"𝔾𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕖 𝕘𝕠𝕥 𝕒 𝕙𝕠𝕝𝕕"

  Thankfully, the library was coming into view so he quickly went inside and closed the door, looking at the socs pass by with sickened expressions towards him. Pony sighs a heavy breath and turns to go fully inside. "Evening, Ponyboy. You alright, son?" The librarian says. He knew Pony because how much he went in there. Ponyboy nods "yes sir, I'm okay. I'm just here to return this book and get another." The librarian nods and grabs the book from Pony. Ponyboy finally calmed down and started browsing the shelves for a random novel just because, he wanted to read something he hadn't read already and try something new. 

  Pony went deeper in the shelves and that's when he heard the bell jingle from the entrance. It was those soc's again. They were definitely looking for him. The librarian greets them but they didn't bother to say hi back, then they started to split up and look through the shelves. Pony's heart started pumping again. Really? Couldn't he ever have a break? He quickly moves through the shelves and heard footsteps in the aisle over. He crouch down so the soc couldn't see him trying to escape their search. As they went deeper in the shelves, one by one he could hear voices getting closer, so Pony rushed further in the shelves. This was funny. He hadn't seen this part of the library before, but he took his chances to escape the predatory eyes. The smell of expensive cologne and leather came close and Ponyboy just ran down and shoved himself in a closet. 

  He heard voices yelling "over there! There's that grease in the closet!" Ponyboy thought his life was over. He stepped away from the the closet door and went closer to the back wall. As he hears the door handle jiggling, he tripped on a box and fell backwards, expecting to hit the wall. But then...

*Hummmmmmm*

  Ponyboy caught his breath from the hard, yet oddly soft fall. He sat up and his eyes adjusted, seeing a brutal amount of mono-yellow. The smell of old moist carpet filled his nose and the faint hum from the fluorescent lights above. The noise was endless. Ponyboy quickly sat up and looked around. "What the...where am I?.." he looks back, expecting to see a door he might've fallen through, but no. It was just a wall. Pale yellow, a faint design of little arrow-like shapes on it. Pony shook his head, trying to see if he was imagining things. He looks around again, a little panicked now. As his heart races, he takes a step forward. This was so odd. It felt like a dream.

  As Pony walks a bit more, seeing the maze-like walls, he looks around for somebody. "H-hello?... anyone here?" No answer. His eyebrows furrowed. He knew he probably shouldn't keep going, but curiosity got the best of him. He stops when he sees something that made his stomach flip. A stop sign? Pony walks up to it, reading "pots" because the letters were backwards. "What kind of place is this..." He touched it. Ponyboy kept walking on and sees another part of these strange rooms, then hears water. He walks towards it and finds a beautiful... something. "Whoa.." the wall had white tiles and the floor had beautiful turquoise water running through. This looked like something out of that ancient Greek books he read before because he was bored. The running water made everything somewhat peaceful, better than the buzzing of those lights. "I'm dreaming. I have to be dreaming...this ain't normal." He crouched down to touch the water, it was cool and felt relieving. 

  As he kept moving, he seen this office-like hallway with white walls and wooden floor boards. He walks through them. These rooms kept getting more and more intriguing to Ponyboy, as if they're tempting him to stay. Walking through this hall, something even more stranger appears. Furniture. In the walls and bookshelves mixed with stools linger inside the ground. Ponyboy stops and shook his head. "I gotta go... I must be losin' it." something off was happening. Pony felt it. He turns and speed walks down the hall, heart picking up again. He was about to go in the pool rooms again until another sight cought his eyes. Hospital beds, IV tubes, the front desk of the hospital halfway in the wall, chairs, cots. Pony's breath caught. He hasn't been to a hospital since Johnny's death.. and this was all too familiar. He shook his head again, trying to fight this lucid dream. One hospital bed caught his eye and it had straps attached to it and a mirror under. Just like Johnny's. Pony felt a lump in his throat, his heart was racing again. He went up slowly to touch it until he heard something that made him jolt and look back.

  He looks around for that bang sound but didn't see anything. His breathing got faster as he looked around, the hairs on his neck stood up. Suddenly, a horrible scream came from the other side of the hall and it was a nurse... But it wasn't a nurse at all. Her face had three more of the same faces and her hands doubled. Ponyboy stumbled back and yelps out of horror. That thing was chasing him and was chasing him fast. The horrific, unhuman-like scream was filling the halls as he sprinted passed the pool rooms. Ponyboy rushed back into those yellow rooms and passed the backwards stop sign. The tears in his eyes blurred his vision as the deep wails of that thing echoes through the halls.

  He sprinted back to the place he had fallen from, the echoing screams sounding far. Ponyboy bangs on the wall where a door should've been and he ran his trembling hands along it until it went through. He gasps sharply and took his hand out. The deep, howling moans got louder and Ponyboy took his chances and went through the wall.

