Chapter Seventy-Seven: Roast And Run

(The Gate, Pt. 4)

***

Rowan's boot made a dull thud on the ground after she stepped over a vine. She panted, breath fogging her goggles and captured by her bandana, but she much preferred the protections than breathing in the poisonous air of the tunnels. In front of her, the kids were shambling along behind Steve, who scanned the tunnels ahead as Rowan was scanning the tunnels behind them, both taking their roles as protectors seriously. Silence permeated the tunnels as thickly as the rotten air and biting cold, until they came to a crossroads.

Steve stopped, and the kids and Rowan did the same. And as Rowan stepped up behind them, her foot crunched on something.

Alarm jolted through Rowan and she looked down, lifting her boot to see what she had stepped on. Her stomach churned with nausea at seeing she'd stepped on a bone. She looked up quickly after that, focusing on the yawning darkness of the tunnels, the vines and protrusions from the ceiling. Anything but the floor and the nausea threatening to climb up her throat.

"God," Lucas breathed, sounding as sick as Rowan felt.

"What is this place?" Max whispered.

"Probably nothing good," Cami mumbled as she adjusted the straps of the weed tank on her shoulders. 

"Guys, come on. Keep moving," Steve instructed as he kept walking forward, the kids obeying. Rowan made to follow, until she noticed Dustin had paused, looking at one of the protrusions on the roof of the tunnel.

"Dustin, come on. We have to go, there's no time to stop," Rowan chided as Dustin kept staring at the thing—something that reminded Rowan of a nipple, and moving in a way that looked like it was breathing, making Rowan's skin crawl at the thought.

"What the hell?" Dustin breathed, peering closer.

"Hey, Dustin, let's—" Rowan tried again, ready to pull Dustin back, until the thing fired a burst of ashy spores into Dustin's face.

"SHIT!" Dustin screamed as he stumbled back, clawing at his face. Panic shot through Rowan and she grabbed the cap-wearing boy, yelling, "Dustin are you okay?!"

"HELP! HELP! HELP!" Dustin screamed, his screams attracting the rest of the group's attention as Rowan shook him, yelling, "Dustin, what the hell's wrong!? Talk to me!"

"Dustin!" Mike yelled as he ran up to his friend.

"SHIT!" Dustin screeched.

"Dustin!" Lucas, Max and Cami yelled in unison as Steve demanded, "What happened?"

"Dustin got too close to... something and it shot a bunch of spores at his face!" Rowan exclaimed as Dustin wriggled out of her grip, shrieking, "IT'S IN MY MOUTH! Some got on my mouth! Shit!"

"Holy fuck, Dustin, are you okay?!" Rowan yelled, but Dustin didn't respond, hacking up harsh coughs before he turned around to the worried, panicked faces staring at him and said, "I'm okay."

In a second, the worry bled into annoyance and Rowan glared at Dustin as Max breathed, "You're serious?"

"Very funny, man," Lucas grumbled as he glared at his overdramatic friend.

"Nice. Very nice," Steve muttered with what Rowan assumed was an eye-roll behind his goggles.

"Holy crap, you scared me, Dustin, I thought you were dying," Cami said, glaring at Dustin before she turned and followed the others.

"Jesus, what an idiot," Max muttered from where she was with the group, leaving Rowan and Dustin.

Rowan turned and punched Dustin in the arm.

"Ow!"

"That's for giving me a heart attack and thinking something was wrong with you, Henderson," Rowan chastised. "Now, come on. Let's go."

"I'm coming," Dustin muttered as he stood up. Seeing the others were more or less gone, he shouted, "Hang on, wait, wait!" and jogged after them. Rowan rolled her eyes and stomped after Dustin and the rest of the group.

When they all came to another stop, Rowan saw an open space before them. Vines criss-crossed the wall and ground, feeding up to a pedestal draped in the vines like some twisted altar to a horrific, eldritch god. Dotting the walls were openings to other tunnels, feeding into this space.

