Distortion [S. Harrington]

chapter 13

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Hopper looked at the Wheeler's house, which was surrounded with people from the lab. The 'Bad Men'. He climbed back inside the car and then looked at the teens in the back.

"Any idea where they might be?"

"No, I don't know. I mean, I-I don't know. We haven't talked a lot or a lot lately," Nancy said, clearly worried about her brother.

Hopper looked towards Lucy, hoping she'd know since she talks to them regularly.

"They could be at the junkyard. I mean, if they were hiding I guess that's where they would go, but I'm not sure."

"Maybe we could talk to them?" All eyes went to Jonathan. "Like have them know we're coming before we do so they don't get scared when Hopper pulls up."

Then it clicked. They could use the walkie-talkies to contact the boys.

"And how would we do that," Hopper asked.

"You're a genius, Jon. We could use Will's walkie to talk to them. I'm sure they have theirs on them, they always do."

Hopper punched the gas, trying to get to the Byers' house as fast as possible.

Once they got there, everyone jumped out of the car and ran inside. When Lucy stepped inside, she realized it was a lot more chaotic than the last time she'd been there. There were Christmas lights strung everywhere and a lot had the lights taken out. None of this mattered now, the only thing that did were the children.

Joyce was the first person to find the walkie when they got to WIll's room. She immediately handed it over to Nancy, hoping Mike would listen to his sister.

"Mike? Mike! It's me, Nancy. Can you hear me?" Nancy waited for a response but the line was silent. "Mike! Are you there? Answer me, it's an emergency!"

Still no sign of the boys over the radio. Everyone was worried, except for Lucy, who was starting to get pissed.

"Let me have that," Lucy said, reaching for the radio which Nancy handed to her immediately. "Listen here you little assholes. We know that you're at the junkyard. There are bad guys out here looking for you and they know about Eleven. You're putting the party in serious danger by not answering right now!"

The crackle coming from the radio let them know that they heard and the response was quick.

"Yeah, I copy. We're here," Mike said.

"Tell them we're coming for them," Hopper instructed.

"My dad is coming to get you guys. You need to trust us, okay? Trust Hop when he comes and don't move from your position no matter what," Lucy said calmly into the radio. Even though she was extremely stressed out right now, she didn't want the boys to feel unsafe. Of course they listened to her and Hopper left Will's room, going to save the kids in the junkyard.

The crackle sounded again and this time Lucas' voice came from the radio.

"How do we know you aren't with the bad men?"

"Cotton candy," she said.

"What the fuck did you just say?"

"I wanted that to be our code word but I guess if you don't know it it's not that codey," Lucy said, realizing that was stupid. "Do you really think I'm that dumb, Lucas? I'm not just gonna rat you out to some random bad guys."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Over and out." As soon as Lucas went way, Lucy passed the radio back to Nancy.

"How did you get them to answer you so quickly?" Nancy asked, a little mad that they didn't answer her.

"I guess they just like me," Lucy shrugged, leaving the room.

"Calling them assholes also seemed to work," Jonathan laughed, following Lucy out into the living room. "Maybe we should just wait on the couch for your dad to get back."

"Sounds good to me."

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The four of them sat on the Byers' couch in the living room, waiting for Hopper to get back with the children. As they all waited impatiently, the sun seemed to disappear and was replaced by the moon's soft glow.

After a long time, the headlights on Hopper's car poured in through the windows of the room. They all jumped up off the couch and rushed out of the house. Lucy rushed out to hug the children, starting with Dustin.

"Holy shit, are you guys alright? It's like I haven't seen you guys in forever."

She pulled all of the kids in for a group hug, besides Mike because Nancy held onto him tightly .

"We are good," Eleven said.

Lucy smiled at Eleven and El returned it. Lucy always made sure the boys were taken care of and now that El was a part of the group she looked out for her as well.

"You look like you got in trouble. What did you do?" It seemed as if Lucas always knew when Lucy did something.

Right before Lucy could answer, Hopper started speaking. "Let's get inside before you start telling them about how to be a bad influence."

"Since when am I a bad influence," Lucy said as she started to go back in the house. She winked at the kids but then Hopper gave her a stern look. "I'm going, I'm going."

When the group got back inside they shared their stories in full detail so everyone was informed about everything that happened. Mike shared the flea and the acrobat example to illustrate what the Upside Down really was. He said that his teacher had told him the only way to get there was a rip in time and space. Then the boys started explaining what this electromagnetic gate was.

"Is this gate underground?" Hopper asked, saying that like he's seen it before.

El spoke up and said, a simple, "yes."

Hopper asked another question. "Near a large water tank?" She replied with another yes.

Everyone was silent until Joyce started talking to Eleven.

"Is there any way that you could reach Will? A way that you could talk to him in the Upside Down?"

"And my friend Barbara? Can you find her too?" Nancy said. The static increases as Nancy talks but then it becomes faint again.

Eleven quietly said, "I'm sorry."

"What? What's wrong? What's happening?"

Eleven replied, "I can't find them."

She left the room and Mike told them about Eleven and using her powers. How she gets weaker the more she uses them. Then he said that they can't make her better fast enough to look for them again soon. He said they'll have to wait and try again later, but they didn't have time for that.

"How long will we have to wait?" Nancy asked.

Right as Nancy said that, Eleven walked out of the bathroom. When El came back she told them that she could find their friends, but she had to be in a bathtub. Dustin called his teacher and soon enough the big group was off to the school to build a sensory deprivation tank for Eleven to find Will and Barb.