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CHAPTER TWENTY THREE | ALL OUT BRAWL
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i love you like a vulture loves / the careless deer at the roadside.
-love poem without a drop of hyperbole in it // traci brimhall
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Jackie didn't really want to touch the demodog again, so she passed that responsibility off to Steve while she and Lucas got to work sweeping the glass away from the middle of the floor while Max held down a dustpan for them to put the glass in. Mike was busy pacing, worry weighing down his shoulders. Jackie figured she'd let him have his moment of worry, but Lucas clearly disagreed if the constant dirty looks he was shooting in Mike's direction were any indication.
"Mike, would you just stop already?" Lucas snapped, waving his hand that wasn't holding his broom around.
"You weren't in there, okay, Lucas?" Mike said, turning and squaring his shoulders. His fists were balled at his sides, like he was ready for a fight. "That lab is swarming with hundreds of those dogs."
"Demodogs!" Dustin shouted from the other room.
Both Lucas and Mike rolled their eyes.
"The chief will take care of her," Lucas said, trying to reassure Mike.
"Like she needs protection," Max mumbled.
Jackie glanced down and cocked an eyebrow in amusement. A light pink flush over took Max's cheeks and she looked away from Jackie sheepishly.
"Listen, dude," Steve said, walking in and wiping his hands clean with a dish towel. "A coach calls a play in a game, bottom line, you execute it. All right?"
"Okay, first of all," Mike said instantly, voice irritated and unamused, "this isn't some stupid sports game. And second, we're not even in the game. We're on the bench."
"Righ— so my point is," Steve stammered for a second, lips pursed as he tried to find his point. "Right, yeah, we're on the bench, so, uh, there's nothing we can do."
He flipped the dish towel onto his shoulder and crossed his arms with a quiet huff. Jackie snorted quietly.
"That's not entirely true," Dustin spoke up. "I mean, these demodogs, they have a hive mind. When they ran away from the bus, they were called away."
"So if we get their attention..." Lucas started, eyes alight with an idea.
"Maybe we can draw them away from the lab!" Max continued, growing obviously excited.
"And clear a path to the gate," Mike finished.
"Yeah, and then we all die!" Steve said, swinging his hands out and raising his voice with each word.
