helicopters, gummy worms, and mortal peril

. ✧ ・゜. +・o ✧

Five preteen party members knelt in the dirt, the wind caressing their cheeks. It was hot for November, the bright sun shining above turning Alina's hair almost golden in color while her eyes glistened with unshed tears. She'd been the only one to see what her dad had been holding when he arrived with Brenner and the other employees at Hawkins Lab. She was the only one who knew that it was all her fault.

Lucas, who had built a makeshift diagram of the Lab out of sticks, began to carve a line in the dirt around a piece of wood. "This is Randolph road, right here," he explained. Apparently, while Alina, Dustin, Mike and Eleven were fighting for their lives at the edge of a cliff, Lucas had been busy looking for the gate, only to find it at Hawkins Lab, where Alina, Mike, and Dustin had known it to be from Eleven's confession. He hadn't managed to go inside, however, as he'd seen the vans begin to drive away and knew they were headed straight for them. Alina was glad he hadn't tried. He'd be dead for sure.

"The fence starts here," Lucas continued, pointing the stick he'd used for drawing the lines at the wood, "and goes all the way around." He placed his stick down, putting an empty can of pop he'd found in the center of the diagram. "And this is the lab right here. Where Al's dad works. The gate's gotta be in here somewhere. It's gotta be."

"Yeah," said Alina. "Hawkins Lab must've created a fake body for Will—they can do that, it's not hard—but they did it because they—well, El—opened the gate, and they didn't want anybody to know about it. It'd be easier to say that it was a freak accident than to try and explain what happened."

"Well, who owns Hawkins Lab?" Dustin piped up.

"The sign says, 'Department of Energy'," said Lucas.

"Department of Energy? What does that mean, Alina?"

Before Alina could utter a word, Mike was speaking up. "It means government," he said. "Military." Then his cheeks flushed as he realized what he'd done, and he turned to Alina. It was a sign of their newfound friendship that he did, as before he might've just kept on talking. This time, however, he knew what he had done. "Right, Alina?"

"Right." Alina nodded. "Most people don't know it's government-run. And government-funded. And it's definitely military, although I never was taught that part."

Dustin cocked his head in confusion. "Then why does it say 'Energy'?"

"Just trust me, alright?" Mike responded. "It's military. My dad's told me before."

"And I've been inside," Alina added. "There's always been soldiers out front. I always wondered what they were for before, but now it makes sense."

"Mike and Al are right," said Lucas. "There are soldiers out front."

"Do they make, like, lightbulbs or something?" Dustin still seemed confused as to why it was called the 'Department of Energy' when there seemed to be no lights involved. Alina rolled her eyes.

"No, weapons," Mike corrected. "To fight the Russians, and commies and stuff."

"Weapons," repeated Lucas. His eyes were wide, and he kept glancing at Alina before finally addressing her. "Al, is there anything else you know? About the Lab?"

"I haven't seen all of it," said Alina, leaning forward, resting her head on her propped-up arms. "But there are cameras everywhere. Seriously, even if we manage to get past the soldiers, we'll get caught in minutes. And I don't think it's very smart of us to go strolling right in when everyone in there is hunting for us."

Dustin let out a sigh. "Oh, Jesus, this is bad," he muttered.

"Really bad," said Lucas. "The place is like a fortress."

"Well," said Dustin, "what do we do?"

"I don't know," said Mike somberly, "but we can't go home. We're fugitives now."

Alina lay back on the dirt, the grass growing out of the junkyard ground tickling her hands. She gazed up at the sky, a magnificent shade of blue, which was too happy for these current circumstances. "You guys might be able to go home," she said aloud, causing everyone to look at her. "After all of this is over. But I can't. My dad's with them. I'll never be able to go home."

It was quiet for a minute, the rest of the party's faces etched with sympathy. Then they heard it, one by one. The rumble of a helicopter, heading straight for them.

