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― season three, episode twelve;
TODDFATHER
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5875 words
*.✧ ASHLEY ✧.*
I could almost cry from relief as I stared into the familiar faces of Hopper and Mom, who had just stepped inside the mall.
I moved carefully, making sure El could support herself before leaving her there. I scrambled to my feet as everyone around me sprung into action as well.
Running over to my mom, I flung myself into her arms, feeling hot tears rising in my eyes.
"Are you alright?" She asked, voice muffled by my embrace. "Are you hurt?"
I sucked in a breath before pulling out of the hug. I lifted up my arm to show her the brace that was tight around my elbow, which made her gasp in horror.
"Oh my God, honey, what happened?" She asked, taking my injured arm into her hand, touching it gently.
"She broke her arm."
We turned around to see Will and Jonathan standing expectantly behind us. Will had spoken, and Mom blinked at him. "Broken? Why didn't you guys call me?"
"It's not broken." I rolled my eyes.
Jonathan sighed. "It definitely is. She didn't want us to call you, or go to the doctor, or-"
"You're telling me that your sister hurt her elbow so bad that it could be broken," Mom sighed. "And you didn't do anything about it."
"She was threatening us, Mom." Will insisted. "She's scary when she's stubborn."
Mom let out a breathy laugh. "That's my girl."
I hugged her again, ignoring the searing pain that shot through my arm, just happy to be reunited with my whole family. Will joined in the hug first, then Jonathan, and soon we were all squished together but I couldn't be more happy.
"Okay, will somebody tell me what the hell I just stepped on?" Hopper scowled.
We pulled out of our group hug to look at him, and I couldn't help but to laugh. "Missed you, Hop." I said, wiping at my wet eyes.
"I missed you too, kid. But that still doesn't answer my question, what the hell just ruined my nice boots?" He urged.
I just laughed again, turning around to see that everyone was gathering by the large water fountain, starting to tell each other about our individual adventures. We joined them, and I leaned against the fountain beside my brothers at a small table, resting my sore elbow in my lap.
"The Mind Flayer," Mike was saying. "It built this monster to in Hawkins to stop El, to kill her and pave a way into our world."
"And it almost did." Nancy piped up, standing behind Jonathan. "That was just one tiny piece of it.
"How big is this thing?" Hopper asked, sitting down against a concrete barrier. El sunk into his lap and closed her eyes, looking exhausted.
"It's big." Jonathan said. "Thirty feet at least."
"At least." I emphasized, shivering at the memory of the large beast inside the tiny cabin.
"I said that." Jonathan glared at me. I rolled my eyes at him, replying, "Well I repeated it."
"Hey!" Hopper snapped, getting our attention. "Nimrods, stop bickering like you're five years old."
"It is really big." Lucas carried on. "It sorta destroyed your cabin. Sorry."
"Okay, so, just to be clear," Steve spoke up. "This big fleshy spider thing that hurt El, it's some kind of gigantic...weapon?"
"Yes." Nancy nodded.
He went on, "But instead of like, screws and metal, the Mind Flayer made its weapon...with melted people."
"Yes, exactly." Nancy was exasperated.
"Yeah, okay." Steve breathed. "Yeah, I'm just making sure."
"Are we sure this thing is still out there, still alive?" Mom asked from her place beside Hopper and El.
Max. "El beat the shit out of it, but, yeah, it's still alive."
"But if we close the gate again." Will said.
"We cut the brain off from the body." Max nodded at him.
"And kill it." Lucas finished her thought. "Theoretically."
"Yoo-hoo!"
We all snapped our heads to look at who was calling to us. It was Mom and Hopper's stranger friend named Murray, who was standing in the food court, waving papers in the air to get our attention. All of us hurried over to him as he slapped the papers on the desk. They were drawings of room plans, done out in ink pen, appearing very homemade.
"Okay," he pointed to a spot on the paper. "This is what Alexei called 'the hub'. Now, the hub takes us to the vault room."
"Okay, where's the gate?" Hopper asked.
"Right here." Murray pointed to another spot. "I don't know the scale on this but I think it's fairly close to the vault room. Maybe fifty feet or so."
"More like 500." Erica spoke up, approaching the table.
Murray gave her a flabbergasted look but she wasn't phased, scoffing at him. "What? You're just gonna waltz in there like it commie Disneyland or something."
