"i don't wanna die. i sometimes wish i'd never been born at all."

★・・・・・・★

Amber lay on the floor of the mall, sobbing in pain. Everybody was worried and scared. They've never seen Amber in this much pain before. Whatever was moving in Amber's leg moved again as Erica asked, "What is that?"

"There's something in there," Mike pointed out.

"No!" Amber wailed out in pain.

"Jesus Christ," Dustin breathed.

"Keep her talking. Keep her awake, okay?" Jonathan said as he ran off to get something.

"Hey, hey, hey. Stay awake, stay awake," Max said, trying to keep her calm and not break down and cry with Amber. "Let's get her on this side, on this side."

They all tried helping Amber move a little so she was sitting up.

"Easy, easy, easy, easy," Steve said.

"It's, uh... You know, it's actually not that bad," Robin tried reassuring them. "There was a... The goalie on my soccer team, Beth Wildfire, this other girl slid into her leg, and the bone came out of her knee, six inches or something, it was insane."

"Robin," Steve spoke.
"Yeah?"

"You're not helping."
"I'm sorry."

Jonathan came back with gloves, a knife, and a wooden spoon.

"Okay. All right, Amber?" he said. "This is gonna hurt like hell, okay?"

"Okay," she said while sobbing.

She didn't care. She didn't give one fuck. Nothing could hurt more than what was hurting right now.

"I need you to stay real, still. Here, you're gonna wanna bite down on this, okay?" Jonathan said as he handed Max the wooden spoon.

Max took the spoon and put it in Amber's mouth as she bit down on it. Jonathan had the knife and sliced her leg a little.

Amber was wrong. It hurt like hell. The pain of the knife slicing her leg, everything going on. She wanted to go home, acting like Kristen was still alive, acting like nothing happened between her and Max... acting like her life was normal.

Jonathan put the knife down and put his fingers in her leg, trying to get whatever the hell was moving inside Amber.

Amber was screaming and sobbing, it hurt so bad. She squeezed on Max and Dustin's hands to the point where her fingernails dug inside their skin a little. They didn't care though. They just wanted Amber to be okay. Or, decent.

"Jonathan!" Nancy shouted.

"Stop talking!" he shouted back.

The thing moved fast so Jonathan did too and it hurt so bad.

"Goddamn it!" Jonathan yelled.

"No! Stop it!" Amber yelled as she spit the spoon out of her mouth. "Stop! Stop!"

Max and Dustin helped Amber move up a little as she cried, "El. Do it. Please."

Eleven didn't want to hurt her, but she wanted this thing out of her. El agreed and moved closer to Amber, putting her hand out above her leg. Amber let out small screams as El used her powers.

She eventually let out a huge scream that kept going until El got the thing out of her and threw it across the room. The glass in the store behind them broke as she screamed. The little figure tried moving but got stepped on by Hopper. Behind him were Joyce and Murray.

-

They got Amber up and sat down next to Joyce, her head laying down on her knee.

"The Mind Flayer, it built this monster in Hawkins, to stop Amber and El, to kill them and pave a way into our world," Mike explained.

"And it almost did. That was just one tiny piece of it," Max continued.

"How big is this thing?" Hopper asked.

"It's big. Thirty feet at least," Jonathan said.

"Yeah. It sorta destroyed your cabin," Lucas broke the news. "Sorry."

"Okay, so, just to be clear, this... this big fleshy spider thing that hurt Amber and El, it's some kind of gigantic weapon?" Steve asked.

"Yes," Nancy responded.

"But, instead of, like, screws and metal, the Mind Flayer made its weapon... with melted people."

"Yes, exactly," she smiled lightly.

"Yeah, okay," he sighed. "Just making sure."

"Are we sure this thing is still out there, still alive?" Joyce asked.

"Amber and El beat the shit out of it, but, yeah, it's still alive," Max said.

"But if we close the gate again-"

"We cut the brain off from the body."

"And kill it. Theoretically."

"Yoo-hoo!" Murray then yelled. "Yoo-hoo!"

He came over and set papers down on a table, explaining something.

"Okay, this is what Alexei called 'the hub.' Now, the hub takes us to the vault room," he explained.

"Okay, where's the gate?" Hopper asked.

