suıʞʍɐɥ oʇ ǝɯoɔlǝʍ sƃuıɥʇ ɹǝƃuɐɹʇs

Chapter Sixteen: The Gate

ǝʇɐƃ ǝɥʇ
uǝǝʇxıs ɹǝʇdɐɥɔ

November 5, 1984

It was in the early hours of the morning now but still dark outside. Everyone was looking at Eleven in shock. She was alive and here saving us once again. Her hair had grown out and she had it slicked back. "Eleven," Mike said, softly. "Mike," she said, tears in her eyes. "Is that... I never gave up on you. I called you every night. Every night for..." El cut him off finishing his sentence, "353 days. I heard."

"Why didn't you tell me you were there? That you were okay?" Mike asked. "Because I wouldn't let her. The hell is this? Where have you been?" Hopper asked El. She walked up to him and poked her finger at him, "Where have you been?" She asked. Mike was passed and upset, "You've been hiding her. You've been hiding her this whole time!" He said, pushing Hopper a little. "Hey! Let's talk. Alone," Hopper told him and took him back the hall to one of the bedrooms.

"We missed you," Lucas said. "I missed you, too," Eleven told him. I walked over to her, "it's so good to know you're okay," I said. She wrapped her arms around my waist and I hugged her back. "We talked about you pretty much every day," Dustin said. She pulled back and looked at him. Then she stuck her finger in his mouth and I could help but laugh. "Teeth." Dustin pulled away from her, "What?" He asked. "You have teeth," she said. "Oh. You like these pearls?" He said then he purred. I looked at Steve and he put his hands up. "I did not teach him that."

"Eleven? Hey. Um, I'm Max. I've heard a lot about you," Max said, holding her hand out. Eleven just walked past her and into Joyce's arms. She took El back to Will's room so she could see him. When they came back out they walked over to the table. "You opened this gate before, right?" Joyce asked and El answered with a yes. "Do you think if we got you back there, that you could close it?" She asked. Eleven looked at her and slightly nodded.

Everyone gathered in the kitchen and we talked about closing the gate. "It's not like
it was before. It's grown. A lot. And, I mean, that's considering we can get in there.The place is crawling with those dogs," Hopper said. "Demo-dogs." He looked at Dustin, "I'm sorry, what?" He asked. "I said, uh, Demo-dogs. Like Demogorgon and dogs. You put them together, it sounds pretty badass..." Hopper cut him off, "How is this important right now?" He asked. "It's not. I'm sorry."

"I can do it," Eleven said. "You're not hearing me," Hopper told her. "I'm hearing you. I can do it," she said. "Even if El can, there's still another problem. If the brain dies, the body dies," Mike said. "I thought that was the whole point." He sighed and looked at Max, "It is, but if we're really right about this... I mean, if El closes the gate and kills the mind flayer's army..." Lucas cut in and finished what Mike was about to say, "Will's a part of that army." Mike nodded, "Closing the gate will kill him." Joyce got up and we followed her to Will's room. "He likes it cold." She looked over at the window. "What?"

She walked over and shut the window. "It's what Will kept saying to me. He likes it cold. We keep giving it what it wants," she said. "If this is a virus, and Will's the host, then..." Nancy starts. "Then we need to make the host uninhabitable," I finished. "So if he likes it cold..." We all looked at Will. "We need to burn it out of him," Joyce said. "We have to do it somewhere he doesn't know this time," Mike said. "Yeah, somewhere far away," Dustin agrees. In the next second Hopper was picking Will up and walking out the door with Joyce and Jonathan.

Me, Nancy, and Steve went outside and started looking for the heaters. "You should go with him," Steve said. Nancy looked at me and I shrugged. "What she asked. "With Jonathan," Steve said. Nancy shook her head, "No, I'm... I'm not just gonna leave Mike," She said. Steve stood up, "no one's leaving anyone. I may be a pretty shitty boyfriend, but... turns out I'm actually a pretty damn good babysitter," He said. I went over to stand beside Nancy, putting my hand on her shoulder. "Mike will be fine. I'll stay with the kids. He'll be safe. Plus, I've gotta admit that Steve is right. He actually is a pretty good babysitter."

