"Okay so what's in Sattler Quarry that's so special?" Mike asks Dustin now that they're all back on the road.
"Well you know from Mr. Clarke's Earth science class that all earthquakes are caused by the Earth's tectonic plates rubbing together and eventually breaking due to pressure," Dustin quickly summarizes.
"Yeah sure," Mike nods. That's the obvious stuff he already knows.
"Well when I started studying seismology—the study of earthquakes—" he directs at Eleven and Max—the less obvious nerds of the group. Eleven doesn't notice the slight. Max, meanwhile, shoots him a look showing him she doesn't appreciate getting called out.
"I know what seismology means Dustin!"
"Alright, alright—calm down. What was I saying? Great, now I forgot!"
"Seismology, earthquakes…" Mike interrupts.
"Right, so, I built my own machine for measuring the movement of the ground and left it hidden there. Suzie gave me the instructions actually. She's pretty amazing." Dustin smiles and makes sure that his radio is on for this. Suzie, however, doesn't respond, indicating she probably isn't listening. After she confirmed her data with him, she said not in quite so many terms that she was going back asleep and not to bother her again unless it was something major.
"We're not going to have to repel down a rock wall, aren't we?" Mike scrunches his nose.
"We said no danger," Will interrupts.
"Because I really don't want to end up freefalling there again," Mike continues his thought. Through the rearview mirror, he locks eyes with El. He remembers how she saved him from a grim fate 3 years ago when she caught with her powers after he jumped to protect friend Dustin from Troy and James. El gives him a half-smile back.
"No one said anything about freefalling! It's just a hike. Oh, that reminds me," Dustin digs through his backpack at his feet and, beaming, he pulls out several road flares.
"What are those for?" Max asks.
"Well, first of all they're awesome! Second, I'm sure we'll find a need for them at some point," Dustin looks for affirmation from Lucas who is the king at blowing things up after firing fireworks at the Mind Flayer. He smiles back at Dustin approvingly. Max rolls her eyes.
Suddenly, the car lurches.
Everyone holds on to each other as the car leaps over an out-of-place road bump. The old car makes a snapping noise when the bumper slams against the road. Mike breaks immediately. Inside the car there are a several frightened reactions and bruises.
"What was that?" Eleven asks breathlessly.
"Is everyone okay?" Mike looks back at everyone.
"Is there a school here I don't know about? Some kind of school zone or something?" Dustin says. Mike stares at the bump in the road through his side-view mirror just as Dustin sticks his head out the window to look back.
"Dustin, do you copy? I heard screaming. Over," Suzie asks.
"Yes, I copy, Suzie. We're alright. Over. I think I see something…" he says while getting out of the car.
Mike follows him. The rest file out after them. It isn't a paved-in road bump. The fold in the ground is formed from the pressure of two parts of the pavement being forced together. It brings up a slew of small rocks that look like ice cream cake crumbs.
"What happened here?" Will asks.
"This looks really bad," Mike says. It doesn't just take up a part of the road. It seems to spread into the trees on both sides. Mike is shocked he didn't see it coming.
"What would happen if we followed it?" Max who has been quiet up until now asks.
"Heck no! We are not wandering through the woods to see where it ends!" Lucas stops her immediately. The woods are extremely dark. It's sometime after 10pm and after everything that has been going on, they are not prepared for any unheeded danger, he reminds her quickly. Dustin points his flashlight in the direction of the woods.
"We're not that far from the Quarry actually… it shouldn't be more than a quarter of mile in that direction…" he comments.
"We're not walking in the woods. I'm not leaving the car on the side of the road with a bunch of weird stuff in the trunk. Can we all just get more sane and just go back to the car?" Mike is close to the edge and can see himself losing it completely if they don't listen.
"Also, guys, you don't know what's out there. We're better off going the way we know," Will says reasonably.
"THANK YOU!" Lucas bursts out and marches back to the car.
Dustin lights a road flare and puts it down near the side of the road to draw attention to the bump in case another car passes over it blindly. Max and Dustin are the last to follow looking off into the woods curiously.
~A.N. Lucas always has a handle on reality and is least likely to get himself killed accidentally in this show. Leave a comment on the strongest survivor of the Party.
~A.N. Will is still very important for keeping them in touch with what happened in the Upside Down. I like that I can write him as that link so if he says something, the others are likely to listen to him.