Jeopardy- Stranger Things

Chapter Fourteen

November 7th, 1983

George felt a light rain fall on his face as he scampered through the undergrowth. His warm breath billowed out in front of him as he ran through the cold air. In the bitter cold, the raindrops lashed against his face like ice. He was starting to think this was a bad idea. But his feet were going on autopilot. Whether that was adrenaline or sleep deprivation, he didn't know. He was too tired to know. But he did know this: nothing was going to stop him from looking for his friend. He straightened up and powered on through the forest, running faster now. Nothing would stop him! Except running headfirst into something.

George fell backwards, his hand immediately flying to his head.

"Ow! Jesus!"

George rubbed his head where he'd been hit then his eyes to make sure he wasn't dreaming this all up. In front of him lay a distributed looking Lucas, a surprised looking Mike and a disheveled looking Dustin.

"George!" Mike called out and darted forward to give him a hand up.

"George?" Dustin asked, turning around in a circle to look all around them. He clutched a torch to his chest and tried to smile as he caught sight of George but it wasn't convincing. He looked pained.

"This is why we need to get you a Supercom." Lucas groaned as he picked himself up and dusted the mud off his jeans as best as he could. "We never know where you are! Or when you're going to come charging head first at us!"

"What're doing out here?" Mike asked, he'd opened his mouth too quickly to let the penny drop and when it did, he frowned and kicked himself for not seeing the obvious.

"He's clearly out here looking for Will. Same as us. Dumbass." Lucas taunted but the boys knew it was meant to be affectionate. Mike sauntered over to George and extended a small hand out to help him up. George gripped on and hauled himself out of the dirt. The rain had started to fall heavily now, turning the dust of the woodland floor into thick, sloppy mud. George regretted not bringing sturdier shoes and a raincoat. He only had a thin button down shirt on over a t-shirt to keep him warm, within a few minutes in the rain, his shirt would be wet through.

The others had come more prepared. Mike, Lucas and even Dustin, who seemed apprehensive, all had raincoats and torches, not to mention their supercoms to make communication easy in case anyone found anything. George wrapped his shirt tighter around himself and trudged through the mud with everyone else.

"Will!" They each shouted, taking turns in the hopes they'd save their voices but the order quickly vanished when they hadn't made any progress and the rain continued to fall. George felt the chill in his bones. He wrapped not only his shirt but his arms around his body but all he felt was the cold, biting at his red cheeks and nipping the ends of his numb fingers. With every breath he took, his body shuddered uncontrollably.

"Will!" George screamed, his voice breaking. He sniffed and wiped at his face. His features were so numbed with cold, he couldn't tell if his nose was running of if his face was simply covered in rain.

"Byers!" Lucas shouted. George had often heard Lucas call them all by only their surname. It was unlikely that there were two missing Wills, there was no need to be specific, George thought to himself to try and keep his spirits up. Not that it worked.

"Will! I've got your X-Men 134!" Dustin hollered and sighed, "Guys, I really think we should turn back."

The others all groaned, including George. He hadn't come all the way out here, froze himself to the point of pneumonia, to turn back without any new evidence.

"You wanna be a baby, then go home already." Lucas retaliated. All of them were wet, cold and grumpy but for Will, to get their friend back, it was going to be worth it.

"I'm just being realistic, Lucas!" Dustin shouted back in his defense.

"I'm not going back with nothing to show for it, Dustin!" George snapped, "That's the reason we came out here right? To find Will and if we can't do that, we'll find something that will lead to finding Will."

"I'm just saying, did you ever think that Will went missing because he ran into something bad?" Dustin asked, scathingly, "And we're going to the exact same spot where he was last seen? And we have no weapons or anything?"

"Dustin, shut up." Mike hissed, motioning to them from the front of the pack to stop and hush up. Dustin didn't seem to get the message.

"I'm just saying, does that seem smart to you?" He argued. Mike put up his hand again.

"Shut up. Shut up." He repeated. A tense hush fell over the party. George's breath caught in his throat. He didn't dare to even breath, even hope that it could be Will. They stood still in the rain listening, just listening. The rain pattered loudly on the damp, muddy beaten track. It was almost impossible to ignore. But over the top of the constant dropping of water, George could make out a rustling. It was faint, but it was there. Something was moving.

"Did you guys hear that?" Mike asked, turning to face the others with a quizzical frown on his face. But he wasn't going crazy, there was definitely something there.

"I hear it." George confirmed eagerly. He didn't want to get his hopes up prematurely but damn was it hard not to! George almost smiled before his reason for hope quickly turned to fear.

The rustling stopped and transformed into a mighty thud, like a branch falling from a tree but nothing moved. All four wheeled around to face the source of the noise but there was nothing there. They all just shone their torches into blackness. Maybe it was just a far off branch falling from a far off tree. Just as George was relaxing, they heard the rustling again. It was louder now, closer. The whized round, torches poised ready to find their missing friend. But the beam didn't fall on the familiar face of their missing friend, but that of a young, terrified girl.