As she looked around at those that were in the cabin with her, El told them, "He said he was building something. That it was all for me."

Max replied, "Building something... Is he talking about the flayed?"

Nancy said to her, "He must be."

While El glanced over at Matthew, who kept his arms tightly wrapped around her ever since he and Mike had managed to calm her down, Lucas said, "So, he's building an army, just like we thought."

Mike replied, "Yeah, but he's not building this army to spread."

With a nod of his head, Will said, "He's building it to stop Eleven."

With his eyebrows raised, Mike said, "Last year, El closed the gate on him. I have a feeling that really pissed him off."

With a raise of his own eyebrows, Lucas said, "Like, royally."

Then Mike told them, "And the Mind Flayer now knows that she's the only thing that can stop him. But if she's out of the way–"

Lucas said, "Game over."

It was then that El said to them, "He also said he was gonna kill all of you."

While Matthew only sighed to himself and tightened the hold he already had on El some more, Max replied, "Yeah, well, that's nice."

It was then that some faint screeching was heard in the distance, which got Matthew to quickly raise his head at the same time that Nancy started to walk over towards one of the windows to the cabin before she asked them, "Do you guys hear that?"

Jonathan told her, "It's just the fireworks."

As she continued to stare out the window, Nancy said, "Billy..." Then she quickly turned around and asked El, "When he told you this, it was here, in this room?"

Shortly after El had only nodded her head, they could all hear some thudding in the distance.

It was then that Will brought a single hand up to the back of his neck before he told them, "He knows we're here."

Then, just like that, the eight of them quickly ran out of the cabin and were quick to follow Jonathan, who eventually came to a halt.

It wasn't long after that that they heard the sound of some trees rustling before they saw the Mind Flayer quickly shove some trees out of the way and let out a screech as it quickly made its way over towards them.

With a tight grip on his crowbar, Matthew silently eyed his surroundings with his eyes narrowed and simply gulped to himself as quietly as he could.

And while he did that, the sound of some rumbling could be heard, shortly before the electricity in the room started to crackle.

As soon as some of the dishes in the room started to shake, Will said, "It's close."

It wasn't long after that that they could hear some of the trees snapping and the rumbling of footsteps before some of the mugs hanging up on the wall started to fall and break apart upon landing on the wooden floor of the cabin.

Once the rumbling had stopped, Max asked them, "Where'd it go?"

After several long moments of them standing in silence, aside from their breathing being the only thing that could be heard, a shriek was heard as one of the tentacles suddenly made a hole in the wall and quickly made its way over towards them, which got them all to quickly jump back and out of the way and gasp to themselves.

With an even tighter grip on his crowbar, he watched as the tentacle went straight for El, only to stop and let out another shriek when Jonathan had swung his ax at it.

Then Jonathan swung the ax once more and then proceeded to swing it a third time, only for the tentacle to go straight at Jonathan and send him flying into one of the walls of the cabin.

While the tentacle was preoccupied with Jonathan, Matthew pushed himself in front of El– just in case it decided to ignore Jonathan and go right back to her.

But fortunately for El, the tentacle went straight for Jonathan with a shriek, only to stop and let out yet another shriek when Nancy had taken a shot at it with her gun.

After being shot at by Nancy twice, the tentacle let out another shriek before it started to go straight towards Nancy, only to stop and let out a wail when it found itself stuck in place.

The only thing the tentacle could do was shriek to itself as it was pulled back and away from Nancy by El, who was holding a single hand out towards the tentacle.

It was only when the tentacle had let out a scream that El threw her hand down towards the floor, which got the front part of the tentacle to be forcefully removed from the rest of it and the tentacle to let out yet another shriek as it quickly went back out of the cabin through the hole it had made in the wall.

As soon as it had disappeared from view, Max said, "Holy shit."

It was then that not one, but two more tentacles had gone straight for El, who held them both in place with her hands and repeatedly looked between the two shrieking tentacles before she let out a yell and quickly pulled her hands in to herself and had the front parts of the tentacles fall to the floor once more.

