In The Outsiders, what does Ponyboy's premontion about the rumble mean? a.) Identify one answer the author hints at. b.) State the evidence that...

When Ponyboy is contemplating the upcoming rumble in Chapter 8 of The Outsiders, he thinks:

"I had a sick feeling in my stomach and it wasn't from being ill...I had the same deathly fear that something was going to happen that none of us could stop."

While Two-Bit is eager to rumble with the Socs, Ponyboy has the ominous feeling that something bad is going to happen--something that he and his friends have not predicted. The author hints that something unpredictable is going to happen--which turns out to be Johnny's and Dally's deaths. 

The rumble goes well, and the greasers kick the Socs out of their territory. However, when Ponyboy and Dally go to the hospital to tell Johnny about the greasers' victory, Johnny responds, "Useless... fighting's no good." This is the evidence that the author suggests that fighting in the rumble is not going to turn out well for Ponyboy and his friends. Johnny dies shortly afterward, and later Dally dies while robbing a store when he feels anguished by Johnny's death. Ponyboy thinks after his friends have died, "Nothing we can do... not for Dally or Johnny ... My stomach gave a violent start and turned into a hunk of ice." These are the unpredictable events that worried Ponyboy before the rumble. He knew that even if the rumble turned out well, other events would not.