Chapter 67

my baguettes!!!!!! i’m so sorry i feel like a deadbeat husband leaving you guys without any content for the past almost month 😭 don’t worry i’m gonna lock in from now on. ANDDDD you may just be getting another chapter today, i’ve got half of another one done so 🫣 gimme a couple hours. ALSO as you can kind of tell at the end of this i’m making mike actually have emotions in season 5 because he was lowkey robotic for no reason in the show, we’re giving him depth and ofc bylerrrrrrr

The room inside the WSQK radio tower hums with nervous energy as the ragtag group prepares for the crawl. The clatter of supplies mixes with the murmur of overlapping voices.

Maggie kneels beside her backpack, stuffing it with whatever might keep her alive while on lookout. Flashlight, extra batteries, walkie, knife, granola bar she’ll probably forget about until six months from now. The essentials.

Jonathan walks over and hands a blinking device to Hopper, “Here. Good luck.”

“Tag’s active,” Hopper relays to Robin with a nod.

“Copy,” Robin adjusts the microphone and presses a button on the radio, “Harrington, you getting any signal? Tag is active.”

Steve’s voice crackles back through the speaker, “Yeah, just give me a second. Anybody know how Henderson’s wheelie thing works?”

Robin looks up at the room helplessly, “Uh… any ideas?”

Will immediately gestures with his hands, “There’s a safety lock. Look for a small switch under the wheel.”

Robin repeats the instructions into the radio.

A few seconds pass before Steve answers again, “Okay, getting a signal. It’s pretty quiet though… Okay, signal’s holding steady at ninety dB. But how exactly am I supposed to monitor this and drive without Henderson?”

Hopper shrugs into his jacket and glances around, “Hear anything from Inspector Gadget?”

Maggie crosses her arms tightly and clenches her jaw, “Totally radio silent. Nothing.”

The words taste sour coming out. Dustin missing never feels normal.

Will perks up slightly, “I can do it. I-I can monitor.”

Joyce’s answer comes instantly, “No. You’re staying here.”

“Mom, I helped Dustin set up the antenna. I know how to work it,” Will insists.

“Out of the question,” Joyce shakes her head quickly, “It’s just a wheel.”

“It’s not just a wheel,” Will sighs, frustration bleeding through every word.

Maggie groans, throwing her hands up, “Mom, let him help. He can help.”

Joyce doesn’t budge, “No, no, no. Jonathan, you can work it, right?”

Jonathan glances between Maggie and Will before nodding cautiously, “Yeah. I mean, I think so.”

Hopper’s eyes bore into him immediately, “You better not think. You better know. You lose me out there, I’m not coming home.”

Jonathan stiffens, “I can handle it.”

Maggie looks over at Will sympathetically, “I tried.”

Will gives her a small, tired smile, “I know. Thanks anyway.”

She pulls him into a quick side hug.

She gets it. God, she gets it.

Will looks like he’s about three seconds away from clawing his way out of his own skin. Everyone keeps trying to protect him, but nobody notices how much it’s killing him to stand still while everyone else does something. Joyce did the same thing to Maggie after the Vecna ordeal.

Difference is, Maggie is physically incapable of listening to authority for longer than twelve consecutive seconds. A medical marvel, really. And maybe Joyce worries less now because Maggie’s stronger. Her powers are stronger. Strong enough to protect herself and others. Strong enough to scare people sometimes.

Strong enough to scare herself.

Across the room, Nancy finishes loading bullets into a shotgun, barely even looking at what her hands are doing anymore.

Maggie watches her for a second too long. Nancy notices immediately.

Their eyes meet across the room, and something tight twists in Maggie’s chest before she can stop it. It’s the familiar ache that’s been living there ever since Eddie died and Max ended up in that hospital bed. Like every feeling inside her got wrapped in barbed wire afterward.

Nancy walks over quietly, “You packed everything?”

