Chapter Text
The screen crackled with static and the image shook, making it seem like the earthquake was still ongoing, though it was only the camera man trembling in fear that caused the picture to shudder. The ground was still, though it had cracked open, and the thick reddish, black smoke that poured into the skies almost shrouded the reporter entirely. His terrified voice could be heard gabbling, “It was less than three days ago that the earth opened up beneath the feet of the residents of Hawkins, Indiana in a quake which destroyed the centre of town and left many homeless and destitute. But now things have taken an even more sinister turn.”
Red lightning flashed in the sky above him, and white spores seemed to drift through the air - like dandelion seeds had found their way into Hell itself. “We thought the worst of it was over, and now came the rebuild, but less than an hour ago the earth started to cough up these spores you can see around me, and belching fire into the air. The military were already on the ground as part of the disaster relief, but even they can’t explain what the heck is going on and are having to turn their efforts towards preventing mass panic and hysteria. But the military can only calm things so far, when it seems like Hell has truly come to Hawkins.”
The crackling and shuddering stopped, as the on the ground reporter was replaced by a journalist in a nice, safe, Indianapolis newsroom. “Well there we have it, folks,” the newsreader said, “Armageddon has come to middle America and an entire town is left devastated as they try to understand how this could happen to them, and what comes next… As ever, in times of turmoil, people look for answers - and someone to blame. The town had recently been rocked by three grisly murders carried out by the leader of a Satanic cult, Eddie Munson. Munson is missing, presumed dead, but the townsfolk of Hawkins are asking themselves if it is the rest of this cult who are now opening these gateways into Hell itself.”
The picture changed, from the newsreader’s shoulder pads and bouffant hair, to a black and white photograph of the entire Hellfire club, in their matching T-shirts all depicting Satan’s face, a flaming sword and a flail.
“Are these High School Students the young men responsible for all the death, disaster and bloodshed in Hawkins?” The newsreader’s voice asked, more chirpily than was necessary, while the camera roved along the frozen faces of the club members, as if to make sure everyone in Hawkins could recognise them if they met one.
The screen went blank, the picture collapsing in on itself until there was just a thin, bright line of light across the black, and then nothing.
“Shit,” Mike said.
“That’s insane, they can’t just put your picture on the news like that,” Nancy said.
“Well they just did.”
“You haven’t done anything.”
“No shit!”
“Look, this is bad,” Hopper said. “But falling apart and panicking isn’t gonna get us anywhere and we have bigger concerns right now than Wheeler’s TV debut.”
Nancy looked like she was about to argue, but then she closed her mouth and nodded. “Right.”
The party had returned to the cabin. After standing on the hill and watching the world end before their eyes, seeing the Upside Down leak into the Rightside Up and knowing this meant it was not over and Vecna was still out there, there seemed little else they could do.
There was still power at the cabin, so they had plugged in the TV, adjusted the aerial, righted the couch and turned to the news. Only the news had just made everything ten times worse.
“I can feel him,” Will said, touching the back of his neck. “He’s angry and in pain but this - what just happened - it’s only the beginning. I don’t know what he has planned but I know he won’t stop until everything’s destroyed.”
“Then we find the son of bitch before he can get that far,” Hopper said.
“He’s waiting for us. He knows we won’t stop either.”
“We won’t.” Mike was sitting beside Will, and he put his hand on his shoulder, gripping it so Will turned to look at him. They stared at each other for a long moment. “We’ll find him and stop him. El-” he tore his eyes off Will and glanced towards Eleven, “can look for him. She can find him, like she did before.”
“OK, El finds him and then?” Jonathan paced nervously up and down. “The way Nancy tells it, they set him on fire and shot him right out the window and into a three storey drop and he still walked away. The gates still opened and the world went to shit. Even if we find him, how do we stop him? How do we put this right?”
“Jonathan - that’s not helpful,” Joyce was balanced on the arm of the couch and she was rubbing Will’s arm soothingly. “We’re in a brainstorming phase right now. Everything’s new. Maybe we just need to wait and see.”
