4. Never Surrender

Chapter 4: Never Surrender (by Corey Hart)

"Just a little more time is all we're asking for, 'cause just a little more time could open closing doors. Just a little uncertainty can bring you down..."

. . . . . . . .

Mike's eyes slowly fluttered open as he regained his bearings. The first thing he noticed was the wet, slimey feeling beneath him. He moved his hands and he could feel thick goo sliding between his fingers. As his eyes focused on the brown sludge he found himself in, he startled, breathing heavily as he began to recognize the place. He'd been here once before.

His bike lay in a heap next to him, covered in vines that weaved their way between the handlebars and through the bike chain.

"Mike," A voice next to him and he nearly jumped out of his skin before turning toward the soft sound in his ear.

Eleven was kneeling beside him and he suddenly forgot all about the disgusting gunk on his hands and back and the creepy white particles floating in the air around him.

"Eleven!" He exclaimed, his face visibly lifting at the sight of her. Her clothes were dirty and Nancy's old dress was barely recognizable but aside from some wear and tear, she looked almost as she had the last time he'd seen her. There was some bruising on her face and arms as well as what appeared to be smears of dirt. Her short hair, barely an inch longer than it had been when they'd first met, was slicked down against her head from the cold, moist air. Despite all of this, his heart still fluttered at the sight of her.

"Wh-what's going on?" Mike asked, looking around as he slowly stood up, making vain attempts at straightening up his appearance as brown sludge sluiced off his shoulders. "Am I in the Upside Down?"

Eleven merely shook her head. "I am," She spoke softly.

"Okay…" Mike said, processing. "Where are Lucas and Dustin and Will?"

"Home,"

Mike took a moment to think before speaking again. "I fell off my bike," He began, reciting what he remembered. "We were on our way to Mirkwood and I fell off my bike… and I hit my head," He paused. "Am I… Am I dead?"

Eleven's eyes widened and she quickly shook her head quite emphatically.

Mike furrowed his brow. "Okay… Am I unconscious?"

Eleven nodded.

"So you're… talking to me because I'm unconscious?" He gathered.

Eleven made a face, indicating he was partially right. "Too weak," She said, pointing to herself.

Mike frowned. "So your powers…" He reasoned. "You can't do as much, can you? Like open a portal?"

Eleven shook her head sadly, her doe eyes looking up at him wistfully.

"Crap," He muttered, biting his lip as he thought.

Some indistinct chatter from farther out in the woods caught El's attention and her body stiffened at the sound. Mike could see a familiar fear in her eyes.

"What is it?" Mike asked, immediately stepping in front of her and peering into the dim, foggy woods. "Is it the monster? Is it back?"

El shook her head vigorously, her lip trembling. "Bad men,"

"What?" Mike said incredulously. "No, El, they're dead, remember?"

She quirked an eyebrow at him, confused, but more chatter from the woods distracted her and she was becoming more visibly agitated.

"N-not safe," She murmured repeatedly, slowly beginning to back away from where they stood. "Not safe…"

"Wait, El, don't go," Mike said, grabbing her hand instinctively. "How...How did they even get here?"

"The lab," She said softly, her voice barely a whisper as her eyes never left the woods.

Mike could hear radios in the distance. Try as he did to see into the forest, it was to no avail. He could barely see several feet in front of him.

"El, how do you know -" He began, but when he turned around, she was gone.

. . . . . . . .

Video 011-12

A young child sat nervously on a cold metal chair, her hospital gown doing little to protect her from its harsh chill. Thin legs dangled from the chair and she looked around nervously, wondering what was going to happen. Long brown hair swished back and forth every time she darted her gaze around the room. She couldn't have been more than four years old, the chair all but swallowing her up with its size. There was an empty table in front of her, also cold and metal, and a machine twice her size stationed next to her. She looked at it apprehensively, then refused to look at it again. As she fidgeted with her hospital gown, the mirror on the wall opposite her revealed itself to be a window with several figures standing behind the glass.

A tall man with white hair entered the room and the girl looked up at him, shrinking in her chair the slightest bit.

"Hello, Eleven," He greeted her warmly but his fatherly tone did nothing to assuage her visible tension. "Today's your big day. Aren't you excited?"

She stared blankly at the man who was undeterred by her lack of response. He took a seat next to the small girl and motioned to the two-way mirror for someone to enter. Two other men dressed in white entered the room, one carrying a small box.

