"Okay, so we made it. What now?" Dustin looked at Steve, then Robin and then back to Steve.
Steve shrugged, then he looked at Robin too, but she was pouring over a map of the city. He spied a restaurant and thought, longingly, of a plate of wings.
"Shall we got eat first?" He didn't realise how hungry he was.
Dustin clicked his fingers in front of his face. "Focus, Steve. We're all hungry, but we need to find Hopper first."
Steve sighed and tried to ignore the rumbling in his stomach.
"Bus routes…" Robin said and trailed off. She looked up and around and then began walking away from the airport. Steve and Dustin followed.
"Bus routes…?" Dustin tapped her on the shoulder.
"Shh, wait," she said.
Dustin glanced at Steve. "That's focus," he said. "You could learn a thing or two from her."
Steve glowered at Dustin. "I can't focus when I'm hungry," he whispered. He looked back, despairingly, as 'Grizzly's Pizza and Wings' slowly disappeared from view.
Robin stopped walking and smiled.
"You're really enjoying yourself, aren't you?" Steve had already decided he didn't like Anchorage.
Robin nodded. She stabbed the map with her finger. "The numbers were, 40 and 65, right?" She looked at Dustin. "And another number you didn't get."
"She spoke quickly," Dustin said plaintively.
"That doesn't matter now," Robin said. Her smile grew. "I know the other number…"
"Well?" Steve's hunger was affecting his mood. He wasn't sure how much patience he had.
"It's 55."
"Right, so we now have 3 different numbers that mean absolutely nothing…" He trailed off as he heard the petulance in his voice.
"Bus routes," Dustin said quietly. He grinned at Robin and then whacked Steve's shoulder with the back of his hand. "Bus routes," he said again.
Robin nodded.
"Bus routes," Steve repeated. He looked up. They were standing at a bus stop. "So, what? We have to catch 3 different buses…?"
Robin nodded. "Three different buses and we end up in a place called Fishguard."
A bus was coming towards them.
"Then what?" Steve asked.
"Then we find Hopper," Dustin said.
"Do you really think it's going to be that easy?" Steve watched the bus suspiciously. It was a number 40. "I'm not sure about this," he said. "The plan was to call those guys as soon as we arrived, right?"
The doors of the bus opened, and Robin jumped on.
"Wait! Shouldn't we have a base? A cheap hotel? A shower? Some food?"
Dustin followed Robin. He turned to Steve.
"The A-Team doesn't eat Faceman."
Steve went to speak, but he realised there was no point. Dustin grinned at him and behind him, the bus driver growled. He sighed and boarded the bus.
Dustin's grin grew until his whole face was swallowed.
"I bet there'll be food in Fishguard," he said.
"You're sure that's where they are?"
El nodded.
Jonathan still wasn't convinced. "Why would they hold them in Hawkins jail?"
"Because no one would think of looking there." Max shrugged. "This thing is big, so the perfect way to stay under the radar is to think small. They're clever." She smiled and looked at El. "But not as clever as us."
El smiled back.
"Okay, and this plan… Everyone is happy with it?" Mike wasn't entirely sure he was, but it was the only plan.
"The Hawkins jail isn't even really a jail and there is only one guard as far as I can see," El said. "So, it should be easy."
"You didn't see the men in black at the airport. Where are they hiding?"
"Their paymgrade is a bit too much to be sitting in Hawkins jail babysitting your mom and girlfriend!"
Jonathan scowled at Max, but she had a point.
"She has a point," Lucas said. He glanced at Max, hoping for a smile, but he was disappointed.
"Okay, so Mike, you and El and Will, go back to your Mom's and wait for those guys to call…"
"The A-Team," Will said.
Max snorted.
Jonathan frowned at his brother.
"The A-Team?"
"Dustin said that he, Robin and Steve were the A-Team and we were the B-Team."
El laughed, despite herself and she caught Max's eye. Max laughed too and then Mike joined in. Will looked at his older brother and shrugged, grinning.
"It's not funny," Jonathan said, but he was smiling now.
"Definitely not funny," Will said as he began to laugh.
For a moment, their laughter filled the gloomy corners of Hopper's cabin. The dust swirled merrily and the terrible thoughts they had all been living with seemed to lift from their shoulders.
But then the dust settled, and the gloom returned.
Jonathan picked up the bolt-cutters he had found and looked around at them all. His smile died on his face.
