032. 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗹𝘀: 𝘂𝗽 𝗶𝗻 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗳𝗹𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘀.
𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐃 𝑷𝑼𝑻𝑹𝑰𝑫 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐈𝐍𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐃 for the sole purpose of describing Hawkins' underground tunnels, because that's exactly what they were— absolutely and horrifyingly putrid. Thick, sticky slime coated every inch of every wall, and there were these particles floating around in the suffocating air like pollen on a spring day. The only normal things about the tunnels were the uneven ground leveling, and the hollow atmosphere for voices to echo. But nothing else. Everything was bathed in a blue color, or maybe it just seemed that way from the glare of the Camaro headlights up above the tunnel opening. The rope was attached to the bumper of the car, and fell into the opening, reaching just to the slimy floor.
The tunnels stretched on like dendrites, splitting in all kinds of confusing, different directions ahead. Along the length of each slimy segment, there were these sort of rings that lined the walls and the roof and the ground. It was easy to see that those things inhabited this place— the demodogs. The tunnels were an exact replica of their appearances— slimy, gory, sticky, and dark. And as soon as the kids stepped foot into said-tunnels, it all made sense. This was where they circulated, this was their form of transportation and it'd been like this for god knows how long. This was what had been rotting the pumpkins, it had all been happening right beneath their very feet.
Feet. Lori's feet collided with the ground of the tunnel opening, emitting a loud squelch as her shoes squished into the slime. She let out a quick huff of air, but that huff turned into a tight gasp when she lifted her head up, eyes instantly going wide at the sight before her. Her lips parted beneath the bandanna covering her mouth, and her eyes were so wide behind the swimmer's goggles— but even through the tint of the goggles, she could still see the grandeur of what she'd gotten herself into, clear as day. Her heart immediately skipped into a race, and her stomach tightened.
The tunnels were equally as terrifying as they were marvelous.
"Mon dieu..." she whispered out loud.
She could not stop her eyes from travelling across every inch of her surroundings. Face struck with shock, worry, and fear, she looked around at every wall and the slime that coated them, the roof above her head that sunk with gore, and the abhorrent aroma that she could smell even through the mask. All of it, absolutely repugnant and petrifying.
There was a sensation burning in the middle of her chest, and she knew that it had to do with the pumpkin patch. She looked up at the opening she'd just fallen from, thinking about all the decaying pumpkins she'd seen on her very first day in Hawkins, the absolute curiosity that the entire thing caused her. She knew all along, that none of it was normal. And now look where she was— standing in a pile of slime underneath the damned rotting pumpkin patch, in the midst of countless inter-dimensional tunnels. All of the curiosity that had racked her brain for days upon days, that caused her anger and desire for answers— dissipated now. She was right. She'd been right from the start.
And it was an overwhelming feeling to be right. To be right after such a long time of trying to convince everyone else of her superstitions, it was an overwhelming feeling. If it were not for the fact that she was in the tunnels now, on a very important mission, she'd probably have run down the streets of Hawkins screaming that she was right. Except, she thought now— as she stared around at the tunnels— was it a good thing to be right about this?
Nevertheless, the place in her chest that housed all of the curiosity and desire for answers, along with the hatred for not receiving said-answers, was replaced with fulfillment. Or something of the sort. She had her answers now. She was seeing it with her own two eyes.
But was fulfillment supposed to feel this gut-wrenching?
"Holy shit," Steve breathed out, as he, too, gaped at the tunnels surrounding him.
The knockout seemed to be wearing off by now, if not completely gone. He'd put goggles on his head too, keeping a bandanna in place over his mouth just like the others. The bat of nails was hanging loosely at his side, unable to be held steady because of the sheer amount of awe that took over his senses right then as he looked around.
It took the two teenagers, rather guardians, a minute more for decision. The kids would not change their minds. Lori couldn't stop her cousin from going into those tunnels if it were the last thing she'd do. Lori had checked Steve's capability, asking him a multitude of questions to evaluate if he was stable enough to venture with them— but she knew he would've still lead the way even if he was half dead. There was no time to hug him, or kiss him like she desperately wanted to do— well, not entirely, because his lip was busted and still bleeding— or to tell him about the worry she'd felt when she thought he was a goner. How she'd felt when she saw him lying there, beaten up and unresponsive. Or the sheer relief she'd felt when his pulse palpitated beneath her fingers. Or the fact that she'd never felt any of the above, about anyone else ever before.
