Also sorry if I accidentally give people the wrong lines, I haven't watched season three in a hot minute and the script I look at doesn't show which character is talking so I play it by ear lol
Not edit and enjoy :)
________________
Natalie looked up at Murray, "we can't leave him here like this," she said as she started to notice people running away from the funhouse up ahead.
Murray took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose, "I think we're gonna have too. We can't carry him without getting noticed."
Joyce let out a quiet sob and shook her head, "he didn't deserve this."
The three of them remained silent for a short moment. All eyes averted away from Alexei's body, they refused to even look at their fallen friend. Natalie stood to her feet and sniffled, she turned to face Murray and nodded. They knew they had to leave him.
"We'll come back for you Alexei," Joyce said, determination crossed her features, "whoever did this will pay."
With that, the three of them raced through the fair easily blending into the crowd that was in a frenzy. Suddenly, Joyce veered off to the right and Natalie shouted at her.
"What's she doing?" Murray hissed as he followed closely behind Natalie, who followed Joyce.
"No idea," Natalie said, her voice coming out in a wheeze, she hadn't run this much in well, a long time.
They finally halted to a sharp stop to see Joyce storming up to Mayor Kline. He looked up at the three of them approaching and scowled.
"What the hell are you three doi-"
Before he could even finish his sentence, Joyce swung back her fist and clocked him right in the nose. "That's for being a dick!" she shouted.
Mayor Kline stumbled back at letting out a shout of pain as he held his hands in front of his nose.
"You go lady!" some random guy yelled from across the parking lot.
Natalie and Murray watched Joyce stomp by them towards the car. She looked back at them over her shoulder, "you guys comin'?"
Natalie and Murray nodded, a little dumbfounded by Joyce's actions. None the less, Natalie smirked at Mayor Kline as she passed him and flipped him the bird. He scoffed at her as she passed and the last they saw of him was Mayor Kline crawling into his car.
Murray hopped over the door and started the car, Joyce slid into the passenger seat, while Natalie climbed into the back.
"You better floor it Murray," Natalie said as she heard a gunshot.
"Already on it," Murray said through gritted teeth as the tires squealed on the grass before they shot off towards the funhouse.
Natalie gripped onto the armest, her eyes scanning for Jim among the now sparse crowd of people. Murray slammed on the breaks and checked his watch, he looked nervous. The radio that Murray had brought started to crackle and an unmistakable deep Russain voice rang through the speaker.
Natalie turned to Murray, "what are they saying?"
He shook his head, the voice was going in and out, the signal was bad. "I can't piece it together. All I heard was 'children'"
Natalie perked up, "children?"
"That would be them," Joyce said with a heavy sigh, "they always are tied in with shit."
Before Natalie could respond, Jim came barreling towards them, blood was steadily dripping down his face. He rapidly looked behind him and then leaped into the back of the car.
"Go! Drive!" he shouted, his voice strained with panic.
Murray slammed down on the gas, the car lurched forward causing Natalie and Jim to tumble forward. Natalie pushed herself back into a sitting position and turned towards Jim.
"Jim, your eyebrow," she said in concern, raising her hand to get a better look at the cut, "what happened?"
Jim let out a hiss of pain when her fingers gently probed the area, "Terminator and his goonies are still around, the guy was wearing a bullet-proof vest, that son of a bitch," he snapped and moved Natalie's hand away from his face. Jim looked around the car and realized they were short a person, "Smirnoff?"
Natalie shook her head, "he didn't make it."
Jim nodded, he would never admit it, but Alexei had grown on him.
The radio crackled again, and Natalie grabbed it, turning up the sound. "Murray!" she shouted and pushed the radio against his ear causing Murray to grunt in pain.
"Watch it, don't want my eardrums to burst," he grumbled as he listened to the radio. "They're at the mall, the lower level. The Russians found them."
"Step on it," Joyce said her voice hoarse.
---
They arrived at the mall and Murray practically drifted the car into a parking spot. Natalie was first out of the car and she started running towards the entrance. She burst through the doors and the group of kids on the floor all turned towards her. Jim was right on her heels and he stomped his boot on a squirming slug that was crawling towards them.
"El!" Natalie cried out when she saw her bloody leg, she quickly made her way over to her and looked around at the kids. "What the hell happened here?"
All of them looked at each other and Dustin sighed, "it's back, the Mind Flayer."
Natalie's mouth felt like cotton and she swallowed thickly. Of course. She looked away from Dustin and back to El's leg. "someone get me a scarf from one of the stores."
After a short while, Steve actually returned with a medical kit he found behind a counter, which was eons better than a scarf. So, Natalie quickly got El squared away to where she could stand up and limp without too much pain. They were now currently listening to Mike and Dustin explain what they had been through.
"So the Mind Flayer, it built this monster in Hawkins, to stop El, to kill her, to pave it's way into the world," Mike explained.
"And it almost did, that was just one tiny piece of it" Dustin added with a huff.
Jim nodded, messing with the rifle in his hands, "how big is this thing?" he asked.
"Thirty feet at least," Dustin said.
"Yeah," Lucas added with a nod.
"It also sort of destroyed your cabin, sorry," Max said to Jim with a wince.
Natalie's eyes widened, "wait, wait, what about Bucky and Sam?"
El shook her head, "we let them run out of the cabin before the monster came."
Natalie felt her heart wrench, at least they weren't dead. A hand squeezed her upper arm and she looked at Jim with a frown.
"I'm sure Bucky and Sam made it out and are somewhere safe. Bucky's a smart dog," he told her, his expression soft.
She could only hope that he was right.
_________
I didn't really know how to end this chapter lol if I kept going it would have been like 5000 words
YOU ARE READING
Smoke -- Jim Hopper
Fanfiction"Jim," Natalie whispered as she clung to his jacket. Specks of who knows what floated around them as they walked deeper into the upside down. She tugged again on his jacket, "Jim." Jim Hopper wrapped a heavy arm around Natalie and pulled her close...
