Say Anything | Steve Harrington |

Ch. 33 Hive Mind

November 6th, 1984
The Byers Household

   Watching the two cars pull out of the drive way, the party now including Max, Steve, and I stood on the balcony, sending the two groups off.

   In one car was Jonathan, Nancy, mom, and Will. Their destination being a cabin that Hopper had found somewhere off in the woods. In hopes that they would be able to rid the monster that hid inside Will.

   And in the other vehicle was Hopper and El, their destination would land them under Hawkins Lab, where the gate leading to the Upside Down was hidden.

And if everything landed at just the right time, not only would Will be safe from the Mind Flayer, but so would the rest of Hawkins.

   As their tail lights soon disappeared into the distance, we all slowly began to make our ways inside the wrecked household.

   What do we do now exactly? Just wait? We had no destination or task to complete like the others. So, what now?

   Closing the door behind me, I looked over at the broken window and how the glass had shattered and spread across the living rooms floor.

   Walking towards the Demo-dog that laid lifeless on the ground, Dustin lightly moved it with his foot before jumping back quickly, anticipating that the creature wasn't really dead.

   "Should we like clean this up?" Max asked as she walked around the room, glass crunching beneath her shoes as she did so. "Good idea." I mumbled, nodding as I looked around at the now trashed living room.

   'Will this house ever not look like complete chaos?' I thought to myself as I walked into the kitchen to get a broom and dustpan.

   "Steve and I can take care of this." Dustin stated loudly as he pointed down at the dead Demo-dog. "Excuse me?" Steve questioned, placing one hand on his hip and running the other through his hair. "We need to move it." Dustin stated simply with a shrug of his shoulders as if it wasn't a big deal.

   "I'm not touching that thing." Steve stated with a grimace on his face as he too pushed the creature over with his foot. "Don't be such a pu-" "Dustin, don't even finish that sentence." I stated, looking between the two boys.

"Sorry. Steve, would you please get a sheet from outside? I'll clean out the freezer." Dustin asked with false kindness before turning his back on us to walk into the kitchen. "Freezer?" Steve and I asked, both equally confused.

"No questions!" Dustin yelled from the kitchen, the sound of the freezer door being pulled open and food hitting the floor was all that could be heard.

"What?" Steve asked looking between Max, Lucas, and I with his eyebrows furrowed in obvious confusion. Shrugging my shoulders and ignoring the sound of Dustin wasting all of our food, I began sweeping up some of the glass. "Just go get a sheet." I spoke up, noticing that Steve still stood there staring at the dead creature, causing him to roll his eyes before exiting the room.

"I can do that." Max said, walking towards me before lightly taking the broom out of my hand. "Thanks, Max." I said with a smile as Lucas followed close behind her. "And I'll help you." He said with a grin as he grabbed the dustpan from off the floor, staring up at Max.