But here they were, standing beneath the tunnel opening, hip by hip like the team Steve told her they were. His hand found its way to her arm without looking for it, and he squeezed it for a moment, to make sure she was alright beside him.
"Jesus," Lori whispered, the word just scraping by the barricade of her mask. She couldn't think of anything else to say other than words of awe, her mouth simply couldn't utter anything different.
Dustin was near, shining his flashlight down the rest of the tunnel and around at the walls. The other kids were doing the same thing, shining their flashlights all around with looks of shock and disbelief on their faces.
"Uh," Mike's voiced echoed from somewhere down the line. He paused for a long moment before speaking again. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure it's this way!" he called. His flashlight glared down at the paper in his hand— a makeshift map of the tunnels they'd sprung up before leaving.
"You're pretty sure, or you're certain?" Dustin asked, from behind Lori.
Mike turned and looked at them, putting his hands out. "I'm one-hundred percent sure, just follow me and you'll know!"
He turned around, but he didn't get far before Steve called him out, as he strapped his backpack on his shoulders.
"Woah, woah, woah," he said, shining his flashlight on Mike. "Hey, hey, hey, hey— I don't think so."
Steve moved his hand from Lori's arm down to her hand, closing his palm over her's. He squeezed it hard, before letting go and stepping away, as if silently telling her something.
Mike stopped as Steve slowly approached. "What?" he said.
"If any of you little shits die down here, we're gettin' the blame," he pointed back to Lori with his other hand. He stopped in front of Mike. "Got it, dipshit?" he took the map from his hand.
Lori finally took her eyes off the walls of the tunnels and the intricate display of goop dripping from them, looking towards Steve.
He turned towards the kids, shining his light at them. "From here on out, I'm leadin' the way." he said, sternly, and then turned around. "Come on, let's go."
Lori let out a huff of air and placed her hand on Dustin's shoulder, who'd stopped beside her. She squeezed it, and he glanced up at her, but all she did was start walking.
"Come on!" Steve called for the rest of them to follow.
The kids were quick to follow, stepping over the protruding rings along the walls and ground, watching their step. Squelches echoed throughout the hollow tunnel as their feet collided with the ground.
"Hey, a little hustle!" Steve called, as he turned the corner and rushed out of sight.
"He's talkin' to you, Hagar," Lori nudged Dustin's shoulder as they quickened their pace. Her voice was low, and it was sort of hard to get words out from the astounding amount of shock coursing through her veins, but joking always made things a little easier.
They were at the back of the line, a little bit farther from the others to where they couldn't hear them.
"Just because you two were spit-swapping an hour ago, doesn't mean he's not talking to you either," Dustin scowled, watching his feet on the slippery ridges.
The most she could do instead of laugh at that was cut him a small side smile, which really looked like just a twitch of her lips.
"So, you two really like each other, huh," Dustin said, after a moment.
"Must we talk about my love life right now," Lori rolled her eyes, "We're walking through the goddamn tunnels to hell right now, kid, there couldn't be a worse time for that."
"I'm just saying," he shrugged, casually, "I thought you guys hated each other."
Lori bit down onto her bottom lip as a smile spread on her face. "Yeah." she said.
"You do, or you don't?" Dustin looked over at her, his eyebrows sharply narrowing. "But, I just saw you guys—"
"He's the biggest idiot I've ever met in my entire life, if that tells you anything. And yeah I hate his guts." she told him. "But he's not so bad sometimes. I guess. Maybe." Her stomach fluttered.
"Oh my god, you have a crush on Steve Harrington!" Dustin hit the side of her arm with the back of his gloved hand.
"Jesus, Hagar, could you be any louder?" Lori smacked him back, her eyes glaring behind the goggles. "And I'm not saying I need approval from a sixth grader, or anything, but I thought you weren't particularly joyful about Steve and I— the hell happened to that?"
It felt weird to say 'Steve and I' out loud. But it also made her heart flutter.
"It's just so unlike you." Dustin shrugged. "And Steve, he— he's just... he's had a lot of girlfriends, you know, and don't get me wrong— I love Steve, but it's kinda shocking that this one's my cousin now,"
She let out a small laugh, joking, "We're not getting married or anything—"
"I know Steve's not like this, at least not anymore— but, just. Just don't let him break your heart, or something," Dustin said, somberly now. Lori turned to look at him, but he was looking down with a sad look on his face. She thought back to him and Max, how he'd seen Lucas and Max holding hands. He was hurt. "I may only be a sixth grader, but that shit's not fun."
