STRANGER THINGS HAVE HAPPENED_JIM HOPPER

023

It was quiet, eerily so, and the only sound that punctuated the stillness was the lighter Steve kept flicking. Ana was two seconds away from taking it off of him if he didn't cut it out.

"So, you really fought one of these things before?" Max's question wasn't unwarranted, they had all seen it, so it was easy for them to believe. Not so easy for an outsider. Steve nodded his head in answer, but Max continued to question him anyway. "And you're, like, totally, 100% sure it wasn't a bear?"

Dustin cut in angrily at this inquiry. "Shit. Don't be an idiot. Okay? It wasn't a bear. Why would Ms. Thompson lie?" He snipped, waving irritatingly in the direction of their teacher. "Why are you even here if you don't believe us?" Ana scolded Dustin for his harsh words towards the girl, but he wasn't deterred. He was mad about the situation with Lucas and taking it out on Max. "Just go home."

Max was notably offended at being snapped at and headed up the ladder, away from the angry boy. "Geesh. Someone's cranky. Past your bedtime," she mocked over her shoulder for disappearing through the escape latch in the roof.

Once Max was out of earshot, Steve smiled and said, "that's good. Just show her you don't care." He really thought his love lesson had sunk into his brain, past the curly helmet of hair and hat.

"I don't," Dustin assured flatly, which earned a wink from Steve like they were the only two in on the little secret of attracting girls. "Why are you winking, Steve? Stop." When he didn't, Ana kicked Steve's shoe and instructed him to knock it off, which he finally did with a frown.

She was checking over her revolver, good thing she always kept it at the ready in the glove compartment of her truck, when the screeching started outside. Everyone jumped up, peering out the windows and keeping their eyes peeled, scanning the perimeter for any signs of Dart. Lucas and his binoculars spotted him first. "I've got eyes! Ten o'clock! Ten o'clock!"

The company waited on bated breath for the monsters next move. When he didn't make one, everyone became anxious.

"He's not taking the bait. Why is he not taking the bait?" Steve questioned, commenting on what they were all witnessing.

"Maybe he's not hungry?" Dustin surmised, but the answer couldn't be that simple. His hunger had been insatiable up until this point, why would it fail now?

"Maybe he's sick of cow," Steve concluded, his tone inferring and implying.

Goddammit, Ana knew exactly where this was heading, and she didn't welcome the realization of where it would inevitably end up.

Without conferring, the eldest two shared a nod and Steve walked off to grab his bat while Ana stood up, readying her gun.

"Steve? Ms. Thompson? What are you doing?" Neither answered Dustin's query-it was apparent what they were planning on doing. Dangerous and stupid, probably, but entirely necessary, or so it seemed.

Ana went to the door and prepared to open it, while Steve turned back towards Dustin. "Just be ready," he warned before throwing his lighter to the younger boy.

The teacher and the high school senior warily stepped out into the crisp night air, the fog slithering around their feet like snakes. "No matter what, we stay back to back, and we cover each other. Clear?" Ana instructed in barely a whisper, to Steve nodded in conformation at the teacher's directive. The bus door creaked ominously closed behind them.

Steve whistled and called out in an effort to draw the creature towards them. This had to be one of the dumbest ideas Ana had on record. She briefly wondered if she would be fired should a student be eaten to death on her watch. Yeah, probably.

Dart was waiting, just waiting in front of the pair, and there's nothing more unsettling than being stared down by a mini Demogorgon. At least, they thought there was nothing more unsettling, Lucas was about to shatter that belief for the two humans acting as bait on the ground.

"Guys, watch out!" Lucas' scream pierced through the still night.

"A little busy here!" Steve returned without so much as blinking, but Lucas continued to yell.

"Three o'clock! Three o'clock!" Whatever was at three o'clock would have to be Ana's problem because Steve was keeping his sights locked on Dart ahead.

Seeing what was at three o'clock only confirmed that they were positively fucked. Apparently, Dart was part of a brood.

In the distance, Dustin was yelling at the pair to abort, but it was far too late for that. They were surrounded, and now their only hope was being both quick and smart.

The first beast lunged at Steve, but he dodged it by rolling onto the hood of a nearby car. Ana did her best to follow, shooting at another as it came at them from behind. Thankfully, her shot landed, and the animal fell to the ground, unmoving. Well, at least these miniature versions were stopped by bullets, whereas the Demogorgon hadn't been affected by them at all.

The duo made a break for the safety of the bus, where the children were shouting at them to run faster. Steve swung his bat to stave off the spawn as they made their exit, and Ana shot those that dared approach.

After what felt like an eternity of running, but was probably mere seconds or minutes, Ana and Steve both fell into the security of their makeshift sanctuary, but the danger wasn't past yet.

Steve held the door closed with his feet as the devils rammed their bodies against it in an effort to break in. He pulled a piece of steel siding and placed it in front of the entrance to stave them off further, but it was too flimsy to last.

Everyone was screaming. The bus was rocking from the impact of bodies hitting against it. This was the end of them all if they couldn't conjure up a miracle, anything to get them out of the red.

When one of the creatures broke through the door, Ana pushed the three kids to the back of the bus while Steve attacked it with his bat. The screeching was deafening as the nails and wood made contact.

Dustin tried calling for help on his radio, but there was no one to help them now. No salvation in sight from their dreadful circumstances.

Pounding sounded on the roof, and it made everyone pause, realizing the emergency exit was still agape.

As one of the creatures approached the opening, Max finally saw up close and personal what it was that had the group under attack. As a result, she let out a blood-curdling scream. Bet she believed their silly story now. No one could mistake a mini Demogorgon for being a bear, not even the most hopeful among them.

Ana pushed the girl aside, intending to shoot the damned thing as it roared in her face, but, suddenly, all movement stopped.

The monster looked off into the distance, looking or listening for something, before jumping off the bus and abandoning their efforts entirely. All its minions followed in suit as well.

Hesitantly, the crew stepped outside to see if their adversaries had really gone, and that it wasn't just a trick the crafty creatures were playing. But, they only found that they were once again alone in the junkyard.

"What happened?" Lucas asked baffled.

"I don't know," Max admitted.

"Steve and Ms. Thompson scared 'em off?" Dustin suggested, but that was less than believable. She'd shot a few, sure, and Steve had pummeled a couple, but they had been outnumbered either way, and it wouldn't have taken much to overpower them while sequestered on the bus.

"I highly doubt it," Ana whispered, knowing things really went their way purely by chance.

"No way. They're going somewhere," Steve surmised, and there was only one reasonable answer of where that somewhere could be.