"Back in the mall" Nancy said calmly as she kept her eyes on the car that was revving in front of her "back in the mall!" She shouted after realising that nobody had moved "go, go, go!" Kali shouted as she helped the kids out of the car and ushered them inside, Nancy and Jonathon weren't far behind her as they all ran inside. The revving of Billy's engine could still be heard as they ran deeper into the mall "shit" Kali muttered as she tried to catch her breath, after Max had set El down she ran over to Kali to make sure she was okay, she placed a hand on Kali's back as the older girl rested her hands on her knees, she turned her head and smiled at the young red head beside her "I'm okay Max" she spoke as she slowly stood back up. Kali joined El at the table while Mike paced back and forth trying to reach Dustin in the radio "scoops troop do you copy?" There was no answer so he kept trying "scoops troop do you copy? Billy has found us. He has disabled our car and we are trapped in the mall" Nancy was stood next to El, preparing her gun "you're gonna kill him aren't you?" Kali spoke softly as she looked over at her friend "this is just a precaution okay?" Nancy sent her a soft smile as she spoke, the plan was to save Billy but just in case shit went sideways, she wanted to protect not only herself but her friends and although they weren't exactly close, she would do everything in her power to protect Kali and the baby "no chance that thing'll drive right?" Max spoke as she pointed over to the car that El had thrown at the Russians, Kali followed the young girls gaze as her eyes fell on the car and that's when it clicked "we don't need it to drive" she turned her head towards Jonathon and Nancy "we just need the ignition cable!".
Kali felt useless as she stood and watched her friends try and push the car the right way round, Nancy insisted that she sit this one out due to the baby and to Kali's surprised when she tried to argue back it was Jonathon who spoke up "no Kali! Nancys right, you can help when we've turned it but right now, you need to stay put" it was the first time Jonathon had protected her and honestly it left her a little speechless. They struggled to push the car, no matter how hard they tried it wouldn't move "I can do it" El muttered as she stood at Kali's side, raising her hand towards the car. Kali noticed how much the young girl was struggling, the car only vibrated slightly, she rested her hand on El's shoulder and told her to stop, El let out a small sob as she wiped the blood away from her nose and stormed off towards the food court. The group came up with a new plan, using metal poles to push against the car would be a lot better apparently, Kali didn't understand the science behind it but once the car had flipped over she quickly made her way over to grab the ignition cable, Lucas threw his hands into the air in victory as he jumped off of the counter "told you, physics" Kali rolled her eyes at the young boy, and once Nancy had finally found the latch to pop the hood Kali began her search, Jonathon stood next to her and watched in awe. Truth be told, he found it a little sexy but he'd never admit it or say it out loud, "do you see it?" Nancy shouted as she ran to Kali's side "I don't know. It should be here" Kali muttered as she leaned closer to the car "distributer, distributer... got it!" Kali shouted in triumph before she was pulled to the side of the car by Nancy. While she was searching she didn't even notice that the mind flayer had made its way onto the glass roof of the mall, Nancy had pulled her to safety as the roof broke and the mind flayer had crashed onto the floor below.
Kali, Nancy, Jonathon, Will and Lucas all hid behind the car while Max, Mike and El had hidden on the other side of the mall. Kali tried to control her breathing as she clutched the ignition cable to her chest, she sent a panicked look over to Nancy who held her hand, squeezing it lightly to reassure her but Kali started to panic more when she heard the radio "Griswald family, this is scoops troop, do you copy?" The five of them all looked at each other when they heard the mind flayer roar "Griswald family, I repeat, this is scoops troop, do you.." the radio cut out. The creature continued to roar and snarl as it made its way around the mall, searching for El, Kali quickly looked around the side of the car when she heard something fall "they've gone into the gap" she whispered to the rest of the group who furrowed their brows in confusion "shit, he knows they're in there" she whispered once again when she saw the creature release one of its tentacles into the store, being too big to go in there itself. Kali turned to look at the group as Lucas was preparing his slingshot "we need a distraction" she looked over to Lucas who seemed to have the same idea as her as he stood from behind the car, he managed to hit a balloon on the opposite side of the mall, the creature let out another loud roar as the balloon popped and as soon as its tentacle had retracted it made its way over to the sound "go, go, go!" Jonathon whisper yelled as he helped Kali from the floor, all five of them running out of the mall towards the car, Kali turned her head as she ran to see the other three teenagers running up a set of stairs.
