"CARLA?" LUCAS SINCLAIR CALLED OUT AS THE OLDER GIRL JOGGED BACK TOWARDS THEM.

Carla gave a light, slightly exhausted smile—she'd run all the way back to them. "Hi."

"Hey?" Max raised a brow, slightly confused on why her sister-figure had returned.  Did they forget something? "Why are you back? You are going with the Scoops Troop, right?"

"Not anymore." the Wheeler girl admitted.  It was too late to change her mind—not that she wanted to.  Staying with the kids was the right choice, her gut feeling. Despite wanting to stay with Steve, she knew the Griswold Family was where she was meant to be.  "I came back to be with you guys."

"Wait, you chose us—" the Mayfield paused, gesturing around the mall to symbolize the entire group, "—over Steve?"

Carla shrugged, "I guess?"

"Hm." 

The two teens shared a look with each other, causing the Wheeler girl to narrow her eyes at them. "Why are you two staring at each other like that?" A small smile grew on Lucas' face and her eyes narrowed even more, "What?"

"I don't know, I just feel worthy." Lucas shrugged with a smirk, playing around with the older girl. Max nodded in agreement as her boyfriend continued messing around, "I mean, you chose us losers over Steve Harrington."

Max summed it up, "It's just a shocker. Usually we're the ones getting ditched."

"I—I don't ditch you." Carla exclaimed—here we go again with the kids coming after her relationship again.  But, hey, at least they were making comments about her sex life this time.  "I just let you go off on your own for a few hours so I can have quality time with my boyfriend. There's a difference."

The redhead shrugged with an amused expression, "Sure there is."

"For your information, I didn't come back because I wanted too, okay? I had too." the Wheeler crossed her arms.  If it were her choice, she'd be in the passenger seat of the ToddFather  but when was it her choice in these situations? "I've been with you guys for the past week, and we've gone through hell and back together.  It just feels wrong leaving you guys now.  "

Lucas smiled, "Aw, Carla's getting mushy on us." 

"I'm always going to get mushy over you little shits." Carla admitted, because it was true. For as long as she was alive, as long as the kids were a major part of her life—and let's be honest, they always would be after everything they've been through—she'd always go sentimental with them, or emotional.  It was just a motherly instinct, she supposed.

The small moment was interrupted by Mike, who approached with a confused look. "Carla?" He looked between his friends and his sister.

The Wheeler spoke with a lopsided smile, "Got room for one more in the Griswold family?"

Mike took that as his answer that Carla was staying and nodded, before turning back towards the center of the mall where Hopper and El were sitting, more than likely having some sort of final heart to heart before having to part ways—the Wheeler boy once more ruining a moment with his voice.

"Hey." both Hopper's turned to look at him, "We should probably go."

The two share one final hug before Mike and Max both come up to help Eleven walk—she still needed support after what happened earlier on within the night—the three of them taking a few steps before stopping, Hopper calling out for the boy.

Mike lets go of the girl and walks back towards Hopper, Carla instead reaching forward to support the girl's body, Lucas leading the way out—Jonathan, Nancy, Will and eventually Mike behind.

The walk to Mrs. Wheeler's car is completely silent, the only sound behind the opening of the mall doors and the occasional grunt from Eleven when a sudden rush of pain ricochets through her leg.  Carla cringed whenever she heard one, wishing she could do something to make the poor girl feel better.  

Max, who'd been replaced by Mike at Eleven's side, looked down at the girls leg,  stating, "El, you'e bleeding."

"Are you okay?" Mike glanced at her.

From Eleven's other side, Carla quickly added, "I think I stole some gauze and wrap from the convenience store before we left, if you want me to take a look and clean it up again in the car." Yes, she'd stolen something but honestly that was the least of their worries—besides, Carla was not the nice I'd never do anything bad girl she'd been in '83 anymore.

"I'm fine." El reassured through gritted teeth. 

The three teens help get the injured girl into the back of the car, the two Wheeler siblings agreeing to sit with her, as well.  Nancy and Jonathan take the front seats—no illegal driving this time—while Max, Lucas and Will fill up the middle, making it a tight squeeze. 

Nancy twists the keys into the ignition with force, the car engine sputtering instead of starting to life.

