Will to Survive

Suspicious

The next day, El was walking around the town, looking around at all the sites. She managed to convince Hopper that it was okay for her to look around by herself. Once it was finally safe, she could finally be able to experience things that normal kids always experienced. She wanted to see what they were so she would be a bit familiar with it. 

El walked around until she came across the Hawk Cinema. Mike had told her that this place was where people would go to see new movies. It had fascinated her so much and now she was at the place where it actually happened. She looked up at the entrance and read the movie titles as best as she could. One of them was Back to the Future. Movies had always fascinated her whenever they played on the TV. Now she could see it on the big screen.

There was a ticket booth at the entrance of the theater. El was walking up to it until she heard that tickets costed money. She didn't bring any money with her. She hid by the wall and glared down at the booth, causing many papers to fly around. The man in the booth was distracted by the papers and the people on the line kept staring at the commotion. El smirked and snuck inside of the theater with no one noticing her.

Entering the theater, El sat down in a seat and saw the big screen turning on. She watched in amazement as the movie played. It was so much bigger than the TV at the cabin. Movie theaters were already better than screens at home. She smiled as she watched the movie, watching in pure awe.

El then got a tap on her shoulder, which caused her to look up. It was Evelyn, standing right next to her. El didn't trust her after yesterday, especially with the tattoo and having never seen her before in the lab. Unfortunately, the suspicious girl sat down next to her, having not received anything from El that she wanted her to sit. 

"Hey El. I didn't know you'd be here today," Evelyn greeted, Giving her a warm smile.

El put on a tiny smile, trying to hide her anxiety of her. "Hey Evelyn. I didn't think you'd show up here," she said in response. She wasn't going to let this stranger see through her. If she was another person like Dylan, then she wouldn't be too exposed to her emotions as she was last time. That was what endangered the party in the first place. El wasn't going to let her friends be in danger anymore.

Evelyn on the other hand was also suspicious of El. Since she had looked at her suspiciously yesterday at the field, then she had a feeling that she knew where she came from. If she was going to spy on the party, then she had to make sure everyone trusted her. And that included El as well. If El didn't trust her, then that could blow the whole mission. She couldn't fail Quinn, or she would face severe punishments. 

"I know you probably don't like me, but I do want to be friends with you. Your other friends like me so far, so I was hoping you would too. You seem really nice and I would love to get to know you better," Evelyn said in a nice tone.

In El's mind, Evelyn wasn't doing a good job at pretending to be a nice person. She could catch on right away to the fake tone in her voice. But she had to go along with this game. If this girl really was from the lab, she could find out that she was a former experiment as well. Unless she already knew and that's why she was trying to be friends. Still, El knew that she couldn't trust her, but if she was ever going to find out what her intentions are, then she had to fake a friendship.

"We can be friends. I'm sorry about yesterday. I'm just careful around others," she explained. Evelyn smiled and they watched the movie together in silence.

...

Evelyn had to leave the theater early, so she was gone before the movie was even over. El thought it was a bit suspicious of her to do, so she followed her out of the cinema. She his by an entrance to an alleyway, where Evelyn was standing. She was holding a supercom in her hand, which curioused El because she had only seen the boys with one.

El listened closely to the conversation Evelyn was having with the person on the other side. "Yes, I am becoming friends with the party. I'll find out who closed the gate. I'll let you know when I do, okay? You just have to trust me... yeah okay... Yes one was a bit tough to crack. I have a feeling that she may be one of them, but I'll have to find out... We'll pull this off, I know it... over and out." Evelyn then pulled down the antenna and left the alleyway, leaving El standing there in shock.

Biting her lip and sitting down on the ground, she thought about what she just heard. Evelyn had to be with the lab then if she knew about the gate. Something bad was going to happen, she could feel it. She had to tell the party about what she heard. They probably wouldn't believe her since they seemed to like Evelyn, but they knew the rule.

Friends don't lie.

Standing up, El started walking back in the direction towards the cabin. It would be a long walk, but it gave her a long time to think. While walking, she heard someone calling her name. Looking up, she saw Max running up to her. El smiled at her friend, happy to see someone other than Evelyn today.

"Hey El! Whatcha doing out here?" Max asked, walking next to her now.

"Exploring," El responded with a little shrug. Then she looked down at the sidewalk. "There's something I need to tell you," she added in with a small voice.

The red headed girl looked concerned at her friend's expression. Whenever El talked with that tone, it meant something serious. With everything they had been through, it was important to consider the fact how people's voices change when something is happening. El always spoke in a small voice when she was scared or when she was nervous. Something was definitely happening and it was bad.

"What is it?" Max asked her.

El kept staring at the sidewalk, looking nervous now. "I saw Evelyn at the theater. She tried to be friends. I accepted, but she left early. I followed and saw her with a supercom. She was talking to someone... mentioning the gate and how she would pull something off.." she told her. "Also... she has a number."

Max's eyes widened at the mention of a number. Considering how she was also a number, this worried her. "What was her number?"

"015."

"I don't remember a 015 in the lab..." Max said, her voice sounding a little distant. "Then again, I escaped pretty young so I don't remember most people in the lab."

"I never saw a 015 either," El said, finally looking up. "Something is going on."

Max nodded in response. "We need to tell the others about Evelyn. For now, we lay low and pretend that nothing bad is probably happening. It's summer anyway. We're supposed to be outside and having fun," she said.

El nodded, smiling at her friend. Whatever Evelyn was trying to do, they will be prepared for it. They would be ready for whatever was going to hit them. No one was going to the lab on her watch. No matter how hard Evelyn would try, the party would be able to stop her and whoever she was talking to over the supercom.

The two girls arrived back at the cabin, seeing Hopper's car parked. They took a deep breath and entered the cabin, ready to tell him what El saw.