003 ➳ stranger things [1]

Chapter 19: Pathways & Open Doors

"Do you kids know what we're up against?" Hopper asked, focusing on the road.

"Definitely not closing a gate." Kali sighed, looking over at El, who was up in front.

"I say we split up," Erin nodded. "There's probably gonna be some demadogs or demagorgans, so we should probably get rid of as much as possible."

"Then what?" Will asked.

"We meet at the gate," Erin paused. "Which I have no idea where it is."

"Eleven can lead a group." Hopper explained.

"What about you?" Eleven looked up at Hopper.

"Don't worry about me kid. I'll be leading the other group." Hopper explained, El nodding.

"I'm guessing we don't want too spend much time, since spending time could get us killed." Kali looked over at Cassidy, who was sitting across from her.

"I'll take Will," Hopper paused. "We'll head straight to the gate and get things up and running again."

"What about the rest of us?" Cassidy asked.

"I don't have that strong of powers. I wouldn't be as much of a help as I would be with Hopper." Will explained.

"So four of us just goes in and kill?" Erin asked.

"Basically." Hopper sighed, pulling into the parking space.

Hopper, Will, and Eleven all piled out from the front, walking to the back. They opened the trunk, revealing Kali, Erin, and Cassidy. The three all piled out.

"Who's first?" Erin asked, dusting off her pants.

A few minutes later, Erin, Kali, Cassidy, and Eleven all walked down the dark halls. Erin and Kali shined flashlights, guiding the way down. Flecks of white filled the halls, floating in the air. Occasional coughs came from everyone.

"So far, nothing." Erin spoke into the walkie-talkie.

"Keep on looking." Hopper spoke back.

So, the group did. Erin shined her flashlight into rooms they passed, no sign of anything. As they got closer and closer, the smell of rotten flesh filled the halls. Dried blood was smeared among the hallway, spooking everyone in the group. They pushed forward.

"Anything?" Hopper asked through the walkie-talkie.

"It's smelling like rotten flesh, and blood is smeared on the walls," Erin paused. "I can't imagine what the hell happened in here."

"I don't want to remember what happened," Hopper spoke back. "Once you guys make it to hall C, tell us."

"We're in hall C." Erin stated.

"We're gonna head in." Hopper said.

"Okay. Good luck." Erin responded, turning off speaking on the walkie-talkie.

"This place is haunted, if anything." Kali sighed deeply, shining her light down the hall.

"I do not want to see corpses, so can we hurry up?" Cassidy asked, her voice filled with anxiety.

"You would probably see not much, because they would all be skeletons by now." Kali sighed.

"Still a terrifying thought." Cassidy shivered.

"Can we talk about something else?" Erin asked, peering into a control room. "Like anything else?"

"Well talk about your summers up in Maine." Eleven shrugged, leading the way.

"Well, we would ride bikes a lot. I met- we met this group of people in an ice cream shop. Once guy kind of dressed like a fifty year-old man, wearing Hawaiian shirts." Erin explained.

"Remember the guy with the fanny pack?" Cassidy asked, chuckling.

"Oh god he was so annoying. He scraped his knee against a rock and was screaming that it's going to get infected." Erin laughed.

"Did it?" Kali asked.

"Oh god no. And then there was the only girl in the group, who acted tougher then everyone but was really... traumatized." Erin added on.

"Maybe she was." Eleven sighed.

"And then there was the guy with the stutter..." Cassidy sighed.

"Sounds like you guys made some friends out in Maine." Kali smiled.

"Yeah, I guess." Erin sighed.

Will and Hopper walked cautiously down the halls, being careful not to see something they would want to unsee. Will and Hopper both have flashlights, Will shining his directly forward while Hopper looked into any rooms.

Hopper shined his flashlight into a room with a bed in it, having flashbacks of when his daughter died. He stood there for a minute, trying to find out why he would connect the two. Then it clicked, his daughter died here.

"Hopper, you okay?" Will asked, keeping his flashlight pointed down.

"Yeah," He paused. "My daughter died here."

"Why would she have died here?" Will asked, and the two started walking again.

"The hospital transferred us over here because they thought she would be better off here," Hopper sighed. "Too bad she wasn't."

"Did Brenner test on her?" Will asked, hinching his breath.

"Not that I know of." Hopper answered.

The girls were listening down the hall, Hopper had left his speaker on. Erin stopped walking, and listened. Kali stood there, eager to here more of the story. She grabbed the walkie-talkie from Erin's hands and spoke.

"Did you say your daughter died here?" Kali asked, clicking on.

"Uh yeah," Hopper responded. "Why?"

"When? How long ago was this?" Cassidy asked, realizing what Kali was asking.

"Fourteen, fifteen years ago. She would've been Kali's age." Hopper sighed.

Kali turned off speaking. "Oh my god."

"You were here, weren't you?" Erin turned to Kali.

"I was." Kali nodded.

"So was I." El added on.

"Hey Hopper?" Kali asked. "I think I faked your daughters death."