"I'm sorry." Murray shook his head at her. "Who are you?"
"Erica Sinclair." She announced. "Who are you?"
"Murray...Bauman." He was confused by her confidence.
She held up her hand to get him to stop talking. "Listen, Mr. Bum-man, I'm not trying to tell you how to do things, but I've been down in that shithole for twenty-four hours. And with all due respect, you do what this man tells you," She said to Mom and Hopper. "You're all gonna die."
Murray blinked, taken aback. "I'm sorry, why is this four year old speaking to me?"
Erica snapped, "Um, I'm ten, you bald bastard."
"Erica!" Lucas gasped.
"Just the facts." She yelled at him.
"She's right." Dustin stepped forward. "You're all gonna die, but you don't have to." He went up to the table and took a seat, pausing before her snatched up the papers. "Excuse me, may I?"
"Please." Murray snapped at him.
He slid the papers across the tabltop until they were layed ouy in frony of him. "Okay, see this room here?" He tapped on the sheet. "This is a storage facility. There's a hatch in yhere that feeds inyo yheir underground ventilation system. That will lead you to the base of the weapon. It's a bit of a maze down there, but between me and Erica, we can show you the way."
"You can show us the way?" Hopper drawled out.
"Don't worry." Dustin waved his hand in the air. "You can do all the fighting and dangerous hero shit, and we'll just be your navigators."
Hopper was nodding, seemingly liking the plan. Then he froze, saying, "No." Dustin furrowed his brow, opening his mouth to protest, but Hopper repeated, "Nope."
*.✧ 𝐂𝐇𝐋𝐎𝐄 ✧.*
"Well, that settles it." Erica and Dustin were walking over to me, Robin and Steve. The three of us were hanging out around a sandwich shop, Steve was behind the counter and Robin and I were sitting atop it.
Erica slumped against the wall, sighing dramatically. "He's gonna die. They're all gonna die."
"Yep," Dustin agreed. "Most likely."
"You guys survived." Lucas piped up, overhearing the conversation.
Dustin faced him as Mike and Will stepped over to us too. "Barely. We could've really used you guys down there."
Mike nodded, smiling softly. "Could've used you up here, too."
"Yeah, man." Lucas agreed. "We missed you, dude."
"Big-time." Will put an arm around Mike, ushering the rest of them to join in the group hug.
"Oh my God!" I gasped, ruining the moment.
"What?" Dustin exclaimed, pulling away from the other boys, his eyes wide with horror.
"Will! I'm really sorry, we never got to finish our game!" I groaned. "I got a little buy, you know, being stuck in a Russian base and all."
"Oh, it's fine." Will shrugged. "It doesn't really matter now anyways."
"For the love of God, Chloe, I could smack you right now." Dustin seethed.
"Too many witnesses." I smirked at him, and he rolled his eyes, all too tired of me.
"Hey!" Hopper's booming voice made us all look over. He was walking over to us rapidly, a large walkie talkie in hand. He tossed it to Dustin, telling him, "Heads up!"
Dustin caught the radio, examining it closer. Hopper went on, "You can navigate, just from someplace safe."
"It's not that simple." Dustin warned.
"The signal won't reach." Erica nodded.
"Not with this." Dustin held up the measly walkie. "You need something with a high enough frequency band to relay with the Russian's radio tower. But for that to work, you need someone who has both seen their comms room and has access to a super-powered handcrafted radio tower. One preferably already situated at the highest point in Hawkins. Oh wait," He scoffed. "That's me."
Hopper's brow furrowed as Dustin went on, "If you want us to navigate, you got us. But we need a head start. And a car."
After thinking for a moment, Hopper turned and made eye contact with Robin, Steve and I. "Can any of you drive?" He asked, pointing to us.
"I can!" Steve said, and I raised my hand.
"Great, now rock paper scissors to see who gets to this time." Hopper commanded.
Steve and I turned to face each other, hands at the ready to play the game.
"I was joking!" Hopper interrupted. "We don't have time for that. Jesus Christ-" he tossed the keys in the air, and they flew right in between us.
Steve and I both leaned over, reaching for the keys, but he got to them first. "Damn it." I grumbled as Steve wiggled his eyebrows at me, silently bragging.
