Chapter Text
Welcome to the Jungle
“-kins will remain in complete lockdown. Authorities are yet to make an official statement regarding the earthquake and its connection to the power outage. Casualties have-“
“Okaaay, That’s enough for today.”
“Hey! I was listening to that!”
Caroline snorted, glaring at the teen girl to her right before looking back at the road, long tattooed fingers gripping the stirring wheel a little tighter. “Yah, no kidding. But if I sit through any more of this Hawkings-turned-area-51 bullshit, I will lose my mind!” she snapped instantly regretting her outburst before pulling one of her hands to pat the girl on the knee with a sigh. “I’m sorry Sus. It’s just…this whole situation gives me the jibbies.”
Suzie hummed in agreement before anxiously biting at her pinky nail. Ever since Caroline picked her up from the airport, she’d been a total nervous wreck. Eden, Suzie’s sister and Caroline’s best friend, called her a couple days back to ask if she could take her little sister in for a couple of days and Caroline didn’t hesitate to do so. How she had managed to get her crazy old man to agree was beyond her but guessed that the girl hadn’t been entirely honest about where she was truly going.
But hey, whatever she did, Caroline was happy to see her again. Funny how these two had managed to end up driving towards Hawkins in her dad’s old, but classic for the years, 1966 red Cadillac. Somehow, after finishing High School in 1983, a full year sooner than she was supposed to, Caroline had decided on moving with her eldest sister all the way to Salt Lake City until one of her scholarship applications pulled through. Once there, she had found herself as Suzie’s tutor/babysitter, she enjoyed the girl’s company, but the extra cash definitely sealed the deal for her. She spent a good year helping her turn into a proper genius child, until Dartmouth College sent word for a full scholarship, making her move once more across the country during the summer. She still kept in touch with Eden and the girl, reading all about the boy she’d met at camp that same year. The same boy they were currently on their way to visit, cutting Caroline’s summer vacations at her parent’s house in Indianapolis short.
She watched Suzie grow restless in the silent car, and honestly she couldn’t blame her. “Hey, munchkin. Relax. I’m sure he’s alright. Living in a literal shithole must’ve blocked his walkie.”
“Language” Suzie glared her way, making Caroline roll her eyes. “I know, last we talked he said he was fine, I just feel like there’s something off about him since…” she trailed off, biting her lips. Since his friend died, Caroline thought to herself.
“I’m sure seeing you will light him up love.” Caroline reassured her with a soft smiled, before pulling one of her old man’s ancient cassettes from the side and handing it to her. “Do me a solid and make yourself useful, we still have a long way to go.”
“Well this is just perfect. It’s gonna take us forever to get in! I’m literally pissing myself”
After an hour long ride, Hawkins entrance was a messy jumble of cars and military. Before them, at least 30 cars were pulled to a stop for the men in green camo to register.
“You said you didn’t have to go at the gas station” Suzie pointed out, clearly more at ease as she loudly slurped the bottom of the blue slushie Caroline had bought for her a few miles back.
“Yeah well now I do. Looks like they are asking a lot of questions, are you sure we can even get in?” she asked as she propped her thick leather boots out the window for a more comfortable waiting position, seeing as the traffic was nowhere near moving. Suzie on the other hand, ever the proper lady, simply slouched further into her seat.
“Don’t worry I’ve got it covered” She nudged the backpack at her feet with a mischievous glint.
Caroline gasped, smirking “You rascal! Wait are we about to William Friedkin this shit? Do I get a part? What’s my backstory? You know I always felt a really strong connection to Al Pacino.”
Suzie giggled, having spent enough time with Caroline to catch her strange references. “You know I’m not allowed to watch Cruising. But yeah, I suppose you get to play undercover cop.” She unzipped her chunky backpack and pulled out some printed out pages. “As long as you don’t drift to far from the guidelines, I don’t see why they wouldn’t let us in.”
Caroline read through the pages, grinning wider as she went. “Damn kid, you scare the crap outta me sometimes you know that?”
A few moments later they finally made it to the main checkpoint, a tall mean looking uniformed man crouched down to get a better look at them. He held a clipboard in his hands as he scanned the inside of the car with care. “ID and registration” he asked without even looking at them.
Caroline fought the urge to roll her eyes as she handed them over. He snatched them from her before glancing over at the front of the car. “No outside license plates allowed. Turn around.”