The hub.

"All right Wheeler," Steve said from the front of the group, looking to Mike as he did. "Think we found your hub."

Mike stared at the hub and said, "Let's drench it."

They didn't waste a second, stomping into the hub and setting to work. Rowan, Max, Steve and Dustin drenched gasoline everywhere—on the floor, the vines littering the ground, the creepy vine-choked altar—while Cami, Lucas and Mike squirted gasoline from the two weed tanks onto the walls and vines, making sure every inch was coated in gasoline. It brought the memory of drenching the hallway of the Byers' house in gasoline to vivid life in Rowan's mind as she dumped her carton of the stuff onto the altar, shaking a few drops out—nothing left to waste. She looked over to Steve, wondering if he remembered that memory, too. She smiled under the bandana as she looked away, remembering his panicked, confused voice when he registered the smell of gasoline.

When all the gasoline had been used up, the acrid smell of gasoline clashing with the rotting stench of the Upside Down, they gathered back to the tunnel they'd come from, hunkering in its entrance to the hub. Rowan crouched down, sparks dancing over her knuckles.

"Alright, you guys ready?" Steve questioned, to both Mike and her. Rowan nodded, raising her clenched fist still spitting sparks.

"Yeah," Mike confirmed vocally, as behind them, Cami, Max and Lucas chorused, "Ready."

"Light her up," Dustin said with way too much glee in his face.

Steve gave Rowan a look, the two nodding before turning to the hub. The other teen sighed as he lifted his lighter and muttered, "I am in such deep shit."

He flicked the cap of the lighter off, the flame sparking to life as lightning flashed in Rowan's eyes.

In unison, the move so synchronised it was like Rowan and Steve had practiced it instead of it being the result of a spur-of-the-moment plan, Steve tossed the lighter and Rowan fired a crackling bolt of electricity at the hub. Fire and lightning struck the gasoline-soaked dirt and vines...

And they went up in a white-hot blaze.

The vines writhed and screeched as they were roasted alive, the ones on the altar shooting up and thrashing like some sort of horror movie monster as the rest of the hub went up in flames, licking the walls and banishing the perpetual cold of the Upside Down and filling it up instead with blazing heat. Unearthly shrieks came, rattling the earthen walls with the force of their frenzied shrieks, full of anger and pain.

Rowan's eyes widened and she began shoving the kids behind her as she yelled, "Okay that's our cue to leave! Move, gremlins, move!"

"Go, go, go!" Steve shouted beside her as the kids took the hint and they ran like hell away from the hub they'd set on fire and the vines they roasted alive, away from the horde of Demodogs coming for them, the shrieks slicing into Rowan's ears as they sprinted the way they came, outrunning the monsters coming for their blood.

"Let's go, let's go!" Steve hollered, pushing the kids forward.

"Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God!" Dustin yelled.

Panting, Rowan cast a look back to see how close the monsters were, but she couldn't see any shadows. They still had a head start.

Cami gave out a shriek and stumbled, foot catching on a rock, and falling right for a vine. Rowan's eyes widened and she teleported, grabbing Cami before she fell and jumping them a space away. Cami panted, staring at the vines as she whispered, "Thanks."

"Don't mention. Now get up and keep running like hell!" Rowan instructed.

The Demodogs' shrieks proved enough incentive and Cami scrambled to her feet, the two girls racing to catch up with the others.

When they caught up, Rowan heard Dustin still yelling, "Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God, oh my God!"

Steve paused for the briefest moment before he yelled, "Hey, this way, this way!" and turned sharply in another direction.

Seeing it was the intersection, Rowan increased her speed, legs burning as she ran beside Steve—only to halt in her tracks when she heard Mike scream, "HELP! HELP!"

Rowan whirled and her heart stuttered as she saw Mike on the ground, a vine coiled tight around his leg, dragging him back. The boy was struggling, but the vine's grip was like iron, and it was winning.

