Feelings, Max Mayfield ¹ ✓

xxxi. way down we go

"I don't understand what happened to that car," Robin announced, looking very confused as she looked at the car which was smashed on the other side of the mall.

"El has superpowers," Dustin explained, gesturing to El.

Robin furrowed her brows in confusion, "I'm sorry?"

"Superpowers," Steve explained. "She threw it with her mind. C'mon, catch up."

"That's El?" Erica asked, pointing to the girl.

"Who's El?" Robin exclaimed.

"I'm sorry," Nancy interrupted. "Who are you?"

"I'm Robin," Robin smiled. "I work with Steve."

"She cracked the top-secret code," Dustin explained.

"Yeah, which is how we found out about the Russians in the first place, "Steve added. Liz was so confused. So much information was being thrown at her that she didn't know what to do with.

"Russians?" Jonathan asked. "What Russians?"

"The Russians!" Steve yelled, gesturing to the two dead men on the floor, their blood now pooling over the linoleum.

Max gasped, "Those were Russians?"

Erica shrugged, "Some of them."

"What are you talking about?" Lucas exclaimed, voicing everyone's thoughts.

"Didn't you hear our code red?" Dustin asked.

"Yeah," Mike answered. "But I couldn't understand half of what you were saying."

Dustin shook his head, "Goddamn low battery!"

"How many times do I have to tell you with the low battery?" Steve scolded, slapping his hands together.

"Okay, well, everything worked out, didn't it, Steve?" Dustin tells him.

"Worked out?" Erica scoffed. "We almost died!"

"Yeah, but we didn't? Did we?" Dustin argued.

Steve chuckled, "It was pretty damn close."

"Okay, Russians?" Lucas started, wanting to know more about that subject. "As in, they're working for the Russian government?"

"What are you not comprehending? Am I not speaking English?" Dustin asked him, throwing his hands up in the air dramatically. "We have a full-blown Red Dawn situation!"

"So this has nothing to do with the gate?" Max asked.

"It has everything to do with the gate!"

They were all too busy arguing and trying to inform each other of the new information they had found that they didn't even notice El had walked off. They all eventually shut up and turned around once El had collapsed onto the floor. Mike rushed over, "El! El! El! What's wrong?"

She was whimpering and her forehead had beads of sweat planted on it as she let out small cries of pain, "My leg. My leg."

"Her leg, her leg. Okay," Jonathan nodded as he took off the bandages that Max had done.

Gasps were heard around the group as well as groans of disgust. The wound had only gotten worse. It was almost glowing now and it had started moving underneath her skin like a worm. Eleven started to groan in pain before letting out a loud scream. Liz watched her wound and it almost looked like there something inside her leg, something alive. Mike clearly thought the same thing, "There's something in there."