𝐄𝐌𝐎𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐋 𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐂𝐔𝐄! ✽ 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗼𝗻

52

𝐑𝐄𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐆𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐏𝐒' 𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐏𝐒, steve harrington quickly lead the six of them out of the tunnels; sheridan was at the end of the group, ensuring the safety of everyone ahead of her before her own. the red-haired girl watched dustin in front of her for any places to dodge and duck. a pale blue glow outlined steve's silhouette. a sigh of relief escaped from sherrie's open mouth at the sight. this would soon be over with.

just as the hopeful thought entered dani's brain, the rumbling of the ground beneath them had shaken it right out. just as she went to reach for dustin's shoulder, she noticed he had fallen to the ground; the shaffer girl waved her arms about to balance herself. "jesus!" steve bellowed a few feet ahead. the creatures' roars capped off the boy's exclamation.

"what was that?" max inquired. sheridan regained her complete balance and reached down to help dustin up. the monsters' cries sounded from behind them again, everyone's glace falling onto the tunnel they had just exited from. dani wielded her bat, her grip on the wood firm.

"they're coming," mike deduced between short breaths. "run, run!" he shrieked. sherrie pushed dustin to get him going, the girl hot on his trail.

"let's go, let's go!" steve shouted as he continued running towards the rope they had placed at the entrance.

"come on, mike! move! move, mike!" dustin screamed at the boy right in front of him.

"less talking, more getting the fuck out of here!" sheridan demanded.

"there, there!" lucas shrieked. he pointed straight ahead at the string dangling from their home dimension. the blue light from earlier had grown paler, illuminating steve and the kids' features now. steve encouraged the kids to continue on. once at the rope, he dashed to the other side of it and bent down. admiration swelled in dani's chest as she watched steve hold max up at her hips as she shimmied up the rope. the boy repeated the process with lucas and mike. with dustin being the last kid left, he had both steve and sherrie to help him back into hawkins.

the curly-headed boy panted dramatically, whispering explicits with his small, remaining breaths. "shit, shit, shit," dani overheard.

"let's go, dustin!" the girl whined as she cupped dustin's grimy shoes in her hands. mike, max, and lucas helped to pull the boy up by his arms, his feet falling from sherrie's grip.

underneath her and steve's sneakers, the slime-coated ground shuddered once more. "shit," steve spat lowly. dani turned back around and held the nail bat at the ready. the pair was now paralyzed in fear. she watched as shadows of a demodog stampede flashed against the walls of the alien dimension. "sherrie, go!" steve ordered. the girl turned to face her friend, her wide eye illuminated from the glow of betsy's headlights above.

"me?!" sheridan's open pointer finger pressed against her chest.

"yes you!"

"i'm not leaving without you!" sheridan's heart rate increased at an alarming rate, her breathing also growing at a rapid speed. without a second thought, the bat plummeted from her grip. she took steve into an embrace. her eyelids snapped shut as she tucked her face into his chest. if she was going to die this time around, it was going to be in the arms of the boy she had loved for as long as she could possibly remember.

a disappointment sank deep in her stomach once she realized steve had not wrapped his own arms around her. she was sure she had given herself away, blown her cover and embarrassed herself with only a few minutes left of life to spare. a swift breeze blew her hair against her face and steve's chest; the demodogs were quickly approaching. squeezing her eyelids tight and her arms tighter, she felt the beasts tussling her bellbottoms. the redhead opened a single eye slightly. both, then, opened wide as she watched the demodogs beeline straight past them. her head turned from left to right to watch them run on both sides. they snarled and wailed as they dashed past the pair. through her goggles, her eyes locked with steve's. their chuckles were stifled by their bandanas.

once the creatures had cleared out for good, dani released steve from her tireless grasp. she placed her hands on her hips and heaved out the breaths she had held in; steve did the exact same as she did, completely by coincidence. after their eyes met once more, they jumped into the other's arms. sherrie's feet lifted off the ground as steve spun her in a circle. "okay," the girl sighed in steve's ear. she pulled away, their noses a mere inch apart. "let's get the fuck outta here." steve nodded hastily. with the remainder of his energy, he lifted sheridan up into the entrance, his hands already having been close to her hips. despite the cold of the upside down and the night on the other side, steve's touch could conduct electricity.

when she had nearly reached the end of the rope, the kids split themselves down the middle and took both of her arms. they repeated the same for steve. once everyone had been retrieved, the group stood in the pumpkin patch and peeled away their protective gear. dani smiled widely as she gazed up at the starry night sky. a cool breeze fell against her sweaty forehead. knocking her out of her trance, though, was the sudden brightness of betsy's headlights. the six of them watched intently as the bulbs grew more vibrant, the light falling directly onto them. and just as it nearly peaked in a white glow, the headlights fell back to normal. sherrie knew the anomaly could only mean one thing: the kids were right and they successfully executed their plan, meaning they really had helped the party out.

dani wrapped her arms around the kids' shoulders. "you guys did good."

✽