"So, let me get this straight. My sister and Jonathan are off trying to pick a fight with the demogorgan, and you want me to just – let it be." Mike's arms were crossed, and his face was puckered with irritation.

But Georgie's hands were tied. What was she supposed to do? Let the kids run face first into danger? After some time sitting down and resting with an ice pack, her leg was feeling a little better. It was still throbbing and she'd collapse before she could run, but it was tolerable for now. She was staying close to Eleven, trying to keep her calm and rested for whatever came next.

"Scared." Eleven tucked herself closer into Georgie's side, closing her eyes as her head rested onto the older girls shoulder. Georgie put her arm around Elle.

"There's no reason to be scared," Georgie whispered. The boys formed a small circle where Mike was and began talking among themselves quietly. "Jon and Nancy can take care of each other. And Hopper is gunna take care of Joyce and save Will. Everything is going to work out exactly as it should."

"Barb?"

"What happened to Barb is not your fault." Georgie felt her throat tighten at the mention of Barb's name. Until today there was a shred of hope that Barb actually had just taken off. Chose to leave town. How could they ever hold a funeral without telling someone what had happened? The more people knew, the more people were in danger.

"Georgie," Mike said, speaking up so she could hear them. "You can't be serious. We just sit around while everyone else could die? How do we know they didn't all fail, and die, and are leaving us to be sitting ducks."

"Our job is to stay here," Georgie said. "It is what it is, take it or leave it, the grass is greener over there. I don't know, just sit down."

"Would you do it?" Mike asked, crossing his arms. She could see the frustration building. "Would you let Dustin just go off and risk his life?"

"That's different," Georgie said.

"Not really," Mike argued. "Is it because we're kids?"

"Yes, that is exactly the reason, you're kids! You shouldn't be rescuing Will from the upside down or fighting a literal nightmare monster. You should be sitting down, and waiting to hear back from them."

The stern look on Georgie's face made Mike think twice before yelling. But he boldly did it anyway. "We can't just wait around!"

"Mike, in case you forgot, we're still fugitives. The bad men are still looking for us," Lucas said. At least she didn't have to fight all of them.

"Yeah, and we don't even know where your sister is," Dustin said.

"El can find her!"

"Mike, no. Absolutely not, look at her!" Georgie said. She kissed the top of Elle's head. "No more of that, sweetie."

"I still think we should stick to the chief's plan."

"Exactly. We stay here, keep El out of sight and keep her safe," Lucas said, his change in priorities was heartwarming. "That's the most important thing, remember? Besides, she's okay. She's with Jonathan."

"Yeah, she's kind of a badass now, so..." Dustin trailed off.

Always was, both Georgie and Dustin thought. Dustin started walking out of the gym, and Georgie stood up straight, ready to stop him.

"Well, where are you going? You just said stick to the plan!"

"I am. I'm just gonna go get some chocolate pudding." He turned around to look at them while still talking. "I'm telling you, Lunch Lady Phyllis hoards that shit."

"Are you serious!?" Mike shouted. Georgie rolled her eyes.

"El needs to be recharged!" Dustin walked through the doors without a second thought. Georgie didn't like it, but she trusted him to stay inside. He was smart, he wouldn't deviate without telling her. Lucas looked at Georgie concerned.

"Go with him, please. I'm right behind you with the others." Georgie nodded towards the door and Lucas rushed to meet Dustin on the other side of the doors.

Eleven looked worried, and stood up. "Don't worry, he'll be back in a minute."

Georgie felt bad, because she knew exactly how Mike was feeling. When she had to leave the kids in the bus, she couldn't focus on anything but what could've been happening back there. If anything had happened to her brother, it would've been her fault and it would've killed her. But they all had jobs to do, and theirs was to stay out of the way.

She wasn't even sure if she could honestly say she'd be in the real fight if she weren't injured. She always would've been right here, making sure that the kids were safe. Somebody has to.

"Let's move over to the caf," Georgie said, standing up. "Closer to them, and out of these harsh lights."

"Away from tub," El said, holding Georgie's hand.

"Yes, and far away from the tub."

Mike walked alongside the two girls, Georgie's slow limp setting the pace for the trio. It was starting to get quite sore, with stinging threatening to get worse the longer her weight was on that foot. Mike opened the door for them, mumbling something about not being able to get crutches out of the nurse's office.

"It hurts," El said, pointing at Georgie's leg. It wasn't a question this time.

"Yes, it does. But it'll be better soon," Georgie said.

Once El and Mike were settled into the caf, she limped over to where Dustin and Lucas were looking for snacks, and leaned in the doorway. She had to see that he was okay. It was like she was losing her mind.

"Looks like quite the stash!" she said, smiling. A small victory couldn't have come any sooner.

"Mike! We found it!" Dustin screamed, making Georgie and Lucas both flinch. They heard a quiet 'okay' from the other room.

"Something's wrong," El said, surprising Georgie by being right behind her. Mike wasn't with her. "Check doors."

"No, no! We stay together," Georgie said, getting slightly frustrated.

"Sorry," El said. "Danger."

"What danger?"

"Here," Dustin said, interrupting but handing El a tin of pudding and a spoon. "This'll charge your batteries right up, I'm telling you."

"What danger, El?" Georgie repeated.

"Guys, guys!" Mike said, running into the room. "They found us."

"Get your things," Georgie whispered, but the demand cut through the air like a scream. "Now, right now. Come on."

They gathered their things as quickly as possible, leaving behind what wasn't grabbed in the first scoop. Dustin led the way, bringing them through the halls that led out towards the basement. If their only way out was down, they were in trouble. Georgie had no choice but to run through the pain. The kids were asking the typical questions of how, why and what next. They were out of breath and full of questions, but Georgie stayed focused on the mission. Protect the kids. The sneakers squeaked against the floor but the sound was lost in the echo of the halls. When they took a left, bright flashlights cut them off.

