Chapter 31

They hit from the bats under some rocks, Claudia grabbing onto Robin’s hand, this time not worrying about keeping it a secret. “Okay,” Robin said, standing up, “That was close.”

“Yeah,” Eddie agreed, “Too close.”

Steve stood up, but stumbled back down. “Steve?” Nancy said, “Jesus.”

“I’m fine, I’m fine,” Steve lied.

“No you’re not,” Claudia said, running over with Nancy.

“You’re losing a lot of blood,” Nancy said. “Come on, sit. Alright?”

Steve took his hand off the wound the bats had made, chasing Claudia to flinch away. Robin walked over to get a better look, placing an arm on Claudia’s shoulder.

Nancy began ripping a piece of her shirt away, and Robin sat down. “Okay,” she said, “So the good news here is I’m pretty sure wooziness is not a common symptom a rabies. But, uh, if you start having hallucinations or muscle spasms or you start feeling aggressive, like you wanna punch me, let me know.”

“Robin.”

“Yeah?”

“I kinda wanna punch you.”

Robin laughed. “Sense of humour’s still intact, that’s a good sign.”

Robin and Claudia walked away once Nancy had taken a piece of fabric from her shirts. “So, uh, this place is like Hawkins, but with monsters and nasty shit?” Eddie said.

“Yeah,” Claudia said, “Pretty much.”

“Watch out for the vines,” Nancy said, “It’s all a hive mind.”

“It’s all a what?” Eddie asked.

“All the creepy crawlers around here, dude. They’re, like, one or something. You step on a vine, you’re stepping on a bat, you’re stepping on Vecna,” Steve said.

“Shit.”

“But everything from our world is still here? Right?” Robin asked, “Except people, obviously.”

“And food. God, I’m starving,” Claudia said.

“As far as I understand it, yeah,” Nancy said.

“So, theoretically, we could go to the police station and steal guns and grenades and whatever we need to blow up those bat things that are guarding the gate.”

“I doubt the police station has grenades. Can we not just… go to another gate?” Claudia asked.

“No, no, we don’t need another gate,” Nancy said, “I have guns in my bedroom.”

“Yeah, me too,” Claudia said.

“Really?” Robin asked.

“No, I just felt like lying.”

“You, Nancy Wheeler, have guns, plural, in your bedroom?” Eddie asked.

“Full of surprises, isn’t she?” Robin asked.

“A Russian Makarov and a revolver.”

“You almost shot me with that one,” Steve said.

“You almost deserved it.”

The two stared at each other, but Eddie ruined the moment, throwing his sleeveless denim jacket at Steve. “For your modesty, dude,” he said.

The ground began to shake, and Claudia fell, followed by Robin, who ended up in her arms. The bats snarled in the distance, as the earth stilled.

Claudia looked down at Robin. “This is new, usually I’m the one in your arms,” she said.

“Don’t get used to it, I like it the other way round,” Robin said, patting her chest and standing up.

“Yeah, so guns seems like a pretty good idea to me,” Eddie said.

“Yeah, me too,” Robin agreed.

“So, what are we waiting for?” Steve asked, putting on Eddie’s jacket.

——————————

The walk to the Wheeler house was led by Nancy, who was further in front of everyone. Steve and Eddie trailed behind her, then Robin and Claudia behind them.

“Nancy and Steve?” Robin said.

“What about them?” Claudia asked.

“The tension.”

“I don’t know, Robin. I guess they’re kind of cute, like the way Nancy jumped in to save Steve and whatever, but Nancy has a boyfriend. And, like, I like Jonathon. I’d rather date him than Steve.”

“I mean, I hope you won’t date either of them.”

“Obviously! I mean, hypothetically, if I was Nance, I’d stick to what I have. I mean, has Steve ever told you about that fantasy he has?”

“He tells me about a lot of his fantasies, babe, you’re gonna have to be more specific.”

“He wants six kids. Me personally, I couldn’t handle that.”

“Well, you don’t have to handle it. It’s not like you can get pregnant, and, I mean, we’re not allowed to adopt, so…”

“Wait, we’re not?”

“Claudia. It’s only just became legal for us to exist and you think these bitches want us having kids?”

Claudia looked down at the floor. “Holy shit. I guess because I never realised I was, you know…”

“You can say lesbian, Claudia.”

“I know, I know. Anyway, I guess because I was so late to realise, I never really noticed the, like, affects it could have on me. I mean-“

Before the conversation got too deep, another earthquake came over them. “Okay,” Robin said, “Second on my list of least favourite thing, earthquakes. Seriously, I’m unsteady enough as it is.”

They all held onto trees, until the earthquake passed over, and Nancy ran off. “Nancy, where are you going?” Claudia asked.

They followed Nancy and, in the distance, saw the Wheeler house.

“Come on.”