Chapter 4: The Cafeteria Intervention
POV: Adam
Three days into his Hawkins life, Adam has established a routine that would make his previous self proud of its precision. Wake at dawn for training sessions with Scout in the woods where no one can see. Breakfast with the other orphans, playing the quiet, grateful kid. School, where he balances helpful participation with careful mediocrity. Homework under Sister Catherine's watchful eye. And then, when darkness falls and St. Mary's sleeps, more training.
The system has rewarded his diligence with steady progress.
[ADAM BYERS - LEVEL 4]
[HP: 120/120]
[MP: 80/80]
[SCOUT - LEVEL 4, LOYALTY: 75%]
[NEW CREATURES ACQUIRED: VINE CRAWLER x2, LOYALTY: 45%]
The Vine Crawlers had been easier to tame than expected—plant-based creatures that responded to patient coaxing rather than force. They lurked in the deeper woods now, following Scout's lead and Adam's mental commands with increasing sophistication.
But today feels different. Through the bond, Scout radiates tension from his position in the tree line beyond the playground. Something has the creature on edge, and Adam's learned to trust those instincts.
That's when he sees the setup developing behind the school.
Troy Walsh and James Dante have cornered Dustin near the dumpsters, the kind of secluded spot where teachers can't see and other students won't interfere. Even from fifty yards away, Adam can read the body language—predator and prey, power and helplessness.
"Time for the toothless wonder to eat some dirt," Troy's voice carries on the November wind, cruel and casual.
Adam's system immediately pings an optional quest.
[OPTIONAL QUEST: PROTECT ALLY]
[OBJECTIVE: PREVENT HARM TO DUSTIN HENDERSON]
[REWARD: +400 XP, RELATIONSHIP IMPROVEMENT]
[WARNING: INTERVENTION MAY EXPOSE ABILITIES]
I don't need rewards for this.
The thought comes with a surge of rage that surprises him in its intensity. In his previous life, Michael Thompson had been a mild-mannered accountant who avoided confrontation. But watching Dustin's shoulders hunch in preparation for violence awakens something fierce and protective that belongs to neither Michael nor Subject 017.
This is all Adam. The person I'm becoming.
He scans the area quickly. Lucas is too far away, heading toward the front of the school. Mike is nowhere to be seen—probably already at his locker, lost in his own grief. No teachers in sight, no other students close enough to help.
Just Troy, James, and Dustin. And Adam, with his growing pack of creatures that exist in the spaces between what people expect to see.
Through the telepathic link, he sends rapid commands to Scout and the two Vine Crawlers.
Move to positions around the bullies. Stay hidden. Create noise—make them think wild animals. Loud, scary, but no direct harm. Make them run.
Scout's excitement floods back through the bond—this is what he was born for, the hunt and the chase. The Vine Crawlers respond more slowly, plant-like minds processing instructions with deliberate care, but their agreement comes through as a warm pulse of cooperation.
Adam starts walking toward the confrontation, timing his approach to seem coincidental. Behind the dumpsters, Troy shoves Dustin hard enough to send him stumbling backward.
"What's the matter, Henderson? Gonna cry for your mommy?"
"Leave me alone, Troy," Dustin says, but his voice wavers. At twelve, he has courage but not yet the size to back it up.
"Make me, gap-tooth. Oh wait, you can't, because you're a pathetic loser just like your freak friends."
That's when Scout makes his move.
The rustling starts low and to the left, just inside the tree line where shadows provide cover. It sounds like something large moving through the underbrush—too big to be a squirrel, too deliberate to be wind. Troy and James both turn toward the sound, confusion replacing cruelty on their faces.
Then one of the Vine Crawlers joins in from the right side, creating the audio illusion of multiple threats converging on their position. The creature's woody appendages crack against tree trunks with sounds like breaking bones, while its leafy tendrils rustle with predatory intent.
"What the hell is that?" James asks, voice climbing toward panic.
Troy tries to maintain his swagger, but Adam can see the fear creeping into his posture. "Probably just a dog or something. Come on, let's finish this."
He reaches for Dustin again, but Scout chooses that moment to snap a dead branch just six inches from Troy's head. The crack echoes like a gunshot in the confined space, and both bullies jump backward.
"Okay, that's not a dog," James says, backing toward the school building.
The second Vine Crawler contributes a low, groaning sound that could be wind through timber or the growl of something ancient and hungry. From their positions in the woods, Adam's creatures create a symphony of menace that suggests multiple large predators closing in on easy prey.
Troy's nerve finally breaks. "Run!"
Both bullies bolt toward the school's back entrance, stumbling over each other in their haste to escape whatever lurks in the woods. Adam watches them go with satisfaction, then jogs over to where Dustin stands frozen by the dumpsters.
"Hey, you okay?" Adam asks, breathing slightly hard as if he'd run to investigate the noise. "I heard shouting and some kind of... I don't know, animal sounds?"
