"Dustin! Come on!"

His friends' voices were ringing his ear and the demodogs were so close, so close. They were almost upon him and Steve and he barely registered the teen's arms wrapping around him and hoisting him up. He grabbed the rope, swallowing. He was going to get out of this and they were all going to be okay and it was so hot -

Mike's sweaty hand grabbed his own and hoisted him up right as he felt movement underneath, his hands shaking as his mind registered that they weren't all out.

"STEVE!"

It was when Max screamed that he knew, before looking. Lucas shouted desperately, trying to dive in the tunnels with his arm stretched.

Dustin turned around and, with a horrified expression, saw the older boy falling, with the demodogs jumping on him, at least one of them digging its claws into his skin.

"NO!" Lucas shouted as Mike grabbed him around the waist before he could fall in.

Dustin was panicking. His breaths were coming out short and he felt like he was choking as he watched, everything happening in slow motion.

Mike's face was looking beyond horrified; all of a sudden there was tears streaming down his cheeks, or was it just Dustin? Maybe it was him, he didn't know, he just knew he had to get down there because those dogs were trampling all over Steve and he was down there alone and he had lifted him up at the last second.

Max was looking sick. She was the only one who had continued to stare down as the dogs went, not closing her eyes or looking away. She was screaming hysterically, shrieking, "Help him! Oh God, help him!"

Could they help him if he wasn't there anymore?

"They're gone!" Mike shouted but Dustin couldn't look again. Had Steve yelled? He must have, but it might have gotten mixed with their own screams.

If he had yelled, it wouldn't have been out of surprise, right? Just out of pain, because he knew - he must have known - that once he hiked Dustin up there'd be no time for him too. And the thought made him nauseous and so relieved at the same time. It could have been him if Steve decided to just leave it and climb up himself.

And he wanted to throw up and he was disgusted that he felt relieved. He didn't want to feel that, he just wanted to help the older boy and - oh, this had been such a terrible idea, and he'd tried to stop them.

This time, Dustin knew he was crying.

"Help me get him out of there!" Lucas was yelling, with a tight grip on the rope.

"Lucas, you can't! How are we going to hoist him up?" Mike shouted, even though he was crying too.

"WE'RE NOT LEAVING HIM THERE!" Max screamed, her face pale and sick. "He could still be breathing! Get him out, I'll get him out!"

She knew she was close to throwing up. She could feel it. But the only thing going through her mind was that the guy who had stood up to her brother for her and Lucas was now lying with his eyes closed and blood soaking his shirt.

She didn't want this. She would take her home life and a never ending cycle of Billy's abuse over this. She didn't want to see someone die. Just minutes ago, she'd been feeling so grown-up, having stood up to Billy and driving a car, and now, she was fully registering that her and Lucas and Dustin and Mike were all kids, and that this stuff wasn't cool, none of it was…

"I'll go down and push him up," she said shakily, "then you guys can pull me out. Please. Please."

Dustin finally said something, his voice barely understandable as he blubbered the words out. "I - we - we'll b-both go, Lucas, Mike, you pull him up."

Thank God someone else was on her side. Now it didn't matter if the other two disagreed, not that they looked like they did. Her and Dustin jumped down and Dustin dropped to his knees.

"Shit, shit, shit, come on, man, shit," Dustin let out a stream of curses as they both picked up the teen. This wasn't going to be easy, he was heavy and if he wasn't - wasn't dead, then they could injure him more if they dropped him.

But he'd been trampled on, Max thought, tasting her own tears, how could he not be dead?

"Come on, lift up his legs."

Dustin did as she said while she slid her arms under Steve's, and together, they lifted him up. Mike and Lucas both had their arms outstretched, and Max first raised him enough for them to grab Steve's arms before she held his legs and pushed him all the way.

"Does he have a p-pulse?" Dustin shouted.

There wasn't a response right away, so Max screamed.

"DOES HE HAVE A PULSE OR NOT, SHITHEADS?"

Mike gasped out loud before shouting, "He's got a pulse!"

She felt as though she was going to fall over from the relief that went through her head, and, looking at Dustin, she knew he felt the same. The nausea was replaced by dizziness in almost an instant.

Before she knew it, they were out of the tunnels and they were getting Steve into the car. Max had a dull buzz in her head, saying that if she didn't drive fast enough, he would die of blood loss.

She drove like a crazy person. Zoomer, she kept telling herself, she was a zoomer and she was going to get Steve back to one of the adults.

And she did get there. With Lucas screaming directions and Mike and Dustin screaming for her to slow down so that they could cover up Steve's injuries, and then her own self inwardly screaming that they couldn't afford to slow down.

Dustin panicked when he saw that no one was back yet - in fact, he was close to hyperventilating until he squeezed Steve's arm again and felt a pulse. Him and Mike had used their bandanas and found a girl's dress in the back of the car that they ripped up, all to cover any places the teen was bleeding from.

His face was looking even worse now. The dogs had definitely run over it.

If someone were to give Dustin the nail bat right then, he might go after the dogs and beat the shit out of them, one by one.

"Look!"