"G-guys?" Dustin was the first to speak. "Do you hear that?"

Alina sat up, squinting against the harsh light, and that's when she saw the sleek, black helicopter that might be their downfall. Her eyes widened, and at once, everyone sprang to their feet, hastening to stow their bikes under the bus nearby. "Come on!" she shouted as Dustin struggled to fit his bike underneath. With Lucas and Alina's help, though, he managed to make space, and Alina grabbed their hands and pulled them onto the bus after Mike and Eleven.

The five fugitives sprinted down the aisle, and Lucas yelled for them to get down. With their hearts in their throats, the five dived, crouching behind the red leather seats and praying that they were unnoticed. It was a tense couple of seconds, until finally the sounds of the helicopter faded away. They were safe.

Dustin shook his head, eyes locked on the roof of the bus as if he was able to see the sky through it. "Mental."

Alina leaned against Lucas, who was staring out the window. The guilt was weighing heavily on her chest, and as she blinked, tears pooled in her eyes. She couldn't take it anymore. She couldn't take it. Everything was her fault. It was her fault that they were currently holed up in this rusty old bus, eating candy they'd found at the bottom of their bags, her fault that they were all fugitives now, her fault that their parents were worried sick about them.

She stood up, her legs shaking from disuse. Lucas turned away from the window, where he'd been gnawing on a gummy worm Alina had given him. "What's wrong, Al?" he asked.

"He had my notebook." Alina began to stride to the door of the bus, her bag over one shoulder. She bent her head, guilt warming her face.

"What?"

Alina whipped around to face him. "My dad. He found my notebook. He found everything I wrote during the past week, about El, about the Upside Down, and you guys. That's how he knew that Eleven was with us. There's no other explanation." She took a deep breath. "So I have to go to him. Turn myself in. None of this would've happened if I'd been smarter."

"No!" Lucas sprung forward, catching her arm before she could make her way out the door. "You're delusional if you think we're letting you go anywhere near that Lab."

"Why not?"

"Alina, be rational." Mike had stood up, too, from where he was sitting beside Eleven. "They would've found us anyway. We're five kids against countless men with guns, so even if your dad hadn't found your notebook, I'm pretty sure we'd be in this exact situation. Anyone could've seen us when we were outside with El on our bikes. We should've been more careful. All of us. But don't blame yourself, and don't take another step towards that door, or I swear we'll tie you to this seat."

Alina blinked, taken aback. Who would've thought that Mike Wheeler would've been one to defend her? She licked her lips and finally relented, letting an anxious Lucas guide her back to her seat. "I'm sorry," she said, once she was seated beside him again. "I'm not thinking clearly. Everything that's happened today... it's a lot to take in."

Lucas swallowed audibly, before slowly, unsurely, grabbing onto her hand. The feel of his hand on hers sent shivers down Alina's spine, and she had to look away or risk her cheeks exploding with embarrassment. "You don't have to be sorry, Al. We're all a little messed up here."

Alina nodded, blinking her tears away. "I'm sorry. I'm just scared. I just... I don't know what to do. You know, I always wanted Hawkins to become interesting... but this is too much for even me. And I'm the kind of girl who always dreamed of an adventure like this. But now that it's happened... I've lost everything. My dad... my home... and... my cat! Oh, my God, it feels like I haven't seen Skywalker in ages. Is my dad still feeding him? Is he alright? Sometimes the neighbors come over, but I don't know if they're awa—"

"Alina." Lucas's voice cut her rambling short. "You haven't lost everything. You have me, you have Dustin, you have Mike, and you have Eleven. And you'll have your cat and your home soon. We'll find a way."

And although Alina knew he wasn't being completely truthful, as he had no idea what the future held, the thought comforted her a little more. She rested her head on his shoulder and pulled out another gummy worm, holding it out for him.

With a smile, Lucas took it.

