The Long Game━ (l. sinclair)

all colors lead to gray (get it?)

"Jesus," muttered Lucas under his breath, not really feeling like this was real. They're only twelve, but Sam was creating a plan so they can hide like fugitives. "Okay. Okay, that works." Back into his Walkie, Lucas desperately called, "Mike! Mike, are you at your house?! MIKE?!"

There was no response. Sam and Lucas's heads turned to each other, making fearful eye contact.

"MIKE, DO YOU COPY?!" Sam attempted, desperate for some semblance of an answer.

Nothing.

Lucas shook his head anxiously as they biked. "He's not answering! What if the Bad Men got him?!"

"No," pressed Sam, not even allowing herself to think of the possibility. "When he responded to us, he said, 'we can't understand you,' so try Dustin. He always has his Walkie on and connected to that headset."

Trying his best not to crash, Lucas kept one hand gripping the bar of his bike and unlatched the other one to fumble with his Walkie. He switched the channel to the one Dustin's Walkie was default set on.

"Dustin!" Lucas tried. "Dustin! Dustin?!"

Sam begged, "Dustin, please! Do you copy?!"

"Dustin, do you copy?!" asked Lucas, sounding just as tired with Sam with the amount of physical effort they'd been exuding.

And as if a prayer was answered—

"Yeah! Lucas, Sam, they're on us!" came Dustin's warbled voice through the Walkie.

Sam and Lucas looked to each other gratefully. Although it wasn't good the Bad Men were following their friends, Dustin had answered, so they weren't dead.

Not yet, at least.

"WHERE ARE YOU?!"

"CORNWALLIS!"

Under any other circumstance, Sam would have smiled. She was right about them being at Mike's house, so they could follow through with her impromptu plan.

"Alright, Dustin, listen to me!" shouted Sam, legs burning as she biked impossibly faster. "MEET US AT ELM AND CHERRY!"

"Copy! Elm and Cherry!"

Sam and Lucas continued as swift as their legs could bike them. The Party knew the town by heart, so they didn't even need to look at street signs to get to their chosen destination. The kids even knew the shortcuts, so Sam turned sharply, leading Lucas off of an actual road and cutting through in front of Brimborn Steel Works.

They continued riding desperately, wanting to reunite with their friends more than anything. The duo ended back onto the streets, thankfully reaching Cherry Oak quickly.

Through the trees, Sam could make out the biking figures of Mike, Eleven, and Dustin. She and Lucas wasted no time in peddling further, finally meeting up with their friends.

For some reason, though, Mike skirted to a stop with Eleven at the back of his bike. Dustin was pulled up to the left of him.

Sam and Lucas came up from behind, both of them abruptly stopping at Mike's right side.

"Lucas!"

"Sam!"

While Sam and Lucas were happy their friends seemed so relieved to see them, they didn't have time to dwell on that right now.

Lucas sounded more exhausted and breathless than ever when he wasted no time with, "Where are they?"

"I-I don't know!" Mike responded anxiously, sounding taken aback with how disheveled Sam and Lucas were.