THE GOLD | b. hargrove

chapter thirteen

"Seriously? The back seat again?" Harriet called out as she walked down her front yard towards the brown car waiting for her. The windows were rolled down and Dustin was leaning out of the passenger side, shrugging his shoulders at her remark.

"You didn't want to come and get the bait, so I called shotgun. Fairs fair." The young boy smiled at her with a toothy grin, and she made sure to roll her eyes at him before taking her seat in the back of the car.

"Gee I wonder why I wouldn't want to collect ridiculous amounts of raw meat? Sounds like so much fun!" She grumbled as she clicked her seatbelt into place and looked between the two boys sat in front of her.

"Don't worry we got you a pair of gloves, so you can get stuck in." Steve smiled at her in the rear view mirror as he pulled his car out into the road and headed towards the train tracks where they'd begin their trail. "You heard from any of your little friends?" His attention moved to Dustin as he drove, who had his large walkie-talkie sat on his lap.

"No, it's impossible to get hold of anyone lately. It's why I'm stuck with you two." Dustin huffed, shaking the device sarcastically before putting it back down onto his knees.

"Hey!" Harriet and Steve both chimed at the same time, and the blonde girl leant forward so she was in-between the two front seats. "You're the one who kept some space lizard in your house. You're lucky we're helping you sort this mess."

Dustin sighed and ran a hand over his face. "What was I supposed to do? It's not every day you discover a new species."

"Yeah, a new species that eats your cat, and probably us." Harriet leant back into her own seat in a huff, her gaze now watching out the window as the thick forest sped past them. It didn't take long to arrive at the top of the old train tracks, most of the ride spent with only the low hum of the radio filling the car. They loaded out, and the boot was emptied of the buckets of meat, gasoline, the reliable nail studded bat, and of course the protective marigold gloves. Harriet donned the bright rubber gloves reluctantly, the fabric on the inside already irritating her skin. Though it was definitely better than having to scatter the bait with her bare hands.

Dustin had stepped to one side, someone finally responding over the radio who would no doubt end up being roped into the hunt for the baby demogorgan. Steve and Harriet couldn't hear the voice on the other end, Dustin wearing his headset meant they could only hear one side of the conversation but they could gather enough from what they heard to know whoever it was would eventually be meeting them at the old junk yard.

The sun was out but it's warmth couldn't be felt as they walked along the tracks, dropping chunks of meat every few feet along to create a hopefully enticing trail for the baby demogorgan to follow. For a little while nobody spoke, only the sound of the dry autumn leaves under foot and the thud of the dropped meat filling the woods around them. Harriet was trailing behind a little, her feet already aching though she tried to ignore it as she knew there was still a ways to go. She winced each time she had to grab meat out of the metal bucket in her hand, the gloves not hiding the slimy texture and it made her stomach turn. "So when you found this, thing, it was a slug right? And you kept it?" She decided to try and distract herself from the discomfort with conversation, and she was genuinely confused as to why anyone would find a slug and take it home with them.

Dustin turned to look back at Harriet as she spoke, but then quickly turned his head back to focus on the path in front of him. "Well, it looked cool. Like a new species. So I wanted to research it." He trailed off, sighing before he continued his reasoning. "And there's this new girl, and I thought if I discovered a new species she'd be impressed." He was quieter when explaining the latter part, but Steve and Harriet both still heard him clear enough.