Apocalypse, Steve Harrington

Chapter Four. Baldy In Mike's Basement

CHAPTER FOUR
— baldy in mike's basement

    THIS TIME, SLEEP didn't come easily. Anxiety was picking away at Lucy, a constant worry chipping at every last piece of her sanity. She lay in bed, back pressed to the mattress and eyes boring into the ceiling— it was getting to the point where Lucy thought she was never going to sleep again. The silence of her room was almost deafening; this was it, this was insanity. She'd deal with this for the rest of her life. Lucy would never sleep peacefully again, no— not as long as Will Byers was still missing.

She couldn't do anything. She couldn't eat, she couldn't sleep, she could barely process her own thoughts. Time was moving oddly still; maybe it was just the time of night, but things didn't feel real.

A drop of water fell from her ceiling and onto her forehead. She screwed her eyes shut in annoyance, teeth gritted— it was pouring, and there was a hole in the roof of the trailer. Lucy tossed the warm sheets away from her body and begrudgingly rolled out of bed. Bare feet pattering against the wooden floor, she grabbed the designated "roof leak" bucket and put it below the drip— good enough for her.

    There was a crackling sound from across the room. She jumped, hazel eyes going wide and a small gasp falling from her lips. More crackling, then voices; the walkie talkie Dustin had gifted her was going wild. "Lucy, are you there?" a voice spoke, "Son of a bitch!"

    She rushed across the room, floorboards creaking beneath her feet. Grabbing the walkie with an urgency, Lucy pressed the button. "I'm here," she spoke, "Is everything okay?" Silence. She stood there, eyes wide and staring down at the walkie in her hand. "Dustin, hello?"

    "Don't freak out," he spoke, at last. "Okay?"

    Bringing the device closer to her face, Lucy spoke with suspicion. "What happened?"

"There is a girl in Mike's basement."

She blinked. Lucy pursed her lips, thoughts coursing through her brain. "Dustin Henderson, I need you to tell me what Mike did."

    "Mike didn't do anything!" the boy cut her off. "We need you down here. Now."

Lucy shook her head. "It's midnight, Dustin, I can't just leave me house," she pushed her hair away from her face in a stressed manor. "Can't we do this tomorrow?"

"She's naked, Lucy, naked!" his voice grew more urgent, "We need your help. Please."

The girl let out a large sigh and screwed her eyes shut, "Fine. Just wait for me, okay?" Throwing down the walkie talkie, Lucy rushed across the room. She yanked a hoodie over her head, hand blindly feeling around for the door handle. Ever so quietly, she slowly twisted the knob and stepped out, cursing under her breath every time a floorboard creaked. Her eyes widened and she tip toed back into her room to grab the walkie talkie.

"I'll be there in ten," she whispered into the walkie, "And Dustin— close your eyes if she's naked. Please."

    Lucy wasn't sure what she was expecting. A naked girl in Mike's basement— what the hell did that mean? Maybe she ran away from home, ended up there somehow. She prepared herself for the worst— the girl in Mike's basement was bald and mute. Interesting.