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It had all happened in the blink of an eye. At first, her and Jane were just walking along with Hopper. Then the noise came and both her and Jane had fallen to the ground, clutching their ears. It had been an awful and painful noise. Kali had seen how Hopper rushed towards them. For a second, she had thought she was going to get help, but then he lifted Jane into his arms and ran off with her, and she was left whimpering on the floor. She couldn't even feel betrayed because she didn't even know that man. He didn't know her either, and Jane was... apparently his daughter now, so she could understand. Somewhat. But it had left her on her own. Vulnerable, weak and alone. She had been a perfect target, and easy for the military to find her. She could hear footsteps coming her way. She was almost certain it were the soldiers, so she tried to crawl away desperately, but to her surprise it was Hopper who found her. He came back for her. He rushed towards her quickly. "I got you, I got you now-" Until he was suddenly knocked out violently by a soldier with a burnt face. "No... I got you."
The next thing she remembered was the soldiers dragging both of them to a room. She wasn't sure why or where to. Her mind could still barely function properly and she felt weak, but the soldier didn't seem to care at all. It seemed like his only priority was finding Jane and that wasn't something she would help him with. "Tell me where she is," he demanded, pointing his gun at Kali. "Or her life's going to end here. Pick quickly."
Hopper's eyes locked with Kali's. For a moment, she almost thought she could see conflict in his eyes. As if he was hesitating. As if he was about to actually tell them where she was. But she shook her head weakly, silently telling him not to say it. She couldn't just betray her sister just to survive. That would be incredibly selfish, and she was almost sure she wasn't going to make it out of there anyway. She could hardly even move her body. She couldn't even use her powers. And if Jane was still in a similar state, she knew who Hopper would prioritize. And it wasn't her. The soldier with the burnt face seemed to get impatient. His finger was on the trigger and he was ready to shoot. "I'm going to give you one last chance. Tell me where she is or she dies."
Hopper exchanged glances with her again and this time he almost looked guilty. As if he also knew that she was most likely going to die if he didn't tell him where Jane was, but Kali was okay with it. They had to protect Jane and if that was going to cost her her life, then so be it. It wasn't like Kali had anything to live for anyway. She had to die anyway if they wanted the cycle to end. And whether she died at the beginning or at the end didn't change anything either. Right as the soldier pulled the trigger, an explosion seemed to hit them. The glass in the windows shattered and Hopper had to hold up his arms in order not to get hit, but Kali couldn't move a lot anyway. The bullet had hit her right in the stomach and blood was pouring out fast - way too fast. And it hurt. It hurt like hell.
Kali wanted to cry. She felt like she was going to. Then the door bust open, and the soldiers in the room all got knocked out by an invisible force. The soldier with the burnt face wanted to shoot again, but Jane twisted the gun in his hands and made him shoot himself. Then she rushed into the room a few seconds later, looking furious, but her gaze turned from anger to horror in the span of a few seconds when she noticed her sister's state. "No, no, no - Kali!" She ran over to her sister, kneeling down next to her putting her hands on her stomach in an attempt to stop the bleeding. "Kali, Kali!" She looked at Hopper desperately. "Get bandages, please!" Hopper nodded and stood up. "Keep pressure on the wound."
Jane was absolutely panicking. Kali had never seen her that way before. It made her heart ache at the thought that there was someone left who cared about her. "Kali, look at me- look at me! Hang in there, okay? I'm here, it's gonna be okay!" She was trying her best to reassure both her and herself, but Kali knew it was too late. She knew it was over for her. There was no point in fighting a losing war. "I'm... not going to make it," she croaked out, weakly. But Jane shook her head desperately, refusing to accept it. "No, don't say that, you will. You will. You will make it, okay?"
"Don't... don't cry, Jane," Kali told her calmly, no longer fighting it. But Jane was already crying, her hands pressed tightly against her wounds to stop the bleeding. "My life was always going to end here." Jane shook her head in refusal, choking out a sob. She had only found her sister less than a few days ago, she couldn't lose her again. "No. No, no." At that moment, Hopper finally came back with the bandages, but he froze in the doorway at the sight of Jane hovered over Kali's body. Her entire shirt was covered in blood, and her eyes were finally closed. For good.
"Kali, Kali!" She could vaguely hear Jane scream, but it sounded really far away. Like an echo. And she could only guess Hopper was trying to pull her away from her limp body. After all, they had to move on. The squawk had to continue. They had to defeat Vecna with or without her. She had only hoped she'd be able to help them a little longer. She had hoped she would have more time - with her sister.
She could hear voices around her. They sounded vague and she wasn't even sure if they were real, but they sounded familiar. She was pretty sure she knew those voices. But she couldn't identify them yet - not when her head felt like it was spinning and her eyelids felt heavier than ever. She was supposed to be dead. Hell, she was sure she was dead. And she wasn't supposed to be conscious. But then a voice sounding next to her head, whispered: "Wake up, sleepyhead." And suddenly it all came crashing down on her. Her eyes fluttered open and she looked around wildly, confused.
"Did you have a nice beauty sleep?" Axel teased, smirking in the way he usually did. And the others were there too. Mick, Funshine and Dottie. Everyone was there. What was going on? Weren't they supposed to be dead? Wasn't she supposed to be dead? It was all too good to be true. But she couldn't bring those questions over her lips and instead, she burst into tears, her emotions catching up to her. Everyone was caught off guard and immediately gathered around her, giving her comforting back pats. Even Axel.
Kali could only sob like she had never done before, unable to believe this was real. Unable to believe she was really reunited with her friends, who these soldiers had killed right in front of her. "You're- You're here. All of you. I- I thought you were dead. For god's sake, I thought I was." Dottie chuckled and sucked on a lollypop. "Oh, we are dead. This is the afterlife."