Jonathan gave a bitter laugh, “Wait and see? Mom-”
“We can’t do anything about Hawkins,” Will said. “That’s… That’s gonna take more than the party to put things right. People’s homes have been destroyed, the ground is split in four… we can’t fix that. We can’t. But we need to stop anything else from happening. And that means finding Vecna.”
“Which means El,” Mike added.
“I can try.”
Hopper crossed the room and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “I know you will, kid, but this isn’t all on you.” He scowled at Mike, telling him to back off and stop putting the weight of all these expectations on his daughter.
Mike scowled back, then turned to look at Will as he realised Will was staring at him, “What?” He asked softly.
“I just think - guys - “ Will looked around at everyone. “I just think maybe Mike is in danger now. And Dustin and Lucas. And we shouldn’t ignore that. We can’t fight Vecna if we’re fighting another, different battle here in Hawkins.” He looked back at Mike. “And I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“I’ll be fine. Really.”
“No - Will’s right,” Nancy said. “That asshole news reporter painted a target on your back. She basically told everyone in town that you caused the earthquake, destroyed their homes and murdered their kids. And we’d be insane to think you and Dustin and Lucas can just walk away from that. The whole town is gonna think the three of you are killers, just like Eddie. Shit. We came here thinking we needed to hide El, but now there’s Hop too, and Jonathan - you and your family can’t leave now - and on top of that Mike and the others won’t be safe. It’s just too much - what are we gonna do? Camp out here in the cabin until it blows over, all of us?”
“Mike’s not staying here,” Hopper said.
Mike stuck his middle finger up at him.
“OK - step one,” Jonathan stopped his nervous pacing, he brought his hands - pressed together like he was in prayer - to his face, while he thought. “We send Argyle home. We don’t know what’s gonna happen in Hawkins, but everyone who can should get out - and fast. Mom, I guess if the motel didn’t get hit by the quake, we need to check in there for the time being. El and Hopper stay here…”
“And Mike?” Nancy asked.
“Nancy… people know where you guys live. Even if you hide Mike away somewhere, they’re still gonna target your house, your family. He might as well go home - and lie low there.”
“And once it is quiet here, I will start searching for Henry,” El said.
“Right, OK,” Jonathan looked around at everyone. “Let’s… let’s do that then. We can meet back here tomorrow.”
“I’ll call Dustin and Lucas, get them to come - check they’ve seen the news,” Mike said. He and Nancy got up to leave. As he did, Will caught hold of his sleeve.
“Be careful.”
Mike stared at him for a moment and then nodded. The door slammed close behind them and Will glanced at El, realising she had been staring at him and Mike … and that Mike had not said goodbye to her, or even looked her way before he left.
…
“Aw come on, man I don’t wanna leave you here,” Argyle said, stopping at the door to the Surfer Boy Pizza van and making one last attempt to convince Jonathan to return to California with him. “It’s crazy here, man. Come back to Cali, where it’s safe…”
“No where will be safe, if we don’t stop this here. This is where I need to be.”
“The front line of the battle, man.”
“Yeah - with my brother, and Nancy…”
“Your chica can come with us, my dude.”
“She can’t. She won’t. This is our fight, I can’t just head back to Lenora and spend the rest of my life getting baked.”
“Purple Palm Tree Delight can make all of your troubles float away, man.”
“Something’s coming that even Purple Palm Tree Delight can’t fix. Go on, man, before something else happens and you can’t get out. Or before you find you’re wanted in California for Grand Theft Pizza Van.”
“I’m gonna miss you, dude.”
Jonathan hugged him. “I’ll call in a couple days, check you got home.”
“Bye, man.”
“Bye, dude.”
…
Once the bright yellow van, with the surf board stuck to its roof, had careened round the corner and out of sight, Joyce said her goodbyes to Hopper, and the Byers family headed out to Motel 6 in the hope of finding temporary accommodation.
…
Now left alone, Hopper shut the door and looked across at El. “You sure you’re ready?”
“I need to find him.”
