͏b͏r͏o͏k͏e͏n || ͏b͏i͏l͏l͏y ͏h͏a͏r͏g͏r͏o͏v͏e

F I F T E E N

𝐀𝐍𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐒𝐈𝐀 𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐓𝐎𝐍

"All right," Dustin huffed dramatically as he cleared out the Byers' freezer like he was performing surgery. "It should fit now."

He turned to Steve—who, for the record, was holding a dead Demo-dog like it might suddenly come back to life.

"Is this really necessary?" Steve asked, shoulders scrunched, face twisted in disgust.

"Yes, it is necessary," Dustin snapped, offended. "This is a groundbreaking scientific discovery. We can't just—bury it like some common mammal, okay? It's not a dog."

"Feels like a dog," Steve muttered under his breath.

"FYI—you're explaining this to Mrs. Byers," I said, jabbing a finger at Dustin. "Not me. I'm not dealing with whatever meltdown that sparks."

Dustin ignored me. "Help me out."

"What am I supposed to do?" Steve groaned.

"Get the door, man!"

Steve heaved the freezer shut, still grimacing like the creature might ooze out at any moment.

"I need to quit hanging out with you losers," I muttered as I ducked out of the room, rubbing my face.

In the living room, Lucas and Max were sweeping up the broken glass from earlier. Max's eyes flicked to Mike, who was pacing like a caffeinated squirrel.

"Mike, would you please stop?" Lucas groaned.

Mike whirled around. "You weren't in there, okay, Lucas? That lab is swarming with hundreds of those dogs—"

"Demo-dogs!" Dustin yelled from the kitchen.

"The Chief will take care of her," Lucas insisted.

"Like she needs protection," I whispered under my breath.

"Listen, dude," Steve said, stepping in with his Big Brother Coach voice. "A coach calls a play in a game—bottom line—you execute it."

"Okay, first of all, this isn't some stupid sports game," Mike fired back, "and second, we're not even in the game. We're on the bench."

"So my point is..." Steve stalled, blinking uselessly as we all stared at him. "Right. Yeah. We're on the bench. So, uh, there's nothing we can do."

"That's not entirely true," Lucas said, eyes brightening. "The Demo-dogs have a hive mind. When they ran from the bus—they were called away. If we get their attention—"

"Maybe we can draw them from the lab," Max added.

"Clear a path to the gate," Lucas finished.

"Yeah—and then we all die," Steve snapped.

"That's one point of view," Dustin shrugged as he entered.

"No. That's not a point of view, man. That's a fact," Steve said.

"I got it!" Mike blurted, already racing toward Will's drawings. He traced lines with trembling fingers. "This is where the Chief dug his hole. Our way into the tunnel. And here—this hub—all the tunnels feed into it. If we set this on fire—"

"Oh yeah, that's a no," I laughed, incredulous.

"The Mind Flayer would call away his army," Dustin reasoned.

"They'd all come to stop us," Lucas added.

"We circle back to the exit—"

"Guys," Steve tried.