ON HOLD peaches

xiii

steve and dustin emptied out the fridge to put the dead demo-dog, as dustin calls it, away. sam found the duo odd but cute. mike was pacing as lucas cleaned the glass by the window, sam and max sitting on the couch against the wall. "hey, if you die i'm not gonna forgive you." max stated.

sam chuckled a bit. "i'm not gonna die. you heard dustin. i most likely won't di-" sam was interrupted. "most likely." max repeated. "well, he seems really right about this, also, he's a nerd when it comes to these things." sam explained, running her thumb over the others knuckles. max frowned. "i don't know what i'd do without you." max admitted, looking down. sam turned to the girl fully, putting a hand on her neck gently.

"you won't need to think about it." sam said, sternly. max looked into the brunettes eyes. the other did the same. the ginger slightly smiled. "i'll try." she replied. sam lightly smiled, wanting to kiss her. "mike, would you just stop already?" lucas snapped, growing irritated. he hadn't called the girls to help him, just so they could have a moment. "you weren't in there okay, lucas?" mike snapped back just as irritated. the girls watched closely, sam having her eyebrows raised at the sudden aggression.

"that lab is swarming with hundreds of those dogs." mike added to his statement. "demo-dogs!" dustin corrected from the kitchen. mike rolled his eyes. "the chief will take care of her." lucas reasoned. "like she needs protection." max mumbled, standing up now with sam, having her arms crossed. "listen, dude, a coach calls a play in a game, bottom line, you execute it, alright?" steve explained in an awful metaphor, walking into the living room with dustin at his side as he wiped his arms with a dish towel.

sam rolled her eyes. "okay, first of all, this isn't some stupid sorts game, and second, we're not even in the game we're on the bench." mike explained to the other harrington. "so, my point is.." steve trailed, trying to outsmart the boy. everyone watched with raised eyebrows and anticipation. steve stayed silent, retracing his steps in his mind. "right, yeah, we're on the bench so, uh, there's nothing we can do about it. sam untied her jacket around her waist, not liking the extra weight. steve flipped the dish towel over his shoulder.

"that's not entirely true." dustin said, the younger teens looking over to him. steve also turned around to face him. "if these demo-dogs, they have a hive mind, when they ran away from the bus, they we're called away." dustin explained. "so if we get their attention.." lucas trailed. "maybe we can them away from the lab." sam finished, max nodding in confirmation to the idea.

"clear a path to the gate." mike added, realizing as he looked forward."yeah, and then we all die. i mean, my sister almost got turned into ground beef!" steve exclaimed, trying to shut down the thought. "bitch." sam said, flipping him off. "that's one point of view." dustin mumbled as well. "no, that's not a point of view man." steve muttered, embarrassing himself without realizing it.

mike widened his eyes. "that's a fact." steve continued as mike walked past him to the kitchen. sam and max shared a look, following him. "i got it!" he exclaimed. he walked over to a wall as everyone crowded around behind him. "this is where the chief dug his hole. this is our way to the tunnel. so.." he explained, walking over to the hallway as everyone followed him like a lost puppy.

"here it is. this is like a hub." he continued, motioning around a big portion of the blue papers in one area like a mob. "so you got all the tunnels feeding into here." he explained, motioning again as he crouched down. "maybe if we set this on fire,"

"oh yeah? that's a no." steve immediately budded in. sam smiled at the idea, then realized it would affect her. "the mind flayer would call away his army." dustin added. "they'd all come to stop us." lucas said, putting two and two together. "hey." steve mumbled, trying to catch their attention. "then we'd circle back to the exit." sam added, mapping out a plan. "guys." steve called again, no reply.