It was only when those two tentacles had disappeared as well that a loud crash was heard coming from the ceiling of the cabin, shortly before one of the tentacles had attached itself onto El's ankle and got her to fall face-first onto the floor.

While El was pulled up from the floor screaming and up towards the Mind Flayer, the two Wheeler brothers were quick to run over to El and try to pull her back onto the floor and keep her from getting any closer to the Mind Flayer.

And while they did that and El continued to scream, Jonathan and Max quickly ran over and helped them with Will not too far behind them.

And while the Mind Flayer let out a single roar, Mike yelled, "Pull!"

While Matthew tried to pull her away from the Mind Flayer as much as he could without losing his grip on her, Jonathan yelled, "Nancy, shoot it!"

Then El started to scream once more, followed shortly by the Mind Flayer's snarling.

It was then that Nancy shot her gun directly at the Mind Flayer, which got it to let out yet another snarl and El to scream once more.

And while Nancy continued to shoot her gun at the Mind Flayer, Max yelled, "Lucas!"

Then Lucas grabbed the ax that Jonathan had dropped earlier on and swung it at the tentacle that was holding onto El's ankle, which got the Mind Flayer to let out another roar before Lucas had swung the ax once more and it had gotten shot at once more by Nancy.

After Nancy had shot at the Mind Flayer a couple of more times and El had let out another scream, Matthew tightened his grip on one of El's arms some more and continued to try and pull her back onto the floor like the others were doing.

Then Lucas swung the ax once more, shortly before Max yelled, "Pull!"

It was only when Lucas had yet again swung the ax that the tentacle was cut in half and El– including the others that were trying to pull her to safety– had all fallen onto the floor.

While Matthew stared up at the Mind Flayer with a scowl on his face, Mike said, "El! El, you okay?"

After El had simply nodded her head, Mike looked down at her ankle to see that a part of the tentacle was still attached to it, which got him to quickly go over towards her ankle.

It was only when Mike had pulled it off of her ankle that El let out a yell, shortly before the Mind Flayer had let out a snarl at them.

In response to the snarl, El sat up on the floor and forced herself back up and onto her own two feet before she took a couple of steps forward and thrust her arms forward up at the Mind Flayer with a yell, which got it to start screeching once more.

It was then that El quickly threw her arms back down to her sides, which got the Mind Flayer's head to be split in half, shortly before El had fallen back into Max's arms.

After picking up his crowbar and backpack from the floor, Matthew looked over at Nancy when she yelled, "Go, go, go!"

Then he quickly ran over to where Jonathan was pushing the couch out of the way before he opened the door, and the rest of the group ran right out of the cabin.

And while they ran over towards the car Nancy was driving earlier, the Mind Flayer let out another roar, which got Jonathan to yell, "Go, go, go, go!"

Due to the fact that he was the first to reach the car, Matthew quickly opened each of the doors to the car and helped get El into the car and got into the very back of the car with El and the others.

It was only when they were all inside of the car that Mike yelled, "Drive! Drive!"

It was then that the engine to the car had finally started, which allowed Nancy to drive as quickly as she could away from the cabin and the roaring Mind Flayer that still had its head split in half.

After grabbing a bottle of rubbing alcohol and a box of bandages, Nancy turned to Mike and Max and said to them, "Okay, get her down." After they carefully put El onto the floor and up against a shelf, Nancy crouched down in front of El and said, "Okay. Lemme see."

While Matthew simply sighed to himself once he saw the wound that was oozing blood from her leg, Nancy opened up the box of bandages and went to open it to put it on her leg, only to stop when Max asked her, "What– What– Hey, what are you doing?"

With a shrug of her shoulders, Nancy replied, "I'm cleaning the wound."

Max told her, "No, first we need to stop the bleeding, then clean, then disinfect, then bandage." After looking between Mike, Nancy and Jonathan, she said, "I skateboard. Trust me."

Then Max handed the packing for the bandage over to Mike as she said, "Mike, hold this." After pressing Mike's hand on the bandage, she said, "Keep the pressure on it, nice and firm, okay?"