Huh?

The Wheeler girl stares at the ignition for a minute before twisting the keys in again, the engine yet again sputtering. From the passenger seat, Jonathan asks. "What's wrong?"

"I don't......I don't know." Nancy pauses, tries again, lets the engine sputter for a moment, and then groans at the response she's getting. "You can't be serious. Come on!"

Lucas' brows furrow, "Didn't your mom just buy this car?"

"Yes, she did." Carla replies.  This car was new—too new to be struggling so much with a task as simple as starting up.  Normally if this were to happen, Carla would call her mother with the news and bike to wherever she needed but there wasn't time for putzing around.  They had to go now.  

Will leans forward, "Did you leave the lights on?"

"No." Nancy calls, twisting the key yet again.  Her patience was wearing thin with both the car and the questions she was being asked.  Yes, this car was new.  No, they didn't leave the lights on.  No, this was not supposed to be happening.   Yes, this car is in perfect shape.

"Do we have gas?" Lucas rang again.

"Yes!" Nancy shrieks, twisting the key into the ignition with so much force, her knuckles were turning white from her grip.  "Come on—"

Jonathan decides to intervene before his girlfriend breaks the key, and quickly puts a hand on her elbow, "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Just stop, stop!" At his words, the Wheeler girl quickly pulls away from the steering wheel and stares at him, "Pop the hood."

Without another word, the Byers boy exits the vehicle and walks to the front of the car, Nancy doing as she's asked before following after him.  The hood goes up and Carla lets out a sigh, because when did things actually go their way? Why had they been so set on getting to Illinois when something was bound to go wrong?

"You sure you don't want me to check out your leg? You look in pain, El." Carla asks, sitting across from the girl.  Eleven was sitting against the wall of the car, Mike's arm around her waist as it had been for most of the night.  She was in pain, but was obviously trying to ignore it—more than likely because they had more important matters than her leg injury.  Carla understood.... she did the same with her emotions.

"I promise, I'm—" El went to reply, but a bright light suddenly poured into the small window, and the revving of an engine began to sound.  A revving that Carla knew all too well—that made her stomach drop. 

Billy Hargrove.

Carla looks out the window on Max's side of the car to see the familiar Camaro a yard or two away from their own Grand Marquis.  As if that wasn't bad enough, the car was lined up perfectly to ram into them. 

This wasn't good.

The banging of the window took all the teens away from Billy, turning to see Nancy on Lucas' side of the car.  Her eyes were wide with panic, and she hit the window again, words becoming muffled by the engine revving and the glass. "Back in the mall!"

The kids don't hesitate before scrambling out of a single door, Jonathan unlocking the hatch of the trunk so the two Wheelers and the Hopper could exit too.  Carla took charge, sliding out of the space before outstretching a hand to El, who grasped it tightly, face contorting in pain as she exerted force she probably should be—but, it wasn't like she had another choice.  Either get out of the car, or be left for dead with Billy.

Carla then handed her sister-figure off to Max, who helped Mike get her back into the mall—which was difficult to do quickly, as El could only walk so fast.  The two kids ran back, holding the doors open for their friends, calling for them to run faster! or to hurry up!

But, instead of listening to the kids, Carla didn't move and looked towards Billy with a cold glare.

This asshole wasn't going to win again.

"Scoops Troop, I repeat, do you copy?"

Carla is absolutely sure she's going to snatch the walkie talkie from her brother if he says the phrase 'Scoops Troop, we need help!' one more time.  For the past ten minutes, Mike had been pacing back and forth, repeating the same goddamn words into the walkie, waiting for someone—Steve, Robin, Dustin or Erica—to finally pick up.

"We're trapped in the mall and in need of emergency transportation." Mike paces, the walkie held to his mouth.  He pauses, then turns around, restarting his SOS call when he's met with the static of no one. "Scoops Troop, do you copy? Billy has found us.  He has disabled our car and we are trapped in the mall—"

"Micheal!" Carla calls from where she was kneeling beside her sister, "Go easy on that, okay? They're clearly not at Weathertop yet—" or she was trying to convince herself they weren't, "—so just chill for a minute before you use up all the battery and we have no way of contact."