  Next thing he knew he was back in that storage closet he was hiding in from those soc's, collapsed on the ground. He took deep breaths and tried to process what in the world had happened to him. Pony stood up, legs shaking and leans against the shelf beside him. Looking at the wall he went through, he shook his head and starts stacking boxes in front of it, terrified. Ponyboy stepped away and went out that closet door. The smell of library books and mahogany shelves came back in his nose,  but the moist carpet smell still lingered. He slowly walks back through the shelves, not even worried if those socs are still looking for him. He looked dazed and exhausted. The librarian noticed him absently walk by the front desk. "You okay Ponyboy?" He asked. Pony joltes slightly at that and just shook his head slightly. "Is...that closet back there...it's not normal.. there's a whole 'nother place and I..." he stammers. The librarian looked confused "closet? There ain't no closet." Ponyboy furrowed his eyebrows, looking back, still terrified. "Yes there is! Somthin's in there, sir!" The librarian shook his head "if your talking about the back door, all the way behind the shelves, that's just a door that leads back outside." Ponyboy shook his head and ran back towards the "closet" and opens it. 

  The only thing he saw made his hand drop dead weight from the handle and fall to his knees. It was outside, an alley with a few trash cans. Near the cans, a single, familiar, stool stood by as a reminder of what had just happened to him just minutes ago. Was this a dream?

  That was all stopped when he met little Davie, who was in that same hospital still, fighting for his life. The kid saved Dally's life..and it seems Dally has gained a new little brother. 

  One day, Dallas was sitting at Buck's porch, smoking his cigarette while his mind was racing with the events that happened that night. But all his thoughts led back to little Davie, so Dallas took Buck's Thunderbird and drove all the way down to the hospital. He was thinking about this kid too much. Maybe it was because it was the closest he could get to seeing Johnny. Maybe that kid had some of Johnny's soul, considering how pure it was. If it was that much to where it stopped Dally from ending himself, it was worth staying for.

  Dallas parked the car and went inside the hospital, trying to avoid the receptionist desk so he can't sign papers to visit or whatever since he technically isn't in Davie's family. But screw it. This kid saved him.

  Dallas went down that same hall. The same hall when he was holding the scalpel in his hand and was ready to end his life. The same hallway where his mind was clouded with death, hurt, and anger. But this time, his mind was just still. He didn't know what to think, he just had to see this kid again. And he didn't know why.

  Davie was still in the cot, more hair fallen out over time, the tubes still attached to him. His little arms were around a bear as he looked out the window, probably wishing he could go outside and live life with the other kids. Dallas was standing at the door post, quietly observing.

  "Hey, kid" Dally says. Davie whipped his head around at the sudden deep voice and he smiled, the little gaps between his teeth showing. "It's you!" Davie said excitedly, a hint of weakness in his tone, and he looks at Dally with the same innocence that he had the other night. Dallas's lips twitch into a small smile as he moves towards Davie, grabbing a nearby chair and puts it closer to the cot, sitting in it with a soft sigh. 

"How've you been, kid?"

  "I've been okay. Look.." Davie showed Dally the bear he was holding, letting him examine it "my Ma got it for me because I said I was scared being in here alone." Dallas examined the stuffed bear, feeling the soft fabric and sleek red silk from the bowtie. He never had any stuffed animals when he was little. "That's nice.." he finally said "It got a name?" Davie shook his head "no. I hadn't found one yet. Can you help me?" Dallas looks at the bear more, seeing the dark brown fur and darker eyes. It looked like Johnny. A little too much that it hurt. Dally just gave the bear back. "I'm not sure, kiddo. I ain't so good with names, y'know." Davie only nods "yeah me neither. Um.. how come you came today?" Dallas shrugs, not wanting to talk about the real reason "you said we were friends right? Can't a guy see his buddy?"

  Davie smiles again, happy that Dallas was actually his friend "yeah. You look cool. I was watching the television and a guy came on. He looked just like you with brown hair. And he had sunglasses on too. I thought it was you." Dallas smirks, he was probably talking about James Dean, he was kinda honored to be recognized like that. Well, from a kid at least. "Oh I know who your talking about, kiddo. And I get that a lot, see?" He took out his sunglasses from his jacket puts them on. Davie smiles widely "yeah! You look like that guy! I bet your famous. Are you famous?" Dallas chuckles softly and took the glasses off "sure I'm famous. But not in a way you think, kid. My fame is the type of fame you wouldn't wanna get into."

  Davie looked at him, a hint of confusion, but Dallas just shrugs it off and looks at the glasses "but you know what? I'll bet you'd look more better in these glasses than me, that's for sure." He gently puts the glasses on Davie. Dal' had never been this gentle before, especially towards a kid. The glasses were so big on his little face and Dallas smirks as the kid giggles and looks around the room "wow...these are cool! It's so dark.." Dal' just looks at him for a bit. He didn't even notice the small smile playing on his lips. His eyes got a little misty seeing the sick child and he quickly looks away. Davie looks at him, taking the glasses off and yawning.