Nancy looked from me to Steve, "Steve..." he looked down at her, "it's okay, Nance. It's okay," he told her and walked away. She looked back at me and I nodded. "Go. Go before they leave. We got the kids. We'll keep them safe, I promise." She nodded and we took the heaters to Jonathan's car. Mike and Eleven said their goodbyes before her and Hopper headed for the lab. I wrapped my arm around Dustin's shoulders as we all watched them drive off. "Okay. Let's get back inside and clean everything up," I said. Steve and I ushered the kids back inside and we began cleaning everything up.

Dustin had Steve help him wrap the demo-dogs that had come through the window, in a blanket. Dustin took everything out of the fridge, "it should fit now," he said. Steve was holding the dead monster in his arms, "is this really necessary?" He asked. "Yeah, Dustin. I mean come on," I said. He looked at us, "yes it is, okay? This is a ground-breaking scientific discovery. We can't just bury it like some common mammal, okay? It's not a dog," he said. "Alright. Alright," Steve told him and walked over to the fridge and started shoving it in. "You're explaining this to Mrs. Byers all right?"

He tried shoving it in and looked at Dustin, "Christ, wanna help me out?" He asked. Dustin. "Hat am I supposed to do?" Dustin asked. "The door. Get the door, man," he told him. Dustin went over and grabbed the door then shut it. Max and Lucas were sweeping up the glass and Mike was pacing back and forth. He was worried about Eleven. "Demo-Dogs!" Dustin yelled from the kitchen. I pulled him back in to help Steve and I. "Shut up about the damn Demo-Dogs and help us," I told him. Lucas was trying to tell Mike that El would be fine.

Steve, Dustin, and I just stopped what we were doing in the kitchen and went to the living room. "Listen, dude, a coach calls a play in a game, bottom line, you execute it. All right?" Steve said. I looked over at him the to Mike, "Okay, first of all, this isn't some stupid sports game.  And second, we're not even in the game. We're on the bench," he said. Steve sighed, "So my point is... Right, yeah, we're on the bench, so, uh, there's nothing we can do," he said. "That's not entirely true. I mean, these Demo-dogs, they have a hive mind. When they ran away from the bus, they were called away," Dustin said. "If we get their attention..." Lucas started. "Maybe we can draw them from the lab," Max finished. "Clear a path to the gate," Mike said.

"Yeah, and then we all die!" Steve says, arms held out. "That's one point of view," Dustin said. I looked over at him, "No, that's not a point of view, man. That's a fact," I said, pointing at Steve. "I got it!" Mike walked by us. We followed after him. "This is where the chief dug his hole," he said, pointing at a part of the drawing Will had done. He got up and walked to another part of it, "This is our way into the tunnel. So... Here, right here. This is like a hub. So you got all the tunnels feeding in here. Maybe if we set this on fire..."

"Oh, yeah? That's a no," Steve said. "I have to agree with Steve on that one. We are not setting anything on fire," I said. They ignored us. "The mind flayer would call away his army," Dustin said. "They'd all come to stop us," Lucas added. Steve and I looked at each other shaking our heads. "We circle back to the exit,"Mike said. "Guys," we said in unison. "By the time they realize we're gone..." Mike said. "El would be at the gate," Max finished.

"Hey. Hey! Hey!" Steve said, clapping his hands. They finally looked at us, "This is not happening. Forget it," I told them. "But..." They all said. "No, no, no, no, no. No buts. We promised We'd keep you shitheads safe," Steve said. "And that's exactly what We plan on. We're staying here. On the bench," I told them. "And we're waiting for the starting team to do their job. Does everybody understand?" Steve asked. "This isn't a stupid sports game," Mike argued. "I said, does everybody understand that?" Steve asked again. They all nodded at us. "We Need a yes," I told them.

Before they could answer us we heard an engine revving outside. Max went to the window and looked back at us. "It's my brother. He can't know I'm here. He'll kill me. He'll kill us," she said.

A/N: Sorry. I know it's been a few days. I just needed a little break. I e been physically and mentally drained. But I feel better now.