metal bangs together as steve throws huge pieces of it into a pile. the group works as hard as they can with what little daylight is left. the last thing steve does is dump gasoline onto the pile of raw meat and lead a flammable trail all the way to the bus.

max finds a ladder and drags it back. tj takes hold of it and brings it inside the bus, leaning it against the exit on the top so they have easy access.

as the sun sets, tj, steve, and the three kids make their way inside the bus. dustin closes the door behind him and the five of them start their waiting game, tj, all the while, nervous about what's to come.

the sun is quick to go down, shrouding hawkins in complete darkness. a thick layer of fog covers the grounds outside, making this entire situation that much more creepy. lucas makes his way to the top of the bus, binoculars in hand.

all is silent. tj can hear her heart beating heavy in her chest as she sits with the remaining group. steve clicks his lighter open and closed.

max paces, but she pauses next to tj and turns to steve. "so, you've really fought one of these things before?" steve quits clicking the lighter and looks up at max briefly before resuming. "and you're, like, totally, a hundred percent sure it wasn't a bear?"

"shit, don't be an idiot, okay?" dustin snaps. "it wasn't a bear."

"hey," tj says, sending a glare to dustin.

dustin ignores her. "why are you even here if you don't believe us?" max shoots dustin a mean look. "just go home."

"Sheesh," max huffs. "someone's cranky. past your bedtime?" she pushes herself away from tj and climbs the ladder up to the top of the bus.

steve looks impressed. "that's good. just show her you don't care."

"that shit doesn't work," tj says, shaking her head. "boys are all idiots, i swear."

"i don't care," dustin says. steve winks. "why are you winking, steve? stop."

steve continues his lighter clicking again.

tj shakes her head. "so, if i don't believe you, are you going to send me home, too?"

"well, considering i'm your ride," steve responds.

"i didn't even sign a permission slip for this."

steve smirks. "i get it. 'cause we're on a bus."

dustin and tj exchange looks.

"glad you appreciate my humor."

"wait, you did, too, agree to come."

"still didn't sign the slip. you have no evidence."

steve goes to argue, but he stops. a loud growl emits from the distance and everyone jumps. steve, tj, and dustin all move to look out the window, which they had boarded up with some thick wire screen.

"i don't see anything," tj says.

"wait, shh."

"you see him?"

"no."

"lucas!" dustin yells. "what's going on?"

"hold on!" he shouts back.

the silence that follows is deafening. tj's breath hitches in her throat and she subconsciously grabs hold of steve's jacket.

"i've got eyes!" lucas shouts. "ten o'clock! tuh-ten o'clock!"

"i still don't see anything," tj whispers.

"there," says steve, and points.

"what's he doing?"

"i don't know."

there's some chittering sounds and it really just sounds like some feral mutt got loose.

"he's not taking the bait. why is he not taking the bait?"

"he probably smells the fuel on it."

"maybe he's not hungry?"

"maybe he's sick of cow."

steve moves away from the window and starts for the door.

"steve," says tj.

"steve, what are you doing?" dustin says, sounding panicked.

steve turns to dustin and tj and throws dustin his lighter. "just get ready."

carefully, steve pushes the bus door open and steps out into the open. metal creeks together as dustin closes the door again. tj rushes to the window and watches as steve makes his way toward the pile of meat, holding his bat like he's ready to strike at any second.

"holy shit," tj whispers as steve starts whistling. max comes barreling down.

"what's he doing?"

"expanding the menu," dustin says. max squeezes in beside tj and dustin to see, too.

"he's insane," max says, shaking her head.

"he's awesome," dustin grins.

"he's kinda hot," tj admits and dustin and max both turn to give her a weird look. "what? he is."

steve lowers his bat and tj watches as a huge, black beast emerges from the fog, eyes red and low grows ringing out from it's jaws.

suddenly, lucas screams, "steve! watch our!"

"a little busy here!" steve shouts back.

"three o'clock! three o'clock!"

"he's being ambushed," tj gasps.

"steve!" dustin shouts and rushes to open the door again. "steve! abort! abort!"

tj runs up behind dustin. "steve! come back!" steve turns to look at dustin and tj and then whips around again just in time for the beast to leap from the fog, right at her friend.

steve dodges two of those things and lands on the red car before rolling off. one leaps at him and he swings the bat at its face.

"steve run!"

"steve, hurry!"

"oh my god steve." tj can't even bring herself to scream like the kids. steve manages to pick himself up and he takes off running back toward the bus. he throws himself inside, right as one of those monster things lunges at him and dustin slams the door closed.

the monster jumps at the door, making it bulge inward.

dustin screams. "holy shit!"

"are they rabid or something?" max yells, still disbelieving these things to be real monsters. steve grabs a piece of metal and shoves it against the door.

