In My Blood

Episode 10 - The Junkyard

   It felt like I had just stepped into a memory as the three of us entered the junkyard, the cars and bus still in the same place as they were when we had first hidden from the Hawkins Laboratory scientists. I could feel the energy radiating from the place, the fear that rang in all our hearts as we sat under the broken bus's windows for hours, not knowing if help would arrive. Steve and Dustin smiled at each other, the older boy wearing a pair of navy blue sunglasses as the sun had now reached its spot in the center of the sky.

"Oh, yeah," Steve nodded, whipping the sunglasses off with a smirk. "This will do. This will do just fine. Good call, dude." Dustin grinned at the praise, and he went to follow Steve down the hill before stopping in place. The middle schooler turned his head over his shoulder and saw me pressing my hand against my scars, and his face fell.

"Are you okay?" he asked me, and I didn't know what to say. Too many memories were flooding back to me, and I almost swore that I could feel pain winding up on my stomach. "Rachel?"

"I'm fine," I assured him, but it was clear that was just a lie. Dustin offered me his free gloved hand, and I took it tightly with my own. The two of us followed after Steve, who was already dropping meat squares on the grass. Charity's car had already parked on the side of the road leading to the junkyard, the two waiting in the center of the field for further instructions. Standing next to them were Lucas and Billy's step-sister Max, the two waving at us.

"I said medium well!" Lucas called to us, and the redheaded girl smiled at his joke. I noticed the change in Dustin's expression, and Steve looked back at us with a sympathetic frown.

"That's the girl, isn't it?" I asked the boy. His hand let go of mine, and he gave the smallest nod. "Just brush it off, okay? I know it doesn't feel like it now, but this is good. It just means you're one step closer to being with the girl you're supposed to be with."

"What, so I can be like you and Steve?" he said bitterly, and my eyes narrowed at him. The boy sighed and stopped in his place, facing me and away from everyone else. "I'd have to be an idiot to not see that something is up between you two." I glanced back at Steve, who was watching our conversation from his spot in the junkyard field. "Just say something to him! Why do you both have to dance around the subject?"

"Let's just focus on the matter at hand, okay?" I told Dustin, ending the discussion. The boy rolled his eyes and continued downhill, heading toward his friend. I did the same, instead heading for Steve and the two older girls standing in a huddle. I avoided the massive pile of meat, pouring the rest from my bucket and dropping it on the grass.

"Is he okay?" Steve asked me as I joined the group, and I shook my head.

"He didn't really want to talk about it," I said simply, and the older boy nodded. "So... what's next?"

"We've gotta make landmarks all around this place," he told the three of us. "Take any of the large scrap metal pieces and build. Now, for us three..." Steve pointed his finger at himself, Diana, and Charity. "We have to do it by hand. Rachel, I assume you can just do your magic tricks and-" I shook my head at him quickly, and he understood just as fast. "... and find pieces on the outskirts. We'll stay around the center." Steve looked up to the sky, estimating a time in his head. "I'll say three hours tops before the dark hits us. Let's get as much done as we can as fast as we can."