𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐃 𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐓 : 4.2k

☆゜·。。·゜゜·。。·゜★

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐓𝐖𝐎 𝐆𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐏𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍𝐀𝐆𝐄𝐑𝐒 𝐃𝐄𝐒𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐃 𝐔𝐏𝐎𝐍 the Bradley's Big Buy all at once. Although, Frank was far more careful with his parking job than Nancy Wheeler was in her hefty station wagon. Gordon, Law, Frank, and Jodi watched with dropped jaws as she literally spun the car right into a makeshift parallel parking job and managed to hit none of the surrounding trash bins or cement parking poles. One could only imagine the near whiplash she gave everyone in the car, though.

Gordon was the first to leap out of Frank's car, swinging the door shut behind him. "Holy shit, Wheeler!" he exclaimed, approaching her with a broad grin. "I don't know how you did it, but you managed to make that Griswold Family beater actually look dope as hell."

Nancy's eyebrows had lifted at the sight of Gordon Webb making his way over to them and their group. "Gordon?" she gasped with a questioning gaze. Lucas had told her that Law and a couple of his friends were on the way, but she didn't think that included the boy's older brother. It swiftly dawned on her that Owen might've been with them too!

The two girls hadn't been able to see each other much since Owen graduated. Or, well... the more accurate reason was that neither of them had been especially great about reaching out. So, this might've been a perfect time for a more naturally-timed reunion. A twinkle of hope flickered across her face as she looked over Gordon's band tee-clad shoulder, longing to see the girl pile out of the backseat. "Is Owen with you?"

Gordon's lips pursed. "Nah. I don't know where she is, actually," he admitted with a shrug. He turned and looked over his shoulder, examining the group he had tagged along with. "But I do have this little ragtag team of new additions. Frank is still processing everything, but Jodi is taking the news surprisingly well."

"Oh, okay..." Nancy visibly deflated, but gave them a sparing onceover nonetheless. "Well, that monster that you guys saw? We think it's trying to kill El. After it left the steelworks factory, it headed straight towards us and attacked her... pretty brutally," she informed the group once they had all clustered behind Gordon. "She's got a deep gash on her leg and she's losing a lot of blood. So, we're gonna need to patch her up before we do anything else."

"Oh, shit. Okay."

From over his brother's shoulder, Law's eyes narrowed in on the Closed sign hanging from the shop's window. "If El needs her leg fixed so bad, then why did we meet here? It's pretty obviously not o–"

The sharp sound of glass shattering cut through his words. Law's hands flew over his ears, blocking out the echoed ringing that followed. He peered in through the now-broken doorway, spotting the large rock that laid amidst a pile of glass shards. His gaze darted between Nancy and the rock, putting two and two together pretty quickly. "Okay, what the hell?" he snapped. A heads-up would've been nice.

"Well, it's not closed anymore," Jodi murmured with a smirk. Her bright, glossy eyes were fixed on Nancy, already thoroughly impressed by the older girl's audacity.

The group filed into the store, stepping over the lip of the broken door and the glass that had gone sliding all over the cream-colored, tile floors. Max and Mike had to help El inside, her arms clutching the expanse of their shoulders as she did her best to keep the weight off of her injury. Her face was all pinched up in pain, her lips twisted and her eyes tightly squeezed shut, the expression hardly making her look like herself.

The group headed straight for the medical supply aisle, the hotspot for all things First Aid. Nancy snagged a bottle of rubbing alcohol and a pack of bandages off the shelf. "Okay, get her down," she ordered as soon as El was carried in. Mike and Max carefully lowered her to the floor, allowing her to prop herself up against rows of Ziploc bags and boxes of Brillo pads.

"Alright. Let me see..." Nancy breathed.

She gently rolled up the edge of El's stained pant leg, revealing the damage she had sustained. Blood was smeared all over her leg, having soaked through the fabric of her pants and her white, slouchy socks. The angry-looking gash leaked more of the thick, blackened blood, making the entire group let out disgusted groans. The substance rolled down her calf and onto the floor beneath them, undoubtedly staining the tile.

"Oh, shit..." Max whispered, her eyebrows furrowing. El let out a pained grunt, shuddering against the shelf behind her. Hearing how much she was suffering, Nancy kicked into gear. She tore into the package of gauze and went to screw off the lid to the bottle of rubbing alcohol, but was stopped before she could get any further.

"Wait, no. Hold on," Frank spoke up.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Max blurted, simultaneously.

