YOUR SONG | steve harrington

020

They had all made it back to the Byers house, settling down a little after the horrific events that had just occurred. It had turned out that Joyce, Hopper, Chris, Mike, and Will were all inside the Demogorgon infested building and they all somehow managed to escape.

Well, not all of them.

Bob Newby, Joyce's boyfriend, was also there and he had died saving all of them in the lab. Beverly wasn't too familiar with the man, but she knew he must have been a good guy for risking his life for all of them.

Will was unconscious and they had placed him on the couch, where Jonathan was staying by his side the whole time. Nancy was next to Jonathan, trying to comfort him by rubbing his shoulders or whispering to him. Beverly noticed that Steve seemed to be sad as he watched them, and she pursed her lips as she watched him walk back into the room the kids were all in.

While Jonathan quietly spoke to Will to no avail, Hopper argued with someone on the phone to try and get help. "Sam Owens. Dr. Sam Owens," he said into the phone. "I don't know how many people are there! I don't know how many people are left alive!" he shouted, waiting for the person to say something. "I am the police! Chief Jim Hopper!" he exclaimed. "Yes, the number that I gave you, yes. 6767 — I will be here." He then angrily hung up the phone.

"They didn't believe you, did they?" Dustin guessed.

"We'll see," Hopper replied.

"'We'll see'?" Mike repeated. "We can't just sit here while those things are loose!"

"We stay here, and we wait for help," he sternly told the boy before he walked out of the room.

Beverly's eyes traveled over to Chris, who she hadn't seen since her last gym class. He was sorrowfully looking down at the ground, his hair messy with his arms crossed. He blinked slowly, not moving from where he stood against the wall. The Crawford girl wanted to say something, but she knew that now wasn't a good time.

She was just honestly glad that most of them were alright.

No one had talked or moved a muscle until Mike got up from his seat, walking into the other room. He picked up a puzzle game, examining it. "Did you guys know that Bob was the original founder of Hawkins AV?" Mike spoke up.

"Really?" Lucas asked.

Mike turned around to look at them all. "He petitioned the school to start it and everything. Then he had a fundraiser for equipment. Mr. Clarke learned everything from him. Pretty awesome, right?" he said as he walked back over.

"Yeah," Dustin and Lucas agreed.

"He sounded like a smart guy," Beverly whispered and Alicia nodded sadly, a lopsided frown on her face.

Mike placed the game on the table. "We can't let him die in vain."

"Well, what do you want to do, Mike? The Chief's right on this. We can't stop those Demodogs on our own," Dustin argued.

"Demodogs?" Max repeated in disbelief.

"Demogorgon dogs," Dustin said slowly before he put his hands together. "Demodogs. It's like a compound. It's like a play on words, you know?"

"Okay," Max said, giving him a wide eyed look.

"I mean, when it was just Dart, maybe..." the Henderson boy trailed off.

"But there's an army now," Lucas finished for him.

"Precisely."

"His army," Mike realized.

"What do you mean?" Steve asked.

"His army!" Mike repeated again.

"Explain, please," Chris begged his brother, speaking up for the first time that night.