They set up a fire at the edge of the woods to keep warm. It still wasn't warm weather time in Hawkins. Usually, the nice temperatures came quickly, but they were staggering this year.
Will put his hands over the flames and rubbed them together. Lucas, Max, Dustin, and Jane looked like they were about ready to head off. Will's team not so much. Mike was rummaging through their supplies, trying to stuff a third of it into a tiny backpack. Jonathan was leaning against a tree, far away from the fire. Will wondered why he wasn't socializing. He walked over to him to check out the situation.
"You doing alright?" he asked. "Aren't you cold over here? You should come to warm up before we head off." Will gestured to the fire.
Jonathan shook his head. "I'm fine. This coat is warm enough. I don't want to overheat... I guess I'm nervous about demogorgon hunting. It's stressing me out."
Will nodded. "That's understandable. I think we're all a little scared. I just hope everyone's smart and doesn't do anything that's gonna get someone else killed. I'd like us all to survive tonight."
Jonathan smiled slightly. "We'll see, then."
Max waved from across the fire. "Are you guys ready? We should all get going!"
Will gave her a thumbs up, running forward to communicate more easily. "I think we're just about there... Mike's still packing. You guys can start off if you want. You have the walkie-talkie?"
Max took it out of her pocket and displayed it. "Sure do. You've got yours?"
"Jonathan does."
"Awesome." Max returned the box to her jacket. "Well, we're gonna start heading out. Good luck out there. Don't, like, die."
Will nodded. "You either. But I bet we're gonna find it before you, so you really won't have that much of a problem."
Max rolled her eyes. "Yeah right. We'll have slain it way before you guys even start looking for it. I'm a professional demogorgon hunter. Plus, we've got special advantages."
"Yeah, that just seems a little unfair. Dustin can't call both the people with powers." Will crossed his arms skeptically.
Max put her hand on her hips. "Well, Jane and I make a great team, so we're a package deal anyway. I'm sure you'll all be fine without us." She looked around and leaned in. "Between you and me, Lucas and Dustin probably need us more than you do. I don't know how they'd fair out there by themselves."
Will laughed. "Well, I wish you luck again."
Max nodded. "Of course. See you later!" She waved and went off back to her group. They conversed for a second and then took off into the woods, cheering.
Will turned to Mike, who looked like he was just about done packing. Each group had a very specific set of materials. Two bottles of lighter fluid, matches, a lighter, a fire extinguisher, two pocket knives, a handgun, and flashlights for each person. It was a very specific system that Max, Lucas, and Mike had come up with at the store.
Mike stood up. "All done. Are we ready to go?"
Will nodded. "We should put the fire out first. I don't want to start a forest fire." Jonathan was already on it, pouring a bottle of water over the pile of leaves and sticks where everyone had been warming up.
"Alright," said Mike. "Let's catch ourselves a demogorgon."
The group walked along for a while with no activity. Jonathan and Mike both had lighter fluid ready. Will had the handgun. The woods were freaky this late at night and every small animal made someone jump.
"Are we gonna have enough time to react if it comes at us?" Mike asked shakily. "I feel like it's gonna be hard to do that."
Jonathan shrugged. "We've got three people. It one gets pounced on, the other two will just save them. I think we've got a good system."
"I wonder how Max's group is doing it," Will thought aloud.
"Similar, probably," Mike guessed. "Except someone's holding the knives."
"Wait, do any of them know how to shoot a gun?" Will realized this now, thinking it might be a problem.
Jonathan laughed. "They'll just have to figure it out, I guess."
The moon was full tonight, brighter than usual. Some of its light reflected off of trees, casting shadows as the group walked. Will's eyes darted at every movement.
Mike sighed after another moment of quiet. "Are you guys not extremely freaked out? We could get attacked at any moment."
Will shook his head. "Maybe we're just better at hiding our anxiety than you are." In reality, he was terrified. "It's probably not gonna attack us anyway."
"I don't know," said Mike. "What if the demogorgon just has a thing for your lovers, Will? I mean, it got Brad. I'm the only one left on the roster."
"Is he trying to take out competition?" Will laughed at the idea.
"I don't know what he's doing! But I'm in danger!"
"You're not even my lover, idiot. You'll be okay." Will rolled his eyes and looked around, trying to catch a glimpse of movement from somewhere. It seemed slightly quieter now for some reason.
Mike looked around and nudged Will in the arm. "Hey, where the hell did your brother go?"
Will became aware that Jonathan was no longer walking in back of the two boys. He shivered. "Oh my god, you don't think he got attacked while we weren't paying attention, do you?"
"We would've heard it," Mike assured him, shaking his head. "He probably just wandered off... doing Jonathan things." Jonathan things, right.
"We've gotta find him! He could be in danger!" Just then, a sound came from the horizon. Mike and Will both readied their defenses. Will readied himself to fight whatever came into view. Jonathan stepped into the clearing, sending a wave of relief throughout both boys, their tense shoulders slumping back into a more casual position. "What happened? Where'd you go?" Will asked.
"I'm... cold," Jonathan explained. "I'm going to start the fire back up at the edge of the forest. It'll help everyone find their way back anyway."
"You're leaving?" asked Mike.
"Yeah, is something wrong with that? I can stay if you need me to."