 Mike pauses for a moment as if he's actually considering listening, before continuing to walk and talk, "Repeat: Billy has disabled our car and we are trapped in the mall."

Carla gives an eye roll before continuing to help her sister check the dead Russian bodies for both guns and ammo. Just because they were trapped didn't mean they were going to stop entirely—they still stayed vigilant and prepared in case of the worst, which was a possibility now.

Nancy had started searching, and Carla didn't hesitate before joining, grabbing the first gun she found and claiming it as her own—her and her sister always ended up with the hand-guns in the end. 

Lucas, El, Jonathan, Max and Will stood close by—Lucas and El by the collapsed table, the boy practicing his sling-shot aim as El aimlessly looked around the mall while Jonathan watched Mike, the latter two watching the Wheeler twins.

Maxine watched grimly as the two sisters worked, muttering, "You're gonna kill him aren't you."  She already knew the answer.

Despite how abusive and how much of an asshole Billy Hargrove was, Max still held sympathy for her step-brother.  It didn't matter that he had hurt her and her friends on multiple accounts, or that he was the villain this year.....Max didn't want him dead.  He was still her brother.

Carla couldn't blame her because, honestly, she was sure herself if he deserved to be dead either.  He'd been a complete asshole since day one, had almost killed her, and kissed her—and probably would have done more if it wasn't for the punch—without her consent.   Carla didn't like Billy by a long shot, but no one deserved to die right? Even the worst people out there still had people who cared, a family, a life. 

 "This is just a precaution, okay?" Nancy stopped what she was doing to look up at the girl, diffusing any ideas she could have gotten.

"And not just against Billy." Will added from Max's side, the redheaded girl looking at him contently,  "If he knows we're here, so does the Mind Flayer." And if the Mind Flayer knows they're here......Carla doesn't finish her thought.

From the ground, Carla mutters. "If it makes you feel better, Max....I don't think I could kill him.  He might be an asshole, but I would not be able to handle his blood on my hands—even if he's not himself."

Mike's voice then echoes through the small, once again in a call for help—he was starting to get pissed off because why the hell wasn't anyone answering? "Scoops Troop, I repeat, we are in need of emergency transportation.  Do you copy?" Static. "Scoops Troop, do you copy?"

"Watch him waste the goddamn battery away." Carla muttered to herself, cocking the gun—with the safety on, of course.  Who do you think Carla is?  The girl stands up from her crouched position, hand gun in her grasp.

Still on the ground, Nancy turns to look at her brother pacing, her gaze meeting the car Eleven had flipped earlier that night when they first arrived. She turns to her boyfriend with an amused smile, "No chance that thing'll ever drive right?"

"Steve, do you copy?"

Carla looks at the vehicle.  It was tossed to the side, and the Wheeler was sure that it was dented and crumpled where it had landed, windows smashed and everything.  There was no way in hell it was going to go anywhere.

But that's when it hits here.  They don't need it to go anywhere—their car works just fine! All they need is a new ignition cable.

"Hey, I'm no Steve when it comes to cars but uh.....can't we just switch out the ignition cables?"  the girl asks, looking towards Jonathan, whom would no more information on the subject then she ever would.

"Dustin!"

"Carla's right." Jonathan nods, "We don't need it to drive, we  just need the ignition cable."

No one hesitates before rushing over to the car, going behind the shop counter in had been tossed in front of to begin pushing it, trying to flip the vehicle pack onto it's wheels rather than it's side—they couldn't really open the hood in this position.

Now, Carla knew she wasn't weak but holy fuck did she feel like it right now.  Pushing a car over seemed a lot easier in her head than it was, because even with all the kids but Eleven and Will pushing with all their might, this car was not budging.  It didn't help that El couldn't help, due to recharging, making this the only option if they wanted that ignition cable.

The squealing and squeaking of metal mixed with the groans and noises of strain leaving the lips of the group was not music to Carla's ears, and she was honestly going to get a headache if it went on for much longer.

"Push!" Jonathan grunted, as if that helped. 

 Carla knew her best friend meant it in a way of encouragement, but honestly, she was tired and his words were not making her feel any better—they were pushing, this was all they had.  So, through a sound of struggle, the Wheeler managed to say. "No, shit."

