The kids and I gathered up supplies consisting of gas cans, goggles, and bandannas to wear over our mouths in the tunnels, then we got in the car. Max drove, while Lucas navigated in the passenger seat. Dustin, Mike, and I were crammed in the back while Steve was draped across our laps still unconscious. I had an ice pack pressed to his head.
"You're doing good Max. Just keep it steady." I said, wincing in pain as my eye, the only one that was not swollen shut, blinked of its own accord.
Steve groaned in my lap and his eyes opened. He glanced over at Mike.
"Nancy?" Mike furrowed his eyebrows and Steve reached up to touch his swollen nose.
"No, don't touch it. Don't touch it." Dustin said gently, pulling his hand away from his nose. "Hey buddy. Shh. You put up a good fight. He kicked your butt, but you put up a good fight, ok? You're ok?" His eyes came to land on me.
"Riley?" He asked groggily. He reached up, lightly pressing his fingers to the side of my face, and I fought the urge to wince.
"Hey, HAIRington." I whispered.
"Your face...did he do that to your face?"
"Yeah, he did. But its ok, Max took care of him. I'm fine."
"Ok, you're gonna keep straight for half a mile, then make a left on Mount Sinai." Lucas instructed, drawing Steve's gaze to Max driving.
"What's going on? Oh my gosh-"
"Steve, Just relax. She's driven before." Dustin said.
"Yeah, in a parking lot!" Mike pointed out.
"That counts."
"All of you shut up. You're doing fine Max." I said.
"Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh."
"They were gonna leave you behind, but I promised that you'd be cool, ok?"
"Steve, just calm down, ok, we're all ok, its fine." I said gently, draping an arm over his torso.
"Whoa,whoa, whoah, whoa, What's going on?!" The car accelerated, which only made him freak out more. "Oh my gosh! No! Whoa! Stop the car! Slow down!"
"I told you he'd freak out!"
"Stop the car!"
"Steve!" I grabbed his face, forcing him to look at me. "Its ok. You trust me, right?"
"No, not necessarily in this situation, you have a tendency to side with the children."
"I know what the children are capable off." I said. "I trust them, and I need you to trust me judgment, and calm down, because you freaking out isn't going to help the whole underage driver situation. We needed to get there, you were unconscious, and I can't see well enough to drive, so this was our next best option."
"EVERYBODY SHUT UP! I NEED TO FOCUS!" Max shouted.
"That's Mount Sinai! Make a left!' Lucas shouted.
"What?"
"Make a left!" She turned the wheel abruptly, taking out a mailbox and causing all of us to scream as she swerved dangerously down the road. We pulled into the field at full speed, stoping just short of the giant hole that my Dad Dug.
"WHOA!" Steve shouted.
"Whoa."
"Incredible." Mike said.
"I told you. Zoomer." They all climbed out of the car, opening the trunk to get the supplies, and I slowly slid out from beneath Steve, gently pulling him out of the car and helping him to his feet. He slumped against me, still disoriented.
"Guys...oh, no. Guys!" Mike walked past us towards the hole, gas can in hand. "Hey, where do you think you're going? What are you deaf!? Hello?!" Max tossed me a bandanna and goggles and I hurriedly put them on, ignoring the pain they caused in my black eyes and tying the bandanna around my neck. "We are not going down there right now, I made myself clear!" Mike bent down, tying the rope to the front of the car. "There is no chance we are going down into that hole, this ends right now!"
"STEVE!" Dustin yelled, causing him to look at him. "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. Now I know you promised Nance that you would keep us safe." He grabbed Steve's backpack, which had the bat in it, and held it up to him. "So keep us safe."
Steve sighed, shaking his head but taking the bag from him, and I handed him a pair of goggles and a bandanna.
We finished getting Steve suited up and then we used the rope to drop into the tunnels. It looked just like the Upside Down, dark, cold, and full of spores and vines.
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure its this way." Mike said, looking at the makeshift map we'd made.
"You're pretty sure, or you're sure?" Dustin called. Mike whirled around to face him.
"I'm 100% sure! Just follow me, and you'll know!"
"Whoa, Whoa, Whoa, hey, hey, hey, hey, I don't think so." Steve said, shining his flashlight in Mike's face. "Any of you little jerks die down here, We're getting the blame, got it dipstick? From here on out, I'm leading the way. Come on, let's go." He did exactly that, and I fell to the back just to make sure nothing could sneak up on us. "Come on! Hey, a little hustle!"
"Gosh...what is this place?"
"Guys, come on. Keep moving." Dustin paused, looking up at a glowing, slimy mass attached to the ceiling of the tunnel.