Mike shook his head. "We'll be fine... It's just more dangerous with two people."
Jonathan thought about that. "Do you want my lighter fluid? I'll take the gun and you take the lighter fluid. Then you'll be all good, right?"
Mike looked like he was going to protest, but didn't. "Yeah, we'll take it." Jonathan exchanged his supplies with Will's.
"Alright," said Jonathan. "Good luck. Sorry I have to cut my work short. Maybe I should've stayed by the fire earlier... I'm sure you'll be fine on your own."
Will smiled. "You're all good. Go get warmed up and be careful on your way back!" The two boys watched Jonathan head off into the distance. A sudden departure. Will was slightly sad he was leaving. He didn't necessarily want to be alone with Mike right now. He decided it would be fine and the two boys continued with minimal conversation.
"Do you think he's acting weird?" Mike asked after they walked for a while longer.
Will put his hands on his hips. "You're suspicious of everyone, aren't you?"
"Hey! My Brad suspicions were justified! And I was right, so maybe I just have really good intuition."
"Well, if that's true, lead us in the way of the demogorgon, Mr. Intuition. I'd love to see your genius in action."
"I'm being serious!" Mike said. "He's being weird. He didn't talk to anyone before we started and now he's going back because he's cold? He didn't even bring lighter fluid with him, so how is he supposed to start a fire?"
"He still has a lighter, I think," Will said. "He's not suspicious, he's just awkward because he came back to life and he's getting used to it. It's probably disorienting to be away for so long." Will felt bad for him.
"Max isn't acting like that."
"Max has more social skills than my brother," Will laughed. "He's fine, Mike. Trust me." Will agreed that Jonathan seemed slightly off, but it couldn't be anything bad. Jonathan was completely fine. He had to be. He was alive again and he was absolutely normal. Just like how he used to be.
The sticks cracking under Will's feet as he walked made sounds that echoed through the trees like snapping bones. He noticed that a fog of sorts had started to settle over the ground, making it slightly hard to see what was up ahead.
Mike shook his head. "Well, if the demogorgon wasn't going to kill me before, it's definitely gonna kill me now."
"Shut up, you're not gonna die," Will insisted. He didn't know if he could take that right now. He didn't even want to accept it as a possibility.
"I don't know..." said Mike. "Like I was saying earlier, I think this demogorgon's jealous or something. He's killing off all your lovers and-"
"You're not my lover. I said that already," Will snapped, more aggressive than he had intended. He sighed, waving his flashlight in frustration. It flickered and went out, dead.
Mike laughed slightly from Will's side. "I'm not your lover?" he asked, although it didn't really seem like he was looking for an answer.
"No," Will said plainly.
"Well, it kinda seemed like I was your lover when you kissed me yesterday. And when we took that car ride date. I mean, I assumed we were lovers at that point."
"Well, maybe you shouldn't assume things." Will didn't want to have this conversation right now. He didn't know what to do about Mike. It seemed morally wrong to call him anything other than a friend after last night's events.
Mike was upset by this. "What was yesterday then? Was I your lover then?"
Will looked at him, irritated by the sudden conflict. "I don't know, Mike. Maybe you were. But now you're not... It's just weird with Brad and everything."
Mike seemed astonished. "And you're gonna let the death of your crazy ex-boyfriend dictate what you do? You were gonna break up with him anyway! Why does this change anything?" The voice of the Mind Flayer played in Will's head. He's selfish. He doesn't care.
"Is that all you care about? If we're together or not?"
"Of course I care!" Mike said. "I love you, Will! I thought we were finally together and I was happy for both of us."
"But you aren't thinking about anything else!" Will argued. "You didn't even ask if I was okay with sharing that Brad was a bad person."
Mike frowned, raising his eyebrows. "You wanted to keep that a secret?"
"Of course I wanted to keep that a secret! It's not something everyone needs to know. Now everyone just thinks I'm too stupid to know if someone's a good person." It was one of the many things Will was concerned about on the subject.
Mike leveled his eyelids. "Will, nobody thinks that. And I'm sorry that I told everyone without your permission. I didn't think of asking." He kicked the ground. "I just didn't want anybody to be sad for him. He doesn't deserve that."
Will looked at the ground for a second, coming to terms with something that sent a shiver down his spine. "I don't think I'm sad he died." It felt sour to say, like he was committing some sort of crime.
Mike hardly reacted. "Yeah, you have every right not to be. He was horrible to you."
Will stuttered a defense against himself. He wasn't even sure who he was arguing with at this point. "It's just... he's still a person, right? He wasn't always bad. We used to be friends..." Will thought back to before he started dating Brad and realized they hadn't been friends. Brad thought Will was the weird nerdy guy and Will thought Brad was a dumb jock.
"You sound unsure," Mike noted.
"We... we weren't friends," Will said. "We were never even friends!" He laughed out of shock. "What was I thinking?"
Mike was about to respond when Will's flashlight (which was apparently not dead) began to flicker on and off quickly. There was a sound in the distance. The cracking of sticks on the ground, exactly like the one in Will's vision. Both boys froze, readying their weapons for whatever was about the emerge from the fog.
"You ready?" Mike whispered.
Will didn't get the chance to respond before the creature jumped into the clearing.