“Probably overpacked,” Maggie mutters, zipping her bag shut, “If lookout duty gets really intense, though, I’ve got half a granola bar and emotional instability to keep us going.”

Nancy huffs out a small laugh, but it fades fast around the edges. That’s been happening a lot lately too.

“You don’t have to go,” Nancy says softly, “Mike and Lucas can handle lookout.”

Maggie snorts, “Nancy Wheeler voluntarily walking into danger while I sit safely here? Absolutely not.”

Nancy crosses her arms, “You’ve barely slept in a week.”

“Good thing Vecna doesn’t care about healthy coping mechanisms.”

Nancy’s expression shifts at the words. Worry mixed with frustration. The same expression they’ve both been wearing around each other for weeks now.

Not fighting exactly. Just… missing each other while standing in the same room.

Before the silence can stretch any further, Mike appears beside Maggie with Lucas right behind him.

“We should probably head out,” Mike says.

Lucas adjusts the backpack slung over his shoulder, “Hopefully, the creepy stakeout mission goes great.”

“Thanks, man. Super comforting.”

“It’s what I do.”

Maggie exhales slowly and looks back at Nancy. The room suddenly feels too loud and too cramped.

Nancy steps closer, “Be careful.”

They’re simple, familiar words, but Maggie hears everything underneath them.

Please come back. Please stop shutting me out. Please let me help you.

Maggie softens a little despite herself, “You too.”

For a second, Nancy looks like she wants to say more.

Instead, she reaches up automatically and straightens Maggie’s jacket collar, fingers lingering for just a second at the edge of the fabric.

It’s such an ordinary thing. It’s the kind of absentminded affection that comes from loving someone for long enough that caring for them becomes instinct. It almost makes everything hurt worse.

Maggie catches Nancy’s wrist gently before she can pull away, squeezing once.

“I’ll be back before you know it,” she says quietly.

Nancy gives a small nod, but Maggie can tell she doesn’t totally believe her.

Honestly, none of them believes anybody anymore when they say stuff like that. Hawkins has really done wonders for everyone’s trust issues. Charming little town.

Mike groans loudly from behind them, “Can we go before you guys get all emotional again?”

Maggie immediately drops Nancy’s hand and turns around, “You are such a little gremlin.”

“Thank you.”

Lucas grins, “He’s right though.”

Maggie points at both of them accusingly as she backs toward the door, “If I die, I’m haunting all of you specifically.”

“You already haunt us,” Mike replies.

“That’s fair.”

Nancy smiles lightly, but Maggie still catches the fear underneath it. It’s not a fear of Vecna. It’s fear of losing another person she loves.

For one awful second, Maggie almost stays. Almost crosses the room and pulls Nancy into her arms and apologizes for every conversation she’s avoided, every night she’s gone quiet, every time she pretended she was fine because grief feels easier when you carry it alone.

But the boys are already heading for the exit, radios crackling around the room, and somewhere out there, Vecna is still alive.

No time to fall apart. Humanity’s favorite lie.

Maggie gives Nancy one last look before turning and jogging after Mike and Lucas, cold night air hitting her face the second they step outside.

“Ready?” Lucas asks the other two as he swings a leg over his bike.

“As I’ll ever be,” Maggie replies, mimicking the action on her own bike.

“Let’s do this,” Mike says, gripping his handlebars tightly.

The three of them push off down the hill, gravel crunching loudly beneath their tires. Cold fall air cuts across Maggie’s face immediately, sharp enough to sting her cheeks pink as they ride into town beneath the dark sky.

The streets of Hawkins feel wrong ever since the walls went up. Even the normal sounds feel nervous now. No matter how many crawls they do, it never gets easier.

Every single time Hopper disappears behind those gates, Maggie feels sick until he comes back out. Every time she waits for the radio to go silent permanently. Every time she thanks whatever higher power still tolerates Hawkins that things went smoothly enough, that she didn’t have to step in as the emergency backup plan.

