Three black cars could be seen parking in front of Hawkins Lab. Multiple men wearing suits got out of the vehicles and made their way to the building. They met an older man with white hair on the way. The leader of the group greeted, "Dr. Brenner".
Dr. Brenner said, "This way, gentlemen." Then he led them into the building, they walked through a series of seemingly random hallways. As they were walking a scientist said to Brenner, "The entire East wing will be evacuated within the hour. We've sealed off this area following the quarantine protocol."
Dr. Brenner walked through a sealed area and began to change into a hazmat suit along with the other men that were following him. They put on white hazmat suit and black rubber gloves. They used duct tape to seal where the gloves and suit met, they were taking this very seriously. Finally, they put on White masks that were connected to a respirator.
Dr. Brenner walked out of the room, the men with him were holding machine guns. They obviously thought they needed protection from whatever they were going towards. They walked down another series of hallways before they arrived at an elevator door. They pushed the button and waited then the elevator opened with a ding. The door of the elevator had many layers, much like the one the panicked scientist had died within.
They rode down the elevator for several minutes, they were going very deep into the ground. When they hit the ground the elevator thudded, and the doors opened slowly. The men walked out cautiously, using the flashlights attached to their weapons to look around. The hallway in front of them was pitch black and they could barely see 10 feet in front of them.
They walked forward slowly for a while, some of the lights would flicker every so often. They made turn down another hallway and they shined their lights around. They found these weird fleshy materials on the walls. They walked closer and heard the fleshy material squelching as if alive. They walked past it after a couple seconds and walked through a doorway.
They arrived in a room with huge computer console. Some kind of particle was floating in the air of the room. They walked forward to the far end of the room and looked forward. There were huge pieces of flesh like material all over the wall and in looked like a passage of some kind. The flesh was positioned randomly, and it looked like the roots of a very large tree. However, these roots were like huge tentacles as they were slimy, and you could hear a squelching sound as they moved.
Man 1 asked, "This where it came from?"
Man 2 answered, "Yes."
Man 1 said, "And the Girl?"
Brenner's face grimaced before he said ominously, "She can't have gone far." Suddenly some growling was heard, and the men guarded the door while Dr. Brenner called for reinforcements.
Meanwhile, in a secluded part of the woods a small figure could be seen. It was a young girl, around the age of 12. Her feet were bare as she walked on the twigs and fallen branches that littered the forest floor.
The girl was wearing a dirty and somewhat torn hospital gown. Her face was covered in soot, but this did not make her any less cute. The girl's hair was buzzed off, making it a little harder to distinguish that she was a girl. The girl walked through the forest for a couple minutes. She was looking all around her with a sense of wonder and curiosity.
The girl continued forward for a couple of minutes before she reached the edge of the forest. In front of her was the back of a diner, she looked at it curiously. She saw a chubby man wearing an apron walk out the side door and throw out some garbage. She walked to the door cautiously and opened it slowly. The door creaked quietly as it opened, the girl walked inside and closed the door behind her gently.
The girl then walked through a small storage area and snuck into the kitchen while the man from before was busy with a customer. The man was talking to the customer about a basketball game they had watched on TV, so he was quite distracted. The girl walked into the kitchen through the double doors and started to look around. She had been attracted to this place because of hunger. The girl looked for a second and found some french fries sitting on the counter.
The girl walked over to them and took a bite of one. Her eyes widened as she tasted the fry, and she began to shovel them into her mouth with vigor. She looked over the counter at the man that was still talking to a customer. The man finished his conversation finally and turned around towards her.
The man noticed her almost immediately and shouted, "Hey! Come here!" The girl panicked and ran out of the kitchen, carrying her fries. She ran to the door she came in through as fast as possible, but the chubby man was surprisingly quick, and he was able to get hold of her. The man grabbed her, causing the girl to drop the fries.
The man grabbed her by the arms and spun her around to look at her. The girl's face showed her fear. The man said, "You think you can steal from me, boy?" The girl looked at the man in fear, her chest heaving up and down as she tried to catch her breath.
The man looked closer at her and noticed that it wasn't a boy, but a girl. The man said, "What in the hell."
The bell rang and class was dismissed. Mike began to pack his stuff into his bag. His teacher, Mr. Clarke said, "Remember, finish chapter 12 and answer 12.3 on the difference between experiment and other forms of scientific investigation. This will be on the test, which will cover chapter 10 through 12. It will be multiple choice with an essay section."
Mike, Lucas, and Dustin were standing in front of Mr. Clarke's desk excitedly. Mike asked, "Did it come?"
Mr. Clarke said sadly, "Sorry, boys. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but... it came." Mike and his friends ran out of the classroom excitedly and rushed to the AV Club Room. Mr. Clarke followed them, and they reached the AV room a couple minute later. Mike walked inside and rushed over to the desk before he sat down.
Mr. Clarke said, "The Heathkit Ham Shack. Ain't she a beaut?"
The boys nodded, then began to goof off as they used the radio. Dustin said, "I bet you could talk to New York on this thing."
Mr. Clarke said, "Think bigger."
Lucas asked, "California?"
Mr. Clarke said, "Bigger."
Mike asked, "Australia?" Mr. Clarke nodded his head. The boys exclaimed in excitement.
Lucas said, "When Will sees this, he's totally going to blow his shit."
Mr. Clarke scolded, "Lucas!"
