forty-two
[ planning and saying goodbye ]
hopper was in his own world. thinking. that's all he was doing. thinking. he wondered where she was. his little girl, his world, his best friend, his everything.
without her, he doesn't know what he would do.
it breaks his heart knowing that she's out there somewhere.
all alone.
just like she was in the upside down.
he promised her she'd never go through that again but i guess the promises that jim hopper makes are somehow always broken.
he rubbed his eyes and let out a breath as he zoned back into the conversation the group around him was having.
"are you sure this thing is still out there, still alive?" joyce questioned the teens, glancing over at hopper.
"el beat the shit out of it, but yeah, it's still alive." max replied.
"but if we close the gate again...." will trailed off, the others picking up on what he was saying.
"we cut the brain off from the body..." max added.
"and kill it. theoretically." lucas finished with a nod.
"yoo hoo!" murray bauman yelled from across the mall, everyone's attention going to him as he waved around a bunch of papers, "yoo hoo."
hopper rolled his eyes as murray reached the group, setting down the pieces of papers he was holding on a table in front of him and the group, "okay, this is what alexei called the hub."
he pointed to a spot on the blueprints, "now, the hub takes us to the vault room."
"okay, where's the gate?" hopper questioned.
"right here," murray answered, pointing at a spot on the blueprints where the gate is, "i don't know the scale on this, but i think it's fairly close to the vault room, maybe fifty feet or so."
"more like five hundred," erica sinclair spoke up as murray looked up at her, "what, you're gonna waltz in there like it's connie disneyland or something?"
hopper raised his eyebrows in surprise as he continued to watch the interaction between the two. he knew melissa would be dying over this.
"im sorry, who are you?" murray asked the girl.
"erica sinclair," she responded, placing a hand on her hip, "who are you?"
"murray...bauman."
"listen, mr. bunman," erica spat, "im not trying to tell you how to do things, but i've been down in that shithole for twenty four hours. and with all due respect, you do what this man tells you.." she turned to the group, "you're all gonna die."
"im sorry," murray scoffed, "why is this four year old speaking to me?"
erica gasped, "im ten you bald bastard!"
"erica!" lucas yelled.
"just the facts!"
"she's right," dustin spoke up, "you're all gonna die, but you don't have to. excuse me." he said as he walked up to where murray was standing, "sorry, may i?"
"please." murray said, sarcastically and moved out of the way.
"okay," dustin sat down, looking at the papers that were in front of him, "see this here? this is a storage facility. there's a hatch in here that feeds into their underground ventilation system." he explained.
the others said nothing so dustin continued, "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." he smiled.
"you can show us the way?" hopper asked.
"don't worry, you can do all the fighting and dangerous hero shit, and we'll just be your...." dustin paused, coming up with a name for him and erica, "navigators."
hopper nodded in sarcasm, the two kids smiling, thinking he agrees with the plan but then his face becomes serious, "no," hop shook his head, erica and dustin frowning, "nope."
well, that sucks.
——————
there was a new plan now. hopper, joyce and murray would go to the gate while scoops trop navigated them from cerebro.
they were currently all saying goodbye.
"my battery is low...." eleven sighed, "it will recharge."
"i know it will, kid." hopper spoke, "i know."
"i can fight."
"better than any of us."
"but right now, i need you safe. this thing is after you, it's not after me. do you understand?" hopper asked eleven who looked down at her hands.
"hey...." he moved a piece of her hair behind her ear, "i need you to understand."
eleven nodded, "okay."
"we'll get your sister back. just when you see her, don't hurt her, alright? it's not her in there." hopper told eleven, wishing she was here right now with them, in this moment.
"i know."
"hey," mike interrupted, walking over with lucas and max, gaining their attention, "we should probably go."
eleven and hopper hugged then mike and max helped el up and they began walking away.
"will, mike." hopper called causing the two boys to turn around, "be careful."
they both nodded and the kids walked away with nancy and jonathan.
will knew it was a matter of time before the mind flayer and melissa found them again.
he knew melissa wouldn't be herself and that she would most likely try to kill him.
let's just hope that doesn't happen.