El always hates being left behind at the tower while Maggie gets sent out to help, but there isn’t really another option. El can’t exactly ride around town unnoticed when the government practically has her face printed on wanted posters somewhere.

When the trio reaches town, they stash their bikes near the alley and climb up into the church steeple overlooking the government-built walls. The higher they get, the colder the wind becomes, rattling loose boards and making the old structure creak around them.

Maggie settles beside the window opening, knees pulled up slightly as she scans the roads below.

The military crawl through Hawkins like insects now, watching everything. Lucas sweeps the area with his binoculars, loudly chomping on a piece of gum.

“Squawk to Crow’s Nest, anything? Over,” Joyce’s voice crackles through the walkie.

“Negative. Not a peep,” Mike answers immediately.

The aggressive smacking of Lucas’ gum starts irritating Mike almost instantly.

“Do you really have to chew so loudly?”

“Snipers chew gum,” Lucas says without lowering the binoculars.

“You’re not a sniper,” Maggie argues with a smirk.

Lucas shifts suddenly as movement catches his attention, “Package incoming. Four trucks, outer East gate on Main.”

Mike immediately relays the information on the walkie.

“Burners heading for the gate,” Lucas continues.

He raises his hands, lowering fingers one at a time while Mike counts down through the radio.

“Burn commencing in five, four, three, two, and boom.”

Even from the steeple, Maggie can see the sudden burst of flame farther down the road. Smoke billows upward near the opposite checkpoint, drawing the soldiers’ attention exactly where they need it.

“Trucks moving in,” Lucas relays while Mike repeats the update.

“Am I clear?” Hopper’s low voice cuts through the static.

“Clear to the east,” Lucas says immediately.

“East is clear,” Mike repeats.

“And to the west?” Hopper asks.

Lucas suddenly closes his fist.

Mike glances at him nervously before looking back outside, “Hold. We got a straggler.”

Maggie leans forward slightly, heart thudding harder as she spots one lone soldier lagging behind the others near the gate.

Come on. Come on.

Lucas mutters under his breath while tracking the movement carefully through the binoculars. The second the soldier disappears around the corner, he gives the signal.

“Clear,” Mike says quickly.

Lucas twists to follow Hopper sprinting toward one of the trucks.

“He’s in.”

Maggie finally exhales from where she’s been holding her breath behind them.

“He’s flipped,” Mike says as the truck carrying Hopper disappears through the checkpoint gates.

Lucas lowers the binoculars and leans back against the wall of the steeple, “We’re good.”

Maggie immediately nudges his leg with her boot, “Don’t jinx it, Sinclair.”

He rolls his eyes, “We’ve never had a problem.”

The second the words leave his mouth, Maggie narrows her eyes at him.

“Oh, cool. Great. Fantastic thing to say in the middle of a literal apocalypse.”

The three fall quiet again, listening closely to the chatter through the radios.

“Jonathan, signal?” Joyce asks.

“Snagged it,” Jonathan responds.

“Van is on the move,” Joyce says, “Hopper, can you hear us okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, loud and clear,” Hopper huffs through the speaker.

“Good, good. Okay, hard part’s over.”

Hopper chuckles dryly, “Speak for yourself. I still gotta jump out of this thing. Is it me, or are we moving faster than normal?”

“A little faster, just aim for the grass.”

“I was gonna go for the asphalt, but now that you mention the grass-“

A violent crashing sound suddenly explodes through the walkie.

Maggie jerks upright instantly, “What the shit?”

Mike and Lucas exchange a nervous glance as silence swallows the line.

“Hopper, do you copy? Hopper!” Joyce’s voice cracks with panic.

Static crackles.

“Yeah,” Hopper breathes heavily, “I copy.”

Everyone in the steeple visibly relaxes for half a second.

“What the hell happened?” Joyce asks.

“I don’t know,” Hopper says, “We just slammed to a stop.”

Maggie’s stomach twists.

“What’s going on over there?”

