Seven

I shivered every time my bare feet came in contact with the cold, wet leaves and twigs beneath me. It had been raining pretty much nonstop for the last twenty-four hours or so and although it had now finally stopped, the air was still freezing and my ripped old hospital gown definitely wasn't the appropriate attire for this weather. I took every step with caution, not wanting to step on a thorn or pinecone or anything that could hurt me were I to step on it. After a year of living off of whatever scraps I could find in the garbage and finding shelter under nothing but trees and if I was lucky, alleyways, you'd think something mildly pricking the sole of my foot would be the least of my worries, but here we are. I was so concerned about watching my step that I forgot how wet and slippery the ground was, until I skidded on a leaf and tumbled forward. Just to make things worse, I happened to be on a slope and ended up falling all the way down the hill, landing right at the bottom where there happened to be a road. The good news is, I landed on the side of the road as oppose to in the middle. The bad news is, my ankle was in excruciating pain to the point where it was throbbing. I don't know if I broke it or not, but I do know it hurt too much to get up when I tried to do so. I sat there and pulled my knees to my chest, tears springing to my eyes. I was crying partly because of the pain, but also because I was now stranded here where anyone could find me, including the bad people.

Mike

Me, Will, Dustin and Lucas were riding home from school when I spotted someone sat on the side of the road.

"Hey, who's that?" I pointed to them.

"I don't know, but can we please hurry up and get to your house? I'm starving." Lucas complained.

"We can't just leave them, what if they're hurt?" I said.

"Mike's right, we should at least see if they're okay. Come on," Will agreed and so we all cycled over to the person. As we got closer, I realised it was a girl around our age. She had short chestnut hair, the same colour as Will's actually, and it stopped just under her ears. She was wearing what looked like a hospital gown - or old, dirty, ripped cloth that used to be a hospital gown - and she had dirt and mud all over her face, legs, arms and other places. I don't want to sound mean, but she looked like she hadn't showered in a very long time. Her face was buried in her knees but as soon as she heard our tires on the gravel her head shot up, bloodshot eyes wide. She looked terrified.

"Are you okay?" Will asked her but she just continued to stare. It was then that I noticed the tearstains on her cheeks.

"Have you been crying?" I frowned. When she still said nothing, I got off my bike, gently set it down and walked towards her. I heard her breathing pick up as she cowered away, looking even more scared.

"It's okay, I'm not going to hurt you." I told her softly, kneeling down in front of her, "We just want to help you." She relaxed the tiniest bit and that was when I noticed her clutching her foot, more specifically, her ankle.

"Have you hurt your ankle?" I asked and she slowly nodded, "Can you walk?" She shook her head. I glanced back at the boys and they all looked concerned, except for Lucas.

"Come on, we can get you to a hospital." I reached my hand out for the girl, but she flinched, terror returning to her eyes. The way she reacted made me feel terrible for her.

"I'm not gonna hurt you, okay?" I reassured her, my voice firm in hopes of convincing her, "We can find you someone to look at your ankle."

"No hospital." She muttered and I smiled slightly because she finally spoke. Her voice was soft but hoarse, as if she hadn't used it in quite a while.

"Okay..." I trailed off, trying to think of what to do next. I knew she probably needed to go to hospital, but if she really didn't want to I wasn't going to force her.

"How about you come back to my place? You can rest your ankle and get cleaned up a little." I offered. She stared at me and I could tell she was thinking about it.

"You can trust me, I promise. You can trust all of us." I gestured slightly to Will, Dustin and Lucas.

"How do I know that?" She whispered.

"Well, you can't for sure, you just have to take my word for it. It seems risky, I know, but I swear we're not going to hurt you, you have to believe that." The look on her face told me I was getting through to her, "Come on, you can't stay here, what if you get hit buy a car or someone tries to kidnap you?" She tensed up when I mentioned the kidnapping but I decided not to question her about it now, "Okay, I'll tell you what; you come back with us now so we can sort your ankle out and after that, if you still don't feel safe, you can leave."

"Okay." She finally said and a smile appeared on my face.

"Okay?" I asked for clarification and she nodded.

"Are you serious, Mike?!" Lucas yelled from behind me but I ignored him.

"Listen, we need to get you on the back of my bike without hurting your ankle too much so I'm gonna have to carry you, okay?" I warned and she looked worried, "I'll be gentle, don't worry, and I won't hurt you." I gave her a soft smile which she kind of returned and I took that as an okay sign. She flinched when I tucked my arms under her legs and arms but she didn't struggle or try to push me away. I carefully lifted her and carried her over to my bike, which Will was holding upright for me.

