Hell on Earth

Chapter Eighty Nine - Fucking Hawkins

After almost three days of barely leaving her room, Cynthia managed to get out of the house and go to the Wheeler house. Everyone was going to be there. They were going to bring things to the school to help out people who had lost everything. When she heard a honk, she headed outside. Dustin went out with her. Cynthia locked up and they got into Steve's car. Everyone was quiet and looking at Cynthia. She knew that they were all worried about her, but she was exhausted. She had used all her energy crying and watching the TV hoping that something would change. It didn't. Everybody in Hawkins still blamed Eddie for the murders. Steve pulled out of the Henderson driveway and headed over to the Wheeler house. As they drove, Cynthia wondered if she should tell them that she was married. She didn't. It didn't matter: he was gone. They got to the Wheeler's house pretty quickly. Everyone was trying to get out of Hawkins, so there wasn't a lot of traffic in the suburbs. When they got there, stuff was already in the driveway. They all worked on getting it into Steve's car. Nancy and her mom walked out.

"Someone order pizza?" Mrs. Wheeler asked.

Cynthia turned around and saw a pizza van pulling up to the Wheeler house. She cocked her head to the side. She had no idea why a pizza van would be parking in the Wheeler's driveway. Then, the door opened up. Cynthia's jaw dropped. It was Jonathan, Will, Mike, El, and another boy who she assumed was Argyle. Cynthia was too shocked to move. Everyone was hugging everyone. She was pulled out of her shock when Will and El hugged her. She wrapped her arms around them and held them close. She was so glad that they were all right. After they let go, Cynthia smiled as Jonathan walked up to her. She threw herself into his arms. She held him close and started to cry.

"I've missed you so much," Cynthia said. "We've all been worried sick about you guys. So much bad shit happened over Spring Break, Jonathan. It's been horrible."

"Trust me, I know," Jonathan said. "We wanted to call you guys, but we couldn't risk it. The bad men were listening."

"They always are," Cynthia said as she pulled away. She wiped the tears off of her face. "I'm really glad you're back, Jonathan."

"What happened to you, Cynthia?" Jonathan asked as he looked at her. "You look like you haven't slept in days."

"I'll tell you later," Cynthia said. "Right now, I just don't have the strength to tell you about all the bad shit that's been happening in Hawkins. If I do, I'll probably just end up a sobbing mess."

"Sobbing mess?" Argyle walked up to them. "That won't do you any good." He held out a joint. "Try some Purple Pineapple Passion to let all your cares fly away, and since you're friend of Jonathan's first hit is on me."

Cynthia looked at him with wide eyes, "Thank you for the offer, but no."

"Argyle," Jonathan punched him in the arm. "Put that away. Not the time, place, or person you try and give that to."

"Sorry, man," Argyle apologized. "And sorry lady. I'm just trying to keep everything chill."

Cynthia smiled just a little, "Thank you, Argyle." It was nice to have someone act normal around her. Everyone was so worried that they were acting like she was made of glass. She didn't blame them though; she kind of was.

"Where's Lucas?" Mike asked.

"He's at the hospital," Dustin said.

"Was he hurt?" Will asked.

"No," Dustin shook his head. "Oh god, you don't know."

"Don't know what?" Will asked.

"It's Max," Cynthia said as she looked down at her shoes. "It's bad. It's really bad."