Lucas said, "Sorry." Dustin laughed at Lucas's plight.
Mike turned the dial on the radio and said in an Australian accent, "Hello, this is Mike Wheeler, President of Hawkins Middle AV Club."
Dustin stole the headset from Mikes head. Lucas said, "What are you doing?"
Dustin said in an accent, "Hello, this is Dustin, and this is the treasurer of Hawkins Middle AV Club. Do you eat kangaroos for breakfast?" Lucas was about to steal the headset from Dustin, but he was interrupted by a knock on the door. The principle came walking in the room followed by Hopper.
The principle said, "Sorry to interrupt, but, uh, may I borrow Michael, Lucas, and Dustin?" Mike and his friends looked at the principle with blank faces, they were worried that they were in trouble. They walked out of the room and followed the principle to his office. They looked at the cop nervously.
When they arrived at the office, the principle went and sat at his desk. Mike, Lucas, and Dustin sat down on a couch while the two cops sat down in chairs across from them. Hopper explained the situation to the kids. Then Hopper asked them, "Which Road does Will take, to go home?"
Mike and his friends began to talk over one another, making it impossible to understand anything any of them were saying. Hopper said, "Okay, okay, okay. One at a time, alright? You." Mike nodded.
Hopper asked, "You said he takes what?"
Mike said, "Mirkwood."
Hopper said, "Mirkwood?"
Mike said, "Yeah."
Hopper said to the other cop, "You ever heard of Mirkwood?"
The cop said, "No, it sounds made up to me."
Lucas said, "No, it's from Lord of the Rings."
Dustin said, "Well, The Hobbit."
Lucas said, "It doesn't matter."
Dustin said, "He asked!
Lucas mocked, "He asked!"
Mike said, "Shut up, guys."
Hopper got frustrated and said, "What did I say? One at a damn time. You."
Mike gulped before he said, "Mirkwood, it's a real road. It's just the name that's made up. It's where Cornwallis and Kerley meet."
Mike said, "Alright, I think I know that--"
Mike interrupted, "We can show you, if you want?"
Hopper said, "I said, I know it!"
Mike said, "We can help look."
Dustin said, "Yeah."
Hopper said, "No." The boys began to clamor, trying to convince Hopper.
Hopper said, "No. After school you are all to go home. Immediately. That means no biking around looking for your friend, no investigating, no nonsense. This isn't some Lord of the Rings book."
Dustin corrected, "The Hobbit."
Lucas said, "Shut up!" The boys then began to argue while Mike tried to stop them."
Hopper said softly, "Do I make myself clear?" The boys stopped fighting but didn't respond.
Hopper got out of his seat and stood up, then he peered down at them. Hopper said sternly, "Do I make myself... clear?!"
The boys looked down and said together, "Yes, Sir." Hopper then made his way out of the room with the other cop.
In the woods, outside of Castle Byers, Joyce could be seen looking around for him and shouting his name. Joyce looked inside of the small structure with some hope, but those hopes were crushed when the fort was empty. She then walked out and started shouting, "Will! Willlllll!"
Jonathan was there as well and he was shouting as loud as he could, "Will!" She walked over to Jonathan, and they walked away. Deciding to look for him somewhere else.
Back at the diner, the chubby man was currently cooking a burger patty. The man finished the burger and put it on a bun with some cheese, lettuce, tomato and pickles. He also took the fries out of the deep frier. Then he walked out of the kitchen and set the food down in front of the girl. the girl immediately began to devour the burger with no hesitation.
The man said, "Geez. Your parents forget to feed you?" The girl didn't respond, she just kept eating her burger.
The man said, "Is that why you ran away?" The girl still didn't respond.
The man said, "They, uh... They hurt you?" The girl didn't even look up at him and just kept eating.
The man said, "You went to the hospital, you got scared, you ran off, you wound up here, it that it?" The girl looked up at him while chewing her food. The man took the food from her.
the man said, "I'll give this back, all right? And you can have as much as you want. All right? Maybe even some ice cream. But you got to answer a few of my questions first, all right?" The girl looked at him with a blank expression.
The man asked, "We got a deal?" The girl looked at him.
The man said, "All right, let's start with the easy stuff. All right? My names Benny. Benny Hammond." Benny then grabbed the girls hand the girl tried to pull away.
Benny said, "I got you. Don't worry. Nice to meet you, yeah. And you are?" Benny sighed but then he noticed a set of numbers tattooed on the girl's wrist. The girl pulled her arm back and hid the numbers.
Benny said, "Eleven? What's that mean? What's it mean?"
The girl said softly, "No."
Benny said, "Well, I'll be damned. She speaks. No, no what?"
Benny clicked hi tongue and said, "All right. I guess no more food, then." Benny started to get up but stopped when the girl spoke once again.
The girl said, "Eleven."
Benny said, "Yeah. What's it mean?"
The girl pointed at herself and said, "Eleven."
Benny said, "All right, then." Then he gave the food back to Eleven. Benny walked into another room and called child protective services.
He said, "Yeah, I think she's been abused or...kidnapped or something. Yeah, it'd be great if someone would come by. Yeah, were at 4819 Randolph Lane. Yeah, Randolph."
The girl was eating peacefully but the fan in the corner of the room was making a grating noise. Eleven looked up at the fan and stared at it intensely and then the fan stopped all by itself. Eleven then went back to eating her burger