Tulsa Ripper

Chapter 16

Dally and Darry froze, listening... the scream was drowned out by the wind getting louder and louder. They were both still laying on the ground from when Darry had tackled Dally. And then Dally started cursing and swinging at Darry. He was still determined to go after the guy. Darry placed his full weight across Dally's shoulders so that he could barely move, even though he continued trying. Darry did not miss the fleeting look of agony that crossed Dally's face. I must've hurt him pretty bad when I brought him down, Darry thought with a twinge of guilt. But he couldn't do anything about it now. "Dally! Shut the hell up and listen! There's a funnel cloud that's going to touch down any second! You get your ass up and we're going back to the house NOW." The last part of Darry's command was drowned out by what sounded like a freight train coming through the field. Dally had lived in Tulsa long enough to recognize that sound. He stopped struggling. Darry grabbed his arm and dragged him to his feet. Pain shot through Dally's side and for a moment, he was thankful for the howling wind that drowned out his cry of pain. As they started to run and he silently cursed the oldest Curtis brother, all the while knowing deep down that Darry had probably saved his life. And then his thoughts suddenly shifted to Ponyboy and Johnny. "Where are the kids?" he yelled to Darry. Just talking hurt. Yelling was torture. "What?" Darry yelled back. It was impossible to hear anything. And they could barely see with all the debris flying through the air. But they looked up just in time to avoid running right into a red Ford pickup truck that was flying through the field in a way it was never meant to be driven. They ran towards it and climbed in the back, Dally with great difficulty. Darry leaned over to the driver's side window and banged on it as they took off towards home. "I thought I told you to take those kids home! Two-Bit, what the hell were you thinking?" he screamed. Two-Bit glanced back at him quickly, made a gesture indicating that he couldn't hear, (which Darry knew full well was a lie) and turned back to look where he was going. Darry gave up leaned back against the cab of the truck. He looked back to where they'd come from and could see the funnel cloud in the distance, headed in their direction. The sky was black and the wind howled. He glanced over at Dally who was leaning up against the side of the truck, his eyes closed, his breathing ragged. Staying low, he moved over to him and put his hand on Dally's shoulder. Dally flinched and opened his eyes. "You OK?" Darry shouted. Dally closed his eyes again and nodded. Darry didn't believe him. "Dally?" he yelled. "Kiddo... c'mon, what's the matter?" he wondered if maybe he'd broken one of Dally's ribs when he'd tackled him. He ran his hands carefully down Dally's sides. Dally cringed and yelped, shoving Darry's hands away angrily. Darry swore. "Dally, I'm sorry buddy... we'll get you home..." He didn't think Dally could hear him though. As soon as they pulled into the Curtis driveway, Steve and Soda came running out the door. Tim Shepard was even there. "Where were you?" Soda yelled indignantly. "Get in the house! Soda, take Pony and Johnny inside!" Darry said. Dally tried to stand and couldn't. Darry slid his arm around his back and lifted him carefully. Tim hopped up in the back of the pick up to help. "Dally?" Johnny had suddenly noticed Dally's condition and started heading back towards the truck. "Johnny, get in the house! NOW!" Dally growled at him. Just the short utterance sent pain shooting through his side. Soda grabbed Johnny's arm and pulled him into the house. "Dally!" Johnny called, looking back towards the truck as Soda and Steve dragged him inside. "He's OK, kid. C'mon... we gotta get downstairs!" Steve said, leading him to the basement. Tim and Darry carefully helped Dally out of the back of the truck as the wind howled and debris of all kinds flew past their heads. A loud crack of a tree limb could barely be heard over the ever deafening freight train sound that signaled the tornado was not far away. Once they reached the porch and entered the livingroom, Tim asked, "What the hell is going on?" "I'll explain in a minute- let's get him to the basement!" As they reached the bottom step, Dally shook loose from their grasp. "Back off! I'm all right!" he said scowling at Darry. He could barely breathe. "Dally?" Johnny approached him timidly. He could hear the pain in Dally's voice. Dally turned on him. "And you! What the hell were you thinking? Running out of the house after telling me there was a killer walking around on the street?" Dally was yelling as loud as his sore ribs would let him. His breathing was labored, but he kept going, stepping closer to Johnny. "You should know better! I aught to-" "Dallas!" Tim stepped between the two of them. He didn't know what was going on, but he knew if Dally was mad at Johnny, something big had gone down. "Cool it." Johnny backed up a bit. It upset him that Dally was angry with him, but not as much as it normally would have. Johnny felt so sick, he barely knew what was going on. Dally's blood was boiling. He stalked off to the other side of the room and slid down, with some difficulty, until he was sitting on the floor . He was furious at Darry for the pain he was in. He was mad at Johnny for running out of the house. And most of all, he was filled with rage over the fact that the man in the mask had gotten away. Maybe. The scream. He couldn't get the scream out of his head. Was that the guy who'd been chasing Johnny and Ponyboy? Maybe something horrible had happened to him and there was still a chance they could catch him. The thought almost made him feel better. Johnny went over to sit with Ponyboy and Soda. Steve followed him. "Don't worry about him, kid. He'll cool off," he said, giving Johnny a pat on the back. "Yeah, sit down, Johnnycake. You look like you need to get off your feet for a bit," Soda looked at him with some concern. Johnny looked more tired than he'd ever seen him. Johnny didn't hesitate at the invitation to sit. In fact he laid right down on the floor beside Soda and closed his eyes. He could hear Darry and Tim on the other side of the room talking to Dally. They were arguing about something, but he was too tired to listen. He felt someone's hand on his forehead. "Man, the kid's burning up!" It was Steve's voice. "But he's shivering... Steve there's a blanket over on that shelf." Said soda's voice. A moment later, Johnny felt the blanket covering up his shoulders and something soft being placed under his head. He was almost asleep when one of the basement windows shattered and all the lights went out. Johnny sat bolt up right and he could hear Ponyboy draw in his breath. Johnny and Ponyboy huddled closer to Soda, and Steve got down beside them.
Darry came over to them as quickly as he could with out being able to see. "Darry?" Soda said shakily. "It's all right, it was just the wind. I'll find some flash lights."