Chapter Thirty-Seven: It's Time To Go

The kids ran back into the mall, semi-safe for now. Annie paced the floor, wondering if Billy had arrived after the others left.

Mike was also pacing, trying to get in contact with the others- the Scoops Troop. "Scoops Troop, do you copy? We are trapped in the mall and are in need of emergency transportation."

"You're gonna kill him, aren't you?" The question from Max caught Annie totally off guard, and she spun around to see what Max was talking about.

Nancy had grabbed a gun off one of the Russians and was making sure it was loaded. Annie's own gun was still safely hidden under her pink t-shirt.

"This is just a precaution, okay?" Nancy assured.

"And not just against Billy. If he knows we're here, so does the Mind Flayer," Will added.

Annie walked over. "El's way too exhausted right now to do anything huge, so we've got some weapons of our own to help out," she said. "El can... she can be the one to deal with Billy. See if there's anything she can do in his head."

Max gave a weak smile, appreciating the effort her friends were giving to make her feel better. But there was a feeling in her stomach, something telling her things would go wrong.

Nancy looked over at Mike, who was still repeating the same thing over and over, and saw the car that El had flung earlier. "No chance that thing'll drive," she said, a sarcastic smile on her face.

Behind her, Johnathan spoke up. "We don't need it to drive. We just need the ignition cable."

Nancy stood, smiling wide. "Then looks like we've gotta flip it over." She hurried over to the car, the other four following right behind. "Guys! We need to get the car flipped over, come on!" Nancy called over to the others.

Everyone found a spot around the car, Annie being on the counter trying to push it up and off. So much for not sweating through another shirt. This last week almost hasn't been very kind to her wardrobe.

"Push!" Johnathan yelled, even though everyone was already pushing.

After one last burst of energy, the car came crashing back to where it started. "Shit!" Lucas exclaimed, whether it was because more glass smashed or because the car didn't really move, Annie didn't know or care.

"Let me try," El said, hobbling forward.

"El..."

"I can do it." Everyone paused and let her try, moving to stand behind her in case it worked. Her hand was out and everyone could hear the metal of the car creaking under an invisible force. Even so, nothing happened.

Annie sighed, looking around, including by the escalators. "Leverage," she said, and then turned back to everyone who were already looking at her. "We need leverage. It's basic physics."

When everyone continued to look shocked, Annie rolled her eyes. "I might look like a Barbie, but I've got some knowledge up here," she said, tapping her head with her finger. "Now come on!"

She turned back around and hurried over to where the stanchions sat by the escalators. "We can use these to wedge in between the car and counter and- Annie you're a genius!" Will said, getting a smile from the brunette.

Everyone grabbed a stanchion then hurried back over to the car. They all got behind the car again and wedged the metal things in-between the car and counter, just like Will said.

"Push!" With Johnathan's word, they all started to push.

After a moment, the car stood straight up and down on its side. Annie smiled as she stood straight. Johnathan, as out of breath as he was, got right back to instructing the group. "All right, great. Now all the way, ready?" The kids got their stanchions in place, the bottom on the car to push it over. "Three... two... one... push!"

The car creaked and kept going, Max holding onto Annie so she didn't go with it. When it landed, the air from the tires made a hissing noise as it escaped.

"Physics," Annie said, shrugging.

Nancy and Johnathan were quick to hop off the counter and open the hood. Lucas hopped down from his spot and pulled up a chair for the rest to step down from the counter.

"How do we get it open?" Nancy asked as she and Johnathan pulled on the hood to no avail.

"Uh, there should be a latch. Check under the wheel," he said. Nancy hurried over to check. Annie moved over to stand next to Max and watched El pull things from a trash can.

"What's she doing?" Annie shrugged. She looked over at Mike, who turned around, saw the scene, then shared a look with the girls. El pulled something from the trash and then walked to a different spot.

They all decided to walk over and check on her. She had a can of New Coke sitting in front of her and her entire concentration was focused on it. "El," Mike said, breaking the girl's attention. "Are you okay?"

She looked at the trio, then back to the can. Annie guessed the answer was no.

It was silent and Annie felt the need to say something but a distant rumble stopped her words. She looked at Max to see if she heard the same thing, and the redhead was already looking at the brunette.

They both hesitated, but then looked up through the mall's giant skylight. Something was on the glass. "Mike," Max said. Annie heard a shuffle and assumed Mike turned to see what they were looking at.

The skylight was bending under the weight first, but then it started to crack. "Holy shit," Annie breathed, unable to break her eyes away from the scene. The Mind Flayer found them.

"Nancy!" It was Mike's voice, but it sounded distant and echoey to Annie. Her eyes wouldn't leave the cracking glass above her, she traced it over and over again. She could just barely see the outline of the monster.

"Come on!" A hand was grabbing hers and Annie was no longer staring at the cracking glass. Instead, she was looking at the ground, then in front of her. Everything seemed to pull Annie out from her spaced-out world. She took a deep breath and found herself back in the moment.