"What the heck?" He asked, looking up at it.
"Come on, let's go." I said, going to push him forward. It was at that moment that the thing exploded, releasing a geyser of spores, causing Dustin to fall to the ground screaming like a girl.
"Help, help, help help!" I sighed, pulling him up my his jacket and lightly pushing towards the door as the others came running back to him.
"What happened?! What happened?!"
"Its in my mouth! Some got in my mouth! He yanked his bandanna down, coughing hysterically. I looked up at the others.
"He's fine." I said tiredly. He coughed some more, spitting on the ground before looking at the others.
"I'm ok."
"Seriously?"
"Very funny, man," Steve said, "Nice, very nice."
"Geez, what an idiot."
"Hang on, wait. Wait."
"Very smooth, Dustin. They should call you 007." We pressed forward through the tunnels until we finally came to the biggest area of the tunnels that they all fed into.
"Alright, Wheeler. I think we found your hub." Steve said.
"Let's drench it."
We all jumped into action, using the gas cans and sprayers that we'd gathered and as Mike said, drenching the place in gasoline. Once we had done that, we stepped back into the tunnel we'd come out of and Steve crouched down, tossing the lighter into the center of it and sending the whole thing ablaze. The vines came to life, writhing and screaming in pain,
"Go! Let's go! LET'S GO!" Steve yelled, causing the kids to take off running down the tunnel. We followed after them. Steve ran up the the front to navigate and I headed up the back again. "This way, this way!"
We turned a corner and Mike fell, prompting the vines to start wrapping around his legs in an attempt to trap him.
"HELP! HELP! HELP! HELP!" I yanked my Ax out of my backpack, driving it through the fine full force and picking Mike up by his jacket, just like I had Dustin, going to push him forward after the others. The others, by now, had heard the screaming and doubled back.
"Mike, you ok?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Riley got it." He said.
"No time to talk let's go-" I started only to be cut off by a familiar screech. We all whirled around to see a Demo-Dog standing directly behind us. I stepped towards it, raising my Ax, but Dustin put a hand on my shoulder to stop me.
"Dart?" I furrowed my eyebrows and Dustin began walking towards him as we all started to protest in unison. "Trust me, please." Dart slowly began creeping towards him. "Hey, its me, its me. Its your friend, its Dustin." He pulled his bandanna down and raised his goggles so that the creature could see his face. He crouched down and Dart kept walking towards him. "You remember me?"
I walked up behind him, ready to cut Dart's head off if he attacked him.
"Will you let us pass?" He asked. Dart growled in response. "Ok, ok, I'm sorry. I'm sorry about the storm cellar. That was a pretty douchey thing to do. You hungry? Yeah." He took his backpack off and began digging through it.
"He's insane." Lucas whispered.
"Shh."
"Don't."
"Shut up!" The others scolded him.
"I've got our favorite. See? Nougat." He opened the candy bar, getting Dart's attention and placed it down on the ground. He began to eat it and he waved us on, Steve, Max, and Lucas rushing past him and into the tunnel, I lingered behind with Dustin just in case it went south. "Oh yeah, I've got plenty. I've got more." He stood up, putting his backpack and goggles back on and walking towards the others. He paused, looking back at him. "Goodbye buddy."
I gently pushed him forward and we progressed through the tunnels again, heading back to the exit.
"Come on, let's go, let's go!" Suddenly the tunnel shook, causing all of us to fall to the ground, and we could hear the screeching of the Demo-dogs behind us.
"What was that?!" Max asked.
"They're coming! Run! RUN!"
"Let's go! Let's go!"
"Come on, Mike! Move, Mike!"
"There! There! We're there!"
"Come on, let's go!" We reached the rope and Steve and I ran forward beginning to lift the kids up through the hole. Max was first, then Lucas, then Mike, and finally Dustin. Before we could even think about trying to get up ourselves however, the Demo-Dogs were rounding the corner and barreling towards us, and upon seeing them, Steve and I shared a look, knowing there were too many of them for us to fight.
"GUYS! COME ON!" Mike yelled into the whole. The dogs were only getting closer, so Steve pulled me against him, wrapping one arm around my waist and tangling his other hand into my ponytail. I hugged him back, painfully burying my face into his shoulder and waiting for the dogs to attack.
But they didn't.
I felt something brush against my leg, and I looked up to see the creatures running right past us, swarming around our legs without a second thought. Steve kept his arms wrapped around me, keeping us both steady as they ran past us.
"They've been called away." I said, looking up through the hole.
"Eleven."