“OK,” he switched on the radio and left it crackling on static, while El tied on a blindfold and entered the void.
…
Hawkins changed overnight. By the time Nancy and Mike drove back to Hopper’s cabin the next day, road blocks had sprung up on the edge of town. Every road out of Hawkins was now blockaded by army jeeps and guarded by soldiers wielding semi-automatics.
The roads themselves were clogged as cars lined up to get out of town, only to be forced to turn around. Horns beeped, people swore, and panic and desperation were palpable in the air. Hawkins felt dangerous, all of a sudden - not Demogorgon and Vecna’s Curse dangerous, but small-town small-mindedness dangerous. Febrile and ready to blow.
Nancy hoped they’d get through to Hop’s quickly, and thought it might have been better to take the bikes than the roads.
“They say there’s no way out,” a truck pulled up in the lane beside Nancy, as she sat waiting at a red light. The driver leaned on his open window and leered down at her.
She gripped the steering wheel and glanced up at him, quickly. “We’re not trying to leave.”
“Say the whole town’s been locked down,” he said, as if she’d not spoken. “Quarantined.” He spat, as if the word tasted foul in his mouth. “Say they don’t know we’re not infectious after we inhaled all those goddamn spores. They’re turning Hawkins into a leper colony.”
“Yeah-” she stared straight ahead
Beside her, the truck driver suddenly caught sight of Mike and squinted. “Hang on a minute…”
Mike, who had been morosely staring out of the windshield, turned to look, made eye contact with the driver and immediately regretted it.
“You’re one of those damn punk kids! You’re one of those kids who did all this! One of Munson’s pet killers…” He swung his door open, hitting Nancy’s wing mirror.
Mike’s expression became one of horror. “Nancy, drive-”
“but-” she gestured at the red light.
The truck driver’s steel capped boot hit the ground.
“DRIVE!”
And she hit the gas and squealed off in a cloud of smoke, running the red and swerving her way through the intersection, madly spinning her steering wheel this way and that to avoid the oncoming cars, while Mike gripped the dashboard and yelled.
They got pulled over a couple of blocks later by a soldier who they soon found out was Military Police.
“What the hell do you think you were doing, ma’am?”
“I - uh - I’m sorry… officer? Sir? … I…” she glanced helplessly at Mike. “the man back at the lights - in the pick up - he was gonna attack my little brother, sir. I had to get us out of there…”
“Why would he wanna do a thing like that?”
She gave a nervous smile. “The news about the quarantine - it’s making people jumpy. Putting them on edge.”
“Well in future, remember your little brother can survive a beating. He might not survive a ten car pile up at an intersection.”
“Yes,” she gave a tight nod and a tighter smile. “You’re right. Of course. We panicked.”
“I’m gonna have to ticket you. Name?”
“Nancy Wheeler.”
“Address?”
“1224 Maple Street.”
He wrote her up, tipped his hat to her and walked away. Left alone in the car, Nancy and Mike stared at each other. “Shit.”
…
“I guess at least he didn’t ask where we were going,” They had arrived at the cabin and now Nancy was pacing up and down rubbing her brow. The rest of the party were crammed in the living space; piled on the couch, sitting on the kitchen surfaces and down on the floor. The hole in the roof allowed the sun to stream into the scene, like stage lighting from above - which was handy as the boards across the broken windows blocked out any other light.
El and Hopper had made a good start on tidying, cleaning and righting their cabin, after the others had left yesterday, but there was still a long way to go before it was truly habitable… And how they were going to get windows and roof tiles and everything else they might need to make it a home again had suddenly become a much larger issue, as they could no longer leave town to find them.
“It was a piece of bad luck,” Hopper said. “From here on out, everyone keeps a low profile. Keeps their noses clean, Doesn’t draw attention to themselves.”
“I wasn’t!” Mike protested. “I wasn’t. It’s not my fault that asshole recognised me from the news.”
“My mom’s freaking out,” Dustin said. “Thinks we’re gonna get murdered in our beds because of Eddie and Hellfire. I think she actually thinks we did something wrong. Keeps telling me if I just tell her what I did then we can make it right.”
