𝐖𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐍. ˢᵗᵉᵛᵉ ʰᵃʳʳⁱⁿᵍᵗᵒⁿ ¹

033

033. 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗱 𝘁𝗼𝗴𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱
𝗱𝗲𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝘁.

    "𝐆𝐎! 𝐆𝐎!𝐋𝐄𝐓'𝐒 𝐆𝐎!" 𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐕𝐄 𝐇𝐎𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐃. "𝐆𝐎!

    An immediate flush of heat hit Lori in the face, burning past the bandanna mask and wafting through her goggles so that her eyes watered behind them. For a second, all she could see was the color orange. For a second, all she could see were the flames and all she could smell was fire and the sting of gasoline. The smell of the burning vines, the simmering slime brought to a boil. For a second, her entire body went numb as the hub caught fire, eyes stark-wide at the blazing inferno before them. She stared forward for that second, in complete awe and panic, staring at the flailing vines, the particles that fell like cinders and decayed around them like embers.

    When she rose her arm up to cover her face, to block out the unbearable flash of heat, it was grabbed. A hand wrapped around the crevice of her elbow and pulled her to stand with urgency, causing her attention to be ripped from the inferno. Quickly, she ordered her legs to come to their senses and she scrambled to stand up, tripping over one of the ridges in the ground from the fast pace, her feet beginning to move with the others.

    Steve's hand let go of her elbow and absentmindedly placed itself on her back, as he ran a step behind her, making sure she was there and still running, too, as he checked behind them repeatedly. He was hollering for the kids to run faster, his voice echoing especially loud so they could hear over the screeching of the vines behind— so they could hear over the crackling fire and terrible squelches. The kids ran as fast as they could in the dimly-lit tunnel, hopping over the ridges in the ground and squishing their sneakers into the slimy dirt, flashlights glaring at every angle. Their chests heaved unstably, and panic was ridden on all of their faces to match the fright.

    Lori, herself, could not keep up with her own thoughts as they raced faster than her feet. She was hot, scorching all of a sudden, her legs ached as her feet pounded on the sticky ground, she was exhausted, she was scared. The fire was behind them and they were headed for the exit now, but somehow, she still felt like they would never leave those tunnels. Her chest constricted with panic, that same panic that she'd been feeling the last few days about this entire monstrosity, and she found it hard to breathe as she ran. But Steve's hand on her back, making sure she was keeping up, let some sense into her bloodstream and she plowed on behind her cousin.

    Somewhere in all of that, her hand found the hook of Dustin's backpack and it latched there for safe keeping. He was the slowest runner out of all of them, but she just kept pushing him on and somehow it worked. Max was at the front of the line, Lucas was behind him, followed by Mike. And somewhere in all of that— Lori suddenly realized that the kids had no idea where they were going.

    Steve had the same realization, at the same time, as they turned a corner and begun a new path. His hand fell from clutching her jacket and quickly, he rushed past her and Dustin, past Mike and Lucas, and nudged Max out of the way as he tugged the crumpled map from his own pocket. The crinkled paper was newly gripped in his gloved-hand now that he was at the front of the line, and he didn't stop running while he shined the light on it— his head nodding hastily between the tunnels and their makeshift map to keep a good direction.

    "Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!" Dustin was panicking, from beside Lori. "Oh my god!"

    They turned a corner, and Lori realized they were back in the smaller hub like before, where Dustin had been blasted in the face. Steve slowed down for a moment, making sure they were on the right track.