Chapter 24: Escape? Battle!
In the gymnasium of Hawkins Middle School, the dim overhead lights cast flickering shadows.
In a corner, several kids sat huddled together, sharing chocolate pudding they had "borrowed" from the kitchen.
Andy and Eleven sat in the middle, with the other three boys beside them. Half an hour had passed since they arrived here from the library, but the tense atmosphere hadn't diminished in the slightest.
Everyone kept their ears pricked, alert to any movement outside.
"Since leaving the Lab, I've been trying to communicate with you mentally, but you've been shutting me out."
Andy's voice was very soft, conveying three years' worth of longing.
Eleven had her head down, but hearing Andy's words, she looked up. Those large eyes, usually filled with caution and confusion, were now full of apology.
"I... sorry, I didn't know," she said, her voice barely audible.
Andy immediately shook his head, his movements a bit urgent: "No, no, no, you don't need to be sorry. It's just... I just missed you so much."
He paused, a hint of a sob entering his voice: "For the past three years, I tried to contact you every night. At first, I thought you didn't want to talk to me, thought you were mad at me because I escaped but left you there."
"But later I realized you didn't seem to remember the past. I didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing."
Eleven looked at Andy, seeing the glint of tears in his eyes, and felt a strange pang of heartache.
She didn't remember him, didn't remember their promises, but she could feel the loneliness in his words.
"Besides, I'm the one who should say sorry," Andy continued, his voice even lower. "I hid in Hawkins for three years and didn't have the guts to break into the Lab to save you."
"I kept telling myself: I'm not strong enough, the Lab's defenses are too tight, I'll get caught... but actually, I was just scared. Scared of going back to that place, scared of seeing Papa again, scared of... losing my freedom again."
Saying this, Andy looked up and stared directly into Eleven's eyes.
"But I know now that you were the one protecting me. If you hadn't drawn most of the attention in the Lab, if it wasn't for you... the Lab would have definitely hunted me down with everything they had. You're the one who gave me these three years."
Eleven blinked, processing these words.
Maybe what Andy said was true.
Maybe she really did do something, even if she didn't remember it.
"So, you really don't remember anything that happened before three years ago at all, right?"
Andy asked, his voice carrying a hint of cautious hope, as if afraid of an affirmative answer yet already having accepted the reality.
Eleven nodded, her movement slight but certain.
Andy's eyes dimmed for a moment, but quickly brightened again.
He took a deep breath, as if he had made a decision.
"Alright, it's okay," he said, his tone becoming a bit lighter.
"Once we leave Hawkins, we'll have plenty of time to find our past. We can travel together, go to those places we've only seen on TV. The beach, the mountains, big cities... we can start over. Just the two of us."
As he said this, there was a light in his eyes, as if he could already see that future.
He and Eleven, walking freely on some strange street, not worrying about being hunted, not having to hide their abilities, just... living, living like normal people.
But as soon as he finished, the one with the biggest reaction wasn't Eleven, but Mike.
"Leave Hawkins?!"
Mike practically jumped up from his mat, his voice rising several octaves in shock.
His face turned bright red and his eyes widened, as if he had heard something unacceptable.
"Mike?" Andy was startled and turned to look at Mike.
He didn't quite understand why Mike's reaction was so intense.
To him, leaving Hawkins was the only logical choice.
The people from the Lab were already watching this place; staying here would only become more and more dangerous.
Moreover, he and Eleven needed a new start, a place without the shadows of the past.
"Why leave Hawkins?" Mike asked, with an urgency in his voice that Andy couldn't fathom.
"You hid here for three years before, maybe you could stay here with us. We could be best friends, play Dungeons & Dragons together, ride our bikes to the quarry, do so many things! I... we can protect you!"
He spoke very fast, his words a bit jumbled, as if trying to grasp something that was slipping away.
His eyes kept darting toward Eleven, filled with complex emotions Andy didn't understand: reluctance, anxiety, and... some deeper feeling he wasn't aware of.
Andy looked at Mike, thinking he was just reluctant to lose them as friends, and explained patiently.
"Mike, I'm really grateful to you all, and to Will. You saved Eleven, you're helping us. But it's too dangerous for us here, and not just for us—you might face a lot of danger too."
"The people from the Lab won't let us go. They'll track us here, and they'll hurt anyone who helps us. I don't want to drag you into this."
"But..." Mike wanted to say more, but Dustin interrupted him.
"Andy's right, Mike," Dustin said in his usual logical tone.
"The Lab almost killed us today. They have guns; they aren't regular cops or security guards. They're... like an army. If we stay with Eleven and Andy, we'll become targets too."
Lucas didn't say anything but shrugged, indicating he agreed with that assessment.
Mike looked at his friends; he knew they were right.