"Now that that's settled," Hopper said. "There's a yellow car outside, the license plate says Toddfather, you can take that to your stupid little radio tower atop the hill, 'kay?"
"Perfect, thank you." Dustin beamed.
Erica, Dustin, Robin, Steve and I hurried out the main entrance, spotting the banana colored car right away.
"Oh, man, now this..." Steve gushed as soona s he saw the car. "This is what I'm talkin about!"
"Toddfather?" Robin questioned.
Steve ran over to the driver's seat. "Oh, screw Todd. Steve's her daddy now."
He was already climbing in as the rest of us were just getting up to the car. "Did you just talk about yourself in the third person?" Robin said, getting into the passenger side.
"Did he just call himself Daddy?" Erica added.
"Oh c'mon, Rob, don't make me sit with them." I complained, the only one left not in the car.
"You heard the man!" Steve was still very animated with excitement. "We don't have time for this, so get in already."
I rolled my eyes, reluctantly scooting my way into the backseat, squished in between Dustin and the car door.
Steve turned the keys in the ignition, the engine coming to life. "All right, where are we going?"
"Weathertop." Dustin said simply.
"Weather what?"
"Just drive."
"Okay, Jesus!" Steve's buzz was officially killed and he started to back out of the parking lot in silence.
*.✧ 𝐀𝐒𝐇𝐋𝐄𝐘 ✧.*
"I can't believe we have to go all the way to Illinois." I muttered, resting my good elbow on the tabletop, putting my chin against my palm.
"Yeah," Will nodded. "It just seems a bit much."
"I think we were doing pretty good before all the adults showed up and started babying us." I joked.
"You broke your elbow and El got bitten by the Mind Flayer." Will blinked at me.
"I said pretty good, not great." I rolled my eyes.
"Hey guys." Mom's positive tone made us turn to face her, stopping our conversation. "Are you doing okay? How's your elbow, Ashley?"
"We're fine." Will said quickly.
"I'm fine, Mom. Really." I nodded vigorously. "I'll go to the doctor when all of this is over, okay?"
"I wasn't giving you a choice in that matter but good to know you're open to it." She said, sitting down at the third empty chair at our table.
"Listen to me," her voice was a lot more serious now. "I need to end this, but I will be back before you know it, okay?"
"Mom," I scoffed. "You've already left us for like a week straight, we'll be okay for a few more hours."
"I know and I'm sorry." She frowned.
"I don't know, Mom." Will's voice was quiet.
"No, listen, you're gonna be safe there." She got a firm grip on his shoulder, trying to reassure him. "It's far away from all this. You just stick close to Ashley or your brother and do what they tell you, okay?"
"Yeah," I nodded. "We'll be with you the whole time, don't worry."
Will shook his head. "I'm not worried about me, I'm worried about you, Mom."
"Oh honey, I'm gonna be fine." She smiled. "Okay?" She put her other hand on his opposite shoulder, bending down to give him an awkwardly positioned hug. "I'm gonna be fine."
"Okay, Mom." Will squirmed under her suffocating grasp, and I bit down on my lip so that I didn't burst out laughing. "Mom, that's enough!"
A soft snort escaped my attempts to keep quiet, alerting Mom to my amusement. She let Will go, stepping over to me. "You didn't think you were going to get away did you?"
She pulled me into her arms just as tightly, and I could feel the air rushing out of my lungs. "Ow! My elbow!" I exclaimed, even though it didn't hurt that much in this position, I just wanted her to get off of me.
Mom hissed and let me go, holding me at arm's length. "I'm so sorry, are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." I muttered, catching a glimpse of Will laughing silently in the corner of my eye.
"Screw you." I mouthed, but he just went on laughing at me.
"We're leaving." Mike said, walking past the three of us with the rest of the kids on his heels.
"Goodbye you two." Mom gushed as Will and I stood up from the table and walked off. I grabbed my bow from its place propped up on my chair, slipping it over my head, wearing it like a crossbody bag as I held the quiver in my hand.
"I swear, she's got an iron grip." I rubbed my sore shoulders as we caught up with everyone.
"Yeah, it's really painful." Will scoffed at the memory.
"What hurts?" Jonathan hung back to talk with us.
My mouth fell open. "How did you get away without one of Mom's aggressive bear hugs?"
He shrugged. "Pure luck."
