From Weakness to Strength

Windrixville

They saw the freight train and got up into it. They saw the conductor coming, so they hid deeper insde the car. 
"Let's check the other car." the conductor said to another man.

When they left, they peeked out a bit and sat down. Darla got itno a position where she had her head on Johnny's lap and her feet rested on Pony's.

They slept until they'd reached Windrixville. They walked up what they predicted was Jay Mountain. Then they saw the church. "The church!" said Ponyboy as he was chewing on some wheat. "Wow." said Darla.

As they stepped inside, the church was very old, dusty, dirty, and just as Dallas said: Abandoned. 

They went inside. The church seemed very old and it was very dusty and dirty, but the teens didn't seem to mind. They checked some of the stuff out. 
A screech of an animal was heard. making Johnny almost jump out of his own skin. "What was that?" he asked, "Just an owl." Ponyboy said, unwrapping his jacket from his waist. Johnny and Darla did the same with their jackets. Then then lay down on the floor. There was a little step that Johnny and Darla laid down on, head to head with each other, while Ponyboy layed below them. They closed their eyes.
"Johnny? Darla?" Ponyboy asked. Neither of them answered. They were both sound asleep. "you all right?" he asked. No answer. Ponyboy eventually fell asleep too, after complaining about the hard floor.

***Time skip***

It was late morning. Darla was still sleeping. Ponyboy woke. "Johnny?" he said in a panicky voice.
"-He's out." Darla moaned as she stirred. Ponyboy looked at the floor to see the message Johnny left behind. 
Be Back Soon,
J.C.

A few minutes later, Johnny came back with a box full of stuff. He set it on a table and started to go through what he'd bought.
"We got a loaf of bread, a week's supply of baloney here. Peanut butter-"
"-Gone With the Wind?" said Ponyboy, taking out a book. "Johnny, how did you know I always wanted Gone With the Wind?"
"I remember you saying something about it once. We went to see that movie remember?" Johnny replied. "Thought you could read it out loud, to help kill time or something."
"Thanks a lot Johnny." Pony thanked as he pat Johnny on the shoulder. Johnny continued to take things out of the box. Darla did too. "Cigarettes." said Johnny. "A deck of cards." said Darla as she pulled out the deck.
"

Peroxide?" asked Pony as he examined a bottle. He then exchanged looks with Johnny then Darla. Pony shook his head. "You aint thinkin'-"
"-We'll cut our hair, Ponyboy. You two are gonna bleach yours. "What?!" Darla exclaimed. "No no." said Ponyboy.
"-They'll have our descriptions in the paper." said Johnny. "We can't fit 'em, man."
"You aint gonna cut my hair." said Darla. "you know how long it took to grow all this back after the first time? Hell to the nah!"
"Me too." Pony agreed. 

"Look, we have to anyway, if we get caught. You know the first thing a judge does is make you get a haircut."
"I don't see why." said Ponyboy boy. "I don't either. It's just a way of trying to break us." Johnny said, taking his blade out. "I'm gonna cut mine off too and wash all the grease out."
"-No sir, you aint touching my hair." Pony complained. "Ponyboy, it's gonna grow back, man." John said. "It's not that it won't."
Ponyboy sighed. "Go ahead."

Pony started to eat one of the foods that Johnny had bought. Johnny started to cut into Ponyboy's hair. "Ow!" Ponyboy winced as the hair cut loose. "Sorry, man." Johnny apologized as he dropped his hair on the ground, then continued to cut. "Ow!" Pony winced again. "Damn knife." Johnny said.
"Here Pony. hold my hand. It'll relieve the pain." Darla said, pulling up a chair and sitting next to Ponyboy. Ponyboy did so and held it quite tight. 
"Don't pull so hard." Pony complained. "Quit gabbing." Johnny said, cutting into it more. "Ow!" Pony winced louder. "Sorry, man." said Johnny. "Can I see now?" Ponyboy asked like a little kid. "No Pone, we gotta bleach it first." said Johnny. "Let bleach it and quit cuttin'." Ponyboy persisted. 
Johnny only cut a little more before bleaching his hair, using half of the bottle. 
"Your turn." Johnny said to Darla as Ponyboy was sun soaking to get the bleach soaked in. Darla groaned. "Fine. But, only the bangs." Darla said as she brushed her outgrown bangs in front of her.  "Need me to hold your hand?" Ponyboy teased. "Nope, I can hold my own hand." said Darla jokingly. Johnny started to saw through Darla's hair. "Ow shit!" Darla exclaimed squeezing into her thighs. "I know, I know." Johnny said as he continued to saw through. "It sucks."
"Yeah, it does." you say as he cuts into the bangs. 

Once he was done, the bangs went to the eyebrows in the middle, but were at the cheek on the sides.  Darla then grabbed the peroxide bottle and poured it on the tips of her hair and went to soak it for a while. Once it looked about done, she took out her ponytail and washed her hair out with the pump in the back of the church that Dallas talked about. 

Dallas. She missed him. She missed everyone. It was strange being away from home, even though she felt as if she didn't really have one since she would bunk with some of the other boys too like Two-Bit and Dallas.

Once you and Ponyboy's hair were done drying, Johnny brought in a broken mirror. 'Hey, guys!" Johnny called. "This'll do it, here." he showed it to them. Pony looked depressed while Darla gagged at her reflection.
"Jeez this makes me look tough." Ponyboy said sarcastically as he smoked a cigarette. 
"We look like socs!" Darla gagged, making Johnny laugh as Darla fell to the ground dramatically. Ponyboy even smiled. 

Johnny then took out his knife. "All right. Go ahead. Get your jollies."
"-My pleasure." Pony says evilly. "Yeah, I know it is." Johnny replies. Darla gets up and sits down next to Johnny. "Be nice." Darla says to Ponyboy. 

Ponyboy started to cut. Johnny started to wince. "It hurts, don't it." Ponyboy asked. "Yeah, yeah." Johnny replies as Darla gives out her hand for Johnny to take, which he gladly does so.
"Come on, man. I didn't take much off of you." Johnny complained. "It was your bright idea, smarty." Ponyboy replied. "Darla." Johnny complained. " Hey, you got to bleach ours, so he gets to cut as much off of you as he likes." Darla reassured. 

Once Pony was done. Johnny washed the grease out of his hair and his face. Once he was dry, they three of them looked into a lake. 
"Well, guessed we're disguised." said Johnny, putting his hands in his pockets. "I guess so." Ponyboy says blankly staring at his reflection in the lake, and feeling his hair. "Ah shoot, man. It's just hair." said Johnny.
"-Shoot nothin'!" Pony exclaimed. "It just aint us. It's like being in a Halloween costume you can't get out of and I hate it." Pony complained. That gave Darla a flashback of the Halloweens she had with the gang, scaring the crap out of kids and taking their candy.
"Well, we gotta get used to it. Ponyboy. We're in big trouble and it's our looks or us." said Johnny.

Ponyboy through a stick into lake, making their reflections simmer away.