"Right here. I don't know the scale on this, but I think it's fairly close the the vault room, maybe fifty feet or so."

"More like five hundred," Erica spoke up. "What, you're just gonna waltz in there like it's commie Disneyland or something?"

"I'm sorry, who are you?"

"Erica Sinclair. Who are you?"

"Murray... Bauman."

"Listen, Mr. Bunman, 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."

"I'm sorry, why is this four-year-old speaking to me?"

"Um, I'm ten, you bald bastard!"

"Erica!"
"Just the facts!"

"She's right," Dustin spoke. "You're all gonna die, but you don't have to. Excuse me."

As Dustin started explaining, this was when Max pulled Amber aside carefully.

"What did Steve tell you?" she asked.

"Huh?" Amber hummed. "What do you mean?"

"When he pulled you aside before you fell. What'd he tell you?"

"Oh," Amber said. She didn't want to think about it. She didn't want to. But Max needed to know. "He told me... he said..."

"Amber, you can tell me anything," she said with a reassuring smile.

"He said that Kristen went with them. And the reason why she didn't come back is because she..."

"Oh, Amber. I'm so sorry," Max said as she carefully pulled her in for a hug.

Max always thought of Kristen as a bigger sister even though they weren't related. It hurt her heart just hearing Amber say that Kristen was dead. She couldn't imagine how hard it must've been for Amber who lost her real sister.

They came back and they heard Erica say, "Well, that settles it. They're gonna die. They're all gonna die."

"Yep," Dustin agreed. "Most likely."

Max helped Amber over to the fountain where El was and sat down with her while the boys were getting all sappy. They got up as Hopper threw a walkie-talkie to Dustin and said, "Hey, heads up. You can navigate, just from someplace safe."

"It's not that simple," Dustin said.

"The signal won't reach," Erica explained.

"Not with this. You need something with a high enough frequency band to relay with the Russians' radio tower. But for that to work, you need someone who has both seen their comms room and has access to a super-powered, hand-crafted radio tower, one preferably already situated at the highest point in Hawkins. Oh, wait. That's me. If you want us to navigate, you got us. But we need a head start. And a car. And code names."

Hopper threw the car keys to Steve and Dustin threw out random code names. Everybody who was going to Murray's would be the 'Griswald family', people at Cerebro would be called the 'Scoops Troop', and Murray would be called the 'Bald Eagle.' And you could guess why.

Scoops Troop went to go to Cerebro and everyone else was saying goodbye. Amber and Max were standing there, waiting for El who was talking to Hopper.

"Hey," Mike called out to El. "We should probably go."

El hugged Hopper and got up with the help from Mike. Max started helping Amber walk but Hopper called back to Mike as he helped El.

"Mike," Hopper called the boys name. "Be careful."

He nodded his head and went back over to help El while everyone else was exiting the mall. They were walking to the car as Max and Mike helped Amber and El sit down in the very back again.

"Are you okay?" Mike asked.

"Yeah," El replied.

"Here," Max said as she opened the door.

"Here," Mike said as he helped her. "Lay down."

They got situated as Nancy tried starting the car, but it wouldn't turn on. She turned the keys and it just... wouldn't start.

"What's wrong," Jonathan asked.

"I don't... I don't know," she responded. "You can't be serious. Come on!"

"Didn't your mom just buy this car?" Lucas asked.

"Yes. I'm sure it's fine."

"Did you leave the lights on?"
"No."

"Do we have gas?"
"Yes!"

Nancy tried hard to get the engine going, but it didn't work.

"Come on!" she yelled.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Just stop, stop! Pop the hood," Jonathan said as he got out of the car.

Nancy did what he told her to do and got out of the car with him. They heard an engine roaring and looked out the window.

It was Billy.

Nancy came back and yelled at them to get back in the mall, helping Amber and El out. They got back in the mall and Mike was on his walkie, trying to get Scoops Troop's attention.

"Scoops Troop, do you copy?" Mike said through the walkie. "Scoops Troop, do you copy?"

It got annoying after a while, so Amber slowly made her way over to Max. Nancy had grabbed one of the Russians' guns as Max asked, "You're gonna kill him, aren't you?"

"This is just a precaution, okay?" she tried reassuring the redhead.

"And not just against Billy," Will said. "If he knows we're here, so does the Mind Flayer."

