Gemma, My Gem
Chapter 16 - The Bite
Later that night, El's sitting in between the stepsisters, telling everyone about her encounter with Billy in the void.
"He said he was building something. That is was all for me." El says.
"Building something...is he talking about the flayed?" Max asks.
"He must be." Nancy says.
"So he's building an army, just like we thought." Lucas says.
"Yeah, but he's not building this army to spread." Mike says.
"He's building it to stop Eleven." Will says.
"Last year, El closed the gate on him. I have a feeling that really pissed him off." Mike says.
"I have that feeling too." Gemma says.
"Like royally." Lucas says.
"And the Mind Flayer now knows that she's the only thing that can stop him. But if she's out of the way..." Mike trails off.
"Game over." Lucas says.
"He also said he was gonna kill all of you." El says.
"Yeah, well, that's nice." Max says, sarcastically.
Gemma lets out a shaky breath before getting up.
She goes over to the phone and dials Rudy's number but he doesn't answer.
She calls him a few more times before going back over to the couch, gnawing at her nail, worriedly.
Nancy hears something and she lets out a shaky breath as she goes over to one of the windows.
"Do you guys hear that?" Nancy asks.
The group falls silent and tries to listen for the sound Nancy heard.
"It's just the fireworks." Jonathan says.
"Billy...when he told you this, it was here, in this room?" Nancy asks, turning to face El.
El nods.
Goosebumps form on the back of Will's neck and he touches it.
"He knows we're here." Will says.
The group heads outside and they see the Mind Flayer in the distance, heading towards them.
****
"Jesus, slow down!" Steve says to Dustin who's driving the cart.
"Yeah, what is this, like, the Indy 500?" Robin asks.
"It's the Indy 300." Steve says.
"No, dingus, it's 500!" Robin says.
"It's 300!" Steve says, holding three fingers up.
"Let's say a million." Robin says.
The two teens pause before laughing hysterically.
"What's wrong with them?" Erica asks, looking back and forth between Dustin and Rudy.
"I don't know." Dustin and Rudy simultaneously says.
When Dustin turns the corner, Erica widens her eyes when she sees they're about to crash into the metal bins.
"Dustin, watch out!" Erica says.
Dustin swerves around them but knocks some over in the process.
He then stomps on the breaks and when the cart jerks forward as it stops, the two teens bang their heads against the back.
"You guys alright back there?" Dustin asks, looking over his shoulder.
The two teens groan as they rub their heads.
Erica looks at Dustin and Rudy, concerned.
"They're fine." Dustin says.
"Just a minor concussion. No big deal." Rudy says.
The trio gets out the cart and opens the back door.
"Come on, we gotta go...now." Dustin tells the two teens.
The two teens groan again but they don't move.
"Come on, get out!" Erica yells.
"Let's go!" Dustin yells.
"You two wanna stay down here?" Rudy asks.
"Ow!" Steve yells as Rudy and Dustin pull him out.
Dustin goes over to the electronic lock to the elevator and pulls out the keycard.
"Here goes nothin'." Dustin says before inserting it.
During the elevator ride, Steve is standing on a red loading cart and Robin is rocking it back and forth.
"Hey, you look like you're surfing!" Robin says.
"Surfing! Yeah!" Steve says.
"They seem drunk." Erica says to Dustin and Rudy.
"Why would they be drunk?" Dustin asks.
"Steve doesn't drink." Rudy says.
"I'm a natural, check it out!" Steve says.
He attempts to do a flip off the cart but ends up falling into the stack of boxes.
"Wipeout!" Robin says, laughing.
Steve laughs as well and Dustin and Rudy go over to him and feels his forehead.
"Holy shit." Rudy says.
"He's burning up." Dustin says.
"You're burning up." Steve says.
"His pupils are super dilated." Dustin says, looking back at Erica.
"Holy shit." Rudy says again.
"Maybe he's drugged." Erica suggests with a shrug.
"Steve, are you drugged?" Dustin asks, turning back to him.
"How many times, Dad? I don't do drugs. It's only marijuana." Steve says.
Rudy rolls his eyes.
"This isn't funny, ok? I need to know what they did to you. Are you gonna die on us?" Dustin asks.
"We all die, my strange little child friend. It's just a matter of how and when." Robin says.
"Thank you, Robin. Thank you for telling us shit we already know." Rudy says, sarcastically.
Dustin rolls his eyes before turning back to Steve.
"They're gonna be looking for us up there, so I need you to tell me where you parked your car." Dustin says.
