Will to Survive

It's a Trap

Steve Harrington and his crew arrived at the Starcourt Mall late at night. He had his nail bat out and ready while Dustin, Robin, and Evelyn loaded up their guns. Cat had her powers ready and Erica stood back in the group, rolling her eyes at everyone's tense behavior. The little girl still had no idea what was happening, but she couldn't help but make fun of everyone in her head.

"Alright guys, we're going in," Steve said, turning to the group. "Remember, no splitting up and no loud noises. Only use our weapons if necessary, but always have them ready. Oh, and make sure Erica doesn't do anything stupid. Dustin, you're in charge of Erica."

Dustin made a face at that statement. "What?! No way! I'm not gonna be in charge of this creature!" He protested.

Erica put her hands on her hips. "Excuse me?!" She yelled at the older boy.

Steve rolled his eyes at the kids. "I'll pay each of you 100 bucks if you obey me. Do you guys want to die or something?" He asked.

"No," both Dustin and Erica replied.

"Good. Now let's move it, you shitheads," Steve ordered. Robin and Cat exchanged amused looks at what had just happened as they followed Steve inside the mall.

Everything inside was closed, but Robin made sure to bring her keys to the place so they could get in. The first place the group went to was the fountain on the first floor, where Cat and Robin saw one of the devices be placed into. There was no way to get the fountain open without getting arrested for public property damage, so the group just kept going, looking around for any sign of more mystery figures.

As they were looking around, there was a sound of footsteps coming near them. Steve quickly shushed everyone, especially the kids, and held up his bat in defense. Dustin turned on his flashlight and quickly shined it around the area they were in. He noticed two shadows that seemed to be sneaking around. He moved his flashlight to where he saw two figures quietly moving around. Everyone screamed and ducked for cover as fast as they could and they looked at the two figures, weapons ready.

Cat then raised an eyebrow when her eyes finally adjusted to the light on the two figures. "Heather? Damien?" She asked. "The fuck, guys?! You nearly made Dustin shit himself!" 

Dustin shot her a glare and then lowered his flashlight away from Heather and Damien's eyes. "Where did you guys come from? What are you doing here, anyway?" He asked them.

Heather and Damien looked at each other with worry in their eyes. Then Heather looked over at everyone else. "You don't know?" She asked.

Everyone looked at her, confused, before she started to speak again. "People are dying because of this mall. Why do you think people are protesting it? Hopper is out there, dealing with a crowd of them in front of city hall because people get sick after leaving Starcourt," she explained.

"We think it's because of these rats that have been coming around," Damien added. "The sick reported that they were bitten by rats while at the mall, but this sickness has never been dealt with before. The doctors analyzed that there is an unknown toxin in these peoples' lungs."

Dustin's eyes widened. "Like El did at the Snowball," he thought out loud. Everyone turned to look at him. "The night El supposedly died at the Snowball, the doctors said that she had toxic in her lungs. This was because she was in the Upside Down for a year. I mean, she didn't die because of the lab faking her death, but there was definitely toxic."

"That means that these rats are from the Upside Down," Steve concluded, sounding more worried than ever. "And what if these devices that Robin and Cat saw are summoning these rats? Holy shit. Whoever planned this is someone who is fucking insane!"

Erica scoffed at everything they were saying. Everyone looked over at her, Heather and Damien giving confused looks as to why she was even there, and she put her hands on her hips. She did not believe for one second that this was real. It seemed like they were trying to make it seem real for her enjoyment, except it was obvious that it wasn't real.

"Is this some game you guys forced me to play?" Erica asked. "If so, I don't want to be a part of it. This whole thing is so stupid. Also, Steve, you should watch your language around children like me. I already know enough from Lucas cursing Dustin out on his walkie talkie."

"Supercom," Dustin corrected under his breath.

"Anyway, this has been fun, but I'm going home now. See ya," Erica said. 

She turned around to leave, but was blocked by something. The little girl kept trying to push forward, but she just got pushed back instead. Dustin took quick note of this and aimed his flashlight over to where Erica was. A girl was standing in the way with a wide smirk on her face. Erica raised an eyebrow at her and kept trying to move past her, but was then pushed aside onto the floor.

"Hello everyone," the woman greeted, sarcastically. 

"And who is this?" Robin asked, growing more scared by the minute.

The woman smirked more at the group. "I'm Quinn. I don't believe any of us have quite met, yet. Well, except for one of you. Come on out," she answered.

Evelyn smirked and stepped out from behind everyone. Dustin shot her a shocked look, both hurt and confused. The girl then stood next to Quinn, her smirk growing wider as she looked at everyone.

"You shouldn't have trusted in me so much, Dustin. That's how you get a broken heart, you know," Evelyn said.

Dustin lifted his arms up in the air and smacked his legs. "What the hell?! I was the only one in the party who was nice to you! I trusted you! What the actual fucking fuck?!" He exclaimed.

Steve put a hand on his shoulder to shut him up. Then he looked up at Evelyn and Quinn. "Is there more of you? Because this isn't a likey set up of a trap, ladies. Besides, we have powerful friends," he said, lifting up his nail bat. "You're going to regret this."

Quinn just smirked and motioned towards Evelyn, who lifted her hand up. Suddenly, everyone was pushed back and they fell onto the floor. They all groaned and tried to stand up, but kept being pushed down again by Evelyn.

"So, she has telekinesis as well," Dustin commented. "Guys, we're fucked. We are fucking fucked right now."

"Oh, shut up for once in your life, Dustin!" Evelyn shouted. "And do you kiss your mother with that mouth?"

Dustin glared at her. "Yes actually because she loves me!" He shot back.

Quinn rolled her eyes and snapped her fingers. Two figures appeared behind the group and knocked everyone out cold.