Daisies || Max Mayfield

41: That's Nice

"El! El! Are you okay?" Mike exclaimed, putting his hand on her shoulder. She was gasping on the floor.

"I'm okay." Her voice was cracking, and hoarse.

"What's going on?"

"I'm-I'm on a beach." She said.

"Okay, I may be dense, but last I checked, there aren't any beaches in Hawkins." Lucas pointed out.

"What else do you see?" Max asked, her hand not moving from mine.

"A woman. She's pretty. I-I think she's looking at me. There's a boy. It's Billy."

"It's California," Max muttered. "It's a memory."

"I think I see it." She continued. "The source."

Max tensed up. "Where El, where are you?"

"Brimborne Steelworks."

Jonathan ran into the kitchen, returning a few seconds later with the address book. Nancy held it as he flipped through the pages, running his finger down both sides as he read, before turning to the next. "Found it. 6522 Cherry Oak Drive."

"That's close." Nancy said.

"El!" Mike exclaimed. "El! We found it! Get out of there!"

She froze, her entire body stopping under Mike's hand. She wasn't even breathing.

"El?" Mike asked.

"What happened?" Nancy stepped closer, and we all stood up to see her.

"El!" Mike shook her, with both hands now. "El! Wake u-"

He was cut off by a loud scream, her tearing the blindfold off her face and shouting no over and over again.

I stared at her, watching them all freakout. Max's grip tightened on my hand. Her palms were sweaty. Or mine were. Or both of us. 

She was sobbing in his arms when Max finally let go of my hand, scooting closer to Lucas as he took her hand.

And then the butterflies finally stopped, filled with a deep pit in my stomach instead.

I couldn't tell if it was from the whole Max situation, or the impending fucking doom of a flesh monster about to eat us.

Mike and Lucas carried El to the couch, where she sat with her knees to her chest, her arms wrapped around them as she shook.

"He said he was building something." She began. "That it was all for me."

"Building what?" I asked.

 "Is he talking about the flayed?" Max asked.

"He must be," Lucas added. "So he's building an army, just like we thought." 

"Yeah, but he's not building this army to spread, he's building it to stop Eleven," Will said.

"Last year, El closed the gate on him." Mike continued. "I have a feeling that really pissed him off. And the Mind Flayer now knows that she's the only thing that can stop him. But if she's out of the way..."

"Game over." Lucas crossed his arms. 

"He also said, he was gonna kill all of you," Eleven said softly.

I made a face.

"Oh, well that's nice." Max finally noted, glancing at me.

Nancy frowned, nearing the window facing the fireworks. A faint screeching echoed through the forest. "Do you guys hear that?" She asked.

"It's just the fireworks," Jonathan suggested.

"Billy, when he told you this." Nancy turned around. "It was in this room?"

El stared at her and nodded.

A loud crash sounded, and the plates in the sink rattled.

Will put his hand to the back of his neck, turning pale. "He knows we're here."

"Holy shit-" I launched myself over the back of the couch, grabbing my crowbar off the table. "Holy shit shit shit we're gonna fucking die-"

"Calm down!" Jonathan shouted, rushing to the door. He pushed it open and led us to the road. 

I followed Max, already raising the bar and shaking when I saw the spider-like thing on the top of the hill.

"Go go go!" Mike screamed, turning back to the cabin.

"Mike stay there!" Nancy commanded, and her and Jonathan ran to the shed.

"Holy mother fucking shit-" I stared at the thing, roaring and knocking down trees as it got closer and closer. I was so fucking scared of those demo dog things but those were a manageable size but holy shit this thing is massive. It's just casually breaking down trees and shaking the entire ground and-

"Daisy!" Max grabbed my shirt, yanking me backward. "Get inside!"

"Holy fuck!" I turned around and sprinted up the steps, standing in the middle of the room panting. "Max what the fuck-"

"Stop shouting!" Jonathan shouted, running in with an axe. Nancy followed with an old rifle, cocked and pointed at the ground.

Mike and Will were barricading the windows as Max and Lucas pushed the couch against the door. I helped Will move the bookcase to cover the next window, grabbing my crowbar as soon as possible and standing next to Nancy and Jonathan. Jonathan had a swing-y weapon too, so I put myself next to him.

"Get away from the windows," Nancy said.

We somehow formed a circle in the organized chaos, a few of us with weapons, and many without. Lucas had his wrist rocket, I had the crowbar, Jonathan had the axe, and Nancy had a rifle. Mike, Max, and Will were sort of standing inside the circle, with El completing it between Nancy and Lucas.

Finally, the room was still.

I could hear everyone's breaths, all breathing hard. The lamp on the wall was squeaking, swinging back and forth slightly, and the light was flickering with each stomp of the Mind Flayer.

And then the footsteps stopped.

A few branches snapped, and the light went out. And all of a sudden it came back on and HOLY SHIT-