Happenstance ⌱ Jim Hopper

[ 18 ] ONE MORE TIME

[ 18 ]

"ALL RIGHT, LET'S go." Jim outstretched a strong hand and hoisted Jodie up from the ground, pistol in the other as he commanded the group of kids to follow him out to his car. They all stared at him with blank expressions.

Jodie dusted the dirt and rust from her jeans and picked up the tire iron. She didn't know if it may come in handy once more.

Jim snorted in disbelief. He could feel his temper flare, struck by the fact they weren't taking the matter more seriously. "Let's go!"

"You heard the man," Jodie encouraged sharply. "Get a move on." The kids raced past her and out of the rust bucket of a bus. Jodie counted heads, ensuring each was accounted for before following behind.

The air had a cold humidity. The scent of earth and blood hit her slowly, but forcibly. She kept her eyes on Hopper. Hopper and his wide stride, Hopper and his big broad shoulders, Hopper and his cavalier way of making her fall for him then tossing it back in her face. Jodie shook her head and forced herself to focus.

Hopper's police cruiser was parked nearby. A thick layer of mud coated the sides of the cruiser, splashed over the words HAWKINS POLICE DEPARTMENT. Only HAWK— was left legible. Jodie focused on the spelling, ignoring the three men sprawled on the ground.

     Dead or alive, she didn't want to know.

Sparing a meek glance at Jim, who was shepherding each kid into the backseat of his cruiser, Jodie felt something stir inside her chest. It wasn't regret or disappointment. But, it ached. And, damn, did she wish it didn't. Jodie's hiking boots sloshed in the mud as she reached the Cruiser.

"Hop in," Jim said, offering her a hand to hoist her into the lifted seat. Jodie's hand faltered as she reached out to take the offer. Just as she went to pull away, Hopper snatched up her hand and hoisted her with brutish strength into the seat, his bare hand brushing the exposed skin on the small of her back.

    "We need to move," he hissed, "now!"

Before Jodie could protest, she saw the helicopter in the distance circling back.

     The sun was starting to set low on the horizon, radiating apricot orange and lavender off the thick halo of clouds moving in. The wind whipped at Jodie's face through the rolled-down window, catching her hair.

     It would have been a beautiful sight, if not for the circumstances. Jodie's heart pounded wildly in her chest as her gaze finally sought out the three men, still sprawled out unconscious in the mud.

"Seatbelts," Hopper reminded everyone as he threw the cruiser into gear and punched the gas.

The speed at which Hopper was racing down the twists and turns of the Hawkins backroads made Jodie's stomach contort and curl in knots.