In the morning, after Mike had found out about the bad men from El, he made a plan. He ran up the stairs to avoid his mother coming downstairs and discovering Eleven. Mike rode his bike out of the garage after he said bye to his mom. He rode hurriedly and hid behind some trees down the street.
He waited there for a couple minutes and waited for his mother to drive by. Mike was starting to get nervous, he started to think about how long he had been waiting. Looking down at his cheap watch he saw it was already 8:30 am. He would be just starting 2nd period in about 20 minutes. As Mike was thinking of the worst scenario where his mom had found El, he saw her pass by in her car.
Seeing this, Mike released a relaxed sigh and finally his tenses muscles relaxed. Mike waited for a couple minutes to make sure his mom wouldn't see him in the rear-view mirror. Mike rode his bike back to his house quickly and rode into his back yard. He stashed his bike in a hidden area behind the house.
Mike walked inside through the back door and made his way to the basement. Eleven was looking around the basement and looking at all the toys and stuff, so she didn't notice Mike come down. Mike said, "Hey, El."
El jumped in fright before she turned around and said, "Mike."
Mike said, "Sorry about that. I came back because I have to figure out a new plan of what to do." El nodded.
Mike said, "Do you want to look around upstairs?"
El said quietly, "Yes." Mike nodded and led El up the stairs. They walked up the stairs and through the door. Eleven was looking around curiously, when she had first come here the lights were off as it was late, and they were sneaking in.
Mike saw El looking around curiously and smiled for no reason. Suddenly he realized he was smiling and stopped. Mike asked a curious Eleven, "Do you want something to drink?" Eleven nodded slowly.
Mike walked from the living room into the kitchen with Eleven following behind him. Mike opened the fridge and said, "We have... OJ, skim milk... What else? Uhm... Apple juice, water, and Cola."
El said, "Water." Mike nodded and grabbed a glass from the cupboard before he filled it with water and handed it to El. El drank the water quickly and set the glass on the counter. El walked out of the kitchen and walked back to the living room. She walked in front of the big box with metal sticks pointing upwards.
Mike said, "This is the TV. Nice, right? It's a 22 inch." Mike got so into talking about the TV he didn't notice El walk away.
Mike continued, "That's like, ten times bigger than Dustin's TV." Mike noticed El had walked away and looked at her. El stood on a ledge in order to look at the photos on a shelf. El looked at a picture of Nancy and said, "Pretty."
Mike said, "I guess. That's my sister Nancy. And that's baby Holly. and those are my parents." Eleven looked at all the pictures for a couple seconds before she got off the ledge.
Mike asked, "What are your parents like? Do they live close?" Eleven didn't answer and walked over to the recliner and felt the soft fabric.
Mike said, "That's our La-Z-Boy. It's where my dad sleeps. You can try it if you want." Eleven looked toward Mike, who nodded at her before she slowly sat down on the soft chair.
Mike said, "It's fun. Just trust me, okay?" Eleven nodded her head. Then Mike pulled the lever and the chair fully reclined quickly. Mike laughed and Eleven joined in nervously.
Mike said, "See? Fun, right?" Mike then put the legs down, sitting El up.
Mike said, "Now, you try." Eleven reached down and pulled the lever for herself reclining the chair. Eleven smile and they both began to laugh together.
Meanwhile, Jonathan was in his car driving to his estranged father's house near the city. It had been a long time since he has seen him, and he wasn't looking forward to seeing him again. The only reason Jonathan even considered the idea of going to his fathers was because it was for Will. He knew that if the cops went to look for Will, Lonny would flee, and they would never find out if Lonny knows anything or is involved.
As Jonathan continued down the road his favorite song came on the radio, it was, "Should I Stay or Should I Go". This song brought a pleasant memory to mind. Jonathan remembered that when Lonny and his mother were splitting up and were fighting all the time, he brought Will into his room. To drown out the screaming outside the room, Jonathan played this song. He asked, "You like it?"
Will answered, "Yeah, it's cool."
Jonathan said, "Alright, you can keep the mix if you want."
Will asked, "Really?"
Jonathan said, "Yeah, really. All the best stuff is on there, Joy Division, Bowie, Television, The Smiths... It'll totally change your life."
Will said, "Yeah, totally."
Joyce raised her voice and said, "Where the hell are you, Lonny? I don't want to hear it. I don't want to hear it." Will and Jonathan heard this and turned to the door. Jonathan got up and walked over to the door before he closed it. Jonathan walked back over and turned down the music and sat down on the bed.
Will asked, "He's not coming, is he?"
Jonathan said, "Do you even like baseball?"
Will said, "No, but... I don't know. It's fun to go with him sometimes."
Jonathan said, "Come on. Has he ever done anything with you that you actually like? You know, like the Arcade or something?"
Will said, "I don't know."
Jonathan said, No, all right? He hasn't. He's trying to force you to like normal things. And you shouldn't like things because people tell you you're supposed to. Okay? Especially not him."
Will nodded his head. Jonathan asked, "But you like The Clash? For real?"
Will said, "For real. Definitely." Jonathan raised the volume higher than it was before and they sat together listening to music and bobbing their heads.
Jonathan passed by a sign that said, "Leaving Hawkins. Come again soon." Jonathan began to sob as he finally allowed himself to feel the pain. He had been staying calm and collected for his mother but in reality, he was in even worse shape. Jonathan wiped his tears and resolved his will before he focused on driving and changed the song, it was too soon for him.
As Jonathan was driving to Lonny's house, Joyce arrived at her job and walked inside hurriedly. She walked past the counter and walked into the back and grabbed a telephone and a pack of cigarettes. She walked back to the counter and was able to buy them as she still had some money from when Jonathan bought the posters. Joyce had asked Jonathan, "Why do you still have so much money left?" She was surprised by what Jonathan told her.
Jonathan told her, "John gave me some money and walked off before I could give it back." Joyce was a little shocked, but she accepted the answer pretty easily. After all, they had a "special" relationship.
Anyway, Joyce walked out of the store hurriedly and got into her car before she sped off to her house. She wanted to be back at home and ready to pick up the phone if there was any news regarding Will.
At around the same time Joyce arrived at the store, a man wearing an electrician uniform walked up to the door of the Byer house and knocked. The man waited for a while, then he looked through the windows and saw no movement, so he pulled out his radio. The man said, "We're all clear."
Another man said, "Copy that." Multiple men got out of the electrician's van. They were all wearing white hazmat suits. It was clear that they were all from Hawkins Lab. The men got out of from the van carrying briefcases. If you looked closely, you would notice that Dr. Brenner was also getting out of the van.
They all opened their briefcases and pulled out some kind of highly advanced sensor. The sensors began to beep quietly, and they all made their way to the back of the house. The man who knocked on the door went back to the car in order to both keep a look out and act as a getaway driver if necessary.
The men walked around the house and the beeping got a little louder. They all walked according to the beeping, and all arrived in front of the shed door. Brenner kicked the door open and walked into the shed, a man held the door open to keep the area lit. Brenner walked to the back of the shed and looked around.
When he turned to the right, the beeping intensified. Brenner looked closely at the right side and found a small patch of oozing material in the right corner. Brenner said, "Extraordinary. This is the highest readings we have managed to gather since the depths of the Lab where the gate originally appeared. It seems the cracks in our dimensional plane are spreading. This is fascinating."