We all stepped outside, the parking lot was pitch black but we found Nancy's car easily enough. Max and Mike helped El get into the trunk, as she was still grunting from the pain of walking. I slipped into the backseat, taking the middle, Lucas and Will on either side of me.
Nancy and Jonathan were in the front, and she twisted the keys in the ignition, but the engine merely sputtered. She tried again, still only getting the weak response.
"What's wrong?" Jonathan asked her.
"I don't know." She tried a third time, still nothing. "You can't be serious, come on!"
"Didn't your mom just buy this car?" Lucas piped up.
"Yes!" Nancy slapped her hands against the wheel frustratedly. "I'm sure it's fine."
"Did you leave the lights on?" Will asked.
"No." Nancy snapped, shoving the keys further into the keyhole, turning it aggressively. That broken hum was the only response that the car was giving her.
"Do we have gas?" Lucas asked.
"Yes!" Nancy yelled, really angry now. She bent her elbow til it was straight up and down with her wrist, the key almost doing a three sixty.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Jonathan stopped her. "Pop the hood."
Nancy lowered her arm, grumbling as she pressed the button to unlock the hood latch. Jonathan climbed out of the car, going around to the front to investigate.
Slumping against her seat, Nancy sighed heavily.
"Nancy, deep breaths." I spoke cautiously.
"Ashley." She spoke through gritted teeth.
"Nancy." I returned her energy.
She let out a long breath. "Thank you."
"Mhm." I hummed as she climbed out of the car, joining Jonathan at the front.
"I wonder what's wrong with it." Will muttered, shrinking down in his seat.
I shrugged. "I don't drive soI don't know much about cars, but it doesn't sound good."
"No shit." Mike scoffed from the trunk.
I whipped around to glare at him, opening my mouth to say something snappy, but two bright lights in my periphery distracted me. I slowly looked out the window to my right, furrowing my brow when I saw that a car was parked at the end of the row vertical to us, flashing its brights at us.
"What the hell?" I murmured, squinting to try and get a better look. Then I realized.
It was a blue camaro.
Billy was here.
I felt like I couldn't breathe as I stared into the two insidious burning lights. Nancy sprinted to the side of the car, throwing the backseat door open. "Back to the mall!" She urged, grabbing Lucas' arm to help him hurry.
Flinging my own door open, I rushed around to the trunk, yanking it open. "C'mon." I held out my hand to El, and she took it, me helping her out. Max slid out while I was still helping El, coming up to my side, ready to catch the injured girl once she was outside.
Then, I extended an arm to Mike, who just stared at it confused. I shoved my hand closer to him, raising my brows with urgency. "Grab my damn hand, Mike."
He did, and I helped pull him out, slamming the trunk once it was empty. "Thanks." He muttered to me.
"Don't mention it." I said, my eyes darting back to Billy, who was now revving his engine. "Literally don't mention it, I still don't like you. Now help your girlfriend."
He pushed past me to get an arm under El, and I turned one last time, making eye contact with Billy. His pupils were dilated, his expression blank, a cocky smile danced on his lips as he looked down at my elbow brace and then back up to my face.
"Fuck you." I mouthed to him, my blood boiling. Of course, this got no reaction other than him just revving the engine at me. Then, I spun on my heel and sprinted back inside the mall after the others, slipping through the doors just before they closed.
*.✧ 𝐂𝐇𝐋𝐎𝐄 ✧.*
"Jesus, how far is this place, man?" Steve exclaimed over the music blaring from the radio.
"Relax, we're almost there." Dustin reassured him.
"Suzie must be pretty special, huh?" Robin pointed out. "I mean, if you built this thing and lugged it all the way to the middle of nowhere just to talk to her."
"I mean," Dustin smiled to himself. "Nobody's scientifically perfect, but Suzie's about as close to being perfect as any human could possibly be."
My eyes found their way up to the rear view mirror, where I noticed that Steve was looking directly at me. I blushed and looked down at my lap, trying to fight my smile. He didn't know that I had heard what he had said to Robin in the bathroom, so he probably thought he was being sneaky right now.
"She sound made-up to me." Erica voiced her opinion. "She sound made-up to you?" She leaned over to look me in the eye.
I opened my mouth, pausing as I realized I didn't know what to say. Dustin furrowed his brow, asking, "Why aren't you saying anything? Chloe?"
