Always Be There For You ~ Dustin Henderson x Reader

Chapter 34: The Massacre at Hawkins Lab

TW: PTSD

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Nancy smacked two of the bats off of Steve with an oar. Robin stepped on the long tail of a bat that was strangling him, while Eddie just stood there in shock. I pulled my swiss army knife out of my pocket and dashed over to the group. I cut off the tail of the bat that was wrapped around Steve's neck. The bat fell to the ground. I took all of my buried rage out and repeatedly stomped on the bat's skull.

A bat flew down from above and latched itself onto Nancy's back. Robin snatched her oar and smacked it away, before passing it off to Nancy to finish the job. Steve got up from the ground and wiped his mouth to keep blood from dripping out. We all stood there for a moment, waiting to see if any of the bats we just killed would spontaneously come back from the dead.

"Steve!" I exclaimed, running over to him and examining his wounds with Nancy close behind. Steve had dozens of bite marks all over his chest and bruises on his neck.

"Are you okay?" Nancy asked.

"Well, they took about a pound of flesh. But other than that, yeah, never better," Steve replied.

"Hey guys," Robin was kneeling by the carcass of one of the bats, "Do you think that these bats have, like, rabies?"

"What?" Steve questioned.

"It's just that rabies is, like, my number one greatest fear. And I think that we should get you to a doctor because-"

"Robin," I interrupted her, "I've been attacked by these bats before. Trust me, rabies was the least of my concerns." Seconds after I finished my sentence, a loud screech came from the distance. We looked over to see another horde of bats heading in our direction.

"The woods!" Nancy shouted, pointing in the direction of a forest, "Come on!" We all ran as fast as we could in the direction of the woods, trying to avoid stepping on any vines.

After we made it to the trees, the bats were unable to see us from above, so they flew away. We ended up making it to the Upside Down equivalent of Skull Rock and taking a break there. Nancy tended to Steve's wounds, while Robin freaked out. Eddie and I sat on the ground, catching our breaths.

"Wait. You said something about those bats back there," Eddie commented.

"Oh, yeah. This isn't my first rodeo in the Upside Down," I sighed and gestured towards the scar on my neck, "Remember this thing? Those little shits that were eating Steve alive are the ones responsible."

"Shit," Eddie mumbled.

"By the way, don't step on any vines. Everything's all connected through a hive mind. So, if you step on one vine, you're stepping on every living organism in this hellscape," I explained to the group.

"But everything from our world is still here, right? Except people?" Robin anxiously inquired.

"Yeah," I answered simply.

"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 highly doubt the Hawkins P.D. has grenades, Robin. But guns, one hundred percent."

"Well, we don't need to go all the way downtown for guns," Nancy explained, "I have guns in my bedroom."

"You, Nancy Wheeler, have guns, plural, in your bedroom?" Eddie questioned.

"She's full of surprises, Eddie," I remarked, patting him on the shoulder.