Silence answers. Long, tense, horrifying silence. Then comes the awful, familiar Demogorgon clicking through the speaker.

Every muscle in Maggie’s body locks instantly. She covers her mouth like somehow even breathing too loudly might make things worse.

“What the hell is going on?” Mike exclaims.

“Sinclair jinxed it. Like I said,” Maggie mutters, trying to force humor into her voice even as dread crawls up her spine.

Lucas shoots her an offended look, but none of them are really listening anymore.

The next two minutes feel endless.

Nobody speaks. Nobody moves.

“Crow’s Nest. Do you copy?” Robin’s voice bursts through heavy static.

“We copy,” Mike says immediately.

“There’s a demogorgon. It’s… it’s coming for the Wheeler house.”

Mike freezes completely, “My house?!”

“Nancy’s on her way there right now,” Robin confirms.

Maggie is already standing before the sentence even finishes, “We’re going. Now.”

The boys scramble for their things while Maggie practically flies down the stairs first, adrenaline punching through her chest hard enough to make her dizzy.

Of course, Nancy ran toward it. The Wheeler family shares one collective brain cell dedicated entirely to self-sacrifice.

They jump onto their bikes and tear down the streets as fast as possible. Cold wind lashes against Maggie’s face while panic pounds louder and louder in her ears.

“Nancy, do you copy?” Mike asks while biking one-handed with the walkie pressed tightly to his ear.

“I’m here,” Nancy answers through static.

Maggie physically relaxes for maybe half a second.

“What’s your location? Over,” Mike asks quickly.

“Pickett. Five minutes away,” Nancy says breathlessly.

“You’re way ahead of us,” Mike tells her, “Radio as soon as you’re there!”

“I will.”

“And Nancy… be careful.”

Maggie grips her handlebars tighter. Her heart feels lodged somewhere in her throat. There’s never been a problem with crawls before. Never. Everything always went according to plan, but now one thing has gone wrong, and suddenly everything is unraveling at once.

When five more minutes pass with no answer from the radio, Mike’s panic finally spills over.

“Nancy, what’s happening?” His voice cracks slightly, “Nancy!”

Nothing answers back. Maggie pedals harder.

Her legs burn almost immediately, bike tires rattling violently over cracked pavement as the three of them fly through Hawkins streets. Porch lights blur past. Fallen leaves whip around their wheels. Somewhere in the distance, sirens wail faintly.

Not for Nancy. Please not for Nancy.

Mike nearly wipes out taking a corner too fast, but catches himself at the last second.

“Hurry up!” he yells, like they aren’t already biking at suicidal speeds through suburban Indiana.

Lucas pants beside Maggie, “We’re trying not to die on the way there!”

Maggie says nothing.

Her chest feels tight enough to crack open.

When the Wheeler house finally comes into view, all three of them slam their brakes hard enough to skid across the pavement.

The front door hangs wide open. Every light inside the house is on. Nancy’s car sits crooked in the driveway like she barely parked it before running inside.

Mike is off his bike first.

“Nancy?!”

He bolts through the front door. Maggie follows so fast she almost shoulder-checks him into the wall.

The house is chaos. Furniture overturned, a lamp shattered across the floor, deep gouges ripped through the wallpaper.

And blood. Enough to make Maggie’s stomach drop.

Mike freezes behind her, “Oh my God…”

Then Maggie hears weak, shaky crying coming from the kitchen.

Maggie rushes toward the sound, nearly slipping on broken glass as she rounds the corner and stops cold.

Nancy is kneeling on the floor, her hands covered in blood. Not her blood.

Karen Wheeler lies on the tile beside her, barely conscious. Her nightgown is soaked dark red. Deep tears slash across her neck, chest, and abdomen like something tried to rip her apart.

Blood covers Nancy’s hands as she desperately tries to hold pressure against Karen’s chest.

Mike lets out a horrible broken noise behind them.

“Mom?”

Karen’s eyes flutter weakly toward him, unfocused.

