Chapter Text
Fighting demo dogs is one thing, but going into tunnels that are directly connected to an evil world is another thing. If Steve wasn’t watching four little shitheads he would’ve absolutely never gone in the damned death tunnels, but unfortunately he was babysitting them.
Which meant leading the way through what the kids called ‘The Upside Down’ after getting hit with a plate and setting the place on fire, then nearly getting mauled by demo dogs moments later, oh, and getting stuck inside said tunnels after they collapsed.
Steve coughs harshly, blinking in the darkness. His vision is spinning even in the dark and he breathes in, the air stifled because of his mask. The tunnels around him shake violently, the vines around writhing like something is burning them. A piece of rock comes down and Steve flinches, sitting up, immediately met with a spike of pain jolting through his skull, disorienting him so bad he feels nauseas.
“Shit…” he mumbles, lip trembling as he fights off the urge to puke in his mask.
A cracked flashlight lies a few feet away and he scrambles up to grab it, only to scream when he realizes there’s someone half sprawled over his legs and chest. The person rouses with a start, letting out a tiny cough.
Steve lunges for the flashlight and snatches it, pointing it at the person.
A very dirtied Dustin Henderson looks back at him, squinting in the bright light. His face is smeared with dark upside down gunk and his clothes are torn in some places along with dirt caked on. “Steve?” He asks, his voice small. “What happened?”
Steve stares in shock for a moment then hastily moves the flashlight away, afraid to blind him. He can already see the kid wince and rub at his eyes.
His own quick movements send painful aftershocks through his brain, but he tries his best to ignore it.
“I think the tunnels are collapsing.” Steve whispers softly and an ominous rumble shakes the surrounding area just seconds later. A few pebbles fall to the ground and he gets up with a slight sway, helping Dustin to his feet.
“Okay- we need to find a way out and fast. Stay beside me, okay? I don’t want to see you move an inch from my hip, Henderson.”
“Okay.” Dustin nods and the older teen leans down, adjusting the mask to make it more secure on his face.
Somehow there’s even more spores in the air now, floating aimlessly in the dim light.
Just their fucking luck…
The two of them move through the tunnels as quickly as they can, stepping over flailing vines that seem to wail in agony and dodging falling rocks and debris. With every step the tunnel just stretches on, dividing into more and more passageways.
Time passes slowly, only broken up by Dustin talking about something or other. Steve is only half listening to it, too focused on trying not to die in a collapsing death trap, that and the pounding in his head which is making it hard to walk straight.
He still tries to reply with ‘uh-huhs’ ‘mhms’ and the occasional nodding just so he can at least signal to the kid that he’s listening even if it’s only a little.
Still he notices how Dustin starts to get quieter, sounding a little winded. He hopes it’s from all the walking and not whatever nasty shit is in the air. He really doubts the scarves around their noses are going to do much to stop anything from getting other worldly gunk inside them.
As long as it doesn’t infect them with alien demo-slug babies he’ll be fine.
Steve shudders at the thought, glancing around and narrowly yanking Dustin out of the way as part of the tunnel collapses behind them, dust and fresh spores spilling into the air. On instinct he presses the younger boy against his chest to shield him from it.
Thankfully the kid doesn’t tug away, just grasping him tightly with a tiny hitch in his breath.
After a few moments without disaster, Steve pulls away, holding Dustin by the shoulders.
“Hey, are you okay?”
“Y-yeah.” Dustin nods, his voice cracking slightly. There’s dust mixed in with his hair and Steve brushes it off without really thinking, ruffling his hair.
“Good,” the tunnels rumble ominously again and Steve squeezes his shoulders. “We gotta keep moving, alright? Can you do that?”
“Yeah.” The boy nods, following right after him like a little duckling. It’d be kinda cute if it weren’t for the fact the poor kid is probably petrified.
As they maneuver around Steve feels Dustin grip onto his jacket as he walks with him. It’s not a light grip either, the fabric pulling as his hand is fisted into it.
Time is funny in the long stretches of darkness but Steve quickly starts to notice that his light keeps flickering.
On and off.
On and off.
On and off.
Dustin lets out a sharp gasp, pulling on the teen’s jacket. “The demogorgon-“
“What?”
“The light.” Dustin whispers in a tiny voice, eyes locked on the flashlight and just like that they both fall silent, waiting. The light flickers a few more times then to Steve’s complete and utter dismay it goes out completely.
Darkness envelops them and Steve feels a sudden weight press into his side, Dustin’s arms wrapping around him without a single word.
A piece of debris falls somewhere close by and he carefully sets a hand on Dustin’s curls to get his attention.
“We have to keep going. We can stop when we’re out of here.”
Dustin gives a small almost imperceptible nod then starts walking, the two of them side by side. As they start to get further in the spores become thicker and Steve hears what sounds like lightning crackling nearby.
It weird though, like it’s coming from the bottom of a fish tank or through a wall.
“Do you hear that?” Dustin asks, slowly moving forward and glancing around. “The lightning sounds close. Like really-“ his foot moves forward and in moments he’s gone, falling through a hole in the ground beneath them despite the fact they’re both upside down.
“Henderson!” Steve jumps after him, landing on the ground with a thud. Spikes of pain spark up his spine and into his skull.
It takes everything in him not to throw up right then, the world spinning and spinning until it slowly starts to stop once again.
The grass beneath him is wet and sticky and when he raises his hand it’s covered in a clear, sticky substance almost similar to spider webbing, but with the texture of honey.
“Ow..” Dustin mumbles from beside him, sitting up and rubbing his head.
“Are you okay?! Are you hurt?” Steve reaches out, gently moving the boy’s neck side to side and checking for other injuries.
Thankfully all he sees are a few tiny scrapes on his elbows, knees and one on his forehead. No life threatening wounds at least none that are in the open.
“I’m okay. My head is just sore.” Dustin complains, huffing.
“At least we’re on the surface now.” Steve sighs, fighting the urge to collapse right then and there.
All his limbs hurt and he’s so, so tired.
He just wants to sleep for a week after this, to not get out of bed unless he has to.
Dustin looks around and takes in a sharp breath which immediately is followed by a small cough. He grabs the older boy’s jacket and yanks on it, pointing at the skies above.
A red lightning bolt illuminates the surrounding area and Steve looks up at all the flying spores in the forest which is covered in squealing vines…
Shit.