Throwing my hands up in the air in surrender, I exclaimed, "I don't know, okay? I'm sorry!"
"Are you kidding me?" Dustin gasped. "My own sister."
"You are so dramatic!" I rolled my eyes at him. "I'm sure she's real and she's lovely, I just...I don't know about perfect. Perfect is a strong word."
"I don't know." Steve turned the radio down so he could talk. "Sometimes you do find the perfect girl."
I found myself unable to speak, something that didn't happen very often. I chewed on the inside of my cheek as butterflies erupted inside of me, trying not to seem bothered by his words. Luckily, it seemed like nobody suspected anything.
"Exactly, thank you Steve." Dustin sighed, exasperated. "Now turn here."
"What?"
"Turn here! Are you deaf?"
"I heard you! But there's no road here!"
"Make the goddamn turn Steve!" Dustin shrieked, causing Steve to violently whip the car in the direction he was commanded. We burst through a fence, ripping out the barbed wire as we started to speed up a large hill.
"Henderson, where are we going?" Steve screamed.
"Keep straight!" Dustin yelled back as the car bounced around.
"We're not gonna make it!" Robin exclaimed as the top of the hill came into view but the car was slowing down.
"Yes, we are!" Steve responded. "Come on, baby. Come on, baby!"
He was wrong though, and we got stuck just barely before we cleared the slope. "Guess the Toddfather has its limitations." Robin commented.
Steve frowned, turning the engine off after putting the car in park. We all climbed out, running the rest of the way up the hill, towards the large metal tower at the top.
*.✧ 𝐀𝐒𝐇𝐋𝐄𝐘 ✧.*
My leg bounced up and down as anxiety shot through my body. Every once in awhile, my knee would bump against my wounded elbow and a jolt of pain would join the electrifying tingle that covered my whole body.
Staying in my seat, I turned to look at the others. Mike was pacing around the food court, speaking loudly into his walkie talkie, trying to get a hold of Dustin's group. Lucas had taken his slingshot out of his backpack, and was stretching back the elastic band, practicing taking a shot. El was standing next to him, looking around nervously.
Jonathan was walking back and forth, unable to stay still, which contrasted Will, who had remained in one place ever since we'd come inside. Even though he looked calm on the outside, I noticed his foot tapping on the ground ever so slightly, so I knew that he felt the heavy energy as well. Max was beside him, and the two were watching Nancy, who was kneeling on the ground, making sure all of her guns were cocked and loaded.
I let my head fall down my chest, my chin pressing into my collarbones. I squeezed my eyes shut, racking my brain for any ideas, not liking the helpless feeling that had settled over me.
We were trapped, and there was nothing any of us could do about it.
Just then, El cleared her throat, which got my attention, and I looked over to her.
"Ashley?" Her voice was tired.
Turning my body to face her, I gave a sympathetic smile. "Yeah?"
"I was wondering if..." She paused, as if hesitant to ask.
"What is it?" I instantly got worried. "Are you okay? Does your leg hurt?"
She shook her head, a smile creeping onto her face. "No, I'm fine. I just..." She paused, finding the words. "If we all get separated, would you stay with me? If anybody leaves, I want you to be here with me."
My heart swelled and my grin shifted from anxious to happy. "Of course I'll stay with you."
"Okay." Her eyes twinkled despite how exhausted she was. "Thank you, Ashley."
"Guys!"
Jonathan's voice made us snap both our heads in his direction. He was waving for us to join him over by the car that El had flipped over earlier. She, Lucas and I hurried over to the others, who were coming over as well.
"If we all push as hard as we can, we should be able to flip it." He nodded to everyone, and they all got the memo to put their hands on it.
"Hey!" I clicked my tongue. "I'm gonna have to sit this one out. I'm a cripple, remember?"
He sighed. "Fine, keep watch or something will you?"
I saluted him mockingly before facing away from the vehicle as they all started to push on it. I let my eyes wander around the mall, listening to the others strain as they unsuccessfully pushed on the car.
"How's it going back there?" A smirk played on my lips, knowing that my words would just irritate Jonathan even more.
I heard him huff loudly and then groan, "It's not working!"
"Let me try."
I faced the group when El spoke, and the others let go of the car at her words as well.
"El-" Mike warned her.
