The Outsiders: Nothing Left

Chapter 9

Darry's POV

    As I made my way to the DX to pick up Sodapop, thoughts of talking to Ponyboy kept swirling through my mind. How would I even start the conversation without upsetting him? It would be hard enough to get the truth out of him 'cause that kid is just so damn stubborn. This probably won't be easy but I have to know what happened. I can't just let whoever hurt him get away with this.

    When I pulled into the DX, I saw Soda just outside of the station saying goodbye to Steve. He walked over to the truck and got in. "Does Steve need a ride too?" I asked. I know that his house isn't that far away but it was getting dark out so that means that the possibility of Socs coming to our neighborhood to go hunt for some trouble was pretty high. Steve may be tough but it would be better if he wasn't caught in a fight of five against one.

     "Nah. He's gonna' hang out with Two-Bit at one of Buck's parties tonight," He replied. I nodded and drove off down the road.

    After a few minutes of driving, I decided to talk to Soda about Ponyboy. I could tell that Soda was really worried about him last night so I wanted to talk to him about it. "So, I've decided that the both of us are gonna' sit down with Ponyboy and try to get him to talk to us about what happened," I stated.

"Yeah sure that'll be a piece of cake. I think that it would be easier to talk to a mime," Soda joked. I let out a small laugh and he smiled back at me. I'm not the only one who thinks that Ponyboy is pretty stubborn. We continued to drive down the street and Sodapop suddenly turned serious. " Do...do you think that he'll be okay?" He asked sadly and I knew that he wasn't talking about his physical wounds.

I waited a moment before responding, "Yeah, little buddy, I'm sure that he'll be fine." Boy, was I wrong.

When we made it home, the sky had turned darker and I was anxious to get inside because it was had started to get really cold. As I stepped into the house, I was greeted by the sight of Two-Bit sitting on our couch watching TV. Man, him and Steve our at our house more than their own. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining because I know that Steve doesn't have a good home and Two-Bit is usually fun to have around but it's still odd I guess. "Hey, Two-Bit, where's Pony?" Soda asked as he made his way into the kitchen.

"He went to his room to lie down for a bit. He said that he wasn't feeling well," Two-Bit replied but at the same time he was too distracted by the TV to care. Sodapop made his way down the hall and into his shared bedroom with Ponyboy. He came back a minute or so later with concern and fear plastered on his face.

"Pony's not in our room," he stated silently. That caught our attention and Two-Bit spun around to face him.

"What are ya taking about? I walked home with him and I've been here the whole time so I would have seen him leave," Two-Bit said in disbelief. I quickly walked down the hall and into his bedroom.

"I checked the other rooms too so he's definitely not here," Soda stated. I could tell that he was starting to panic. I looked around the room and noticed that the window was wide open. It's the middle of the winter so why would he keep it open? I suddenly figured it out.

"I think that he went out the window," I said while pointing at it.

"Well, he's a sneaky little fella isn't he?" I heard Two-Bit mumble. I shot him a look and he smiled sheepishly.I turned around to face Sodapop and he looked at me with brooding eyes. I knew what he was thinking. He was worried that this would be Windrixville all over again. Except, as far as we know, Pony isn't with anybody. The thought of Ponyboy god knows where by himself in the middle of the freezing winter scares the heck out of me.

    "Two-Bit, you go get Steve and search the Nightly Double and Buck's place since you guys were going there tonight anyway. Although, I really hope that Pony's not there or I'll kill him. Soda and I will search the lot and the Dingo. Let's go and we'll meet back here in a little bit," I said quickly. They both nodded and we hurried out of the house. Two-Bit started heading down the street towards Buck's and Sodapop and I hopped into the truck. As we drove to the Dingo we scanned the streets for any signs of our little brother.

    "We have to find him," Sodapop said desperately. I put my hand on his shoulder and squeezed it reassuringly.

    "Don't worry Pepsi-Cola, we're gonna' find him," I said. He nodded but I could tell that he was still kind of worried. But, I meant what I said. We will find him. We have to.

    Ponyboy was nowhere to be seen at the Dingo so we headed over to the lot. If he's not there then I pray to god that Steve and Two-Bit will find him. What is going on with Pony lately?  First that nightmare that he had, then those injuries that he won't talk to us about, and now he's just running away? Well, maybe he just went to take a walk or something. I mean, that still doesn't mean that it's okay for him to just walk around in the middle of the night by himself but I would rather have that be the case then him being hurt or something.

    A few minutes later, we pulled into the lot. Soda and I jumped out of the car and began walking around while occasionally calling out Pony's name. We were just about to give up and head back home after almost an hour of searching when we heard a small cry coming from somewhere behind us.We both turned around and saw a figure curled up under a tree. It was Ponyboy. His arms were wrapped around himself and he was shivering like crazy. His hair was covered in flakes of snow and he had tears streaming down his face. "Ponyboy?" I asked. He turned to face us and his eyes widened. He sat there for a second before without any warning, standing up and running away in the opposite direction.

A/N
Hello again! I hope that you liked this chapter and I'm sorry if the story seems dull. I promise that it will be more exciting in the coming chapters.  I just need to get some of the plot set up first. I would like to thank my best friend, editor, and motivation 67sociopath for helping me with this story. Please go check out her stories as well. If you have any suggestions for this story then just let me know. Stay gold!!!