"Can I have one?" Dustin, who was munching on a pack of Pringles, asked suddenly. Alina turned her head to find him eyeing the pack of gummy worms in her hand like a dog with a bone. It was so outrageously Dustin that it made her laugh, and her bad mood dissolved away.

Lucas rolled his eyes. "It's not the time, Dustin."

"She just gave—you know what, never mind. Hey, you gotta admit, this is kind of cool. Us, all together, hanging out in the bus and eating candy. It's like... it's like a massive sleepover! In the middle of the day. But still!"

"We are hiding in a bus from horrible people from a Laboratory who opened a gate to another dimension, created a fake body of your best friend, and experimented on children, and you think this is cool?!" Alina asked incredulously.

"I was trying to look on the bright side." Dustin shoved a handful of pringles past his lips and spoke between munches. "Hey, Al, can I please have one?"

Lucas was shaking his head. "How are you okay with all of this? We are literally fugitives who are not able to go back to our families, with helicopters looking for us! We could literally die!"

"I never said I was okay." Dustin sighed as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing. "I'm scared out of my mind! Did you think I wasn't? All I was asking was to have a—"

Alina threw her candy bag at him, knocking his hat off. "Jesus Christ, just take it," she said. Dustin's eyes lit up, and he jammed his hat back on his curly hair, immediately tearing into a gummy worm right afterwards.

Before any of them could continue this truly fascinating conversation, Mike's walkie-talkie, which was still contained in his bag, burst to life, a high, feminine voice coming out of it. "Mike? Hello? Mike?"

"You guys hear that?" Dustin asked, swallowing another gummy worm.

"Mike, it's me. Nancy."

Mike jumped up, rifling through his bag for his walkie-talkie, the others gathering around him as he pulled it out of his bag. Nancy continued to speak. "Mike, are you there? Answer. Mike, we need you to answer."

"Is that your sister?" asked Lucas.

"This is an emergency, Mike. Do you copy? Mike, do you copy?"

"Okay," said Dustin, "this is really weird."

"No, really?" Alina rolled her eyes.

Lucas went for the walkie-talkie, trying to respond to Mike's older sister, but Mike jerked his arm away. "Don't answer," he told him.

"She said it was an emergency," Lucas argued.

"What if it's a trick?"

"It's your sister!"

"What if the bad people kidnapped her?" Mike suggested, worried. "What if they're forcing her to say this?"

"Or what if she's actually trying to help us?" Alina said, trying to be reasonable. "She must know that something's up by now. She could really be trying to get us out of this."

"I need you to answer," said Nancy again.

"It's like Lando Calrissian," Dustin piped up. "Don't answer!"

"Dustin, I don't know if you know this," said Alina, "but we're not in a Star Wars movie. This is real life!"

"It still could happen!" he argued.

"We need to know you're there, Mike!"

"Just answer, Mike!" Alina pleaded. "Seriously, she might be able to help us!"

A new voice suddenly crackled through the walkie talkie. A voice she recognized from the day, so long ago, when she had been questioned in the principal's office. Chief Hopper's voice.

"Listen, kid, this is the chief. If you're there, pick up. We know you're in trouble and we know about the girl."

"Why is she with the chief?" Lucas asked.

"How the hell does he know about..." Dustin gestured to Eleven.

"We can protect you, we can help you, but you gotta pick up."

Alina tried to take the walkie talkie from Mike, but Dustin held her back, apparently still convinced of his stupid Lando Calrissian theory. Alina growled, wishing, for once, that her abilities would make an appearance, and sat back. Eleven grabbed her hand. "It's... okay," she said, and Alina slumped.

"Are you there? Do you copy? Over."

Mike let out a sigh, seeming to be in deliberation with himself, before looking to his fellow party members. "I'm gonna pick up," he said, holding the walkie talkie up to his face. "Yeah," he said into it, "I copy. It's Mike. I'm here." He gazed at his companions before correcting his sentence. "We're here."

. ✧ ・゜. +・o ✧