chapter seven
i have a weapon

The group were moving around the lot, completing the final tasks before the sun officially went down. Steve was in the midst of pouring gasoline around, Max savaging through materials lying around while James and Avery were laying traps. Avery took a breath as she watched James click the last one in place.

The boy, for some reason, had gone and gotten some traps without anyone realising, mumbling something about them working on Halloween with Nancy, Jonathan and the Demogorgon. Avery didn't notice James had finished and stand back up again, the girl simply staring off into the distance.

James moved to stand next to her, the two leaning on the side of the old bus. "You sure you're okay?"

Avery sighed, rubbing her hands over her face. "I'm so tired. Y'know I haven't slept in three days, I haven't had a full conversation with Robin in five, and I haven't spent more than five minutes with my mum in two weeks. This—This whole thing is taking over my life and not for the better."

James turned to her sympathetically before he shook his head, knowing that the last thing Avery wanted was pity, deciding to take a different approach. "Yeah, I know it's gotten bad, I've beaten you in the last two chem tests, and as Mr never gets above 75 in chem, that's bad."

Avery laughed, turning to him with a smile. James looked at her, a smile making it's way onto his own face.

"You have a really nice smile by the way." James stated sincerely. Avery's eyes widened, gulping slightly at the sudden nice words from her supposed to be rival. She took a step towards the bus, choosing to believe he was being sarcastic.

"I've just waited my entire life for someone to say that to me." She spoke sarcastically before turning and getting onto the bus, James following closely behind her.

Once the two were on the bus, Steve checked everyone else was there before reaching for the lever by the drivers seat, closing the door ultimately sealing them inside. James sat next to Steve, while Avery sat next to Max. The red haired girl smile at the blonde who reciprocated it.

The group had decided to take turns climbing the ladder and keeping look out. It was currently Lucas' turn, the group sat in the bus all keeping busy in their own ways. Steve was absent mindedly flicking his lighter open and shut, staring off into the distance while James carving something into the floor next to him.

Dustin paced back and forth while Avery played with Max's hair on the seat they were sat on. Max stared at James and Steve, "So, you two really fought one of those things?"

"Yep." Steve admitted.

"And you're like... totally 100% sure it wasn't a bear?" Max asked, wanting to double-check.

"Shit, don't be an idiot, okay?" Dustin snapped, cutting in. "It wasn't a bear."

"Dustin." Avery scolded, sitting up.

"Don't speak to her like that." James added.

"Why are you even here if you don't believe us?" Dustin continued. "Just go home."

"Geesh. Someone's cranky." Max scoffed, standing up and walking towards the ladder. "Past your bedtime?"

Dustin ignored the girl as she climbed up the ladder, joining Lucas on top of the bus. Steve looked towards Dustin. "That's good. Just show her you don't care."

"I don't." Dustin stated. Steve nodded slowly, assuming the boy was only saying that because Max could hear and winked at him. "Why are you winking Steve?"

"Okay, I don't know what those two morons told you." Avery spoke up, Dustin turning to her. Avery stood up from where she was sat, holding onto his shoulder to force him to look at her. "You do not speak like that to anyone, especially not a girl. I don't care if you like her or not, it's a whole new level of disrespect."

"I only told him to act like he doesn't care if he want a girl to like him, not to act like an asshole." Steve defended himself.

"I didn't tell him anything." James piped up.

"It doesn't matter." Avery shrugged, narrowing her eyes and pointing a finger in his face. "If I ever hear you talking like that to someone ever again, you will learn the meaning of disrespect, understand?"

"Okay." Dustin nodded with gulp, Avery smiling as he did.

"Good." Avery stood back up to her usual height, looking up the ladder and catching the end of Max and Lucas' conversation, smiling slightly at the soft interaction between them.

All of a sudden, a growl ripped through the field, all emotions wiped, leaving only fear. Steve, James, Dustin and Avery rushed towards the cages windows, looking through the gaps in attempt to see what was going on – or more specifically, where it was.

"You see him?" Steve questioned.

"No." James answered.

"Lucas." Dustin called. "What's going on?"

"Hold on!" Lucas shouted, everyone holding their breath. "I've got eyes! Ten o'clock. Ten o'clock!"

Immediately, all four of them looked towards the general direction, and sure enough, through the dark, a figure could be made out next to one of the cars, growling lowly, eyes fixed on the bus.

"There." Steve pointed his finger.

"I don't know. He's not taking the bait, why's he not taking the bait?" Steve asked.

"Maybe he's not hungry." Dustin suggested.