"they can't get in! they can't!" lucas yells. tj helps steve and they both shove their feet against the door.

all the kids scream as the monsters let out loud growls and snarls. they all begin to throw themselves at the bus in an attempt to get their dinner. one manages to break through, and steve and tj are both thrown back. max, dustin, and lucas all flee to the back of the bus to hide. steve pushes tj out of the way and swings his bat right at the giant monster dog.

"holy shit!" tj screams and she stumbles backward.

"is anyone there? mike? will? god! anyone!" tj assumes dustin is trying to contact someone through his walky-talky, but she doesn't give it much more thought as steve continues to fend off the beasts. "we're all at the junkyard. and we are going to die!"

while steve is distracted by the monsters getting in and dustin is desperately trying to contact someone for help, max and tj both notice a loud booming sound on top of the bus.

"oh, shit," tj whimpers. she and max both look up through the hole in the roof and are met by a large creature with no face. it's mouth opens up by three flaps, showing off giant, sharp teeth. max screams and tj is frozen with fear.

"out of the way! out of the way!" steve screams at them. he pushes both girls out of the way and steps in front of them, wielding his blood-covered nail-bat. "you want some? come get this!"

the creature shrieks and it looks like he's about to attack, but something catches its attention and it turns to look into the distance. it growls before jumping off the roof, causing the whole bus to shake. in an instant, the monsters are all running away, toward whatever had gotten their interest more than the five trapped and defenseless humans.

they're heard growling as they run off and then all is silent again. steve helps tj to her feet.

"you okay?" he asks. tj nods, still shaking. he moves away from her, back toward the door. steve slowly pushes it open and peers outside. the rest of them follow suit and tj, although thankful to be out of the bus, isn't sure if she feels quite so safe being out in the open.

"what happened?" lucas says.

"i don't know."

"steve scared 'em off?"

"no," steve replies. "no way. they're going somewhere."

"do we really want to stick around to see if they'll come back?" tj breathes.

"no," lucas replies.

everyone starts their trek out of the junkyard and back toward steve's car. tj is still shaken up and remains quiet during the walk back.

"you're positive that was dart?" lucas asks dustin.

"yes. he had the same exact yellow pattern on his butt."

"he was tiny two days ago," max says.

"well, he's molted three times already."

"malted?" steve says.

"molted. shed his skin to make room for growth like hornworms."

"when's he gonna molt again?"

"it's gotta be soon. when he does, he'll be fully grown or close to it. so will his friends."

"yeah and he's gonna eat a lot more than just cats," steve comments, making tj shudder. he notices and wraps his arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer to him.

"wait, a cat?" lucas exclaims. "dart ate a cat?"

"no. what? no."

"what are you talking about? he ate mews."

max turns to steve. "mews? who's mews?"

"it's dustin's cat."

"steve!" dustin shrieks.

"i knew it! you kept him!" dustin exclaims, giving dustin a shove.

"no! no... no, i..." everyone stares at dustin, all of them picking up on the fact that he's lying about bringing home a baby monster dog. "he missed me. he wanted to come home."

"bullshit!" lucas yells.

"i didn't know he was a demogorgon, okay?"

"okay, so now you admit it?"

"guys!" tj screams, disrupting the screaming. everyone turns to look at her like they'd all forgotten she was there. "who gives a shit?"

"we have to go," max pleads.

"i care! you put the party in jeopardy! you broke the rule of law!"

"so did you!" dustin screams.

"what?"

"you told a stranger the truth!"

max and tj both scoff. "a stranger?"

"you told tj!" lucas yells. "and you wanted to tell max, too!"

"yeah, but i didn't, lucas, okay?"

"you still told me," tj says, shaking her head.

"we both broke the rule of law, okay? so we're even. we're even."

"dustin, you're still one up."

"tj, shut up," dustin snaps.

"we're not even. don't even try that."

tj turns and notices steve walking off, flashlight still in hand.

she follows him. "what is it?" dustin and lucas keep yelling behind them, completely unaware the two older kids have broken off from the pack. tj hears a strange noise and chills run up her spine.

"hey guys?" steve calls.

the boys keep arguing, both of them not even making sense by now.

tj snaps her head around. "guys!" this catches everyone's attention real quick. steve holds his bat up and leads the group off toward the noise he'd heard.

"no, no, no, no! hey, guys, why are you headed toward the sound?" max shouts. they all run into the woods, shining their lights around to see what's making the noise. tj's heart is pounding as they make their way into a clearing. now on a hill, they get a good view over hawkins. tj grabs hold of steve's jacket again as she looks out for more of those crazy monster dogs.

"i don't see 'em," dustin says and lucas pulls out his binoculars.

"it's the lab," he says. "they were going back home."