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Dustin wasn’t sure how long he kneeled there, sobbing as he held Eddie’s cold, limp body.
He was gone .
And it was his fault. His fault, because he could’ve stopped him.
He could’ve stopped him.
He was there for so long that the other returned from confronting Vecna. He didn’t hear their footsteps, or any conversation they carried. He didn’t even know they were there until someone was placing a gentle hand on his shoulder.
“He didn’t run this time,” Dustin managed between sobs. “H-He–”
“Hey, bud,” Steve’s soft voice came from his left. “Why don’t you set him down?”
“No.” Dustin’s voice was hardly a whisper.
“Dustin, I’m really sorry, but we have to go,” Nancy said gently from his right.
And then Steve was pulling him back, and Dustin was fighting him because he couldn’t go, he couldn’t just leave him behind.
“No!” Dustin yelled hoarsely. “Don’t make me leave him! I won’t leave him! He was a hero! I don’t- I can’t–”
“Dustin, buddy, hey, hey, listen to me, listen.” Steve put both of his hands on Dustin’s shoulders. “I know. Okay? I hear you. But right now, we have to go or we are all going to die. Don’t make Eddie’s sacrifice be for nothing, okay?”
Dustin sniffled, trying to catch his breath. “Okay.”
So through the gate they went.
Leaving Eddie behind felt wrong, felt like he was leaving some part of his soul with him there. He didn’t feel whole.
He felt shattered.
The others were talking and they didn’t seem to care that they were in Eddie’s trailer, in his home, not seeming to care about the fact that he was dead .
“What if Vecna’s not dead? What if we didn’t kill him and we just made him more mad? I mean that wouldn’t be good, because if we just made him more mad then what if decides to kill more people or something?” Robin was asking anxiously, sounding on the verge of tears.
“We don’t know if he’s not dead,” was Nancy’s only reply.
“We don’t know if he’s alive or dead or anything! We don’t know anything!” Steve was gesturing with his hands.
Nancy sighed and put her face in her hands. After a moment, she lifted her head and said, “We can’t find anything out right now. The best thing we can do is make sure the others are okay. We’re supposed to meet at my house, so I guess… We should just head there.”
They were halfway to the bikes when Dustin noticed Steve clutching his side and wincing.
“Are you sure you’re okay to bike?” He asked, kicking back the kickstand on his bike.
Steve offered a pained smile. “Yeah, buddy, I’ll be fine.”
Lucas, Max, and Erica were not at the Wheeler’s house.
They headed to the basement and settled in there. No one was answering the walkie talkies, and Dustin was really starting to worry.
Nancy, Steve, and Robin were all standing around having an argument about Vecna, when Dustin noticed how pale Steve had gotten since they left Eddie’s trailer.
Robin and Nancy continued to bicker, but Steve went quiet, swaying where he stood.
The adrenaline was fading in all of them, it was obvious, but they weren’t losing blood at an alarming rate. Steve’s whole frame was trembling as he pressed a hand to his side. It seemed his right side was hurting much more than his left.
He exhaled heavily, meeting Dustin’s gaze with his weary, pained one.
Suddenly, he collapsed forward, nearly hitting his head on the table. However, Nancy and Robin caught him before he could injure himself further. They eased him to the floor, propping him up against the coffee table.
“Shit, I almost forgot.” Nancy worked to untie the blood-soaked fabric from Steve’s abdomen.
Steve sucked air through his teeth, making a wincing sound.
“Sorry,” Nancy said, tone anxious.
By now, all their nerves were frayed, and it was apparent. Robin was muttering something to herself about rabies while Nancy ripped her scarf into one long bandage with trembling hands.
Dustin himself could’ve curled up on the floor and started sobbing (again) from being too overwhelmed for too long.
Steve was the only one who didn’t seem to be currently losing his shit. In fact, he looked too exhausted and in pain to be stressed out at all.
“Better?” Nancy asked quietly, looking as if she might cry at any moment.
Steve nodded, grimacing.
“It’ll have to do until we can figure out what happened to the others. Is anyone else on the verge of bleeding out?”
Robin glanced at a blood-soaked bandage on her arm. “At this current moment in time, no. Dustin?”
He shook his head. “I hurt my leg but I’ll be fine.”
“Guys, I hate to be a Debbie Downer, but I don’t think I can go on a whole new adventure,” Steve said from where he sat on the floor, voice gravelly.
“That’s okay,” Robin said quickly. “I mean, we don’t even know where the others are or where they could be.”
“They could still be at the Creel house,” Nancy pointed out.
“Yeah, but we have no idea if they are or not. And if…” Dustin drew in a deep, calming breath. “If we assume the worst happened, they could be at the hospital, but after the earthquake, that place must be crowded.”
“So, what, we wait to hear from them?” Steve asked.
Nancy sighed. “I…”
The phone rang, causing Dustin to jump.
Robin ran to answer it, eyes widening and turning to Nancy before she said two words that changed everything.
“It’s Mike!”