"C'mon, you're not hearbroken," Lori grabbed his shoulders, shaking him jokingly as a laugh fell past her lips. "And it's sweet— albeit a little funny, too— that you're looking out for me, but you don't have to worry about me, Hagar. That's my job, alright?" she punched the side of his arm, referring to how she was to be looking out for him.
He nodded to himself as they turned down a different path, following the glare of flashlights from the kids ahead. They were still a good distance between the rest, but they weren't lost.
Dustin huffed beneath his mask. "How does it feel?" his voice came out quiet.
Lori grimaced when the light of her flashlight beamed over a specifically gross spot on the wall beside her. "How does what feel." she said, casually.
"The electricity," Dustin answered, softly.
Lori's eyebrows shot up just a bit, and a humorous scoff escaped her mouth. "That's a professional secret," she joked.
"I see." he looked back down again.
Lori looked over at him, and the smile on her lips slowly faded by the glum look on his face. She nudged his shoulder. "I'll tell you this much." she said. "It's one of those things where you don't know what it's like until it happens. Nobody can explain it for you. And when it does, you never want it to end— that's for damn sure."
"Is that how you feel?" he asked her, sincerely. "About him?"
Lori swallowed. "I'm not entirely sure how I feel." she admitted. "But what I do know, is that Steve and I are more alike than we'd care to admit. I guess that's how you know, or something."
His eyebrows narrowed. "How you know what?"
"Another professional secret, Hagar." Lori smiled down at him.
"Just," Dustin started, and turned to her. "Just don't get all lovey-dovey on each other, or anything,"
"What? Do you hate public displays of affection?" she joked.
"You know what I mean." he rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, don't worry," she sighed.
There was another pause as they turned the next corner, entering a smaller hub where only a few tunnels fed into it. Steve spoke up ahead, and kept on walking with the kids following behind him.
"I saw your eyes watering when he was unconscious," Dustin admitted. "Back at the house, when you rushed up to him and all. And in the junkyard when you hit your head— I saw the way he looked at you. "
Lori scoffed. "Those were in the heat of the momen—"
"You don't need to explain yourself, Lor." Dustin said, seriously now. "At least not to me." he stopped walking in the center of the hub, turning towards her. And then he pointed his finger to Steve ahead, who was turning the corner. "But maybe to him you'll have to."
Lori's chest tightened at those words, because she knew they were true as soon as he said them. Her lips formed in a tight line, and she swallowed hard. Dustin stared at her for a second longer from behind his goggles as she looked ahead to Steve.
"You're wise, huh," she said as a joke, but they both know that she was honest. She rose her gloved-hand and placed it on the top of his head, shaking it and pushing him away.
She could hear him laugh to himself as she stepped away towards the path that the others had gone down, assuming he'd soon follow. She reached the entrance to the next path when she realized his footsteps weren't following, the only squelches against the slime were her own.
"You comin'?" she turned back around to face him.
He was still standing in the middle of the circle, but now his neck was tilted back and he was suddenly staring at something up above.
"What the hell are you doin', Hagar," Lori said. She glanced to where the others had gone, "Come on, we don't wanna lose the group—"
"What the hell..." he said, not even batting an eye at her.
Lori's eyebrows narrowed at his sudden change in attitude. She followed his gaze, her eyes trailing from the walls up to the roof, landing on some sort of hole above him. It was pulsing, and a weird sound came from it.
Before she could say anything, or urge him to follow again, a gust of particles shot right into his face.
He immediately let out a scream, bounding back as the gust hit him roughly. "Shit!" he screeched.
"Dustin!" Lori yelled, instantly hopping into a sprint towards him.
He screeched again as he fell to the floor, rolling over as if he'd been electrocuted, or something. His screams were ear-wrenching and reverberated throughout the entire tunnel, his can of gasoline falling somewhere beside him while he scrambled around. Lori's heart leaped into her throat as she sprinted up to the boy, practically falling right to the floor beside him, her arms scrambling to grab his own and see if he was hurt.
"Help! Help! Help!" Dustin screamed, his voice cracking helplessly.
"Are you hurt!? What the hell—" Lori couldn't keep him still beneath her grasp. She turned her head towards the path, "Steve!" she yelled. "Hey, hey, calm down," she told Dustin.