Kali quickly placed the ignition cable into Nancys car, she closed the hood and turned her head at the sound of an engine roaring. Billy was still sat in his car, watching the group as he revved his engine. Kali's eyes widened as she watched Nancy step to the side of the car, raising her gun "get the car started!" She shouted as she handed Jonathon her keys, Kali jumped in the car beside Jonathon just as Billy put his foot down and hurtled the car towards them, she closed her eyes once she heard Nancy firing, she couldn't bare to watch just in case she hit him. After a couple of tries Jonathon managed to get the car started, but it was too late, Billy was now just inches away from crashing into them, Jonathon grabbed hold of Kali's hand as he closed his eyes and waited for the impact. But nothing happened. When the pair opened their eyes they saw Steve and Robin climb out of a convertible and rush over to Nancys car, Kali looked through the windshield and saw Billy passed out and his beloved Camaro had caught fire but before she could go and check on him Jonathon put his foot down on the accelerator and drove the group away from the mall.
The group drove in silence away from the mall, terror filled their eyes as they watched the mind flayer chase after them, their terror soon turned to confusion when they heard Dustin on the radio, talking to his, what the group thought was his imaginary girlfriend "Suzie?" Steve and Robin muttered to each other, from what Kali could hear, he was asking her for the answer to a mathematical question but she was refusing to tell him unless he did something for her. Dustin begged her not to make him do it but eventually gave in, Kali and the rest of the group all shared a confused look as Dustin and Suzie began singing 'Never ending story' to each other through the radio. Kali had to stifle her laughter "he's actually got a pretty good voice" she laughed as she dramatically mouthed the words along with the young couple, the rest of the car breaking out in quiet laughter as they watched her. After the song was finished the radio seemed to just cut out, falling silent once more, "it's turning around" Steve exclaimed from the back of the car "what?" Nancy spoke as she looked into the rear view mirror "it's turning around!" Steve shouted once more as he watched the mind flayer run back towards the mall "maybe we wore it out?" Kali asked as she shrugged her shoulders "I don't think so. Hold on" and with that Jonathon quickly turned the car around and drove back towards the mall.
When they arrived Kali watched in horror as Billy held El against the floor, the mind flayer creeping closer to her "Kali come on" Steve yelled as he ran up the stairs with the rest of the group but she couldn't move, she was frozen in place as she watched El struggle against Billy's hold. Kali was distracted when she heard Steve yell from the second floor "hey asshole! Over here!" The group began throwing Lucas' fireworks at the creature causing it to roar in pain every time it was hit. Kali turned her attention back to Billy and saw that he too would groan in pain whenever the monster was hit, it's like they're one in the same, she thought to herself. Kali was still frozen in place as she watched El raise her hand to Billy's face, she watched from a distance as his facial expression changed and the black veins that covered his body disappeared. Whatever El had said to him, made him return to his normal self and as Kali slowly started to step towards him, his head shot up and her eyes met his, a saddened smile made its way onto his face as tears filled his eyes. The creature roared once more and Billy's head snapped over towards it, he stood up just as the creature released one of its tentacles. Billy screamed as he held the monster back with his bare hands, Kali's pace quickened as she watched more tentacles grab onto Billy's side, he screamed loudly as one final tentacle pushed through his chest "Billy!" Max let out an ear shattering scream as she watched her brothers body fall to the floor. Kali ran over to him, falling to her knees as she lifted his head onto her lap, Max fell at the side of her as she pleaded for her brother to open his eyes "I'm sorry" he muttered as he held Max's hand, he opened his eyes and stared up at Kali, lifting his hand to her face as he wiped a few of her tears away "I love you" he coughed as he tried to breath, "no Billy please, please don't leave me" Kali sobbed as she watched the light slowly leave his eyes, his hand rested on her stomach and he smiled slightly "look after your mom" he whispered before he fell completely silent "Billy. Billy!" Kali shouted as she shook his body "no Billy please, you can't leave me" she held his body tight as everyone gathered around her, tears filled their eyes as they watched Kali "we were supposed to go to California, you were gonna teach our baby how to surf, we were gonna get married on the beach and live out the rest of our days together" she rested her forehead against his, tears still streaming down her face "please, please wake up Billy" she felt a hand touch her shoulder and looked over to see Steve crouching down beside her "he can't leave me" she sobbed as she looked back at Billy's lifeless body "I love you" she whispered, placing a kiss to his forehead "Kali, we need to go" Steve spoke softly as he wrapped his arms around her shoulders "we were happy" she kept her gaze on Billy as Steve slowly picked her up. Kali wrapped her arms around Steve's neck as he carried her away, her heart had broken into a million pieces and she couldn't take her eyes off of Billy. He had shown her what real love looked like and she would be forever thankful to him, but she never thought she would have to say goodbye.