Eleven witnessed this entire seen and jolted when she saw Benny get shot. Her face quickly showing her fear as she froze in horror. She snapped out of her daze seconds later however and ran out of the kitchen as fast as she could. She bumped into the counter, causing some dishes to fall on the floor, creating a clanking and shattering sound.
Eleven ran out of the kitchen to the back door, only for a man to burst through the door pointing a pistol at her. Another man soon came into the hall as well, and also pointed his pistol at Eleven. Eleven began to panic and subconsciously used her powers to push the men against the wall. It was unknown if the men were still alive.
Eleven then ran out the back door towards the woods she had originally come from. Brenner was in the front of the diner and heard the men groan, showing they were alive. The thud produced when their bodies hit the floor was also quite loud. Brenner walked to the back door and looked out, but Eleven was already out of sight, most likely already deep into the woods.
Mike had just met up with Dustin and Lucas. They began to ride to the road that Will takes home. When they arrived, Lucas said, "Ah, man. This is it." They stopped in front of some wooden barricades and got off their bikes as thunder began to roar high up in the sky.
John was in the woods currently and he heard the thunder as well, some drops of rain began to fall slowly. He knew it was going to rain today. No, not rain. Pour. All of the volunteers began to walk back to their vehicles, along with Hopper and his fellow officers. John didn't blame them as they had been searching for a long time already and had already covered a large part of the forest. It was currently 4:00 am.
John didn't follow them, however. John began to make his way through the woods towards the 3 dots. As he walked it began to rain more steadily. John was a little surprised that Mike and his friends came out so late, if anything, John had to say they were dumb and brave. Or maybe just so dumb that it could be misconstrued as bravery.
Mike and his gang had just passed the barrier and were making their way through the woods. Dustin had tried to convince Mike and Lucas but the two of them were hardheaded and wouldn't give in. Mike and Lucas given Dustin an ultimatum which caused Dustin to pause for a second before he followed his friends.
Meanwhile, at the Byer Residence, Joyce and Jonathan were looking through some of the picture that Jonathan had taken. However, Jonathan began to sob softly. Joyce asked, "Hey, what is it? What is it, Honey?"
Jonathan said, "Nothing."
Joyce said, "Tell me. Tell me. Come on."
Jonathan said, "No."
Joyce said, "You can..."
Jonathan said, "It's just... I should've been there for him."
Joyce said, "No. Oh, no. You can't do that to yourself. This was not your fault. Do you hear me? He is... close. I know it. I... I feel it in my heart. You just have to... You have to trust me on this, okay?"
Thunder rumbled overhead as Jonathan said, "Yeah."
Joyce said as she pointed at a picture of Will, "Look at this one. Look at this one." They both laughed.
Joyce said, "I think that's it, right?"
Jonathan said, "Yeah."
Joyce said, "That's it. That's the one." Suddenly the phone began to ring. Joyce stood up in a hurry and ran to the phone. She picked up the phone and said, "Hello?" There was no reply though, all that could be heard was some staticky shallow breathing. She tried to get a response, but no one answered. Joyce said, "Lonnie? Hopper? Who is this? Will? Who is this? Give me back my son."
When Joyce finished her last sentence the phone burst with electricity, frying the phone and destroying it. Jonathan tried to pick up the phone, but he couldn't hear anything. Jonathan then comforted Joyce as she crumpled to the ground. Jonathan asked, "Mom, who was it? Who was it, Mom?"
Joyce said, "It was him."
Jonathan said, "look at me, Mom. Was it Will?"
Joyce said, "Yes."
Jonathan asked, "What did he say?"
Joyce answered, "He just breathed. He just breathed." Joyce was sobbing loudly, and she was muttering incoherent words.
Jonathan said, "It was Will?"
Joyce said, "It was him. I know it was his breathing. I know it was his breathing.
Mike was walking through the rain with his friends and shouting, "Will!" They walked for a couple more minutes when they saw some movement from the right. It was a tall figure. Some thunder roared in the sky, Mike and his friends began to back away. Suddenly they heard a familiar voice. John said, "What the hell are you kids doing out here?"
Mike said, "We, uhm, I... uh..." Mike continued to stammer along with the other kids. John sighed heavily as the rain poured down causing his sweater to hug his body tightly.
John walked over to them and said, "Come on, I'm bringing you home."
Mike said, "Please, John. Just let us look for a while?"
John looked at Mike, Dustin and Lucas who were all peering at him in anticipation. John said, "Fine, but only for a short while." The kids cheered as they began to walk further through the woods. They shouted for Will every so often as they made their way forward.
Dustin said something about a comic book. Then he said, "I think we should head back now."
Lucas said, "Seriously, Dustin? It has only been a couple minutes. Stop being such a baby."
