CHAPTER ELEVEN:
...A SLAUGHTERHOUSE

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MIKE AND MAX helped Eleven limp out to Nancy's car as she groaned in pain. Jonathan and Nancy were instructed to take the kids to Murray's house where they would all be safe while the rest of them took care of the Mind Flayer. Max and Mike set Eleven in the back of the car so she could lie down. Nancy and Jonathan got into the front seats while Mike stayed with Eleven in the back. Danny, Lucas, Max, and Will got into the middle, having to squeeze together tightly to fit.

Nancy attempted to turn the car on but it wasn't starting. She turned the ignition multiple times but all that happened was the engine had started to make strange noises, "You can't be serious! Come on!"

"Didn't your mom just buy this car?" Lucas asked.

"Yes," Nancy sighed in annoyance. "I'm sure it's fine."

"Did you leave the lights on?" Will asked, trying to be helpful.

"No!"

"Do we have gas?" Lucas asked.

"Yes!" Nancy yelled before aggressively turning the key once again, starting to get angry and frustrated. "Come on!"

Jonathan reached forward, stopping his girlfriend from causing more damage to the engine by aggressively trying to start it, "Stop, stop! Pop the hood."

Nancy popped the hood as Jonathan got out of the car. He opened up the hood and started observing the engine as Nancy stepped out of the car. They observed the engine for a few seconds before the sound of another engine revving in the distance distracted all of them. Everyone whipped their heads to the left, seeing a blue Camaro in the middle of the empty parking lot. The lights turned on, revealing Billy Hargrove.

Danny's eyes widened as Billy revved the engine of his car. Everyone started to take deep breaths as the adrenaline and fear made its way through their bodies. Danny took a deep breath. The reality of what was happening and what he had gotten into truly settling in. Nancy yelled at the kids through the window, "Back in the mall! Back in the mall!"

Nancy whipped the door open and everyone rushed out, almost tripping over each other to sprint to the front doors of the mall. Max and Mike rushed as fast as they could with Eleven in their arms. They went back to the food court which was now empty. Mike grabbed a walkie-talkie and started to try to contact the Scoops Troop for a ride away from the mall. Billy was waiting outside and they were all in danger. Lucas had grabbed a slingshot which Danny thought was incredibly stupid. A slingshot wouldn't be any match for the monster that was the Mind Flayer. Nancy, on the other hand, was stealing guns from the dead Russians.

Danny raised an eyebrow as Lucas pulled on his slingshot, closing an eye as he aimed. Danny scoffed, "You know if Billy knows where we are then so does the Mind Flayer. You really think that's gonna do shit?"

Lucas narrowed his eyes at Danny, "You'd be surprised."

"Well, you are full of surprises, aren't you, Sinclair?" Danny teased, referring to the kiss they shared in the grocery store.

Lucas took a deep breath and stared at Danny for a moment, looking guilty. Danny raised an eyebrow and Lucas looked away. Danny sighed and looked away from Lucas. He started to look around the mall and noticed the turned-over car. They needed a vehicle and the one they had wasn't working, so Danny wondered if they could possibly use the nearly destroyed car. There could be a chance it still worked.

Danny went over to Nancy and Jonathan and gestured to the car, "Hey, this might be a dumb idea but is there any chance that thing'll drive?"

Jonathan looked at the car and his eyes widened, "We don't need it to drive. We just need the ignition cable."

Nancy and Jonathan quickly recruited the rest of the group and they all headed over to the turned-over vehicle which was directly against a pizza restaurant in the food court. They jumped onto the counter and pushed as hard as they could to turn over the vehicle. Danny groaned as his muscles flexed hard and he used all his strength to push the vehicle. Even while using all his strength, he still noticed that Lucas had a decent amount of muscle. He was slim but the muscle was there and Danny couldn't help but stare. The metal squealed as they pushed it but wouldn't budge. They shortly admitted defeat and let go. The vehicle smashed against the restaurant again and everyone let out deep breaths.

"Let me try," Eleven offers. Danny looked at Eleven who was weaker than everyone else. Her skin was pale, her eyes were sunken in, and sweat gathered on her face and her neck.

Mike shook his head, panting from the strain he had just put on his body, "El..."

Eleven limped forward, "I can do it."

Everyone backed away, allowing Eleven to try to use her abilities to move the car. She stuck her hand out and narrowed her eyes as blood fell from her nose. She groaned and shook as the metal squealed and buckled underneath her abilities but it wouldn't budge no matter how much energy Eleven used. After a minute, Eleven gave up, letting out a frustrated sigh.

