Angelica "Freak Two" Munson

Chapter 51

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

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

"How big is this thing?" Hopper questions.

"It's big." Jonathon answers, "30 feet at least."

"Yeah," Lucas mumbles, "It sorta destroyed your cabin... sorry."

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

"Yes," Nanvy concurs as Steve continues.

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

"Yes, exactly."

"That's beyond disgusting." Angie mutters to herself.

"Yeah, okay," Steve sputters, "I– Yeah, I'm just making sure."

"Are we sure this thing is still out there?" Joyce questions, "Like, it's still alive?"

"El beat the shit out of it," Max states proudly, before retreating, "but, yeah, it's still alive."

"But if we close the gate again–" Will begins.

"We cut the brain off from the body–"

"And we kill it... theoretically."

"Yoo hoo!" Murray shouts from a distance. Everyone's heads turn in both disgust and shock at the new character. He yells again, waving papers above his head.

Everyone gathers around the nearest flat surface as he presents his findings, "Okay," he points, "this is what Alexei called 'the hub.' Now, the hub takes us to the vault room."

"Okay," Hopper inspects, "Where's the gate?"

"Right here." He states proudly, "Now, I don't know the scale on this, but I think it's fairly close to the vault room, maybe 50 feet or so."

Erica doesn't hesitate to jump in, "More like 500– What, you're just gonna waltz in there like it's commie Disneyland or something?"

"I'm sorry, who are you?" He asks, offense lacing his tone.

"Erica Sinclair. Who are you?"

"Murray... Bauman." He sputters.

"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," She turns to the group, "You're all gonna die."

Angie grins, proud that she's using her attitude positively, for a change.

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

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

Nevermind.

"Erica!" Lucas begins to scold her.

"It's just the facts!"

"She's right." Dustin steps up, "You're all gonna die, but you don't have to. Excuse me." He takes the floor, "Sorry, may I?"

"Please." Murray responds with a fake smile.

Dustin grabs the papers, "Okay, see this here? This is a storage facility. There's a hatch in here that feeds into their underground ventilation system." He draws across the map, "That will lead you to the base of the weapon. It's a bit of a maze down there, but between me and Erica, we can show you the way."