She set her jaw. "I can do it."
"I just think that you need to conserve your energy-" Mike started, but I cut him off, saying, "Because what you were all doing was working so well."
He glared at me. "No thanks to you. You just stood there."
"Yeah!" I exclaimed. "Because my elbow is broken!"
"She admitted it!" Will gasped.
"Guys, guys! Stop it!" Nancy waved her hands in the air to get our attention. "I say we let El try."
Without another word, we all moved away from the overturned vehicle, giving El the space she would need to use her powers.
Slowly, she raised her arms, tensing her fingers slightly as she focused. The metal parts in the car creaked with her invisible pull, and all of us held our breath, waiting.
Then...she stopped.
"I can't do it." She said, her voice soft, ending the phrase like it was a question, like she was confused by the situation herself.
"Is something wrong?" I stepped forward.
"I don't know." She shook her head, facing me. "It won't move."
I furrowed my brow, worry filling my chest. Jonathan didn't dwell on it for too long though, immediately rallying everyone to try to push it for a second time.
They all got to work, all the attention immediately being taken off of El. Except for my attention, and I watched as she frowned before walking across the room.
She went over to a trash can in the food court, sticking her arm inside the opening, starting to dig around. I quickly crossed the room, coming up beside her.
"What are you doing?" My question made her jump with surprise, looking over her shoulder at me, eyes wide.
"I need a can." She said simply, going back to rummaging through the trash.
"Okay," I raised an eyebrow. "Why?"
When she pulled out of the can for the second time, a red Coca Cola can was squeezed in between her fingers. She didn't answer me right away, just moving away from the trash, going over to a concrete barrier, setting the can on top of the flat surface.
I followed her, watching as she gripped the ledge of the concrete, lowering her gaze as she focused in on the can.
She gave up after a few moments of silence, her shoulders slumping down with defeat.
"Are your powers gone?" I asked, caustically.
"I don't know." She shrugged. "I can't feel them anymore."
"What do you mean?" I cocked my head to one side.
"I feel like they are gone. But maybe they are just hidden."
"Have they been hidden before?"
She paused, dropping her eyes down to the floor. "No."
Suddenly, a loud crash sounded from across the room, and I whipped around to face the noise. They had somehow managed to flip the car upright, and I raised my eyebrows, impressed.
Max and Mike approached us, both of them looking concerned. Mike spoke first, "El? Are you okay?"
Her bottom lip threatened to tremble as she stared at him. A heavy silence fell over the four of us, and my chest started to sink as I realized the gravity of the situation.
We were trapped inside the mall, with Billy waiting for us right outside, the Mind Flayer inevitably on its way to kill us, and El didn't have her powers.
I stepped back, shock coming over me. Sucking in a breath, I looked over to the now-upright car, seeing that Jonathan and Nancy were digging around under the hood, probably looking for some cable to jumpstart Nancy's car outside.
Then, my eyes moved to Will.
He was standing off to the side, also staring at he two rummaging around in the engine. Then, I watched him slowly raise his arm until his fingertips brushed against the back of his neck.
My stomach dropped.
He turned around, chest trembling as he took shaky breaths. Cautiously, he raised his eyes to look up at the glass roof.
I forced myself to follow his gaze, despite the gnawing pit in my stomach and my tense muscles. The glass shook as something heavy landed on it, the loud thud grabbing everyone else's attention.
The sharp noise of cracks forming in the glass filled the silent room, and I could hardly breathe due to my tightening chest.
A large spider web of splitting glass developed as another heavy limp slammed against the delicate roof. I gasped, "Oh fu-"
Mike cut off my swear, yelling- "Nancy!"
After alerting his sister, he grabbed El's hand, starting to run away from the center of the mall, dragging her with them. Remembering El's words from earlier, I scrambled after him, determined to stay with her. Max was on out heels as we fled the scene, listening to the roof continue to splinter.
It only took one more stomp to the already structurally compromised ceiling before the unmistakable sound of the whole roof collapsing pierced my ears.
The four of us didn't even dare to turn around as the loud roars of the fleshy Mind Flayer echoed through the large building.
*.✧ 𝐂𝐇𝐋𝐎𝐄 ✧.*
The grass poked at the back of my thighs as I sat beside Robin, and beside the giant radio tower.