A car was pulling up - Jonathan's car. All of them leaped out of Billy's car, screaming and running towards them as they got out, Will in Jonathan's arms.

"He's okay!" Mrs. Byers said with a teary smile, misunderstanding their panic.

Mike was the one who grabbed her arm, tugging on her and shouting as her expression slowly grew into one of panic.

"It's Steve!" Dustin screamed, trying to get her to hear, to understand, that Steve needed help, right away.

He didn't know if Mrs. Byers heard him properly. But she was frantically running towards the car anyway, and she let out a soft cry when she saw the boy, yelling out for Jonathan to help her.

"Hurry!" Lucas shouted, as Jonathan gave Will to Nancy, who was looking rather worse for wear herself. They all did.

With Jonathan helping, him and Mrs. Byers carried Steve out, taking him to the house. Nancy gasped, turning to Mike. "What did you do? Where did you go?"

"Doesn't matter!" he shouted (and Dustin knew it wasn't because he was trying to avoid getting in trouble, he was just sick with worry for everyone at this point). "Get him inside!"

As Mike, Lucas, and Max tried to explain Billy's unconscious form, Dustin stared at Steve. He...it had started to seem like they were developing a brotherly relationship. And he would be an awesome older brother. He was awesome. He was cool, and brave...and…

He was way too brave, for sure.

Nancy had laid Will down in Mrs. Byers' room before rushing back, helping Jonathan and his mom as they took out the first aid kid.

"Where is he most injured?"

"I - I don't know," Dustin said, feeling hopeless, "he's bleeding from the stomach but they ran all…" He choked up lightly as the vivid image passed through his mind, but kept talking. "They ran all over him, he could have bruises everywhere."

Nancy looked as ill as he felt. Jonathan had a steely, determined expression, while Mrs. Byers's fingers were shaking as she raised the stitches.

He couldn't watch. He couldn't.

There was another rumble of a car and Dustin took the opportunity, running out the front door, where Hopper and El had just come back.

The gate was closed. It was over. But it wasn't over.

"Hey, what happened? What's wrong?" Hopper was frowning at him, walking closer with El pressed to his side. He was holding her to support her.

Dustin couldn't answer - everything was wrong - but he didn't have to. Hopper easily looked over his shoulder and hissed out, "Holy shit," as he guided Eleven in, yelping when he saw Billy.

Max was staring, terrified, transfixed, as Will's mom stitched Steve up. The chief has just come in with El but she didn't break her gaze away from the teenage boy, his head to the side, his hair a mess.

Now that Mrs. Byers was stitching, his face started moving. He made pained expressions in his sleep, but even that, in some sick way, was relieving, because that meant he was alive.

She didn't even realize how tightly she was gripping Lucas's hand. There was a lump in her throat.

Her stepbrother was out cold because he was a dick, and this random boy she had just met had risked his life for her about three times today. Everything was so messed up.

"He'll be okay," Lucas mumbled softly, and she believed him, but she didn't know if she herself would be okay after tonight.

Or if any of them would be.

When Steve woke up, Max was there. She had made sure she would be, refusing to leave his side the whole night. Same with Dustin.

The sun was rising. The two had been told told to go to sleep numerous times, but they didn't. Mike and Lucas and even Eleven had tried to stay up, but they passed out soon enough.

But Max knew, even with her eyes feeling like they were going to fall off any second now, that it was so worth it.

Steve groaned and Dustin's head snapped up. They both ran over to him (they were in Will's room now) and peered over as he slowly blinked, and then gazed up at them, his eyes widening.

"Fucking...hell…" His words came out weak. "Where are we?"

"The Byers' house," she responded, feeling herself tear up again.

"Shit, everything hurts." Steve groaned lightly as he blinked a couple of times. "Hey, what's up with you two? Did...God, did Will…? Or that girl? Eleven?"

"No!" Dustin whisper shouted, before flinging his arms around the older boy. "You, you idiot! You!"

Steve looked completely baffled, and he turned to face Max for an explanation, but she only shook her head and went for his other side. She couldn't think about anything except…

He was alive. He was awake. And she was so, so tired.

Despite clinging to him, Max knew both her and Dustin were being really gentle, otherwise they could make his injuries worse.

She pressed against his side, and as Steve's arms hesitantly went up and around them, she knew that this was what an older brother should feel like. What she wanted it to feel like.

"It's okay, guys. I'm okay. We're okay. Have you two slept at all?" Steve was looking out at the bright light forcing its way into the room. "Jesus, go to sleep, dipshits. I'm not getting up any time soon."

Dustin's eyes were already closed in front of her, and Max didn't know if he was asleep yet, but she was more than ready to follow suit.

Her decided brother's arm draped over her back, she closed her eyes and drifted off, at peace for the first time since she had snuck out of her house yesterday.

Joyce would walk in half an hour later to see Dustin and Max, pressed up against Steve, his arms wrapped around them and then clinging to him in some way, with all three of them fast asleep.

I have a midterm tomorrow, but my dumbass writer's instinct thought it would be a good idea to write 2100 words instead. It's half an hour to midnight. I am deceased. Please review.