𝐁𝐮𝐫𝐲 𝐔𝐬 𝐀𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞 ; ᴹᶦᵏᵉ ᵂʰᵉᵉˡᵉʳ

The Battle Of Starcourt

"Wait, are you performing surgery right now?"

"It's growing in her leg. We have to!"

"Keep her talking, keep her awake, okay?" Jonathan orders

Ian and Max do their best to comfort El as Jonathan rushes back with a sterilized knife, plastic gloves, and a wooden spoon for her to bite down on. Her head was laid on Max's lap, and she bites down on the spoon as Jonathan takes the knife to the wound.

She screams in horrible pain, the rest of the friends looking on in terror. Eventually, El steps in since the older teen couldn't grab the flesh demon with his fingers. She sits up a bit, setting the spoon on the tile next to her as she raises her hand.

Her screams break the glass of the TJ Max behind them, sending the shattering pieces onto her, Max's, Ian's, Mike's, and Will's backs. She throws the mini flesh demon a couple feet away, basically gasping for air through the pain.

Then someone's foot crushes it to death.

Hopper. And with him was Joyce and Murray.

Hopper quickly reunites with his daughter, and while doing so, Max and Ian wrap up her ankle for her. Joyce reunites with her boys, and the others get the adults back into the game, and Dustin's group informs them on their multiple day trip underground with the Russian base under the mall.

"Are we sure this thing is still alive?" The woman asks, looking up at the Party as they all stand around in the center of the mall.

"She beat the shit out of it, but yeah, it's still alive." Max nods.

"But if we close the gate again -" Will starts.

"We cut the brain off from the body," Max finishes.

"And kill it," Lucas adds, "Theoretically,"

Ian looks over at his friends after plucking the glass from his curls. "What about Alex and Billy? What's gonna happen to them?"

Before anyone can give him a reassuring answer, Murray interrupts, loudly gaining their attention as he walks up. He gets Hopper at his side as he sets down a map at one of the tables, Joyce sitting with them while the others crowd around and listen.

Erica interrupts the man as he speaks, correcting him since she had first-hand experience down there.

"More like 500. What? You're just gonna waltz in there like it's commie Disneyland or something?"

"I'm sorry, who are you?"

Ian gives a funny look to Dustin and Lucas beside him and whispers, "Uh oh, they're fighting."

Dustin snickers, and Lucas smiles.

"Erica Sinclair. Who are you?"

"Murray... Bauman"

"Listen, Mr. Bunman," The little girl speaks sassily, holding her hand up for dramatic effect, "I'm not trying to tell you how to do things, but I've been down in that shithole for over 24 hours. And with all due respect, you do what this man tells you," She looks to Joyce and Hopper, "You're all gonna die, "

"I'm sorry, why is this four year old speaking to me?"

"Uhm, I'm ten, you bald bastard!"

"Erica!" Lucas exclaims

"Just the facts." She spits back to her brother. "Not like you're telling mom about any of this anyways,"

"You better not either,"

Dustin sighs and slightly shakes his head. "She's right, you're all gonna die, but you don't have to." Dustin and Erica sit down across from where the adults stand, the boy taking the map in his hands. "Okay, this room here is a storage facility."