“My folks are freaked too.” Lucas had been sitting on the arm of the couch, contemplating his own fingernails, but he looked up at everyone now. “Tried to ground me. But no way - I gotta be at the Hospital. Stay with Max. Erica’s with her now… I don’t like to leave her alone.”
“Have the Doctors told you anything?” Robin asked. She was sitting on the floor, her long legs pulled up to her chest and her arms wrapped around her knees.
Lucas shook his head. “They don’t even know why she’s in a coma, never mind when she’ll wake.”
“Vecna didn’t manage to pull her eyes out, though, right? When she does wake up she’ll still have eyes?”
Hopper frowned down at Robin, “Sorry - who are you again?”
“Oh - oh, I’m Robin Buckley, I work with Steve,” she gestured towards Harrington with her thumb. “We actually met before, back when we were fighting evil Russians.”
“This party just keeps getting bigger,” Hop muttered.
“We’re one member down,” Lucas said. “With Max in the hospital…”
“And Eddie,” Dustin said quietly.
“Yeah, we lost Eddie and we’re missing Max so the rest of us have to stick together and make a plan to put Vecna in the ground. El,” Mike turned to look at his girlfriend. “Did you have any luck locating him?”
She shook her head. “I searched. I searched everywhere. I will keep looking.”
“It seems like the rest of us are just sitting on our asses until he’s found,” Steve said. “And now we’re trapped in town, the place is crawling with military…”
“Keeping El hidden has to be our main priority until something changes,” Hopper said. “So we’re back to low profiles and clean noses. Do I make myself clear?”
He gazed around at everyone, daring them to argue. Mike sighed, spreading his hands as if to say “come on, man, what did I do?”, but in the end he nodded along with everyone else.
…
Mike leaned against the car, while Nancy and Jonathan said goodbye to each other. Will came to stand next to him. “Hey.”
“Hey,” Mike smiled. “How’s Motel 6?”
“The bed is lumpy, the sheets are thin but not as thin as the walls, and the people next door are - uh - I think they’re seizing the moment while the world ends. Either that or they’re shifting the furniture around. There’s a lot of moaning.”
Mike laughed. “Yikes.”
“Yeah - super weird listening in to that with your mom in the room… not that I’m listening - you know, I don’t wanna hear but-”
They were both laughing by now. “You know, after spending a week driving across the country in a van together, it’s totally weird you not being around every second of the day,” Mike said. “It’s crazed, it’s like I miss you.”
Will’s face had lit up into a wide smile. “Well, at least it looks like I’m not going to be going back to California any time soon.”
“I guess that’s the silver lining of the quarantine…,” he shifted his feet and looked away, as if suddenly embarrassed by something. “You can’t just live at Motel 6, though.”
“I guess we’ll have to see what happens. Everything’s so up in the air. I feel like the boinking in the room next door isn’t the worst of my problems.”
They shared a look, smiling once again. “I’m glad you’re staying,” Mike said. "Means we can hang out like we used to."
“Cool.”
“Cool.”
…
The Wheelers didn’t sit down to dinner until it had grown dark out, and the glare of the streetlight reflected on the windows. The atmosphere in the room felt heavy, and they ate in silence, silverware scraping across plates like nails on a chalk board.
“Does this mean we can’t visit Nana in the summer?” Holly asked eventually.
Ted and Karen looked up and exchanged a glance.
“We don’t know yet, sweetie,” Karen said in the end. “We don’t know anything yet. We’ll just have to wait and see.”
“What about Nancy going to college?”
Everyone turned to look at Nancy.
“I- we’ll have to wait and see,” she echoed her mother’s words. Not long afterwards, she dropped her napkin onto her plate and left the table, heading upstairs without looking back.
Mike watched her go, and then turned to Holly. “You upset her.”
“I didn’t! Mommy, I didn’t,” she turned to Karen for confirmation
“Michael, for God’s sake, don’t take your own bad temper out on Holly.”