The entire group looked up at Frank, shocked to actually hear him speak for the first time since they got there. In order to avoid actually processing the terror of the situation, Frank had been mentally clocked out since the moment they saw the giant, fleshy monster. But if there was one thing that was going to bring him out of his trauma-induced haze, it was the opportunity to perform effective first aid.

"I'm cleaning the wound," Nancy said, like it was obvious.

"Not like that, I would hope," Frank replied, pushing through the others in order to crouch on the floor beside Max and El. "You're gonna want to stop the bleeding first." He earned a cluster of wary expressions, all wide-eyed and unsure. With a sigh, Frank produced the best credentials he had. "Trust me, I know my way around a first aid kit. I am extremely accident-prone and my mom's a nurse, who also happens to be a total hypochondriac," he assured them.

"He's right. We need to stop the bleeding, then clean, then disinfect, then bandage," Max agreed. "I skateboard. That's how I was taught to do it."

Although they understood what all of those words meant, everyone was a little afraid to make the next move after Max and Frank's initial judgment of their first attempt. Nobody wanted to get chewed out again or potentially make El's injury even worse. So, they all just sat there like a collection of deer in the headlights, waiting for Max or Frank's next instructions.

"Mike, here. Hold this," Max sighed, grabbing Mike's hand and guiding it to the gauze pressed against El's leg. She pressed his hand firmly against the wound, applying the necessary pressure to get the bleeding to stop. In the process, however, El let out a throaty groan and flinched against the shelf behind her. "Keep the pressure on it. Nice and firm, okay?"

"We'll also need some soap and water to really get in there and clean out any debris," Frank said, glancing up at their older counterparts. The split-second of eye contact was all it took to get Nancy, Jonathan, and Gordon into action, thankfully.

"Yeah, okay."

"Alright."

"You got it."

The three of them stood and took off into the other aisles, on the hunt for soap and water. Just over Frank and Max's shoulders, though, a jarring rattle of items falling onto the tiles startled the group. Their heads spun in the direction of the clattering, only to find Lucas shaking everything out of his worn-out Jansport backpack. About fifteen cents worth of pennies, a slingshot, his walkie, a flashlight, and a couple Tootsie Rolls were splayed across the ground in front of them. An offering to the First Aid gods.

"Does any of this help?" Lucas asked with his eyebrows raised.

"No," Max replied, instantly. "Go get me a washcloth and a bowl."

His head tilted perplexedly. "A bowl?"

"Lucas," she glowered, giving him a look that spoke volumes.

With an urgent smack against his upper arm delivered by Will, he hurried back down the aisle without another word. Officially intimidated by Max's very serious demeanor, Jodi and Law began to slowly back away from the makeshift operating room.

"We should probably go help them," Law reasoned.

Jodi breathed out a shaky, nervous laugh. "Yeah, it may be difficult to find a washcloth and bowl in these circumstances..." she nodded.

When nobody offered any argument over their absence, the two of them slipped out of sight and into the rest of the grocery store. Although Frank's lips pursed annoyedly over them deserting him with these near strangers, it wasn't hard to understand why someone wouldn't want to just sit around in silence while a girl bled out in front of them. Truthfully? It wasn't even how he was planning to spend his summer break, either.

Frank gave Mike Wheeler the tight-lipped, awkward smile that he had perfected over the years and began counting the seconds before his friends returned.

☆゜·。。·゜゜·。。·゜★

Gordon trailed along behind Nancy and Jonathan as they trodded along the back wall of the store. The meat section's glowing purple neon lettering illuminated their faces as they sought out some water and soap for El's leg. The refrigerators' chilled air washed over the beads of sweat on Gordon's upper lip, causing goosebumps to raise on his arms. His clammy hands ran over the pale, bumpy skin there, trying to garner any warmth that he could.

Just ahead of him, Nancy and Jonathan were immersed in a conversation of their own, trying to make sense of everything that had happened. Gordon listened in, having heard Law, Frank, and Jodi's retelling of the story, but still curious to hear what had happened when they weren't around.

"What did that thing look like to you?" Nancy asked, sounding as if she already knew the answer.

"Like that thing in the hospital, only bigger," Jonathan answered, nonetheless.

"Yeah, a lot bigger," Nancy reiterated.

Gordon's eyebrows pinched together as his gaze bounced between the two of them. "How big are we talkin'?"