"Maybe... maybe he's sick of cow." Steve let out a breath. Steve got up, a look on his face that made Avery sigh. Steve grabbed his bat, swinging it up and began to head towards the front of the bus. Avery followed after him, as Dustin and James stood up, looks of worry on their faces.

"Avery, don't even think about it." James warned the blonde, reaching forward as if to grab her hand.

"Steve? What are you doing? Avery?" Dustin asked in a panic.

Their protests were swiftly cut off by Steven throwing his lighter towards James, "Just get ready."

Steve's order was accompanied by him reaching for the lever to open the door, Avery following closely behind. Steve cockily swung his bat up, ready to swing if anything was to lunge at him. The two of them inched closer to the car where they assumed the demo-dog was hiding beside. Steve whistled like it was a normal dog.

"Come out buddy." He continued to taunt, two hands gripping the bat now. "Come on buddy, it's dinner time. Human tasted better than cat, I promise."

Avery stood close behind the boy, him glancing back at her quickly, not believing she had actually followed him out of the bus.

"You're an idiot." He stated.

"Says you." Avery scoffed with an eye roll.

"At least I have a weapon." Steve argued.

"I do have a weapon." Avery shrugged. Steven narrowed his eye, about to comment on her statement when shouts caught their attention.

"Steve! Avery!" Lucas was screaming. "Watch out!"

"Little busy here!" Steve hollered.

"Three o'clock. Three o'clock." Lucas shouted.

In sync, each and every one of them turned their heads to see, to their horror, that their trail of bat hadn't just led Dart to them but instead a whole little of little demons, all of them heading for the two. Avery's eyes widened at the sight, gulping slightly.

"Abort!" Dustin screamed. "Abort! Abort!"

Steve took a quick glance around, realising that the situation was almost inescapable. Avery and Steve stood back to back as the first monster headed towards Steve.

"You better not die on me Harrington!" Avery exclaimed, grabbing the gun from the back of her jeans. Steve nodded frantically, the two sharing a quick glance that explained the plan without saying anything aloud. "Ready? Now!"

Avery spun around, shooting at the demo-dog as Steve dashed out of the way, sliding off a car next to him.

"Behind you!"

Steve whirled around his bat at Avery's warning, hitting an incoming demo-dog in the head with a sickening crunch and began running back towards the bus, Avery hot on his heels. Another dog lunged at the blonde, Avery quickly shooting it in its head enough to temporary disable its movements and allowing her to turn and continue sprinting towards her friends.

The two got to the bus in record time, Avery jumping in, cursing under her breath as she fell onto James. The boy quickly helped her up, pulling her out of the way so Steve could enter behind her. Steve shut the door, quickly turning and grabbing the metal sheet placed next to the door, flinging the metal forward to press against it and holding it steady with him feet.

The creatures' limb managed to make it over the sheet, making everyone scream loudly. Steve instantly reached for him bat, beating the creature over and over. James moved next to Steve, hitting the creature hard with his sword, detaching the limb from the rest of the body. The rest of the group retreated to the other end of the bus, Dustin speaking into the radio, his voice full of panic.

The group were scrambling to find a safe place, not noticing Max pausing her movements as she heard something on the roof of the bus. The girl stayed frozen in place as her head slowly tilted back to look up and out of the opening, the very thing she had earlier denied the existence of standing above her.

Her mouth opened to emit a loud shriek but Avery rushed over and pushed her away, James and Steve holding their weapons up and threatening the demo-dog. Its face opened, a terrifying growl emitting from its throat as it prepared to dive headfirst into the bus and kill them all.

However, as if it was called, the demo-dog turned and looked out. It roared into the night sky before scurrying away from the bus. The group waited in silence, listening to the wails of the other creatures that were seemingly responding too.

It appeared that all the monsters were leaving, their cries fading out the further away they got. Sighing in relief, Avery leant back against the side of the bus, grabbing James' instinctively, as if to check he was still there – still alive. James turned to look at her, Avery doing the same before she quickly let go of his wrist, wiping her hands on her jeans and following Steve out of the bus.

Steve went out first, holding his bat up as if it was some sort of trick. James followed closely behind him, the two poking their head around the corner to check if the coast was truly clear.

"What happened?" Lucas wondered.

"I don't know." Max murmured, looking shaken. Avery squeezed her arm in reassurance, sending her a small smile.

"You two scared them off?" Dustin suggested hopefully but Steve shook his head.

"No." He said, facing them all once again. "They're going somewhere."

The group quickly decided to walk back towards town, down the train tracks to stay safe. Steve and Dustin were leading the group with Max and Lucas behind them and James and Avery at the back.

