𝖕𝖆𝖗𝖆𝖓𝖔𝖗𝖒𝖆𝖑 || 𝘀. 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗼𝗻

S2E9: The Gate Part 2

Max slams on the breaks, this time sending us all flying towards the front of the car.

"Hello!" Steve screams in surprise at the sudden change in direction.

The boys compliment Max's incredible driving skills. "I told you. Zoomer," she tells them before they all unload.

I hold onto the door, hauling myself out and lean against it for support. The putrid smell of rotting fruits hit me. I squint, trying to make out where we are. Merrill's Pumpkin Patch, I realize when I look down at the slimy, smelly, decomposing pumpkin I'm standing on.

Steve scrambles around in the car until he clumsily finds the door and collapses on the ground with a grunt.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" I ask the kids.

They stand at the trunk of the car, suiting up in goggles and covering their noses and mouths with bandanas.

"Guys," Steve groans again, leaning all his weight on the side of the car. "Oh, no. Guys."

Mike carries cans of gasoline by us, heading towards the hole Hopper had dug in the middle of the rotted pumpkin field.

"Hey, where do you think you're going?" Steve asks him.

"Mike," I lazily call out, it taking too much strain on my sore throat to speak any louder, "get your ass back here."

"What are you, deaf? Hello?" Steve's voice once again becomes panicked. "We are not going down there right now." He tries to grab onto Max as she walks by. "I made myself clear."

"Everyone listen to me!" I try to shout, but my voice fails, it only coming out as a dry cry. "We're not doing this."

Steve goes to the back of the car where Dustin is. "There's no chance we're going to that hole, all right?" He grabs Dustin's backpack and throws it back in the trunk angrily. "This ends right now!"

"Steve, you're upset, I get it," Dustin says. "But the bottom line is, a party member requires assistance, and it is our duty to provide that assistance. Now, I know you and y/n promised Nance that you would keep us safe. So, keep us safe." He holds out a pack of supplies for Steve.

I sigh. "There's no talking them out of this, Harrington."

He runs his hand through his sweaty hair. "Damnit."

Steve and I suit up in our gear—swim goggles over our eyes, bandanas worn as masks, and thick gloves. Steve shoulders his backpack with the bat sticking out of it. I check to make sure my knives are securely at my side. At least one of the kids thought to get the one I had cut Billy with. It still has blood on the blade. I guess they couldn't clean it.

We walk to the edge of the hole and look down into it. It's pretty deep—probably about ten feet, maybe a little more. Seeing the Upside Down again makes me shiver, remembering the last time I was in that place was when Nancy and I were being hunted by that Demogorgon.

It looks the same as it had that day—the same bluish gray particles float through the cold air, the whole tunnel is lined with snaking vines.

Dustin lowers a rope into the hole and Steve climbs down first. I slide down the rope next. It feels like diving into a lake in the winter. The already chilly air of our world turns bitter when I land in the tunnel. I let go of the rope and drop down, and Steve catches me.

"Thanks," I say, stepping out of the way so the others can come down.

Steve turns around in a circle, looking around at the Upside Down that has rapidly taken over Hawkins. "Holy shit."