Don't Stop the Devil / Steve Harrington 1

Chapter 28

Hopper, Jonathan, Mike, and Joyce quickly come in through the back door. Hooper quickly grabs an envelope and a pen and goes to sit at the dining room table. We all quickly surround him to see what he's doing.

"What happened?" Dustin asks as he stands beside Hopper. "I think he's talking just not with words." Hopper explains as he writes down a series of dots and dashes. "Hey, what is that?" Steve asks from beside me. "Morse code." Max, Lucas, Dustin, Mike, and I respond.

"H. E. R. E." Hopper spells out loud as he translates the dots and dashes. "Here." We all say and Jonathan and Joyce share a smile. "Will's still in there. He's talking to us." Hopper says as he puts the pen down.

Joyce, Jonathan, and Mike decided that they would talk to Will one at a time while Hopper would radio us the morse code so we could translate. Jonathan decided to go first so he grabbed his radio and he, Joyce, Mike, and Hopper went out to the shed.

The rest of gathered around the dining room table. Dustin listened to the walkie-talkie as a series of dashes and dots came through. He writes down the series and Lucas looks at the morse code chart. "C." He and Max say in unison as I write down the letter on the back of an old notepad in crayon.

"L." Lucas says as another series of dashes and dots comes through the radio. This continues until we have two words. Everyone gathers around me as we look at the notepad. "Close gate." We all say in unison.

We all look up as the telephone rings. Dustin and I quickly run over to the ringing phone. Dustin hangs up the phone and we sigh in relief. The phone rings again and Dustin goes to hang up again but before he can I grab the phone and yank it completely off the wall and throw it across the room.

I turn around to see Steve looking at me with his mouth open in shock. I send him a small smile and turn around as Max asks, "Do you think he heard that?" I walk over to her and put my hand on her shoulder. "It's just a phone. He could be anywhere, right?" Steve asks as he come to stand beside me.

We share a worried look and go into the living room as we hear roaring in the distance. "That's not good." Dustin says and I grab onto Steve's hand in fear. He squeezes my hand and offers me a reassuring smile.

Jonathan, Mike, and Joyce run into the house with an unconscious Will and go to his room. They shortly come back out as Hopper comes into the house with an AR, a hunting rifle, and a pistol. "Hey, hey, get away from the windows!" Hopper yells at Max, Lucas, and Mike.

"You know how to use these?" Hopper asks Steve and Jonathan as he holds up the pistol and the rifle. "What?" They both ask confused. "Can you use these?" Hopper asks firmer than before. Both Steve and Jonathan share a worried look and I sigh. "I can." Nancy and I say in unison. Hopper throws Nancy the rifle and me the pistol.

Steve gives me a look of admiration as I turn off the safety in the pistol. I aim it at the window and I see Nancy do the same to my right. Steve stands between Hopper and I with his bat ready as Lucas gets out his slingshot and Mike grabs a golden chalice.

We hear roaring and shuffling outside of the window and aim our weapons there. "Where are they?" Joyce asks from behind Nancy. I calm my breathing and get ready to fire if I need to. We hear more roaring and a loud noise from the kitchen window so we redirect our attention there. "What are they doing?" I ask as I move to stand beside Nancy.

The shrubs outside of the kitchen window start to move as I see Steve come up beside me. I we hear more roaring coming back from the living room window and we aim our weapons back there. We hear roaring and sounds of struggling. Steve and I share a worried look as I try to calm my breathing again.

We hear a snap and a cry of pain from one of the dogs and I tighten my grip on my pistol. On of the demodogs comes flying through the window and we all scream and back away. Steve steps protectively in front of me and I aim my pistol at the demodog. After it doesn't move we all walk towards it carefully.

"Holy shit." Dustin says from behind me. "Is it dead?" Max asks as she moves beside me. Hopper kicks the creature with his boot and it doesn't move so we all lower our weapons. We hear the front door creak and we all turn around to face the door. We raise our weapons again as the door unlocks. I gasp and aim my pistol at the door. Steve once again steps protectively beside me. I steady my breathing and get ready to take the shot. The door slowly opens and a girl around Max's age steps inside. We lower our weapons and I hear everyone gasp as I share a confused look with Max. Mike steps in front of me with a smile and the girl smiles as well.