Chapter Text
July 22nd, 1968
Today was Ponyboy’s fifteenth birthday. Unfortunately, Soda and Darry both had to work, but they promised to bring Pony out for dinner and cake once they got home. Pony didn’t mind too much, he already felt guilty about the presents his brothers most definitely got him. He didn’t want them dumping all their money on him.
To be honest, he didn’t love birthdays all that much. After what happened to his parents on Darry’s birthday two years ago, birthdays just lost their magic. Sure, he enjoyed eating cake and all, but the attention was a little overwhelming. He preferred a low-key celebration for his birthday.
He was sitting on the couch of the Curtis home, drawing in his sketchbook when Dally, Two-Bit, and Johnny came in through the front door.
“Heyyy! Well if it isn’t the man of the hour himself, how are you doing?” Two-Bit said enthusiastically, taking a swig of his beer.
“I’m great Two, thanks,” Pony said, rolling his eyes and going back to drawing. Two-Bit smiled and jumped onto the couch, reaching for the remote to see if Mickey was on.
“Happy birthday Pony,” Johnny said, walking over to sit between Two-Bit and Ponyboy on the couch.
“Thanks Johnny,” Pony said as he smiled, closing his sketchbook to give his best friend his full attention. “Anything interesting happen today?” Pony asked as Two-Bit got up to raid the fridge and Dally stole his spot on the couch.
“Nah not really,” he paused. “Though now that you mention it, the streets were a little empty today, I didn’t see no socs around,” Johnny said, shrugging. Ponyboy’s eyebrows creased. No socs? That would’ve technically been a good thing, but it was still unusual.
“Maybe they knew whose birthday it was and decided to take a break out of respect, right boys?” Two-Bit came back from the kitchen with another beer and some cake, chuckling to himself.
“Yeah, you’re real funny Two,” Pony mocked. “But seriously, what do you think is up?” He asked more seriously.
“Probably nothing, maybe they’re just too fancy to leave the house with tornado season ending up, I wouldn’t think too hard about it,” Dally spoke up from his spot on the couch.
Ponyboy shrugged. He guessed Dally was right, a win was a win and he should just be grateful he didn’t gotta worry about getting jumped on his birthday. The thought still clawed at the back of his mind though. Something didn’t feel right.
Pony got up and went to the front door to get some fresh air on the porch, motioning for Johnny to follow him. They sat on the porch step in a comfortable silence and Pony noticed the paperboy must’ve came by cause the newspaper was on the lawn. He walked down the steps and reached for it, deciding to skim through it, when he saw the front headline.
**Written out article can be seen on the notes at the end of the fic**
Holy shit. Ponyboy slowly walked back to the porch where Johnny was now looking at him curiously. “There’s some type of disease breakout,” Pony said, panicking a little. If it was similar to the plague… He shook his head and tossed the paper to Johnny, bounding up the steps of the porch and into the house, Johnny following him while reading the paper for himself. Pony looked for Soda’s radio and moved the dials to find a news station.
Dally and Two-Bit looked at Johnny and motioned to Pony with question. Johnny shrugged and handed Dally the paper as Pony found the news station he was looking for.
“Yeah George, it seems as if the disease of the century has just broken out. Medical professionals report those with this disease have exhibited violent behavior towards other patients and doctors. Those who make contact with any of the infected person’s bodily fluids have been reported to catch the sickness in under an hour. What was initially seen as a flu-like illness is turning into what doctors refer to as a ‘cataclysmic illness’ as hundreds get affected every hour.”
“Now I’m no doctor Tim, but it sounds to me like they’re implying some type of apocalypse,” the other guy chuckled as if he hadn’t just implied what could be the end of the world.
All four of them sat in silence.
“Oh come on, this is ridiculous,” Dallas said, rolling his eyes. “Ain’t no way there’s some type of zombie apocalypse, it’s just some media nonsense,” he decided, lighting his cigarette. Johnny’s eyes shifted around nervously.
“I dunno Dal, it seems pretty real…” he trailed off, and Pony nodded in agreement.
“Y’all can’t believe everything you read in the paper, it’s not always real,” Dally persisted, adamant that this was all media propaganda.
“You’re right Dally, it’s probably made up by the electrical companies, so that people spend more time at home with their lights on,” Two-Bit agreed seriously, nodding his head. Dallas turned to look at him like he was crazy, but didn’t say anything.
