One Eighty Stranger Things book Three

Chapter 7: The Bite

It's the Fourth of July, and everyone is back in Hawkins, Indiana for an explosive day of Independence Day celebrations and heavy confrontations.

"Who here wants to see some fireworks?" Mayor Kline asks the folks at the local county fair. The firework display is as much of a distraction than it is an attraction.

Not to forget that Kline is in cahoots with the Russians and selling off property under the noses of the Hawkins residents, crumpling blue-collar businesses in the process.

But for tonight, the corrupt town mayor has turned the attention away from the dirty underbelly of Eighties America with the promise of illuminations, amusement rides, and cotton candy.

It's easy to buy into the "illusion" of happy-fun-time America. Alexei, for example, is enchanted by the sights, sounds, and smells of the fair. From the flashy Ferris wheel to the deep-fried corn dogs to the carnival games promising oversized stuffed-toys as prizes.

The excited Russian scientist wants a part of it, and so, he promises to help Hopper and Joyce destroy the laser, "and I become an American citizen and join in the fun, yes?" He suggests.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Meanwhile at the cabin, the gang were there, figuring out how to gear up for the Mind Flayer. Celeste found the whole escapade nauseating, she really wished it was over. But no matter how many times they think they've won, it keeps coming back, almost like a boomerang.

They sat around the couch at the cabin, after El just came back from the Void, having a confrontation with Billy, finding out some information. "He said he was building something. That it was all for me." Eleven told her friends.

"Building something... Is he talking about the flayed?" Max asked.

"He must be." Nancy replied.

Lucas sat back, trying to take all of the information in. "So, he's building an army, just like we thought."

Mike crossed his arms, "Yeah, but he's not building this army to spread."

"He's building it to stop Eleven." Will concludes.

"Last year, El closed the gate on him. I have a feeling that really made him mad." Mike said.

"Like, royally." Lucas adds.

"And the Mind Flayer now knows that she's the only thing that can stop him. But if she's out of the way..." Mike explains.

"Game over." Celeste said.

Eleven looked at her friends, "He also said, he was gonna kill all of you."

"Yeah, well, that's nice." Max said.

Celeste chuckled darkly, "It's not like he hasn't tried already." Nancy walked over to the front door, noticing the trees were moving, as the muffled sound of fireworks were going off. "Do you guys hear that?" She asked.

"It's just the fireworks." Jonathan told her.

"Billy... When he told you this, it was here, in this room?" Eleven shook her head yes, which further confirmed Nancy's suspicion. "He knows we're here."

Soon enough, the Mind Flayer headed for the cabin, and the group prepared for the attack. Tentacles came through the cabin, busting through walls, and eventually the roof. El was able to use her powers to tear them apart. But it grabbed her leg and held on.

It wasn't until Lucas started taking an axe to the tentacle, she was set free. While Mike tore the tentacle off her leg, revealing a deep wound. She stood up and used her powers to split the Mind Flayer's "head" in half.

They all escaped the cabin and broke into a grocery store. Accustomed to gruesome injuries from skateboarding, Max led the charge in treating Eleven's injury. When El was feeling better, Mike was desperately trying to tell her how he feels about her.

At that moment, Dustin finally came through on the radio. Unfortunately, the batteries in Dustin's radio were failing, and they couldn't get much information. They all left, and Lucas took an arsenal of fireworks with him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dustin and Erica had to babysit a drugged Robin and Steve, as they escaped the Russian underground fortress. The Russians guarded the loading dock, so they ducked into the Employees Only hallway.

They snuck into the movie theater and into a showing of Back to the Future. Unfortunately, they had to sit separately, and Dustin and Erica lost Steve and Robin. They ran into the restroom to vomit. While on the restroom floor, Steve confessed to Robin that he liked her.

Unfortunately, when Robin had said she was obsessed with him, it wasn't because she liked him. Robin liked a girl, who had liked him. Busting through the door, Dustin and Erica were relived, though they were terrified for a moment.

When the movie ended, Dustin, Erica, Steve, and Robin tried to blend with the crowd exiting. However, the Russians were monitoring the crowd. They hid in the food court, but when the Russians were close, the rest of the group arrived. Eleven flung a car at them. Unfortunately, the reunion was cut short with Eleven in distress.

She had fallen to the ground from blood loss in her leg, and when Jonathan revealed the bite, it was excruciating to look at. Eleven was in tremendous pain, and upon closer inspection, something was moving around in El's leg.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Meanwhile Joyce and Hopper wanted to go to the Fourth of July carnival to find their kids. In the car on the way, they bickered, and Bauman remarked on their hidden feelings tension. At the carnival,  Mayor Kline saw them and called in Russian reinforcements.

Bauman and Alexei left the car against instructions. Alexei wanted to experience the American traditions. While Bauman went to get corn dogs, Alexei won a stuffed prize by playing balloon darts.

On his way back to Bauman, Grigori aka Russian Terminator, found him and shot him in the stomach with a silenced gun. Horrified, Bauman searched for Hopper and Joyce, who were stuck in the Gravitron.

When they got back to Alexei, he was dead, and the Russians were after them. Hopper headed into the fun house, where he fought them. And shot Girgori killing him, or at least that's what he thought, he, Joyce, and Murray escaped. Heading towards the mall to finally get to the kids. (We only have one more chapter left guys. 🥺)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The End of Chapter 7