Dustin said, "I'm just being realistic. Look at the weather."
Lucas said, "Your just being a big Sissy."
Dustin said, "Did you ever think Will went missing because he ran into something bad? And we are going to the exact same spot where he was last seen. And we have no weapons or anything?"
John said, "You're wrong. I have a weapon."
Dustin asked, "Where?"
John pulled his knife out of his pocket and threw it over to Dustin. Dustin caught it clumsily and looked at it with his flashlight. Dustin said, "Woah, is this a switch blade?"
John said, "Yeah."
Mike asked, "Why do you have it?"
John said, "It comes in handy."
They were interrupted when they heard some rustling and some twigs snapping in the woods to their left. Mike pointed his flashlight in the opposite side of where the noise originated. John facepalmed as he looked the other way and saw a young girl wearing only a yellow shirt standing in front of him. Dustin noticed John looking the other way and saw the girl as well. Mike and Lucas also turned the correct way, now seeing the girl as well.
John took off his sweater and walked towards the girl before he put the sweater on her. The girl was a little nervous at first because of John's size but she soon calmed down when she saw he was helping her. The boys were in a daze looking at the girl, like she was some kind of alien.
John saw the girl shivering so he said, "Come on, guys. Let's go."
Lucas said, "But--" However, he was cut off by John.
John said, "No buts, it's time to go. I have humored you enough for the night. This girl is so thin, she might get seriously ill if she stays out here for any longer." The boys nodded as they began to follow John. Eleven walked right beside John, John looked down at her and saw that her feet were bare.
Suddenly John picked the girl up with one arm. The girl was startled and tried to jump away but stopped a second later. She was so tired; she had done a lot of stuff today and she felt safe at the moment. Eleven lay her head on John's shoulder as she closed her eyes.
However, John saw this and said, "Don't close your eyes girl. Wait until you warm up. You might go into a coma." Eleven nodded her head as she lay her head down and focused on staying awake. John sped up some and the boys had to jog to keep up. They arrived at John car, and they all got in.
Eleven was in the front, so that the heat would hit her faster. John put the heat on full blast and revved the engine for a while to quickly warm up the air shooting out of the dash. The car was soon toasty warm and Eleven had stopped shaking. While they were heating up, John asked, "Hey, dorks. Where are your bikes?"
Mike said, "Just up the road in the ditch." John nodded and changed gears before he began driving down the street. Mike told him to stop when they reached the bikes. John got out of the car and grabbed the bikes before he shoved them into the trunk. John then got into the car and drove to his house. John turned off his headlights when he turned onto his street so that no one would be able to see him park.
They all got out of John's car and Mike led them into his house before led them to the basement and had Eleven sit on the couch.
Mike asked, "What are we going to do?"
John answered, "We call the authorities."
Mike said, "What?! We can't do that, look at her. Something bad happened."
John looked at Eleven who at him as well. John asked, "Is there a number I can call for your parents?" Eleven didn't respond and stared blankly at John.
Dustin asked, "Where's your hair? Do you have cancer?"
Lucas asked, "Did you run away?"
Mike asked, "What happened to your clothes? Are you in some kind of trouble?"
Lucas looked at her shirt and saw something peculiar. He asked, "Is that blood?" Lucas tried to reach forward, but Mike slapped his hand away.
Mike said, "Stop it! You're freaking her out!"
Lucas said, "She's freaking me out!"
Dustin said, "I bet she's deaf." Dustin clapped his hands loudly which caused Eleven to jolt.
Dustin said, "Not deaf."
John said, "Calm down, dorks. She's scared and uncomfortable." Mike thought of something and walked over to the laundry room. He grabbed a clean pair of sweatpants and a shirt before he walked over to Eleven and handed the clothes to her. Some thunder rumble suddenly, causing Eleven to jolt in surprise.
Mike said, "Here wear these. Okay?"
Eleven stood up from the couch and began to lift her yellow shirt. John said, "Wait! Not here, girl." Mike led Eleven over to the bathroom and turned on the light. In the background you could hear Dustin saying, "Oh my God. Oh my God..."
Then he left her there and began to close the door. Eleven stopped the door with her hand.
Elven said, "No."
Mike said, "It can't be open all the way, why don't we leave it just like this... Better?"
Eleven said, "Yes." Eleven then walked into the corner of the bathroom and began to change into the clothes. They were a little large for her but not by much.
While Eleven was changing, Mike walked back over to his friends who were talking about Eleven. Dustin said, "That was mental."
Mike said, "At least she can talk."
Lucas said, "She said no and yes. Your three-year-old sister says more."
Dustin said, "She tried to get naked."
Lucas said, "There is something seriously wrong with her. Like, wrong in the head."
Dustin said, "She just went like..." Dustin made a hand gesture of taking off clothes.
