Chapter Text
“He’s not taking the bait, why is he not taking the bait?” Steve eyed the dog that was creeping around.
“Maybe he’s not hungry”, Dustin offered. Steve kept his eyes on Dart.
“Maybe he’s sick of cow”, after saying that an idea surfaced in his mind. He took a step back and thought for a second, then a look of determination crossed his face. Maybe…. He turned to the door.
“Steve? Steve, what are you doing? Steve?” Dustin's voice sharpened but Steve ignored that. He turned to Dustin and held up the lighter.
“Just get ready”, Then he tossed it over and opened the bus door. With the nail bat in his hands he slowly moved out.
He gave a low whistle, “Come on, buddy”.
Behind him he heard Max asking “What's he doing?”.
“He’s expanding the menu!”, he heard Dustin whisper.
Steve couldn't help the small twitch of a grin as he moved forward slowly, still talking to the Demodog. He was baiting it to the pile of flesh they had thrown out. Baiting it to the trap that lay ahead.
While keeping his eyes on the monster he heard someone muttering "He's insane.”
Another voice answered immediately, full of unmistakable admiration. "He's awesome!”
Steve ignored both. He just kept moving. Just a little farther. The demodog stalked after him slowly. Deliberate. Steve could see the muscles beneath the slick black skin.
Then Lucas yelled “Steve watch out!”
But Steve only dismissed him, keeping his eyes fixed on Dart, the freaking monster standing right in front of him.
“A little busy here!”
When he heard the panic in Lucas' voice while he screamed ”Three o’clock! Three o’clock!” his stomach dropped. Steve turned slightly and saw it. A second Demodog. Growling. Creeping towards him.
Behind him the bus door slammed open. “Steve, abort. Abort!”
Steve turned to Dustin, something akin to fear etched into his face.
At that moment one of the Demodogs growled, and started to run towards Steve. So he shifted his attention back and tried to ready himself with his bat. When the monster jumped he swung his bat at the flower shaped head and hit him dead on. The nails dug into the soft flesh with a scrunch. The Demodog was thrown away but the second one didn't wait. Didn't give Steve any time to breathe.
As it jumped Steve managed to dodge away over the hood of a car. But the Demodog managed to swipe at his leg. Steve felt his trousers rip and how the claw dug into his leg. But he knew he couldn’t stop moving. The demodogs were still attacking.
Meanwhile he heard the screams of the kids in the background telling him to run and calling his name, which kept him grounded. He had to protect them and that's what he planned on doing.
So when the next monster jumped at him he again swung at it with his bat, throwing it away from him.
Now he had a somewhat clear path to the bus.
He saw the kids in the open door, screaming for him to hurry and to run and so he did. Ignoring the pain at his leg he broke into a full sprint towards the bus.
Nearly there he was already reaching for the door when suddenly something rammed him from the side.
He could hear the kids shouting and shrieking when a demodog was throwing Steve to the ground. He felt the air get pressed out of his lungs at the impact but he instantly raised his bat to defend against the many rows of teeth that roared above him. When the monster tried to bite him, he shoved his bat against it. The monster shrieked, jaws snapping uselessly around the bat, and lashed out in frustration.
Steve didn’t see the claws coming but he felt them. They sank into his side, shredding through his shirt and into skin.
A sound tried to claw its way out of his throat, but he bit it back hard. They were kids. He barely even knew them, but that didn’t matter, they weren’t going to watch him scream.
Only a groan escaped him. He felt the claws moving towards his back pinning him to the ground. Steve didn’t dare look down, he didn’t need to, the burning pain told him it wasn’t pretty.
The demodog towered over him, the blood spreading down his side hidden from the kids by the creature's body. Good. They didn't need to see this.
He had to move. He knew that. Adrenaline took over, forcing his muscles to move. With the bat still in the monster's mouth Steve grabbed it and shoved hard at the monster. It was thrown back and then Steve janked and pulled the bat free.
He rolled toward the bus, and tried to get his feet under him. His left leg almost folded beneath him. For one terrifying second he thought he wouldn't make it. Then adrenaline kicked again, and he forced himself forward.
He scrambled in and the kids instantly closed the door behind him. The demodogs threw themselves against the door and the sides of the bus.
Steve was surrounded by voices but there was a ringing in his ears that threatened to drown out the voices.
He faintly made out Dustin saying shit and someone said something about the monsters being rabid.
Steve shook his head and tried to focus; they were still being attacked; he couldn't afford to sit still. He scrambled to put a board against the door and held it with his feet. When the monsters crashed against it the kids screamed and scrambled back.
