CHAPTER 12
EXPANDING THE MENU

"WHAT'S it doing?"

Veronica almost tuned out Dustin's question as she tried to search through the fog. At the far end of the junkyard, amongst grime and soot, stood a shadowy figure. It was on four legs, and she could just see that it had a long face. She would've almost guessed it to be a dog, but noticing the expressions on Steve and Dustin's faces, she thought otherwise. The monster continued to growl.

"I don't know," Steve finally whispered back.

The black figure sniffed the edge of the junkyard, where a pile of raw meat sat. Flies swarmed the area, but the monster only paced around the pile. Veronica cocked a brow upward. "He's not taking the bait," she muttered. "Why is he not taking the bait?"

The monster brought its head towards the meat pile again, but only growled at it. Dustin blinked his eyes a few times. "Maybe he's not hungry."

Steve shook his head. "Maybe he's sick of cow."

Veronica slowly turned her head to meet Steve's eyes. She already saw what he was planning, and she mumbled, "No."

He didn't listen to her. Steve was already backing away from them, ignoring Dustin's calls. Veronica sprinted towards the end of the bus, where he was picking up his bat. She yanked on his jacket. "Don't be a fucking idiot, Harrington," she seethed through clenched teeth.

Steve frowned in her direction before throwing his lighter to Dustin. "Just be ready."

She watched him slide the rusty door open and walk down the steps. Veronica appeared at the top of the stairs, exclaiming, "You can't just –" But she couldn't finish her sentence. The door was closed in her face, leaving her fuming. She ran over to the windows and watched him step into the junkyard slowly. Veronica pounded her fists on the fenced windows, screaming, "Get back in the fucking bus!"

Steve ignored her shrieks as he lifted his bat. He heard the growling from the Demodog intensify, and he swallowed hard from nerves. The bat in his hands began to shake. He whistled towards the monster, whispering, "C'mon, buddy."

Veronica stopped yelling out the window when her hands began to hurt from pounding them on the fencing. Her breathing went quick, and her hands needed to be cracked. All air seemed to leave her lungs. She felt the panic rush in as Max lowered herself down on the ladder, exclaiming, "What's he doing?"

"Expanding the menu," Dustin replied.

Veronica shoved her hand on Dustin's shoulder. "Don't say that!"

Outside, Steve continued to call out to the Demodog, who started to step closer to him. "C'mon, buddy," he whispered in a sing-song voice. "Dinnertime." He swung the bat around between his hands, rotating with each finger. "Human tastes better than cat. I promise," he said, digging his sneakers into the dirt.

"He's insane," Max muttered.

"He's awesome," Dustin replied.

Veronica glanced to the kids and added, "No, he's pretty insane."

The Demodog moved closer, and from inside the bus, his appearance became much clearer. Veronica felt a chill run up her spine when the creature's whole mouth opened up, like a blooming flower. His skin was like leather, but also looked slick with slime. She swallowed hard at the image, almost not believing what was before her very eyes. This was insane; this was unreal.

Steve froze in his place upon seeing the Demodog fully before him. He tried swallowing down his fear, but it was extremely difficult. The Demodog growled at him, opening his face up the tiniest bit. He began to step backwards.

Veronica's breath hitched in her throat. Upon hearing a crash, she looked to the side of Steve. Crawling up on an abandoned car, bearing his opened face, was another Demodog. Veronica then spied on the other side of the junkyard. Another Demodog. They were surrounding him on all corners, and they were inside, watching Steve's impending doom.

Without much though, Veronica sprinted to the ladder and climbed up to the roof. Her nails dug into the tires at the top, and she hoisted herself on the clanging metal. She huffed as she reached the roof, hand going to her chest, where her heart was beating erratically. "STEVE!" She shrieked. "GET BACK INSIDE THE BUS!"

"Little busy here!" He thundered back, swinging his bat lazily as the Demodog neared him.

Veronica met the eyes of Lucas, and they both shared the look of dread.

"THREE O'CLOCK! THREE O'CLOCK!" Lucas echoed, pointing to his right.

Steve looked over his shoulder, and his eyes almost fell out of his skull at the sight of two other Demodogs crawling his way. He could only stare at the Demodogs in shock. Dustin yelled from the bus entrance, "ABORT! ABORT!"

Veronica didn't know what to do, but she knew she had to do something. Adrenaline rushed through her veins as she jumped down from the roof and ran across the bus. She found her lethal hockey stick, taking one last look outside to see one of the Demodogs opening it's face to reveal a large set of teeth. As Veronica heard Steve's yelp, she busted down the metal door to the bus and sprinted out.

