Other Friends

Chapter 13 - Lab Escape

In Hawkins lab, Lizzie was pacing the halls waiting for her uncle to return from who knows where with Dr. Owen when alarms begin blaring. "We're too late!" Mike shouts from down the hall, running past the teen and into the room that had Will and Joyce.

"What's going on?" Joyce questions as Bob and Lizzie stand in the doorway confused.

"We're under attack." Mike explains without explaining. The tween looks around the room before going to the medicine cabinet. "We need to make Will sleep."

"Woah, slow down." Lizzie tells the boy taking the syringe out of his hand.

"What?" Joyce questions.

"He's a spy. If he knows where we are, so does the shadow monster." Mike explains to them but is cut off.

"He's lying!" Will shouts, startling everyone.

"He killed those soldiers. He'll kill us, too!" Mike continues.

"He's lying! He's lying! He's lying! He's lying! He's lying!" Will shouts in retaliation in Joyce's face as she tries to get him to stay in the bed. Bob rushes to help her as he thrashes around.

In the distance gunshots could be heard, "Those are gunshots!" Bob shouts in worry.

Liz looks at the man, "No shit Bob. We need to move!" she tells the group.

"He's lying! He's lying!" Will continues to shout.

"Okay, Will, Will, listen, listen. Do you know who I am?" Joyce questions and Will stares at her for a moment, hesitating. "Do you know who I am?" she asks again.

"You're... You're... You're Mom." Will sputters' out.

Joyce stares at Will, then looks at Bob. "Hold him down." she tells him as she distances herself from him.

He begins to panic, "No! No! Let go! No! No! Let me go! Let go!" he shouts as she goes to Liz and takes the syringe that she took away from Mike. Taking off the cap she turns to go back to Will and grabs his arm to keep him still.

"I'm sorry." Joyce begins to say as she injects him.

"Let me go! Let me go! Let me go!" Will continues to shout. Slowly, the shouting faded to soft whispers, then he was out.

Suddenly the door opens revealing Hopper and Owen, out of breath. Before anyone could say a word the sounds of monsters growling fills the air. Looking out into the hall, the closed doors begin to bend and break as the monsters on the other side hit it. "We gotta go. We gotta go." Hopper tells them.

"That's what I've been saying!" Lizzie says and Hopper picks up Will, and the group runs out of the room. Running down the hall away from the monsters, people were screaming as they all ran to the exit.

A door to another hallway opens in front of them as a security officer falls back with a demodog on top of him, ripping into him. The group stops, moving to turn around but other security were shooting at another monster making the panic set in.

"Come on!" Hopper says, pushing open a door and the group pile into the room, closing the door behind them. They were in the security monitor room.

"Oh, my God." Bob says in disbelief as the others stare in disbelief at the chaos in the lab.

A frazzled Liz moves to push a filing cabinet to barricade the door seeing as locking the last hall door did nothing. "Less staring more pushing!" she scolds and Hopper snaps out of it, moving to help her. The lights flicker then the power goes out.

—

"Look, this is us," Owen begins to explain, having pulled out a blueprint of the lab after looking throughout the room for one, "and this is the nearest exit." he says circling each on the paper as Hopper holds a flashlight that he found. "But even if we somehow make it there, there's no way out."