They came up with another plan to use metal poles to help get more leverage to push the car. The group quickly collected a couple of metal poles around the food court and got back behind the vehicle. They stuck the poles between the counter and the car before starting to push. They were able to quickly get the car on its side before taking a small break to breathe and rest their aching muscles. Danny took deep breaths and wiped the sweat from his forehead. Jonathan encouraged them to continue, "Okay, great. Now all the way. Ready?" The group turned the poles over and set them against the car again, "Three, two, one, push!"

They pushed with all the strength they could muster and finally, the car tipped over and landed with a large slam onto the linoleum. They sighed in relief as Mike smiled, "Told you. Physics."

Nancy and Jonathan rushed to the hood of the car. They stuck their hands underneath the hood to open it but it wasn't working. Nancy opened the car door and started to look around for a latch to open the hood. The rest of the group stood by and watched as Nancy and Jonathan went as fast as they could. They finally opened it as Danny watched. Mike and Max followed Eleven who had started digging through the trash. As they waited, a pounding sound echoed around them. Danny furrowed his brows and looked around him for the source of the noise.

Danny looked around at everyone else who was doing the exact same thing that he was. Danny looked at Will who placed his hands on the back of his neck. Danny knew what that meant and he wasn't happy about it. Danny slowly looked up at the skylight. The pounding noise was coming from the skylight of the mall. Danny let out a shaky breath as the Mind Flayer cracked the thick glass.

Mike gasped, "Nancy!"

Danny's eyes widened as the glass skylight broke and glass came raining down on everyone. The entire building shook when the Mind Flayer came falling down, hitting the floor with a loud pound. Danny, Lucas, Will, Jonathan, and Mike ducked behind the car. The Mind Flayer roared, the sound echoing throughout the mall. Danny let out another shaky breath as he sat beside Lucas.

"Griswald Family, this is Scoops Troop! Do you copy? Over!" Dustin's voice shouted from the walkie-talkie. "Griswald Family, I repeat, this is Scoops Troop. Do you copy --"

The Mind Flayer picked up the walkie-talkie and roared once again before throwing it against the ground and breaking the cover. Dustin continued to scream into the walkie talkie as everyone hid. The Mind Flayer continued to roar as it walked around the food court, searching for the group. Danny's heart raced and his body shook as he hid. Another roar caused Lucas to grab onto Danny's hand. Danny and Lucas were too terrified to notice it had happened but Danny felt a little calmer with Lucas's hand on top of his. Danny slowly looked behind the car, seeing how large the Mind Flayer got gotten. He also saw that the Mind Flayer was getting closer to a store where Max, Mike, and Eleven were hiding.

Lucas looked at Danny and down at their hands before letting go and grabbing his slingshot. Danny's eyes widened at Lucas's actions. Lucas stood up and shot his slingshot at a balloon, the loud popping sound distracting the Mind Flayer. He sat back down immediately and the Mind Flayer started to move. Jonathan glanced over the car for a moment before whispering to the group, "Go, go, go, go!"

They stood up and jumped into the pizza place in front of them. They ran to the back room and down the hallways that connected all of the stores before running up a set of stairs. They ran down a couple of hallways and more stairs before finally ending up outside the mall once again. Danny, Lucas, and Will got into the back seat of the car while Jonathan and Nancy quickly put in the ignition cable from the car inside the mall. Billy was still outside the mall and revved his car engine at them again. Jonathan got into the car while Nancy stood outside it, gun raised at Billy's car. Jonathan tried to start it but even with the ignition cable, it still wasn't starting, "No, no, no! Come on!"

The sound of an engine revving and tires screeching echoed around them as Billy put his car in drive and slammed on the gas. Danny's eyes widened, "Fuck!"

Nancy started shooting and the kids started yelling at Jonathan to hurry up. The car started getting dangerously close but Nancy continued shooting. Danny gripped onto the seat, bracing himself for impact. The headlights blinded him and he quickly ducked down with Lucas and Will. He felt Lucas grip onto his hand once more and he squeezed it, waiting for the impact that didn't come. Another car slammed into Billy's, knocking him away.

Danny looked up, seeing Steve and Robin in the car. Danny laughed as the adrenaline rushed through his body. He watched as Steve and Robin slowly got out of the car and looked up at the roof of the mall. Danny furrowed his brows and followed their gaze, seeing the Mind Flayer back on the roof. Just as he saw it, Jonathan was able to start the car. They drove over to Steve and Robin, yelling for them to get into the car.

They got into the car and Jonathan slammed on the gas. They started to drive and as they did, the Mind Flayer followed them. Danny kept looking behind him as the Mind Flayer ran after them. Jonathan slammed his foot on the gas going as fast as he could while the Mind Flayer followed closely. They were on a dirt road when a random girl's voice came through the walkie-talkie in Robin's hand, "Dusty-bun, do you copy?"

"I copy, Suzie-poo," Dustin responded through the walkie-talkie. "It sounds much better now, thanks. Okay, so listen, do you know Planck's constant?"

