Saved

Forty One

Allison kept her hands pressed tightly over the wounds on Eleven's leg as Nancy drove to the nearest grocery store to gather medical supplies. On the surface, Mike appeared to be calm as he gently smoothed down Eleven's hair, yet his panicked thoughts told Allison a different story.

Shit. There's so much blood. I can't lose her.

"Everything's gonna be okay. We're almost there.", Allison whispered reassuringly in his direction, before making brief eye contact with Nancy in the rearview mirror, her face etched with concern.

In the far back of the car, Will stared off into the distance, unable to speak, while Lucas and Max both cursed under their breath. Jonathan sat in the passenger seat next to Nancy, bracing himself everytime that she skidded around a corner or veered a little too far over the yellow line.

Eventually, they made it to Bradley's Big Buy and they climbed out of the car. Eleven draped her arms over Allison and Mike's shoulders, and they helped her approach the darkened grocery store. Allison raised her hand, preparing to use her powers to break in, but Nancy quickly grabbed the ax from Jonathan's hands and smashed her way through the glass.

"You should reserve your powers for when we really need them.", Nancy explained, leading the group inside and straight to the aisle that held all of the medical supplies. "Okay, get her down.", she instructed, prompting Allison and Mike to lower Eleven to the floor while she grabbed a bottle of rubbing alcohol and a box of guaze.

"Woah, what are you doing? First we need to stop the bleeding, then clean, then disinfect, then bandage.",Max informed the group, proceeding to give each of them a task. Nancy and Jonathan left to get soap and water, Lucas and Will went to find a cloth and bowl, and Mike kept pressure on Eleven's wound.

After a few minutes, Max went to find out what was taking Lucas and Will so long. Meanwhile, Allison who had been sitting by her sister's side, got up and walked to the other end of the aisle to give Eleven and Mike some space. While they spoke in hushed tones, she let her mind wander to thoughts of Billy and everything that she would say to him once he had been saved.

Suddenly, Lucas's walkie talkie that had been left next to his backpack on the floor, began to crackle and Dustin's voice carried through the speaker. Mike reached over and answered it, causing Dustin to start rambling, the static making it impossible to understand him.

"Trouble...Russians...Gate...Shit!"

Allison ran over and tried to listen, managing to make out a few words before it fell to silence. Mike repeatedly screaming Dustin's name into the walkie talkie was enough to catch everyone's attention, and they all came running with their arms full of supplies.

"It was Dustin!", Mike cried out, slamming his hand against the walkie talkie in frustration. "I think he's in trouble, but I couldn't hear where he was."

"I can find him.", Allison volunteered. "Just make sure Eleven is ready to go once I do.", she added, turning on her heel to go find a quiet place to focus. She sat down in the back of the store and closed her eyes, focusing on the faint hum of the freezers.

Dustin appeared in front of her, sitting in a blue movie theater seat. He was speaking to a young girl that Allison didn't recognized, and they both seemed worried.

"Where the hell are Steve and Robin?", he blurted out, staring off into the distance.

"They couldn't have gone far. They're probably somewhere in the mall.", the girl insisted as they both stood up and ran from view.

Allison quickly returned to her body, jumped up and went to tell the others what she had learned. As she rounded the corner she found Eleven back on her feet, and Lucas standing proudly in front of a shopping cart that was filled to the brim with fireworks. Nancy and Jonathan both stepped forward, waiting patiently for answers.