Sarah's POV
I rush inside my house, barely stopping to shut the door. Okay, the kids will be fine, but I can't stay. What if they didn't forget about me?!? They'll hunt me down! I run down the hall and into my room. I have to leave town. I go over to my closet and throw it open. I crouch down to pick up a large bag.
I toss it onto my bed and start to find things to put in it. I go through my dresser and toss random clothes at my bed. I also grab a few extra things and toss them over. I run over to it and start to pile the clothes into the bag. That should be enough to last me a while. All I need to do is get them to fit! I push the clothes down, trying to make them fit, but they just won't.
Finally, I get them to fit, barely, and zip it up completely. I sigh and lean over the bag. Suddenly, I hear the front door open. Shit!! Did they fucking follow me?!?
I panic and look around, looking for something to defend myself. I can't use my powers against them, that could kill them. I just need something to knock them out. I look over near my bookshelf and spot my old baseball bat. I quickly grab it and slowly walk out of my room. I could hear multiple pairs of footsteps getting closer to the opening nearing the hall way.
I tighten my grip on the bat and raise it. "Sarah?" I hear a familiar voice ask. Nancy?!? What if they have her and are using her to get me? I stay silent and press myself against the wall. "Sarah? Where are you?" I could hear Mom's voice too. I let out a slow breath and walk closer to the opening.
I look over at the open area. They're near the open door. I could see Hopper and Jonathan with them aswell. I gulp nervously. Maybe, they're fine. Maybe. I hold the bat closer to me. "Are you guys alone? Did anyone follow you?" I call out, still not moving.
"Sarah! Where are you?" Mom asks again.
"Answer please! Were you followed?" I urge.
"No, we weren't." I could hear Hopper say. I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding, and peel myself away from the wall. I walk into the room, still keeping the bat to my chest. I could see them more clearly, they look scared. Nancy looks relieved once she sees me. She scurries towards me and hugs me. I awkwardly stand there. "What happened?" I ask.
She lets me go and moves her hair. "I could ask you the same. You just ran out!" She says.
"Stuff came up. What are you doing here?"
"We know about the monster. Jonathan told us." Hopper says, walking over to us. Fuck, now they know about the demogorgan. What else are they gonna find out about? Eleven? "And we know about the kid." Fucking called it.
I sigh through my nose and run my hand through my hair. "Okay, you know about Eleven, you know about the monster, and I'm pretty sure you know about the Upside Down. Is there anything you guys don't know?" I ask, throwing my hands into the air.
"Why did you run?" Nancy asks.
I look away from her and drop my bat. "You ran? Why?" I could hear Jonanthan ask aswell. I clench my fists and look back at them. "Because they could take me away! I don't want to go back, so I ran! I ran after telling the others to run." I yell, getting quieter near the end. I cross my arms around my body and hold tight.
"Take you away? Who would take you away?"
"The people from the lab!" I yell and stomp my foot.
"Why?!"
"Because I'm from there!" I snap. They're silent. Now everyone knows. "I'm from the lab, and I was afraid they were going to take me away." I whisper. I feel tears begin to prickle in my eyes, so I quickly wipe them before they could see. I huff and reach down to grab my bat. "What are you guys doing here? I thought you were supposed to be held there longer." I ask, directing my question at Jonathan.
"We're looking for the kids. Not just the one from the lab. We want to find them before the lab does." Hopper says, but it's obvious he has more to say. I spin the bat slowly, waiting for him to continue. "Do you know where they could be? Any place they hang out when they don't want their parents to know?"
"Don't you want us to tell you where we're going?"
"No, if they do get me, they won't be able to recognize me but they will want to question me. It's better if I don't know."
"Oh fuck..." I mumble, bring one hand up to grip my hair.
"What? What is it?" Mom asks, concern clear in her voice.
"I-I...I don't know where they are. I told them not to tell me. I'm so stupid!" I say, tugging hard.
"What?!? You told them not to tell you?!?" Jonathan yells. "They could be in trouble!"
"I know that! I'm not that stupid! It was a safety precaution, in case the lab found and interrogated me."
"Do you at least know any way we can find them?" Hopper asks, stepping in between Jonathan and I. The walkie-talkies! Mike never goes anywhere without his! He has to still have his on him! I nod my head and wave them over. I lead them into my room. They walk in as I start to dig around. "Sarah, what's this?" I hear Nancy ask. I look over to see all of them staring at the bag on my bed.
I sigh and turn back to what I was doing. "Was planning on running. Packed that right before you guys came in." I say as I rummage through my drawers. Finally, I find what I was looking for. "Aha! Found the sucker!" I say as I bring it over to them.
"Will's walkie-talkie? Why was it in your drawer?" Jonathan asks, giving me the side-eye.
