CHAPTER 10
YE' OLD JUNKYARD

AFTER not seeing her father for three days, and possibly, more, Veronica thought it was time to contact him. Sadly, she wasn't near a phone, and a gas station must've been miles away. Christ, she even had to pee behind a tree. She was in the woods with two boys, and Edward must be freaking the fuck out. When she had just about ranted her heart out to Dustin and Steve, the younger boy suggested tuning his walkie to speak to her father. Veronica thought that was the best idea she heard all day.

He handed her his radio, and Veronica tried her best to tune it to a specific station. It was difficult to remember, seeing as the last time she spoke to her dad on his walkie was when she was a kid. She racked her brain while walking down the long, dirty railroad, but eventually, she remembered the station. She tuned the radio and cleared her throat, placing her mouth near the mic.

"Dad," she spoke clearly. Veronica waited a minute, but got no response. "Edward Moreda?"

No reply. There was only static.

She knew this was right station. Veronica sighed and looked to the sky. After pursing her lips, she spoke into the walkie again, "Hey, dad. It's Veronica." She ran a hand through her dry, blue strands. "I know you're probably, like ... freaking out. I'm sorry that I didn't have time to call, and right now, I'm not even near a phone. I don't know when I'll be coming back home. I'm in a tough situation right now." She glanced up, and her eyes connected with Steve's as he looked over his shoulder at her. "Truthfully, I guess the world is ending, and I might try to stop that from happening. I don't know. Responsibility and me don't go hand in hand. But – uh ... yeah." Veronica rubbed at her eyes. "I'll see you soon. Hopefully."

Veronica finally clicked off the radio. She bit her lip, looking down at the walkie and wishing she said more. But now wasn't the time. Veronica handed Dustin his device back, and he slipped it back into his pocket.

But what Veronica Moreda didn't know was that her father heard everything. Although, just like her, he, too, was in a tough situation. Edward was still at Hawkins' lab, watching Will Byers receive treatment, only for it to not work. After being informed of everything that happened last year and the current problem they were in by Hopper, Edward was now aware of Will Byers being connected to this ... world. Another dimension, Hopper had said. So thus, he could not reply to her message over Will's constant screaming. He just hoped, above all, that she would be okay.

•••

Hours later, Veronica began to drag her feet. "Are we there yet?" She complained, even though she had no idea where their destination was. Her eyes felt like they were rolling back to her skull, and her forehead was slightly coated in sweat. She blew a strand of hair out of her face as Steve patted her shoulder.

"It's funny that you say that," he grinned.

Veronica viewed up, cupping a hand over her eyes from the sundown beginning to blind her. Amongst the trees and dead grass was a clearing, and there laid dozens and dozens of old vehicles and equipment. They were on the outskirts of Hawkins. Steve gestured his hand out. "Welcome to ye' old junkyard, Veronica Moreda."

She threw down a piece of smelly, raw meat from her bucket before glaring at Steve. "Good riddance," she muttered. "What are we looking for exactly?"

Dustin pointed directly in front of them. Laying far off into the grass was an old, abandoned school bus. It was painted cream and maroon, but it was so dirty that it matched the soil beneath their feet. Veronica raised a brow.

"Oh, yeah. This'll do." Steve said to Dustin, removing his sunglasses. "This'll do just fine. Good call, dude."

Veronica shielded her eyes from the sun, watching Steve walk off into the junkyard. "I don't know what you did, kid," she said, "but good job."

Dustin grinned big before following Veronica into the clearing. They kept trailing the raw meat across the dying grass until they reached an area near the abandoned bus. Steve and Veronica then dumped the rest of the meat there, shaking the metal buckets to get everything out. Veronica waved her hand in front of her nose. "This smells like it's rotting," she said.

"Perfect," Steve smiled.

Veronica frowned. "So what's this gonna do? Lead these Demodogs here to fucking kill us?"

Dustin nodded, "Probably."

"Great," she replied through gritted teeth.

"I SAID MEDIUM WELL!"

The three looked up to see two new kids jumping off of a bike near the junkyard. Veronica didn't recognize the kids, but guessed they were friends of Dustin's, judging by his reaction. It was a boy and a girl, and the boy waved hurriedly at them. "Who's that?" Steve asked, and Veronica wasn't sure who he was referring to. After narrowing her eyes the slightest bit, she recognized the girl who she talked to at Billy Hargrove's car.

Dustin was staring at the ginger girl walking towards the clearing. Veronica nodded her head, glancing to Dustin was a knowing grin. "Oh," she said smugly, "so that's the girl."

Dustin immediately jumped up to cup his hand over the blue-haired girl's mouth. She quickly pushed his hand out of the way as he whispered, "Don't say anything!"

"I won't, jeez!" She scoffed, turning away to begin working.

Veronica walked towards the bus, yanking the rusted door open to look inside. It was a pretty big vehicle, and she guessed it could easily house them all. It seemed pretty cozy too, seeing as tonight would be cold for autumn. When she strode inside, she found a bunch of random junk in the crevices. Blankets and random bean bag chairs were covered in dust, but she made do with them. Outside the bus was yards of fencing, which she used to then block the outside of the vehicle. She brought the fencing inside and placed it over the windows for extra protection, especially over the ones that had holes in the glass. Up above, there was an escape window on the ceiling. Veronica found an old latter outside the bus and placed it under the hole.

As she wiped the sweat off her brow, she saw Steve entered the bus from the corner of her eye. After staring at the decoration of the bus, his eyes landed on Veronica pulling her faded hair into a high ponytail on the top of her head. He felt his hands begin to sweat, and he didn't understand why. Steve swallowed the lump in his throat.

"What are you staring at?" Veronica asked, snapping Steve out of his head. She rested one hand on her hip.

Steve shook his head, glancing to his shoes. "Uh – nothing. It's nothing."

Veronica gave him an odd look before nailing in another piece of fencing on a window. Steve walked over and helped her hold up the fencing, and then she used a spare hammer and rusted nail to secure it. She smiled at him for helping, but as usual, it came off as an awkward expression. "So," she huffed out, "how long are we staying here?"

"Until those things come," he replied. Steve ran a hand through his thick hair.

"Ah, awaiting the inevitability of our deaths," she nodded with a sarcastic grin. "That's comforting."

Steve laughed, hooking an arm around Veronica as she led them outside the bus. "C'mon, Harrington. Let's pour all that stinky gasoline on the grass to make them come faster. I'd rather not wait for inter-dimensional demons to eat me alive.

They walked down the bus stairs together, and the closeness of them almost reminded Veronica of old times – when they were sophomores and didn't have to care about dumb shit like this. She felt her heart beat fast with his arm on her shoulders, and she found herself swallowing hard. "Not needed, Moreda." Steve joked with a gleeful expression. "This junkyard can be lit up in flames just by your presence."

Veronica chuckled, but ended up stopping in her tracks when her feet landed on the grass. She watched Steve Harrington walk away to grab the gasoline, and she stared with a confused expression. Veronica's mouth was open, but she closed it to hide her perplexity.

"Wait," she replied, "did you just call me hot?"

( made by JustSav )