"Do you know the Earth orbits the sun?" Suzie responded.

"Okay, so I know it starts with two sixes, and then a... What is it?"

"Okay, let me just be clear on this," Suzie interrupted. "I haven't heard from you in a week, and now you want some mathematical equation that you should know so you can... save the world?"

"Suzie-poo, I promise, I will make it up to you as soon as possible," Dustin promised her.

"You can make it up to me now," Suzie said. "I want to hear it."

"Not right now," Dustin responds.

"Yes, now, Dusty-bun!" Suzie argued. Danny furrowed his brows, wondering if this conversation was really necessary to be having at the moment.

"Suzie-poo, this is urgent!" Dustin urged her.

"Yes, yes, you're saving the world, I heard you the first time," Suzie sighed. "But Ged is also saving Earthsea and he's about to confront the shadow, so this is Suzie, signing off."

"Wait, wait wait! Okay. Okay," Dustin sighed.

Danny furrowed his brows as Dustin and Suzie started to harmonize to Never-ending Story. Danny and Lucas shared a confused look as the singing continued. Danny looked behind him at the Mind Flayer again, wondering if he was dreaming or not. He couldn't believe that Dustin and his girlfriend were singing together while they were being chased by a monster from another dimension. Danny looked at everyone, "Is this shit actually happening right now or am I dreaming?"

After a minute, the singing stopped and Suzie gave them the numbers they needed, "Planck's constant is 6.62607004."

They drove another mile and the Mind Flayer had slowly stopped following them. It roared, giving up, before turning around and running back towards the mall. Steve announced that the Mind Flayer had turned around so Jonathan quickly turned the car around. He slammed down on the gas and the group started following the Mind Flayer back towards the mall.

The Mind Flayer beat them there and they heard roaring coming from the parking lot. They went in through the mall from the back and went through the back hallways to the second floor of the mall. They brought in the fireworks, using Lucas's idea since they had nothing left to try. The Mind Flayer was towering over Eleven when they got inside the mall, roaring. Lucas was the first one to light up one of the fireworks before throwing it at the monster, "Flay this you ugly piece of shit!"

The fireworks exploded, sending colorful sparks all over the food court. The Mind Flayer turned towards Lucas and roared just as Lucas released a firework into the monster's mouth. It screeched in pain as everyone took turns throwing a firework at the creature, the explosions sounding like bombs in the enclosed mall as sparks flew everywhere. Danny pulled a firework from the shopping cart and lit it up, throwing it at the Mind Flayer. He would've thought the whole thing was fun if he wasn't fighting for his life.

As Billy and the Mind Flayer were distracted by the fireworks, Eleven tried to escape from Billy. He quickly grabbed her and dragged her back over to the Mind Flayer, hovering above her as he started to choke her. Danny lit the fireworks faster and threw them harder as Eleven tried talking to Billy. Danny reached into the basket again, feeling nothing, "Shit, there's none left, guys!"

"We're out," Will shouted.

"Dammit!" Lucas cursed.

Once the last of the sparks had stopped and the smoke settled, the Mind Flayer stood up. It turned to Billy and Eleven again. Danny watched from the balcony as Billy stood in front of Eleven, blocking her from the Mind Flayer. The Mind Flayer roared at Billy as Eleven started to crawl away from both of them. The Mind Flayer opened its mouth and a long arm shot out of it, heading straight for Eleven but Billy held out his hands and stopped it, "No!"

Billy screamed as he held back the Mind Flayer. The Mind Flayer shot out one of its other arms to pierce Billy on the lower left side of his abdomen. He screamed in pain just as another one of the arms grabbed onto him on his right side. More arms grabbed onto Billy's body, stabbing him in his abdomen. Danny watched with wide eyes as Billy kneeled and cried out just as the Mind Flayer sent one final arm into his gut.

"Billy!" Max cried out. Danny looked at Max who had been watching the whole scene from behind Eleven. She had just seen her brother being killed in front of her.

The Mind Flayer started to squirm and yell in pain before collapsing to the ground. Danny furrowed his brows, noticing it had finally died indicating the gate had been closed by Hopper and Joyce. Mike ran to Eleven and clutched her as she sobbed. Danny watched as Max slowly made her way over to Billy, "Billy, get up. Please. Billy, please, please get up!"

Danny and Lucas shared a look. Lucas ran down the escalator to his girlfriend. Danny slowly followed and watched as Max sobbed into Eleven's arms. Danny thought Billy was a piece of shit but he had tried to save Eleven from the Mind Flayer. Danny wondered how all of this had happened. The smoke started to settle around them and Danny took a deep breath, wondering if this was the end or if he had just stepped into something that was only just beginning.

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