EIGHTEEN: GUYS

THEY WERE SCREWED. Heather was bleeding, she needed a hospital, there were some pretty serious bite marks that were definitely unexplainable. The monsters disappeared, but they all held their breath in horrifying anticipation, waiting for them to return. As soon as the creatures were for sure gone, Steve ripped off his jacket, tearing off a sleeve and wrapping it around Heather's leg.

"Someone find something to make a tourniquet with, there needs to be a constant pressure to stop the bleeding," Daniel explained, having somewhat of a medical knowledge due to the gruesome television he watched when his mother wasn't home as well as the odd violent comic book. Max, Lucas, and Dustin all ran outside to look for something, but Daniel, Steve, and Heather, obviously, stayed put.

"I don't feel it anymore," Heather sighed, her voice eerily calm as beads of sweat ran down her face.

Steve shook his head, muttering to himself, "She's going into shock. We need to get you to a hospital. Come on."

The kids ran back in, Max holding a long stick and practically throwing it at Steve. Out of breath, she said, "That should work, right?"

A tear slid down Daniel's cheek. Seeing his sister like this was too much, his breathing was ragged and he thinks he might be going into shock, too. He couldn't, he needed to stay strong. He watched as Steve tied up the wound and picked Heather up bridal style. Her head was lolling, but the last thing she should do was go to sleep. She had already lost so much blood, there was no knowing she was going to come back. Steve seemed to realize this as he propped her head up against his chest, muttering things to her that no one else could hear.

"Shut up, Harrington," Heather gasped, her voice out of breath and pants following her words, "I won't go to sleep or some shit."

"Even bleeding out you're still you," Steve smiled endearingly at the girl as they began to make their way back to Steve's car. He refrained from saying anything more to her before he turned back to the kids, "Hey, find out where Mike and Will are. I'm gonna take Heather to the hospital but I wanna drop you guys off first."

"Don't, I won't leave them," Heather mumbled, leaning into Steve, "Won't leave Daniel."

"Heather, if we don't get you to a hospital on time you could lose your leg or some shit like that," Steve tried to convince her, but she shook her head.

Heather, ever persistent, argued, "You drop me off at the hospital I will fucking crawl to wherever the kids are."

Daniel sighed standing next to where his sister's head rested as they walked. "Heather, I know you don't wanna leave, but you need to. We'll carry out this mess of a plan on our own, what matters is you getting the help you need. We need to call mom, she'll take care of you. I need to know I'm gonna see you again."

"Stop talking like I'm gonna die, butthead," Heather rolled her eyes, somehow managing to still be difficult despite slowly bleeding out, "It's a flesh wound."

"Dart bit into your leg, you could have to have it amputated," the teen holding her sighed.

"That wasn't Dart," Dustin shook his head. "Dart was the other one."

"How can you tell?" Max scrunched up her face in confusion.

Dustin scoffed as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, "Dart has the yellow spotted pattern on his butt. The one that bit Heather didn't. Trust me, Dart wouldn't hurt us."

"Well, it sure seemed like he wanted to hurt us," Daniel gasped, surprised by Dustin's words considering the events that had just transpired.

Dustin began to argue, Lucas and Max joining in, but Daniel noticed how Steve began to walk off, hearing something in the distance. Daniel shone his flashlight in the direction Steve was going, giving the boy some light since he was holding Heather.

"Guys," Steve spoke cautiously, sounding scared. When no one paid attention, he tried again, "Guys! Daniel, take Heather and stay here."

Steve set Heather down against Daniel so he could support her on the side where she was unable to put pressure on her injured leg. Steve ran after the sound, Dustin and Lucas following.

"Guys? Why are we heading towards the sound?" Max argued, standing next to Daniel with a dismayed look on her face.

"Let's just go, I can do it, just slowly," Heather sighed, motioning for them to move forward. Max and Daniel looked at each other before following them. They got the edge of a cliff face where the rest of the group was already staring.

Dustin sighed, looking out onto the town, "I don't see him."

Lucas was silent for a moment as he lifted his binoculars to his face. After a moment, he said, "It's the lab. They were going back home."

So, Steve's car and hospitals forgotten, they took off down the path. Heather was beginning to start bleeding more, the sleeve of Steve's jacket slowly becoming more and more stained with ruby red. Despite Steve's offer to carry her again, she insisted on walking on her own. Well, on her own with her brother supporting her. He was almost the same height as Steve, so it wasn't that difficult to keep her up since she was shorter and lighter.

Finally, they seemed to be getting closer. They heard a female voice shout, "Hello?"

"That sounds like Nance," Heather mumbled as they began to break through the woods.

"Who is that?" another female voice chimed in, this one was for sure Veronica, but what were they doing at the lab? "Show yourself!"

Once they came out into the open, all three teenagers, Nancy, Jonathan, and Veronica all said, "Steve?"

"And me! Bleeding profusely!" Heather exclaimed, garnering the attention of everyone, "Help, please."

"Heather, what the fuck?" Veronica yelled as she ran up to her best friend. "What happened?"

"A lot," was the only answer provided by Lucas.

"What are you doing here?" Steve asked the trio.

Nancy explained easily, "We're looking for Mike and Will."

Veronica took Heather off of her brother's shoulder, instead choosing to let her lean against the girl. "They weren't at the Byers house."

Dustin scrunched his face in confusion, "They're not in there are they?"

The brunette looked around nervously, "We're not sure. Why?"

As if on cue, a monster screeched. The noise sent chills down Daniel's spine. He sighed, "No one knows what the fuck is going on and none of us have heard from Mike or Will in days. This stupid fucking place seems to be at the center of everything, so—"

He was cut off by Nancy pushing past them and looking up at the facility, "The power's back on."

So they all ran to the guard booth (Heather and Veronica following closely behind). Jonathan pushed the button to open the gate, everyone frowning when it wasn't opening.

"Let me try—" Dustin tried to get in there, but still nothing happened. "Son of a bitch! You know what—"

Finally, after a few moments, the gate moved. Everyone simultaneously breathed a sigh of relief. Daniel might be so close to seeing Mike again. Jonathan and Nancy got into the car while the rest of the group waited by the entrance.

Max walked up to the gate, squinting her eyes, "Guys?"

The car came speeding towards them, followed by Hopper in his truck. Jonathan, Nancy, and presumably everyone else drove off while Hopper stopped in front of them, yelling, "Let's go! Be careful with Heather. Come on!"

They all crowded into the car, Heather and Veronica climbing in first while the kids followed into the back and Steve hopped into the passenger seat. They drove off into the night, most likely going to meet up at the Byers house. Heather was still bleeding, everyone was sweating, and they were being chased by monsters. Daniel really needed to call his mom.

( note! )

Stephen Strange voice: We're in the endgame now

also, sorry this is short! im heading into the writing the last three or so chapters and if you guys remember the ending chapters of part one, those chapters were 3-4k words so don't worry i'll have nice long chapters for you guys! im hoping to finish writing this today but ending chapters wont be up for awhile!