Rationally, Andy and Eleven leaving Hawkins was the safest thing.
But rationality couldn't explain the anxiety in his heart.
The panic he felt at the thought of never seeing Eleven again, never hearing her soft voice, never seeing the way she tilted her head in confusion.
He had only just started to know her.
He had only just... kissed her.
That might have been an action whose meaning she didn't understand, but for him, it was perhaps the bravest and most important thing he'd done in twelve years.
And now, they were leaving.
Maybe forever.
Mike opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but the words were stuck in his throat, unable to come out.
Just then, high beams shone into the gym. Accompanied by the sound of a car, the kids thought Joyce had returned.
At that moment, the sound of multiple vehicles stopping and the noisy footsteps of a crowd came from outside the gym.
Andy was the first to react.
He closed his eyes, his mental power extending outward like invisible tentacles, piercing through the gym walls to sense the situation outside.
With just one sweep, his face turned as pale as paper.
He saw those black SUVs—six of them—surrounding the school parking lot like predators.
At least twenty men in dark tactical gear, carrying assault rifles, were quickly fanning out to form a perimeter.
Then, he saw that man.
Standing among all the soldiers, wearing a neatly pressed white lab coat, silver hair perfectly in place, glasses reflecting the glare of the headlights, his face devoid of any expression.
Dr. Brenner. He had come personally.
"Shit!" Andy opened his eyes and swore under his breath. "Hide, quick! The Lab people are here!"
His voice trembled with fear, but even more so with anger.
Three years. He thought he had escaped, thought he could start a new life.
But now, that nightmare was back, with more weapons, more people, and more determination.
"How?" Dustin's voice was full of disbelief. "How did they know we were here? We've been so careful!"
"Forget that for now," Lucas had already stood up and was quickly putting on his backpack, his voice urgent. "Let's run!"
Andy grabbed Eleven's hand and followed Mike and the others toward the gym's side door.
He and Eleven weren't familiar with the layout of Hawkins Middle School, so they could only follow Mike and the other two as they scrambled through the maze of hallways.
But just as Andy and the others tried to escape through the front entrance, a squad of soldiers entered from there, forming a direct blockade.
They turned and ran toward the back exit, but another squad was already guarding it.
They tried to hide in a classroom, but the footsteps from both ends of the hallway were rapidly approaching, creating a pincer movement.
The people from the Lab knew they were here and had blocked all the exits.
Ultimately, the five kids were cornered in a hallway.
The corridor was long, with corners at both ends. But now, heavy footsteps echoed from both directions, drawing closer and closer.
Trapped, with nowhere to run.
Andy's heart beat frantically in his chest. He held Eleven's hand tightly, feeling the cold sweat in her palm.
Mike, Lucas, and Dustin stood beside them, the three boys' faces a mix of fear and determination.
Lucas held a wrist rocket, Dustin held his backpack in front of him like a shield, and Mike had... nothing in his hands.
But he stood in front of Eleven, as if ready to use his own body to protect her.
Captured once again, pushed to a dead end once more.
Andy watched as figures gradually became clear at both ends of the corridor—soldiers in dark tactical gear, armed with weapons.
He couldn't help but recall three years ago, in the corridors of the Lab, when he and Henry had been cornered just like this.
Guards in front and behind, cattle prods crackling, guns gleaming coldly.
That time, Henry chose to fight.
Andy had tried to stop him from killing their brothers and sisters, but he killed everyone anyway.
Now, Andy faced the same choice.
Surrender? Be taken back to the Lab to continue being researched, trained, and controlled as an experimental subject and weapon? Let Eleven go back to that hell? Let Mike and the others be punished for helping 'fugitives'?
Or... fight?
Andy's gaze swept over everyone beside him.
Eleven, his sister, had lost her memory; she had only just escaped that Lab.
Mike, the kind, brave kid who was just beginning to understand emotions, was currently shielding Eleven.
Lucas, pragmatic and skeptical, but always standing by his friends when it mattered.
Dustin, smart and curious, believing in science and logic, but always ready to step up for his friends.
And... Will. The boy who was clearly terrified himself, yet still stepped up to help him lure the monster away.
These people might have been just ordinary Hawkins kids living ordinary lives three days ago.
Now, because of them, they were caught up in the madness of superpowers, monsters, and secret labs.
Andy couldn't let this happen.
At the very least, he couldn't let them get hurt because of him.
He took a deep breath, let go of Eleven's hand, took two steps forward, and stood in front of everyone.
Just like Henry did back then.
Just like he had always known deep down that one day he would have to do.
"Andy?" Eleven asked softly behind him, a hint of unease in her voice.
Andy didn't answer.
He raised his hand, looking at those dark gun barrels and the soldiers' wary but professional stances.
In the next second, he reached out his hand.
