CHAPTER TEN
THE LONG DRIVE
Abby's attempts to actually get them out of the driveway have been . . . unsuccessful. She had tries to ignore the fact that she's still seeing double (though her vision has improved), or that her head is still pounding, or that the ringing still fills her ears muffling the conversation slightly and the fact that her eyes are still stinging from where the blood has dripped into them. There are more important things to deal with. They had patched Abby, Alex, and Steve up the best they could. There's a bandaid staunching the blood flow from her forehead, though she can still feel the searing pain, Alex holds an ice pack to the tender spot on the back of her head and to the arm that she had been dropped on, if she's in major pain, she doesn't say anything. And Steve, arguably in the worst condition of them is still unconscious in the back seat as Dustin holds an ice pack to his forehead. She still doesn't entirely know why he's here, especially since he doesn't approve of their plan, but Dustin had insisted they bring him along.
Abby raises a foot to step on the gas pedal, confident that her double vision will prove no difficulties, after all, she's managed to get the keys into the ignition with little difficulty. And then she misses the pedal and her foot lands in the space between with a small thump. Frowning, she tries again. And misses. Again. Alex stifles a laugh. By then the car has fallen into silence as the kids stare at Abby in concern. Finally, Dustin leans forward and waves four fingers in her face.
"Hey, how many fingers am I holding up?" He questions.
"It's four, dipshit," Abby answers, swatting his hand away from her face. "It's not like I've gone blind. You're just a little blurry s'all."
"Yeah, well, we can't have you driving if you can't see straight," Dustin retorts.
"What do you suggest we do then?" Abby rebukes. "I'm pretty sure I'm the only one who's allowed to drive here."
Billy's car barrels down the road. The car is way over the speed limit, but there's no time for following the legalities of driving. They've already taken up enough valuable time that night fighting with Billy and patching each other up. Abby only hopes that they're not too late, that they still stand a chance against the Demodogs. In the end, though most of it had been tuned out by Abby, with the ringing ears, and pounding head and all, they had decided that Max was the best suitable to drive the car. The girl in question sits in the driver's seat, her gaze focused solely on the road as Lucas shouts directions from the passenger's seat. She's yet to flip the car off the road, which Abby finds a promising aspect (she chooses to ignore the fact that Max has managed to send many mailboxes flying). The rest are squished into the back seat of the Camaro. Abby finds herself squished between Alex and Mike who holds the canister of gasoline in his hands.
"Nancy?" A voice blearily questions.
Steve's eyes have finally fluttered open and his gaze is set on Mike, who stares at him with his eyebrows pinched together, incredibly offended while Alex suppresses a laugh. Steve reaches up to touch his battered and bruised face but Dustin is quick to put out a hand to stop him. His condition had only worsened considerably as more time passed. Though they had managed to clean most of the blood off of Steve's face, some of the gashes that they hadn't been able to cover with the tiny rainbow-striped band-aids that they had uncovered still oozed a little blood as they started to scab over and his nose had swollen considerably.
"No, don't touch it," Dustin whispers. "Hey, buddy ... shh, shh ... it's okay, you put up a good fight. He kicked your ass, but you put up a good fight. You're okay."
"Okay," says Lucas from his spot in the passenger's seat. "You're gonna keep straight for half a mile, then make a left on Mount Siani."
"What's going on?" Steve asks faintly, his words slurred as he looks around the car in a panic.
Max turns back from the wheel to look at Steve in concern and Abby snaps her fingers to get the girl's attention. "Hey! Eyes on the road, Max."
Steve's eyes widen in panic as the pieces click into place. "Oh my god!"
"Just relax, she's driven before," Dustin assures him.
"Yeah, in a parking lot," Mike scoffs.
"Hey, at least she has some idea of what she's doing," Alex argues.
"Yeah! That counts! It's still driving," Lucas agrees.
"And that's the best we have right now," Abby adds.
"Oh my god," Steve repeats as he attempts to push himself up. "Oh my god!"
"They were gonna leave you behind," Dustin is quick to interject. "I promised that you'd be cool okay?"
Alex lets out a groan. "And I promised that he'd freak out, regardless. But did any of you listen? No!"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa," Steve exclaims. His voice rises an octave with each 'whoa' as Max presses down harder on the gas pedal and the speed of the car accelerates. "What's going on?! Oh my god! No. Stop the car! Slow down!"
Alex leans over both Abby and Mike to glare at Dustin. "See? I told you he'd freak out!"
"Stop the car!" Steve screams desperately again.
Abby clamps her hands over her ears as the ringing grows louder and her head pounds harder. The clamor in the car does nothing to decrease the incessant noise. Neither do her hands. Max notices this and screams, "EVERYBODY SHUT UP! I'm trying to focus!"
"Oh wait!" Lucas scrambles for the map. "That's Mount Siani! Make a left!"
"What?"
"Make a left!"
Max's eyes widen and she frantically, violently, jerks the wheel in a desperate attempt to not miss the turn. The Camaro goes flying into a mailbox, knocking it off of its post and sending it flying. Screams fill the air as the car flies into the air for a brief moment, bouncing roughly as it hits the ground and sends the occupants of the back seat rolling into each other. The side of Alex's head hits the window with a crack, Abby is sent flying forward into the front seat and barely puts her arms out in time to buffer the blow, the can of gasoline goes tumbling from Mike's lab as he is thrown forward, and Dustin's elbow catches the side of Mike's head. But the car doesn't slow down, it only goes faster and faster down the road.
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.