bitchin'

Chapter 24

"You're positive that was Dart?" Lucas asks Dustin. The boys lead the way with the two girls behind them.

"Yes. He had the same exact yellow pattern on his butt," he answers. Beams of light shine on the railroad tracks as they walk.

"Why do you know that?" Lindsay asks sarcastically, butting in on the conversation.

"He was tiny two days ago," Max comments, ignoring the girl's comment.

"Well, he's molted three times already," Dustin explains.

"Malted?" Steve asks.

"Molted," the Henderson boy corrects him, "shed his skin to make room for growth, like hornworms."

"Are you okay?" Max asks Lindsay, tuning out the conversation. She looks up at Max's face as they walk side by side. Although, dark outside, she can see the outline of the redhead's face in the shadow of flashlight beam.

"Yeah, I'm okay, why?" she questions.

"Because you jumped off a bus and fought one of those monsters," Max points out, using her flashlight to highlight Lindsay's stained and ripped clothes. Her hair is slicked back with demogorgon drool and still damp from the goo.

"I'm okay...... are you?" Lindsay asks her. Max shrugs as they continue down the tracks.

"You scared me," Max admits, looking down at the leaves. Her voice is softer and it almost sounds as if she is crying. The boys stop walking, making the girls stop behind them.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Lindsay apologizes. She doesn't quite fully understand the feeling in her stomach, but she knows that she made Max worried. She doesn't like the feeling, hearing the girl's voice crack. The boys begin arguing, gaining the girls' attention.

"I knew it! You kept him!" Lucas shouts. Steve looks at Lindsay and she gives him a look, one that tells him he should just keep his mouth shut.

"No! No!" Dustin denies, "No, I... no, I... He missed me. He wanted to come home."

"Bullshit!"

"I didn't know he was a demogorgon, okay?" the boy shouts, getting in Lucas' face.

"Oh, so now you admit it?" he exclaims.

"Guys, who cares? We have to go," Max interrupts them. Flashlights swing in their hands, partially blinding each other as they argue.

"I care! You put the party in jeopardy! You broke the rule of law!" Lucas exclaims.

"So did you!" he shouts back.

"What?"

"You brought a stranger to the junkyard when it was for party members only!" Dustin shouts, flashing his flashlight in Max's face.

"A stranger?" she exclaims blindly.

"Guys stop fighting!" Lindsay intervenes. This makes both boys silent. No one says anything. In the distance, leaves crunch and something moves.

"Do you hear that?" Steve asks, looking off into the woods, "come on."

He walks off into the woods with Lucas and Dustin following him. Lindsay takes off after her brother, leaving Max alone on the tracks.

"Wait!" Max shouts, "why are you headed towards the sound? Hello? Hello?"

"What is it?" Lindsay asks as she catches up with the boys. They stand on a hill, overlooking Hawkins. The center of their attention falls on the Hawkins National Laboratory. Screeching rings out like a siren across the town. Max arrives, bumping arms with Lindsay as the group looks over Hawkins.