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CINDY HELD THEflashlight tightly in her hand as she walked down the train tracks, her brother to her left and Dustin to her right.
Max and Lucas walked steadily behind the trio, their occasional pants being the only sound eliciting through their group as they made their way back to where Steve's car was parked at the edge of the woods.
Lucas sighed loudly, breaking the lingering silence as he opened his mouth to speak.
"You're positive that was Dart?"
"Yes," Dustin muttered in annoyance, seeing as his friend had asked him this many times since the group had fled the junkyard, "He had the same exact yellow pattern on his butt."
Max furrowed her ginger eyebrows from behind him. "He was tiny two days ago."
"Well," Dustin sighed, "he's molted three times already."
Cindy kept her head down, her brown eyes trained solely on watching as her sneakers crunched against the copper leaves that blanketed the tracks. Her sneakers were once white, and while she had never been adamant that they stayed in perfect, clean condition, she grimaced silently as she took in their slight brown tint.
"—Malted?" Steve asked from beside her, shaking his head in confusion as he glanced over at the Henderson boy.
Keeping his eyes straight ahead, Dustin shook his head slightly in response. "Molted. Shed his skin to make more room for growth like hornworms."
"When's he gonna molt again?" Asked Max, her eyes focused on the back of the boy's head.
"It's gotta be soon," Dustin stated, "When he does, he'll be fully grown, or close to it. And so will his friends."
A sigh left Cindy, and for a moment, she wondered how Dustin could know such a thing. He was incredibly smart, smarter than he was given credit for, that was for sure. Cindy, although she didn't show it much, admired the way her curly-haired friend had such a determination to know as many things as possible, even if it sometimes meant he corrected her constantly.
"Yeah," Steve scoffed, nudging Cindy in the ribs with his elbow as he turned to her and Dustin, "and he's gonna eat a lot more than just cats."
