Chapter Seventy-Six: Into The Tunnels

(The Gate, Pt. 3)

***

If Rowan could rate Max's driving between her aunt's, Eddie's and Steve's driving, Rowan thought Max landed firmly somewhere between Eddie and Aunt Aco.

There's no way in absolute hell that Max was a driver like Steve, not with the way she's driving. But she drives slightly less recklessly than her aunt or Eddie do, which was a point to the small redhead at the wheel, who seemed very certain in her capabilities of driving. And yet despite her experience of being in a car with Eddie or Aunt Aco at the wheel, Rowan would be lying if she wasn't fearing for her life with how Max abruptly switches between acceleration and hard braking without warning, or the sharp, swerving turns she makes. Tyres screeching on asphalt accompanied the noise in her head, along with directions from Lucas, mumbled prayers from Cami about surviving, and her own barked directions in making sure they all get out of this alive.

Like now.

"Max, that's a corner, turn! TURN!" Rowan screeched, and Max obeyed, swinging the steering wheel hard, the car whipping around the corner, rubber squealing and Rowan, Cami, Mike, Dustin and Steve nearly flying out of the seats. Rowan braced one hand on the roof and the other on Steve as Max straightened and continued driving, Lucas guiding her to where they would enter the tunnels that, if the plan works, they would be setting on fire and run like hell out of there before they were ripped to pieces.

Panting, Rowan looked at the kids in the back and asked, "You gremlins okay?"

They nodded, and Rowan turned back to Steve, checking to make sure the wild turn hadn't damaged his already-injured head that was resting on her lap. He seemed to be okay—as okay as he would be with his face a mess of blood and bruises with colourful bandaids taped onto his injuries courtesy of Dustin and Cami—and Rowan knew her face didn't look any better. She carded her fingers through his hair, the strands soft under her touch, and with what she knew of Steve's hair secrets, what he did paid off, the act comforting her as much as she hoped it would comfort Steve. Worry still twisted her insides at how he was still unconscious, with only his chest rising and falling and the beat of his heart under her hand letting her know he was still alive.

As her fingers ran through his hair, Rowan felt a stir and heard a groan. Hope spiked in her and she whispered, "Steve?"

Steve didn't respond, eyes opening slowly as he gave another groan. He looked over to Mike and slurred, "Nancy?"

Rowan fought back a snort as Mike turned and gave Steve the most confused, offended look she ever saw him give, obviously displeased at being mistaken for his sister.

Steve turned way and lifted a hand to touch his face but Dustin pushed it down, murmuring, "No, no, don't touch it."

Steve's head shifted to look at Dustin, the cap-wearing boy smiling as he said, "Hey buddy. Shh, it's okay. You put up a good fight. He kicked your ass, but you and Rowan put up a fight. You're okay."

Steve groaned and Rowan lightly pressed her other hand to his face as he finally looked at her, eyes slightly unfocused as he whispered, "Rowan? You... okay?"

Rowan smiled. "Hey Harrington. Welcome back to the land of the living."

Steve looked at her, something soft in his unfocused gaze before it clouded with confusion as his brows furrowed together as much as possible and he pointed at her with a wobbly finger.

"Wait, why are you sitting back here?" he mumbled

Rowan bit her lip, about to answer... until Lucas instructed, "Okay, you're gonna keep straight for a half a mile, then make a left on Mount Sinai."

"What's going on?" Steve slurred, before he saw Max in the driver's seat and his eyes widened.

"Steve..." Rowan began, but it was too late. Steve was in the full throes of freaking out.

"Oh my God!" he exclaimed as over him, Dustin assured, "Just relax. She's driven before."

"Yeah, in a parking lot!" Mike reminded sharply.

"That counts!" Dustin defended.

"Not really when she drives like this!" Cami shouted as she gripped the handle above the door for dear life.

Dustin ignored her, saying to Steve, "They were gonna leave you behind. But Rowan wasn't gonna let that happen, and neither was I."

"Oh my God," Steve moaned again, as if he was regretting ever agreeing to help Dustin with his wayward pet monster.

