MADELINE, dustin henderson

|014

We wait in the Byers house as Jonathan, Nancy, and Joyce go to burn the hostility out of Will and El and Hopper go close the gate. I sit on the couch as Dustin and Steve are doing something in the kitchen, Max, and Lucas clean the shattered glass from the broken window and Mike is pacing around.

"Mike, would you just stop already?" Lucas exclaims in annoyance.

"You weren't in there, okay, Lucas? That lab is swarming with hundreds of those dogs." Mike stops at his feet.

"Demodogs!" Dustin comes from the kitchen and I roll my eyes.

"Dustin, shut up!" I exclaim and he comes to sit next to me.

"The chief will take care of her," Lucas says towards Mike.

"Like she needs protection," Max mutters.

"Listen, dude. If a coach calls a play in a game, bottom line, we execute it, alright?" Steve walks in and I roll my eyes.

"This isn't a stupid sports game, Steve!" I exclaim.

"Yeah and we're not even in the game, we're on the bench," Mike adds.

"Right, so my point is... Right, yeah. We're on the bench, so, uh, there's nothing we can do," Steve states.

"Well, um... That's not entirely true," I say and look at Dustin. His face lights up, realizing too.

"These Demodogs, they have a hive mind. When they ran away from the bus, they were called away," he mutters and I nod with a smile.

"Exactly," I say.

"So if we get their attention..." Lucas trails off.

"Maybe we can draw them away from the lab," Max completes and looks up at Lucas.

"And clear a path to the gate," Mike says.

"Yeah, and then we all die!" Steve exclaims to stop our plans.

"Well, that's one point of view," Dustin states and I sigh.

"Yeah, how old are you again, Steve?" I ask just for the mess and Steve glares at me.

"That's not a point of view. That's a fact," Steve says to Dustin's comment, ignoring mine.

"I got it," Mike states and walks to another room, the rest of us following.

"This is where the chief dug his hole, this is our way into the tunnels, and..." he trails off, walking away again.

"Here, right here. This is like a hub, so you got all the tunnels feeding in here," Mike continues and it hits me.

"If we set it on fire—"

"Oh, yeah, that's a no," Steve cuts me off.

"The Mind Flayer would call away his army," Dustin says, completely ignoring Steve.

"They'd all come to stop us," Lucas states.

"Then we circle back to the exit," Mike adds and I nod.

"Guys—"

"And by the time they realize we're gone..." I continue.

"Hey—"

"El would be at the gate," Max realizes.

"Hey, hey, hey! This is not happening!" Steve claps his hands.

"But—"

"No, no, no, no, no. No buts. I promised I'd keep you shitheads safe and that's exactly what I plan on doing," Steve exclaims.