max picks up steve's nail bat and walks up to billy.

"from here on out, you leave me, and tj, and our friends alone. do you understand me?"

tj watches with her jaw hanging open. the other three boys stand beside her, staring in shock as max wields this huge bat right at her brother.

billy mutters something, but tj doesn't quite catch it. max takes the bat and swings, hitting the area of the floor right between his legs.

"holy shit," tj says.

max lifts the bat again. "say you understand! say it! say it!" she screams.

billy says something else.

"what?" says max.

tj barely hears billy say, "i understand." and then billy passes out. max drops the bat and it clatters to the floor. she walks around to billy's side and pulls his keys out of his pocket, holding them up.

"tj, you're the only one that can drive."

"max, i—"

"if you don't drive us, i'm going to."

tj looks between steve and billy, both of them totally out cold. "what about them?"

"just leave them here, they'll be fine."

"look at steve. he is not fine," tj argues.

"we'll take steve with us," dustin suggests.

"how are we even gonna fit him in the car?"

"we'll figure it out!"

"just leave him here!" mike yells.

"i am not leaving him here and i am not letting you little shits take the car!" tj yells.

"so let's take him with and tj can drive!" dustin exclaims. "he'll be cool!"

"he will not be cool."

"he will, be, i promise!"

tj sighs, annoyance completely taking over. "i'm so never babysitting again," she groans and takes the keys from max. tj and the kids manage to get steve outside to the car. after that, they go back inside to grab any gear they'll need. they're about to leave, but tj stops next to her brother. she stoops down and checks his pocket. she pulls out his switchblade and smirks. "i knew he kept this thing."

they all rush back out to the car and climb in. she throws the clutch into drive and peels out of the driveway. sometime later, steve comes to, totally disoriented and confused.

"nancy?"

"no, don't touch it," dustin tells steve, who's trying to grab at his beat up face. "hey, buddy. it's okay, you put up a good fight. he kicked your ass, but you put up a fight."

"is he doing okay?" tj calls from the front.

"he's fine," says dustin, sounding nervous.

"okay, you're gonna keep straight for half a mile, then make a left on mount sinai," lucas says.

"what's going on?" steve mumbles out. "oh my god!"

"relax, it's tj driving," dustin reassures.

"oh my god," steve yells again.

"they were gonna leave you behind."

"oh my god!"

"hey, calm down. i promised them you'd be cool."

"whoa, whoa, whoa! what's going on?"

"step on it, teej," max says and tj presses harder on the gas.

"oh my god. no! whoa! stop the car. slow down!"

"steve, chill!" tj calls back.

"i told you he'd freak out," mike says.

"stop the car!"

"shut up!" tj yells. "you're gonna make me miss my turn!"

"wait!" lucas yells. "that's mount sinai. make a left!"

"huh?"

"right here! make a left!"

"tj doesn't even slam on the breaks; she swerves the car so they make the turn and everyone goes flying to the side, screaming.

"jesus, tj!" max yells.

"chill out, i got it!"

the engine revs as tj picks up speed again. she slams on the breaks and they come to a halt just beside the hole hopper had dug.

"hello!" steve screams.

"whoa!"

the kids all pile out of the car and tj follows. steve falls out and tj runs around to help him while the kids get al their equipment from the trunk.

"guys," steve groans. tj picks him up and he falls backward into the door.

"guys, no," he tries but the kids are already gearing up. "teej, you gotta stop them."

"they're just gonna do it anyway," tj argues.

"no, we are not going down there right now. i made myself clear." steve stumbles forward but it doesn't take much for tj to hold him back. "there is no chance we're going into that hole right now, alright? this ends right now!"

"steve! you're upset, i get it," dustin says. "bottom line is, a party member requires assistance. and it is our duty to provide that assistance. i know you promised nance you'd keep us safe. so keep us safe."

dustin hands steve a backpack and his nail bat. tj grabs hers from the trunk, as well. steve groans and takes the bag from dustin. after putting on goggles and a face mask, they all descend into the hole.

"holy shit," steve gasps.

"this is super grody," tj groans.

"i'm pretty sure it's this way!" mike calls.

"you're pretty sure or you're certain?"

"i'm a hundred percent sure! just follow me and you'll know."

"whoa, whoa, whoa! hey, hey, hey, i don't think so."

"what?"

"any of you little shits die down here, and i'm getting the blame. got it, dipshit?"

"from here on out, I'm leading the way! teej, you bring up the rear, make sure none of them get lost!"

"it's like a school field trip," tj jokes, but no one laughs. "i thought it was funny."

