Strange as IT Seems

Chapter 27: Dead Inside?

Richie pedals towards the edge of town in a rage of confusion, hatred, resentment, and sadness. It was pretty clear that he no longer had any friends. He felt as though they'd turned against him in every way. Why couldn't they just leave him alone and let him sort out this bullshit on his own?

It was a question that rolled around in his brain as he approaches the same area where he'd almost been mowed down by that mullet-wearing asshole the week before. He pulls over and looks around. To his utter delight, there are still some remains of the glass window scattered along the unpaved shoulder of the road. He smiles in great satisfaction at his handiwork, but the guy had it coming, without a doubt.

The trash mouth decides to go back to the weird building he'd seen while fleeing from the guy after he tried to give chase. Hawkins Laboratory, if he remembered correctly.

He continues riding the route he'd taken until he reaches the end of the street. He'd been so eager to come back and investigate that he'd planted two sticks in the dirt in the shape of an X at the bottom of the ditch next to the road. He walks his bike down the slope and then tosses it into the bushes so if a person would drive by, they wouldn't see it or give it a second glance. Fighting the overgrown branches and brush, Richie finally reaches the fence where the metal signs rattle in the wind, creating an unsettling sound in the otherwise deathly silent area.

Hawkins National Laboratory

U.S. Department of Energy

And

Restricted Area

No Trespassing

U.S. Government Property

Richie mutters to himself in delight. "U.S. Energy my ass,"

He goes along the fence, so lost in his own thoughts that he is not able to notice the contrast of trees and other vegetation between the two areas, a red flag that would indicate that something is not right. While the trees surrounding the bespectacled nerd were lush and full of leaves, that were slowly starting to change with autumn approaching, the trees around the laboratory were bare and empty. Not a single sign of life and seemed to be decaying from the inside out. The grass near the building was parched and a dull shade of gray... not even weeds could live without becoming choked and dying. It was as if colour could no longer exist and the place was rotting...

However, the teen is blissfully unaware as he finds a spot where he could see the lab more clearly.

Curiosity blazes within him, there had to be some kind of cool shit in there. Maybe a laser or nuclear weapons or a mutant zoo of animals... and things had gone awry, and the place had been shut down... perhaps even quarantined.

He has to get closer. The problem was, there was rusted barbed wire atop of the fence and the last thing he needed was to be in the hospital getting tetanus shots for trying to climb through it. Richie adopts a new strategy, looking for loose areas of the fence. No doubt animals had dug their way under to look for food or time had done its magic and loosened some of the chain-link fences. Someplace lower to the ground would be his best bet for getting in.

...

It takes about two hours to walk the perimeter until Richie finally finds what he needs. A small corner of the fence was loosened just enough that he could peel it up and wriggle inside.

Satisfied and relieved that his patience had paid off, the kid from Derry begins racing across the dead grass towards the facility, never once pausing to think about the reasons why the place was closed.