𝙊𝙣𝙚 𝙔𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙖𝙩 𝙖 𝙏𝙞𝙢𝙚

Starcourt Mall

I opened the door of the restroom and peaked outside. Everyone was leaving the movies but I was more focused on looking for any Russian's. Thankfully, there weren't any. Dustin mumbled, "Blend," as we all hurriedly exited the bathroom. We walked amongst the others casually, hiding the grimaces on our face. "Well, shit, that worked." Erica said in shock.
D: "Of course it worked! We just have to get on the bus with the rest of these plebes, and home sweet home, here we come."
S: "Uh, Dustin.. Yeah, we might not wanna go to your house."
EH: "Why..?"
S: "Well, I might've told them your full names."
EH: "What is wrong with you?!"
S: "Dude, I was drugged."
EH: "You resist! You tough it out. You tough it out like a man."
S: "Oh, yeah, it's easy for you to say."
R: "Guys?"
We stopped walking and looked ahead. Russians. "Abort." Dustin quickly said. No one moved. "Abort." He repeated, pushing me. "ABORT!" He eventually shouted as we all ran in the opposite direction. We got to the escalator and slid down one by one. It was the fastest way and these Russian's were fast.

The Russians and ourselves were the only people in the mall. They murmured into their radios when we were fairly well hidden. We kept as quiet as we could because we were worried about what they would do. The eerie stillness terrified me. My heart began to beat more quickly. A car horn suddenly sounded, making us all jump. We immediately leapt to our feet to investigate when we heard a loud collision. All of the Russians had either died or been rendered unconscious. We whirled around and gazed skyward. Standing there, Eleven had a small grin on her face. She was quickly followed by Mike, Max, Nancy, Lucas, Jonathan, and Will. A cheerful smile spread across my face as I turned to meet Nancy. It was very energising to see their faces after spending so much time shut away from the others. I sprinted after Nancy and we gave each other hugs. "I missed you so much. So much went on." I quickly spoke. "No no! Same with me. We need to catch each other up." She nodded. I sighed and we hugged again. We gathered in a circle. "What are you doing here?" Lucas shouted.
ES: "Ask them, it's their fault."
S: "True, yeah. Totally true. It's absolutely our fault."
R: "I don't understand what happened to that car."
D: "El has superpowers."
R: "I'm sorry?"
EH: "Superpowers. She threw it with her mind."
S: "C'mon, catch up."
ES: "That's El?"
R: "Who's El?"
L: "I'm sorry, who are you?"
R: "I'm Robin. I work with Steve and Ev. Actually, Ev and I are best friends."
S: "She cracked the top secret code."
D: "Yeah, which is how we found out about the Russians."
J: "Russians? Wait, what Russians?"
EH: "The Russians!"
MM: Those were Russians?"
ES: "Some of them."
L: "What are you talking about?"
D: "Didn't you hear our code red?"
MW: "Yeah. Couldn't understand half of what you were saying."
D: "Goddamn low battery."
S: "How many times do I have to tell you with the low battery?"
D: "Well, everything worked out, didn't it?"
EH: "Worked out? We almost died like eight times!"
D: "Yeah, but we didn't, did we?"
Robin pulled me aside with a serious face. "I have to tell you something.."

My heart sank. I turned to face Steve, who was still chatting with the others. I wouldn't doubt Robin. She never deceives me. As soon as my eyes started to tear up, I hastily dried them. "You okay?" She asked, worried. I nodded and then heard a thud. I turned around to see El lying on the ground. In a panic, we all ran over."El!!" Mike screamed, turning her on her back. "What's wrong with her?" I yelled in worry. "My leg... My leg..." She groaned. We all looked at each other then to her leg. Jonathan pulled up the trouser leg and removed the bandages. There was a large wound that caused everyone to gag. There was something that was moving inside of it. I covered my mouth and Steve went to put his arm around me when I dodged it and stood up, walking a few steps away. I don't do blood and wounds. She started grunting loudly whilst Mike screamed her name. She exclaimed loudly and I turned back around to face her. "We need to get that out of her leg." I demanded. Jonathan nodded and shot up, finding things to get it out with. "Keep her talking and awake." He said before running across the mall. "You know, it's not actually that bad- The goalie on my soccer team, Beth Wildfire, this other girl slid into her leg, and, like, the whole bone came out of her knee-" Robin blurted in a panic. "Robin." I interrupted. She nodded and rubbed her head, anxiously. "I'm sorry." She sighed heavily. I turned back around as Jonathan returned. I covered my ears, not wanting to hear or see what they were going to do. I could slightly hear muffled talking and screams. I don't understand how people would want to hear that or even see this. I could never be a doctor. I heard a loud crash and turned around. The glass behind us had completely shattered. I'm assuming because of El.. Powers, screaming equals... breaking things? I looked down at her leg and saw a strange creature coming out of it. I covered my mouth, exclaiming in disgust. She threw it far away from us and I shivered, uncomfortably. There was suddenly a loud stomp and we looked up to see Hopper, Joyce and... A man who was wearing a tank top and shorts.. He looked homeless.