"Thanks, Will." I said as I gently put the girl on the back of my bike. Will just nodded with a small smile before he went back over to his own bike.

"See, that wasn't too bad, was it?" I smiled at her and she gave me a tiny smile back, "You should smile more, you have a pretty smile." I randomly told her and she blushed. I got on the bike in front of her and started peddling home, Will, Dustin and Lucas following us. We soon arrived at my place and snuck her down to the basement. I knew my mom would lecture me about talking to strangers if she saw the girl.

I sat her down on the couch so I could see to her ankle, but then I realised I actually had no idea what I was doing.

"How do I tell if it's broken?" I asked anyone who was listening.

"How are we supposed to know? We're not doctors!" Lucas snapped and I glared at him. He'd been nothing but crabby since we found the girl, who's name I have yet to learn.

"Does it feel broken?" I asked her and she shook her head.

"I don't think so." She said softly.

"I mean... It doesn't look broken, just a bit swollen and bruised. Maybe you just badly twisted it or sprained it or something."

"Sprained?" She looked at me, confused.

"Yeah, it's kinda like when you break something but it's not as bad." I explained and she nodded in understanding.

"Uh, just wait here, I'll go get you a bandage." I said, standing up and running upstairs, where I went into the kitchen and grabbed the first aid kit.

"Michael?" Mom then walked in with Holly on her hip.

"Hey, Mom." I greeted her briefly.

"Hey, what are you doing with the first aid kit?"

"Oh, uh, Will cut himself." I spouted the first lie I could think of.

"Oh, is he okay? Do you want me to come down and-"

"No!" I shouted a little do desperately, before saying in a calmer voice, "I mean, it's fine, he's fine. It's just a little blood."

"Alright, well, be careful down there, we don't want any other injuries."

"We will, bye!" And with that, I was gone. I ran back downstairs, where the girl was still sat on the couch and the boys were just staring at her.

"Guys, she's not a zoo animal." I scowled as I pushed past them and knelt down in front of her.

"There, that should do it." I said once I finished wrapping her ankle in gauze before standing up, "Do you think you can stand long enough to take a shower?"

"I think so." She replied quietly.

"Okay, hang on." I walked over to the laundry basket and pulled out a pair of black sweatpants of mine and a red hoodie that was mine as well. I also grabbed a plastic bag before going back over to the couch.

"To put over your foot so the bandage doesn't get wet." I explained when I handed her the plastic bag, only to receive a look of confusion in return. I helped her up from the couch and walked her over to the bathroom.

"You can hold onto the shelf in the shower to help you stand." I suggested and she just nodded. She gave me a small smile before going into the bathroom and shutting the door.

"So, what are we going to do with her?" Dustin asked when I went back over to sit on the couch.

"I know what we can do with her." Lucas muttered and I decided I'd had enough of his attitude.

"What is your problem?!" I snapped.

"What's my problem? What's your problem, Mike?! I thought you'd learnt your lesson after last time!"

"After last time? What's that supposed to mean?" I narrowed my eyes at him and guilt overtook his face for a second. He knew I was still getting over Eleven.

"I'm just saying; sometimes people find a cat on the streets and take it home, that's normal. You know what's not normal? Finding a girl in the streets and taking her home!"

"Well, we couldn't just leave her there when she couldn't even walk! Anything could've happened to her!" I argued.

"But why does that have to be any of our concern? We don't even know her!" He argued back and I couldn't believe what he was saying.

"How can you be so horrible?!"

"Yeah, have a heart, man." Will said while Dustin nodded in agreement.

"I'm not being horrible, I'm just being reasonable!"

I chose not to reply as I couldn't be dealing with the crap coming out of Lucas' mouth any longer so I just moved on with the conversation, "Look, all that matters right now is her getting better. Once her ankle heals, we'll figure out what to do." Just as I said that, I heard the bathroom door click and looked up to see the girl, still nameless may I add, stood there with her face now free of any grime and droplets of water falling from her hair onto the shoulders of my hoodie.

"All good?" I asked as I got up and walked over to her.

"All...good." She repeated with a nod and I smiled at her before leading her over to the couch again. I was finally about to ask her name, when Will beat me to it.

"Hey, what's that on your arm?" He reached forward to touch her arm, which was on display since she had my sleeves rolled up, but she quickly pulled away. However, she wasn't quick enough that we didn't all see what was tattooed on her arm; 007.