"Do you know what this is?" The tall, white-haired man gestured to the monstrous machine next to her. The little girl shook her head. "This is an electroencephalograph," He said simply, as if a girl her age could understand such a large word. "We use this to measure what people can do with their brains," He tapped the girl on the forehead and she winced at the contact but otherwise did not move. "I think we can learn a lot from you, Eleven," He said, standing up. "You'll help us, won't you?"

Eyes wide, she turned her gaze from the white-haired man, to each of the men standing in wait against the wall, then back to the first man.

Despite her timidness, she was somehow able to speak. She nodded, "Yes, Papa,"

"Very good," He said, patting her head and running a hand through her hair. He looked to the guards and nodded in the girl's direction. The guard holding the box stepped forward, pulling a pair of clippers out of the box and plugging them into the outlet across the table. The other guard approached, ready to assist. The girl warily followed the guards' movements, scooting closer to the white-haired man. "Now Eleven," The white-haired man continued, unfazed by her obvious apprehension. "In order for you to help us, we'll be using this machine," He reached underneath the EEG, retrieving a device shaped like a helmet but made of metal and wire electrodes. The girl turned to him and balked at the device in his hands, her eyes wide and frightened.

One of the guards took hold of her shoulders, causing her to jump, as the other guard switched on the clippers. A loud buzzing sound filled the room and overpowered much of the audio. The little girl began to cry as she squirmed against the chair.

"No, Papa!" She cried, swatting at the guard with the clippers. "No!"

"Eleven," The white-haired man said more sternly and the young girl immediately stopped moving as though paralyzed. "Be still,"

Her shoulders shook with her crying as the guard touched the clippers to her scalp. A long chunk of hair fell to the floor and the girl began to sob louder.

"Nooooo!" She whimpered as the clippers came at her again and again. "No!" Her fear of the clippers and what was happening outweighing the white-haired man's intimidation. She began to thrash about violently in the chair, almost toppling it over. Another guard rushed in and grabbed hold of one of her arms as the guard previously holding her down secured her other arm. Pinning her against the metal chair, her movements were restricted though she tried to break free, crying all the while. The guard with the clippers continued to shave her hair in large patches and a pile of dark brown hair encircled the chair. The girl was quiet for a moment and then in a sudden burst of energy, began to thrash about once again, knocking the two guards holding her off balance.

"Take her to the room," The white-haired man said evenly and the girl suddenly turned to him, her eyes flooded with tears.

"No, Papa!" She cried as the guards lifted her out of her chair, her legs thrashing about and kicking them in the sides. She was so small, one guard wrapped a hand around both of her ankles as they maneuvered her such that one was carrying her legs and the other guard held her arms together.

"Papa!" She screamed as they carried her out of the room, her head half-shaved and the hair that remained disheveled as the white-haired man watched.

The video promptly cut to the young girl sitting in the metal chair again, her head fully shaved at this point. Her shoulders trembled but she was otherwise silent. The white-haired man stood behind her and only one guard remained at the side of the room. A book sat on the table in front of her and the girl was staring at it, her face void of emotion. The white-haired man lifted the wired device onto her head and the guard walked over to assist with applying the electrodes to her scalp.

"Now Eleven," The white-haired man said once the electrodes were in place. "Your first task is simple. I want you to open this book,"

The girl started to reach for the book but the white-haired man stopped her hand with his. "No, no," He said, putting her hand back in her lap.

"Not with your hands," He shook his head then tapped her on the forehead. "With your mind,"

She stared at him, never saying a word.

"I know you can do it," He said encouragingly. "Do you think you can try this for me? For your Papa?"

She inhaled deeply, her gaze fixed on him, before slowly nodding and turning back to the book. She stared at it for several seconds, her brow furrowed deeply as she concentrated. The white-haired man and the guard stood back, watching. Behind the two-way mirror, a few other indistinct figures watched as well. After a few moments, she sat back in the chair.

"Don't stop, Eleven," The white-haired man commanded. "You need to do this. Open the book,"

She turned her gaze back to the book, leaning forward as she put everything she had into focusing on that book. Again, nothing.

"Eleven," The white-haired man scolded as he reviewed the readings coming from the EEG. "You're not trying hard enough. Open the book!"

Her shoulders began to shake once again as she started to whimper but as the guard began to approach, she quickly quieted and threw her focus back into the book. Finally, the cover of the book began to tremble, eventually flipping open on the table.

"Incredible," The white-haired man breathed.

A drop of blood slid down from the young girl's nose and she reached up to catch the trickle. Looking at her hand, her face visibly faltered and tears welled in her eyes as she began to cry hysterically.

The white-haired man crouched down to the girl, pulling a handkerchief from his pocket and wiping the small drop of blood from her face. She jumped slightly at the contact.