The group of six continued to push and as it looked like the car was slightly moving, it fell back down causing the Griswold family to sigh in unison, all tired and exhausted from exerting so much energy.

"Let me try." Eleven spoke from next to Will—Carla wasn't sure why he wasn't helping, but she didn't feel like arguing.

Mike panted, "El..."

The Hopper girl stepped forward, taking in a breath before nodding, as if she was convincing herself that she got this, "I can do it."

The group all looked at one another, and moved away from the car.  Carla wasn't sure having Eleven use up her energy like this was a good idea, but how else were they supposed to snatch the ignition cable? This was part of their ticket out of this mall and to Illinois.  Besides....they were all too busy breathing to argue.

Once the group had moved behind her, El out-stretched her hand, concentrating on the red vehicle.  The sound of metal creaking and shifting begins to echo, as well as a low humming, and there's a small burst of hope that maybe Eleven would be able to do this for them but all hope is lost when the girl's hand drops, and the car remains still.

Eleven, looking rather distraught and confused after her failed attempt, moves to the side with a sigh, allowing everyone else to take the lead again.  Carla sends a sympathetic look towards the younger girl, letting her know that it was okay —okay that she didn't save the day for once.

"Wait a minute.....Physics!" Mike calls out, before running back towards the vehicle, mind working at a thousand miles an hour, "If we all use something more than just ourselves—a plunger, broom, whatever—it should give enough momentum to tip the car back over."

Carla shrugs, "It's worth a shot."

New plan in mind, the group searches around for items, eventually ending up with food stand chairs in hand.  They then meet back on the tipped side of the car and begin to push with everything they had.  And, while it was still a struggle, they were making more progress than beforehand.

After a few minutes of pushing, the group manages to get it off the ground and on its side, two wheels touching the ground—which would be much easier to get on to all fours than it had been. Knowing this, Jonathan speaks as the group slightly leans back, "Alright, great.  Alright, now all the way.  Ready?" The group—Will now added—all line their chairs back up with the car, standing in a line to creature force all over, "Three, two, one....push!"

Pushing with all of their might, sounds of strains leave their lips, but everything ends up being worth it when the car eventually tips, landing on all fours.

"Told you." Mike speaks, "Physics."

"Don't be a smart ass." Carla comments before hopping off the counter they'd been pushing from.  She holds out an arm and feels multiple hands grabbing it at a time for help getting off—yeah, being unnecessarily helpful is definitely just a major character trait.  

Nancy and Jonathan rush over to the hood of the vehicle, which was dented all over.  They both try and lift it, but it stays locked.  Carla sighs, God, could things just be easy of them for once. 

"How do we get it open?" Nancy asks.

"Fact check me on this someone, but there should be a latch somewhere? Maybe under the wheel?" Carla blurts out, everyone sending her a small look because why did she know so much for knowing so little on cars? She notices the look and adds, "Steve needed me to help him fix his car one time.  I know what counts."

The other Wheeler girl sped over to the door, leaning down to look where her sister had said.  Carla questions, "Do you see it? I mean, I'd call Steve to fact check me but uh....yeah." She stopped herself, "I'm sorry, this isn't helpful."

"I don't know, hold on." Nancy leans over again.  Carla watches for a moment, before she notices Max and Mike walking off towards El who was.....digging through a trashcan? The Wheeler girl stops herself from questioning because it's honestly the most normal thing she's witnessed today.

Finally, Jonathan pops the hood and Carla's attention is back on the car, trying to use what she knew in a helpful way.  Knowing the most, Jonathan leans under the lifted hood and and starts searching for what they needed.

"Do you see it?" Nancy asks, popping up beside her boyfriend.

"I don't know. It should be right here." the Byers boy replies, eyes darting around for the one cord they needed. "Distributor, distributor......"

Carla goes to open her mouth but is suddenly stop when she feels it.

The familiar burning sensation starts in her wrists.  Distant at first, but growing stronger by the minute—like her arms were on fire.  Her breath hitches at the sudden feeling, as she hadn't felt it this bad and because well......she knew what this feeling meant.