Nancy turned to face him. "The first time we saw it... the size of a car maybe? But when it came to Hopper's cabin for El, it was bigger than the house," she told him. "It's growing, fast."

"Yeah, but how?" Jonathan muttered with a shake of his head.

"Well, Tom and Bruce merged to become one, right? And– And Driscoll kept saying how she needed to go back to the source–" Nancy began theorizing, talking a mile a minute. But that last bit stopped Jonathan in his tracks. He reached out, grasping Nancy's hand with his own and pulling her to a stop with him.

"Wait, you think Driscoll's in there?"

Nancy expelled a shaky breath, looking between the two boys. "Maybe," she confessed. "And– And– And maybe Heather and Janet, too, and God knows who else."

Gordon's eyes had dropped to the floor, tracing the distance between stains on the tile in hopes of slowing his mushrooming heart rate. Law said he had seen Diana go down there with the monster. And now that he thought of it, he hadn't seen Owen in days. The idea that something could've happened to either of them was enough to make his skin crawl and tears prick the edges of his eyes.

"I think my dad's girlfriend may be in there, too," Gordon said, his voice tight. He had never been Diana's biggest fan, but he had actually begun to feel at peace with her constantly lingering around the house. Even in his indifference, Gordon never wanted anything like this to happen to her. She was a good person and had honestly made his dad a better person in the process. He didn't want to think about what would happen to his dad if he lost another woman in his life.

On the other hand, Gordon was far too worried to actually say anything about Owen out loud, afraid to even speak it into existence. So, he didn't. He just held tight to the hope that she was just out there, doing some stupid shit with Steve like she usually was. He was quick to blink the tears out of his vision before he looked up at Nancy and Jonathan.

But they were both already looking at him with concern written all over their faces when he met their stares. "I don't know how we're gonna kill this thing," Nancy confessed, nervously. "But if we do–"

"We kill all the flayed," Jonathan finished, despite knowing that this likely wasn't what Gordon wanted to hear.

"But that's what would end this," Nancy reminded him, seeing the distress cross his face. She needed to give him something to hope for.

Gordon chewed at the inside of his cheek. "Maybe," he reminded them, frustratedly. "We've thought that it was the end every other time before this. But it's never been the end. This motherfucker just keeps coming back for more."

Nancy pulled in a deep breath. She knew he was right, but there was still a splinter of hope lodged in her mind, refusing to be ignored. She turned and started walking down the nearest aisle, leaving the boys to follow behind her. "All I know is..." she started, becoming distracted by the jugs of water occupying the shelves. She swiped one without slowing her pace in the slightest. "We need El."

Gordon's eyebrow ticked upward as he followed close behind her. "Yeah, and Owen," he murmured beneath his breath. It was scary to admit, but Nancy was right; They sure as hell couldn't do this without them.

☆゜·。。·゜゜·。。·゜★

On the other side of the store, Jodi, Law, Lucas, and Will wandered through the cereal section, their eyes glazing over Captain Crunch and the overly happy little girl on the front of the Honeycomb boxes. The group's shoes left dirty footprints along the floor, mapping out every step they took through the dimly-lit corridors.

"Bowl... Bowl... Bowl..." Lucas mumbled, repetitively. It barely even sounded like a real word anymore. All four pairs of eyes scanned the contents on the shelves, trying — and failing — to find what they were looking for. "Why wouldn't it be with the cereal?" Lucas eventually huffed, having grown both annoyed and impatient.

"I don't know," Will said with a shrug.

"What else do you use a bowl for?" Lucas griped.

Will's chuckle in reply was weak. "I-I... don't know."

"Do grocery stores even sell dishes?" Jodi wondered aloud. "I've never actually seen anyone buy plates and silverware and stuff. It's always just seemed like one of those things you randomly acquire over the years."

Law's head tilted in thought. "You know, now that you mention it, I don't think I've ever seen anyone stocking up on cups and stuff," he agreed, reaching out to gently nudge a cereal box away from the ledge.

Lucas sighed. He knew they had a point because once he really started thinking about it, he couldn't remember a time that his parents had ever had anything other than the set of dishes he had always grown up with. He had been eating off of the same plates for as long as he could remember! But he knew his mom had to have gotten them somewhere...

When the group rounded the last set of shelves, they were collectively brought to halt by the sight in front of them. There, surrounded by bottles of soda and Fourth of July decorations, stood an absolutely breathtaking display of fireworks. It was decked out with everything from sparklers to something labeled Satan's Baby. The neon lights reflected off of the shiny, stars-and-stripes-patterned packaging, beaming back on the teenagers' faces.

