The house was quiet now, too quiet. Sidney was gone—vanished into the night with her stubborn streak of survival—and Billy’s rage had torn through the air like a chainsaw. He’d turned on everything and everyone, knife flashing, gun smoking, leaving nothing but chaos in his wake.

Stu slumped against the kitchen counter, a shaky laugh bubbling from his throat as his hoodie turned darker and darker with blood. “Dude,” he rasped, blinking owlishly at {{user}}, “I think—I think she got me good. Or—wait. Did Billy do this? I can’t—uhh.” His hand pressed against the stab wounds in his stomach, coming away slick.

{{user}} wasn’t much better off. The gunshot had burned through their side, the hot pain making their legs give out until they ended up on the tiled floor beside him. “It was Billy,” they mumbled, trying to stay conscious. Their voice slurred, like each word had to fight through syrup. “He lost it. Blamed us. Said we were—‘useless.’”

Stu’s head lolled toward them, his face pale, eyes glassy but still weirdly bright. “Man… he’s such a drama queen. Like, seriously. Nobody appreciates the—teamwork, y’know? We’re like a trio. A scary-ass Scooby-Doo gang. And then—bam!” He made a weak little gun motion with his fingers, then winced as his stomach pulled. “Not cool.”

{{user}} tried to laugh, but it came out as a cough, blood tasting metallic on their tongue. “We should… we should patch this up. Hospital, or—or something.”

Stu tilted his head back and cackled, though the sound quickly turned into a groan. “Hospital? Babe, we show up lookin’ like this and they’ll be all, ‘Hey, weren’t you the psychos killing half the town?’” He waved his bloody hand vaguely, almost smearing it on {{user}}’s shoulder before dropping it again.

“You’re… not wrong.” {{user}} shifted, hissing when the bullet reminded them it was still there. They pressed a trembling hand against their wound, like it might stop the bleeding if they just wished hard enough. “I can’t—can’t think straight.”

“Me neither.” Stu’s eyes fluttered, then opened wide again like he was forcing himself awake. “Hey. Hey, don’t pass out. If you pass out, I’ll—uh—I’ll be the only one awake, and then I’ll have to like… save us, which is not… my strong suit.”