She slowly backed away from her friend and her sister, who were too involved with trying to find the ignition cable to realize she was in pain.   The Wheeler looked around at her friends—trying her best to ignore the sharp pain that the burning sensation was causing because it wasn't real—only to see Will with his hand on the back of his neck.

He was feeling it too.

"Will." Carla lets out, shuffling over to the younger boy, a look of horror on his face.  He looked at her and nodded.  He was here.

A rumbling begins to sound and Carla looks up to see the ceiling of the mall shaking right above where her brother, Max and El were standing. The glass was cracking as if something heavy was standing upon it.....because something was. She felt her chest grow tight as her eyes caught hold of the Mind Flayer standing on top of the roof, looking down upon them.

Holy shit.

Carla wasn't sure what happened first, but suddenly, it was like any sort of calm they had was gone and had been replaced with utter chaos.  She heard her sister's name being called, glass cracking under immense pressure, and then, she's grabbing Will and slowly walking back towards the car, Jonathan, Nancy and Lucas beside her.

She watched as her brother, El and Max ran in the other direction—from the center of the mall—and thank God they had, because moments later, the ceiling comes crashing down under pressure and the Mind Flayer in all his glory lands on the ground with a thud.  Debris lands around the creature, who lets out a roar.

At that, the five shared a look before huddling behind the car they'd been searching for the ignition cable, squeezing up right next to each other and zipping their lips like this was some fucked up game of hide and seek. 

Will, who sat on one of the ends, was curled up next to the Wheeler in comfort, as he was practically hyperventilating, the feeling in the back of his neck causing him discomfort—not to forget the fact that a giant inter-dimensional monster was one wrong look away from murdering all of them. Carla's other hand was tightly wrapped in Jonathan's, who sat on her other side, gun lying on the floor by her feet.

The burn in Carla's wrists was beginning to really hurt like hell, and she had to really concentrate on the fact that if she made the smallest sound, they'd all be dead to keep from whimpering or making some kind of sound of pain.  It was definitely hard—imagine being on fire and having to keep it to yourself.

"Griswold Family, this is Scoops Troop! Do you copy? Over." Carla can hear Dustin's voice coming through the walkie talkie, and a feeling of relief and of slight annoyance washes over her.  She was glad that they'd made it to Weathertop safely, but are they kidding? Out of all the times they could have come on, they happened to finally reply during a time where if one of the Griswold members answered, they'd be risking themselves.  Terrible timing.

"Griswold Family, I repeat, this is Scoops Troop, do you—" the Henderson's voice turns slightly muffled, and Carla hopes that Mike had left the walkie talkie in the center of the mall and that he wasn't trying to stop the sound.  

There's an ear piercing shriek from the Mind Flayer and another thud, and Carla opens her eyes to see Mike's walkie skidding across the floor, pieces broken off of it.  From the now closer sounding of the boy's voice, Carla assumes it landed on the other side of them, and can only hope the Mind Flayer doesn't follow.

"Griswold Family, this is Scoops Troop.  Please confirm your safety!" Dustin's voice continues to ask, though now slightly glitchy from the fall.  "Griswold Family, this is Scoops Troop! Please confirm your safety! Are you en route to Bald Eagle's nest?" the curly haired boy continues to plead for them to just say something and Carla honestly feels bad that she can't reply to say that they're okay for the moment—that she's allowing them, allowing Steve, to think the worst.  But, if she even tried to answer, she would be allowing the worst to happen.

More thudding and snarls echo through the mall as the Mind Flayer searches for his prey, and Carla just squeezes Jonathan's hand and her eyes shut to keep calm.  The flashing, florescent lights—which were once eye catching and pretty, but now annoying and too flashy—shone all over, going slightly off beat now that the Mind Flayer had entered.

Then, there's another small crash which causes the Wheeler to look in the rear-view mirror—which was slightly shattered—beside her to see Mike, Max and El running into The Gap.  One of them must have knocked down something, because the monster quickly turns at the sudden crash and starts storming their way.

"We have to do something." Carla states in a forced whisper.  She knew that the three kids weren't safe with the Mind Flayer on their trail, and if her and the rest of the Griswold Family didn't help, they'd be goners. "Mike, Max and El just ran into The Gap.  They knocked something down and he's on their trail.  We need to distract him, give them a chance to get out of here."