Then Max looked over at Nancy and told her, "We're gonna need water, soap."

In turn, Nancy said to her, "Yeah, okay."

After Nancy and Jonathan quickly got up from the floor and went to go and find some water and soap, Lucas took his bag off his shoulder and flipped his backpack upside down, which got all of the contents to fall out and land onto the floor.

While Matthew silently eyed the items that were lying on the floor, Lucas asked Max, "Does any of this help?"

With a shake of her head, Max replied, "No. Go get me a washcloth and a bowl."

In turn, Lucas said, "A bowl?"

Then Max said to him, "Lucas."

After Will had hit Lucas on the arm, Lucas said, "O-Okay."

Then Max turned to Matthew and said to him, "Matt, I need you to go with them."

With his eyebrows furrowed, Matthew asked her, "Why me?"

With a sigh, Max asked him, "You don't trust Lucas's stupidity to somehow mess with your car or something, right?" When he only nodded his head, she asked him, "Well, do you really think someone like Lucas is gonna know where to find a bowl or a washcloth?"

With a nod of his head, Matthew said, "Yeah, point taken. I'll go with them and make sure we bring you back a bowl and washcloth."

After watching Matthew go his own way to find a bowl for them to use, Lucas and Will started to walk down the cereal aisle as Lucas said, "Bowl... Bowl... Bowl... W-Why wouldn't it be with the cereal?"

Will replied, "I don't know."

With his eyebrows furrowed, Lucas asked, "What else do you use a bowl for?"

In turn, Will said to him, "I– I don't know."

With a sigh, Lucas went to say something else, only to stop when he saw what was standing on display just a mere couple of feet away from them before he said, "Oh, shit."

After sharing a look with each other, both Lucas and Will quickly made their way over towards the fireworks that were on display.

It was only when they reached the display that Lucas went to grab one of the fireworks as he said, "Satan's Baby." Then he turned to Will and asked him, "You ever shot one of these suckers?"

Will replied, "No. Is it sweet?"

Lucas told him, "That's an understatement."

It was then that they heard a voice say to them, "That doesn't look like a bowl."

Lucas replied, "Nah, it's way better. There is a reason this warning label says '18 or older'." While Max only crossed her arms over her chest, Lucas told her, "This sucker is filled with a hundred and fifty grains of black powder. AKA gunpowder."

After throwing the box over in Max's direction, Lucas said to her, "Strap two of these together, and it's bigger than an M-80. Five of them, we've got ourselves a stick of dynamite."

With a raise of her head, Max asked him, "You wanna kill that thing with fireworks?"

With a shake of his head, Lucas asked her, "Do you have a better idea?"

With a tilt of her head, Max replied, "Uh, yeah. Eleven."

After catching the box that she threw his way, Lucas asked her, "Against that thing? She's gonna need some backup."

After letting out a scoff, Max asked them, "Where the hell is Matt?"

It was then that they heard a voice yell, "Right here!"

Max quickly turned to look over at Matthew to see him carrying nothing but the backpack on his shoulder before she asked him, "Where the hell were you?"

As he went to slide his backpack off of his shoulder and open it back up, he told her, "To get this."

Then he pulled a single bowl out of his backpack before he asked her, "This should be big enough, right?"

After letting out a sigh, Max said to him, "Yeah, it should be fine."

Then she quickly grabbed Matthew by the arm and dragged him over to where El was waiting for them and left Lucas and Will to continue to stand by the fireworks display by themselves.

While Matthew chose to ignore the fact that Lucas had just opened up his can of soda, Max turned to Lucas and said in a whisper, "Quiet."

Then Lucas whispered to her, "Oh, sorry."

After watching Lucas take a sip of the soda, Mike asked him with a shake of his head, "How do you even drink that?"

Lucas replied, "Because it's delicious."

In turn, both Mike and Max said, "What?"

