talk too much | max mayfield

27. feeling fireworks

They all go quiet. There's no noise.

"It's just the fireworks," Jonathan dismisses.

"Billy. . ." Nancy spins around. "When he told you this, it was here, in this room?"

El nods slowly and everyone tries listening for a noise over the fireworks.

"He knows we're here," Will places a hand on the back of his neck.

The group flees from the cabin, Max now moving her arm to hold Nora's hand (easier to run that way). They run out to the woods, illuminated by the fireworks in the sky. Ahead of them, they see the Mind Flayer running at them at full speed.

It's ginormous. Bigger than any other monster they've fought with.

The group rushes back to the cabin where Nancy and Jonathan search for weapons and the kids board up the windows. They move furniture and random house items to cover the windows, and when Nancy and Jonathan come back with a shotgun and axe, they move the couch to barricade the door.

They stand in a circle, Nora and Max have found each others hands again. Everyone looks around the room, ready for the Mind Flayer to attack in any direction.

A rumbling noise comes from all around.

"It's close."

It takes footsteps, shaking the entire house. Tree branches scratch against the house and mugs and picture frames start falling off the the wall. It feels like an earthquake and Nora is terrified. She feels Max's grip on her hand tighten and she squeezes back.

It suddenly gets quiet. . . too quiet.

The calm before the storm.

The storm being the giant tentacle that just burst through the wall.

Everyone starts screaming as the kids run to one side of the room, Nancy and Jonathan to the other.

The tentacle goes straight for Eleven, and it almost grabs her until Jonathan runs forward and hacks it with the axe.

It doesn't do much harm, so he tries again, but the tentacle whips around and punches him in the stomach, sending him flying against the wall.

Nancy steps up, ready to shoot her shotgun.

The bullets don't seem to affect the Mind Flayer, and after a few shots, she's run out.

Nancy starts backing up, trying to avoid being attacked by the Mind Flayer. El steps forward and holds a hand out to stop the tentacle. The tentacles starts shaking and flying in random directions, and El brings her arm down, chopping off the tentacle in the process. It move backwards and back through the hole it came from.

"Holy shit," Max breathes, her and Nora being next to the opening.

A second later another arm crashes through from another angle, and El quickly puts a hand out to stop it. Another one comes directly opposite to her, but she manages to stop that one too.

She looks between the tentacles, clearly unsure what to do. Focusing her face in concentration, El whips both her arms down, cutting off the end of the tentacles in a swift motion.