SWEET CREATURE//steve harrington

FIFTEEN

"OKAY," DUSTIN PANTED, PATTING THE BYERS' NOW EMPTY FREEZER. "IT SHOULD FIT NOW." Steve held the dead Demo-dog, wrapped in a fraying quilt, disgust written all over his face. "Is this really necessary?" he asked. "Yes, it is, okay?" Dustin whined. "This is a groundbreaking scientific discovery. We can't just bury it like some common mammal, okay? It's not a dog." "Alright, alright," Steve muttered, exasperated. "But you're explaining this to Mrs. Byers, alright?" Vivian watched them, amused, from the counter, perched on top of the laminate. 

"Shut up, Viv," Steve said, shoving the carcass unceremoniously into the freezer. "I didn't say a word," she said innocently. "Yeah, whatever--Christ, help me man," Steve wheezed, struggling. "What am I supposed to do?" Dustin asked. "Get the door," Steve said, frustrated. Steve shoved the creature deeper into the freezer, the squelching noises making Vivian's stomach turn. "Ew," Steve said. "Ugh, Jesus. That's disgusting." Him and Dustin pushed the door shut, Steve mussing Dustin's head affectionately. 

Vivian smiled. She'd never seen Steve like this. He was an only child, and he never understood the appeal of Vivian's avid babysitting career. "It's not so much the appeal, it's the 'getting paid for doing virtually no work'," Vivian had told him. He'd been good with Harper; it wasn't hard to like kids, all you had to do was listen to them. But she'd never seen him like this. Taking care of them. Loving them. Protecting them. To be honest, it was kind of cute.

A faint scraping could be heard from the living room as Max and Lucas swept up the shattered remains of the front window, where the monster had crashed through it. Vivian had been so amped up on adrenaline she didn't even remember seeing it shatter, just that awful thing coming toward them. Mike paced intently and silently, the floorboards creaking under his feet. 

"Mike, would you just stop already?" Lucas sighed. Mike turned indignantly to face him. "You weren't in there, okay, Lucas? That lab is swarming with hundreds of those dogs." "Demo-dogs!" Dustin corrected from the kitchen, earning a flick from a Vivian and a glare from Mike. "The chief will take care of her," Lucas insisted. "Like she needs protection," Max pointed out.

Steve roamed into the living room, wiping his hands on a dish towel and throwing it over his shoulder. Vivian followed and collapsed onto the couch, rubbing her eyes. "Okay, okay," he said. "Enough of this bickering shit. A coach calls a play in a game, bottom line, you execute it. All right?" Mike scoffed. "Okay, first of all, this isn't some stupid sports game. And second," he said. "We're not even in the game. We're on the bench." 

Vivian grinned in spite of herself. Steve looked to her for moral support, Vivian nodding in response. Go, Steve. "Right," he stammered. "So my point is..." He trailed off, the kids staring at him in anticipation. "Right, yeah, we're on the bench, so, uh, there's nothing we can do," he finished definitively, making Vivian groan. "I really thought you were going somewhere with that," she said, Steve only rolling his eyes.

"That's not entirely true," Dustin said to Steve, an idea brewing as he spoke. "I mean, these Demo-dogs, they have a hive mind. When they ran away from the bus, they were called away." "If we get their attention," Lucas started. "Maybe we can draw them to the lab," Max concluded. "Clear a path to the gate," Mike said. Despite the danger of the circumstances, their attitudes and willingness to fight made Vivian's heart jump inside her chest; she couldn't snuff out the adrenaline flickering to life inside her. 

"Yeah, and then we all die," Steve reminded them, putting his hands on his hips, making Vivian jolt back into reality. Not this superhero fantasy she'd conjured up in a matter of seconds. Steve was right. They were just kids. All of them. "That's one point of view," Dustin countered. "No, that's not a point of view, that's a fact," Steve told him.