Lucas said, "I bet she escaped from Penhurst."
Mike asked, "From where?"
John said, "It's a mental hospital over in Kerley County."
Dustin said to Lucas, "How do you know about that place? You got a lot of family there?"
Lucas said, "Bite me. Seriously though, think about it. That would explain why her head is shaved and why she's so crazy."
Dustin said, "Why she went like this." Dustin did the same hand gesture once more.
Lucas said, "She's an escapee is my point. She's probably a psycho."
John said, "She not crazy, Lucas. She's just a little odd."
Lucas said, "Well, I don't care. We should have never taken her back with us."
Mike said, "So, you wanted to just leave her out in the storm."
Lucas said, "Yes, we went out to find Will, not another problem."
John said, "Well, we're past leaving her or not. She is already here so we have to find some way to deal with it."
Dustin said, "We should tell your mom, Mike."
John said, "That might be the best thing to do."
Lucas said, "I agree."
Mike said, "Who's crazy now?"
Lucas asked, "How is that crazy?"
Mike said, "Cause we weren't supposed to be out tonight, remember?"
Lucas said, "So?"
Mike said, "If I tell my mom and she tells your mom and your mom..."
Dustin said, "Oh, man."
Lucas said, "Our houses become Alcatraz."
Mike said, "Exactly. We'll never find Will."
Dustin made the same hand gesture again.
John said, "I think your forgetting about the bigger picture. The girl's safety is more important, than you dorks, getting grounded for a couple days."
Mike said, "Wait, I have a plan for that."
John said, "Pray tell."
Mike said, "She sleeps here for the night."
Dustin said, "You're letting a girl--"
Mike interrupted, "Just listen! In the morning, she sneaks around my house, goes to the front door and rings my doorbell. My mom will know exactly what to do. She'll send her back to Penhurst or wherever she comes from. We''l be totally in the clear. And tomorrow night, we go back out. This time, we find Will."
John said, "Did I hear you right? You want to go back out? Well, whatever."
Lucas said, "Why can't she just stay at John's house?"
John said, "Too much foot traffic."
Lucas said, "What foot traffic?"
John said, "I have girls over all the time, I'm just sneaky about it." Dustin looked up at John with reverence clear in his eyes. Lucas nodded his head slowly; John was the King of Hawkins High. Mike was a little surprised as he had never noticed girls going into John's house.
John said, "See you dorks, later. Be careful on your little adventure." John then began to walk up the stairs.
Dustin said, "John, you forgot your knife."
John kept walking and said, "Keep it, I have more." Dustin looked down at the knife with a glimmer in his eye. John walked out of the basement only to bump into Nancy.
Nancy said, "John, what are you doing here?"
John said, "I was talking to Mike. What are you doing?"
Nancy answered, "I was going to get a snack."
John nodded and said, "Well, I'll see you later, Nancy." Nancy nodded as she watched John walked out the front door. John's clothes were wet, causing them to stick to his body and show off his muscles. Nancy walked into the kitchen and grabbed a bag of chips before she rushed upstairs and went into her room.
She locked the door, then she set the chips down. She jumped onto her bed and pulled down her pants before she began to rub her pussy slowly. Her moans soon filling the room, only drowned out by the music she had playing.
In the basement, Mike was setting up Eleven inside a blanket fort he had made a couple days ago. Lucas and Dustin had left the basement a while ago, leaving Mike and Eleven alone in the basement. Miike said, "Hey, um, I never asked your name."
Eleven showed a slight smile and showed her wrist. Showing off the numbers that were tattooed on her arm. Mike reached forward to touch it and said, "Is that real?"
Eleven got startled and moved her arm back. Mike said, "Sorry, I just never seen a kid with a tattoo before. What does it mean? Eleven?" Eleven pointed at herself as she stared at Mike quietly.
Mike asked, "That's your name?" Eleven nodded her head multiple times.
Mike said, "Eleven. Okay. Um, well, my name's Mike. Short for Michael... Maybe we can call you, El. Short for Eleven." Eleven nodded her head.
Mike said, "Um, well, okay. 'Night El."
El said, "Goodnight, Mike." Mike nodded before he put down the blanket entrance and walked up the stairs and left the basement. When Mike was gone, El began to sob quietly as thunder rumbled overhead. Her body shaking as she remembered Benny getting shot in the head.
Eleven tried to close her eyes and sleep but it was no use. Each time she closed her eyes, she could see Benny getting shot, she also remembered all the people she had hurt or killed during her escape from the Lab.
Eventually she was able to fall asleep only because of the sheer exhaustion she felt. She lay her head on the pillow and rested for the first time in over 18 hours. As she dreamed, she began to see glimpses of a dark-skinned girl but when she woke up, she had completely forgotten.