Shatter [Jonathan Byers] Stranger Things II

XLVIII: Determination

de·ter·mi·na·tion

noun

firmness of purpose; resoluteness.

Some time later, Emilia, Steve and Dustin arrived at a junkyard with tired feet and positive attitudes. When they arrived, from the opposite side of the junkyard came two others; Lucas and Max. At first, Emilia was surprised to see Max, and then she pieced it together. A smile crept onto her lips as she realized that Max was who Dustin had been talking about previously on the train tracks; she was the girl that Dustin was head over heels for. And yet, she arrived side by side with Lucas.

Already Emilia could tell there would be trouble in paradise for these kids.

But right then, they had bigger fish to fry.

Steve, oblivious for a moment, asked Dustin, "Who's that?"

Dustin replied by staring at Max, unable to form a sentence to answer Steve with. That's when Steve figured it out. Emilia slapped Steve on the shoulder, clutching hard and then releasing him.

"Let's get to work, boys," she said with an optimistic tone to her voice. It was the first time in a while that she felt something was going to work out. Keeping busy and distracted was good for them, for all of them. And they had a lot to do before the sun set, so there was no time to be wasted.

Max smiled at Emilia as she approached. "Hi, Emilia."

"Hey, kid," Emilia said with a smile. "You've certainly picked an interesting crew."

She laughed, looking behind her at Lucas who was leaning his bike over and then was approached by Dustin. The two disappeared behind a car, probably discussing something. But Emilia kept her focus on Max, wonder just what she had gone through being slightly related to Billy, and not being entirely surprised by her inclusion with Dustin and Lucas -and the other's she didn't doubt. They were an interesting group of kids, but they were nice people.

"Not sure they picked me back," Max said with an unsure crossing of her arms. Though she had walked up with a comfortable and confident stride, it seemed to dwindle a bit. "They are really weird though... I mean, monsters? Other realms? They're joking right?"

Emilia smiled, then placed her hand on Max's shoulder. "I wish they were. I wish it were all some game they had concocted in their creative young minds, but it's real. All of it."

"It just doesn't make sense, how can it?" Max inquired.

Emilia glanced around, noticing Steve was the only one who was doing any work. "Let's get to work, I'll explain a bit more."

Together they dug around for some sheets of metal, and began strapping them to the side of the bus so that it was protected. They lifted the sheets together, occasionally Steve called one of them over to help with something else. The trio was working excellently together, until Steve realized they were missing two other people, one of whom was the reason they were out there.

He crossed over to the car where they were crouched, then slammed a chair against the truck to startle they. "Hey, dickheads! How come the only one helping us out is this random girl? We lose light in forty minutes, let's go!"

While Steve got Lucas and Dustin back on track, Emilia and Max were working up a sweat. She glanced at the sky, sensing that evening was coming sooner than she hoped, but there was nothing she could do to prolong their light. All she could do was work harder, and that's exactly what she did. The metal sheets dug into her hands, callousing them and even cutting them open a few times. She felt the tug of skin and gasped, blood forming on her palm right beside an ancient cut, a scar from when Jonathan and Nancy had helped her hunt the monster. They had all cut their palms, hoping the scent of blood would draw in the Demagorgon.

Where were they now?

"Help me lift these up," Emilia told Max. "Hop on the roof and I'll pass the tires through there."

Max climbed up skillfully to the roof of the bus, and Emilia began handing her tires one at a time. She looked up at the determined face of a girl who wanted to fit in with her new friends, but found it had to understand why they were the way they were. Emilia had to admit, she wouldn't believe any of this if she hadn't seen it the year before, which said a lot about Max's character.

"I know you don't believe any of this," Emilia said as she gripped a tire, then heaved it over her shoulder.

"Well, I'm not saying I don't... Not exactly, I'm just saying I'm not sure how to believe it."

"Just wait." Emilia grinned. "It won't take long once you see what we're up against, if everything goes according to plan. Which it probably won't, it didn't last time."

"So, you were involved last time?" Max looked through the busted-out emergency exit with a perplexed expression. Eyebrows knitted together, lips unsmiling.

"Unfortunately. We used a similar plan to this, and I'm hoping I don't end up burned and scarred again," Emilia said sourly.

"That's what caused your scars?" Max asked. Her raised voice showed that she had wondered about them for a while, probably since she met Emilia. A lot of people asked where the scars came from, and the answer was always a loose-ended lie that made people frown. How could she explain to them something they would never accept as reality?

"A bit of stupidity on my part, but otherwise, yeah." Emilia handed the last tire to her. Max climbed down after that and they were finishing things up outside. The final touch was a ladder so that they could get a vantage point from the roof of the bus, and they all hid inside the decked-out school bus as the sun dipped down from sight, and danger began to creep in.

Then they waited.

"So you really fought one of these things before?" Max asked Steve. She had heard Emilia's side of things, but wanted to hear it from someone else. Emilia didn't blame her. When Steve just nodded, Max asked, "And you're totally one hundred percent sure it wasn't a bear?"

Dustin was outraged. "Shit. Don't be an idiot. Okay? It wasn't a bear! Why are you even here if you don't believe us? Just go home."

Steve widened his eyes, looking at Emilia. She tightened her lips and shrugged.

"Geesh," Max said as she got up and gripped the ladder. "Somebody's cranky. Past your bedtime?"

When Max was out of earshot, Steve said, "That's good, just show her you don't care."

"I don't," Dustin insisted.

Steve winked.

"Why are winking Steve? Stop."

Emilia laughed, "You boys..." she trailed off. "You think this is going to work?"

Steve clicked his Zippo lighter; flame ignited. "It better."

Emilia couldn't help but wish Jonathan was there too. 

Guys I cranked out three chapters two days ago, I'm really happy with myself, but also really sad I only have ten chapters left to write! 

Question of the Day: What is something you want to see in this story that I haven't covered yet?