Dustin's eyes dart between Adam and the woods where the sounds came from. His expression is thoughtful rather than frightened, and Adam realizes the kid is already putting pieces together.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Dustin says slowly. "Troy and James were being jerks, but then something scared them off. Weird timing."
"Animals do weird things sometimes," Adam offers, keeping his voice casual. "Maybe they smelled food from the dumpsters."
But Dustin is still watching him with that sharp intelligence that makes him such a good friend and potentially dangerous observer.
"Yeah," he says after a long moment. "Weird timing. Lucky for me."
They walk toward the school together, and Adam can feel Dustin's curiosity like a physical presence beside him. Through the bond, he senses Scout and the Vine Crawlers returning to their hiding spots, pleased with their successful hunt.
[QUEST COMPLETED: PROTECT ALLY]
[REWARD: +400 XP]
[DUSTIN HENDERSON RELATIONSHIP UPGRADED: TRUSTED FRIEND (50%)]
[TITLE EARNED: PROTECTOR]
[SCOUT LOYALTY INCREASED: 75% → 80%]
[VINE CRAWLER LOYALTY INCREASED: 45% → 50%]
The afternoon passes without incident, but Adam notices the way Dustin keeps glancing at him during their shared classes. Not suspicious exactly, but calculating. By the time the final bell rings, Adam's developed a knot of tension between his shoulder blades.
He's walking toward the bike racks when Dustin falls into step beside him.
"Want to grab a Coke at the gas station?" Dustin asks with studied casualness. "My treat. You know, to say thanks for checking on me earlier."
Here it comes.
"Sure," Adam says. "That sounds good."
The Sinclair Gas Station sits at the edge of town, its ancient Coca-Cola machine humming beside picnic tables that have seen better decades. Dustin feeds quarters into the slot and retrieves two bottles, their glass surfaces beaded with condensation despite the November chill.
They sit across from each other at one of the tables, and for a few minutes they drink in comfortable silence. Then Dustin sets down his Coke and looks directly at Adam.
"So," he says. "Want to tell me what really happened back there?"
Adam's hand tightens around his bottle. "What do you mean?"
"I mean the timing. You showing up right when those 'animals' scared Troy and James. The way you didn't seem surprised by any of it." Dustin leans forward slightly. "I've lived in Hawkins my whole life, Adam. I know what the local wildlife sounds like. That wasn't deer or rabbits."
Deny everything. Stick to the story.
But looking at Dustin's face—open, curious, genuinely concerned rather than accusatory—Adam finds himself making a different choice.
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," he says quietly.
"Try me. I believe in a lot of things people say are impossible."
Like parallel dimensions and psychic children and monsters that hunt in the dark. Adam thinks about the conversation they'll have in three days, when Will is found and the world becomes a stranger place. Dustin will accept all of it because he has the kind of mind that stays flexible in the face of the impossible.
But not this. Not yet.
"I'm good with animals," Adam says carefully. "Always have been. Sometimes they help me when I need them to. I know it sounds crazy, but—"
"That's actually awesome," Dustin interrupts, grinning widely. "Like you're some kind of animal whisperer? That's way cooler than crazy."
The acceptance is so immediate and wholehearted that Adam feels something tight in his chest relax.
"You really don't think I'm weird?"
"Adam, my best friend talks to his stuffed animals, Mike hoards comic books like they're religious texts, and Lucas practices throwing his wrist rocket at targets in his backyard every single day." Dustin's grin widens. "Weird is kind of our specialty."
They sit in comfortable silence for a moment, and Adam realizes he's crossed some invisible line. Not into danger, but into something more complicated—genuine friendship.
"So," Dustin says eventually. "Want to help us look for Will tonight? We're planning to search the woods near the quarry. Could use someone who knows animals."
I know exactly where Will is. But I can't tell you that.
"Yeah," Adam says instead. "I'd like to help."
Because maybe the best way to save Will Byers isn't to rescue him alone. Maybe it's to make sure his friends are there when he needs them most.
As the sun sets over Hawkins, painting the sky in shades of amber and regret, Adam walks back toward St. Mary's with a walkie-talkie in his backpack and the weight of secrets growing heavier with each step.
Through the bond, Scout sends images of the woods they'll search tonight—familiar territory that the creature knows inch by inch. And in the distance, barely perceptible even to enhanced senses, something massive stirs in the spaces between dimensions.
[WARNING: MAJOR TIMELINE EVENT APPROACHING]
[WILL BYERS RESCUE: 72 HOURS REMAINING]
[PREPARE FOR DIMENSIONAL BREACH]
I'm ready, Adam thinks, touching the walkie-talkie through his backpack. As ready as anyone can be for the impossible.
But as he reaches the orphanage steps, where Sister Catherine waits with warm dinner and worried questions about his day, Adam realizes his definition of impossible has been changing since the moment he woke up in someone else's body.
Maybe that's what growing up really means—learning that the world is bigger and stranger and more dangerous than you ever imagined, and choosing to protect the people you love anyway.
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