"Oh, can we make a pit stop at the food court?" Steve asks, brushing his question off.
"I would kill for a hot dog on a stick." Robin says.
"Ooh!" Steve says.
"Alright, yeah, food. Yes, you can have as much food as you want, but only if you tell me where your car is parked." Dustin says.
"Uh oh." Steve says.
"Uh oh?" Dustin asks.
"What's uh oh?" Rudy asks.
"The car's off the board." Steve says.
"What?" Dustin and Rudy simultaneously ask.
"They took the keys. The Russians, they took the keys. Like, forever ago. That's a bummer, right?" Steve asks.
As he and Robin laugh again, Dustin, Erica, and Rudy share horrified looks.
The chaotic elevator ride finally comes to an end and the quintet exits the mall.
"Oh my God, that tastes so good! Steve, can you taste the air?" Robin asks, licking the air.
"I taste it! I taste it!" Steve says, licking it as well.
Just then, the gates open and the Russians heads towards them.
"Russians!" Rudy says.
"Shit!" Dustin says.
The two boys grabs the teens and Erica runs after them.
"Why are we running?" Steve asks as he and Robin gets shoved back into the mall.
****
The six preteens are barricading the windows while the two teens are outside, grabbing weapons.
When they head back inside, they and the six preteens huddle up in the middle of the living room.
As the Mind Flayer nears the cabin, Gemma grabs Max's hand.
"Where'd it go?" Max asks when the thudding stopped.
"Did he leave? Maybe he doesn't know we're here after all." Gemma says, dropping Max's hand.
Just then, a tentacle bursts through one of the windows, making everyone scream and jump back.
Jonathan starts to attack it with his axe but it slams him into the wall, making him drop it.
The tentacle screeches and is about to attack him when Nancy shoots it.
She continues to shoot it until she runs out of shells.
She's about to get attacked when El uses her powers to stop the tentacle.
After a moment of having it frozen in place, El screams as she decapitates it.
Everyone widens their eyes as they watch the tentacle leave the cabin.
"Holy shit." Max says.
"Is it over?" Gemma asks.
Another tentacle bursts into the cabin, making the stepsisters duck.
El holds her arm up, stopping it, when another tentacle bursts in through the other side.
El stops it as well and starts breathing heavily.
After awhile, El screams, decapitating both tentacles at the same time.
She continues to breathe heavily when a tentacle bursts through the roof.
It grabs her by the leg and she screams as she gets dragged across the floor.
Before she could get taken away, Mike grabs her arms and tries to pull her back.
The stepsisters run over to him and grab ahold of El as well.
The Byers brothers run over to the trio and also grab ahold of El.
"Pull!" Mike yells.
"Nancy, shoot it!" Jonathan yells.
Nancy loads her shotgun and starts shooting the Mind Flayer.
"Lucas!" Max yells.
Lucas grabs Jonathan's axe, hops onto a stool, and starts attacking the tentacle.
"Pull!" The stepsisters simultaneously yell.
Lucas attacks the tentacle once more, making it drop El and everyone falls over.
"El! El, are you ok?" Mike asks, moving a strand of hair out of her face.
He notices a piece of the Mind Flayer tentacle attached to her leg and pulls it out, making her scream out in pain.
"You could have at least warned her." Gemma says, still laying on the ground.
The group looks up and sees that the Mind Flayer is still there.
El groans in pain as she slowly gets up.
She limps toward the Mind Flayer and after it growls at her, she screams as she uses her powers to attack it.
She continues to scream until she finally rips its face apart.
She starts to fall backwards but the stepsisters catch her.
"Go, go, go!" Nancy yells as she and the others run out the cabin.
The group quickly run to the car and climbs inside.
El groans in pain as the stepsisters and Mike help her into the trunk.
"Drive!" Mike yells at Nancy.
Nancy puts the key into the ignition and stomps on the gas, speeding off.
****
"Where are we going?" Erica asks as she and the others run down the back hall.
"You'll see." Rudy says.
"Just trust us." Dustin says.
Dustin and Rudy poke their heads out the door to the theater and they see that the coast is clear.
"All clear." Dustin says.
"Come on, hurry up." Rudy says.
As the quintet enter the theater to Back to the Future, Steve grabs a bag of popcorn from the trashcan.
Dustin and Rudy lead Steve and Robin near the front.
"You two sit." Dustin says, pointing at the two empty seats.
"No, no, no! These seats are too close!" Robin says, taking her seat.