Mike drops beside her instantly, panic overtaking his entire face, “Mom, hey, hey-“

“Mike, move,” Nancy snaps suddenly, “I need room.”

Mike recoils immediately.

Lucas grabs the house phone off the end table with shaking hands while Maggie kneels beside Nancy.

The amount of blood makes her stomach twist violently. Nancy’s hands are slick with it.

“What happened?” Maggie asks quietly, already ripping off her flannel to help press against Karen’s abdomen.

Nancy swallows hard, “I don’t know. I got here right after it attacked her.”

“Where is it now?”

“Gone.”

That somehow doesn’t help. Karen suddenly gasps in pain beneath their hands, body jerking weakly. Mike looks seconds away from falling apart entirely.

“Mom, stay awake, okay?” he pleads, “Please stay awake.”

Nancy glances at Maggie for just a second. Maggie sees the fear immediately.

Maggie shifts closer without thinking, pressing harder against the wound while Nancy keeps pressure on Karen’s neck.

“You’re okay,” Maggie tells Karen firmly, even though she has absolutely no idea if that’s true, “Ambulance is coming.”

Karen lets out a weak, shaking gasp beneath their hands.

There’s too much blood, way too much.

Maggie’s eyes flick quickly toward Mike. He looks seconds away from completely breaking apart, and Nancy’s trying so hard to stay focused, but Maggie can see the panic cracking through every few seconds whenever Karen’s breathing stutters wrong.

Maggie swallows hard and quietly shifts one hand lower against Karen’s side where Nancy can’t really see.

Just for a second. Pain immediately tears through Maggie’s abdomen like a knife sliding between her ribs.

Her breath catches sharply. She bites down hard on the inside of her cheek to stop herself from reacting. Warmth suddenly spreads beneath her own sweatshirt.

Karen’s body jerks weakly beneath their hands as the deep tearing along her abdomen visibly lessens just slightly. Not even close to healed, but survivable.

Maggie feels another sharp rip of pain across her side and has to duck her head for a second like she’s just adjusting pressure on the wound.

Nancy glances over immediately, “What?”

“Nothing,” Maggie says too quickly.

Nancy narrows her eyes slightly but looks back down at Karen when another cough wracks through her body.

Maggie carefully shifts her hand away from her own stomach before anybody notices the blood beginning to soak through beneath her hoodie.

She can handle stitches. She’s had worse.

Honestly, Hawkins Memorial should probably just start a loyalty rewards program for this group at this point.

Karen’s breathing evens out slightly. It’s still weak, but it’s steadier than before.

Nancy notices immediately. Her forehead furrows.

“She was bleeding worse a second ago…”

Maggie keeps her face completely neutral, “Maybe the pressure’s helping.”

Technically true. Morally questionable. Very on brand for her lately.

Mike suddenly grabs Karen’s hand tighter,”Mom?”

Karen’s eyes flutter faintly toward him again. Nancy visibly relaxes just a fraction. Seeing that alone makes the burning pain in Maggie’s side worth it.

Even if Nancy is absolutely going to lose her mind later when she figures it out. Which she will because Nancy Wheeler could probably solve international espionage conspiracies at this point purely out of spite.

Karen tries to speak again, but breaks into a weak coughing fit instead.

Blood splatters onto Nancy’s sleeve.

Mike turns pale instantly, “Oh God…”

Lucas finally slams the phone down, “They’re coming. Two minutes.”

Maggie nods quickly, then suddenly looks around the destroyed room, “Where’s Ted?”

Nancy glances at her like the thought hadn’t even crossed her mind yet, “I-I don’t know.”

Maggie’s stomach twists, “Nancy, stay with her.”

Before anybody can stop her, Maggie is already moving.

“Maggie-” Nancy starts, panic flashing across her face.

“I’m just checking!”

She follows streaks of blood, heart hammering violently against her ribs. Please don’t let there be another body.