Pony turned on the TV, desperate to find out more. Maybe Dallas was right, but he still couldn’t shake off the weird feeling he got. He switched onto the first news channel he came across, hoping it was still on, and surprisingly, it was.
“My name is Barbara Gilmore, here with the New York News, Channel 8. The spread of this highly infectious disease that started in Tulsa, Oklahoma, has made it across the country in only a few hours. It is highly advised to stay indoors with only close family in order to not spread the disease or get infected. Hospitals across the country are being filled with hundreds of patients every hour, and it is now advised to quarantine the infected at home. Law enforcement officials have shared that you may do whatever you must in self defense in order to not get infected, should the infected become violent. Please seek shelter if you have not already, as this outbreak is now fully classified as an “apocalypse”. More information on how it spread so fast, coming soon…”
Pony could feel himself start to hyperventilate. What would happen to Darry and Soda? Had they heard about this yet? Were they safe? He was starting to spiral, thinking about every worse possible outcome, before he felt Johnny put a hand on his shoulder. He heard Dally breathe out an “oh shit,” finally believing the news.
“What do we do!?” Pony asked, his panic becoming more apparent to the others. How had this disease progressed so fast in the ten minutes that he’d known about it?
Darry ran through the front door, looking stressed, closely followed by Soda and Steve who were out of breath from sprinting. Darry looked around to make sure everyone was there and sighed out of relief while Soda closed and locked the door. Soda turned to see his kid brother on the verge of a mental breakdown and went over to give him a hug.
“It’s okay honey,” he reassured, pulling Pony into his embrace and ruffling his hair, getting him a wet chuckle from the younger, who seemed to be feeling a bit better now that he knew his brothers were safe.
“Y’all saw the news?” Darry asked, though the answer was apparent. The others all nodded. “Alright, y’all have your blades?” He asked, to which all except Pony pulled out their switchblades.
“I have a gun,” Pony said while wiping his eyes, noticing everyone looking at him at his lack of a blade. The others look alarmed at this.
“You have a what-!?” Darry asked, looking over Pony to see if he had a concealed weapon on him.
“A gun,” Pony repeated. “Just in case,” he added as the gang continued to stare at him with their mouths slightly agape.
“How did you even- never mind, there’s bigger issues,” Darry spoke up, falling naturally into his leader role. “What should we do moving forward? We could stay here for a while and leave when necessary, or we can leave as soon as possible to get supplies.”
“Wait a second there Darry, how do we know we can’t just sleep it off and it’ll be gone by morning?” Dallas asked, crossing his arms. Sure, he believe in the virus now, but it couldn’t be that dangerous.
“Well, considering the infected started exhibiting murder and cannibalism, and it already spread to New York, I’d say it’s pretty fatal,” Darry stated, knowing he was right.
“People are getting eaten?” Ponyboy asked, his voice cracking. When could this have happened? Every time he thought he obtained all the information of this disease, more information came up. First, it was just an infectious disease you should be cautious of, then it was a lot more serious and you had to be prepared to defend yourself, and now people were actually being killed!? Glory, this was one crazy birthday.
“We have to decide where to go from here,” Darry repeated, the urgency in his voice becoming apparent.
“Let Ponyboy pick, it’s his birthday after all,” Two-Bit joked, not losing his jolly demeanor even though they were apparently in a life or death situation. They all turned to Ponyboy since they had no better idea.
“Um- I say we go out as soon as possible, bring our necessary supplies and maybe find more people? We could get more supplies and weapons,” Pony concluded, hesitant to be making the final call. The others nodded since they didn’t have any better ideas.
“Alright, Soda grab your radio in case there’s any updates and any other weapons you have, everyone else… make sure your shoe laces are tied I guess?” Darry said, not sure on how to prepare everyone for the literal apocalypse.
As everyone moved around to get ready to leave, Ponyboy sat on the couch thinking. A literal apocalypse has broken out, on his birthday of course. Boy, now he really doesn’t like birthdays. Who knows what they’ll see out there. Actual zombies? Just people with the common cold? Or maybe this whole thing was one big gimmick the world came up with to say “fuck you” on his birthday. What ever the case was, he guessed he’d figure out soon.