"Oh, shit."

The four of them shared matching, enthusiastic looks before hurrying off toward the alluring set-up. Lucas went straight to the biggest and baddest firework of them all, taking it into his hands like it was made of glass. "Satan's Baby..." he breathed, totally in awe. "Have any of you ever shot one of these suckers?"

The clueless trio all shook their heads in response. "No. Is it sweet?" Will pondered, a soft smile on his lips.

"That's an understatement," Lucas retorted with a smirk of his own.

From over their shoulders, another voice rang out, not belonging to any of the original four. "That doesn't look like a bowl."

Max had emerged from the shadows, wearing a scolding look on her freckled face. Her thick, reddish braids swung as she walked. When she stopped, they did too, resting heavily on her suntanned shoulders. Her stiff demeanor had no effect on the excitement over the flashy fireworks. Instead, Lucas was just excited to show her what he had found.

"Nah, it's way better," he promised. "There's a reason this warning label says 'eighteen or older.' This sucker is filled with 150 grains of black powder — AKA gunpowder." He tossed the box into Max's arms, watching her fumble to catch it in time. "Strap two of these together, and it's bigger than an M-80. Five of them... we've got ourselves a stick of dynamite."

His glowing endorsement had a stream of giddy giggles leaving Law's mouth. "Holy shit, dude. That sounded like a commercial," he grinned, nudging the younger boy and causing him to jut out his chest proudly.

But whatever he was selling, Max wasn't buying it.

"You wanna kill that thing with fireworks?"

"Do you have a better idea?" Lucas shot back.

Max's eyes bored into him. "Uh, yeah. Eleven." She roughly threw Satan's Baby back into his arms. Her lips pursed as she watched his smug expression morph into a momentary frown.

"Against that thing?" he asked, incredulously. "She's gonna need some back-up."

Max had heard enough. Clearly, there was no swaying him on this idea and she seemed to be outnumbered. She loosely crossed her arms over her chest and her eyes rolled skyward. "Oh my god..." she muttered, strolling off and deciding to just go on the bowl hunt herself. Arguing with him wasn't worth the wasted time.

Unbothered by her annoyance, Lucas shoved the box of fireworks into Will's arms. "Here, hold this."

Once the boy's frail arms had been loaded with boxes, he filled Jodi's arms, then Law's, then his own. They had almost cleared out the entire display, leaving behind only the measly Poppers and pretty-to-look-at Sparklers. Jodi's stack of firecrackers slid precariously in her arms as she did her best to carry them out to the car. The glossy packaging made it almost impossible to make the trip without one of them clattering to the floor below.

But all of her years of cheerleading really paid off when she managed to make it all the way to the trunk without letting even one slip off the stack. Maybe this feat would be the final kicker to get her brought up to varsity cheer! Couldn't hurt to mention it to her coach if she ever saw her again after all this monster killing.

☆゜·。。·゜゜·。。·゜★

Bradley's Big Buy was eerily silent as the entire group collected throughout the frozen food section. Only the sound of the freezers buzzing could be heard as Eleven sat cross legged in front of the Eggo waffles, an American flag bandana wrapped securely around her eyes. Frosty smoke poured out of the freezer's open doors, curling around her shoulders and disappearing before it made it down to her bandaged leg.

From where they were propped up against the watermelon display, Jodi leaned over to Law, her eyebrows pinched together. "What is she doing?" she whispered. She had heard them mention something about 'finding Dustin and the others' after an unsuccessful walkie conversation, but this isn't what she thought they meant.

Law tilted towards her, his arms fastened over his chest. "El has superpowers. She goes into this, like, mind palace and tracks people down," he explained in a hushed tone. "It's really dope."

This answer just left Jodi with even more questions. But when she opened her mouth to try and inquire further, the crack and hiss of a soda can opening interrupted her. Everyone's eyes spun towards Lucas, the thirsty offender with his New Coke.

"Quiet," Max hissed.

"Oh, sorry." Lucas's head dipped apologetically. This didn't stop him from taking an obnoxious slurp out of the icy drink in his hand. Every eye on him collectively narrowed, totally blown away by his willingness to chug such an abomination after all of the physical exertion they had gone through. Water seemed like the most respectable, understandable culprit — but no! New Coke.

"How do you even drink that?" Mike griped, vocalizing exactly what they were all thinking.