"let's go!" steve calls and he leads the team down the tunnel. tj follows at the end, making sure they all keep their pace and no one falls behind.

they follow the map and steve. he leads them down a side tunnel and everyone gasps at how intricate these tunnels really are.

"god," says lucas.

"what is this place?"

"come on! keep moving."

they press on, but dustin stops abruptly and tj runs straight into him.

"shit," she groans. "what is it?" dustin points his light up at the ceiling, revealing some giant pink thing that looks like a mouth.

"what the hell?" the thing blasts some kind of goo on both of them and dustin falls over screaming.

"what the hell!" tj yells. dustin gets up and runs toward the group, screaming for help. they all run back to see what happened. "it's in my mouth, some got in my mouth! shit!"

dustin coughs dramatically as tj wipes the shit off of her.

"i'm okay," dustin sighs.

"you serious?"

"very funny, man."

"no, that shit was gross," tj says, almost wanting to cry. "dude, don't point flashlights at shit anymore."

tj and dustin hurry after the others. they stumble into a bigger section.

"alright, wheeler," says steve. "i think we found your hub."

they shine their lights around, revealing just how huge the place actually is.

"let's drench it," mike says.

they get to work dumping gasoline and spraying the place down with other flammable chemicals. when they're done, they quickly move back to their exit.

"all right, you guys ready?"

"ready," they all reply.

"light her up," dustin says.

tj flicks open the lighter.

"i'm in such deep shit," steve says, and tj turns to him.

"it's okay. so am i."

tj throws the lighter. in a second flat, the whole place lights up. they all shield their eyes as flames engulf the walls, eating up all the fluids.

"go! let's go!" steve yells and they all take off running. tj, never the athletic one, runs as faster than her legs have ever gone before. she brings up the rear again, making sure to be the first one to go if those monsters should follow behind them.

mike falls and tj almost trips over him. a vine grabs his ankle and tj turns quickly, and whips out billy's switchblade. She grabs one of those vine things and quickly slices it in half, freeing mike.

"i got ya, buddy," tj says, pulling mike to his feet. the others come running back to help, but mike is already free.

that's when the demo-dogs show back up.

but dustin knows this one. "dart," he says. dustin starts toward the demo-dog, and the others all yell for him to stop.

"shh. stop."

"dustin, get back!" tj yells.

"trust me. please." they all go quiet after that. dustin slowly walks forward, and so does dart. "hey, it's me. it's just your friend, it's dustin."

dustin squats, making himself easy prey as dart continues to walk toward him.

"will you let us pass?"

dart snarls, opening up his mouth. everyone jumps.

"okay, okay, i'm sorry about the storm cellar." dart calms, almost like he actually understands dustin. "you hungry?" dustin reaches behind him and pulls off his backpack.

"he's insane."

"don't," mike warns.

"shut up," steve says.

dustin unwraps a candy bar he pulled from his bag and slowly hands it to the creature. "look at that. yummy."

as dart eats, dustin signals for the others to move around dart. they slowly walk forward and creep around him. dustin feeds dart another one and tj and the others wait for him to join them.

"goodbye, buddy," dustin says, pulling his goggles back down. dart eats his treat, no longer interested in attacking dustin and his friends.

with that, steve ushers them all forward and they take off running again.

"let's go, let's go!" steve yells. the tunnel starts rumbling and they all wobble into each other drunkenly.

they hear creatures roar.

"what was that?"

"they're coming," mike says. they don't sound far off. "run! run!"

they take off sprinting, all of them yelling to each other.

"go!" tj yells.

they finally see the light from their exit and the rope leading to safety.

"come on! let's go!"

steve starts hoisting the kids up, completely ignoring the rope. they help each other up. steve gets the last kid, dustin, up right before the monsters reach them. steve and tj stand there, preparing themselves. steve pushes tj behind him, wielding his bat.

the kids yell at them to come up, but there's no time. a hoard of those demo-dogs come barreling at them and tj grabs hold of steve. steve shields tj as they prepare to be mauled. but the demo-dogs run right past them.

"holy shit," tj breathes. she looks up at steve as they stand there in total shock and disbelief.

"you okay?"

"uh-huh," she says. steve and tj turn toward the rope. steve lifts tj with a grunt. "don't do that while you're holding me. you're making me self conscious."

"sorry," steve says. tj grabs hold of the rope and the kids help her up. she turns and she and the kids help pull steve up.

as they gather, the atmosphere around hawkins seems to lighten. the lights on billy's car brighten so much, they have to shield their eyes. a few seconds later, they dim back to normal again.

everything feels normal. steve pulls tj into him.

just friends.