“Ah, yes. You see officer, we’re the new volunteers from the Apostolic Church of Heavenly Truth, my cousin and I signed up as soon as we heard the catastrophic events that overtook this God forsaken town.” She smiled, her voice a pitch higher and condescending. Suzie nodded enthusiastically handing the printed registration sheets to the officer. “We’re here to deliver donations to our sister church”
He read through them seemingly unconvinced, one look at Caroline was enough to doubt she came from religious background. But she was not about to be sent back to the road, her bladder wouldn’t be able to handle it. “I see you seem hesitant, but before you send us on our way, do you have a moment? It is a god given gift to have crossed paths with you, I see it in your eyes. Do you feel it? All this evil and sin lurking, I would like to take this time with you to ask the lord to save your soul, help you find your way back.” She reached over to Suzie’s hand, not giving the confused girl a chance to catch up. “Let the lord and savior guide your path, please help this poor lost soul officer Adams in his mission to carry out your will-!”
The man jumped from Caroline’s sudden outburst and looked around at the officers around him snickering at the mention of his name amidst a theatrical prayer. He shoved her Id and registration to her free outstretched hand, hiding his face with the clipboard. “That won’t be necessary! I-uh, thank you. You can go through.”
He ignored the weird looks from nearby passers as he pulled the cone from the road and signaled for Caroline to go on.
She held a hand to her heart and screamed back as she passed him “I’ll keep you in my prayers Officer Adams!”
She handed a very shocked Suzie back her papers before blasting Led Zeppelin, very pleased with herself.
“And I’m supposed to be the scary one?”
Caroline flashed her a grin “It got us through, ain’t it? Now which way to Dusty-Bun’s sweet ol’ crib?”
The way to Dustin’s house was terrifying, to say the least. They’d watched the news, but nothing could’ve prepared them for this. Caroline was sure she had somehow taken a wrong turn and sent them straight to hell. All around them were empty stores, abandoned cars and not a single pedestrian in sight, other than the patrolling military covering the area. But the scariest part for sure were the gigantic cracks covering large chunks of buildings, roads, and field. Deep, endless pits covered with yellow caution tape. Not like they needed it, one would have to be absolutely batshit crazy to go anywhere near them. It almost seemed like you could get sucked in whole if you stepped close.
It almost made Caroline forget all about Dustin and turn the fuck around from there.
Suzie looked about ready to pass out. Color had drained from her face, and her fingers tight on the crumpled piece of paper with Dustin’s address on it, clutching it in complete and utter terror. “We’re almost there Suz, everything will be alright.” Caroline attempted to reassure her, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that maybe them being here was not such a great idea after all.
She took one last turn to the left, driving through the more neighbory side of Hawkins, catching a few empty houses, before finally stopping where Suzie had instructed her.
As soon as the car stopped, Suzie bolted out and straight to the doorbell, ignoring Caroline’s protests. Her hands shook as she tried ringing again, finally followed by the door cautiously opening.
“Dust-! Oh.” Suzie froze before the lady looking at her in confusion, Caroline joining them at the doorstep. She was about to introduce themselves to who she guessed was Dustin’s mother when recognition hit the woman, and she smiled warmly at the girl.
“Oh my! You must be Suzie! I remember you from Dustin’s picture on his desk, my sweet girl!” She stepped forward, taking Suzie into a bone crushing hug before pulling away and holding her face between her hands. “Look at you, so beautiful!”
Suzie blushed, nodding slightly. “Hello Mrs. Henderson, it’s good to finally meet you.”
“What are you doing all the way here my girls?” She looked over to Caroline, unphased about her appearance. Not that she expected anything less of the sweet lady Mrs. Henderson seemed to be, but usually the leather jacket, combat boots, dark eyeliner and multiple tattoos earned herself disapproving looks from mothers.
“Caroline, Suzie’s babysitter. Pleasure to meet you Mrs. Henderson. We’re here to pay a visit to your son.” Caroline smiled her best and stretched her hand out to Mrs. Henderson, who instead pulled her into a hug as well.
“Please, call me Claudia! Come in! you must be exhausted.” She held the door open as both girls stepped inside. Dustin’s home seemed very old, and small, but smelled of cookies and air freshener. “Dusty is not here I’m afraid. He’s at his friend’s house for the day, you just missed him. Oh he’s going to be so happy that you’re here!”
Claudia headed towards the kitchen and came out holding two glasses of lemonade for them, reminding Caroline just how close she was to pissing herself. She decided to leave Suzie to fend for herself. “I’m sorry Claudia, do you mind if I use your bathroom?”
