The Girl With The Flamethrower

II.VIII.I

"Come on guys, we should probably go in case they decide to come back," Kimberly says, handing Steve his bag with the bat.

Max looks at her, "Uh Kimmy? Are you ok?"

"Ya why?"

"You look really pale," Lucas answers.

"I do? Maybe it's just the lighting? I mean it is dark out."

Steve looks at her, "Are you hurt?" His flashlight crossed her body, looking for an injury. His light stops at her left leg.

"Shit," Dustin's eyes go wide.

"What?" Kimberly looks down, "Oh well that looks painful."

A large chunk of her leg was covered in blood, one of the monsters had bit her.

Lucas shouts, "Oh my god! How do you not feel that?"

"Mmm, best guess adrenaline. Hang on I have my kit." She grabs her bag and pulls out some scissors, a water bottle, some bandage tape, and some gauze.

She hands Steve the supplies and she leans against a beat-up car. Kimberly pulls her leg close and takes her shoe off.

"Water bottle please?" Kimberly holds her hand out to Steve.

He quickly passes it over, having opened it for her. She gently pours it over to the wound to clean it, she passes it back to Steve.

Steve hands her the gauze and she thanks him. She gently places it over her wound, making sure it was fully covered, and used the tape to secure it in place.

Kimberly places her shoe back on. "See? Good as new. Probably a little lightheaded from the blood loss, but nothing major."

"That looked pretty major, Kimmy," Max looked worried.

"I have a bag of mixed nuts that will help me out. No need to worry, now we should get going." Kimberly repacked her bag and grabbed the snack.

Steve gave her a worried look and stayed by her side in case she needed him.

"I'm good you know? It's just a scratch," she looked up at him.

"That was not just a scratch K! That thing bit you!" Steve whisper yelled at her while the kids started walking into the woods. "Let me carry you."

"No, I am not letting you carry me when I can walk perfectly fine on my own. I'm ok, seriously. Can't even feel it. Probably looks worse than it is."

"You are impossible."

Kimberly rolled her eyes and hooked their arms together so she could snack and use him for support when she needed to just to get him to be quiet and start walking.

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Lucas asks, "You're positive that was Dart?"

"Yes. He had the same exact yellow pattern on his butt," Dustin says.

Max points out, "He was tiny two days ago."

"Well, he's molted three times already."

"Malted?" Steve asks.

"Molted. Shed his skin to make room for growth like hornworms."

"It's something snakes and a lot of reptilian creatures do," Kimberly explains, slightly limping.

Mas asks, "When's he gonna molt again?"

"It's gotta be soon," Dustin explains, "When he does, he'll be fully grown, or close to it. And so will his friends."

"Yeah, and he's gonna eat a lot more than just cats," Steve says.