"Let's do this," he said, and the sombre silence of the cabin was restored.
There was no humour on the number 55 bus.
Steve was slumped forward. He was trying to hold onto the rage that was boiling inside him. He was hungry and tired, and they had been riding around on buses for the past hour.
He had watched several restaurants come and go from the windows, but Robin and Dustin, had denied him his basic need to replenish lost energy.
The bus stopped. An automated voice came out over the speak; 'this bus terminates here'. Steve looked up.
"Fishguard?" he asked.
Robin shrugged. "Fishguard, I guess."
They jumped off the bus and stood there as the cold, and the disappointment, seeped through their skin.
"So, this is Fishguard," Dustin said trying to sound cheerful. He was suddenly overcome with regret that they hadn't listened to Steve's idea to eat. His stomach lurched. They had been journeying now for a long time and as the bus pulled away, it seemed unlikely that they would find either any food, or Hopper, in the desolate town of Fishguard.
They might have been in the middle of nowhere. It was a town that looked as if it had dropped off the map.
"There's nothing here," Steve looked around. "Nothing," he said. "We've literally caught a bus to the middle of nowhere and now, we're stuck…" He watched the bus driving away and resisted the urge to run after it.
Robin glared at him. "You know what, I'm glad I don't like boys, because if I did, and you were my boyfriend, like I know you would like to be, I probably would have ripped your head off by now, and you would still probably find a way to carry on moaning."
"What?" Dustin's mouth dropped open.
"I so don't want to be your boyfriend," Steve hissed.
"Really?" Robin smirked. "So, before, when you said how much you liked me…"
"They were the drugs talking…"
"Guys." Dustin put up both hands, one each in front of Steve's and Robin's faces. "We need to focus." He lowered his hands. "But first things first…" He looked at Robin and grinned. "You don't like boys?"
"Shut up Dustin." Steve glanced at Robin and she smiled, briefly. He smiled back, or it might have been a grimace. Either way, it was a truce.
"Okay, so Fishguard looks as if no one has lived here for the past century, but shall we at least take a walk around?"
Robin looked at Dustin, who was still staring at her.
"Don't get any creepier," she said to him and then she clicked her fingers in front of his face. "Focus," she said sarcastically.
Steve had already started to walk away. He was suddenly hopeful there might be a café around the next corner. Every town, no matter how devoid of human life, had a café, he thought. A café and a service station, and either would do.
He turned the corner.
There wasn't a café. There wasn't even a service station. But there was something else.
He stopped and stared and waited for the others to join him. Robin and Dustin stopped and stared too.
There was a shop; the sign said: 'Fishguard Books' and parked further along the road, was a white van. On the side of the white van, in blue, were the words; 'Best Fish in Alaska'.
Hopper was shaking uncontrollably. His arms had been tied behind his back for so long, he felt as if his muscles were disintegrating. The woman before him smiled, snake-like, and then she straddled him. She moved against him and seemed to breathe him in and then she took hold of his greasy hair and yanked his head back.
"Do you think your precious Eleven will hear you screaming for mercy?" she whispered.
Hopper panted. He was struggling to breath, but she was oblivious. She bit his earlobe and Hopper winced.
"I'm going to enjoy this," she said. She climbed off him and drew a knife from a sheaf around her waist. "Last chance to call her," she said and licked her lips.
Behind her, the grey man watched in silence. His face was blank, and Hopper wondered if he was going to just watch her kill him.
"Okay, so, you guys are going to stay inside, stay safe and wait to hear from… the A-Team…" He shook his head, then smiled at his younger brother from inside the car.
"Be careful," Will said. "And, if it's dangerous…" He trailed off.
"If it's dangerous," Mike continued. "Then we regroup here and think of Plan B, okay?"
Jonathan nodded.
"See you soon." Max waved from the passenger seat and Lucas sat, unsmiling, in the back. He had the distinct impression that Max didn't care if he was there at all.
Jonathan drove off and El, Mike and Will waited until the car disappeared.
They walked up the front path and through the front door. Inside, they were relieved that Mrs Wheeler was out. She was oblivious to the chaos around her. She thought Nancy was taking advantage of her boyfriend being back in town, and despite not liking him very much, she was glad she was occupied. She was married to possibly the most boring man in the whole of Hawkins and wanted better for her daughter.
Mike poured drinks for everyone and offered around a plate of cookies. No one said anything. They just sat and waited.
Outside, a black sedan rolled to a stop.