Now, she was running with Max, Mike, and El to escape from the large room. A sudden loud, crashing noise told Annie the monster made it through and her whole body went cold. There was a shriek and a roar that left Annie petrified.

They all took shelter behind a random stand, hoping it was good enough to hide from the monster. After a few seconds of grumbling from the monster, a new voice rang out through the atrium.

"Griswold family, this is Scoops Troop, do you copy? Over." It was Dustin- they knew they were in trouble. "Griswold family, I repeat, this is Scoops Troop, do you-"

The monster let out a shriek and then let out a mighty roar. A second later, there was a clattering sound. Annie assumed it was the radio being flung and broken. Dustin's garbled voice could still barely be heard. It made Annie realize that Steve knew, and he'd be freaking the hell out.

The monster's rumbling footsteps suddenly got a little too close for Annie's comfort, her whole body feeling the vibration in her soul. Her hand was in Max's grip, both girls squeezing each other.

It got closer and closer and for once, Annie almost wished she listened to her brother about going with him. But then the others would be here and she'd be panicking. No good scenarios.

There were never good scenarios when it came to the Upside Down.

Annie's jaw quivered when it felt like monster was looming over them. When she heard more rumbling footsteps walk away, she knew that had been true. There was a sound like it had thrown something. It was loud, but not like the radio. Maybe one of the Russians.

Mike started to move, freaking Annie out. "Mike-" she tried to whisper yell, but he held out a hand and she stopped.

He peaked over the counter, then leaned back down to talk to the others. "It's turned away. If we go up the stairs now, we'll make it."

Max started shaking her head immediately. "No way, not with El's leg," she countered.

"We have to try," Mike stressed.

"There's another way to get out," El whispered, grabbing the attention. "Through the Gap." She gestured to the store they were situated right in front of. Annie looked, too, and then nodded.

Mike checked over the counter again to check the monster's position. It must've been good, because when he came back down he said, "Okay."

A beat.

"Now."

Mike grabbed El to help her while Annie and Max's hands stayed laced together to pull each other along. They had to round the corner and hurried into the Gap entrance. As Mike and El entered, a metal thing got in the way and fell to the ground with a clang.

"Shit," Annie whispered and they hurried into the store as the monster started to growl. It made its way over to the store as the kids found places to duck and hide. Annie's hands shook and she felt herself wanting to cry. Knowing her sobs would be loud, she held herself back from doing so.

The monster crashed into the store front. It screeched, and then Annie heard the telltale sign of the tentacles coming out. She turned her head to the side and saw one come around a corner and grip onto a mannequin wearing the same outfit El was.

Then it was thrown over to the back wall and nearly made them all scream. El's eyes were the widest when she took in the outfit.

"Move, move," Max said, and they carefully moved to a different spot to hide as another tentacle came to find them. Annie squeezed her eyes shut and anticipated the moment the tentacle found them. It would be any minute now.

A balloon popping grabbed the monster's attention, and suddenly the tentacle was being drawn back and out of the store.

Now that it was distracted, it was time to go. "Let's go," Mike whispered, gripping El's hand while Max held Annie's. The foursome ran to the back door El was talking about and hurried inside.

Annie only hoped the others found a way out. She was hoping they would. With every twist and turn, her hopes grew smaller.

Until they pushed a door open and it brought them outside.

"Yes!" Max cried and they ran towards a metal gate, the only thing stopping them from freedom.

They had been hurrying out of the gate when shit went down. They thought they had made it, but instead had come face to face with Billy and his flaming car.

"Shit," Max said and they already started to turn around, even before Mike was yelling for them all to go.

They started to run, but then Max slipped out from under El's arm. "Max!" Annie screamed, stopping and turning.

The redhead kept running, back to the button they pressed to open the gate. She hit it again for it to close and immediately turned back around. Annie had stopped and waited, not wanting to leave Max behind.

She held her hand out for Max to grab. Once she did, they were sprinting after Mike and El. They got back inside and hurried through the halls as the lights flickered madly around them. Seems like the plan downstairs was working. Or that's what Annie hoped.

"Come on, come on, come on," Annie chanted as they ran. They were all tired, El the most so at this point, but this was the last time to crap out. There was no other option but to keep pushing.

They turned another corner. "In here! In here," Mike said and they hurried over to an elevator. He started to frantically press the button and Annie begged the electricity wasn't so fucked up it would screw with the elevator.

They heard a bang and Max walked over to check it out. Annie followed a few steps behind and saw Billy coming towards them.

"Billy." Mike and El quickly turned. "Billy, you don't have to do this." He refused to slow down. "Billy, you're name is Billy. Billy Hargrove. You live on 4819 Cherry Lane. Billy please I'm Max I'm your-"

Nothing worked. When he was within arm's length, Billy hit Max right across the face. "Max!" Annie screamed.

Her hand went to the gun in her waistband but she was too close to Billy to do anything meaningful. He grabbed Annie's shoulder and threw her into a wall, her world going dark.

A/n: omg guys the end is almost here 😭

side note: I proofread this while listening to Speak Now (Taylor's Version) for the first time