Lucas told them, "It's like Carpenter's The Thing. The original is a classic, no question about it. But the remake..." After drinking some more of the soda and letting out a sigh, he said, "Sweeter, bolder... better."

With a shake of his head, Mike said to him, "You're insane."

Then Lucas asked him, "So, you prefer the original Thing?"

Mike replied, "What? No, I'm not talking about The Thing, I'm talking about New Coke."

Lucas told him, "It's the same concept, dude."

While Matthew only rolled his eyes at them, Mike said, "Uh, actually, it's not the same concept."

Lucas replied, "It is the same concept."

Mike replied, "No, it's not."

Lucas yelled, "Yes, it is!"

It was then that El quickly removed her makeshift blindfold and said, "Hey."

In turn, Mike said to her, "Sorry."

Then, just like Mike, Lucas said to her, "Sorry."

After a couple seconds of silence, Mike asked her, "Did you... find him?"

While Matthew rolled his eyes at the group of middle-schoolers, Lucas asked them, "The movies? Dustin's so freaked out about the gate, he decides to go watch a movie? Yeah, makes total sense."

Then Max asked Mike, "You're positive he said 'gate' and not 'great'?"

Then Will said, "Yeah, like, 'This movie I'm watching is great'."

El told them, "Sounded like 'gate'."

Then Mike said to them, "Which would explain how the Mind Flayer's still alive."

Nancy replied, "Yeah, we just have to shut it again."

Then Lucas said, "Then the monster dies."

As she turned to look over at the others and help get the cart out of the store, Max said, "But if not, we always have Lucas's fireworks."

Then Lucas said to her, "Keep mocking my plan, Max. Keep mocking it. I wanna hear you say it again, because you keep doubting me. You keep doubting me!"

In response to hearing Max and Lucas's argument, the most Matthew could do was roll his eyes with a sigh and wish there was something he could do to shut them up without getting arrested for it.

After hearing a squeaking sound behind one of the food counters, one of the Russian men holding a gun grabbed onto his radio and quietly said a couple of words in Russian to the other men walking around the food court.

And while the other Russian men slowly made their way over towards where the single Russian man was standing, Erica Sinclair, Robin Buckley, Valerie Mayfield, Dustin Henderson and Steve Harrington all sat behind the counter with their eyes wide and were trying to get control of their breathing.

And while they did that, Robin and Valerie had a tight grip on each other's hands and had themselves pressed against one another.

And while the two closeted lesbians tightly held onto one another, the other Russian men eventually came to a halt on either side of the single Russian man, who simply glanced at those that joined him before he pointed a finger in the direction of the food counter that the five of them were hiding behind.

In response to hearing their footsteps making their way closer towards the food stand they were hiding behind, Valerie quickly turned her head and buried her face into Robin's shoulder, which got Robin to squeeze her eyes shut and try to do everything she could from letting out a sigh.

It was only when the group of Russian men were about to reach the counter that they came to an abrupt halt when the sound of a car alarm wailing was heard, which got the Russian men to quickly turn to their right and have their guns pointed at the car that had its headlights on and where its horn was continuously going off for seemingly no reason.

After saying a single phrase in Russian, each of the Russian men looked up onto the second floor of the mall and saw El staring down at them with a single hand held out in their direction.

It was only when one of the Russian men started to raise his eyebrows that El thrusted her arm forward, which resulted in the car being sent flying in their direction and hitting each and every single one of those men in the process before hitting a wall and landing on its side.

It was then that Steve, Dustin, Valerie, Robin and Erica each slowly raised their heads from behind the counter and looked at the dead Russian men that were lying on the floor before looking over at the car that was laying on its side.

Then the five of them turned their heads to look up onto the second floor of the mall where they could see El standing with the two Byers brothers, Max Mayfield, Lucas Sinclair, and the three eldest Wheeler siblings.

With a laugh, Dustin ran over towards El and yelled, "You flung that thing like a Hot Wheel!"

While Mike and El quickly wrapped their arms around Dustin, Matthew ran over towards Valerie and almost immediately wrapped his arms around her once he got to her.