𝐎𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐇𝐚𝐥𝐟 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐎𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐢𝐝𝐞 {𝟏}

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟓: 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐃𝐢𝐝 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐬 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭-𝐑𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐭

"I used to be so happy but

without you here I feel so low,

I watched you as you left

but I can never seem to let you go,"

Never Forget You- Zara Larson

"𝐖𝐄 𝐉𝐔𝐒𝐓 𝐓𝐄𝐋𝐋 𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐒 𝐖𝐄 𝐇𝐀𝐃 𝐀𝐕 𝐂𝐋𝐔𝐁 𝐀𝐅𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐂𝐇𝐎𝐎𝐋 That'll give us at least a few hours for Operation Mirkwood." Mike was fervently explaining their plan one more time, even though Caroline was pretty sure it was all going to go to shit.

"You seriously think that the weirdo knows where Will is?" Lucas asked skeptically.

"Just trust me on this, okay?" Mike pleaded.

Caroline groaned inwardly as Lucas sighed. "Okay."

"Did you get the supplies?" Mike looked at the Dustin and Lucas, knowing full well that Caroline hadn't.

She had woken up from another vividly real nightmare last night, and had spent the rest of the early hours of the morning trying to get warm.

She had seen Will again, but he looked even worse this time. He had lost weight- his thin elbows had been poking out from the wet fabric coating his arms. She had tried to get his attention, but just like last time, she ended up stuck, unable to move.

There was no pain like watching him walk away from her, knowing she couldn't run after him.

Lucas zipped open his backpack and started piling things on top of the table, snapping Caroline out of her thoughts. "Yeah. Binoculars... from 'Nam. Army knife... also from 'Nam. Hammer, camouflage bandana... and..." he held up the most prized one of the bunch. "The wrist rocket."

"You're gonna take out the Demogorgon with a slingshot?" Dustin scoffed.

"You did not just diss the wrist-rocket," Caroline glared at him.

Lucas looked at Dustin with a look of disgust. "First of all, it's a wrist rocket. And second of all, the Demogorgon's not real. It's made up. But if there is something out there, I'm gonna shoot it in the eye... and blind it."

Mike sighed in his signature dramatic fashion and turned to their other friend. " Dustin, what did you get?"

Dustin grabbed his backpack and promptly dumped the whole thing out on the table. "Well, alrighty. So, we've got... Nutty Bars, Bazooka, Pez, Smarties, Pringles, Nilla Wafers, apple, banana, beef jerky, and trail mix."

Lucas looked at him in disbelief. "Seriously?"

"Hey, food is justifiable. You all get hangry after, like, five minutes of walking anywhere." Caroline said. "Dusty, Pass me the beef jerky."