what should never be [s.h.]

25. ambush

{ November 4, 1984 }

Townes's feet were screaming by the time she had reached the junkyard. She wasn't expecting there to be any changes made since the last time she saw it but was still somehow surprised at the lack of revamping.

With the iron-clad death grip still on the propane tank, Townes's arms were beyond tired now. If she released the handles right now, Townes was positive she could feel the muscles and fibers in her fingers stretch and ache.

"Oh, yeah. This'll do," Steve had put on a pair of sunglasses to shield his eyes from the setting sun. "This'll do just fine."

Townes peered at the bus and nudged Dustin lightly with her shoulder, "Remember when we almost died in there?"

Nodding towards the bus, Dustin looked up at Townes with a wide smile on his face. It felt weird remembering their hiding spot from last year. Townes felt much older now, but it still felt like yesterday, hiding El and praying Hopper would arrive in time.

"Wait," Steve pushed his shades up into his hair. He turned his head to face Townes. "How many times did you almost die last year?"

"Are we including my fight with Carol?" Steve shook his head no after a second of pondering. Blowing out a sigh, Townes mentally transported herself to November of last year. "There was the night Will went missing when I first saw the Demogorgon. The night of your party when the Demogorgon almost got me in the woods behind your house. When I almost fell into the quarry. A couple hours after Carol beat me up when some assassins from the Energy Department almost found me and the kids hiding in that bus. And fighting the Demogorgon at Jonathan's house."

"Five times?" Steve exclaimed, looking at his hand. He had counted on his fingers every time Townes confessed an incident that occurred that year.

Contorting her face in slight embarrassment, Townes watched as Steve lifted his arms up in the air, "If it helps you saved my life two of those times."

"It really doesn't," Steve pretended to contemplate for a second, scattering a few pieces of meat leading to the middle of the junkyard. He dumped the rest of the bucket about a hundred feet away from the bus entrance. "I think we should pour the propane later."

Townes didn't even bend over to set down the propane tank. Just releasing it where it hung from her hands, it clanked against the ground and rolled onto its side, leaving an indent in the mud next to the pile of meat.

"I said medium-well!" Lucas shouted from behind a rusty abandoned car. By his side was the redhead Townes had seen a couple days ago: Max. Dustin's face dropped at the sight of her, evidently defeated at her arrival with Lucas.

Dustin approached the two younger teeangers, leaving Townes and Steve at the heaping pile of meat in the middle of the junkyard.

Steve let out a low whistle, "Ruh-Roh."