end zone | STEVE HARRINGTON

forty-four

C H A P T E R F O R T Y - F O U R

season 4 episode 7

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STEVE'S EYES WIDENED AS HE HEARD SOMEONE CALLING OUT HIS AND ROBIN'S NAME. Spitting out the blood from his mouth, after he had also been attacked by the bats he spotted Anastasia slowly limping towards them. Half of her face was covered in blood along with her hands and stomach that was nearly coated and her ankles were worn out. He rushed over to her, helping her stand up as she leaned into him, meanwhile, Delilah was trying to calm Eddie down from his current tantrum.

"You're hurt." Anastasia commented, she was finally reunited with them all after going off on her own and failing at her mission but at least she was back with Steve.

Steve groaned, delicately touching his stomach. "So are you."

Robin's voice interrupted them, "Uh, do you guys think these bats have, like, rabies?"

"What?" Steve asked, glaring over at his best friend who was kneeling down in front of a dead bat.

"It's just that rabies are, like, my number one greatest fear. And I think we should probably get you two to a doctor like really soon because one symptoms set in, it's too late. You're already dead." Robin rambled on, their heads turned simultaneously as the sounds of the bats could be heard from behind them.

Everyone hid together, surrounded in a circle as Anna sent a quick wave to Delilah who returned it before latching herself onto Eddie. Steve held out his arms, "All right. There's not that many. We can take 'em. Right?" As he finished speaking the sound got louder and louder, drawing closer to them.

Anastasia turned her head back to the woods she had emerged from. "The woods. Come on!"

She grabbed onto Steve, as they ran together into the woods. From the corner of her eye she could see Robin running beside Nancy, as Delilah and Eddie ran together. They seemed to have grown closer in their time spent together and Anastasia hoped that their time wasn't too late. She also hoped that they all survived in the Upside Down because so far, her hope was dimming.

They eventually reached a spot that was hidden from the bats, and as they flew over them Anastasia let go of Steve and leaned against the rocks. She gasped for a breath as she reached a hand to her stomach. Steve walked ahead but fell into the wall as Nancy rushed over to him, Anna would have went over but she was busy trying to stop the blood from flowing out of her and as Nancy helped Steve, Robin rushed over to Anna and helped her, following what Nancy was doing by wrapping a piece of clothing around her stomach and then to her ankle.

"Jesus, Robin. Are you trying to kill me?" Anastasia hissed.

Robin apologized but stared down at the girls stomach. "Okay, so the good news is I'm pretty sure wooziness is not a symptom of rabies. But if you start having hallucinations or muscle spasms or you start feeling really aggressive, like you wanna punch me, let me know."

"Robin." She whispered, squeezing her eyes shut from the pain.

"Yeah?"

Anastasia grunted. "I kinda wanna punch you."

Robin chuckled. "Sense of humor's still intact. That's a good sign. Steve told us about your plan, guess it didn't work out."

"What gave it away?" Anastasia asked sarcastically, she glanced over at Steve and Nancy who were too close for her. "What's Eddie doing?"

Robin sighed, looking up to see Eddie climbing one of the trees. Delilah watched him, her arms folded across her chest as she looked at the boy. Eddie turned back around to them all, "So, uh, this place is like Hawkins, but with monsters and nasty shit?"