"Dude, these seats blow." Steve says, sitting down as well.
"Gemma and I sit near the front all the time." Rudy says.
"You two are weird." Steve says and Rudy roll his eyes.
"If you two don't like it up here then don't watch the movie." Dustin says.
"We wanna watch it." Robin says.
"Then watch it!" Dustin says.
"Shh!" A man behind Steve and Robin says.
"You, shh." Rudy says.
"Sorry. Whatever you do, don't...go...anywhere." Dustin says, looking back and forth between Steve and Robin.
"Fine, Dad." Steve says, making himself and Robin laugh.
Dustin and Rudy roll their eyes and they, along with Erica, walk off.
As the trio takes their seats, Dustin sighs.
"Ok, it's official. I'm never having kids." Dustin says.
"I still want some." Rudy says.
"What are we doing here?" Erica asks.
"We're laying low. Cooling off. Like Oswald." Dustin says.
"Not a good example." Rudy says.
"Oswald was found in a theater and shot to death." Erica says.
"Yeah." Rudy says.
"A week later." Dustin says.
"Still." Rudy says.
"The point is, his plan didn't work." Erica says.
"Only because it was a setup." Dustin says.
"What?" Erica asks.
"He was just a patsy." Dustin says.
"Tell me you're joking." Erica says.
"Come on, Dustin. You actually believe that?" Rudy asks.
"Shh!" A woman behind the trio says.
"Shh!" The trio says back.
"We need to get out of here." Erica says, looking around the theater.
"Alright, you two watch Tweedledee and Tweedledum. Make sure they don't go anywhere." Dustin says.
"Where are you going?" Erica asks.
"To find us a ride." Dustin says, pulling out his Supercom from his backpack and getting up.
"Can you let Gem know I'm ok?" Rudy asks.
"Yes, of course." Dustin says.
And with that, he quickly heads out the theater.
Erica and Rudy look over at Steve and Robin who are watching the movie, confused, and they both roll their eyes.
****
The two teens and six preteens arrive to the supermarket and Nancy throws a rock at the door so they can head inside.
The group heads to the first aid aisle and Nancy grabs some supplies.
After the stepsisters and Mike help El down, Nancy rolls up her pant leg, revealing a bloody wound.
"Oh shit." Max says.
"That's a lot of blood." Gemma says, stating the obvious.
El groans in pain.
Nancy grabs the wipes and starts tearing the wrapper off.
"What...what...hey, what are you doing?" Max asks, stopping her.
"I'm cleaning the wound." Nancy says.
"No, first, we need to stop the bleeding, then clean, then disinfect, then bandage." Max says.
Jonathan and Nancy look at her, incredulously.
"I skateboard, trust me. Mike, hold this. Keep the pressure on it, nice and firm, ok? We're gonna need water, soap." Max says, looking back at Jonathan and Nancy.
The couple nods before getting up and walking off.
Lucas dumps some stuff out his backpack, making the stepsisters turn around, confused.
"Does any of this help?" Lucas asks.
"None of that is medical, first aid stuff, so..." Gemma trails off.
"No. Go get a washcloth and a bowl." Max says.
"A bowl?" Lucas asks, confused.
"Lucas." Max says, seriously.
"O...ok." Lucas stutters and he and Will walk off.
The stepsisters turn back around and look at their friend who's still groaning in pain.
They eventually walk off and see Lucas and Will by the firework stand.
"That doesn't look like a bowl." Max says as she and Gemma walk up to them.
"Nah, it's way better. There is a reason this warning label says '18 or older.' This sucker is filled with one hundred and fifty grains of black powder. Aka gunpowder." Lucas says.
He tosses it to Max and she furrows her eyebrows after catching it.
"Strap two of those together and it's bigger than an M-80. Five of them, we've got ourselves a stick of dynamite." Lucas says.
"You wanna kill that thing with fireworks?" Max asks, incredulously.
"Do you have a better idea?" Lucas asks.
"Uh, yeah. Eleven." Max says, tossing the fireworks back to Lucas.
"Against that thing? She's gonna need some backup." Lucas says.
"Oh my God." Max says, rolling her eyes and walking off.
Gemma goes over to Lucas and takes the fireworks from him.
"You really think this shit is gonna work?" Gemma asks.
"Yeah." Lucas says, nodding.
Gemma nods before looking at the fireworks.
As she looks at it in awe, Lucas smiles, glad that he has one of the stepsisters on his side.
****
Dustin runs back to his seat in the theater and Erica and Rudy look at him.
