American Heroes: A Stranger Things 3 Fic

The Bite

The car slows when they pull into the parking lot of the mall. Jonathan, in the driver's seat, peers through the windshield to see where the station wagon is going. Will sits beside him, his head against the window, and stares out at the station wagon. Her face is visible through the back of the car, sitting beside Mike. El. She's all he can think about right now, save for what Mike said in the store, but he's trying to forget about that. Is Max right? Will El understand what's going on with him? The powers? Should he even explain it? Maybe everything that happened at the hospital, at the cabin, maybe all of that wasn't him. Maybe it only seemed like it, and he was going crazy. Maybe it was all in his head. It's not like he's anything like Eleven. He's nothing special like her. No, he's just Will Byers. Zombie boy. Freak.

"What's our plan exactly?" Dustin asks from the back seat, squashed between Robin and Steve.

"We'll have to talk with the others," Jonathan says. The station wagon turns a corner, dodging around a bus driving past. "I'm surprised the mall is still open. I figured the Russians would close it after you guys got into their base."

"They have to be inconspicuous," Robin says. "If they close down the mall, people are going to notice."

"You call that inconspicuous?" Dustin gestures out the window to where dozens of Russian guards are standing around the loading dock. Will watches them march back and forth in front of the secret elevator and talking into walkie-talkies. As Jonathan slows the car, the station wagon continuing down to the main entrance of the mall, the Russian guards turn their heads to stare directly at them. Will's heart shoots into his throat.

"Oh, shit!" Dustin shouts as bullets fire away at their car. Will ducks down, covering his head. Metal clangs, the back window shatters, and Jonathan slams his foot on the gas, booking it to the other end of the parking lot.

Wheels screeching, they tear around the main entrance of the mall and out of the line of fire before slowing down in the middle of the parking lot. Glancing around at everyone, Jonathan squeezes Will's shoulder. "Everyone alright?"

"Yeah, just great," Steve mutters, rubbing his forehead.

"Is that smoke?" Robin asks, nodding to the hood of the car.

"Dammit," Jonathan mutters. The engine sputters to a stop.

Robin peers out the back window. "It doesn't look like the Russians followed us."

"Yeah," Steve says, "but now they know we're here."

"I don't get why they started shooting at us," Robin says. Huffing, Jonathan gets out of the car and throws open the hood. "I mean, we didn't even do anything. We were just driving by."

"They must've recognized the station wagon," Dustin says. "Remember when Nancy picked us up? The Russians saw us drive away in it."

Jonathan slams the hood back down. "Dammit!"

"Is it shot?" Will asks, getting out and going to stand beside his brother. Steve, Dustin, and Robin join them, examining the bullet holes littered about the car.

"Yeah, the whole damn thing is."

"What do we do?" Robin asks.

"I don't know."

Will and Dustin lean against the side of the car. Farther down the parking lot, the station wagon spins around, speeds in their direction, and parks beside them. Nancy gets out of the car along with everyone else and rushes to Jonathan's side. "What happened?"

"What happened?" Steve shakes his head. "The Russians shot at us, that's what."

"They what?"