𝖕𝖆𝖗𝖆𝖓𝖔𝖗𝖒𝖆𝖑 || 𝘀. 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗼𝗻

S2E9: The Gate Part 2

I nudge him in the shoulder. "First time in the Upside Down? Trust me. It's not fun."

It's not really the Upside Down, but it looks exactly like it. The other dimension has infiltrated our world with these tunnels.

"Wait, you've been in that world before?" He asks.

"Mhm. Last year Nancy and I got stuck in the Upside Down and were hunted by the Demogorgon. We barely got out alive."

"Jesus," he mutters, his voice muffled by the bandana. "She never mentioned anything about that..."

"I'm not surprised. It was pretty traumatic for us. She probably didn't want to re-live it."

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure it's this way," Mike calls from the head of the group, looking at a map he drew.

"You're pretty sure, or you're certain?" Dustin asks skeptically.

"I'm 100% sure." He turns to face the group, exasperatedly waving his flashlight around. "Just follow me and you'll know." Mike begins down the tunnel, leading the way.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hey, hey, hey, hey. I don't think so," Steve says, forcing Mike to stop. "Any of you little shits die down here, y/l/n and I are getting the blame. Got it, dipshit?" He takes the map from Mike. "From here on out, I'm leading the way. And y/l/n takes up the rear—Make sure no one gets left behind. Come on, let's go."

I step to the side, letting the kids go ahead of me so that I can take up the rear.

"Come on!" Steve shouts at the kids from down the tunnel. "Hey, a little hustle!"

I take one last look at the hole we came in from and then take off after them, trying not to trip over any vines.

It's beyond creepy. I keep looking over my shoulder down the tunnel, paranoid a full grown Demogorgon will suddenly appear and attack me. The air is so thick with particles it's hard to see the people ahead of me. I feel alone in this dark, horrifying place.

If Billy hadn't shown up and beat Steve senseless and suffocated me, the kids wouldn't have ever kidnapped us and we wouldn't be in this situation. Life sucks sometimes.

Steve rounds a corner ahead, then stops, forcing us to stop, too.

Lucas looks around at the small intersection of tunnels. "God."

"What is this place?" Max asks.

"Guys, come on. Keep moving." Steve continues down a different tunnel and the kids follow.

Dustin hangs back with me, getting distracted by a bulbous, fleshy wart on the ceiling. It pulses like something's inside trying to spurt out.

"What the hell," Dustin mutters, looking up at it. Suddenly, it sprays particles all over his face. He screams at the top of his lungs. "Shit!" He falls backwards, his limbs flailing around as he tries to get the stuff off of him.

"Dustin!" I panic, not knowing what to do. I pull him to his feet and push him in the direction of the others. "Steve! Guys!"

"Help! Help! Help!" Dustin wails. He collapses on the ground, having a fit.

"Dustin." Mike rushes over to us, the others right behind him.

"Shit!" Dustin screeches, arms still flailing around.

"Dustin, what's wrong!?" I ask, grabbing onto his shoulders.

"SHIT!"

Steve frantically pushes his way through the others. "What happened!? What happened!?"