Amber side-hugged Max and took her hand into hers.

"No chance that thing'll drive, right?" Nancy asked sarcastically.

"We don't need it to drive," Jonathan realized, "We just need to ignition cable."

They all went over there, trying to push the car on its side except Amber and Eleven. They dropped the car because they couldn't get it as they heard glass smashing as Lucas said, "Shit!"

Eleven spoke up, saying, "Let me try."

"El-" Mike started saying.

Eleven stepped forwards, saying, "I can do it."

They all came back, stepping behind Eleven. She put her hand out, trying to move the car but it didn't work. Something was wrong with her powers. She didn't know what, but most of the time her powers work.

Mike explained something about physics and everyone grabbed a metal pole from the ground. They used it to push the car on its side and when they got the car on its side, they pushed it on its wheels.

"Told you. Physics," Mike breathed.

Nancy and Jonathan were getting the ignition cable while Mike, Amber, and Max were standing, just looking around at the closed mall. They soon realized what Eleven was doing. She was digging in the trash, looking for something.

"What's she doing?" Amber asked.

Amber tried getting up but Max refused it. "No. You stay here."

"But-"
"No. No 'buts.' Stay here."

Amber was being stubborn and came over anyway. She wanted to make sure Eleven was okay. She wanted to make sure her best friend was okay.

They walked over as Eleven had a can of Coke on the pillar. She was trying to use her powers. You could tell.

"El," Mike said. "You okay?"
El just looked over at them.

Amber then felt it. She felt the feeling again. He was here. Max heard something. Like a rumbling sound. She looked up and saw a big shadow above the ceiling. The glass was starting to crack and Amber noticed it too.

He was here.

"Mike," Max said.

Mike looked up too, and yelling, "Nancy!"

El looked up, noticing it too. Max grabbed Amber's arm as Mike grabbed El's hand, running to hide behind a stand in the mall while everyone else hid somewhere else. It let out a big roar.

The lights were flickering like crazy. Amber and El's hearts were beating, beating fast. It felt like they were going to jump out of their chests. But it felt like that for everyone.

Dustin's voice was coming out of the walkie, trying to get them to answer. "Griswald Family, I repeat, this is Scoops Troop. Do you-"

But he got cut off by the Mind Flayer roaring into the walkie. The Mind Flayer threw the walkie, breaking it, but everyone was somehow still able to hear Dustin's voice.

"Griswald Family, this is Scoops Troop. Please confirm your safety! Griswald Family, this is Scoops Troop! Please confirm your safety! Are you en route to Bald Eagle's nest? Please confirm your safety!"

It was dark when the Mind Flayer passed by them and it was small where they were hiding. Amber and Max's hands intertwined, both squeezing them, showing that they were terrified.

The Mind Flayer came over to the little piece that was in Amber's leg and attatched itself back to the bigger Mind Flayer. The monster roared as Amber couldn't stop breathing fast. She was having a full-on panic attack, but it wasn't the time to be having one.

"Griswald Family, do you copy? Griswald Family, do you copy? Griswald Family, do you copy? Do you copy?!"

The Mind Flayer was right over where the four kids were. It passed them, not knowing they were there.

"It's turned away," Mike said as he came back to talk to the others. "If we go up the stairs now, we'll make it."

"No way, not with Amber and El's leg," Max said.

"We have to try," Mike silently argued.

"There's another way... to get out," El whispered. "Through the Gap."

Mike went back up to look at the monster then came back down.

"Okay," he said. "Now."

He grabbed El's hand as they tried to go as fast as they could to get to the Gap. On their way over, El knocked into something and made loud clanging noises. The Mind Flayer heard and put a claw into the store, sending small little arms—like the ones in the cabin—to look for the kids. One found a mannequin, wearing the exact same thing El was. Once he realized it wasn't Eleven, he threw it against the wall, landing right where the kids were.

Another arm came to where they once were, realizing they weren't there anymore, and moving away. Two arms came to the side of where they were, one right by Mike's head. Amber hid her head in Max's shoulder, quietly crying a little when all of a sudden a balloon popped. The Mind Flayer immediately looked over there and went there, leaving the four kids alone.

They got up and left the Gap, trying their hardest to run. They got outside, opening the gate outside, only to see Billy.