“What? This is my fault now? Bullshit! Nance is upset, Holly shouldn’t have asked.”
“She’s a child, son,” Ted said, wagging his fork at Mike. “She doesn’t know any better. What’s your excuse?”
Mike inhaled - looked like he was going to start yelling - and then slammed his hands on the table, kicked his chair back, got up and carried his plate into the kitchen.
“We didn’t excuse you, Michael,” Ted called after him. A clatter from the kitchen was the only response, as Mike dumped his plate in the sink.
“Mommy, I didn’t upset Nancy, did I?”
“No, sweetie; we’re all already upset because everything is changing and people are scared. It’s OK.”
“Did I upset Mike?”
“That boy’s always in a snit. Got his head screwed on wrong,” Ted told her.
“Ted!” Karen threw him a dark look and then told him to take Holly into the den while she cleared the table.
Mike was still standing in the kitchen, in the dark. He was leaning on the counter in front of the sink, his arms tensed against the work surface, staring out of the window into the front yard.
“Mike?” Karen said gently.
He turned, ready for a fight. “You gonna yell at me again?”
“No, I was gonna ask if you’re OK? How you’re holding up?”
“Oh - oh… yeah… I guess, as well as everyone else.”
“I’m glad to have you home, baby. I was so worried when the quake hit and you were gone and I didn’t know if you’d be able to get back to us. I thought we might have seen the last of you for a while.”
“You don’t get rid of me that easy.”
“Good.” She wrapped her arms around him. He’d grown so much taller in the past couple of years that hugging him still felt unfamiliar, like her little boy was gone, but he still smelled the same: Tide washing powder and Irish Spring soap, Colgate and the indefinable, unique scent of his skin a mother would know anywhere. And he still hugged her back just as tightly; even if he was permanently in a snit. “You know, these are scary times but I really think we’re gonna be O-”
She was cut off by the sound of smashing glass, in the den, something landing heavily on the floor and Holly crying out. They dropped hold of each other and ran to see what had happened. Above their heads, Nancy’s bedroom door opened and they could hear her on the stairs.
“What is it? What’s going on?”
Ted was standing in the middle of the room, looking furious. He held a hefty rock in his right hand. Broken glass lay shattered at his feet and a breeze blew through the now smashed window. “What’s going on is that this rock just came through our window and nearly brained Holly.”
“What?” Karen grabbed hold of Holly and hugged her tightly. “Why would someone - ?”
Ted handed the rock to Mike. “I think this was meant for you, son.”
Mike turned it over in his hand. The word 'killer' had been scrawled across it in a sharpie. “What? This is insane! This is bullshit…”
Nancy arrived in the doorway, she took the rock from Mike and stared up at her dad. “He hasn’t done anything wrong.”
“Yeah? Tell that to the people out there. Whose homes have been destroyed. Whose children have been murdered.”
“I wasn’t even in town when all that happened!”
“No. But you hung out with that freak, Eddie Munson.”
“Eddie didn’t kill anyone either,” Nancy said hotly.
“Oh and I suppose you can prove that, I suppose you can clear Munson’s name and your brother’s and everyone will leave us alone…” he turned back to Mike. “You’ve put us all in danger.”
“Bullshit!”
“Holly could have been hurt. Next time we might not be so lucky. You’ve made some bad decisions that you need to think about long and hard, because it’s your family that are gonna have to pay for them.” He stormed out of the room and vanished somewhere deeper into the house.
Mike stared after him, frustrated and angry. He realised Karen and Holly were staring at him, their eyes wide and frightened. He scowled, and stormed out after his dad. A couple of seconds later his bedroom door slammed shut.
…
The next day, flyers had been pushed under every front door in Hawkins. The Wheelers, still not really talking after the night before, read theirs over the breakfast table.
By Order of Robert D Orr, 45th Governor of Indiana, and the U.S. Military
Hawkins, Indiana is now in a state of quarantine effective as of 29th March 1986. No persons who were inside the town limits of Hawkins, Indiana on or after 29th March can leave the town limits.
