DESOLATION [ 1 ] ↠ STRANGER THINGS

12. HIGHWAY TO HELL

DESOLATION
CHAPTER TWELVE

➝ HIGHWAY TO HELL

     COLLEEN CARTWELL STOOD BESIDE NANCY IN THE MIDDLE SCHOOL'S HALLWAY COMFORTING HER COUSIN, AFTER FINDING OUT WHAT HAPPENED TO THEIR FRIEND, BARB. She was killed by that monster, dragged to the Other Side. It wasn't fair. Barb was innocent. She shouldn't be dead. She was supposed to be going on dates with Lizzie, and going to the awkward school dances. She was supposed to graduate with them in two years. Colleen felt the pit in her stomach growing larger as every day passed without a win. Another loss, another death. They so desperately needed a win.

The doors opened suddenly, and Jonathan was walking back into the school without Hopper or Joyce— meaning they went to find Will without him. He looked upset, as he made his way over to the two girls. Jonathan sat down beside Colleen against the wall, as they all sat in silence. Just staring out into the space front of them, re-tracing the past occurrences in their own minds.

"We need to go back to the station," Nancy blurted out. The other two looked over at her slightly confused at her words, "Your mom and Hopper are just walking in there like bait. That thing is still in there, you heard what Six said. And we can't just sit here and let it get them too. We can't."

Colleen nodded her head in agreement, "We can't let this thing hurt anybody else."

"You still want to try it out?" Jonathan asked.

Tears were still fogging her vision, but Nancy looked over to him with a hatred in her eyes. She needed to get revenge for Barb. "I wanna finish what we started. I want to kill it."

The three teenagers quickly drove to the police station and shuffled inside. They devised a plan on the drive — Jonathan and Nancy were going to run in to grab everything, while Colleen served as the distraction. Colleen bursted through the doors, gaining the attention from the newer deputy at the front desks. He immediately recognized her as Chris' daughter, "Hey, kiddo. Co-Colleen?"

"Is Hopper here?" She cried out in an act, tears running down her cheeks. The deputy stood up from his chair and ran over to her, to try and comfort the girl. Colleen watched as Jonathan and Nancy sneaked into the building and up the stairs. She let out a few more sniffles until she let out another cry, "I just really need Hop."

He tried to console her, "What's wrong?"

She saw the two teenagers return with the box and Nancy had the fire extinguisher. Nancy gave her a thumbs up and Colleen quickly blew out a deep breath, "It's fine. I'm fine. I'll just go home and come back in the morning."

"Are you sure? You can stay here and wait."

She shook her head, "No, no. I'll be okay."

Colleen quickly made her way outside, the cold air smacking against her face as the fake tears began freezing up. She noticed that Jonathan had already started his car so she jogged over to it and climbed into the passenger seat. She was wearing an excited, victorious grin as she looked over at her two friends. "Way to go, Miss Theatrics."