"Shit!" Rowan yelled as she teleported back to Mike, grabbing his arm as beside her, Cami, Max, Lucas and Dustin did the same, grabbing onto Mike and pulling him back, but the vine increased its grip with an angry screech. It was like playing tug of war and Mike's body was the rope.

"Hold on!" Lucas yelled to his friend as they still kept pulling.

"Steve, Rowan, pull him out!" Dustin screamed.

Cami grunted. "Come on! God, how strong is this vine!?"

"Doesn't matter! Keep pulling!" Rowan ordered and they did, as Mike kicked and struggled as well, though Rowan couldn't help the prickle of fear they could pull Mike's arms out of their sockets before the vine let go.

"Everybody back! Back!" Steve yelled as he rushed to where the vine was coiled tight around Mike's leg, constricting it like a python. He raised the bat above his head, and seeing what he was doing, Rowan moved to his side at once just as Steve slammed the bat down on the vine. It screeched and as Steve raised his bat again, Rowan shot a tendril of electricity into the vine. It shrieked and spasmed erratically as the electricity coursed through it just as Steve slammed the bat on it again. This time, it let go, slithering away, but Rowan shot another bolt of lightning at it, then slammed her boot down to crush it for good measure.

Panting, she turned to Mike as he was helped up by Lucas and Dustin, the other boy panting.

"You good?" Lucas asked at the same time Dustin questioned, "You okay?"

Mike nodded as Steve reminded, "Guys, we gotta go, we gotta go."

Rowan nodded. "Yeah, we still need to get the fuck out of here, so let's get move—"

A guttural shriek came and they whirled to see a Demodog, blocking their path. Rowan raised her fists, her heartbeat spiking to an erratic tempo as fear and adrenaline flooded her bloodstream. She was about to teleport in front of the kids when Dustin asked, "Dart?"

The Demodog gave a chitter and Rowan's eyes widened when she saw the yellow splotch near the Demodog's tail—the same yellow splotch Dart had.

"Shh, stop," Dustin murmured, stepping forward.

Rowan's eyes widened and the kids shouted, "Dustin, get back!"

"Trust me, please," Dustin said firmly as he walked forward, taking off his protective gear.

"Dustin, are you insane?! Get the fuck back!" Rowan hissed, stepping forward to bodily haul the insane thirteen-year-old back but Dustin put a hand back and said in that same firm tone, "Trust me, Rowan. I know what I'm doing."

Rowan stepped back, but she kept a wary eye on Dart as Dustin crouched down and spoke, "Hey. It's me, it's me. It's just your friend. It's Dustin. It's Dustin, all right? You remember me?"

Dart tilted its head, looking at Dustin as he asked, "Will you let us pass?"

And like that, Dart's mouth opened as he snarled. Rowan lunged, ready to grab Dustin and fry Dart, but Steve grabbed her arm. She whirled to Steve and he gave a small shake of his head, as if he was trying to say, Trust Dustin.

Rowan stared at Steve, but didn't make a move toward Dustin and he let go of her arm as they watched Dustin trying to barter their safe passage.

"Okay, okay. I'm sorry. I'm sorry about the storm cellar. That was a pretty douchey thing to do," Dustin apologised as Dart's mouth closed and it cocked its head, looking almost inquisitive as Dustin reached for his bag and asked, "You hungry?"

"He's insane," Lucas whispered and Cami nodded firmly. They stepped forward to intervene, but Mike stopped Lucas as he and Max whispered, "Shut up," at the same time Rowan grabbed Cami and shook her head. Whatever Dustin was doing, it was working, as insane as it was. Maybe Dustin and Dart really did have a bond, and it was working in their favour. As much as Rowan wanted to fry Dart, she had to trust Dustin, in the bond he shared with his pet monster.

"I've got our favourite," Dustin said as he held up a bar of candy. "See? Nougat."

Dart chirped, almost happily, as Dustin unwrapped the nougat bar, saying, "Look at that. Yummy. Here, all right?"

