IT DIDN'T take long for Hopper to notice the bleeding bruise on the side of Bailey's forehead. She had already been insisted to rest and lay down by her dad, and forced back down when she attempted to stand up.
"The Mind Flayer, it built this monster in Hawkins to stop El, kill her, and pave a way into our world." Mike explained, as the group gathered around the mall.
"And it almost did." Max added, "The thing in her leg was only a little piece of it."
Hopper asked curiously, "How big is this thing?"
"It's big." Jonathon replied, "Like, thirty feet, at least."
"Yeah." Lucas said, "It sort of destroyed your cabin. Sorry."
Bailey sighed at the thought of her home, destroyed. She asked, "So, this spider-thing that hurt El, it's some kind of huge weapon? But instead of screws and metal, it's just melted people?"
"Yeah, exactly." Nancy nodded.
"Oh." Bailey replied, frowning to herself at the idea— she didn't think the monsters of Hawkins could get any worse.
"Are we sure this thing is still out there, still alive?" Joyce asked curiously.
Max nodded, "El beat the shit out of it, but yeah."
Will added, "But, if we close the gate then we can—"
"Yoohoo!" The voice of Murray, the man who Joyce and Hopper had befriended, rushed towards them and waved papers around. He placed the blue print, he drew, down on the table, as everybody crowded around. He explained, "So, this is what Alexei called the hub. Now, the hub takes us to the vault room."
"Okay, where's the gate?" Hopper asked.
Murray explained, "Right here. I don't know the scale on this, but I think it's fairly close to the vault room. Like, 50 feet."
"More like 500." Erica interrupted, "What? You're just gonna waltz in there like it's commie Disneyland or something?"
Murray frowned, "I'm sorry, who are you?"
"Erica Sinclair." She replied, "Who are you?"
"Murray... Bauman."
Erica sassed, "Listen, Mr Bunman, I'm not trying to tell you how to do things, but I've been down in that shithole for 24 hours. And with all due respect, if you do what this man tells you, you're all gonna die."
Murray scoffed, "I'm sorry, why is this four-year-old speaking to me?"
"I'm ten, you bald bastard!"
"Erica!" Lucas frowned.
"Just the facts!" She defended.
Whilst Dustin explained the insides of the secret Russian base, Bailey had an opportunity to sneak away to Robin, who was sat down on a market stall counter. Hopper cleared his throat,
"Hey." He said gently, "What did I just say? Sit down."
"Dad, I'm fine." Bailey reassured, "I was only hit in the head. My legs still work."
Hopper raised his eyebrows, "Nope. The answer is still no. You're not leaving my side until we get that checked out."
Robin walked over to them, smiling at Eleven who rested her head on Hopper's knee. She spoke quickly, "I couldn't help but overhear your conversation. I could help with Bailey's head— I know you don't know me, I'm a frie... yeah, a friend of your daughters. I can help check out her head. There's a store over there that's full of medical things... and I know how. I can help."