  Dallas looks up and shook his head "keep 'em. They suit you" he says with that little smile. The kid beams at that and puts them back on "wow thanks Mr Dallas!" Dally chuckles at that and sat up. This somehow made his day so much better. There didn't need to be much talking, he just needed to see him. He needed to see an innocent soul in this cruel life. Maybe that innocence could rub off of him. Maybe he wanted to be better for once. He put the chair back to its place and went back to look at Davie, gently caressing the five year old's head before leaving. Davie smiles slightly at that. Dallas nods and went towards the door, then looks back one more time.

"Hey Davie..."

"Yeah?"

"Name it Johnny."

  Davie looks down at the bear and grins, nodding "Johnny?..I like that name for him." Dallas nods "yeah...me too. I'll see ya later kiddo." Davie waved goodbye and went back hugging the bear, still in Dally's glasses. As Dallas went down the hall, he looks ahead in the next hallway. That was Johnny's room. He quietly went there, stopping at the door post and looking at the empty bed. He couldn't shake the feeling of hope that Johnny was still there...maybe resting up or something.

  Walking out of that hospital room was like walking out of a nightmare, only this one was haunting him more by the second. His dark eyes were clouded with pain and something much more darker. A couple of hospital staff tried to address him, but the sharp ringing in his ears made him not listen. Then Dallas noticed a scalpel on a nearby tray. 

  The cold metal felt good in his fist as he moved to a part of the building where no one was around. All that went through his mind was Johnny being dead. Gone. No longer full of that life that Dallas himself lived off of.

  When he went into a dark room at the far side of the hospital, he leaned against the wall and raised the scalpel to his neck, Breathing heavily. The stinging tears in his eyes made everything blurry, not letting him see the sharp object in front of him. 

  "Are you okay?" A small, weak voice came from the bed in front of Dallas. He stopped, seeing a small child with tubes attached to him and a small amount of hair on his head. He didn't even notice the kid was there in the first place. 

  His throat tightened. He should be asking himself that question. He dropped the scalpel, letting it clatter to the floor, his voice hoarse "no...no I'm not okay. And I never will be, kid."

  The little boy looks down "yeah..me too. I have cancer. My doctor said it won't be too long 'til I stop living. Do you get to live longer?" The boy's words hit Dallas like a physical blow. Cancer. Dying. Living. Dallas stares at the child. Dark eyes meeting innocent - something Dallas hasn't seen in anyone else but Johnny. That kid has more of a reason to end things than him.

  "How...how old are you, kid?" Dally said, not knowing what he was about to do for a second. The young boy replied "I'm five." Five? Only five years of living. The boy was dying without wanting to. Dallas felt a twisted sense of shame. He didn't care for kids. He hated kids. Why did he feel so terrible about himself? "Five.." Dallas finally said "and fighting harder than I ever did." He looks at the IV next to the boy, seeing he's only living off of medicine. "I wish I was like you" The boy said.

  Like him? A hood? A low life delenquent that people spit on? Dallas shook his head "you don't wanna be like me kid. Look at me." The little kid looks at his tall dark figure, blood stains and a black eye from the rumble. The boy finally said "your living though..." He said in his weak little voice." Dallas look up again. He was living...just without Johnny. But Ponyboy, the whole gang, they all needed him. Dallas shook his head, tear fighting to fall again. He looks at the scalpel on the floor - something that would have been stuck inside his throat. Especially in front of that child. That child who was stronger than him in so many ways.

"What's your name, kid?.." Dallas asks.

"I'm Davie...what's your name mister?" He leans against the wall "Dallas..." 

"Do you have any friends?" The kid asks in his sick voice. Dally just sighs heavily "sure kid...just lost a real friend though." He shook his head, realizing he was talking to a kid about this..but he didn't want to walk away. Davie just looks down again "well..I can be your friend until I go... You look cool." Dallas was a bit caught off guard from this pure soul. He was so ashamed out of nowhere, a tear streaming down his face but quickly wipes it. 

"Thanks, kid" he sighs deeply, a shudder in his breath. He looks out the door then back at the boy "I'll see you around." He got off the wall and stuck out his hand. Davie smiles slightly, showing the few teeth he had, and shook Dally's hand. His hand was so tiny and weak compared to Dallas's. It was something so pure Dally hadn't felt at all...but strangely, he liked it. He steps back from the cot and deliberately kicks the scalpel away from the room. As he walks out, he looks back once more at that little boy...that little boy that had saved his life while losing his own. He turns, and kept walking. 

  A nurse spot him walking down the hall "Sir, are you alright?" Dallas looks stops for a second "... I think so." And that was the truth. He could go on with his life with people stepping over him like he was trash, but he was still living. Not stuck in some dim room with tubes in his skin. Him living was what Johnny would have wanted, what the whole gang would have wanted.