"Hey, you remember what I said last year, right? We're Zombie Boy and Ghost Boy. I'm not ever gonna leave you."
"Promise?"
"One hundred percent."
***
In which Alistair fights the monster that possessed his friend alongside his friends, while trying...
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Chapter Seventy-One: Dustin's Hypothesis
(The Massacre At Hawkins Lab, Pt. 2)
***
Alistair leaned against the kitchen counter, between Cami and Lucas, picking at the skin around his right thumbnail. Beyond the kitchen, he could hear the cops talking to the parents—probably assuring a worried Mrs. Wheeler and an equally worried Mr. and Mrs. Martinéz about their missing daughters—as upstairs, one of the cops interrogated Max and Dustin tried to get in contact with any of the people who'd been on the boat.
And that was the concerning thing. Ever since the cops had gotten them, there had been radio silence from Rowan, Steve, Robin, Valerie, Eddie, Leo and Nancy. Alistair wanted to hope they were okay, that they were laying low because the cops had caught them so Eddie couldn't be arrested, that they wouldn't go through the gate.
But, they had been on top of the gate, and if something had gone wrong...
No. Alistair couldn't think of that option. They had to be okay. They had to be.
That was the moment Dustin returned, the look on his face saying everything—none of them had responded.
Still, Lucas asked, "Anything?"
"Nothing," Dustin answered, leaning on the counter as he sighed.
"Okay, something must be wrong. They would have answered by now," Cami said, eyes shuttered with anxiety over her sister's unknown fate. Alistair bumped his shoulder with hers, understanding her anxiety—though he knew Rowan had her lightning, his stomach was still a writhing pit of snakes over how she hadn't gotten in contact with them.
A realisation dawned in Lucas' face and he turned to Dustin as he questioned, "You don't think they went through?"
"Through Watergate?" Dustin said, disbelief clear in his voice. "Without us? Without a plan? Without weapons aside from Rowan's powers? They wouldn't be that stupid, especially Rowan."
"Yeah," Lucas muttered as Cami asked, "Then why haven't they answered, Dustin?"
"They must just be laying low 'cause the law got us," Dustin reasoned.
Cami looked away, obviously not believing that, as Alistair remained silent. Dustin was right, they could be lying low, especially with Eddie's wanted status. But they would have answered by now, especially his sister—Rowan would raise hell and tear down the heavens if it meant he would be okay and let him know she was okay too, no way would she be radio silent for this long. If they went through the gate, which Alistair guessed they must be calling Watergate now... that would explain it. And yet, Dustin had a point they wouldn't be that stupid to go through without a plan, even with his sister's powers...
"'The law'?"
The four of them turned to Erica Sinclair as she walked into the kitchen, juice box in hand, and deadpanned, "What is this, Gun Smoke?The Stupid and The Ugly? Should I round up the posse? Saddle the horses? Maybe ghost boy here can raise up some dead ones."
