Nearly three hundred children crammed into the mess hall of the camp, all wet and tired and especially cranky as they looked about in confusion waiting for the adults to explain why they had been woke up.
Outside the raging storm seemed to remind them all of the danger they were in, but none seemed to understand it as much as the small group led by Jonathan Byers.
All of them were exhausted and frustrated wanting answers but also scared for their lives as each lightning strike reminded them of the danger just beyond their walls.
"Stay put. Keep my brother safe," Jonathan told them in a stern voice. They didn't even a chance to retort anything as Jonathan was back our the door.
Max slumped into a seat at the table and growled, "This is bull shit. I know we can help."
The boys looked at each other, then turned to Will and Lucas asked, "How about it Will? Do you think you could remember what happened if we tried? Like a sensory chamber like with El?"
Will looked more frightened than the rest of them and they all knew why. For some reason these monsters from the Upside Down were specifically targeting him. The idea of getting face to face with such evil was enough to make his knees knock.
"I don't know... I'm not sure I can even do that..." Will replied nervously.
"We have to try something," Mike insisted.
"What are you idiots doing over here?" a voice chimed in before they could discuss a plan and they all looked in exasperation to see Ned and several other older boys looking at them skeptically.
"I bet you turds are the reason we have to sleep in this shithole," Ned added as he glanced at the bruises Dustin had and added, "Looks like you came out on top Sinclair."
"What do you want?" Lucas asked. "We don't need this right now," Dustin added.
"Aww did you kiss and make up? How sweet. Hey where's the freakazoid? Did she run off to powder her nose?" Ned asked with a laugh. "Shut up," Mike said as he realized that they were talking about El.
"Or what? Look the adults are out there handling this shit storm so there is nobody here to protect you," Ned reminded them all as he towered over Mike.
"What's your problem? You have no idea what the hell is going on right now," Max added. "Shut it you bitch. You're the one that started shot the other day too," Ned growled. Lucas stood up and said, "Take it back."
In a short moment Dustin did too and for a second Ned hesitated.
As the three boys seemed ready to tumble again, a low rumble caused the entire building to shake and the hanging lights above to flicker on and off.
The generator was barely functioning.
Ned looked up in surprise as he muttered, "What was that?"
The group didn't say anything even as the growls returned to the night air and Dustin muttered, "Demodog..."
"Dema What?" Ned asked as some of the windows started to crack.
"We need to take cover!" Lucas shouted excitedly as he and the other boys rushed to hide another a table.
Ned stood there for a moment in confusion as the rain pushed open the back door of the mess hall and the girl he was making fun of a moment earlier entered the cafeteria.
The young black boy laughed as the soaked girl approached the table where they were all hiding and El asked, "Mike. Why are you under the table?"
"Jesus you all are crazy," Ned said as his attention was diverted elsewhere and the boys crawled out from their hiding spot.
"Thought it was a Demogorgon," Lucas replied with a nervous laugh.
"I felt something though," Will agreed as they looked toward the door and El nodded and said, "Come look."
They followed wordlessly to the edge of the cafeteria where the storm was softly battering the hard cement floor and stared out at the soaked grass, their eyes immediately falling on the large imprint in the mud.
"I don't think that's a Demogorgon..." Max said nervously as they realized it seemed much larger than the footprint of the dog like mutants they had faced before.
"We have to follow this trail, find their base. That has to be where the gate was opened," Mike said turning forward the group enthusiastically.
"Yeah. What could possibly go wrong venturing out into the dead of night while hell beasts stalk us?" Lucas retorted.
"They're not after you," Will said in a voice that sounded like he knew for sure. The entire group looked at him as he seemed to show a new sense of confidence and he explained, "Eleven and I can create a diversion while you guys find the hive."
"It's crazy enough it might work," Dustin agreed.
"Sitting here will only make more problems," Max decided. It seemed that a plan was in motion as the group separated and Eleven and Will watched the others gather some flash lights and stalk the monster.
"I got a bad feeling about this," Will admitted softly. Eleven squeezed his hand and said, "No one brave was never afraid."
Carl Danner sat in the clinic and stared across the darkened room to where the man holding the rifle watched the door and waited for the rangers or anyone else to return.
He had busied himself in the last few minutes by examining the unconscious girl who still lay cold and unresponsive on the slab.
The things he had seen in the past hour were enough to make him question his sanity, especially when it came to the weird powers that these children seemed to possess. It reminded him of some old project he had seen over in Norway once during the war but had been quickly cancelled out.
No. That wasn't right. This was more like what the Russians did, he decided firmly. Hopper wasn't really paying him much attention as he held the rifle steady and watched Jonathan run across the campgrounds and get back to the clinic in a few short sprints.
As the teen took a breather, Hopper glanced at all of the artillery that they had gathered and wondered if it would be enough to stop whatever was our there.
"You need to watch the girl," Hopper told the doc as they loaded up weapons. "Like hell I do. Listen Deputy I have been patient with you up to now but this whole place is going bonkers. I want answers," Danner insisted.
The other man sighed, knowing that the more people knew the harder it would be to contain this situation but he knew his options were limited.
"Short version? We're under attack," Hopper explained.
"The commies?" Danner asked in shock. "More like the VietKong," he replied grimly as flashes of the time he spent over there raced thru his mind.
"Then we need to use the back up generator and send an SOS," Danner muttered.
"Look. I know you want to help. And you know that this is highly dangerous. Military isn't the solution here. You saw what these kids can do. That type of thing means we are dealing with a threat unlike anything we dealt with before," Hopper answered.
"You mean it's a conspiracy," he whispered. "Yeah. Exactly. So can you handle your mission or what?" Hopper asked. The doctor saluted smartly to him as he saw the rangers approach. Soon the clinic was empty save for himself and the strange girl.
He turned toward her, wondering what other gifts she possessed and then looked toward his equipment.
What would the harm be in just a cursory scan?
He knew it would pull a little juice from the generator. But the rangers were out there handling the situation...
His curiosity got the better of him as he started to hook up the gear and see what the patterns would reveal to him.
Cranking to the usage of the equipment he watched as the monitors came to life and revealed spikes of neural activity. In fact the more he looked he became certain that the girl was displaying abnormal amounts of functionality for being unconscious.
Almost like a lucid dream he thought as he reached for the drink of New Coke on his desk nearby.
He kept looking at the scans as the storm just beyond his room grew stronger and then toward the girl. He knew she was not awake, but something about the way the charts showed her brain activity made him wonder.
What could she accomplish awake if this was her strength while unaware?