Jonathan agrees, "Then we make a run for it through the back entrance. We'll make it."

Carla nods and suddenly, Lucas peers over to see the scene. He comes back down and pulls his slingshot from his pocket.  From beside him, Nancy sends an alarmed look. "What are you doing?"

"Don't worry." he assures, before standing up from behind the car and aiming the slingshot at a bunch of balloons a few stores down from the Mind Flayer.  Carla knows that this could risk them being seen, but it was their only chance of getting everyone a chance at escaping.

The Sinclair boy then lets the rock go.  It flies for a moment before hitting the balloons with perfect accuracy, causing a pop to echo throughout the otherwise quiet mall.  Lucas quickly snaps back down to the ground when he knows the Mind Flayer heard, the creature beginning to trudge to the sudden sound.

Jonathan peers over the car for a minute, making sure the creature was turned around before urging everyone on their feet, "Go! Go, go, go, go, go, go!" He isn't whispering, but who cared? They were getting out.

Carla practically shoves Will forward before grabbing her gun. She sprints to the nearby store and hops over a counter, then heading through the doors that led to the back hallways—ones that the kids had used weeks prior while sneaking into the movies through Scoops.

The white hallways go by in a blur full of running and panting, but soon enough, the five of them are exiting the mall and running towards Karen Wheeler's car—which had been somewhat of a getaway car the past few days.

While Will and Lucas flew into the car, the older teens halted in front of the hood of the car, which was still open from when they tried to find what was wrong.  Jonathan shot his hand with the ignition cable into it, searching for where to put it when an all so familiar engine started revving again.

Billy was still there. 

Jonathan looks at the Camaro, which was still lined up to hit their car, "Shit."

"Get the car started." Nancy shares a look with Carla. Whether you want to call it twin telepathy, or just having the same idea in mind, all it took was that one glance for Carla to understand what her sister was going to do. "Go!"

Jonathan shoves the hood down and Carla meets her sisters side in front of their mother's vehicle, standing in between the car and Billy. She turns the safety off and raises the weapon so it was pointing at the Camaro, threatening the Hargrove to come any closer.

The engine sputters behind them, but Carla could care less as the blue vehicle lined up to hit them starts to drive—no, speed—in their direction, his tires squealing against the parking lot. 

Carla sent a cold glare towards the possessed boy before taking the first shot, fingers tightening around the trigger.  She was so fucking done with Billy Hargrove, and she didn't even care anymore if she killed him.

Nancy too begins to shoot at the car, the sister's bullets breaking glass, puncturing his cherished car.  But, the bullets and shooting seemed to be rather to go unbothered by Billy, who sped up more, even when Carla aimed at his wheels, trying to get the car to spin out of control or just do something that wasn't hitting them square on.

The Camaro was gaining on them faster—he was getting too close for comfort, especially at the speed he was going.  Even if they got him to stop, it would take too long for the vehicle to come to a full halt.  Carla and Nancy would be hit.

Panic begins to course through the Wheeler girl when shes seconds away from being hit, and any sort of confidence she had when beginning to shoot had disappeared, the gun falling from her grasp as Billy's headlights shone in her face.  Carla felt just as helpless as she did back in '83 when the Demogorgan had her pinned against the wall.

She can't help herself when she grabs onto Nancy—who also realizes there was no hope in stopping the collision—and ducks down with her sister, squeezing her eyes tightly and awaiting the impact.  At least she was going to go quick.

There's a loud crash and Carla opens her eyes to see that she's.....okay? 

Before she can even begin to question how the hell she wasn't dead, she opens her eyes to see Billy's car spinning out of control with a dented side, none other than the ToddFather spinning around the parking lot in the other direction, the hood popped and dented. 

"Holy fuck." is the only thing Carla can exclaim. Her chest is rising up and down at a quick pace because,well, she thought she was going to be smashed mere seconds okay and her eyes return to the ToddFather, watching as Steve and Robin whipping back to center, clearly having just under gone the worst whiplash of their lives.