He laid the nougat on the ground and Dart stepped forward, lowering its head to eat up the nougat. Rowan could only stare as Dustin left more nougat for Dart to eat, murmuring, "Eat up, buddy. Come on. Come on."

Raising a hand, he gestured to the group in a clear sign they should go now. Rowan didn't need to be told twice, pushing the kids gently forward as they sidled past the eating, distracted monster as best they could, Lucas whispering, "Let's go," while Dustin left more nougat for Dart to eat.

"There's plenty. I've got more," he said as Cami, Rowan and Steve tip-toed around Dart, Rowan loosing a breath when she, Steve and the kids were safely behind the monster and a step closer to freedom. Dustin stood up and made his way to the group, looking at the Demodog he'd adopted and truly had created a bond with as Dart looked up and whimpered, like it knew this would be the last time boy or monster would see each other.

"Goodbye, buddy," Dustin farewelled solemnly as he pulled his goggles down, Cami giving him a comforting pat as they turned to resume their frantic sprint down the tunnels, Steve hissing, "Let's go, let's go!", as they ran down the tunnel.

The sight of Dart, as bloodless as it turned out to be, was enough incentive to run to their only way out and get the hell out of there. Rowan cast a look back to check that the horde hadn't caught up when they'd been stopped by Dart, but no shadows or shrieks came. It seemed like aside from Dart, they might get away.

That was, before the tunnels started shaking.

Rowan yelped as Dustin screamed, "Shit!" and Steve yelled, "Jesus!", Rowan planting her hands on the wall as the tunnels rumbled around them, so forcefully that for a single heart-stopping moment, Rowan thought they were going to cave in, and they would be buried alive.

But as quickly as the localised earthquake came, it stopped. Panting, Rowan questioned, "Is everyone all right?"

But there was no time to answer, as a roar ripped through the sudden silence left behind by the quake.

"What was that?" Max asked, nervousness colouring her voice.

Another roar shrieked through the tunnels, sounding frighteningly close. 

"That was really close," Cami whispered, voice trembling with fright as yet another roar came, even closer than the first two. And Rowan's blood froze when she saw the shadows on the wall.

"They're coming!" Mike yelled. "Run! Run!"

"Let's go, let's go!" Steve yelled, pushing Dustin and Lucas as they ran, Cami and Max already sprinting down the tunnel.

"Come on, Mike! Move! Move, Mike!" Dustin shouted as Mike ran to catch up.

Behind them, Rowan at first sprinted before she faltered and turned, the shadows growing closer with each panicked heartbeat.

We won't make it in time.

Steve noticed she wasn't behind them, and he shouted, "Graveswood, what are you doing!?"

"Get the kids out of here!" Rowan yelled. "I'll hold them off!"

When Steve hesitated, Rowan whirled, eyes glowing and spitting sparks, and screamed, "RUN STEVE!"

This time, Steve listened, and he ran after the kids while Rowan turned back as the first Demodogs appeared, face-mouths wide open and hungry for blood.

Rowan raised her hands and fired every volt and spark of electricity crackling inside her veins out of them.

"EAT LIGHTNING MOTHERFUCKERS!" she screamed as the lightning exploded out of her and struck the floor, walls and ceiling of the tunnel and the first Demodogs who ran to her. The tunnel in front of her erupted into flames as the Demodogs fell to the ground, bodies smoking and charred. The rest stayed back, eyeing the flames devouring the tunnels warily. Rowan panted, stray lightning crackling over her, sizzling in her bloodstream. Blood trickled from her nose, and her head pounded.

She wiped the blood away and fired another bolt of lightning as she sprinted back to the tunnel entrance, fire blazing behind her as the Demodogs shrieked. She kept firing more lightning, creating more fire, buying more time. Growls and screeches rattled in her ears, clashing with the hungry roar of the fire and the crackling hiss of the lightning, and as blood poured from her nose and exhaustion beat in her body like the drum of her heartbeat, Rowan kept firing more lightning, buying the time the kids and Steve needed.

