Stand by me (steve harrington)

Chpt 36: Five Mintues Tops

We all sat around as everyone was caught up to speed about everything that was going on.

"The Mindflayer, it built this monster in Hawkins, to stop El, to kill her and pave a way into our world. And it almost did. That was just one tiny piece of it" Mike said.

"How big is this thing?" Hopper questioned. "It's big... 30 feet at least" Johnathan said. "Yeah... It sorta destroyed your cabin... Sorry" Lucas mumbled as Hopper bit his tongue angrily.

"Okay, just to be clear, this... This big fleshy, spider thing that hurt El, it's some sort of gigantic weapon. But instead of like, screws and metal, the mindflayer made its weapon with melted people" Steve said.

"Yes exactly" Nancy replied. "Yeah, okay, i'm just making sure" Steve said in a high pitched tone. "Are you guys sure this thing is still out there, still alive?" i questioned. "El beat the shit out of it but yeah... It's still alive" Max said.

"But if we close the gate. And cut the brain off from the body. We kill it... Theoretically" Lucas said. I looked to Hopper who was holding El in his arms whilst he had my hand caught in his.

He squeezed it tighter when he saw my nervous look. "Yoo-Hoo! Yoo-Hoo!" the man Hopper and Joyce came in with shouted. "Seriously, who is this guy?" i questioned as Hopper just sighed and shook his head.

The man slammed a drawing on the table as we all circled him. "Okay, this is where Alexei called 'the hub'. Now, the hub takes us to the vault room" he said. "Okay, where's the gate?" Hopper questioned.

"Right here. I don't know the scale on this but i think it's fairy close to the vault room, maybe 50 feet or so" the man said pointing at the drawing.

"More like 500" i mumbled. "I'm sorry, what?" he questioned. "What, your just going to waltz in there like it's commie Disneyland or something?" Erica questioned as she stood out from behind me.

"I'm sorry? Who are you?" he questioned. "Erica Sinclair, who are you?" she questioned back. "Murray... Bauman" he mumbled. "Listen, Mr.Bumman, i'm not trying to tell you how to do things, but i've been down in that shithole for 24 hours. And with all due respect, you do what this man tells you, you're all gonna die" she said.

"I'm sorry, why is this four year old speaking to me?" Murray snapped. "Uh, i'm ten you bald bastard!" Erica snapped back. "Erica?!" Lucas exclaimed.

"Just the facts!" she said. "She's right. You are all gonna die, and you are bald" i said. "And who are you?" he questioned. "Joy Hopper. And i already know who you are. Your the crazy guy who my dad talks about. The one who shows up to the station babbling on about aliens and alien probing... Am i right?" i questioned.

Murray gave Hopper an annoyed glare. "She's yours? Makes sense" he said. "They are right... You are all gonna die, but you don't have too" Dustin said as he grabbed the sheet of paper.

"Okay, see this room here? It's a storage facility. There's a hatch in here that feeds into their underground ventilation system. That will lead you to the base of the weapon. It's a bit of a maze down there, but between me and Erica, we can show you the way" Dustin said.

"You can show us the way?" Hopper questioned. "Don't worry, you can do all the fighting and the dangerous hero shit and well just be your navigators" Dustin said. Hopper began nodding his head sarcastically. "Nope... Nope" he said with a fake grin.

Erica and Dustins smirks dropped. "Well, that settles it. Your gonna die" Erica said. "Yeah thanks for that kid but it's still a no" Hopper said. Everyone walked away from the circle as i stayed sat next to Hopper.

"Now, what the hell happened to you?" Hopper questioned pointing at the cuts on my face. "You won't believe it. I got it from a Russian" i said with a smirk. "What?!" Hopper exclaimed.