❁

hopper had decided that, in order to get navigation from the group, he would have them navigate through walkie talkie. it was safer, he'd reasoned, than having the children actually go back down there. however, as dustin had found out in the elevator, there was no signal down there for them to be able to properly use the walkie talkies. luckily for them, dustin already had created a broadcasting system at the highest point in hawkins. thank the lord for suzie.

now, the group were getting a car to go to said broadcasting system to help murray and hopper navigate the tunnels. "oh man," steve said as he saw the car, "now this, this is what i'm talkin' about!"

"toddfather?" meadow asked, reading the car's listener plate.

steve shook his head. "oh screw todd! steve's her daddy now!"

"did you just talk about yourself in the third person?" robin asked.

"did he just call himself daddy?" erica added.

"i bet meadow's heard that one from him before." robin added, feeling a sharp elbow in her rib as meadow elbowed her harshly. "sorry, sorry!" she laughed.

meadow got into the front seat next to steve, leaving the other three to sit in the back. "where are we going?" steve asked.

"weathertop." dustin replied.

"weather-what?" steve looked over at him.

"just drive!"

steve revved the engine, and the car sped through the parking lot and off toward the highest point in hawkins. "how far away is this place, man?" steve asked after they'd been driving for a while.

"suzie must be pretty special, huh?" robin asked. "i mean, if you built this whole thing and lugged it all the way to the middle of nowhere just to talk to her?"

dustin shrugged. "i mean, nobody's scientifically perfect, but suzie's about as close to being perfect as any human could possibly be."

"you're such a romantic." meadow teased, looking at him over her shoulder.

"she sounds made up to me." erica argued. "she sound made up to you?" she asked steve, who kept his eyes on the road.

"why are you hesitating, steve?" dustin asked, offended.

steve's eyes went wide. "i'm- i'm- i'm not! i'm not! i think she sounds real. you know, totally, absolutely real."

"left." dustin said. "turn left."

steve's brow furrowed. "there's not a road here."

"turn left now!" dustin yelled.

steve turned and the car sped off onto grass and over to a hill. "henderson! where are we going?!" he yelled over the roaring of the radio.

"we're not gonna make it!" robin said, holding onto her seat.

"yes we are!" steve said. "come on baby, come on baby." he said to the car. the engine began to strain, though, and ultimately got stuck on a piece of grass. steve turned off the engine, disappointed, and the group walked the rest of the way to the top of the hill.

meadow crouched by cerebro, helping dustin to turn it on and get it ready. "uh.. guys?" she followed the sound of steve's voice, seeing bright lights by the mall.

dustin picked up the speaker. "griswold family, this is scoops troop! do you copy? over!" dustin continued yelling for them, but the sound of a monster shrieking was all they could hear. "griswold family, do you copy?" the creature roared loudly, and dustin yelled. "please confirm your safety!" dustin yelled multiple times. "is anyone there? anyone, please!" no one replied as dustin screamed.

steve got up and started running. "where are you going?" erica yelled at him.

"to get them help!" steve replied.

meadow instantly got to her feet, robin following. "meadow!" dustin replied, tossing her a walkie talkie. "stay in touch."

"got it." she replied, catching it. "love you." they sent each other a look that silently said to be careful before meadow and robin ran off after steve. she got into the car, speeding down the hill and towards the mall.

once they got to the mall, mike, eleven, nancy, will, jonathan, lucas, and max were all loading up their car. as they zoomed the toddfather to the mall, they noticed the other vehicle.

a car was moving straight towards the group of kids, and meadow slapped steve's arm, pointing it out to him. "that's billy." she said, feeling her breath hitch at the thought of the boy who had made her summer hell.

steve didn't answer, moving faster and hitting billy's car to send it flying away from nancy, who he would've hit. steve panted intensely. "are you okay?" he asked meadow, who was sitting next to him.

she nodded. "yeah i'm fine. love whiplash." she replied, running her hand through her hair to get it out of her face. they heard a creature snarling and got out of the car, seeing the huge mind flayer descending the top of the mall. "holy shit." meadow whispered to herself.

the monster was much more terrifying than the kids had described it, and meadow realized it looked exactly as it had in will's drawing. she stumbled back a little, tearing her gaze from it and to the only undamaged car in the lot.

"get in!" nancy yelled, driving the car next to them. meadow grabbed steve's hand and they followed robin, climbing into the space in the back reserved for a trunk.

"drive, drive, drive." meadow said to nancy as soon as steve was in the car. the creature followed them, making loud roaring sounds.

meadow felt steve's hand grab hers as they watched the mind flayer follow their car. "do you copy dusty-bun?" they heard from the walkie talkie.

steve looked to meadow, who smiled widely. "i copy, suzie-poo." dustin said. "it sounds much better now, thanks." meadow shook her head in disbelief.

"suzie." she and steve said to each other.

meadow heard them arguing to each other, and gathered that dustin needed to get a mathematical equation from her to give to hopper. "i want to hear it." suzie said.

next thing she knew, dustin was singing. "turn around. look at what you see. in her face. the mirror of your dreams." meadow and steve made eye contact, both clearly confused.

"no fucking way." meadow mumbled.

the two began to harmonize. "make believe i'm everywhere, given in the light. written on the pages is the answer to an never ending story." they continued singing and meadow just sat there, mouth agape. the group all looked at each other, all dumbfounded.

"we used to sing that song in the car." meadow said to steve, shaking her head. they continued to go down the road, just listening to the sound of whatever sing-along was currently happening. "it turned around." meadow said, looking at the mind flayer, which was no longer following them.

"what?"

"it turned around!"

"maybe it got tired of chasing us?" lucas suggested.

meadow shook her head. "i don't think so."