anything, I reached across him and held the wheel. Dallas pulled a cigarette out of his pocket along with a lighter and I rolled my eyes.

"Really, Dallas? You're lighting a cigarette now?" I asked.

"It'll only take a second," he muttered with it in between his lips.

Once again I rolled my eyes. I heard the lighter flick repeatedly, but there was no steady flame coming out. I heard Dally mutter some curse words under his breath. He continued to try and light it, but soon noticed where we were.

"The turn's coming up," he said.

"What?" I asked, confused.

"Here, turn left here," he yelled.

I swiftly turned the wheel and the car bounced when we began to go up a slight hill.

"Christ, Dallas. You couldn't have waited till we got here to light the damn thing?" I scolded as Dally stepped on the brakes, stopping the car.

"I wanted a smoke," he muttered, finally lighting it. He took a puff before walking out of the car and signalling for you to follow.

I followed him as he walked around the building, finding a rotting board to break off the teetery old church. We found the two boys sleeping on pews, but Dallas was quick to wake them up. We were immediately bombarded with questions, which was understandable considering they were fugitives wanted for murder. As Dally tried his best to ease their worries, we agreed on going to DQ for food. I sat in the back with Pony and Johnny sat in the front with Dallas. We ordered before Dally parked and we began to dig in. I'd tuned out of the conversation for the most part, but I began to pay attention at the mention of Cherry.

"Remember that good-looking broad I tried to pick up that night we went to the drive-in?" Dallas asked, "What's her name? Cherry something? The red-head?"

"Cherry Valance!" Pony yelled, jumping up in his seat.

"Why would Cherry be helping us?" I asked.

"Apparently, she went out with the guy in secret just before she was with Bob," Dally spoke.

That's when it clicked, Cherry trying to protect me that day at the Dingo. My thoughts began to wander again as I tried to piece together why she never told me about it. I was brought back when the car jolted back to life, the engine rumbling as Dally began to drive down the road.

"Where are we going? What's going on?" I asked Ponyboy, confusion etched on my face.

"We're going back to the church to grab our stuff, we're gonna turn ourselves in," he answered.

"What? Why would you do that?" I asked.

"You heard Dally, it was self-defence. We've got Cherry and some of that guy's friends were willing to testify," he explained.

"Y/N can testify too," Dally pitched in, looking through the dirty rearview mirror at me.

"What?" I laughed nervously.

"Yeah, because you two dated, man," Dallas began, Pony and Johnny turned to look at me, "Which I'm not happy about by the way."

"Oh, yeah. I guess I can testify," I said.

The short drive to the church was soon over, and all conversation halted when the car came to a stop. The old church was in flames, but what was more concerning was the class standing outside it. A man and a woman with a group of young schoolchildren looked at the building with panicked expressions. 

"Jerry, some of the kids are missing," she said hysterically.

"No, they're not," The man, Jerry, tried assuring.

"They are. I'm sure of it," the lady spoke as her eyes searched for those kids.

Pony and Johnny hopped out of the car at once, running towards the church. Dallas tried calling after them but to no avail.

"Stupid kids," he muttered.

I bit my nails as I thought about what my next move would be. I looked over at Dally cautiously, and he immediately knew what I was thinking.

"Y/N," he warned.

I jumped out of the car, running to catch up with the two boys who had made their way into the church through a broken piece of wood. I followed their voices, hearing them yelling. However, those weren't the only voices. I noticed the yells of some young children. I made my way to the back corner of the church, where the kids stood crying frantically. Dallas had broken the side of the church and was helping pull the kids out. I helped Pony and Johnny pick them up and pass them to Dally as fast as possible. Pony was the first to hop out of the pile of flames. I looked for Johnny, though the smoke made it hard as my eyes stung and teared up. He looked around, and I heard Dally call for us as I heard a snap in the ceiling. I grabbed Johnny's shirt and jumped out of the opening. 

During my last few seconds of consciousness, I saw the roof of the church collapse to the ground. It surely would've hit us if I hadn't pulled us out. Dallas leaned over me as he called my name, and though he was right there, his words sounded distant. My eyes fluttered shut before all turned to black and I was out.