The house feels horribly quiet away from the others. Every creak makes Maggie flinch as she pushes farther inside.

“Ted?” she calls out cautiously.

Nothing. Then she spots him.

Ted Wheeler lies half-sprawled beside the recliner in the living room, unconscious. Blood soaks through the front of his sweater near his abdomen, dripping steadily onto the carpet beneath him.

“Jesus Christ.”

Maggie rushes forward immediately, dropping to her knees beside him, “Ted? Hey. Ted!”

No response, but he’s breathing. Barely.

She carefully lifts his sweater enough to see the wound and immediately grimaces. Deep claw marks tear across his stomach and side. Not as catastrophic as Karen’s injuries, but still bad. Really bad.

“Of course the demogorgon attacked the one man physically incapable of moving faster than a garden snail,” Maggie mutters anxiously while yanking off the overshirt she’d tied around her waist earlier.

She presses the fabric hard against the wound.

Ted groans weakly beneath her hands.

“Good. Great. Stay conscious, you human recliner.”

More blood immediately soaks through the fabric. Maggie looks toward the hallway desperately.

“Lucas!” she yells, “I found Ted!”

Footsteps thunder toward her seconds later.

Lucas appears in the doorway and visibly startles, “Holy shit.”

“He’s alive,” Maggie says quickly, “Barely.”

Lucas immediately kneels beside her.

“Ambulance almost here?” She asks, focusing on keeping pressure.

“Supposedly,” Lucas says.

Ted’s eyes flutter faintly for a second before rolling again.

“Hey, no, absolutely not,” Maggie says firmly, pressing harder against the wound, “You stay awake. Your family is already having enough emotional trauma tonight.”

Ted lets out another weak groan.

Honestly, hearing the man make literally any sound more emotionally expressive than “huh?” is deeply unsettling.

Sirens finally scream outside moments later. Maggie nearly sags with relief.

“Kitchen!” Lucas yells toward the front door before quickly adding, “And another one back here!”

The house suddenly floods with paramedics and noise.

One EMT rushes over to Ted immediately, while another checks Maggie’s blood-soaked hands.

“This your blood?”

“Nope. Just having the worst night of my life, thanks.”

The paramedic carefully moves her aside so they can work on Ted.

Across the hall, Maggie can hear Mike shouting for his mom while more EMTs wheel Karen onto a stretcher.

Everything dissolves into chaos after that. The front lawn fills with flashing red and white lights, painting the Wheeler house in frantic color as paramedics wheel both Karen and Ted toward separate ambulances.

Neighbors stand clustered at the edge of the street in pajamas and jackets, whispering nervously to each other. Mike stays glued to Karen’s stretcher the entire time.

“Mom, I’m right here,” he keeps repeating, voice thin with panic, “Okay? I’m right here.”

Karen barely seems conscious anymore. Oxygen tubes sit beneath her nose now, her skin pale beneath the ambulance lights while the paramedics rush to stabilize the bleeding.

Nancy follows close behind, blood still smeared across her clothes and hands.

One of the EMTs stops her near the open ambulance doors, “Family only.”

“She’s my mom,” Nancy snaps immediately.

The EMT takes one look at Nancy’s face and wisely decides arguing is not worth it tonight.

“Get in.”

Nancy climbs into the ambulance beside Mike without hesitation.

Meanwhile, Ted’s stretcher gets loaded into the second ambulance.

Ted is at least semi-conscious now, blinking sluggishly at the ceiling while a paramedic works over the wound in his abdomen.

“This is unbelievable,” Ted groans weakly.

Maggie stares at him for half a second.

Honestly kind of impressive that even after getting mauled by an interdimensional monster, the man still sounds mildly inconvenienced more than anything else. Truly committed to the bit.

“Honey?” Ted slurs groggily toward the paramedic, “Where’s my recliner?”

The EMT looks deeply unqualified for this conversation. Lucas snorts beside Maggie despite everything.