The sound of sizzling begins, and Carla's head snaps towards the Camaro, which the hood of was currently set alight. Billy was leaned to the side, clearly unconscious from the impact, and honestly the Wheeler could care less—any decent morals within her were knocked out when it came to Billy Hargrove.

Instead, Carla more so cared about the fact that her boyfriend and friend had been a part of the crash and had probably just shaken up their brains with the whiplash they'd received—like that helped the damage Steve already had from his multiple concussions or the fact that he was hard of hearing in his left ear.

"I can't believe you just did that." Carla rushes over to Steve, who seemed shocked himself that he'd just crashed such a nice car—let alone purposefully crashed a car.  Her hands cupped his face, and she went into full babysitter/mother mode and scanned him over, as if his face was what would have gotten injured. "Are you okay?" 

"My neck feels like hell and I probably just messed up my head but.....never better." Steve lightly replied, sending her a reassuring look—though he didn't move her hands away.  He liked them there. "Are you okay, Carla?"

Carla didn't even know and instead said, "Don't put me before you. You're the one who just crashed a car."

"And you're the one who almost got hit by said car." Steve countered, before lightly chuckling, "Which, by the way.....you shooting Billy's Camaro? Kinda hot." 

"Yeah, it's really what I was going for. Looking hot when trying not to get killed." the Wheeler sent an unimpressed look, though it made her slightly flustered to know that Steve thought she looked hot doing it. "God, was that really on your mind when you were crashing the ToddFather?"

"I mean....."

"Hey, lovebirds." Robin's voice took the couple away from one another, and instead towards her.  She had a slightly fearful look on her face as she nodded towards Starcourt Mall. "Hate to interrupt, but uh, we have bigger problems right now." 

The two brunettes quickly met her gaze, only to see the Mind Flayer crawling on top of the mall—Carla didn't even want to know how it got back up there.  The Wheeler's hands dropped from Steve's face, the boy and his co-worker standing up in their seats to watch, eyes wide. 

Oh, yeah. It was their first time seeing this thing.

The sudden honk of a car takes the three out of the trance they'd been in looking at the creature, as does Nancy's boom of, "Get in!"

Robin doesn't hesitate before jumping out of her seat, Steve following soon after with Carla at his side.  While the Buckley opens the trunk and throws herself in, the Wheeler's brows furrow. How were they all fitting? 

Steve got in and Carla did a head count—Nancy and Jonathan in the front; Will and Lucas in the middle; Steve, Robin and herself in the back......

"Wait, Nance." Carla crossed to the passenger door, looking at her sister with a confused expression at the missing three. "Where's Max, El and Mike? Did—did they not come out during....that."

Nancy shakes her head, "They didn't come out. I'm sure Mike knows what he's doing, we'll try contacting when we get to Murray's with Robin's walkie."

"No." Carla looks at her sister.  She was not leaving her brother and two sister-figures in that building with the monster.  With a firm expression, the Wheeler states, "The only other exit is the loading docks. I'm going to go get them.  Lead that out of here and circle back around.  I promise, we'll be waiting."

Nancy was so confident, "No, Carla it's too dangerous."

"What's dangerous is leaving three unarmed teenagers there, especially if you're not able to lead this thing away." Carla stated, before catching Billy's flamed up car in her vision, "Besides, Billy is bound to wake up eventually.  They aren't safe there with him."

Her sister sighed. "Fine. But you better be out here when we circle back, Carla."

"You got it." the Wheeler sent a reassuring smile to her sister before running right past the car and back towards the mall, without bothering to say goodbye to anyone else.

mara's misc!

i liked this chapter!! it ended up being longer than usual, but hey, we're in the season finale so honestly.....

if i'm honest, there's probably only 2-4 chapters until we're in season four territory (shudders) i'm so ready but i'm also not because season three is legit my fav season and fun fact, this episode is my fav episode ever?

at first i was torn between carla originally staying with mike, max and el but come on, i couldn't leave her out of the badass gun scene/car crash.  (thanks to GhostWriterGirl-1 for helping me choose) besides, she goes to them eventually so.......haha. 

sadly, carla will not get the hear the masterpiece that is never ending story 😢 i have other plans for her.....

see you back with chapter 20 <3 (ya'll might be mad at me, depending on how it goes) hope you enjoyed!!!