"What is taking them so long?" Steve murmured, pacing around on the top of the hill.
As if on cue, the small walkie talkie speaker in Dustin's hand came to life with Murray's voice, "Bald Eagle. This is Bald Eagle!"
We all sucked in a breath, a mix of anxiety and excitement seizing my chest as I listened to Dustin reply, "Copy that. Good to hear your voice Bald Eagle, what's your twenty?"
Another click, and then Murray spoke again. "We reached the vent. I'll contact you when I need you. Until then, silence."
Dustin nodded swiftly. "Roger that, Bald Eagle. This is Scoops Troop going radio silent. 10-10, over."
With that, he turned the walkie off, looking up at us proudly. Steve bent down to pat him on the shoulder, and I offered him a forced, confident smile.
After a few more moments of silence, the radio clicked to life once again. "Scoops Troop, this is..." Murray sighed, frustratedly. "...Bald Eagle. I've reached another junction."
"This is what?" Dustin leaned over to Erica, clarifying before he told Murray the wrong way.
"The fourth junction." Erica confirmed.
"All right," Dustin nodded. "So, if memory serves, this is right after the My Little Pony thesis."
"We went left, so he has to go right." Erica said.
"Right." Dustin turned the walkie on, proceeding to give Murray the correct instructions.
"My Little Pony thesis?" Robin furrowed her brow.
I waved her off. "You just had to be there."
"Okay then." She clamped her mouth shut.
Letting my eyes drift over to Steve, I noticed him staring off into the distance with an intense focus.
I pushed myself off the ground, rising to my feet, stepping over to him slowly. "What is it?" I asked, keeping my voice low.
He didn't respond, he only nodded in the direction of the mall, letting me see for myself. I squinted into the dark of night, using all of my focus to see what had got him so mesmerized.
Sucking in a breath, I took in the outline of a large, moving object on the mall roof. The creature's long legs crashed against the glass, the sound so booming that I could hear it from here. It looked like...a large spider.
"Is that...?" I breathed.
"Yeah," Steve scoffed in awe. "Yeah, I think it is."
"Holy shit." I gasped.
Dustin, Robin and Erica hurried over to us, gasping when they saw it too. Dustin turned on his heel so quickly he nearly fell over, sprinting back over to the radio. We all rushed to join him, and he took the walkie into his shaky hands, fumbling for the button. Finally he managed to press it, and he spoke quickly, "Griswold Family, this is Scoops Troop! Do you copy? Over!"
The only response he got was a loud screeching noise followed by the radio crackling with an peircing mic error.
Urgently, he tried again. "Griswold Family, do you copy?"
This time, a loud, gurgling oar answered him, and the noise made all the hairs on my arms stand up.
"Griswold Family, please confirm your safety!" His voice was laced with fear, desperate for any kind of reassurance that the others at the mall were still alive. "This is Scoops Troop, please confirm your safety!"
Dustin continued to scream into the speaker, and I leaned back on my heels, bringing my hands up to pull at my curls. In a swift motion, Steve stood up and moved away from the rest of us, making his way down the hill.
Involuntarily, I jumped up to my feet, calling after him, "Steve, what are you doing?"
"I'm gonna get them the hell out of there!" He faced me to answer, but kept walking backwards towards the Todderfather with urgency.
"I'm coming with you." I made my way down the hill, trying to catch up to him.
"No, Chloe!" He shook his head, resting his hand on the door handle. "It's not safe."
"No shit!" I snapped, finally reaching the yellow vehicle, coming up beside the passenger side. "That's why I'm coming with you. Two are better than one!"
Steve sighed heavily, throwing the door open. "Fine, but if things get messy, promise me you'll run."
I pulled my own door open, setting my jaw. "You know I can't do that."
He didn't say anything else, simply turning back to the others as I climbed into my seat. "Stay here!" He yelled at them. "Contact the others!"
"Steve!" Dustin groaned. "Keep it touch."
I heard something whistle through the air and then land in Steve's hands. With this, he climbed in behind the wheel, tossing the walkie talkie that Dustin had apparently given him into my lap.
"Hang onto that, will you?" He said, turning the key in the ignition.
"You got it." I took the walkie into my hands, squeezing it tightly.
Then, we started to back down the hill.
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ೃ༄ catie speaks!
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~ catie