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The van rattled down the highway, air rushing past and whipping through the open windows. Darry looked straight through the windshield, leaning against his open hand, the other lazily resting on the steering wheel. Beside him, Two-Bit sits in the passenger seat, his feet up on the dash, messing with the radio, trying to find a station that suits him. In the back, Soda and Steve fill the van cabin with talk of girls, cars, and the latest gossip from the DX. Both of them seem to hardly notice anyone else in the car, caught up in their conversation. In the far back, Johnny, Dally, and Ponyboy all talk, but their words are masked behind Soda's and Steve's. It's clear they're talking from the movement of their mouths, but their actual conversation is lost in the noise. A smile twitches on Darry's lips as he looks back at all the greasers.
It had been many hours since the busy, cracked roads of Tulsa had turned into new cities and then into desert. The hot sun beat down on the cracking paint of the car as the winding road carried the group further to nowhere. Despite the hours on the road, none of them, other than Darry presumably, knew where they were headed. Darry had simply told them all to get into the car and they'd listened. After all, when Darry looked at you with those hard eyes and told you to do something, you had to do it. Some of them had packed a bag, some had come with the clothes on their back, but they all sat in their seats and waited for whatever would come.
"Come on, Dar," Two-Bit said in a fake pleading voice. "Just one hint, just one!" Darry only looked at him from the side of his eye and then back at the road, only silence as a response. "Jeez, you're worse than my mom, and she once didn't talk for two days." Two-Bit punctuated the sentiment by raising his eyebrows and opening his eyes wide.
"Shut it, Two," Steve said from the middle seat. "You go on more than Soda, and that's saying something."
"Hey!" Soda piped up, sounding offended. "I didn't even say anything this time. Besides, I don't talk *that* much."
"Please, you've been talking about Sandy for the past fifty miles," Steve said, rolling his eyes.
"Well, that's different," Soda huffed. "You asked about her."
"Yeah," Steve said in a flat tone. "I asked how she was doing. Once."
"Steve, maybe if you said something worthwhile for a change, Soda wouldn't have to talk so much," Two-Bit said with a smirk, to which Steve responded by throwing an old burger wrapped at his face.
The other greasers in the van poorly stifled laughs, but Dally chuckled openly. In a car full of laughter, the desert didn't seem so endless nor the heat so heavy. It was only a brief moment until everyone went back to their own conversation, dividing into their smaller groups again. In the back, Ponyboy smiled listening to Johnny and Dally talk. He leaned against the window and looked out into the rolling landscape. He'd never seen a world so empty, but some part of it was beautiful to him. There was no Jay's or DX or gangs hanging among the hills, just sky and dust and the shimmer of mirages. It felt like the gang was driving away from everything they'd ever known, and Ponyboy couldn't decide if that was scary or exciting.
"Hey, Darry," Pony said over the multiple conversations happening. "You sure we're not lost?" Darry's eyes briefly flickered to the rear view mirror, meeting Pony's gaze for a second.
"I know where I'm going." That was all he gave, but the way he said, firm and calm, made Ponyboy feel more secure. Ponyboy looked over at Johnny, who was quietly listening to Dally talk about his last race at the Slash J. Johnny always had the same admiring look on his face when he looked at Dally and Dally always seemed to eat it up, making his gestures more exaggerated and making the story sound just a little more exciting than it was.
Dally laughed quietly and then turned his attention to Darry.
"You're not taking us to some hideout, are you?" Dally asked with a jokingly accusatory tone. "Are you the one running from the law this time?" Darry didn't even glance back this time.
"I ain't."
"Then where are you taking us?"
"You'll see."
That was the end of that. All of them had tried and none of them could pry anything out of Darry that he didn't want to give.
By now, the sun was starting to dip, the tint of orange already painting the sky, and the shadows across the desert began to lengthen. The car continued down the road, its speed unchanging even as the world around them began to slow. Two-Bit had turned on the radio and was fiddling with the station, trying to find something that suited both him and the rest of the greasers. Finally finding a station playing Elvis, Two-Bit let go of the knob and leaned back in his seat, already stating to sing along. The others quickly took up, Soda drumming on his knees, Steve trying to out-sing Two-Bit, and Dally and Johnny enjoying the music in their own rite. Even Darry cracked a smile at everyone's singing.
Ponyboy watched everyone, the sounds bouncing around the cabin bringing a smile to his lips. He thought of how different everyone was when they were all together like this, how even Dally seemed less hard with Johnny sat beside him, how Steve softened with Soda next to him, how Two-Bit could make even Darry grin. Pony felt something in his chest that he couldn't quite name, a swelling feeling that this was a moment they might not get again, so he had to enjoy it all the more.
Finally, just when the sunset was at its fullest and Ponyboy was wishing he and Johnny could get out and look at it. Darry turned off the main road and down one made of gravel. All of them seemed to perk up at the change in direction. Dust swirled around them as the van bumped along and then pulled to an open stretch of land overlooking a small cliff. He parked the van and everyone shuffled out, tripping over each other as they raced to look at their new destination. The breath was pulled from Ponyboy as the full sight reached him. He'd never seen anything so beautiful.
The sunset cast an enchanting glow over the sandy colored stone and the expanse of desert below them. Seeing it from above, Ponyboy suddenly felt a sense of things. He could see tall cactuses, small animals searching from a home for the night, swirling sand in the gentle wind. The rays of light cast warmth over his face that Pony couldn't honestly say he'd felt before.
"This is just for tonight," Darry said, putting his hands on his hips as he looked over the view. "We still gotta get to where we're actually going."
"You mean it isn't this?" Soda exclaimed. "Next place better knock my socks off." Darry stifled a laugh as he began to take some bags from the trunk. Ponyboy pulled his gaze from his brothers and as he looked back to the setting sun, he wondered what the road ahead would hold.