When she stumbled to their exit out, she saw that Max and Lucas were already out and Mike was beginning his climb. Steve noticed her first, and yelled, "Graveswood!"

"Get them out, Harrington!" Rowan shouted back as she fired another bolt of lightning. The tunnel erupted into flames, and the Demodogs shrieked in fury as they were kept back from their prey.

"Oh shit," Steve breathed as behind them, Cami climbed up the rope and was pulled over the edge by Max and Mike, gasping heavily. In the tunnels, Rowan fired another blast of lightning, but it was weaker, only causing a brief flash of flames before they died out. Rowan groaned and doubled over, pain and exhaustion threatening to crush her, her powers dangerously low of energy, the junkyard, lab, fight with Billy and roasting the hub and tunnels catching up to her. Blood dripped from both of her nostrils, falling to the ground.

The Demodogs sensed it, and as the flames burned out, they began advancing.

Rowan's eyes widened and she stumbled back, and saw Steve and Dustin still inside.

"Dustin, come on!" the kids yelled, hands extended for him.

"No!" was the response back.

"What are you two doing!? Get out of here!" Rowan yelled, but she knew it was fruitless. They weren't leaving, not without her. 

Steve whirled to her and he was at her side, grabbing her in support as he raised his bat as the monsters shrieked and charged for them. Above, the kids yelled and shouted, begging them to climb, but it was too late for that. Rowan grabbed Steve and Dustin and tried to teleport them out of there, to safety, but their edges only flickered and blurred before they remained stuck in place, that option banked out.

Panting heavily, Rowan turned to the horde and, despite her exhaustion crushing her, Rowan raised her fists as lightning sputtered weakly around her hands, her eyes and veins glowing dimly. She wasn't going down without a fight, and beside her, neither was Steve. They stood back to back, just like in the junkyard, shielding Dustin, ready to face down the horde just as they descended on them. Rowan closed her eyes, bracing for teeth ripping her apart and agonising pain, thinking briefly that if she was going to die fighting, she was glad to have Steve beside her, fighting as well, getting ready to strike whatever weak flickers of lightning she could summon out, and—

Nothing.

Rowan opened her eyes and saw, to her shock, she and Steve and Dustin were still alive, and that the horde was charging past them like they weren't even there. She watched, still in shock, as the horde of Demodogs ran past them, disappearing into another tunnel with shrieks until they were all gone.

Panting, she shared a wide-eyed look with Steve, who seemed to be just as shocked they weren't ripped to pieces. Beside them, Dustin whispered, "This is..."

Rowan's eyes widened, as she realised there was only one reason why the Demodogs would charge past and ignore them like they weren't even there.

It was spoken into being when Mike breathed, "Eleven," coming to the exact same conclusion Rowan had. Fear thrummed through her alongside her pulse. Aunt Aco. If El hasn't closed the gate, if those Demodogs came charging right at them...

Rowan felt a hand on her shoulder and she whipped around, seeing Steve there, holding her shoulder in a way she knew was meant to be comforting. He jerked his head to the rope as he asked, "Can you climb?"

Rowan looked at the rope, then shook her head. "No, I... I-I don't think..."

That seems to be enough of an answer. Gently, he wrapped an arm around her waist, stabilising her, leading her to the rope and placing his hands around her waist and saying, "I'm gonna give you a boost up, okay?"

Rowan nodded as she gripped the rope.

"On three. One, two, three!" Steve counted and he boosted her up. Rowan gripped the rope tighter, puffing and heaving as she climbed out, muscles screaming with exertion and the fatigue of using her powers and running for her life, her grip wobbly, but Rowan kept climbing out of sheer stubbornness and spite.

When she was at the edge of the hole, she felt hands grab her and pull her over to safety. Rowan pulled the dishcloth bandana down, sucking in deep lungfuls of air untainted by the Upside Down's rot before she turned to see Dustin climbing up. She, along with Mike, grabbed his hands and dragged him over the edge, grunting and panting with the effort.