"Where did you get the gun anyway?" James suddenly asked Avery, speaking up for the first time since they felt the bus.

"My dad is a police officer and you're wondering where I got a gun?" Avery raised her eyebrows at the boy.

"Okay, stupid question." James admitted.

"It's not a weird weapon though. What would I have instead, an axe?" Avery asked him.

"Okay, then I would wonder where you got an axe." James stated. "And I would be slightly terrified of the answer."

Avery laughed softly. "Exactly. Plus I stole gun from my dad's car, I think I had a feeling I wouldn't be at home long before something bad happened, I was right, Lucas was hot on my heels demanding I go with him when I arrived home."

James nodded and the two fell into a small silence, simply walking next to each other like they didn't hate each other's guts a few days before.

James decided to break the silence, speaking barely above a whisper. "It was really brave what you did back there."

"Well these kids mean a lot to me... and I wasn't letting Steve go out there alone." Avery smiled smally, glancing over at James for a moment. "And if anything were to happen, it would be easier for me to go than you. Even if I am the most awesome and coolest person they know."

James laughed once again, but his face quickly turned serious. "You mean a lot to them too Avery, you know that, right?"

"Of course I do." Avery nodded before she sighed. "It's just... they could get by without me, y'know? But you—you are too involved with them, with their games, their antics, their behaviours. You're like family to all of them. I don't think any of them would survive without you. They would me though."

"I get it." James answered. "But, just so you know, I don't want to lose you."

Avery stopped walking. The blonde stared at James, her eyebrows furrowed, and she couldn't help the soft smile that spread across her face. When James noticed the lack of blonde next to him, he spun around, a confused look on his face as he raised his eyebrows at her.

"What?"

"Nothing." Avery shook her head, catching up with him. "I guess... I don't want to lose you either, James."

This time it was James who paused, his eyes wide as a grin took over his face. He quickly caught up to the blonde before she noticed him missing, not wanting her to realise how happy he was that she finally called him by his first name. James swung his arm over the girl's shoulder, Avery shaking her head before swatting his arm away.

"You think they like each other?" Avery wondered, watching Max and Lucas who were happily chatting in front of them.

"Most definitely. I'm pretty sure that's why Dustin was so mean to her earlier." James revealed, making Avery turn to him in confusion. "Because he liked her too and she seems to favour Lucas."

"Makes sense." Avery let out a small sigh. "I think they'll be good together though. I don't think she's the one for Dustin."

"Me either but I think he really liked her." James commented.

"Yeah well, crushes are a big thing at that age." Avery shrugged. "Plus, Max is the first 'cool' girl to ever want to be friends with them, they were bound to have a crush on her. Don't you remember your first female friend, bet you had a crush on her?"

"Still do." James muttered so quietly that Avery didn't hear him, the boy simply staring at her.

"You're positive that was Dart?" Lucas suddenly questioned, cutting James and Avery's conversation short as he and Max caught up to Steve and Dustin.

"Yes." Dustin spoke exasperatedly. James and Avery shared a look before fully catching up to the rest of them. "He had the same exact yellow pattern on his butt."

Avery's eyebrows furrowed at the specific detail Dustin gave. "You have a weird attachment to this animal."

"He was tiny two days ago." Max commented in confusion, ignoring Avery's statement.

"Well, he's molted three times already." Dustin told her.

"Malted?"

"Molted." Dustin corrected Steve. "Shed his skin to make room for growth, like hornworms."

"When's he gonna molt again?" Max asked, her eyebrows furrowing further.

"It's gotta be soon." Dustin stated. "When he does, he'll be fully grown, or close to it. And so will his friends."

"Yeah, and he's gonna eat a lot more than just cats." Steve piped up.

"Wait, cat?" Lucas stopped walking. "Dart ate a cat?"

"No, what? No." Dustin shook his head frantically.

"What are you talking about?" Steve asked him, staring at Dustin in confusion. James' eyes widened, hitting Steve to tell him to shut up but it was no use. "He ate Mews."

"Mews? Who's Mews?" Max made a confused face.

"It's Dustin cat." Avery responded, Steve nodding in agreement.

"Steve!" Dustin exclaimed.

"Avery." James nudged her arm gently.

"What?" She turned to him.

"I knew it! You kept him!" Lucas exclaimed angrily.

"No!" Dustin defended himself. "No, I... No, I—He missed me. He wanted to come home."

"Bullshit!" Lucas shouted.

"I didn't know he was a Demogorgon, okay?" Dustin shrugged.