"I promised that you'd be cool, okay?" Dustin assured, and Steve looked over to Rowan, as if still in disbelief she was sitting here.

"What's even going on? Why are you back here? Why is she driving?!"

"No license, remember? Plus Hargrove banged my head pretty bad too," Rowan defended, not saying that she wanted to stay behind because she couldn't even think of being in the front seat, not when Steve was so badly beat up and looked like he was a second from slipping into cold, dark death.

"Yeah, yeah, I know, but why aren't you in the seat?!"

"Would you rather me drive?! Aside from head injury, have you met my aunt and best friend?!"

"Yeah, I have, but I'd feel better if you were driving Graveswood instead of a kid!"

"Relax! Aside from a few wild turns and accelerations, she's going pretty good!"

"She's going what!? Where are we even going!?"

"Don't worry about it, okay? Everything's good," Rowan assured, trying for a smile as Steve stared at her, still in frazzled shock, and maybe that would have worked...

... if Max hadn't pressed down on the accelerator.

The car leapt forward like some beast loosed off its leash. Cami was slammed back into the seat with a shriek and Rowan gripped Steve tighter, shouting, "Shit! Max, brakes, BRAKES!" as Steve leaned up a bit and shouted, "Oh my God, no! Whoa! Stop the car! Slow down!"

"I told you he'd freak out!" Mike shouted.

"Can it, Mike! Max, brakes!" Rowan yelled.

"I'm gonna be sick," Cami groaned. 

"STOP THE CAR!"

"The fucking BRAKES, Max!"

"Everybody SHUT UP!" Max screamed. "I'm trying to focus!"

"Yeah and hit the fucking brakes!" Rowan hollered as she tried to brace herself as Cami pressed a hand to her mouth, like she was going to be sick. Oh God, was this how Robin felt when Eddie drove? 

Scratch that earlier judgement. Max was just as bad as Eddie.

"Oh wait, that's Mount Sinai," Lucas said, entirely  too calm for the situation. "Make a left."

"What?"

"Make a left!"

Max obeyed, spinning the wheel hard to the left and sending everyone slamming into the side as the car harshly swerved with the wheel. Kids yelled, Lucas screamed like a fucking banshee, Steve yelled, Rowan yelled a mess of "Shit fuck shit shit fuck shit FUCK!", it was a mess off of yelling and screaming and panic and Rowan thinking Max was about to kill them all, holy fuck why did she allow Max to drive, she knew saving the world trumped road laws, but not at the expense of them all dying.

A crashing noise came and Rowan watched with wide eyes as they ploughed over and took out a mailbox before continuing onward with screeching tyres and Rowan could only think, Property destruction. Lovely, along with Holy fucking shit I'm gonna die in a car driven by a thirteen-year-old!

Max kept the accelerator on, the rural streets of Hawkins blurring past as Rowan kept screaming, "BRAKES MAX BRAKES!" when she wasn't just screaming along with the kids and Steve, streets shifting into empty fields as they barrelled into bushes, short trees and other flora, branches whipping across the windshield before they zoomed out into a farm, bumping over something Rowan hoped was just a sign and not an animal. Blurry pumpkins flashed past as a pit in the earth grew larger and larger the closer they got to it, until they came to screeching stop.

Rowan felt herself being jerked forward, as the kids must be also jerking forward, Steve shooting forward with a "Whoa, hello!"

Silence filled the car before Dustin breathed, "Whoa!"

"Incredible," Mike murmured, voice filled with awe.

"We're alive," Cami whispered. "Oh God, we're alive. Gracias a Dios."

"That was... not the worst driving I've experienced," Rowan muttered, wincing as her head and other facial injuries twinged with pain. "Still could have gone without the fucking hyper-speed, Max."

"I told you. Zoomer," Max said nonchalantly, like she'd done this before.

