✓ Adventures In Babysitting / Steve Harrington ¹

𝙭. the long drive

The car pulls hard into a field before it pulls to a screeching, jarring halt in front of the gaping hole that Hopper had dug.  Abby is catapulted forward once more along with Alex, Mike, and Dustin who let out loud yells as they collide painfully with the backs of the driver's and passenger's seats.  There is a brief moment of silence, where everything goes still and the tenants of the car let out long relieved breaths before, with her stomach churning violently and head throbbing uncontrollably, Abby is quick to scramble over Alex and push open the car door, falling onto all fours as she empties the contents of her stomach onto the ground in front of her.

Briefly, she hears Alex say, "Holy shit!  I think my life just flashed before my eyes." 

She doesn't hear any reply before she heaves and throws up again.  The rest of the teens stay in the car as they catch their breath.  She takes a deep breath of the fresh air, filling her lungs and calming her churning stomach.  Even her head seems to pound a little bit less and the ringing in her ears seems softer.  Her vision has cleared up almost completely now, as she looks around and the field that they've found themselves in.  There's still the faintest trace of a double, but it's not enough to impair Abby.  Just in front of the car sits their entrance to the tunnels.

After a few moments of silence, the younger teens file out of the car, a hand is offered down to Abby, and Alex helps to pull her up.  They circle around to the back of the Camara where Lucas has popped open the trunk.  They produce goggles, bandanas, and any other protective gear that they could use to fend off the toxic atmosphere of the Upside Down.  

Steve lets out a loud groan as he tumbles out of the car.  

"Guys," he groans, but he goes unheard as the teens tie the bandana's around their heads and strapped on their goggles.  Steve lets out another groan as he uses the car to pick himself up, surveying the scene before him.  "Oh, no.  Guys. Hey!" He calls as Mike makes his way toward the entrance of the gaping hole with rope and gasoline in hand.  Mike ignores him.  "Where do you think you're going?  What, are you deaf?  Hello?"

They continue to ignore Steve as they make their preparations the plunge into the great unknown below Hawkins.  Abby's breath rattles slightly as she checks the back of everybody's bandanas to make sure that they're secured tightly.  She's leading them into uncharted territory.  Even with all their planning, there's still plenty of risks that lay in the tunnel.  They still don't know what they're going to find down there, but Abby hopes that Steve's bat will be enough to defend themselves with.  But at least they're doing something.  They're tired of being on the bench because right now, the other team is at an advantage, they have more points, they have more power.  But it's their time to try again and make a difference in the game.

"Hey, Foster, what the hell are you doing?" Steve shouts.

"What does it look like?" Abby responds.  "I'm going with them down into that tunnel, and we're burning the hell out of it."

"You've gotta be shitting me," Steve grumbles.

"No, Harrington, I'm not," she replies evenly.  "Because the other team has a big fucking advantage right now, and the only way that we can even it out is if we get off the bench.  And we're off the bench now whether you like it or not.  So either you stay up here and continue whining like a baby, or you come down there and you help us."

"Hey, there is no chance we are going into that hole, all right?" Steve shouts as Abby turns on her heel and grabs her own canister of gasoline  When his companions continue to ignore him, he slams his hands on the hood of the car and shouts, "This ends right now!"

"Steve!" Dustin exclaims, his voice slightly muffled by his bandana.  "You're upset, I get it.  But the bottom line is, a party member requires assistance, and it is our duty to provide that assistance."  As Dustin speaks, the rest of the group trails toward the gaping hole.  Behind him, Mike trails the rope which is securely tied to the Camaro.  "Now, you promised Nance that you'd keep us safe.  So keep us safe."

Dustin offers Steve the spare backpack filled with the spare supplies they had brought for him.  His bat sticks out of the opening and hesitantly, with a grim expression, Steve takes the backpack from Dustin.

Abby stands before the hole as they wait for Steve to gear up.  It's dark and deep, and she can barely see the bottom.  It's hard to tell where the dirt stops and the black and blue tunnel begins.  There's an eerie blue glow that shines softly from it and sends chills down Abby's spine.  The hole seems to leer at her maliciously and the more she stares at it the more daunted she becomes but they can't turn back now.  Not when they've already gotten so far.

author's note: the chaos in this chapter was ... chaos.  and yeah, um, abby is not okay, but she just smiles through the pain.