"Back!" Dustin shouted, startling the party but turning them around. But the deafening sounds of heels tapping behind them left them trapped.

"What do we do?" Lucas asked, but the concerned look of Georgie's face said it all. She had no idea what do to.

"Georgie!" Dustin shouted.

"I'm thinking!" she shouted back, full panic taking over.

But it became radio silent, as the guns and flashlights pointed at them lowered. The only thing Georgie heard what the heavy breathing from the party. The bad guys had started bleeding from the face. The eyes, the nose, everywhere. Georgie looked away as the sound of bodies hitting the floor started. El was doing this, she knew. And she was grateful. But she was also horrified. How was this happening? How had it come to this?

El passed out seconds later, and that became the only this on Georgie's mind.

"El, are you okay?" Mike asked, as the all rushed to her side. Georgie kept watching the hallways, listening for the next invasion.

"Something's wrong," Mike said, continuing to shake El.

"She's just drained."

"No, no, no, she won't wake up, El!"

"We have to move," Georgie said. "We can't stay here. The bad guys know we're here. I assume that means…"

"The monster can find us too?" Lucas asked.

"I don't know, but we should just get moving."

"She's barely breathing." Mike said.

"Leave her," a deeper, unfamiliar voice said. Another group of bad guys were rounding the corner. It was him. The absolute worst bad guy. "Step away from the child."

"No!" Mike shouted, and the party scrambled to protect her. "You want her, you have to kill us first."

"That's right," Dustin said.

"Eat shit," Lucas shouted.

"You can't have her," Georgie said. She should've grabbed a weapon.

Georgie screamed as she was grabbed from behind. The boys were also being restrained and carried away. She tried to kick her feet back, but her elbows were useless against the grip someone had on her.

"Put me down you bastard," she shouted, fighting as hard as she could. "Let go of my brother!"

The man kneeled in front of Eleven, grabbing her by the face and speaking to her in hushed tones. The man holding her moved and hit her head of the wall, making her ears rings and her vision seem blurred. She was fighting back too hard. Georgie couldn't hear what the man was saying to her, but she continued to struggle. The boys were yelling and fighting beside her, but all she could hear was the ringing. Was that the bell? Was it time for class? Georgie was losing strength in her legs.

The lights around them began to flicker, and Georgie heard Mike talking about the blood. The blood all around them, on the bodies, on their clothes. Eleven's blood, Georgie's blood, bad guys blood… so much blood. The pounding on the wall brought her back to reality. Her vision was blurry but not incomprehensible. The wall was breaking, cracking open under the weight of something strong.

A monster.

"Demogorgon," Dustin said, and everyone's fighting stopped.

The piece of shit burst through the wall with an ugly roar, sending dust flying all around them. Finally, the men let go, drawing their weapons up to fight the beast. Georgie had really hoped Nance and Jonathon had figured it out, maybe they would have succeeded, even all this blood hadn't drawn the demogorgon away. Georgie reached for her brother, and tried to see Eleven through the dust and smoke. The men stepped around her, and the party got her up as fast as possible to get away.

Georgie tried to run with them, but her head… she was probably concussed, and her leg wasn't in any kind of shape for running. Her soccer season was probably over, if her life wasn't anyway.

"Georgie, you gotta keep up!" Dustin shouted.

"No, you have to go. Please don't argue, just get El outta here!"

"Georgie!"

"Dustin!"

It pained him, she could tell, but he stopped arguing and helped get El out of there. She could she the monster. It was a few feet away, attacking the men. She grabbed a gun off one of the bad man and got into a nearby supply closet. She held her good leg firm against and pushed her back against a shelf to block the door. The yelling turned into distant sound, and when there was nothing else she walked back into the hallway, gun raised as if she knew what she was doing. Georgie couldn't tell you what kind of gun this even was, but it was two handed and heavy and she didn't know where to rest it against her arm.

She followed the hallways slowly, clearing corners like she saw in films. There were men shooting at the end of the hall she turned out, so she crouched and backtracked, looking for the boys. She was slow, and leaning on the lockers for support. Why did she keep leaving herself behind? Oh, to give the party a better chance.

But then she heard them yelling again. Her brother and his friends were shouting from a few rooms away. She saw the demogorgon pounding on a door, and she knew it was the one her brother must be in. She shot at it, but was surprised by the recoil and it knocked her back, making her head collide with the wall again. At this rate, she was going to be her own cause of death.

And then, more silence. Georgie rushed to the open door, seeing that it was in the room with them, frozen against the chalkboard. It was honestly… really gross. Eleven was beside it, clearly using her power to hold it there. El raised her hand, and screamed forcing this thing into the chalkboard even more but it started to disintegrate right in front of her eyes. El screamed, shaking with the weight of her powers. Georgie tried to move towards her, but it was as if Eleven was keeping her back. The gun was ripped from her hands, and landed loudly against the floor.

Georgie covered her ears. The sound was deafening, but when it stopped… El was gone.

Mike was shouting her her, crying as he called her name over and over. Georgie walked over to Dustin and hugged him, leaning against a desk for support. Where did El go? Georgie didn't like the answer she thought of. Not one bit.

The sirens coming from outside were terrifying after everything. Were these real cops? Or were they after them to kill them? What were they supposed to say?

"You can't say anything until we talk to Hopper." Georgie hated even saying it, but it was true. "Not to anyone."

"I don't care about that, help me find Eleven!" Mike shouted, but he didn't move. Because he was thinking the same thing.