A Deal With God

Chapter 17: The Superhero

Max diligently followed Quinn and Steve while Dustin and Lucas dragged behind, arguing back and forth about "breaking the rule of law" or something.

"You told a stranger!" Dustin accused.

"You wanted to tell her too!" Lucas countered.

"Enough!" Quinn said sharply, turning back to look at them. They stopped dead in their tracks. "It doesn't matter who wanted to tell her or who told her. She's not a stranger anymore, she's a member of the Party now so treat her as such." Both boys nodded vigorously. The sound of growling in the distance pulled Quinn's attention away from them. She started walking towards where it came from, Steve and the boys following after her.

"Guys, why are we headed towards the sound?" Max asked nervously, wondering why they weren't trying to get away from the sound they all knew was more of those things. No one bothered to answer her so she apprehensively followed after them. They emerged from the woods onto a slanted clearing with a panoramic view of Hawkins and the woods leading up to it. Lucas used his binoculars to look around and realised that there was a building ahead, but it was completely dark.

"It's the Lab," Lucas announced, holding his binoculars out for Quinn to get a better view.

"They're going home," Quinn realised.

"Why are the lights off?" Dustin asked, getting the binoculars from her and taking a look as well.

"It's on lock down," Quinn said, starting to make her way down the slope.

"Wait, isn't that the place you're supposed to be avoiding?" Steve asked hastily catching up to her side.

"When they allegedly 'had the situation under control', yes, but now that this is totally out of their hands? That place is fair game as far I'm concerned," Quinn replied as she continued onwards.

"Have you ever killed anyone, Quinn?" Dustin chanced after a while of them all walking in silence. Lucas and Max shared a look behind him.

"Like a person? Not yet, but there's a first time for everything, right?" She replied earnestly. "Why do you ask?"

"No reason," the younger boy gulped, shrugging when he caught the look Steve threw back at him. Through the trees, Quinn could make out the top of the security checkpoint in front of the fence. They were almost to the gate of the Lab. Soft murmuring caught her attention and she motioned for the group behind her to be quiet with her free hand.

"Hello? Who's there? Who's there!" A male voice called out. Quinn and Steve emerged out of the trees first. Both parties stopped in their tracks when they realised who they were facing.

"What are you doing here?" Nancy asked Steve as both groups walked over to each other.

"What are you doing here?" Steve questioned back, pointing his flashlight between her and Jonathon. When the two shared a look quickly, Quinn understood why Steve had been so worked up the other day at school.

"We're looking for Mike and Will," Nancy replied, glancing between Quinn and Steve. Her eyes lingered on the familiar baseball bat in Quinn's hand.

"They're not in there, are they?" Dustin asked.

"We're not sure. Why?" Nancy questioned. The roar that erupted from the Lab was sufficient answer. This wasn't a factor Quinn had considered. When she'd set out yesterday, Joyce was still adamant about not taking Will back to the doctors at the Lab. If they were here now, something must have happened in the mean time.

Quinn walked past Jonathon's car and into the little gate house while the others stayed where they were, catching up on what each group had deduced thus far. She put her hand on the control box, feeling complete stillness inside. The power was completely off. She considered for a moment scaling the fence, but decided against it when she felt the distant thrum of electricity as the Lab powered up again.