Dustin couldn't stop squirming and screaming.
"Guys!" Lori shouted for the others, her eyes wide with panic.
Through Dustin's screams, she could hear the others approaching not long after. They all called his name in fright when they saw him on the ground, heaving and screaming like he'd just been shot.
"Steve! Where's Steve!" Lori called, as the kids ran up to them.
"What happened— what happened!" Steve's voice echoed throughout the tunnels. He pushed the kids aside, rushing right up beside Lori as he crouched on the ground.
Dustin whimpered, and struggled to rise to his knees. "It's in my mouth! Some got in my mouth! Shit!" he screeched.
"What, what got in your mouth!?" Steve shouted.
His shoulder bumped against Lori's as she pointed up to the hole above them. Dustin then started coughing terribly bad, hunched over on his knees. The coughs echoed, and the kids exchanged worried glances to each other. Lori looked over at Steve behind her goggles. He turned his head to her, sharing the same look.
"Oh shit," Steve breathed out.
Dustin gave one final cough, his mask pulled down. Everyone was shining their flashlights on him as he hunched over, and spat into the slime. Slowly, he turned towards them. Lori's chest heaved rapidly with panic and anticipation for an answer.
Dustin let out a breath. "I'm okay." he said, calmly.
Lori's body washed with relief, and everyone let out a collective sigh.
"Are you kidding me," Lori rolled her eyes, as her breathing finally calmed.
"You serious?" Max scoffed.
Steve slowly stood up. "Very funny, man." he said. "Nice. Very nice."
Lori stood up beside him, "I can't believe you right now. This is not a good time to be dramatic,"
They turned away from him, collectively continuing their way down the path after that dramatic display of panic.
"Hang on," Dustin scrambled to stand, stumbling to follow them. "Wait, wait."
The rest of them had gone quiet until they reached the end of the path. Lori took that time to calm her breathing from the sudden, and fake, scare— while also being keenly aware of Steve's hand brushing her own as they walked side by side.
Her breath hitched when they reached the end of the path, newly stepping into a wider space, with a dozen different tunnels feeding into it. It was strangely marvelous to look at.
"Oh, my god," Lori breathed out, as her hands fell limp.
"Alright, Wheeler," Steve announced, and stopped walking with a glance at the map. "I think we found your hub."
Everyone shined their flashlights around the 'hub', gaping at the dozen pathway entrances, and the vines and the slime.
Mike swallowed. "Let's drench it."
Lori had never smelled so much gasoline in her entire life. She could smell it all through the bandanna that was her mask, so much that it concealed the putrid aroma of the tunnels. The walls were coated in gallons of gasoline, the floor was flooded with it, and even the roof was sprayed to where fuel was the only scent existing— like someone had blown up a goddamn gas station down there. Her goggles were foggy now, but still, she'd played her part in drenching the hub with gas like the others had done, spraying every little inch of every little space.
By the time they were all finished, she was exhausted. Her wrist still hurt from the twisting, her knuckles had a faint bruise on them now, and the bandage on her forehead was becoming quite uncomfortable from the strap of the goggles. But that didn't matter. They still had a lot to go.
She found herself standing along the rim of one of the pathways, the one that they'd entered by, when Steve walked up to her.
"Do you have it?" His voice was quiet as he stopped beside her.
She already knew what he was talking about. Slowly, she reached into the pocket of her jacket, gloved-hand closing around the cold metal of his lighter. She pulled it out.
"Of course," she said, her voice low and soft.
Their hands brushed against one another as he grabbed the lighter, his fingers lingering for a second on hers. He kept them there, his fingers on hers, for what seemed like a lifetime.
"Guys?" Mike spoke out, his voice echoing.
"Yeah," Steve called back, but kept his eyes on Lori's.
She gave him a soft smile as they turned away at the same time, joining the rest of the kids that were huddled together along the rim of the pathway. Steve crouched in front of them, facing the hub drowning in gasoline. Lori was beside him, Dustin beside her.
Steve let out a huff. "Alright, you guys ready?" he asked.
"No." Lori said.
"Ready," the kids replied in unison.
Dustin turned to Steve. "Light er' up."
Steve let out a long breath of air as he flicked the lighter open. "I am in such deep shit." the flame burned bright orange.
And then he swung his arm, letting go of the lighter and flinging it into the hub— and they squinted as the whole thing went up in flames.
𝙅𝙐𝙇𝙄
lori and dustin are my lifeline