"Do you guys have batteries? Double A?" Dustin asks.
"No?" Rudy asks before he and Erica simultaneously ask "Why would I have batteries?"
"I always carry batteries." Dustin says.
"Then what's the problem?" Erica asks.
"You don't have enough?" Rudy asks.
"No. I need eight." Dustin says.
"Eight?" Erica and Rudy simultaneously ask.
"Shit. Guess we'll have to go to plan B." Dustin asks.
"Plan B? What's Plan B?" Erica asks and Rudy looks at him, confused.
Dustin leans forward and sees that Steve and Robin are no longer in the theater.
"Where...are they?" Dustin asks.
"Goddamn it, Steve." Rudy says before he, Dustin, and Erica run out the theater.
****
Everyone's now in the frozen food aisle, watching El go into the void to look for Dustin and Rudy.
Lucas pulls out his can of New Coke and opens it loudly.
"Quiet." Max whispers.
"Oh, sorry." Lucas whispers before taking a sip.
"Can I have some?" Gemma whispers.
"Sure." Lucas whispers before reaching over Max to hand it to her.
After Gemma takes an air sip, she hands it back to him.
"How can you guys even drink that?" Mike asks, disgusted.
"Because it's delicious." Lucas whispers.
"Like duh." Gemma whispers.
"What?" Mike and Max simultaneously ask.
Jonathan and Nancy looks at Lucas and Gemma, disgusted.
"It's like Carpenter's The Thing. The original is a classic, no question about it. But the remake..." Lucas says before taking a long sip.
He sighs, satisfied before looking back at Mike.
"Sweeter, bolder...better." Lucas says.
"You're totally right." Gemma whispers and Lucas smiles at her.
"You guys are insane." Mike says.
Gemma sticks her tongue out at him.
"So, you prefer the original Thing?" Lucas asks.
"What? No, I'm not talking about The Thing. I'm talking about New Coke." Mike says.
"It's the same concept, dude." Lucas says.
"Uh, actually, it's not the same concept." Mike says.
"It is the same concept." Lucas says.
"No, it's not." Mike says.
"Yes, it is!" Lucas yells.
"Hey." El says, taking off her blindfold.
"Sorry." Mike says.
"Sorry." Lucas says.
El glares at them.
"Did you...find them?" Mike asks, awkwardly.
El sighs before nodding.
"The movies? He and Rudy's so freaked out about the gate, they decide to go watch a movie? Yeah, makes total sense." Lucas says, pushing the shopping cart full of fireworks.
"You're positive he said 'gate' and not 'great?'" Max asks.
"Yeah, like, 'This movie Rudy and I are watching is great.'" Will says.
"Sounded like 'gate'." El says.
"Which would explain how the Mind Flayer's still alive." Mike says.
"Yeah, we just have to shut it again." Nancy says.
"Then the monster dies." Will says.
"But if not, we always have Lucas' fireworks." Max mocks.
"Max." Gemma says, rolling her eyes.
"Keep mocking my plan, Max. Keep mocking it. I wanna hear you say it again, because you keep doubting me." Lucas says.
"That's Max for you. She doesn't know how to be open minded." Gemma says.
And with that, the group leaves the supermarket.
****
The trio continues to look around for Steve and Robin when they finally find them in the restroom, laughing hysterically in one of the stalls.
"Ok. What the hell?" Dustin asks.
"For real." Rudy says, throwing his arms up.
Steve and Robin laugh again and Dustin, Erica, and Rudy shake their heads.
Dustin decided they should stay in the restroom until the movie ends so they can blend in with the crowd.
After awhile, he pokes his head out the restroom and sees the people exiting the theater.
"And...blend." Dustin says and he and the others exit the restroom.
The quintet smoothly blends into the movie crowd and Erica looks around, impressed.
"Well, shit, that worked." Erica says.
"Of course it worked. Now, we just have to get on the bus with the rest of these plebes and home sweet home, here we come." Dustin says.
"Not me. I'm gonna go to Gem's." Rudy says and Dustin smirks at him.
"Uh, Dustin?" Steve asks.
"What?" Dustin asks.
"Yeah, we might not wanna go to your house." Steve says.
"Why?" Dustin asks.
"Well, I might've told them your full name." Steve says.
Rudy turns around and smacks him.
"Ow! You know what, Rudy? I'm gonna let that slide because I deserved it." Steve says, rubbing his cheek.
"What is wrong with you?" Dustin asks, starting to panic.
