Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·
ON THE BENCH ' you're seriously not siding with them, are you? '
· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·
"Is this really necessary?" Steve complained as he struggled to fit the demo dog into the fridge. Ashley look at all the food they had emptied out on the side as she tried to shove this creature into a fridge. "Yeah, like, seriously Dustin, can't we just dig it a hole in the garden?" Ashley asked. "Yes, it is, okay? This is a ground-breaking scientific discovery. We can't just bury it like some common mammal, okay? It's not a dog." Dustin complained back to Steve. "All right, all right, all right. But you're explaining this to Mrs. Byers, all right? Christ. Help me out." Steve struggled to get it in. "What am I supposed to do?" "Get the door, man." Dustin pushed the fridge door closed, and saw the goo on his hands. Ashley noticed and looked at her own hands that were covered too. "All right, I got the door." "Ew." She looked at her hands disgusted. "Nothing a little soap and water can fix." Steve smiled as they all walked over to the sink.
· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·
Ashley walked into the living room after drying her hands and watched as the boys argued with Steve. "Listen, dude, a coach calls a play in a game, bottom line, you execute it. All right?" "Okay, first of all, this isn't some stupid sports game. And second, we're not even in the game. We're on the bench." Mike stressed. Everyone was feeling the pressure. "So my point is... Right, yeah, we're on the bench, so, uh, there's nothing we can do." Steve tried explaining. Ashley sighed as she sat down on the sofa. "That's not entirely true. 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..." "Maybe we can draw them from the lab." "Clear a path to the gate." Ashley watched as each one of the boys had a lightbulb moment. "Yeah, and then we all die." "That's one point of view." "No, that's not a point of view, man. That's a fact." "I got it! This is where the chief dug his hole. This is our way into the tunnel. So... Here, right here. This is like a hub. So you got all the tunnels feeding in here. Maybe if we set this on fire..." Ashley reluctantly followed Mike as he found the Hub of the tunnels. "Oh, yeah? That's a no." "The mind flayer would call away his army." "They'd all come to stop us." "We circle back to the exit." "Guys." "By the time they realize we're gone..." "El would be at the gate." "Hey. Hey! Hey! This is not happening." "But..." "No, no, no, no, no. No buts. I promised I'd keep you shitheads safe, and that's exactly what I plan on. We're staying here. On the bench. And we're waiting for the starting team to do their job. Does everybody understand?" "This isn't a stupid sports game." "I said does everybody understand that? I need a yes." "Steve-" Ashley began. "What?!" He shouted. "I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell." He sighed. "Maybe their right." She looked at the Hub, and saw the dangers of it, but also saw how much help it would be if they did it right. "You're seriously not siding with them, are you?" Steve said, frustrated. "I am. Maybe. I don't know. But I don't know that if we do it, we need to do it right and we need to protect them." Ashley looked at Steve as he did the same. Lights filled the house as a car pulled up outside.