Suzie eyed her with slight panic at the idea of being left alone with Dustin’s mother, but Caroline simply winked at her.
“Yes my dear, it just down the hall to your right.”
“Thank you so much, I’ll be right back” She stood, handing a shaky Suzie her glass, and leaving the room, not before catching Claudia asking the girl about her family.
Once done, Caroline headed towards the sink to wash her hands and freshen up. Her long layered black hair now slightly flattened after the long ride, but the grown-out bangs were still in place, swept to either side of her face. Seeing as she was going to Suzie’s boyfriend’s house, she opted out of the black eyeshadow, going with eyeliner instead, that still managed to smudge a little. She pulled up her heavily ripped jeans, adjusting the fishnets underneath and straightened her cropped white tee, slipping off her father’s chunky leather jacket to tie it around her waist, leaving the sleaves of patchwork tattoos fully in sight. She had her own jacket back home, but she’d raid her old man’s closet any time she got the chance. Something about the oversized clothes made her feel safe, besides, the fifties were a time to be remembered. It sported the band’s name he’d played the guitar at when he was her age. “Hot N’ Wild”. Like she said before, not exactly a look that many people were a fan of, and most definitely not one of a Dartmouth College student, but she’d had a very peculiar upbringing. Her family definitely raised a weird batch of kids, it had taken a full day of convincing Suzie’s dad that she was not about to trash his home the first time they met.
With one final knot around her waist, she opened the door and headed back to the living room, where Claudia was now showing Suzie pictures of Dustin as a baby. The girl seemed more at easy smiling amused, but still stiffly sitting up at the edge of the couch, ready to flee. Caroline stood beside her and placed an apologetic hand on Suzie’s shoulder.
“Oh, is that Dustin? She definitely inherited your good looks Claudia” she grinned down at a picture of Dustin during the Winter Snow Ball. “look at him, so handsome. Don’t you think love?” she looked over at a blushing Suzie who smiled and nodded shyly.
“Oh you’re too sweet my girl!” Claudia leaned back, smiling. “I’m holding you too long already! I’m sure you can’t wait to see Dusty! How about you come over for dinner? I could make something good for you. Are you staying in Hawkins for tonight?”
“Actually, seeing as going in and out of Hawkins is really quite the hustle, I was hoping maybe you could point us to the nearest hotel?” Suzie nearly rolled her eyes at Caroline’s feigned politeness, but Caroline had to intention of being rude to Dustin’s mom, and she really was so nice.
Claudia held a hand to her heart “No no no, no hotels! I couldn’t let you girls stay somewhere else, you must stay here.”
She looked around registering their home. It was a nice little house, but Caroline couldn’t imagine they’d have a guest room. “Oh, it’s really no trouble at all! We-“
She was interrupted by Claudia holding her hand up and smiling at them both. “You came all the way here already, and Hawkins is not the place to be wondering about just now, I’m afraid. You can stay in Dusty’s room he won’t mind at all. I’ll have it ready for you when you get back.”
Caroline sighed and smiled, looking over at Suzie who seemed nervous. Crashing Dustin’s home really wasn’t part of their plans, but Claudia was right, driving Suzie around this hell didn’t really appeal much to her. “Thank you so much Claudia, we would really appreciate it.”
“It’s settled then! You girls go now, and don’t be too late!”
Caroline drove further up just as Claudia had instructed them, the houses getting fancier and bigger the further they went, loud music filling the empty streets. Actually, she noticed, this area of town looked almost completely abandoned. No cars in the driveways, no lights, no movement. Caroline figure since this was supposed to be the rich side, they'd hidden at their country houses as soon as Hawkins went to shit.
“So, what did you think of your future mother-in-law? I thought she was really sweet, offering us a place to stay and all.” She smirked at the girl, playfully poking her side “plus, she called you beautiful!”
Suzie giggled “Stop!” She wasn't nearly as anxious as she was at the beginning of the day, maybe seeing Dustin's untouched home gave her some peace of mind. It definitely did for Caroline, driving Suzie to her boyfriend's wrecked house would have broken the girl.
“She loved you, that’s for sure.”
“Yeah, she was nice. I hated you for leaving me there with her by the way, it was vile of you.”
Caroline laughed, “Hey, it’s not me who had to make a good first impression.” She parked at the end of the street by the big house Claudia had described for them, a couple of bikes thrown around the front yard as well as some more cars parked at the driveway. “Looks like they have visitors, I’m guessing this is it. And please don’t bolt out, be civilized.”