Up at the highest point in Hawkins, Steve, Robin, Dustin, and Erica looked on in horror as the bright lights off the mall started to flicker and flash like some dementoded amusement park ride. Steve cursed himself for letting Kim stay behind.
Dustin rushed back to the radio tower and yelled, "Griswold Family, this is Scoops Troop! Do you copy? Over!"
•••••
"Griswold Family, I repeat, this is Scoops Troop. Do you-" He didn't get to finish as the Mind Flayer snatched up Mike's abandoned walky talky and crunched it between it's sharp teeth.
Kim closed her eyes fighting back tears at the sound of Dustin's voice. Scoops Troop. Her Scoops Troop. She wondered if she would ever see them again, if the last time she heard her brother's voice would be through a crackly walky talk. Kim took a deep breath, trying to calm down. She had to stay strong for the kids, she reminded herself. If they saw how scared she really was, then they would start to freak out, and that wouldn't do anyone any good. She wrapped her arms around their shoulders and pulled them close to her.
The Mind Flayer prowled closer to the terrified quartet, roaring as it did so. It paced around where they were hiding as if it were taunting them. It finally turned away and started to crawl towards the car Nancy, Jonathan, Lucas, and Will were cowering behind.
Nancy looked up into the car mirror and was able to see the monster coming their way. Somehow, the thing looked even more horrible than it had at Hopper's cabin. The Mind Flayer picked up one of the dead Russinan guards and flung it repeatedly against a wall. Nancy looked away, panting with fear as she gripped Jonathan's hand.
"Stay down," Kim warned the three younger kids. She slowly stood up, using the leafly plant as coverage. "It's turned away."
"If we go up the stairs now, we'll make it," Mike added, sneaking a look as well.
"No way, not with El's leg," Max protested.
"We have to try," Kim whispered. "El's strong, she can do it. I'll carry her if I have to."
"There's another way," El said quietly, pointing at the closest store. "Through the Gap."
Kim nervously bit her lip as she took another look at the Mind Flayer. "Okay, let's go." She scooped El up in her strong arms, grunting with the effort. She ran as fast as she could while carrying El's weight, urging Max and Mike forward as well. She snuck through the doors of the Gap and internally screamed as her elbow bumped into a clothing rack and it toppled over.
The Mind Flayer looked over its grotesque shoulder at the commotion and growled menacingly as it approached the store. It was too big to fit through the door, but it extended its tentacle-like arms to search for the girl who had slammed the gate in his face and her friends.
Mike, Kim, Max, and El, squeezed together behind a shelf of clothes. Kim's eyes grew wide with terror as the Mind Flayer chucked a mannequin wearing El's clothes in their direction. She quickly grabbed the three others and they moved silently to a new hiding spot.
Back over by the busted up red car, Lucas peered over at what was going on in the Gap. He tried to steady his breathing as he reached for his trusty wrist rocket. He knew it was stupid, and he knew it wouldn't hurt the Mind Flayer at all, but his friends were in that damn store and he needed to help them.
"What are you doing?" Nancy asked him, her voice a frantic whisper.
"Don't worry," Lucas replied, grabbing a piece of deprise and firing it at a display balloon in front of a different store.
The Mind Flayer roared in outrage, thinking his targets had gotten away, and withdrew its claw from right next to Mike's face.
"Let's go," Kim whispered, picking up El again and shoving the others towards the back exit. They ran down the white hallway that connected all the stores for deliveries.
Meanwhile, Nancy, Jonathan, Will, and Lucas were doing the same thing. The group sprinted out to Nancy's car while Jonathan tried desperately to connect the ignition cable from the other car.
The revve of Billy's engine startled Nancy and Jonathan again.
"Get the car started," Nancy said. "Go!" As Jonathan hopped into the car, Nancy cocked the gun she had taken from the Russian and aimed it towards Billy's far off vehicle. Behind her, Jonathan repeatedly turned the key, but it refused to work. Billy revved the engine again before taking off at full speed towards Nancy's car. Eyes wide with fear, Nancy shot at the windshield.
"We gotta go!" Lucas yelled, his voice cracking.
Nancy shot again and again, missing every time because of her trembling hands.
Billy's car showed no sign of slowing down and both Lucas and Will were reminded of a time when Billy had chased them down the street on Halloween. Max had grabbed the steering wheel and jerked the car out of the way just in time to save them. There was no Max in the passenger seat now — nothing to stop Billy from colliding with them.
