November 7th, 1984

Outside The Byers Household

"Dustin I thought I told you not to let him fall asleep!" I stared down at Steve's unconscious body in shock before looking back up at the boy in question himself. "Well, you did..." He started, looking between me and then back down at Steve, "But he just looks so peaceful." Dustin finished with a conflicted grin.

"Guys, let's go! We can't waste any more time. Dustin and I will bandage him up in the car." Mike groaned from beside Max who was still dangling her brothers' car keys in her hand. "I'll drive!" She stated with a wide grin.

"Uh-no. Can you guys slow down for a second? First, Max, I can't just let you drive, I'll drive." I started earning a glare from Mike and Dustin. "You can't drive," Mike stated with a tone of disbelief. "Will said you almost crashed into the house." Dustin pointed out, earning a glare from me.

"Point is, I'm not putting a middle-schooler behind the wheel." I finished before turning to face Max. "I'm sorry, but I'm not backing down on this." I held my hand out for the keys she was clutching tightly onto.

Her eyes darted between the palm of my hand and the keys she held. "Maybe you can drive us home, but we might be short on time, so please, keys."

Letting out a huff of annoyance, Max handed over the keys reluctantly. "Alright, now we just have to deal with him," I stated as we all stared down at a bloody, bruised, and passed-out Steve. "We can leave him here?" Mike asked with a shrug of his shoulders.

"What? No, that's a terrible idea." Dustin stated, kneeling down next to Steve. "We could carry him?" Lucas asked from beside Max who nodded in agreement. "I say, Dustin and Mike, drag him to the car and the three of us get supplies." She stated with a grin as she crossed her arms and looked between the two boys.

"Why us?" Mike asked while Dustin nodded in agreement. "This is your plan, Mike." She stated with a shrug. "Why me, though?" Dustin asked looking up at me. "You let him pass out, sorry Dustin," I stated while Dustin rolled his eyes but didn't put up a fight.

