MADELINE, dustin henderson

|016

After we pour and spray the gasoline everywhere, we stand by the tunnel we came from.

"Alright, you guys ready?" Steve asks and we all agree. He throws his opened lighter into the gasoline, making the whole place catch on fire. I quickly grab onto Dustin's hand.

"Let's go, let's go! Let's go!" Steve shouts as we all run into the tunnel, making our way towards the hole. As we run, I notice Mike trip and fall, a vain grabbing onto his leg.

"Help! Help! Help!" he yells and I quickly let go of Dustin's hand, running over to Mike.

"Mike! Mike!" I shout as I try to rip the vain away as the others get to us as well. I grab the bat I took with me earlier, swinging it and hitting the vein hard enough for it to let go of Mike. He pushes away and I grab his hand, pulling him up.

"Thank you, Maddie. Really, thanks—"

"Shut it right now, let's go!" I cut him off and he nods. As we all try to head away again, a Demodog stops us. Mike tightens the grip on my hand.

"Dart?" Dustin asks as he looks at the creature.

"Is it really..." I trail off, slowly letting my hand fall off of Mike's. Dustin starts to walk closer to it, making everybody talk over each other for him not to get any closer.

"Trust me. Please," Dustin says as they stop talking. I start to walk closer too, but a hand on my wrist stops me. I look down at it and then up, seeing Mike.

"Mike..." I mutter, but he shakes his head. I just sigh as I look at Dustin and Dart again.

"Hey, it's me, it's me. It's your friend, it's Dustin," he says as he takes off his bandana and goggles.

"It's Dustin, okay? You remember me? Will you let us pass?" Dustin asks, but Dart roars, scaring everyone and Mike hides me behind him.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry. I'm sorry about the storm cellar, that was a pretty douchy thing to do. You hungry? Yeah?" Dustin continues as he reaches inside his backpack.

"He's insane," Lucas whispers as we all shut him up.

"I've got our favorite. Nougat!" Dustin says, breaking the bar in half and placing it in front of Dart. While he eats, Dustin motions for us to walk past him. We quietly do so and I pull my hand away from Mike's, looking at Dustin.

"There's plenty, I've got more," Dustin states as I slightly smile. Everyone passes by Dart and Dustin stands up too, turning to me.

"Come on, Dustin. We have to go," I say as he walks over to me, looking at Dart one last time. Dart turns to him, but then back to the nougat again.

"Goodbye, buddy," Dustin says, turning back to me.

"It's for the best," I state, grabbing his hand. He nods and I pull him away and to the others.
As we get closer to the rope we climbed down with, we hear distant screeches.

"What was that?" Max asks.

"They're coming. Go, go!" Mike exclaims and we continue to run down the tunnel. We spot the rope, trying as quickly as we can to climb up. As me, Mike, Max, and Lucas climbed up the rope, Dustin and Steve stay down there. The screeching gets closer and closer to them and I reach my hand down the hole.

"Dustin! Come on!" I yell, but it was too late. The Demodogs came into the view, surprisingly running past them.

"Eleven," Mike mutters as all of the Demodogs run around them. We help Dustin and Steve up the rope and suddenly, the lights from the car light up and stop after a few seconds.

"Did she..." I trail off, looking towards Mike. He looks at me.

"El closed the gate," Mike says and Max and I look at each other. I suppose we're thinking about the same thing since we both embrace each other in a tight hug.

"Holy shit," Max mutters into my hair and I nod, a sob escaping.

"Yeah, holy shit," I say and we both laugh slightly, pulling away from each other. Mike walks over to us, coughing to get our attention. We both turn to him.

"Um..." he trails off, making me and Max exchange confused looks.

"I'm sorry I didn't want you in our Party. I just—"

"No, no. We get it," Max cuts him off and I nod.

"Yeah, it's fine," I say with a small smile.

"And..." he starts again, turning to look at Dustin and Lucas, who nod with a smile. Mike turns back to me and my sister. "I thought, if you'd like to, you could enter our Party as a fighter and a zoomer," Mike says and me and Max exchange happy looks.

"Of course, we'd love to!" I exclaim with a short laugh.

"And I wanted to thank you for saving me from that vein," he adds, looking at me.

"Of course. I'm the Party's fighter, am I not?" I smile.