Nancy squeezed her eyes shut, preparing for an impact that never came.
Steve gripped the steering wheel tighter as he rammed the car Hopper had stolen right into Billy's. He looked over at Robin, both of them trying to catch their breath after what was probably the twentieth near death experience that day. "Are you okay?"
"Ask me tomorrow?" Robin suggested, her whole body still shaking slightly. The fear inside her seemed to grow as she caught sight of the Mind Flayer for the first time.
Steve, who at least knew a bit about the things that came out of the Upside Down, was totally unprepared for how nasty the creature looked. It had the same flowery face of a Demogorgon, but was at least twenty feet bigger. He suddenly remembered the whole reason he had crashed the car into Billy's. Kimmy.
"Get in," Nancy instructed, pulling up next to Steve and a still stunned Robin.
The two Scoops Ahoy employees quickly climbed into the back of Nancy's car where Kim, Mike, and El had been the first time they tried to escape. Robin stared transfixed at the monster as it started following them out of the mall parking lot.
Steve looked around the car frantically. "Where's Kim?"
"She-we had to- she's still inside," Jonathan answered.
"You just left her there?" Steve yelled, wanting to reach over the rows of seats and strangle both Nancy and Jonathan.
"If that thing's following us, that means she's safe, okay Steve?" Nancy reminded him, putting her foot more firmly down on the gas pedal. "She's safe."
•••••
Kim was far from safe.
She had managed to get Max, El, and Mike out of the mall only to see Billy stalking towards them. The group had run back inside, but knew they couldn't out run him for long. Kim felt like her body was about to fall apart with the strain of carrying El and running for her life.
"In here," Mike said, knowing Kim needed a rest and that the small room was the best place to hide. There was a tiny service elevator at the back of the room and Mike repeatedly pounded his fist against the up button while Kim set El down. Both girls slid to the floor from exhaustion and pain.
Max walked back out into the hallway and felt her stomach drop as her eyes connected with her step brothers. "Billy."
Kim and El's heads snapped up while Mike's spun around.
Billy continued to stagger down the hallway, the fluorescent lights flickering on and off above him and showing off his black veined skin. Max tried to reason with him, to tell him he didn't have to do this, but he didn't listen. Right now, he wasn't Billy, he was the Mind Flayer. He drew his fist back and knocked Max out with a single blow.
Mike tried to run at Billy, but Kim held out an arm. "Stay with El," she said, her eyes full of determination. She had beat Billy before, but then she hadn't been nearly as exhausted and he wasn't drawing on the strength of the Mind Flayer. She kicked him in the stomach before he had a chance to hit her first. As he was doubled over, she elbowed his head into the wall, showing as little mercy as he would have.
Mike and El looked on with wide eyes as Billy finally swung his fist at Kim's nose. She ducked just in time, her eyes darting around desperately for anything she could use as a weapon. She mentally cursed mall mantience for not being stupid enough to leave their tools lying around.
This time, his fist caught her right on the cheek. She had been so distracted looking for something helpful that she had lost track of his hands and where they were aiming. As she was about to bring her knee up, he wrapped his hand around her throat. He lifted her into the air like she was a rag doll, a look of contempt on his face as he watched her struggle for breath.
Mike, who had never been very good at listening to Kim's directions, had finally had enough of watching the older girl struggle. He tackled Billy to the ground and Kim's half conscious body crumpled to the cold tile floor. Billy easily smashed Mike's head against the wall, knocking the dark haired boy unconscious.
Kim staggered back to her feet, knowing she was El's last line of defence. "El, when I tell you to run, run," Kim instructed.
El nodded, wanting to help but knowing she won't be of any use without her powers.
Kim's palm smashed up against Billy's nose. It was terrible and she wasn't proud of it, but she got a surge of pleasure at the sight of blood trickling down the boy's face. In retaliation, he swiped her feet out from under her. Kim groaned on the ground, but as Billy started towards El again, Kim wrapped herself around his leg. Unbalanced from the unexpected new weight, he toppled over. Kim quickly got on top of him to hold him down. "Run, El!" she screamed.
The younger girl took off as quickly as she could down the hallway. She clung to the wall for support, wishing that she wasn't so drained and that she had her powers.
Kim managed to get in a punch or two before Billy grabbed her fist and twisted it. As she cried out in pain, he slammed her head against a water pipe. Kim tried desperately to stay awake, to get back up. But she couldn't. She felt her eyes fluttering shut, wondering if she would ever open them again.