The minute the ignition was turned off and the engine died down, the kids scrambled out, not wasting any time to get ready to descend into the depths of the tunnels and set them ablaze, putting on their protective gear and getting out the cartons of gasoline and weed tanks that would have been filled with weedkiller any other day but would now be filled with gasoline for tonight. Rowan followed them, wincing as her head throbbed but joining them in getting ready, pulling a dishcloth over her mouth. She didn't grab anything to set the tunnels on the fire—she had her lightning to do that for her. Instead, she poured in some gasoline into one of the weed tanks and screwed the cap tight, handing it to Cami who hooked it around her shoulders, her face from what Rowan could see over the bandana and sunglasses set with grim determination.

As she made to grab her goggles and put them on, she saw Steve stumble out of the car, groaning as he gripped the roof of the car for support, the pain of his injuries kicking in.

"You okay, Harrington?" Rowan questioned, concern thrumming through her.

He only groaned in reply and lifted his head. Which is how he noticed Mike tying a rope to the back of the car and heading it to the hole to toss it inside, and the other kids getting ready to make the descent into the tunnels. Instantly, he seemed to sober up from the pain and stood up as much as he could, protesting, "Guys? Oh no, guys! Hey! Where—where do you think you're going? What are you deaf, hello? We are not going down there right now. I made myself clear!"

The kids choose to ignore him and Rowan stepped up to Steve after she grabbed her goggles, saying, "Harrington, don't fight it. It's happening, whether you like it or not."

"No, it isn't!" Steve angrily rebutted, glaring at Rowan before turning back to the kids. "Get back here! We're not going down there! Hey, there's no chance we're going down that hole, all right?! This ends right now!"

"STEVE!" Dustin shouted, making the angry teen whip around to face Dustin as he went on, "You're upset, I get it. But the bottom line is, a Party member requires assistance, and it is our duty to provide that assistance."

Steve stared at Dustin before turning to Rowan, who'd been behind him, hands at her sides and ready to catch him if he needed it. "And you're fine with all of this, Graveswood?"

"Look, I'd rather not have the gremlins put themselves in any more danger, but if this is how we can help Will, El, my aunt, Alistair, and everyone else, I am rather damn fine with this," Rowan said firmly, eyes glinting with her decision behind the thick plastic of the goggles.

Steve looked at her before turning back to Dustin as he continued, holding the bag with Steve's nail bat inside it, "Now, I know you promised Nance that you would keep us safe, and Rowan I know you promised your aunt to keep us safe as well.."

He pushed the bag against Steve's chest and finished, "So keep us safe."

Steve looked at Dustin, then at Rowan, then back to Dustin and gave a harsh sigh before taking the bag, giving in. He slung the bag onto his shoulders and put on the gear inside it around his mouth and eyes. He again looked at Rowan before they joined up with the other kids congregating at the hole, the rope that would help them get inside their lifeline—a precaution in case Rowan's teleportation was drained or if the tunnels worked the same way the Upside Down did and she couldn't teleport any of the kids and Steve, much less herself, out.

Rowan stood on the edge of the pit, keeping an eagle eye on the kids as they slowly descended into the hole—since Rowan had never seen the tunnels, and the shadows inside made it too dark for her to get a good look, she couldn't teleport herself in, much less the kids. One by one, they made the descent into the tunnel, Rowan and Steve watching the kids like hawks, until they're the only ones left.

Despite his greater injuries, Steve went down next, grunting as he landed inside. And just as Rowan was about to crawl in, looking at the almost endless darkness of the hole and the tunnels beneath it, it's the moment where she remembered—these tunnels are a product of the Upside Down. It may not be the rotting, warped hell-dimension, but these tunnels are still part of it, spawning monsters and burrowing underneath Hawkins and infecting the surface with its malicious decay.

It may not be the Upside Down, but Rowan's still going back into a piece of it.

Her heart slammed in her chest and her palms grew clammy under her gloves as Rowan kept staring at it, mind flashing with images—of holding Barb's hand before she was pulled away, of running through the Upside Down with fear and adrenaline powering her, of the Demogorgon's shrieks and cold, toxic air slicing apart her lungs and the monster's cold, taloned hand on her leg, of dream-walking twice into Will's not-episodes and seeing the Mind Flayer—and all she could think was, I can't go in there I can't go back run run RUN!

"Hey Graveswood, you gonna stay up there, or are you going to come down?"

