SWORD

nineteen

|CHAPTER NINETEEN|
KEEP US SAFE

"Oh fuck off, Lucas!"
Armani's voice was slightly distorted as Steve's eyes opened, "I'm just saying we would probably be there by now if we didn't have to haul your boyfriend into the car!" "He's not my boyfriend! and shouldn't you be thanking him? he saved your ass!" She leaned forward, almost off of the back seat. The voices, mixed with the sloshing and smell of liquid, soon helped Steve ground himself to reality as he woke up.

Steve squinted as his eyes met a very tired Mike Wheeler, "Nancy?" Steve mumbled, causing Mike to give him a weird look before Dustin, who sat on Steve's right, looked down at him. "Hey buddy. Hey, shh" Dustin leaned closer, his hand holding an ice pack on Steve's red face. Armani turned at the noise, "you're awake!" she flashed a relieved smile, sitting back before pulling Steve's hand away from his own face, "no, don't touch it, you'll get it infected." Steve's groans indicated his pain. "Hey, it's okay. You put up a good fight. He kicked your ass but you put up a good fight." Dustin assured him.

"Where to next?" Armani glanced up at the front seat, "keep straight for half a mile, then..make a left on mount sinai." Lucas spoke as the map crinkled in his hands. Steve moved the ice pack away from his face, turning his attention to the two younger kids in the front of the car. "What's going on?" He muttered, Max turning with anxiousness when she heard him wake. "O-Oh my god!" Steve's speech cleared as he felt himself wake up.

"Steve, relax." Armani warned,
"yeah, she's driven before." Dustin nodded, his voice calm, but arguing soon erupted from the kids. "Yeah in a parking lot!" Mike scoffed, Lucas turned around quickly, "that counts!"

"Oh my god," Steve repeated, he tried to get up. "They were gonna leave you guys behind," Dustin explained, "oh my god," Steve became louder. "I promised that you would be cool, alright! Armani and I weren't gonna let you lay there." Dustin kept saying, Steve slowly tried to get up. "Woah woah woah woah, what's going on!" he spoke, Max slammed her foot on the gas as the car sped up. "Oh, my God! No! Stop! Stop the car! Slow down!" "Steve, calm down, you're fine." Armani spoke, but her words were drowned out by the boy's yells.

"I told you he would freak out!" Mike yelled, looking at Armani and Dustin who were trying to calm the teenager. "Shut up, Wheeler!" Armani snapped at the boy next to her before turning back to the teenager, "Steve, calm down" Armani repeated.
"Stop the car!" He yelled loudly, "Everybody shut up! I'm trying to focus!" Max screamed, her eyes widened as Lucas frantically pointed left, "oh, wait. That's mount sinai! Make a left!" "What?" Max asked, everyone's voices hushed. The boy's voice cracked as he waved his hand to the left, "Turn left!"

Max quickly slammed on the brakes, turning a harsh left the car ran straight into a garbage bin. Everyone in the car was pushed to the side, their screams loud in the quiet night. Steve held onto Armani, pulling her onto him as everyone moved to the side. "Ouch!" She yelled, trying to push away from him, ignoring Steve's high pitched shrills in her ear.

Steve's protests stopped as his energy left him. He seemed almost drunk, and he hadn't let go of Armani yet. "Who–who did that to you," he murmured, pulling Armani's left arm, which was in a sling, over to him. Armani winced at the sudden movement, she shrugged the boy off and sat up straight. "No one, don't worry about it." After a moment of silence Armani turned to face the bruised Steve, who found it hard to keep his eyes opened. "And don't you dare get pissed at me for letting them do this." She continued with a deep sigh, "I'm doing this for my dad."

—

Everyone hurried out of the car once they made it to the pumpkin farm. The hole lay in front of them, bigger than any of them could've imagined. As the kids and Armani covered their eyes with goggles and mouths with bandannas, Steve stumbled out of the car. His groans only covered by the shuffling of the group. "Guys." He muttered, getting up from the ground slowly. "Armani. Oh no." He moaned in pain, leaning against the open door of the car.

"Hey! Where do you think you're going?" Steve asked Mike, who began towards the front of the car. "What are you, deaf? Hello!" He yelled. "We are not going down there. I made myself clear." He turned to the rest of the kids. "Armani! Why aren't you stopping them." He murmured, Armani looked up at him, she gave him a pitiful glance and took out her bat.

"Hey! There is no chance in hell we are going down that hole, alright?" He rambled, quickly walking towards the trunk of the car where Dustin searched for another bandanna and Armani tied up her hair. "This ends right now!" Steve screamed grabbing what was in Dustin's hands and tossing it on the ground. Armani flinched at the volume of his screams, turning Steve back around to face her.

"Steve! Stop!" She finally yelled, causing the boy to silence at her sudden outburst.

"You're upset, i get it. The bottom line is a party member requires our assistance." Dustin explained, Steve rolled his eyes at the boy.

"and it is our duty to provide that assistance! Now I know you two promised Nance you would keep us safe."

Dustin turned to Armani, who took out Steve's bag, along with his bat, handing it to him. "So keep us safe." He finished.