Lucas pursed his lips. "Because it's delicious," he retorted, as if it should have been obvious.

This just caused Mike and Max to reel back, shock written all over their faces. "What?" they gasped in unison. This sentiment mirrored the expressions on nearly everyone's face, a collection of raised eyebrows, bulging eyes, and some even with dropped jaws. It was that shocking.

"It's like Carpenter's The Thing," he started, trying to reason his way out of this. "The original is a classic, no question about it. But the remake..." Lucas paused to take another elongated sip of his soda. He even added an over-the-top, satisfied sigh once he finished. "Sweeter, bolder... better."

Mike couldn't believe what he was hearing. "You're insane," he declared.

"Yeah, Lucas. Normally, I'm with you on stuff, but even this one's a little out there," Law agreed, warily peeking over his shoulder at him.

This is when Lucas started to become incredulous. His eyes turned into little slits as they darted between Mike and Law. "So, you guys prefer the original Thing?" he pondered, in disbelief.

Law's face screwed up in confusion. "What? No."

"Yeah, no. We're not talking about The Thing. We're talking about New Coke," Mike reminded him.

"It's the same concept, dude."

"Uh, actually, it's not the same concept."

"It is the same concept."

"No, it's not."

"Yes, it is!" Lucas exclaimed, unintentionally raising his voice in his fight against New Coke discrimination.

Still, this made Eleven tear the bandana away from her eyes, a single drop of blood rolling from her left nostril. "Hey!" she snapped, looking at the boys with a glare. This quieted them down pretty fast, wiping the frustration from their faces.

"Sorry..." Mike muttered, sheepishly.

"Yeah, sorry." Lucas nodded, realizing their mistake.

If it weren't for the pink neon sign glowing above them, it may have been easier to see the rosy tint in Mike's cheeks as he nervously glanced at El. "Did you... find him?"

El's lips twisted in annoyance. "Yes," she answered stiffly, nonetheless.

When she started trying to stand up on her own again, Max and Mike launched into action, making sure that she was safely on her own two feet again before letting go. She explained everything she had heard and seen while the group meandered around the store, following Lucas as he ransacked the store's other fireworks set-up. (He claimed that there was no way they had enough to take on something as huge as the Mind Flayer.)

Once his shopping cart was overflowing with all kinds and sizes of firecrackers, they all had a very mediocre understanding of what Eleven had witnessed. "The movies?" Lucas echoed, talking loudly over his shopping cart's squeaky wheel. "Dustin's so freaked out about the gate, he decides to go watch a movie? Yeah, makes total sense," he went on, his words dripping with sarcasm.

Max turned to look at Eleven from over her shoulder. "You're positive he said 'gate' and not 'great'?" she clarified,

"Yeah, like, 'This movie I'm watching is great.'," Will chimed in.

"Sounded like 'gate'," Eleven said, assuredly.

"And what's the significance of this gate?" Jodi wondered aloud, not sure how it mattered one way or another.

"It's the opening between our dimension and the Upside Down," Gordon replied, simply.

"And if it's open, that would explain how the Mind Flayer is still alive," Mike added.

Nancy nodded. "Yeah, we just have to shut it again."

"Oh... Right, yeah. Easy as pie," Jodi sighed sarcastically, not liking their odds on this one. She peered over at Frank, seeing his face slowly starting to morph back into the disassociated one she had seen on the car ride there. Now that El's leg was momentarily repaired, he didn't have anything to focus on besides the flesh-eating monster out to get them. It was the most terrifying thing he had ever faced — by far. Jodi only knew this because it was just as true for her. If she survived this, she would no longer tremble in fear of her coach's scrutinous stare, that's for sure.

Cautiously, Jodi reached out and linked her arm around Frank's, hoping to extend a gentle reminder that he wasn't doing this alone. It wasn't just the two of them and Law facing this monster head on anymore. They had all of these new badass friends who had done this before and cared enough to try and keep each other alive.

That had to count for something.

"Well, if that doesn't work, we always have Lucas's fireworks," Max reminded everyone with a taunting lilt in her voice. Even so, she helped him shimmy the shopping cart out of the broken door.

"Keep mocking my plan, Max. Keep mocking it," he fired back. "I wanna hear you say it again, 'cause you keep doubting me."

Amidst their bickering, Frank looked over at Jodi with a grin on his lips. One that was only visible if you were close enough to notice. And luckily, she felt close enough to actually see him. Finally.