Together Again

Chapter 5 - Hunt of be Hunted (part 4)

  They tried to squish into Steve's police car, to go find Dustin. Steve didn't want to leave anyone here alone with the cloud lurking around. There was not room for all 8 of them, with only five seats. Steve got a seat to himself because he had to drive. Beside him Nancy and Jonathan were trying to figure out a way to share the passenger seat. They tried sitting side by side, but they couldn't get the door closed. Jonathan patted his lap. "Here." He said.

  Nancy just shook her head. "I- I can't..." She started.

  Steve was impatient. "Oh well. Just share the d**n seat. We have to go!" Nancy chuckled to herself. It reminded her of the time that they were at Murray's house.

  In the back the five younger teens had to figure out how to fit onto the three person bench. Mike climbed in first, and copying Jonathan's example, he offered his lap to El. El didn't refuse. Next climbed in Will. He sat in between Mike's seat, and the middle seat. Lucas climbed in next. He wanted to offer that Max could sit on his lap, because he was a little envious of Mike and El. He wanted to have that good of a relationship, only with Max. He didn't offer that to her though, because they had only just gotten back together, and the only other person in the car that knew that was Will. Also, Max wasn't into all that lovey dovey stuff like most girls, but that didn't change the way he felt about her. He just squished over next to Will, and there was just barely enough space for Max, but they were all able to fit.

  The car drove off down the gravel road. The bumps made it harder to ride that close together. El and Nancy had both hit their heads in the roof. As Steve was trying to avoid the potholes, a voice came through his radio. It was Flo telling him what Joyce had said. S***. Now was not the time for that. He needed to get to Dustin. But the hospital was even closer than Dustin's house, so he would have to go there first.

They made their way down the road further until the old lab came into view. They pulled into the parking lot, to see Joyce and Hopper standing there, Hopper was holding that back of the collar of a soldiers shirt. The soldier looked terrified.

  Steve got out of the car after pulling to a stop. As he got out, Hopper spoke up. "Really? You brought all of them?" He gestured to the car.

"They were already in the car when Flo radioed me." Steve explained as he handed Hopper his handcuffs.

Steve walked back over to the car, and told everyone to get out. He grabbed the tool belts and took them to Joyce's car. The adults did not notice luckily. They all struggled their way out of the car, and quickly moved out of the way as Hopper marched the handcuffed soldier to the car. He shoved him into the backseat and slammed the door. Hopper got Steve's keys, and went to get in the car.

  As he was climbing in. A frantic Joyce came running over. "Wait! I'm coming with you." She tossed Jonathan the keys to her car and climbed in the passenger seat. Hopper gave her a weird look. "The doctor said that you shouldn't be left alone!" Joyce exclaimed.

  They started driving away. "So, you wanna tell me what's in the bag yet?" Hopper asked.

Silence.

  Well, he wasn't going to get any answers out of him here, this guy just wouldn't crack. Hopper looked over at Joyce. "You got a cigarette?"

  Joyce giggled and pulled out a pack from her pocket. She set one in her mouth as she pulled out a lighter. Her left hand cupped the outside of the cigarette to block the flame as she flicked on the pocket lighter with her right hand. She put the lighter away, then inhaled before taking it out of her mouth. She used two fingers to hand it to Hopper. She exhaled and smoke gathered throughout the car. She and Hopper both rolled down their windows as they switched the cigarette back and forth. This had become one of their new things, ever since their talk after the snowball. Whenever they were around each other, they would share just one cigarette, instead of each having their own.

  They drove mostly in silence because of the guy in the backseat. When they arrived at the police station, Hopper got out first. He grabbed the back of the mans collar again and marched him inside, and to the left. They came to a little room with two makeshift jail cells in them. He tossed him in one roughly, after taking off his handcuffs. "I'll be questioning you in 45 minutes." Hopper told him as he locked up the cell then left the room.

  He went to get the bag of evidence that he had stuck in the trunk of the car. Using gloves, he picked it up and took it inside. He placed it on his desk and handed Joyce a pair of rubber gloves. She waved them off and got up from the chair she was sitting in. "I'm probably not supposed to be here anyway. She said making her way to the door."

  "No, probably not, but I'm the boss so..." he lowered his voice to a whisper. "So who's gonna tell?" He flashed her one of his million dollar smiles. She grinned back and snatched the gloves out of his hands. Looking into the bag. Hopper pulled out the piece of evidence that they were the most anxious about. The envelope.