But Steve held steady, focused on not letting the Demodogs get to the kids. When one attacked and broke through the makeshift wall, clawing at the inside trying to grab something Steve was prepared. He started slamming his nail bat into the paw that reached inside. The Demodog was screeching.
Steve heard Dustin radioing the others: “Is anyone there? Mike? Will? God! Anyone!”
The Demodogs now attacked from multiple sites, the kids scrambling around while Steve still punched the one at the door. He knew the kids were scared shitless. Hell, even he was scared as fuck. But he was the oldest and he knew he was responsible to get those kids home.
His leg was throbbing and his side was screaming at him to stop moving. He felt his T-shirt sticking to his side. But his jacket was covering it so he hoped the kids hadn't noticed yet.
He couldn’t focus on his pain right now, with all of them being attacked. And he knew the kids would freak out even more if they knew. So he clamped his teeth together and ignored the flare that was biting his side.
Then Dustin radioed again: “We're at the old junkyard. And we are going to die!”
He said it with conviction and a hint of resignation which broke Steve's heart. Steve
steeled himself more, he would not let these kids die on his watch. Even if it was the last thing he did.
When the Demodog at the door retreated another one jumped at the roof. Everyone went silent and stared at the ceiling.
The metal above them creaked and dented with every step the creature took. Max was standing in front of the ladder that led to the open hatch above.
The monster crept closer until it stood directly above her. When it started growling she started screaming. But instantly Steve was there, shoved her aside.
“Out of the way! Out of the way!”
Placing himself between the monster and the kids. He raised his bat in defense despite his side protesting and looked at the monster with determination.
“You want some? Come get this!”
He swung his bat defensively so the monster couldn’t get in. Then the face of the monster opened into a flower shape. Rows of teeth lining the inside and it screamed so loud their ears were ringing.
The kids looked horrified but Steve did not recede and did not move from his spot between them and the monster from another world.
Suddenly the monster retracted his head looking ahead in the distance. It screeched one last time and jumped off the bus in a hurry.
The whole bus shook and Steve had to steady himself against the ladder. His knuckles white, trying not to sway. His breathing hitched. He pressed his lips together until it passed.
Everyone was quiet, listening to the growling that receded and sounded farther and farther away.
For a while nobody moved, then Steve went to the door. He reached for the door, but his fingers slipped off the metal. His hand was trembling. Damn it. He clenched it once, swallowed hard, and tried again.
"Steve?" Steve looked back a little too quickly.
"What?"
Dustin frowned for a second, then shook his head.
"Nothing."
This time more steady Steve grabbed the door and shoved it open. With his bat raised, he slowly moved out, ready for any attack. But there was nothing outside the bus.
Behind him Lucas asked in disbelief “What happened?”.
Max said “I don’t know”
“Steve scared em off?” Dustin argued with a hopeful voice.
But Steve knew that was not the case. He knew the Demodogs could’ve taken him apart. And Steve knew that they knew that. His side was proof enough of that. And that was only one of the dogs attacking and they had been against multiple.
So he said: “ No, No way. They’re going somewhere”
He turned to the kids with the bat above his shoulder. The kids exchanged uneasy looks.
They were standing in the open space now. The light from the junkyard illuminated the area.
He saw Dustin examining him when his eyes widened. Dustin ran over to Steve looking at him shocked.
“Youre bleeding Steve!”
He instantly kneeled down to inspect his leg. Steve just shoved at him.
"It's not a big deal Henderson. It's just a scratch.”
He didn't want the kid to worry more than he already did. But Max and Lucas were already getting closer and fixed on his leg.
“Damn, that's more than just a scratch, you could need stitches with how much that's bleeding!” Max added carefully.
Lucas' voice was also filled with worry: “You should really sit down man, you are starting to look really pale”.
Maybe it was getting worse. Steve felt himself shivering and with the adrenaline slowly leaving his body he started to feel lightheaded.
The pain he had been suppressing started to creep in again. Worse than before, maybe cause the constant moving had aggravated his injuries.
But he still had to get the kids out of these woods somehow.
“It's fine. I’ll patch it up and then we're getting the hell out of these woods. No complaints!”
He started moving before anyone could retort something. He turned to the bus and when his back was turned to the kids he closed his jacket.
He grabbed a piece of cloth that lay inside the bus and tightened it around his leg groaning when he pulled it fast. He ignored the dizziness that was starting to creep in and just hoped that his side wouldn’t bleed out until they reached some kind of civilization again.