A Deal With God

Chapter 6: The Trail

Carnage, Hopper deduced. Whatever Five — Quinn — could do, laying waste to an army seemed to be one of those things judging by the trail of carcasses leading from Castle Byers to the main house.

Hopper hadn't expected the exchange at the Lab to take so long, but it resulted in the desired outcome. The deal he had proposed was simple: they go in, find Joyce's son, get out, and "forget" this whole thing ever happened. He insinuated that they were also looking for a teenaged girl that was missing too. He purposefully left out that they planned on extracting one of their Numbers. Dr. Brenner saw to it that he and Joyce were outfitted in hazmat suits and they were allowed through the Gate — as the kids called it — with one rifle and an extra flashlight.

Joyce had told the two kids through Eleven to stay where they were, at Castle Byers. When they found it, all that was left was a pile of rubble and half a dozen dead monsters like Joyce and Nancy had described. While Joyce frantically called out for Will, Hopper crouched down to inspect one of the creatures on the ground. It had some kind of burn marks up its chest and a clean cut across its throat, the killing blow. This atmosphere is too damp for fire, Hopper thought to himself. Standing back up, Hopper realised that there were more bodies sporting a mix of burn marks and deep slashes up ahead, littering the ground like a macabre trail of breadcrumbs.

— • —

The exchange with Eleven had left Quinn on edge. She had heard the younger girl crying out "Five! Will!?" as their connection faded, evidence that it wasn't Eleven that had severed their link. She tried not to dwell on it too much for the time being.

"If I go there will be trouble. And if I stay it will be double," Will sang between shuddering from the cold. Quinn continued to run her free hand up and down his back, allowing little sparks to pop out of her fingers from time to time. The jacket was so wet at this point, the chance of it catching on fire was pretty slim.

"So, come on and let me know," Will continued. Quinn turned her head towards the entryway, the sound of a step in the ground getting her attention. She retracted her hand from Will's back, pulling her right arm out of the sling and giving her shoulder a gentle twist. It was still sore but deep down, she knew she would need the use of both of her arms if they hoped to be found alive by the "good people" Eleven said were coming for them.

"Should I stay or should I go now?," he finished, startled into a seated position at the sound of a load roar right outside of Castle Byers. He looked over at Quinn who had shifted into a defensive crouch, left hand around the axe, right hand free. He held his breath as they both listened to the sound of footsteps outside accompanied by a low growl.

With a roar, the creature outside burst through the wooden slats. Quinn deflected with a burst of electricity, sending it back along with the falling parts of the little shack. She quickly glanced back to check that she didn't injure Will in the process. Seeing that he was fine — other than terrified — she lunged out of the rubble to see that it wasn't just one of the creatures. She sent the one closest to her flying back with a well-placed bolt from her right hand, swinging the axe at the one running towards her.

"We have to go," she called to Will, roughly pulling the axe out of the neck of the third monster dead on the ground. She could see three more coming from between the trees. Unsure of what to do or how to help, Will leaned against a tree to stay out of the way as he watched the way Quinn fought in horrified fascination. Instead of just sending quick bolts to push them away, she had started holding them longer, electrocuting a creature while slicing through a second one.

She had him move from one tree to the next, while she fought off the creatures that just kept coming. They continued on in this way until they were in the clearing behind the main house.