An indiscriminate, pure burst of telekinesis erupted, detonating like an invisible bomb in the center of the corridor.
"BOOM—!"
The air was violently compressed and then slammed outward to both sides.
The soldiers on the left were hit as if by an invisible freight train, flying backward and slamming into the corridor walls with a sickening thud.
Body armor couldn't resist this kind of force; ribs cracked, and internal organs were jolted.
They slid to the ground, some unconscious on the spot, others groaning in pain, but no one could stand back up.
At this moment, Andy was just like Henry three years ago. He looked to the other side and raised his hand; one person was grabbed by telekinesis, slammed against the ceiling, and then heavily thrown to the ground.
The soldiers on the right reacted slightly faster and tried to fire, but the bullets were caught by an invisible force the moment they left the barrels, then reflected back at even greater speed.
Body armor blocked some of the rounds, but the impact mixed with telekinetic force still sent the soldiers tumbling backward.
Several soldiers not wearing full protection were hit directly by the bullets and fell in pools of blood.
When the dust settled, over a dozen people lay at both ends of the corridor, some motionless, others struggling weakly.
Weapons were scattered everywhere, riot shields were bent, and the walls were covered in cracks and bloodstains.
Silence.
There was only Andy's heavy breathing and the blood trickling from his nose.
Mike, Lucas, and Dustin stared wide-eyed at the scene before them, their faces filled with pure, incomprehensible shock.
They knew Andy had superpowers and that he could fight off monsters in the Upside Down, but seeing him take down fully armed soldiers like they were made of paper was a completely different feeling.
Andy stood where he was, panting heavily. He suddenly felt an immense exhaustion; he could barely keep himself standing.
But his moment of victory didn't last long. Just as he thought they were temporarily safe, more footsteps came from the stairwell.
Andy's heart sank.
After all, he had consecutively broken through illusions, fought, opened gates, and was now fighting again. Engaging in such high-intensity combat within a single day wasn't something a few cups of pudding could replenish.
He didn't have much strength left; that last move had nearly exhausted his final reserves of mental energy. If he did it again, he might pass out directly.
But he had no choice. He had to protect them.
He raised his hand again, preparing for the next wave of attacks.
Just then, another surge of mental energy appeared.
It wasn't Andy's; it was Eleven's.
She walked to Andy's side and took his hand. Her face was just as pale, and her eyes were bloodshot, but she stood straight with a firm gaze.
"Together," she said, her voice soft but clear.
Andy looked at her, seeing that resolve in her eyes—the 'I might not remember you, but I know what I have to do now' look—and felt his eyes grow hot.
He nodded.
The two stood side by side, facing the second wave of soldiers pouring out of the stairwell.
But this time, the soldiers didn't charge directly. They stopped at both ends of the corridor, raising their guns but not firing, as if waiting for an order.
Then, Dr. Brenner appeared.
"Eleven, and... Twelve," he began, looking at Eleven and Andy, his eyes filled with the satisfaction of recovering something lost. "My children, you will return to me after all."
These words were directed at Andy.
Once, when Andy was in the Lab, he had asked Dr. Brenner what the world outside was like.
But the answer then had been: "You won't be leaving, Twelve. This is your home."
Now, he stood before him once again.
Andy felt a chill. Brenner looked at him as if he were still one of those helpless children in the Lab, needing his 'guidance' and 'protection.'
As if he had never escaped, never fought, never... become himself.
"No," Andy said, his voice not loud but exceptionally clear in the silent corridor.
"And my name is—Andy!"
Then, he released his mental energy again. A wave of telekinesis spread out, knocking Dr. Brenner and the soldiers behind him backward.
Behind them, seeing this, the woman who had murdered Benny immediately raised her pistol.
Andy sensed this with his mind, but just as he was about to turn and strike, a familiar mental energy radiated from beside him.
It was Eleven. Seeing this woman again, the rage in her heart drove her to push past her weakness and use her powers once more.
This time, the woman didn't get off as easily as with Andy's attacks. Under Eleven's power, the blood vessels throughout the woman's head slowly burst from the inside out.
Accompanied by the searing pain in her brain and the agony of bleeding from every orifice, she finally couldn't hold on and died.
But with this move, the already weak Eleven was overwhelmed and collapsed.
Fortunately, Mike caught her, preventing her from hitting the floor.
Andy had also nearly used up all his strength; luckily, Dustin and Lucas quickly supported him.
"How are you, El?" Mike asked anxiously.
"Mike..." Eleven was now too exhausted to speak.
But just then, the corridor lights suddenly began to flicker irregularly.
Then, the wall at the end of the corridor began to change.
It wasn't a spatial tear like when Andy opened a gate, but a more... organic change.
"No."
The weakened Andy looked at the lights, a familiar sensation welling up in his heart.
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