"See?" He said, the girl watching his actions intently. "I knew you could do it. We'll practice more later,"

"Take her back to her room," The white-haired man ordered the guard. "That's enough for this afternoon,"

The guard who had shaved her head picked her up from the chair, carrying her like a sack of potatoes out of the room.

"Papa!" She cried, reaching out for the white-haired man before being whisked out of the room as the man she called 'Papa' stayed behind.

. . . . . . . .

"Mike!"

"Mike?"

"Mike!"

"Dude, wake up!"

"Should we call 9-1-1?"

"No, look! He's waking up!"

As he opened his eyes, Mike could feel a raging headache emanating from a growing bump on the back of his head. Everything seemed so bright as he sat up, clutching his head and wincing.

"Mike, are you okay?" Will asked. All three of his friends were crouched down around him, their bikes surrounding them as they hovered on the side of the street.

Dustin waved a hand in front of Mike's face. "Say something, man,"

"I-I saw El," Mike breathed as he regained his senses. He was back in Mirkwood. The real Mirkwood. The sun was out, the trees in the woods next to them dripped with melting snow, and they were surrounded by mounds of icy, dirty snow. Mike felt his back. It was wet with melted snow and ice but there was no brown sludge to be found. "She was right here,"

"Yeah, she was," Will said softly.

"Huh?" Mike did a double-take. "You saw her, too?"

"You were out for a few minutes, Mike," Dustin said, concern still lingering in his tone.

"Will disappeared again," Lucas explained. "While you were knocked out,"

"You did?" Mike turned to Will. "What happened?"

"As soon as you wiped out, I went back into the Upside Down again," Will began.

"Yeah," Dustin said, adding. "He disappeared right off his bike and it crashed over there!" He pointed to the other side of the street where Will's bike lay.

"I didn't come back right away so I started walking into the woods," Will continued. "She was over at that dropbox. I saw her pull the food out of it and she saw me, too,"

"Did she say anything to you?" Mike asked.

Will shook his head. "She looked scared though. We heard something deeper in the woods and before I could say anything to her, she ran away,"

Mike furrowed his brow, pulling his knees to his chest and crossing his arms over them as he listened. "I talked to her again… I think,"

"You think?" Lucas inquired, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah," Mike said. "I mean, it sounds crazy but I'm pretty sure you were right, Dustin,"

"Really?" Dustin brightened.

"Really?" Lucas repeated, a little less convinced.

"Yeah," Mike nodded. "She's really tired and her powers are weakened,"

"I can't believe she's still okay since she's been in the Upside Down so long," Will thought aloud.

"Maybe she's immune to it," Dustin guessed and Lucas swatted him on the arm.

"What sense does that make?"

"Uh, a lot?" Dustin snarked. "What other explanation would you have for her to still be alive in there?"

"Guys," Mike interrupted. "We can figure that out later. The point is that she's still alive and she's in trouble,"

"Trouble, how?" Lucas asked.

"Is there another monster?" Dustin wondered, nudging Will who shook his head.

"I only saw one when I was there,"

"She said there's bad men after her again," Mike clarified.

"But they all died at the school," Dustin replied.

"Well, maybe they didn't," Mike shrugged. "Or maybe there's more. I dunno, but we've gotta get her out of there,"

"But how are we supposed to do that?" Lucas interjected. "Maybe you guys forgot but there's no portal, remember?"

"Yes there is," Mike countered. "El said the portal in the lab is still open,"

Dustin raised an eyebrow. "But the Chief said-"

"Forget the Chief!" Mike interrupted.

"Forget the - Mike, have you forgotten who saved our asses?" Lucas confronted. "And saved Will?"

Mike shook his head, backtracking. "Just - ugh, what if the Chief is wrong?"

"Then why would he tell us the portal closed, hmm?" Lucas countered.

Dustin's eyes widened. "Lando,"

"Dude, shut up about Lando!" Lucas smacked Dustin on the arm, sighing in exasperation. "The Chief is on our side!"

"Is there something we can do to find out if the portal actually is open?" Will finally spoke up.

The other boys quieted and after a brief pause, Mike exclaimed, "The compasses!"

. . . . . . . .

"So if you're lost and on your own, you can never surrender..."

[A/N: Hello all! Thank you all so much for the reads/reviews/follows/favorites! I got really excited tonight because I connected some ideas in my head and I'm thinking this fic is actually going to be longer than I originally intended! Please let me know if there's anything you didn't understand or I could explain better in the story. Also, being in character is super important to be so if you could let me know how I'm doing with that, I'd really appreciate it! Other than that, thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy the rest of this journey! XD]