"Shit!"
"Go, go, go, go, go, go, go!"

Mike and El tried running back with Amber, while Max ran back to close the gate and ran back inside with them. They got inside and tried the elevator. It wasn't fast enough and they heard a door open.

Billy.

Max walked over to Billy. Amber tried stopping her, but she wouldn't stop. She needed to confront him.

"Billy," she said. "Billy, you don't have to do this. Billy. Your name is Billy, Billy Hargrove. You live on 4819 Cherry Lane. Billy, please, I'm Max, I'm your-"

But she got cut off by getting slapped. Mike ran forward, only to get thrown by Billy too. El came forwards putting her hand out, but got tossed. And Amber also tried putting her hand out but Billy grabbed her hand, twisted it, threw her into the wall, and tossed her into another wall. They all got knocked unconscious. Billy picked Amber up, carrying her on his shoulder.

He walked through the back way of Scoops Ahoy, still carrying Amber. He opened the gate that was closing Scoops Ahoy and went to the main center in Starcourt. He laid Amber down, waiting for the Mind Flayer. He kneeled over her, saying,
"Don't be afraid. It'll be over soon. Just try and stay... very still."

He looked over at the Mind Flayer and Amber did as well. Her vision was blurry, but she knew what was exactly going on. She started getting up as a claw started coming for her.

But something hit it. A firework.

"Flay this, you ugly piece of shit!" Lucas yelled, throwing another firework at the monster.

Once the firework hurt the Mind Flayer, it hurt Billy too. The whole place was filled with fireworks hitting the Mind Flayer as it affected Billy too.

Amber tried sneaking away, but Billy noticed her and grabbed her by her legs. He dragged her back, aggressively flipping her over on her back, and slammed her on the floor.

Billy, in pain, stood over Amber, who was also in pain. Amber remembered what happened when she looked for him. She had to find something. Just one thing.

"Seven... feet," she breathed. "You told her... the wave was seven feet. You ran to her, on the beach. There were seagulls. She wore a hat... with a blue ribbon. A long dress... with a blue and red flower. Yell- Yellow sandals, covered in sand. She was pretty. She was really pretty. And you... you were happy."

She put her hand up on his cheek as he cried a little. She could tell he wanted his mom back.

They were out of fireworks and the place wasn't colorful anymore. Billy got off of Amber and stood up, looking at the monster before them. Max, Mike, and Eleven finally found where Amber was.

The claw came towards Amber, trying to kill her. She put her hands up to cry and cover her face, but she didn't have to. Billy caught the claw, stopping it from killing Amber.

"No!" he yelled while struggling.

More claws came and injected themselves into Billy. Amber was stunned at what he was doing. He was sacrificing himself for Amber. The last and final claw injected itself right into Billy's heart.

"Billy!"

Amber couldn't believe what just happened. Billy just died, sacrificing himself for Amber. The Mind Flayer started losing its balance and eventually fell to the ground. It was dead. Mike and Eleven came over to Amber, hugging her and glad she wasn't hurt even more.

Max came over, looking at Billy. Amber noticed this and slowly went over to her.

"Billy... Billy," she begged her stepbrother. "Billy, Billy, get up, please. Billy, get up, please, please."

"I'm sorry."

And he took his last and final breath. Amber came over to Max, wanting to just hug her.

"Billy... Billy. Billy, wake up. Billy, get up. Please, Billy... Billy. Billy."

Max fell into Amber's arms, sobbing over the death of Billy. Amber knew she loved this girl. That's why she wanted to comfort her.

"It's okay. It's okay. It's okay," Amber said while stroking her hair and looking over at the other two. Amber started crying, trying to help Max up. She really couldn't believe it.

-

They got outside and there were military. There were ambulances, firefighters, and cop cars everywhere.

Amber was with Steve in the same ambulance. Steve always treated her like a little sister, so when she was hurting, he knew. He comforted her over the loss of her sister and girlfriend's brother.

Amber saw Will run over to his mom, but no Hopper. Where was Hopper? She saw Eleven looking for Hop, but then she realized. Hopper was dead. She couldn't believe it. She walked as fast as she could over to El, hugging her tightly.

Everyone she cared about died tonight. She couldn't feel but put the blame on her.