teenage nightmare [ stranger things ] discontinued.

chapter twenty five.

TEENAGE NIGHTMARE
CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE — PART ONE.
THE INCINERATION.

( gif by SPDERVERSE )

          Franny's converse were most definitely covered in the wet, squishy soil as soon as she landed down in the tunnels. After all the pain and suffering they'd been through, she'd probably have to dump them and buy a new pair once this was over. The kids all stood a little in front of her, JP standing idly, head fallen back as he stared at the tunnels of the Upside Down. The goggles made everything a bit hazy, but he could still make out the pieces of ash and thick dust floating in the air around them. It reminded him of one of those 'this is what smoking does to your lungs' commercials. He used to scoff at those commercials, but seeing this thing in real life was no joke.

           It smelled musty, making Franny thankful for the factory like scent of the bandana that they'd bought from a nearby dollar store. Steve lowered himself down the rope, his feet touching the ground with a squish and he stepped forward, blinking behind his goggles and looking at the interior.

           " Holy shit. " He muttered, and Franny nodded her head in solemn agreement as she lifted her foot, seeing all the damp dirt still caked onto the sole of her shoe. " How do we even navigate down here? "

           Mike stood at the front of the group, turning on his heel to face them all with a large piece of paper in his hands. He'd quickly scribbled down a copy of Will's map with a red crayon before they left and was holding it up like it was a compass. He glanced down at it briefly, the only reason Franny could tell being the fact that his eyes seemed to grow three sizes from underneath the goggles.

           " Yeah, I'm pretty sure it's this way! " He told them, and JP quirked an eyebrow at how confidently unsure his words were.

            Dustin seemed to agree as he said, " You're 'pretty sure' or are you sure? "

            " I'm one hundred percent sure! " Mike insisted, glancing over his shoulder to Dustin with a pointed look that was useless, considering none of them could even see his face; plus, it was dark enough down there that they probably wouldn't be able to register the annoyance on his face anyways. " Just follow me and you'll know! "

             " Woah, woah, woah, " Steve interrupted, holding a hand out to stop the kids from moving any further; he walked to the front of the group, looking down at Mike, pointing his flashlight at the map briefly before snatching it from his hands, " I don't think so. Any of you little shits die down here, I'm getting the blame, got it, dipshit? "