Chapter Text
The mall was in ruins.Flickering neon signs cast eerie shadows over broken storefronts, and the stench of burnt flesh and ozone lingered in the air.Anguished cries filled the air as El held onto Max in her arms in front of the corpse of her step-brother in shock.The groups for the fireworks ran down and at the sight no one dared to speak with grief fresh in the air.
Soldiers willed them out,Lucas was almost carrying Max as she was in a state of shock.That was when Joyce arrived but Hopper didn't and El knew from the look on her face in an instant that he wouldn't be, He was gone.
El sobbed in the back of the ambulance with Will by her side.
Then it hit her- where was Mike?
She staged up despite the paramedics' protest stumbling over to Max,Lucas and Dustin with Will following close behind her in concern.
“Max! Where’s Mike?” She breathed out desperately.
“I-I don’t-” Max froze and her face morphed into one of horror “he’s in the corridor he was knocked out and i left him but-”
Max cut herself off again at the sound of a crumbling- the mall was not only consumed by flames but also collapsing.
El stumbled in disbelief over her feet - it couldn't be real- no- Mike and Hopper were both dead.An eerie feeling surrounded the group as the crackling sound and heat of the fire filled the atmosphere. The ash drifts into the hot summer night settling nearby. Paramedics were still stumbling and shouting over the crackle of the fire.Civilians began to gather coughing in the night air in awe of what had unfolded.
She doesn't want to believe it. She can’t believe it. She won’t believe it.
“No,” she murmurs, voice cracking, her eye’s flickering with raw emotion. “Where is Mike?” she pleads, scanning the chaos, her voice rising in panic. She had half expected her powers to lash out in an uncontrollable burst cracking nearby pavement-but there was nothing.
“El” a soft voice whispers,it was Will.
Tears streaking down his cheeks,he looked so tired, so exhausted as though a single touch would shatter him like china. El could see a haunted look in his eyes,he was trembling as he looked at Joyce who overhead them and was walking in the direction of Johnathan,Nancy,Robin and Steve. She looked just the same Will did with the same haunted-devastated look of exhaustion all at once.
Dustin and Lucas,look to be in pieces as Dustin sat in silent tears in the back of the ambulance just shaking his head trying to wipe away his tears faster than they came,muttering over and over to himself.Lucas stood, his mouth gaping still staring at the mall in shock as it further collapsed,max did the same but flinched every time it collapsed further.
Tears buried in El’s eyes as she collapsed on her knees until she was almost inconsolably on the ground,she let out a gut wrenching scream in hysterics- she had everything! It was perfect, it was what she wanted, what she needed.
Now she stood helpless as her life went up in flames in front of her own eyes.
Another wail was heard through her blurred vision on the ground she saw Nancy clutching onto Joyce in a sobbing manner as she repeated ‘no’ over and over.
El was oblivious to Max helping her to her feet as she saw Ted and Karen join the scenes and Lucas's,Max’s and Dustin's parents arrived not too far behind them on the scene.
Paramedics were talking to Mike’s parents.
Guilt began to override her emotions as she saw Karen's look of concern as she listened tentatively to morphing into one of pure horror.Karen cries clinging to Ted in disbelief as tears streamed down her face, ted looked at the Mall on fire a hand of shock over his mouth as he was informed,El could swear she saw a tear.
El moved out the way as Dustin,Max and Lucas were rushed to be comforted by their parents in tears and words of relief for the wellbeing.A knot began to tie in her chest as she felt a heavy feeling of loneliness come back as all too familiar like it had when she’d been in the lab, in the woods- Will was hugging her, tight,firm.
“It’s gonna be okay El, you’ll be fine”
Those words pushed El into a soft round of tears because Will had just lost his best friend but still had so much empathy to care about El knowing how scared she was.She hugged him tightly back.
What was going to happen to her now?What was going to happen to them?
The mall itself was deteriorating rapidly,as the fire overtook the building in an alarmingly fast rate burning the evidence of flesh,Billy’s body and the scraps of rubbish scattered on the floor from scoring El food only hours ago.with Tiring efforts the Firefighter, followed by the military forces scotted out the building.
The hallway that Maxine Mayfeild had declared she’d been in with her unconscious friend who was supposedly still there was collapsed,in an attempt of moving the rubble there was streaks of blood,the military officers who had found the blood received a sample before having a emergency summons to revive from the building declaring it to be too unstable- and with no sign of a body, they did in the knick of time.
In Russia - Kamchatka Prison
Across the world, in a desolate Russian outpost, Hopper’s hands were raw from the biting cold. He slammed the pickaxe into the frozen ground for what felt like the hundredth time, his body protesting with every movement. The guards watched from a distance, their rifles slung casually over their shoulders, but Hopper knew better than to mistake their indifference for leniency.
The day’s grueling work ended with the sound of a whistle. Hopper and the other prisoners were herded back into the freezing, dimly lit barracks. He collapsed onto the wooden bunk, exhaustion weighing him down. But his mind wouldn’t let him rest.
He thought of El. Of Joyce. Of the kids. His heart ached with a mix of longing and fear. He had no idea how much time had passed, nor how long he could endure this.
Suddenly, a murmur spread through the barracks. Hopper sat up, his instincts sharpening. A new prisoner was being brought in — but something was off. The guards seemed unusually on edge, their faces hard as they escorted a small, unconscious figure.
Hopper’s blood ran cold as he caught a glimpse of the new arrival. A kid. He couldn’t see much in the dim light, but the boy’s lanky frame and mop of dark hair struck a chord deep in his memory.
“No,” Hopper whispered, his heart pounding in disbelief. “It can’t be…”
But as the guards dragged the unconscious boy into the cell, Hopper recognized him immediately. It was Mike Wheeler.