"Dude, I was drugged." Steve says.
"So?" Dustin asks.
"So?" Steve asks.
"So, you resist. You tough it out. You tough it out like a man." Dustin says.
"Exactly." Rudy says.
"Oh, it's easy for you guys to say." Steve says.
Robin's amused smile drops when she sees one of the Russians standing by a blocked off escalator.
"Guys?" Robin asks, stopping in her tracks.
Steve, Dustin, Erica, and Rudy notices the Russian and widen their eyes.
"Abort. Abort!" Dustin says and he and the others run off.
The Russian notices them and runs after them.
They approach the other escalator and they see it's block off as well.
They look over their shoulders before sliding down the middle part of it.
When they reach the food court, they jump over the counter of the cookie shop and crouch down under it.
The quadruple Russian men walk in different areas of the food court, looking for any sign of the quintet.
They hear a squeak and head towards the direction of it.
They approach the cookie shop and just as they're about to tell the quintet to surrender, they hear a car alarm go off.
They look at it, confused when they notice something above them.
They slowly look up and see El with her arm outstretched, blood dripping down her nose.
Before they could do anything, El throws the car at them, sending them to their deaths.
The quintet slowly gets up and sees the dead Russians.
They look at them, confused before looking up at El.
The septet walk up behind her and Rudy and Gemma smile when they see each other.
"Rudy!" Gemma yells.
"Gem!" Rudy yells.
When the Griswald family makes it down to the Scoops Troop, Rudy and Gemma run to each other and almost fall over when they pull each other into a hug.
"I was so worried about you." Gemma says.
"I know. I'm sorry." Rudy says.
"It's ok...let me see you." Gemma says.
The young couple pull apart and smile at each other.
"I'm so glad you're ok, Rudy." Gemma says and Rudy continues to smile at her.
Gemma grabs his face and gives him four pecks before giving him a long one.
After they pull apart, tears stream down their faces as they share another hug.
"Lucas?" Erica asks, running up to him.
"What are you doing here?" Lucas asks.
"Ask them. It's their fault." Erica says, gesturing towards Steve, Robin, Dustin, and Rudy.
"True, yeah. Totally true. It's absolutely our fault." Steve says.
"I don't understand what happened to that car." Robin says.
"El has superpowers." Dustin says, pointing at her.
"I'm sorry?" Robin asks, unsure if she heard him right.
"Superpowers. She threw it with her mind. Come on, catch up." Steve says.
"That's El?" Erica asks, trying not to have a fangirl moment.
"Who's El?" Robin asks.
"Her." Rudy says, nodding towards her.
"I'm sorry, who are you?" Nancy asks, not recognizing Robin.
"I'm Robin. I work with Steve." Robin says.
"She cracked the top secret code." Dustin says.
"Yeah, which is how we found out about the Russians in the first place." Steve says.
"Russians? Wait, what Russians?" Jonathan asks.
"The Russians!" Steve says, gesturing to the dead bodies.
"Those were Russians?" Max asks.
"Some of them." Erica says.
"There's more?!" Gemma asks.
"Unfortunately, yeah." Rudy says.
"What are you talking about?" Lucas asks.
"Didn't you hear our code red?" Dustin asks.
"Yeah. I couldn't understand half of what you were saying." Mike says.
"Goddamn low battery." Dustin says.
"How many times do I have to tell you with the low battery?" Steve asks.
"Well, everything worked out, didn't it?" Dustin asks.
"Worked out? We almost died!" Erica says.
"Yeah, but we didn't, did we?" Dustin asks.
"It was pretty damn close." Steve says.
"Yeah, my life flashed before my eyes." Rudy says.
"Ok, Russians? As in, they're working for the Russian government?" Lucas asks.
"What is it that you're not comprehending? Am I not speaking English? We have a full blown Red Dawn situation." Dustin says.
"So this has nothing to do with the gate?" Max asks.
"It has everything to do with the gate!" Dustin says.
"Define everything." Gemma says.
Just then, everyone hears someone collapse and they turn around and see that it was El.
"El! El!" Mike says, running to her and flipping her onto her back.
"What's wrong with her?" Erica asks.
"What's wrong?" Mike asks.
"My leg. My leg." El sobs.
"Her leg, her leg. Ok." Jonathan says.
He takes the bandage off, revealing the wound, and everyone groans.
Something starts to move inside it, making El groan in pain.
Mike turns back to her and shakes her, gently.
As he calls out to her, El screams loudly with tears streaming down her face.