Even stranger things

the approach

Mike awoke on a ice cold floor. he was shivering violently and he had blood gushing from several deep cuts. he got up slowly, feeling his bones ache as he stood. he looked at himself through the one-way mirror and groaned. he had a bruised eye and cheek, his nose looked very broken and his lip was bleeding slowly. his shirt was torn revealing yet another cut and his trousers where covered in more blood and dirt. he looked around slowly and felt his neck click under strain. he saw a lump in the corner and moved slowly towards it. as he got closer he realised it was a person. then he scanned the body and then also realised it was Nancy. 

"nancy! Jesus! Nancy wake up!" he ran to rest of the way over to her and squatted down in agony. he brushed a piece of hair from her face and gasped at the damage they had done. 

Nancy didn't look like Nancy. her face was swollen and bruised and blood flowed from her forehead, lip and eye. 

"Oi! to the dicks who did this to her! i hope you all die in hell!" Mike screamed at the one-way mirror. he thought he heard laughter as he turned and looked back at Nancy. 

the car was speeding down the road. occasionally receiving honks of annoyance from rare passing cars.

"Okay make a left here." Eleven directed. 

"Where?" Johnathan asked confused. 

"here!" HERE!" Eleven shouted loudly and Johnathan turned the car sharply down an almost invisible track. and they all screamed loudly when branches and leaves clouded the windscreen. there was a bang then smoke began to rise from the bumper. 

"Out the car! NOW!" shouted Steve. they all bundled from the car and ran a far distance from it before it exploded. 

"No! my car!" Johnathan complained. 

"We aren't far, we can walk." Eleven said and she started at a quick pace walking into the foliage. 

"El! wait up!" Max said as she ran to catch up with her friend. 

they trekked through the wilderness for about ten minutes always keeping a lookout for any unwanted visitors. Lucas was dragging his feet and mumbling random things to will under his breath. Dustin was at the back of the group and talking loudly to Suzie. 

"Suziepoo!" he said loudly into his walkie talkie. 

"Dustin! be quieter!" steve said to him. Dustin nodded in response as he heard the crackle of Suzie's response. 

"Dustybun! how are you?" she squealed. and they began a long painful conversation about mathematics. Steve rolled his eyes and then yelped as he tripped on something. he fell flat on his face and groaned in pain. 

"Steve? are you okay?" Will asked. 

"Yes i'm fine." Steve said grumpily as Johnathan helped him up. they looked at what he tripped over. there was a very small trapdoor in the ground. a padlock held it safely closed although it looked like it was recently opened. Dustin turned off his walkie talkie and looked in confusion at the door. 

Eleven meanwhile was placing a piece of cloth around her head again, and she slowly sank into nothingness. Eleven looked around. she was inside the trapdoor. the water rippled beneath her feet like it always did as she walked towards voices. she noted guards as she walked past them and counted the rooms either side of her. she looked into each of them to find most of them empty. then she had counted room 23 and she looked inside. Mike was slumped against the wall his eyes drooping lazily. 

"Mike!" Eleven said with relief and she heard her voice echo around the dark space. she also saw a bundle in the corner which she suspected to be Nancy. she carried on walking and came across another door. this one was heavily guarded and Eleven walked through the men who stood in front of her and they turned to smoke. she pushed the door open and walked inside. a figure sat on a chair. her blonde matted hair covering most of her face. the figure moved ever so slightly as Eleven drew closer to her.

"I know you..." Eleven whispered to the girl. the girl looked up very slowly. her face was sunken and grey. her eyes widened when she looked at Eleven. El took a step back, scanning the rest of the room as she did so. the girl was chained to the chair she was sitting on and her figure had become skeletal with time. 

"Can you see me?" El whispered. the girl nodded, "How?"

the girl pulled back the sleeve of a oversized grey jumper that she was wearing. El had to move forward to see what the girl was showing her. then she gasped. the numbers 003 where tattooed into her skin, just like Eleven's 011. 

"Jane." the girl whispered. Eleven was more shocked than ever and she stared intently. 

"Jane. are you coming to save me?" she whispered. 

Eleven cried out and pulled the scarf from around her eyes. she got up and walked back over to the others who had been watching her, interested. 

"Okay. there is 12 guards. Mike and Nancy are in room 23 and there's someone else we need to save as well." Eleven said as she busted the lock of the trapdoor with a twitch of her head. 

"Alright. don't ask questions. don't be annoying. lets go." she said. and with that Eleven disappeared down the hatch.