"All right, now that we are all in agreement. I need you guys to get him into the car. Max, you get the gasoline. Lucas, find some rope, and I'll find us something to cover our faces."

~~~

If I were to tell anyone that I am a great driver, I would be lying. I always told my mom that it was just my test-taking anxiety that got in the way of me getting my license, a partial lie. But I guess desperate times call for desperate measures.

Sure, my turns are a little sharp and I might be going off the road a little but that's fine, it probably also doesn't help that I can't ever seem to take things slow.

"Jesus, Nell!" Lucas said from the passenger seat as we shot down the road, the tree's started to look like nothing but green blurs as we passed them. "I'm sorry but I really don't know what I'm doing," I stated, my grip on the steering wheel somehow becoming tighter.

"You should have just let me drive," Max stated from her place in the back. "She should have let anyone else drive," Dustin muttered. "All right, I get it. Just please, be quiet, I need to concentrate." A quiet groaning could be heard from the backseat.

Looking up into the rearview mirror, I spotted Steve slowly coming back to consciousness. He slowly turned to look at Dustin on his right and then towards Mike on his left. "Nancy?"

Ignoring the slight pain in my chest, my eyes darted away from the mirror and back onto the road. "No, don't touch it." I heard Dustin tell Steve as he continued to hold an icepack against his head. "Hey, buddy..." He stated before trying to shush the teen back to sleep.

"What happened?" Steve mumbled, his words slightly slurred. "Hey, it's okay. You put up a good fight. He kicked your ass, but you put up a good fight." Dustin continued, trying to make the words he was saying sound soothing. "What?" Steve questioned.

"Okay, you're gonna keep straight for half a mile, then make a left on Mount Sinai." Lucas directed me as he held up the map on his lap. Nodding, I tried to focus on the road in front of me but could only feel the burn of Steve's stare.

"What's going on? Oh, my God..." Steve slowly began to recognize what was going on around him. "Just relax. She's driven before." Dustin stated, continuing the soothing tone he had before.

"Yeah, in a parking lot." Mike shot back, "That counts." Lucas defended for me. "Oh, my God." Steve continued as if it was all he could say. "They wanted to leave you behind-" "Oh, my God!" Dustin was cut off by Steve as he sat up further in his seat.

"Just be cool, okay?" Dustin stated, my foot slightly slipping down harder on the gas in hopes to make this trip end quicker. "Whoa, whoa! Oh, my God. No! Nell, stop the car!" Steve yelled from the backseat.

"I told you he'd freak out!" Mike complained over Steves yelling, "Stop the car!"

"Everybody shut up! I'm trying to focus!" I yelled from my place, glaring up into the rearview mirror. "Wait, wait! That's Mount Sinai, make a left." My eyes darted around the road. "What?" "Make a left!"

Jerking on the wheel, I sharply turned left onto the road, earning a few yells and shouts from the backseat. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" I yelled out as I continued to speed down the road. "Nell, please pull over." Steve tried to reason with me.

"No, we're almost there," I stated, pulling into the dirt road that leads to Merrill's farm. "Almost where?" He shouted as I accidentally ran over one of the farm's wooden signs. "My bad..." I mumbled, before quickly stopping the car in front of a giant dug-up hole in the middle of the field.

"See we're fine," I stated, my hands still gripping onto the wheel for dear life. "Incredible!" Mike stated from his seat. "Didn't know you were a zoomer," Max added causing me to furrow my brow. "What's a zoomer?"

"Let's do this," Dustin called out from the backseat before we all piled out of the blue Camaro and rushed to the trunk of the car.

Popping open the lid, we each grabbed our own facial and eye coverings while Steve pulled himself out of the backseat of the car, "Guys..." He spoke from his place on the grass beside the car, before using the propped open door to help himself up.

Choosing that it was best to just ignore him, Mike and I grabbed the gasoline and rope before making our way past him and towards the front of the car. "Hey, where do you think you're going." He called out as we passed.

"Are you deaf! Hello?" He continued as I kneeled down in front of the car, securing the rope around the Camaros bumper. "Nell, seriously!" Steve leaned over the door and stared down at me. "Everything will be fine Steve. We are doing this, I'm sorry." I stated, standing from my spot before following Mike, Max, and Lucas to the giant hole in the ground.

"We are not going down there right now. I made myself clear." Steve called out to us, while I dropped the remaining length of rope down into the pit. "Hey, there's no chance we're going into that hole, all right?"

The group rolled their eyes, pulling down the goggles that rested on top of their heads while I turned to look for Dustin who was still standing next to the trunk of the car.

"No, all right! This ends right now!" Steve exclaimed, pulling the supplies out of Dustin's grasp and throwing them back into the trunk of the car. "Steve, you're upset, I get it. But the bottom line is, a party member requires assistance, and it is our duty to provide that assistance."

Steve looked over his shoulder locking eyes with me before turning back to Dustin, "I know you promised Nance that you would keep us safe. So," Dustin reached back into the trunk, pulling out his bookbag that had Steve's bat hanging out of it. "Keep us safe." He finished, pushing the bag into Steve's arms.

Letting a sigh pass from between his lips, Steve nodded his head before he and Dustin made their way towards us. "First off, I'm in charge." Steve stated as he stopped in front of us, causing Mike to let out a scoff before looking down at the poorly drawn map of the underground cave.

"Sure." Dustin stated as Steve tied one of the bandanas around his face. "So, if I say to turn back, what do you do?" He looked around at the group of kids with his hands on his hips. "We turn back." The group droned out blankly.

"Can we get going?" Mike called out, waving towards the hole. "I'll go first, make sure the coast's clear." I stated, kneeling down next to the hole before gripping onto the rope to lower myself. "Are you crazy? No, I'll go." Steve quickly grabbed onto my shoulder to stop me.

"I'll be fine, Steve, I promise." Lightly placing my hand on top of his. He loosened his grip enough to allow me to remove his hand from my shoulder. "I'll flash the light if it's secure." I stated to the party while Steve kept his gaze locked on me.

Carefully lowering myself into the pit, I was almost immediately immersed in the dark abyss. Clicking the button on my flashlight, I gazed around the tunnel that judging by Will's drawing, ran through all of Hawkins.

Letting a shaky breath of air pass through my lips, I gazed down the opposite end of the tunnel. Thankfully, to be greeted by more nothingness. "How's it look down there?" Dustin called out from above.

"I preferred Will's drawings," I stated, clicking the light back up at the group to signal them down.

After helping each of the party members down, Steve quickly joined us, while Mike studied the map of the tunnels that he had poorly drawn in black crayon. "You okay?" Steve whispered to me as I shined my light down the tunnel ahead of us.

"I don't know, this place just seems kind of familiar?" I whispered back. It wasn't the tunnels I recognized, but the gross, decaying vines that stretched along its walls, entangling themselves and seeming to go on forever.

I had only been in one place that had particles like these floating in the air, there was only one place like this, and I had seriously hoped to never find myself or anyone else back there.

"Okay, I'm pretty sure it's this way." Mike called out, shining his flashlight down the tunnel. "You're pretty sure, or certain?" Dustin asked, going to grab the map from his hand. "I'm a hundred percent sure! Just follow me and you'll know." Mike stated, jerking the map away from him before leading the way down the tunnel.

"Hey, hey! I don't think so." Steve called out to him, quickly making his way towards the boy. "What?" Mike stopped in his place while Steve stood in front of him. "Any of you little shits die down here, we're getting the blame. Got it, dipshit?"

Scoffing at Steve, I rolled my eyes before walking towards the two. "Well put, Steve. Sorry, Mike but give him the map." I stated while Steve snatched the map from his grasps. "From here on out, we are leading the way." He stated before walking down the tunnel.

"Is he serious?" Mike asked as the five of us followed after Steve. "Come on, hustle." He called out ahead of us. "I think the multiple concussions are catching up with him." I whispered back, checking over my shoulder to make sure Max, Lucas, and Dustin were still with us.