"Had a small break down when this stuff first went down. Tried talking to him, even though I knew it wouldn't work." I say, not looking at him. I hand the walkie to Hopper, shoving it into his hands. "Mike never leaves anywhere without his walkie, he should still have it with him." I tell him.
Hopper hands it to Nancy. "It's your brother." He says. She nods and presses the button on the side. "Mike, it's me, Nancy. Are you there?" She asks. There's no answer. C'mon Mike. Please answer, for the love of God.
"Mike, we need you to answer. This is an emergency! Do you copy?" She asks, slightly shaking the walkie. Still no answer. Hopper gets frusterated and snatches it out of her hand. "Listen kid, this is the chief. If you're there, pick up." He says. "We know you're in trouble, and we know about the girl. We can protect you and help you, but you gotta pick up."
Like clockwork, no answer. He sighs and slams it onto the bed. He turns around to face us, his hands on his hips. "Any other ideas?" He asks. I look down at the walkie and scrunch up my nose in concentration. He should've picked up, he always picks up. Maybe he's scared.... I reach over and grab it, standing up and walking over to my closet. I lean against the closet door and bring the walkie up to my mouth.
"Mike, please, come in. It's Sarah. I promise, the bad men aren't here, you have to trust us." I plead. It's radio silence. What could definitley make him answer? I won't have to do it, will I? I gulp and look up at the others. "Okay, don't make fun of me, but this will hopefully work, it's worked before." I tell them, feeling slightly embarressed. They give me weird looks.
I take a deep breath and press the button on the side. "Um....Druid to Paladin. Come in Paladin." I say, not looking them in the eye. I could hear Jonathan and Nancy snicker. I flip them off before trying again. "If I do not get an immeadiate answer in T-minus 10 seconds, the Druid's swear for immeadiate response will be broken, and there will be consiquences acted out by The Protectors." I say, slightly getting into character.
Haven't done this in a while. When they were younger, and trying out dnd together for the first time, we had a joke that our parents were 'The Protectors' and if one of us didn't answer our walkie, the others would tell on them.
I still get no answer. I sigh and put the walkie down, when suddenly I hear it go off. "Paladin to Druid! I'm here....We're all here." I hear Mike say. I smile widely and grip the walkie close to me. He answered! Thank God!
"Good! What's your location?"
"We're at the junkyard, where El took us."
"Okay, we're coming to get you. Stay put." I say. I look up at the others with a smug smirk. I toss the walkie at Jonathan, who scrambles to catch it. "Not so funny now, huh?" I ask. He just laughs and puts it down.
"C'mon, we got some kids to rescue." I say, clapping my hands together. Hopper shakes his head and puts his hand out. "No, you're staying here with them. I'll go get them." I roll my eyes and cross my arms. "No offense Hopp, but I'm going. This stuff is linked to me, not just through Will, and those kids are my responsibility, and I'll be damned if anything happens." I tell him.
He groans, but he just waves his hand. "Fine, but you listen to me." He tells me. I smile and go to follow him, but Jonathan stops me. "Hey, um, be careful. And sorry for what I said before, it was uncalled for." He apologizes. I smile. At least he knows what he did was wrong. I lightly punch his shoulder and chuckle. "I'll be fine, dude, you have nothing to worry about. And all's good between us. No hard feelings." I reassure him before walking out. Time to look for my family.
Time Skip
I lead Hopper into the junkyard, looking around. "Here kid." He says, handing me a gun. I nod my head and take it. I don't really think I'll need it, but better safe than sorry. Could use this to knock someone out. I walk around, noticing the few people here. There's only three scientists, but we still need to hide.
I gesture for Hopper to follow me to the side of the abandoned bus. I watch one scientist walk over to the door. I look back at the rest of the junkyard to see the other two scientists. "You get those guys, I'll get the one at the door and see if the kids are in there." I whisper as I point my gun at the other two.
He nods his head and goes off. I sneak over to the guy at the door, raising my gun. He's prying the door open. I raise my gun over my head and hit him with the end. He falls, out cold. That was easy. I shrug and turn back to the door. I can hear Hopper take care of the other two. I push the door with all my might, groaning in the process. It was stuck pretty good, but it slowly opens after a bit of more pressure.
I walk into the bus, the floor creaking. "Guys?" I whisper. I see four heads appear from behind the seats. Thank God, they're all here. I sigh in relief and put the gun down. "C'mon, we gotta go." I tell them.
They quickly follow me out the bus. I step out and look around for Hopper. He's standing over a body. I wave him over. He walks over and leads us all to his car. I push the boys and El in front of me, urging them to go faster. Eleven stays right next to me, and grabs my hand. I smile down at her and squeeze her hand as the sun goes down.
Time Skip
Hopper parks the car and I hop out. I close my door and move to open the kids' door. They all pile out of the car. I close their door for them as I hear another door open. I look up to see Mom, Nancy, and Jonathan walking over to us. Nancy rushes over to Mike, quickly hugging him.
