Alice the Amazing ⇒ STRANGER THINGS

[38] July 1985

{Suzie, Do You Copy?}

The dreams of rabbits stopped three days before Alice Henderson was destined to die.

It was a relief to finally sleep through the night with no dreams. However, Alice wondered if it was fate teasing her with peace before something terrible happened.

Since when have I been this cynical? Alice asked, tapping her steering wheel.

She was waiting in the parking lot of Camp Know-Where, waiting for Dustin to finish saying his goodbyes. He was shaking hands with some of his cabin mates, and he handed his trucker hat to a girl with pigtails and glasses.

When Dustin climbed into the passenger seat, he was grinning from ear to ear.

"Hey, Dusty," Alice said. She nodded in the direction of the new owner of his hat. "Who was that girl?"

"Oh, her?" Dustin said. His cheeks flushed pink, and his grin widened. "She's...no one."

"Don't lie to me," Alice said, adjusting her sunglasses and peeling out of the parking lot. "She's your little girlfriend, right?"

Dustin sighed contentedly.

"Yeah," he said. "Her name is Suzie. I love her."

"Awwww," Alice cooed. "How cute!"

"Shut up."

"But I want to hear about your giiiiirlfrieeeeend—"

"Alice!"

Alice snickered and winked at him.

"Okay, okay, I'm done."

The ride back to Hawkins, Alice played Dustin's favorite mixtape and listened to him talk about science that she didn't understand. It wasn't an uncommon occurrence that she didn't understand half of what Dustin talked about.

When they were only thirty minutes away from Hawkins, Dustin began fiddling with his walkie-talkie.

"This is Gold Leader returning to base," he said. "Do you copy? Over."

Nothing but static.

"This is Gold Leader returning to base. Do you copy? Over."

Again, nothing.

"I repeat: This is Gold Leader returning to base. Do you copy? Over...I repeat: This is goddamn Gold Leader—"

"Relax, dude!" Alice said. "I'm sure they just don't have their walkies with them."

"Not possible!" Dustin said. "They always have their walkies. They should be answering."

"You've been away almost a month," Alice pointed out. "Maybe they just forgot that you return today."

Dustin turned off his radio, fuming with his arms crossed.

"Don't be like that," Alice said. She patted him on the shoulder. "I'm sure you'll talk to them soon."

Dustin mumbled something incoherent, turning up Alice's mixtape.

When they got home, Mrs. Henderson squealed and hugged Dustin so tightly he could've popped.

"DUSTY, WE'RE SO HAPPY YOU'RE HOME!" she cooed.

"Mom—I can't—breathe—"

"Sorry, Dusty!" Mrs. Henderson let go, before squeezing him once more. "I'm glad you had fun at camp! Now, I have to get back to work. Stay safe and have fun!"

"I'll help you take your stuff to your room," Alice offered as their mom drove away in her company car.

The siblings carried Dustin's bags inside and began catching each other up on the past few weeks.