Mike glances over from the other ambulance, horrified, “Dad!”

Ted squints at him vaguely, “Michael?”

“Jesus Christ,” Maggie mutters under her breath, rubbing exhaustedly at her forehead.

Nancy meets Maggie’s eyes quickly before the doors shut, sharing one moment of nonverbal communication. I’m here.

The sirens erupt almost immediately afterward.

Mike sits beside Karen while Nancy braces herself against the wall of the ambulance as both vehicles tear down the road toward the hospital.

Maggie watches the flashing lights disappear for half a second before Lucas nudges her shoulder.

“We should go.”

“Right.”

She exhales shakily and turns toward Nancy’s car parked crooked near the curb.

The driver’s side door is still hanging open from where Nancy abandoned it earlier.

Maggie slides behind the wheel while Lucas climbs into the passenger seat. The second the door shuts, silence crashes down around them. No sirens or shouting, just Maggie gripping the steering wheel so tightly her knuckles ache.

The car smells like Nancy’s perfume faintly underneath the scent of blood. Maggie stares ahead for a moment before finally starting the engine.

Lucas glances over carefully, “You okay?”

Maggie lets out a short laugh that sounds more exhausted than amused, “Today’s really not beating the ‘worst week ever’ allegations.”

Lucas snorts quietly. Both of them fall silent again as Maggie pulls away from the curb.

Downtown Hawkins blurs past outside the windows, empty streets illuminated by flashing emergency lights in the distance. Military trucks crawl through intersections while soldiers block off parts of the road farther ahead.

Maggie keeps replaying the image of Nancy covered in Karen’s blood over and over again. The fear in her face, the shaking in her hands.

Underneath all of it sits another horrible thought Maggie can’t shake: What if Nancy had gotten there earlier? What if the demogorgon hadn’t left yet?

Her grip tightens harder on the wheel. Pain suddenly pulls sharply through her side. Maggie’s jaw clenches immediately. She shifts slightly in her seat, trying not to aggravate the now very real clawing pain along her abdomen where Karen’s injuries transferred over.

Lucas notices the movement almost instantly, “You okay?”

“Mmhm.”

“Maggie.”

She sighs dramatically, “I’m driving. Don’t start.”

Lucas narrows his eyes, “You’re bleeding.”

Traitor.

Maggie glances down briefly at the dark stain slowly spreading beneath her hoodie and grimaces, “Okay, technically true.”

Lucas goes fully stiff, “What happened?”

She keeps her eyes on the road, “Don’t tell Nancy.”

“Maggie-“

“Lucas.”

He stares at her for a second before realization slowly dawns across his face.

“Oh my God.”

“She was losing too much blood,” Maggie mutters quietly.

Lucas looks horrified, “You took injuries from her?”

“Just enough to help.”

“Just enough?” he repeats incredulously, “You’re literally bleeding through your sweatshirt!”

Maggie presses one hand harder against her side at a red light and winces, “Relax. I’m probably just gonna need stitches.”

“Probably?”

“Well, sorry I didn’t stop to do a full medical assessment while the Wheeler house looked like a murder documentary.”

Lucas runs a hand over his face. “Nancy’s gonna lose her mind.”

“That’s why you’re not telling her.”

He immediately laughs once in disbelief, “You seriously think she’s not gonna notice?”

“I’m hoping the whole ‘both parents almost died’ thing buys me at least an hour before she starts interrogating me.”

Lucas keeps staring at her like she’s insane. Maggie exhales shakily and leans back slightly against the seat.

The pain burns worse now that the adrenaline’s fading. Sharp tears along her side and abdomen pulse every time she moves wrong.

“For now,” Lucas says quietly after a moment.

Maggie glances at him.

“They’re alive,” he clarifies, “That matters.”

The words settle heavily in the car. That’s the problem with living in Hawkins now. “For now” is the best anybody gets.

Maggie swallows hard and looks back toward the dark road ahead.

“For now,” she agrees softly.