64. MURRAY'S AN ASS

7.9K 324 26
                                    

hello I'm back finals sucked but we good now! Also if you guys would like to check out my red bubble hehe that would be great. I am broke and trying to get money to buy presents for my family/friends lol, heres the link:

redbubble.com/people/TWDart?asc=u

I'm about to upload a Hopper one tomorrow, but if you want a custom pet drawing or anything (I will do ANYTHING pm me uwu)

Anyway enjoy this chapter :-)

_______________________

Natalie pushed her foot down on the gas causing the car engine to roar. Jim gripped the armrest from next to her, and shot her an uneasy smile. Natalie's knuckles were white from her vice-like grip on the steering wheel.

"Maybe slow down, you're going fifteen over," Jim suggested in a small voice from next to her.

Natalie shot him a heated glare out of the corner of her eye and Jim held up in hands in defeat.

In the back of the car, Alexei and Murray were talking rapidly in Russian, sharing the occasional huff of laughter as they looked through a notebook.

"What're you guys talking about?" Jim asked as he turned around in his seat.

Murray looked up at Jim and adjusted his glasses, "he's showing me where the location of the key to turn off the machine."

Alexei huffed and corrected Murray.

"Sorry, 'keys'," Murray said, his eyebrows raised as he listened more to Alexei, "two-man rule too."

Jim raised an eyebrow, "two-man rule?"

Murray nodded, "two keys actually, two men, like a nuclear launch, and to open this vault you need to know Planck's Constant."

"Planck what?" Joyce asked.

"Planck's Constant," Murray repeated, "it's a very famous number."

Joyce looked a Murray, "alright, so we get the keys and turn the machine off?"

Murray nodded, "that's what he says."

Alexei smiled at this and Joyce nodded to her self, "alright, well that shouldn't be too hard."

"Very doable," Natalie added as she sped around a car.

Jim's mouth dropped, "did you two not hear the part about where he said the place was an impenetrable fortress?"

"Well, there has to be a way in," Natalie said, her voice strained from stress.

Jim scoffed, "yeah there is, our military."

"Who are coming," Joyce said.

Jim rolled his eyes, "well, we don't know that anymore because you yelled at them like it was a parent-teacher conference, and then you hung up on them. So we don't know what the hell is going on! Because now, oh wait! Now we're speeding down the highway at ninety miles per hour to rescue our children from the big bad Fourth Of July festival!"

Natalie and Joyce's mouth dropped in alarm, before they both glared at Jim. Murray and Alexei shrank back in their seats preparing for the hell that Jim just got himself into.

"Are you for real?" Natalie snapped, "would like me to drop you off at the station on the way so you can contemplate all of this over a cold cup of coffee, Jim?"

"How about we drop you off here and you can walk back to Hawkins?" Joyce added, her voice shrill.

Jim let out a bitter laugh, "what are you two gonna do? Waltz into the festival guns blazing? You're both going to get arrested! You guys wanna spend the fourth in a cell? I'm sure drunk Ben will have a blast being both of your cellmate!"

"Take that back!" Natalie snapped, taking a hand off the steering wheel to grab at Jim's collar.

"Put your hand back on the wheel so help me God, Natalie," Jim snapped as the car swerved.

"Children! Children!" Murray shouted above them and slapped all wandering hands out of the way, this bickering was amusing at first but it's getting stale and we have a long drive ahead of us."

Jim leaned far away from Natalie and slumped against the door. Joyce folded her arms over her chest and Natalie huffed.

"Good, so why don't you three cut through the horse-shit and get to the part where you Joyce think Natalie is too good for Jim, and where you Jim are too afraid to be a parent again, and Natalie you're just not even thinking about your baby?"

"Whoa!" Jim shouted, "you're way out of line buddy!"

"Oh spare me, spare me," Murray said and sat back in his seat. He looked over at Joyce, "so yeah, Jim's a bit of a brute and he reminds you of a bad ex. Now Natalie's the daughter you never had and she's with a guy twelve years her senior and having a baby. Sure, she's eons smarter than him and way out of his league...yeah, seems a bit 'Hollywood' to me too."

"Now, Jim, sure you have Eleven but a baby. Oh boy, with your drinking problem and not to mention that gut," he leaned over to whispered to Alexei, "you know what they say about a drinker's liver yeah? Doesn't last that long, baby would hate to only know its dad for a couple of years. Anyway, you gotta shape up for this kid or else you're gonna feel like big schmuck like you do right now, right?"

"Natalie, oh boy, how's it gonna feel to push a kid the size of a watermelon out of you, like shit probably. I know you're not looking forward to that. Yeah, the look on your face makes me wonder if you even wanted a baby right now in your life, no? Guess I was right huh."

"We might as well pull over so you three can talk it out like bad in-laws, ha!" Murray sat back in his seat looking smug and shared a short laugh with Alexei.

Natalie looked at Jim, whose face was slack and then to Joyce whose cheeks were tinged pink.

"You don't want the baby?" Jim asked, his voice quiet.

Natalie shook her head, "no I-" she paused feeling her voice hitch, "I'm just scared."

Jim cast his gaze away from her, remaining silent. Natalie looked in the rearview mirror and Joyce smiled at her and mouthed 'it's going to be okay.'

Natalie smiled back at her briefly and then she looked at Jim before watching the road again.

Smoke -- Jim HopperWhere stories live. Discover now