"Oh, so now you admit it?" Lucas retorted.

The two boys began to argue, Dustin shouting about how both of them broke the law of the party – Lucas with telling Max and Dustin with lying about keeping Dart. Avery sighed as she listened to them, honestly she wanted to bang all of their heads together.

None of them seemed to notice Steve and James start to walk off of the track, the two hearing something in the distance.

"Guys!" James called, catching Avery's attention, the blonde turning to look in the same direction they were.

When the boys continued to argue, Steven turned around and shouted over them. "Guys!"

This time it caught their attention, the three of them turning towards Steve and James. Both of the older boys' heads spun when the noise was heard again, this time more noticeable as a screeching sound. Steve and James began walking towards the sound, Lucas and Dustin rushing after them.

"No, no, no. Hey, guys, why are you heading towards the sound?" Max called after them, throwing her hands up in confusion.

"They would die first in a horror movie." Avery huffed, having no choice but to follow after them. When she heard Max call a 'hello' from behind, she turned around once more. "Come on, Max."

"Jesus Christ!" Max sighed, catching up to her as they followed the four boys. Max grabbed Avery's hand as the group moved towards the screeching sound, stopping when they realised they were stood at the top of a hill, looking out at all of Hawkins.

"I don't see him." Dustin stated.

"It's the lab." Lucas concluded as he looked through his binoculars. "They were going back home."

"It's always the freaking lab." James commented under his breath. The group then started to make their way towards the lab, wadding their way through the woods.

"Hello? Who's there? Who's there?" A voice suddenly shouted as they neared. The group all shared confused and slightly scared looks before they came to a clearing, the sigh of Jonathan and Nancy standing there making them both more confused but also slightly relieved.

"Steve?" Jonathan and Nancy spoke in sync, confusion in their tone.

"Nancy?" Steve's eyebrows furrowed.

"Jonathan." Dustin greeted.

"Nancy." Avery breathed out, wrapping her arms around the girl.

"Avery." Nancy smiled, hugging her back before glancing around the group. "What are you doing here?"

"What are you doing here?" Steve retorted quickly.

"We're looking for Will and Mike." Nancy answered.

"They're not in there, are they?" Dustin wondered as they all looked towards the lab.

"Oh my god." Avery gasped, the group turning to her as monsters screeched in the distance.

"What?"

"Oh, they're—" Avery cut herself off, her pulse rising as she rubbed her forehead, stress coursing through her veins. Everyone stared at her with confused looks.

"Avery?" James spoke softly, concerned for the girl.

"I came—they're all in there." Avery told them, a worried look on her face.

"Who?" Jonathan stepped towards her carefully.

"Mike, Will, your mum, Hopper... my dad." Avery explained.

"What? Why?" Jonathan questioned her.

"Yeah, we haven't seen Will in days." Lucas stated.

"Hopper went missing and we tried to find him and then the doctors showed and Will—" Avery began to explain everything when Nancy stepped away from the group.

"The power's back on." Nancy announced, cutting Avery off.

They all turned to lab, running to the gate to try and get it open so they could get it. Jonathan and Dustin tried to push the open button but it was no use. Their efforts were futile but hope wasn't lost when the gate suddenly began to open, Dustin celebrating as they all stared at the entrance.

Nancy and Jonathan make the executive decision that they would be the ones to go find the others, leaving the rest of them behind to wait. Avery paced nervously, her actions reflecting how each of them felt, their nervousness growing with each minute they were gone for.

That was until cars honking caught their attention. They turned to see Jonathan's car come speeding around the corner and straight past them. Hopper's car was close behind, Jim and Hopper in the front seats.

"Come on, get it!" Hopper exclaimed, rushing them as Theo jumped out to let the kids in the back.

Avery let out a breath of relief at the sight of them, jumping in the back of his car after the boys and Max, James and Steve behind them. Theo hopped back int eh passengers seat once more, tapping on the side of the car as he closed the door signalling for Hopper to drive.

The kids were all squished in the back: Steve and Dustin sat in the footwell while Max, Lucas, James and Avery all sat along the back seat.

Steve glared up at James and Avery. "You could've sat on his lap and I could've had a seat."

"You can sit on his lap." Avery suggested.

Steve looked up at James hopefully but the boy shook his head. "Not a chance, Harrington."

"Everyone okay?" Theo asked, turning around to check them all over.

The group all nodded, letting out a range of answers that made both men in the front seats smile in satisfaction.

( 💌 ) isobel's notes
heyyy
have a long chapter this update aren't y'all lucky
once again sorry for being gone so long
but i swear im trying