Those who were outside the town limits on or after 29th March can only enter with permission of the U.S Military.
The centre of Hawkins - specifically the blocks between Mulberry and Fifth, Kerly and Cornwallis - are out of bounds and under Military control. No civilian is to enter the Military Zone without the correct paperwork.
The Hawkins economy is now underwritten with Military Coupons
“What kind of commie nightmare is this?” Ted wondered, He shot a vicious glance at Mike across the breakfast table. “You happy now, son? You hang out with Satanists, and now we’re all living under Martial Law and paying with coupons?”
Mike slammed his glass of OJ down on the table. “This isn't my fault!”
If the Military Zone impacts your business or place of work, or if your business or place of work was destroyed in the earthquake, you are entitled to financial relief paid for in Military Coupons.
All businesses within Hawkins, Indiana must accept Military Coupons as legal currency.
The banks cannot foreclose on any business or domestic properties with Hawkins, Indiana during the Military Occupation thereof.
“Well that’s something,” Karen said. “We got enough homeless people in this town right now. I guess the Military are doing what they can to keep us all afloat.”
“Damn commies.”
“Ted!”
Any non-resident of Hawkins, Indiana, who was within Hawkins on or after March 29th and is now confined by the quarantine can apply to the Military for billeting and financial relief in the form of Military Coupons.
“Are the Byers still in town?” Karen asked, “And that strange girl with the shaved head?”
Mike choked into his OJ. “El,” he said. “My girlfriend.”
Ted frowned. “Why does your girlfriend look like a boy, son?”
Mike choked again.
“Yes,” Nancy said, brightly, trying to steer the conversation away from Eleven. “Jonathan and Will and Mrs. Byers are all at the Motel 6. I guess this is good news for them.”
“Well here’s some more bad news for Mike,” Ted said:
The issuing of all Indiana State Drivers’ Licenses and Learners’ Permits are suspended until the Military Occupation is over.
“What?” Mike was incensed. “That’s total bullshit! I was just about to start Driver’s Ed. What? Am I still gonna be riding my bike to school in senior year?”
“The way your grades are going, it’ll be a miracle if you’re still in school senior year.”
“My grades are fine, dad.”
“You got a c in Spanish.”
“When am I gonna need Spanish? I’m quarantined in an entirely English speaking goddamn town.”
“It’s a moot point for now, anyway,” Nancy said, pointing to the next item on the flyer.
Hawkins High will remain closed until those who lost their homes in the earthquake have been allocated more permanent accommodation.
“Great, so you two are just going to hang around the house, slacking off, while the world burns?”
Mike slammed his fists on the table. “You act like we want any of this! Nancy’s supposed to graduate, she’s meant to go to college. I’m meant to learn to drive. Our whole lives are being turned upside down by this military bullshit and you act like it’s our fault and we’re happy about it. We’re suffering as much as anybody else!”
“Mike, come on, you’re not suffering as much as the people who lost their homes,” Karen said.
Mike thumped the table again and muttered, “Bullshit.”
There were two final commands on their flyer, and both caused consternation for the whole family.
A curfew is in place for the whole of Hawkins during the Military occupation. All Hawkins residents must be in their homes by 10pm unless given special dispensation to be out later. Paperwork must be shown if questioned.
And
All Hawkins residents who were within Hawkins on the 29th March must present themselves for mandatory health screenings at the newly installed Military Hospital, just outside the Military Zone, at intervals of no greater than every six weeks.
“Mommy, are we sick?” Holly asked. “Are we gonna die?”
Karen and Ted glanced at each other. “No, baby, the Military just want to make sure we don’t get sick. They’re looking out for us.”
Across the table, Mike shook his head and muttered, “Bullshit,” once again.
Ted frowned at him. “Language!”
…
Joyce took her boys over to Hopper’s cabin that morning along with the flyer that had been shoved under their door at the Motel 6.
“What do you think?” She asked, as they sat out on the deck, holding hands beneath a blanket and pretending they weren’t smoking cigarettes. Officially both had quit.
