Jailbird || Stranger Things

thirty-three ➵ the (ex)terminators

Despite the strong and perhaps confident front Teresa was managing to fix onto her face and body, there were two people who knew she was feeling anything but.

    Max, of course, who knew her as a different person and therefore noticed much more than any of the boys. The second was Steve, however, who wasn't entirely sure why he was able to pick up on nuanced hints that Teresa left behind through twitches, body movements, and occasionally, the speed with which she threw herself in front of the kids to keep them safe. He knew she wasn't thinking about herself in that moment, and while that was admirable, he immediately felt responsible for keeping her safe.

    So he followed. Right in her footsteps.

    With a soft grunt, Steve's feet reached the floor, immediately letting out a curse at the sight. He couldn't imagine Teresa being stuck down here with her dad for as long as she had.

    The girl stood at the front, cap turned backwards once again in order to have nothing blocking her view of the tunnel. She had no intentions to come back, but as fate would have it, this was gonna be the only way to keep her family and friends safe.

    Mike looked down at his map one last time, before he nodded, raising his voice so it would reach Teresa at the front, who had already turned down one way. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure it's this way," he pointed to where Teresa stood, at the front of the group.

    "You're pretty sure, or you're certain?" Dustin checked, adjusting the strap of his backpack.

    "I'm 100% sure," Mike replied, folding up his crude map. "Just follow me and you'll know," he approached Teresa, but was held back by both senior students.

    "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hey, hey, hey, hey," Steve held onto his shoulder.

    "Yeah, I don't think so," Teresa agreed, pulling the bandana tied around her mouth up over her nose, tucking the rest into her t-shirt.

    "What?" Mike asked, annoyed by them both playing guard dog.

    "Any of you little shits die down here, we're getting the blame. Got it, dipshit?" Steve told him, turning on his flashlight as Teresa nodded in agreement. "From here on out, we're leading the way," he added, doing as he said as pushing forward.

    "Come on, let's go," Teresa called, following behind him, a shovel in one hand, and the flashlight in the other.

    "Come on!" Steve called once he glanced behind him and saw that only Teresa was following him. "Hey, a little hustle!"

    It didn't take long for the group to fall onto the same track as Teresa and Jim had a few nights ago. She could even see the discarded cigarette butts occasionally on the floor, wound between different vines.

    "You were really down here?" Lucas asked, taking in the skeletons and whatever else was left behind, after the whole group took turns to say some kind of expletive at the gross state of their surroundings.

    "Yep," she nodded, but kept her eyes on the tunnels, flashlight sweeping over the whole area. "I'd give it minus five stars for hospitality."

    "What the hell is this place?" Max whispered.

    "Guys, come on, keep moving," Steve nudged them, Teresa leading them further just in front of him.

    "What the hell?" they heard Dustin say, and the group immediately turned towards him.

    "Wait!" Teresa rushed, but the spore had already sprayed Dustin in the face, the kid tumbling back and falling onto the ground in panic. The group pulled their face coverings further over their mouths from the white pieces that were floating in the air, having been ejected by the spore in the wall.