El and Mike stepped closer together as Mike gasped. Once again, I felt that pain that I felt when I first saw them kiss.

I was pulled from my thoughts when I saw Mike push Hopper. "Let's talk. Alone," Hopper orders as he and Mike walk into a separate room. Lucas, Dustin, and I embraced El in a hug as we said our hello's. As much as I was jealous that Eleven got the boy I want, she's still a sweet girl and one of my best friends. "Eleven?" Max calls out as we pull away from the hug. El turns to Max. "Hey. Um, I'm Max. I've heard a lot about you," Max smiles, sticking her hand out for El to shake. Instead of shaking Maxes hand, El walks straight past Max.

time skip

"It's not like it was before. It's grown. A lot. And, I mean, that's considering we can get in there. The place is crawling with those dogs," Hopper begins. "Demo-dogs," Dustin corrects. "I'm sorry, what?" Hopper asked. "I said, uh, Demo-dogs. Like Demogorgon and dogs. You put them together, it sounds pretty badass--" Dustin starts. "How is this important right now?" Hopper quizzes. "It's not. I'm sorry," Dustin mumbles. "I can do it," El blurt. "You're not hearing me," Hopper continues. "I'm hearing you. I can do it," El explains. "Even if El can, there's still another problem. If the brain dies, the body dies," Mike adds. "I thought that was the whole point?" Max asks. "It is, but if we're really right about this... I mean, if El closes the gates and kills the mind flayer's army..." Mike starts. "Will's a part of that army," I follow. "Closing the gate will kill him," Mike continues.

We walk into Will's room. "We have to burn it out of him," Joyce exclaims after we decided what to do. "We have to do it somewhere he doesn't know this time," Mike explains. "Yeah, somewhere far away," Dustin adds.

"Mike, would you just stop already?" Lucas begs. "You weren't in there, okay, Lucas? That lab is swarming with hundreds of those dogs," Mike explains. "The chief will take care of her," Lucas sighs. "Like she needs protection," Max mumbles. "Listen, dude, a coach calls a play in a game, bottom line, you execute it. All right?" Steve continues. "Okay, first of all, this isn't some stupid sports game. And second, we're not even in the game. We're on the bench," Mike retorts. "Ri-- So my point is... Right, yeah, we're on the bench, so, uh, there's nothing we can do," Steve stammers. "That's not entirely true. I mean, these Demo-dogs, they have a hive mind. When they ran away from the bus, they were called away," Dustin begins. "So, if we get their attention..." Lucas adds. "Maybe we can draw them away from the lab," Max continues. "And clear a path to the gate," I exclaim. "Yeah, and then we all die," Steve opposes. "That's one point of view," Dustin retorts. "No, that's not a point of view, man. That's a fact," Steve murmurs. "I got it!" Mike announces, walking to the fridge.

"This is where the chief dug his hole. This is our way into the tunnel. So... Here, right here. This is like a hub. So you got all the tunnels feeding in here. Maybe if we set this on fire..." Mike begins. "Oh, yeah? That's a no," Steve ridiculed. "The mind flayer would call away his army," Dustin continued. "They'd all come to stop us," Lucas added. "We circle back to the exit. By the time they realize we're gone--" Mike starts. "El would be at the gate," I announce. "Hey. Hey! Hey! This is not happening," Steve claps. "But--" Mike starts. "No, no, no, no, no. No buts. I promised I'd keep you shithead's safe, and that's exactly what I plan on doing. We're staying here. On the bench. And we're waiting for the starting team to do their job. Does everybody understand?" Steve scolded. "This isn't a stupid sports game," Mike scoffed. "I said, does everybody understand that? I need a yes," Steve repeated. "Do you guys hear that?" I asked as I heard a car engine revving. We run to the window. "It's my brother. He can't know I'm here. He'll kill me. He'll kill us," Max explained. We created a plan. We all looked out the window as Billy pointed to us. We duck down. "Shit! Did he see us?" Dustin panted.

Billy burst into the house. "Well, well, well. Lucas Sinclair. What a surprise. I thought I told you to stay away from him, Max," Billy scolded. "Billy, go away," Max begged. "You disobeyed me. And you know what happens when you disobey me," Billy mumbles. "Billy..." Max started. "I break things," He grunts, grabbing Lucas by the collar and slamming him into a wall. We all yelled at him to stop, but he didn't. "You're so dead, Sinclair. You are so dead," Billy threatened.

"No, you are," Steve exclaimed, punching Billy in the face. "Yeah, Steve! Kick his ass, Steve!" I cheer. "Looks like you got some fire in you after all, huh? I've been waiting to meet this King Steve everybody's been telling me so much about," Billy chuckles. "Get out," Steve demands, pushing Billy's chest. Billy goes in for a swing, but Steve ducks. Steve punches Billy repeatedly. "Murder the son of a bitch!" Dustin shouts. "Get that shithead!" Mike continues. Billy smashes a plate against Steve's head. "Holy shit," I gasp. "No one tells me what to do," Billy grunts, head butting Steve into the living room. Billy punches Steve over and over again until Steve was unconscious. Max grabs the needle, stabbing it into Billy's neck. Billy turns around to face her, he looks at the needle, pulling it out of his neck. "The hell is this? You little shit, what did you do?" he asks before falling to the ground. He begins to laugh evilly. "From here on out, you leave me and my friends alone. Do you understand?" Max asks. "Screw you," Billy mumbles. Max slams the bat down near Billy's crotch. He looks up. Max pulls the bat out from the floor. "Say you understand! Say it! Say it!" Max yells. "I understand," Billy whispers. "What?" Max asks. "I understand," Billy says louder. She drops the bat, grabbing his keys from his pocket. "Let's get out of here," she exclaims. We grab Steve, dragging him into the car.

Steve woke up as Max was driving. I sat squished in between Mike and Steve. "Nancy?" Steve asks Mike. Mike looked at him. Steve went to touch his face, "No, don't touch it. Hey, buddy... It's okay. You put up a good fight. He kicked your ass, but you put up a good fight. You're okay," I whisper. "Okay, you're gonna keep straight for half a mile, then make a left on Mount Sinai," Lucas explained. "What's going on?" Steve asked. He must've seen Max driving because he began to freak out. "Oh, my God!" he begins. "Just relax. She's driven before," Dustin reassures. "Yeah, in a parking lot," Mike opposes. "That counts," Lucas scoffs. "They were gonna leave you behind. I promised that you'd be cool, okay?" Dustin explains. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. What's going on? Oh, my God. No! Whoa! Stop the car. Slow down," Steve begged as Max began to drive faster. "I told you he'd freak out," Mike hissed. "Everybody shut up! I'm trying to focus!" Max yells. "Oh, wait, that's Mount Sinai. Make a left," Lucas announces. Max swerves the car, hitting a mailbox in the process. We all screamed. Steve and Lucas more than others.

"Hello!" Steve shouts as we come to a halt. "Woah," I gasp. "Incredible," Mike adds. We get out of the car, grabbing our supplies from the trunk. We put on our masks and goggles. 

We made our way into the hole after Steve finished wining. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure it's this way," Mike announces. "You're pretty sure, or you're certain?" Dustin asked. "I'm 100% sure. Just follow me, and you'll know," Mike calls out. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hey, hey, hey, hey. I don't think so. Any of you little shits die down here, I'm getting the blame. Got it, dipshit? From here on out, I'm leading the way. Come on, let's go. Come on. Hey, a little hussle," Steve shouts.