“I think it’s what we should’ve expected. There were gonna have to be rules… Some of this stuff should be good for you,” he raised her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles.
“You think?”
“Sure. You can’t get your job at Melvald’s back ‘cause it’s in the Military Zone. You’re gonna need those coupons to live…” he smiled at her, so his eyes crinkled in the corners. “You reckon they’ll give you enough to pay for that date at Enzos?”
“You think I should go to the Military? Tell them we’re here.”
Hop nodded. “Yeah - yes. Me and El, we need to hide, but things will be easier for you if you officially exist in town. And the boys need to go to school. Go to the Military, Joyce, get them to accommodate you, get the financial relief… me and El are gonna need those coupons to support us too.”
…
Dustin had accompanied Lucas and Erica to the hospital that day. The three of them sat at Max’s bedside, Kate Bush playing on their cassette player. Lucas held her hand, stroking her skin softly with his thumb. “You should see what’s going on in town, Max,” he said gently. “I’d really love it if you could wake up and see for yourself - there’s army everywhere; we can’t go out at night. School is closed…”
"We really miss you, Max,” Dustin said, staring sadly at her lifeless face. “We’ve lost too much already to lose you as well.”
Erica moved her chair closer to Max’s bed and started to unbraid her hair.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m tidying her up. Just ‘cause she’s in a coma, it doesn’t mean she has to look a mess.”
“Is her hair really what’s important, right now?” Dustin asked.
Erica gave him a look. “Excuse me? Are you a girl? Do you know shit? Like, any kind of shit? Yes, it's important.” She started to brush out Max’s long hair and, once she was done, split it back into two bunches and began to plait the left side one.
Lucas watched her for a moment, frowning. “Erica - can you show me how to do that?”
…
Steve pulled up outside the school and he and Robin got out of the car. “I just don’t know how many more PB&J sandwiches I can make, you know?” Robin was saying. “Like, I get it, the people need to eat, but can’t we try making them some tuna, or turkey ham on rye or goddamn cheese, just anything other than more PB&Js.”
“They’re easy and they’re comforting,” Steve said.
“Well they do not comfort me any more. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to look peanut butter in the face again after this and that’s super sad because I love peanut butter.”
“Out of everyone, I really think you might be suffering the most, Robin.”
“I know, I know, perspective… I’m perspective girl. My problems are insignificant.”
“And don’t forget it.”
They pushed open the doors to Hawkins’ High Gym, where just last week the basketball team had brought home the Championship Trophy, while Robin had played in the band and Steve had cheered from the bleachers.
It was like walking into a different world now, with camp beds lining the court, relief stations dotted around where the displaced could get clothes or food, and the smell of disinfectant, sweat and fear in the air. The missing persons board was still cluttered with flyers - few had been found, and even fewer found alive. Steve sighed as he saw Eddie’s missing poster had been defaced again.
Robin made her way into the kitchen, girding her loins for another monster sandwich making session, when she heard sniffles and then a stifled sob coming from over near the industrial refrigerator.
“Hello?” she called out.
The sobs cut off.
“Is there someone there?”
She reached the fridge and saw a figure sitting on the floor, leaning against it, their knees pulled up to their chin and their head resting back on the door. Tears streaked down their face.
It was Vickie.
“Hey - Vickie? Vick?” Robin approached her, quietly, her voice much gentler now.
Vickie opened her eyes, saw Robin and immediately went to wipe away her tears, plastering on a fake smile. “Hey - Robin - good to see you.”
“Yeah, most people cry when they’re pleased to see me.”
Vickie shook her head and muttered, “I’m being stupid.”
“No. No.” Robin sat down beside her. She hesitated for a moment and then reached out and took Vickie’s hand. Vickie glanced down at their joined hands, and then looked at Robin, she gave a watery smile.
“I am. I’m being selfish and stupid and making everything about my insignificant problems when there are people out there really suffering. I need to get … perspective."
Robin smiled. She squeezed Vickie’s hand more tightly. “Perspective is good. But we all have a lot going on right now. It’s not stupid or selfish if you need to take a minute - if you need a release.”