Steve's voice jolted her and she locked her wide eyes onto Steve. Through her goggles, she could see him staring at her, irritation shifting into concern. "Hey, you okay?"

Rowan swallowed. "Fine."

"You sure? Need any help to get down?"

"I'm okay. Just, give me a minute..."

"Hey, if you fall, I'll catch you."

Rowan arched a brow. "You can?"

"Yeah. Promise."

"Thanks, but I'll be fine," she assured drily as she got herself ready to make the descent, pushing away the fear and trauma of reentering the Upside Down, even if it wasn't the Upside Down.

Gripping the rope, she climbed into the tunnel. When she let go to drop down the rest of the way, she felt Steve's hands at her waist, catching her like he promised. She looked up, seeing his face covered by a bandana and goggles, hands resting on her waist, holding her in a secure grip as she rested her hands on his shoulders. Rowan felt her pulse thrum in her ears before she pushed away, muttering, "Thanks for the catch."

"It's fine. Told you I could catch you," Steve said, and Rowan thought she could hear the teasing smile in his face.

"Glad you could. I had serious doubts."

Despite the deadpan tone, Rowan was smiling under her dishcloth bandana. She wondered if Steve knew that.

By the scoff and the way he looked like at her like he was smiling too, she knew he had.

"Uh, yeah, I'm pretty sure it's this way!" Mike shouted from further up ahead. Instantly the two teens moved apart as Dustin questioned, "You pretty sure or you're certain?"

"I'm one-hundred percent sure! Just follow me and you'll know," Mike snapped back.

Alarm shot through Rowan and she stared at Steve who headed to the front of the line and said, "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hey, hey, hey, I don't think so."

"What?" Mike questioned incredulously.

"Look, any of you little shits die down here, Rowan and I are getting the blame. Got it dipshit?" Steve reasoned. "From here on out, I'm leading the way."

Rowan nodded. "And I'll watch the back, just in case any of these bastards try to sneak up on us."

The kids stared at her and Steve, who took the map and shouted, "You heard her! Stay in the middle, shitheads. Come on, let's go."

He marched forward, but when none of the kids followed, he shouted, "Come on! Hey, a little hustle! This was your plan, remember? Come on!"

That kicked the kids into the gear and they shuffled behind Steve, Rowan following as she scanned the tunnels warily, watching for any of the Demodogs trying to come out from the back, as they made their way through the tunnels, heading right to the hub.

In the tunnels, Rowan could feel the shift of difference from the surface—the air was colder, deader, filed with the sickly sweet, acrid stench of decay and rot. Ash drifted lazily in the air, dancing in the thin beams of moonlight that came through from the surface. Thick vines were draped across the ground or carpeting the tunnelled walls of dirt, their slight twitches letting Rowan know all too well that they were sentient, and as bloodthirsty as anything else from the Upside Down. One wrong move, one wrong step or accidental brush, and the hive mind connecting everything from that hell dimension would alert the Demodogs, or maybe have the vine just screech and try to kill them instead. Rowan kept extra care, eyeing the vines warily as she stepped carefully around them, making sure none of her electricity slipped out and shocked a vine.

But aside from the vines, from the air and ash and the wrongness of the tunnels that rubbed against Rowan uncomfortably, she hadn't seen the Demodogs, hadn't seen any trace of the monsters or even an adult Demogorgon. Rowan didn't know if that was a good thing or not, knowing that could only mean that the monsters were all at the lab, where El, Hopper and Aunt Aco were.

Stay safe, guys, she silently prayed as they traversed deeper into the tunnels. We're gonna give you a fighting a chance soon.

She only hoped their plan would work.

***

Oh, I had a LOT of fun with this chapter *grins*

I loved writing the chaos in the beginning of the chapter! Poor Steve, and poor Rowan, and poor Cami. But yeah, some soft Stowan moments 🥺 (amid the chaos and bickering 😂)

And now, it's into the tunnels!!! Let's just say, I'm gonna have a lot of fun with the next chapter... >:)

Spanish translation:

Gracias a Dios: Thank God

Please read, comment and vote!

GhostWriterGirl out!