"I was so worried about you!"
"Yeah, me too." He says awkwardly. Nancy lets go of him and takes a step back. She looks over at the rest of us, her eyes landing on El. "Is that my dress?" She asks. I look down at Eleven and laugh. I place my hand on her shoulder and smile up at Nancy. "We'll explain later. Let's get inside first." I tell her, pushing the kids along.
We all walk inside. The boys walk around looking for something. I watch Mike walk back with a pencil and paper. They start to explain their acrobat theory to us, while we sit down anywhere possible. "We tracked down the opening to Hawkins lab." Lucas says.
"Was it underground?" Hopper asks.
"Yes." El whispers.
"Near a large water tank?"
"Yes."
"H-how do you know all that?" Dustin stutters out. Hopper just stares at him. "He's seen it. When I escaped the Upside Down." I explain. He nods and looks down. Mom leans forward, closer to Eleven.
"Is there any way that you could reach Will? That you could talk to him in this-" She asks, but El intterupts her. "Upside Down."
"And my friend, Barbara. Can you find her too?" Nancy asks before Mom could keep talking. El nods. The boys and I share a look. She could use the radio! I stand up and walk back over to my room. I grab the walkie-talkie and rush back over to them. "She can use this. She's used it before." I say as I place it on the table. They all walk over to the table, letting El sit at the head.
Static comes from the walkie. El closes her eyes and the static gets louder. The lights start to flicker. Very quickly, it all dies down. She opens her eyes, tears glistening. I lean over to her and grab her hand. "I'm sorry." She whispers.
"W-what? What's wrong? What happened?" Mom asks, reaching forward.
"I can't find them." El whispers. Jonathan and Nancy stand up and walk away. I sigh and pull her into a loose hug. "It's okay, you did your best." I whisper to her, trying to make her feel better. "Let's go clean off your nose." I tell her as I stand up straighter. She follows me to the bathroom, sitting on the bathtub.
I turn on the faucet and wet a rag that was on the sink. I ring it out, turning the faucet off, and walk over to her. I bring the rag up to her face and clean the blood away from her nose. "The bath." She whispers.
"What about it?" I ask. What is she getting at?
"I can find them. In the bath." She says as she stands up. How would that wor- Oh! The tank! That makes a whole lotta sense. I nod my head and stand up with her. I drop the rag and open the bathroom door. "Okay, let's tell the others then." I say, putting my hand on her back.
We walk out of the bathroom and back into the living room. Everyone is talking to each other. I clear my throat to gain their attention. "Guys, she can find them in the bath. Like a sensory deprivation tank. We just need a bigger bath." I tell them.
"Well, how are we going to make one?" Lucas asks. Dustin and I look at each other and smirk. There's only one person I know that culd possibly know how to make one.
"Mr.Clarke."
"Any of you know his number?" I ask as I walk over to the phone. Dustin stands up and nods his head. He walks over to me and takes the phone out of my hand. He dials the number quickly. I lean against the wall and cross my arms.
"Mr.Clarke? It's Dustin. I have a science question." Mr.Clarke says something over the line. "Do you know anything about sensory deprivation tanks? Like, how to build one?" He asks.
Dustin panics a little and looks back at me. He places his hand on the part near his mouth, blocking everything he says so Mr.Clarke won't hear him. "He's asking why. What do I say?" He asks me.
"Um, I don't know, tell him that it's for fun or something. Like an at home science experiment." I suggest. He nods and tells Mr.Clarke exactly what I said.
"You always say we should never stop being curious. To open any curiosity door we find. Why are you keeping this curiosity door locked?" Poor Mr.Clarke. He's proabaly busy, but he's probably the only one who would know about this kind of stuff. We only know how to be in one, not build one.
Dustin starts to smile, before walking over to the table. He grabs the paper they were using earlier and flips it over, pencil in his hand. He starts nodding his head, writing something down. I step away from the wall and lean over his shoulder to look at his notes.
1,500 lbs of salt
Large container of water (big enough to fit a person)
COLD WATER
"We'll be careful Mr.Clarke. Bye." Dustin says before hanging up. He places his pencil down and points at Mom. "Do you still have that kiddie pool that we used to bob for apples?"
"Yeah, I should."
"Good, then all we need is salt, and lots of it."
"How much is lots?" Hopper asks.
"About 1,500 lbs of salt." Dustin explains simply.
"Well where are we gonna get that much salt?" Nancy asks. Doesn't the school have a bunh of salt to de-ice the roads? I straighten up and walk over to get my bat from the couch. "We just go to the school. They have plenty of salt for when it snows, it should be enough for this."I say, holding the bat in both hands.
They all nod, but don't move. "C'mon! Let's go, there's no use just sitting around here." I tell them, waving at them to hurry them along. They all quickly stand up and make their way to the door. Don't worry Will and Barb, we're gonna find you. We're close.