“I’m just… are you scared?”
“Shitless.”
They both laughed. “Me too,” Vickie nodded.
“Well, now we’re both here, then maybe we can be scared shitless together.”
…
“Mom, we need to talk,” Nancy walked into the kitchen where Karen was preparing dinner, trailing Mike in her wake.
“What’s up?”
“Jonathan, and Will, and Mrs. Byers.”
Karen looked confused. “What about them?”
“They’ve got nowhere to live!”
“I thought you said they were staying at Motel 6?”
“They can’t stay there forever, do you know how loud the people screwing in the next room are?”
“Mike!” Karen sounded scandalised.
“Mom, come on, we have room for them here,” Nancy said, making her voice as cajoling and persuasive as possible. “They’re destitute and homeless and are we really going to leave them to the mercy of the Military? The Military who’ve trapped us all in this town and are not letting us out? They need us.”
“The Military have said they will accommodate everyone in the Byers’ position,” Karen reminded her children.
“Yeah but where?” Mike asked. “Some barracks, some place? The school gym? Somewhere they’ll have no privacy and have to share a bathroom with fifteen other displaced families? They can’t live like that.”
“Think of everyone who's suffering,” Nancy said, “think how lucky we’ve been. We still have our home, we still have each other, dad’s work is unaffected. We have it the best out of everyone in Hawkins. Don’t you think we should give something back?”
“If it was us that were homeless, wouldn’t you want Mrs. Byers to take us in?” Mike added. “Would you really want me and Holly and Nance living on camp beds in some public dorm room, if there were friends who could take us in and give us a home?”
Karen bit her lip and looked conflicted.
…
Joyce arrived outside the Military Zone with Will and Jonathan, she spoke to the guard and was ushered into a hastily constructed Nissen Hut that was filled with families like her own lining up, and soldiers behind trestle tables giving them paperwork to sign.
“Hi - excuse me, I’m Joyce Byers, my boys and I were visiting Hawkins and now we can’t leave, and we have nowhere to go. We’ve been staying at the motel but we can’t stay there forever.”
“Do you have family in town, ma’am?” the soldier asked.
“No. My folks are dead and their dad is in Indianapolis.”
“Then who were you visiting, ma’am?”
Joyce looked stricken, unable to come up with an answer.
“The Wheelers,” Jonathan answered for her. “We came to visit the Wheeler family. On Maple Street. Their daughter, Nancy, is my girlfriend, and their son Mike is…”
“His girlfriend?” The soldier sneered, nodding at Will.
“His best friend. Since they were kids. We were coming back to visit for the first time since we moved to California.”
“Uhuh, and what was your address in California, ma’am?” the soldier asked Joyce.
She gave their house number and street in Lenora.
“And were you employed?”
“Yeah - I had a telemarketing job.”
“So you were not already in receipt of any Government Aid?”
“No.”
“And how old are you sons?”
“18 and 15.”
“Still in school?”
Joyce nodded.
The soldier shuffled some papers, picked up a pen and then pushed everything towards Joyce. “Alright, fill in the details here and sign on the dotted line and we’ll get the boys’ school transcripts sent over from California.” Joyce signed. “And sign here to be in receipt of Military Coupons in lieu of Government Aid. If you get a job while here in Hawkins you must let us know, and the coupons will stop. Failure to inform us of other income is fraud and can result in imprisonment.”
Joyce looked stricken again, but she nodded and signed.
“And if you just sign here then the Military will house you and your family in some form of accommodation until such a time as more fitting living quarters can be found.”
“Some form of accommodation?”
“We’re putting up more huts like these.”
Joyce stared around at the bleak, pre-fabricated building, with its iron walls and corrugated roof and no natural lighting. She wondered how long she could afford to keep paying for the room at Motel 6… But it was an unnecessary expense and they would need every penny they could scrape together to support themselves and Hopper and Eleven.
She gritted her teeth, and went to sign.
“Joyce!”
She heard her name called and turned to look, pen dangling over the dotted line. “Karen?”