Dustin screamed for her to come back, but as soon as Veronica was out in the open field, everything went slow. Steve looked back at her, and yelled for her to go back inside. Her ears began to ring. She heard nothing. Veronica watched a Demodog run for her, but she immediately smacked it away with her hockey stick. The Demodog was sent across the field, and she turned to see Steve crashing into an old car as he swung at another monster.

Veronica could see her breath in the air. The kids were calling for them to come back. She saw another Demodog sprinting for her, and all she could do was stare. She saw the light coming from her. Steve's calls were meaningless. It was coming for her, teeth bared. She lifted her stick and –

Steve yanked on her jacket, dragging her across the dead grass. The Demodogs were faster, and they caught up to them quick. Veronica held onto Steve's arm for dear life and allowed him to lead her shocked body to the bus. As soon as they were near, the two teenagers jumped into the abandoned vehicle and slammed the door shut. Veronica landed on the floor with a thump, her head banging against the hard material. Steve grabbed a piece of metal lining the front window shield and covered the door for extra protection.

"Are they mad or something?!" Max asked.

Veronica sat up, holding the back of her head. "Of course, they are!"

"They can't get in! They can't!" Lucas tried to suggest, but the rumbling of the entrance continued.

The bus fell forward, rocking them into a different position. Metal broke and glass cracked all around them, and Veronica fell into a frenzy. A moment of silence ensued, but it didn't last. A Demodog burst through the entrance of the bus. Veronica released a shrill scream, and the kids followed. Steve grabbed for his bat and slammed it against the Demodog.

Veronica dragged all the kids to the other end of the bus, but it took an extra amount of strength to haul Dustin with her. She held the curly-haired kid by the collar of his shirt and held him close to her person, both breathing heavily. Dustin brought his headset to his mouth and screamed, "Is anyone there?! Mike? Will? God, anyone! We're at the old town junkyard, and we are going to die!"

A large claw punctured itself into the wall beside them, causing Veronica to reach for her hockey stick and use all the strength she had to hit the claw. It retracted itself quickly, but Veronica kept slamming the nails at the end of her hockey stick into the wall, and she heard the Demodog release a high-pitched shriek. They all covered their ears.

Steve fell back when the Demodog was sent out of the bus. But it wasn't gone. It pounded on the roof. Each paw slammed onto the vintage metal, shaking the entire bus. They looked up into the hole that led to the roof, and that was when they saw it. The Demodog was peering down at them, paws latching themselves on the ladder.

Max's scream pierced the ears of Veronica, causing her to stick her fingers in them. She hugged Dustin close as Steve ordered, "OUT OF THE WAY! OUT OF THE WAY!" The Demodog's whole mouth opened, and its teeth oozed a disgusting stench. "YOU WANT SOME? EAT SHIT!"

Steve almost swung at the Demodog screeching in his face. His bat quivered feverishly in his hands, but Veronica saw through her wide eyes that he was ready to strike. But another cry was heard outside the bus, and the Demodog quickly viewed up. The sound caused it to sit up and back away, but before Steve could swing, the Demodog was already jumping off the bus and running away.

The bus shook again, but after a long minute of silence, there was no movement. Veronica's hands continued to hold Dustin's sweatshirt tightly. All that could be heard was crickets. Steve stared at the roof's hole, waiting for something else to pop out, but nothing did. They all moved to the windows. Nothing. The air was clear, besides the never-ending fog encircling the junkyard.

Veronica swallowed down the bile rising in her throat. Steve opened the door again, slowly moving down the steps as he pushed the hunk of metal away. Veronica picked up her hockey stick and followed him, but each time her Converse hit the stairs, she felt pain. She breathed heavily as she trailed Steve, and they both watched the Demodogs quickly sprint off into the night.

"What ..." Lucas stopped a scream from releasing. "What happened?"

Dustin looked over Max's head to see. "Steve scared them off?"

"No," Steve whispered, eyes landing on a worried Veronica. "They're going somewhere."

Veronica's feet landed on the ground and she placed her hands on her hips. "Please, don't tell me we're going to follow them."

Steve scratched the back of his neck and looked to his shoes. The rest of the kids stared at her with frowns on their faces, but Veronica saw behind their expressions. She ran a hand over her face, groaning loudly after her near death experience.

"You've got to be kidding me!" She shook her head. "My teen angst bullshit is now gonna have a body count."

( made by JustSav )