Now, it was only Steve to get out of there, and Rowan gave herself a second to reflect how their positions had changed from when they entered the tunnels before she was grabbing his hands and pulling him up and over the edge, Steve doing his fair share of pulling himself up too.

The movement had them be very close, faces inches from touching as they stared at each other. Rowan let go and moved away, getting to her feet and almost stumbling as exhaustion crashed down on her, the concussion she most likely had making its presence known by having the world tilt as dizziness washed through her.

Steve caught her before she fell, murmuring, "You okay, Graveswood?"

Rowan nodded. "I'll live. I just... need to rest."

Steve frowned, but he lead her to the car where the other gremlins were, ready to leave and get as far away from this place as possible, when the headlights of the car flared with sudden brightness.

As one, they turned, squinting in the harsh, blinding light of the headlights, Rowan feeling as if her eyes were being burned out of their sockets, before it dimmed down.

The group shared a look, knowing what that meant since Rowan knew her electricity was too drained to have any effect on the car.

El did it.

The gate was closed, and the Demodogs, the tunnels... they're dead. The Mind Flayer can't come through.

And Will, if their other plan has worked, is alive, the piece of the Mind Flayer burned out of him.

Relief buckled through Rowan, almost as crushing as her exhaustion, and she slumped against Steve, who kept a supportive arm around her, a hand running through her hair. It was dirty with grime and sweat and blood, but Steve didn't care, doing the exact same thing Rowan did when he was unconscious.

"I got you," he murmured. "I've got you, Rowan."

"It's over," she whispered. "It's finally fucking over. We did it."

Steve nodded, pressing her even closer to him. Rowan let him, melting into it.

"Is it over?" Lucas asked, piercing the moment. Rowan looked up as Steve pulled off the bandana and goggles, letting Rowan see how beat up his face was—not like hers is any better. "Is that it?"

"Seems so, Lucas," Rowan said, wincing as her head throbbed with pain.

"So what do we do now?" Cami questioned.

"We head back to the Byers place and wait," Steve said firmly, still keeping an arm around Rowan, supporting her. She let him, grateful for the support, her head swimming with pain. Christ, she needed a doctor. Steve probably did, too, and Mike as well if the way he's favouring the leg that wasn't constricted by a killer vine is anything to go by. "And I'm driving, so get your ass into the backseat, okay Mayfield?"

Max shot him a look, but obeyed, getting into the back along with Cami, Dustin, Mike and Lucas. Steve lead her to the shotgun seat, helping her inside.

"Thanks, for the help," Rowan mumbled as she sank into the seat. "I... I really appreciate it. All of it."

Steve hesitated, realising that Rowan was saying thank you for all the help he offered not just now, but earlier with the shed, at the bus, and when he held her as she broke down and through her guilt over Bob and Barb, looking at him with all of that in her eyes, brown eyes locked with blue.

He stared at her, before he nodded and murmured, "Glad to help, Graveswood. You just sit there and rest, okay?"

Rowan nodded, watching as Steve closed the car and went to the driver's seat, starting the car and pulling away from the tunnels, casting a look back once.

They did it. El did it and, hopefully, Joyce, Jonathan, Nancy and Alistair had freed Will and done that.

It was over.

It was all finally over.

***

You sure about it being over, Rowan? *grins*

Anyway, this chapter was a lot of fun! I loved the scene where Steve set the tunnels on fire—it was just perfection. And I loved writing Stowan and them being parents/babysitters and then Rowan using her lightning to drive back the Demodogs and then after they're out and Steve and Rowan are exhausted and in pain from their respective injuries and tired and just... hold each other and are glad that it's over and they're all still alive 🥺

But now, it's time for the other half of this... who's ready for an ✨exorcism✨?

Please read, comment and vote!

GhostWriterGirl out!