••••• "Don't don't you want me? / You know I can't believe it when you say that you don't need me" •••••
"This might be the stupidest thing I've ever gotten myself involved in, but I'm in."
In which Steve Harrington and Kimberly Henderson go from be...
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Up at the highest point in Hawkins, Steve, Robin, Dustin, and Erica looked on in horror as the bright lights off the mall started to flicker and flash like some dementoded amusement park ride. Steve cursed himself for letting Kim stay behind.
Dustin rushed back to the radio tower and yelled, "Griswold Family, this is Scoops Troop! Do you copy? Over!"
•••••
"Griswold Family, I repeat, this is Scoops Troop. Do you-" He didn't get to finish as the Mind Flayer snatched up Mike's abandoned walky talky and crunched it between it's sharp teeth.
Kim closed her eyes fighting back tears at the sound of Dustin's voice. Scoops Troop. Her Scoops Troop. She wondered if she would ever see them again, if the last time she heard her brother's voice would be through a crackly walky talk. Kim took a deep breath, trying to calm down. She had to stay strong for the kids, she reminded herself. If they saw how scared she really was, then they would start to freak out, and that wouldn't do anyone any good. She wrapped her arms around their shoulders and pulled them close to her.
The Mind Flayer prowled closer to the terrified quartet, roaring as it did so. It paced around where they were hiding as if it were taunting them. It finally turned away and started to crawl towards the car Nancy, Jonathan, Lucas, and Will were cowering behind.
Nancy looked up into the car mirror and was able to see the monster coming their way. Somehow, the thing looked even more horrible than it had at Hopper's cabin. The Mind Flayer picked up one of the dead Russinan guards and flung it repeatedly against a wall. Nancy looked away, panting with fear as she gripped Jonathan's hand.
"Stay down," Kim warned the three younger kids. She slowly stood up, using the leafly plant as coverage. "It's turned away."
"If we go up the stairs now, we'll make it," Mike added, sneaking a look as well.
"No way, not with El's leg," Max protested.
"We have to try," Kim whispered. "El's strong, she can do it. I'll carry her if I have to."
"There's another way," El said quietly, pointing at the closest store. "Through the Gap."
Kim nervously bit her lip as she took another look at the Mind Flayer. "Okay, let's go." She scooped El up in her strong arms, grunting with the effort. She ran as fast as she could while carrying El's weight, urging Max and Mike forward as well. She snuck through the doors of the Gap and internally screamed as her elbow bumped into a clothing rack and it toppled over.
The Mind Flayer looked over its grotesque shoulder at the commotion and growled menacingly as it approached the store. It was too big to fit through the door, but it extended its tentacle-like arms to search for the girl who had slammed the gate in his face and her friends.
Mike, Kim, Max, and El, squeezed together behind a shelf of clothes. Kim's eyes grew wide with terror as the Mind Flayer chucked a mannequin wearing El's clothes in their direction. She quickly grabbed the three others and they moved silently to a new hiding spot.
