Chapter 36: The Burn Operation
POV: Adam
November 7th dawns gray and ominous, military trucks rolling into Hawkins like mechanical harbingers carrying flamethrowers and the kind of ignorance that gets good soldiers killed by monsters they can't comprehend. Adam watches the convoy from the Byers' kitchen window while his system screams warnings that no one else can hear.
[CRITICAL ALERT: RETALIATION IMMINENT]
[MIND FLAYER RAGE BUILDING: EXPONENTIAL INCREASE]
[RECOMMENDED ACTION: IMMEDIATE EVACUATION]
[ESTIMATED CASUALTY COUNT: 15-20 SOLDIERS]
They have no idea what they're walking into. Burning the tunnels isn't destruction—it's provocation.
In the living room, Will sits with deceptive calm, the Mind Flayer wearing his brother's face like a mask that's learning to fit better with each passing hour. Joyce holds his hand and whispers reassurances that feel like prayers to deaf gods, while armed guards maintain perimeter watch that won't matter when hell comes calling.
Seventy-eight percent possession. Will's consciousness is barely hanging on.
"Mom," Adam says carefully, reading dimensional energy fluctuations that spike with each degree of tunnel temperature increase, "something's wrong. We should leave. Now."
I can feel it through the Hive connection. The Mind Flayer's rage is building toward explosion.
"We're safest here, honey," Joyce replies with false calm that doesn't fool anyone, including herself. "The soldiers know what they're doing."
The soldiers know how to burn tunnels. They don't know how to fight interdimensional apex predators.
Adam positions his creature network around the property with desperate efficiency—Scout on overwatch, his remaining Demodogs spread through strategic positions, Vine Crawlers rooted in concealment that won't matter when the real violence starts.
Ten creatures. Against everything the Mind Flayer can throw at us.
It won't be enough. It's never enough.
The moment the soldiers ignite the tunnel system with military-grade incendiary devices, reality cracks like glass struck by hammers made of malevolence. Will's scream tears through the afternoon air—not his voice, not his pain, but the Mind Flayer's agony given sound through a twelve-year-old's throat.
Every creature connected to the Hive Mind goes berserk. Every Demodog in the tunnel network, every Vine Crawler, every monster that shares psychic space with the entity they just burned.
Through Scout's enhanced senses, Adam watches soldiers die in ways that will haunt his dreams forever. Demodogs erupt from the ground like living nightmares, flower-faces unfurling to reveal concentric rings of teeth designed for maximum lethality. Men with families and hopes and futures become screaming statistics in seconds.
I can save them. Some of them. If I act now.
Adam sends his creatures into the chaos without hesitation, abandoning stealth for desperate mercy. His Demodogs battle their wild cousins with pack loyalty that transcends species, while Vine Crawlers create barriers between soldiers and certain death.
Six soldiers pulled from the jaws of monsters. Six families that won't get death notifications. Six lives that matter more than my secret identity.
But the cost is immediate and terrible—two of his Vine Crawlers fall to superior numbers, their deaths echoing through bonds that carry loyalty and love and the kind of sacrifice that defines family.
They died protecting strangers. They died because I asked them to.
The attack shifts to Hawkins Lab itself as Demodogs pour through tunnel connections directly into the facility's basement levels. Emergency alarms scream like banshees announcing apocalypse while Dr. Owens orders evacuation through intercom systems that crackle with static and terror.
This is it. The moment when everything changes.
In the lab's control room, surrounded by monitors showing carnage in real-time, Bob studies the locked security doors with analytical precision that Adam recognizes as courage disguised as problem-solving.
"Someone needs to reset the system manually," Bob says with quiet determination. "The doors won't unlock remotely. The system needs a hard reset from the central computer."
No. God, no. Not like this.
Through Scout's eyes positioned throughout the facility, Adam sees what's coming with crystal clarity. Bob running through corridors filled with Demodogs, reaching the computer room, successfully resetting the system, and then—
The Demodog that kills him. Coming through the window. Bob Newby, superhero, dying because he chose to save everyone else first.
"No! Bob, don't!" Adam screams, launching himself toward the door.
I can save him. Send Scout ahead, clear the path, change the outcome.
But Bob is already running, moving with surprising speed toward the computer center while Demodogs close in from multiple directions. Joyce pounds on the control room window, sobbing his name while Hopper calculates tactical options that don't exist.
I have to choose. Reveal everything—the creatures, the system, all of it—or watch the best man I've ever known die for being exactly who he is.
[CRITICAL DECISION POINT]
[REVEAL FULL POWER TO SAVE BOB NEWBY?]
[CONSEQUENCES: TOTAL EXPOSURE TO GOVERNMENT OVERSIGHT]
[ALTERNATIVE: ACCEPT CASUALTY]
Through the security cameras, Adam watches Bob reach the computer room, fingers flying over keyboards with RadioShack expertise while death stalks the corridors outside. The system reset works—doors begin unlocking throughout the facility—but the Demodog is already moving toward the window.
Five seconds. I have five seconds to decide.
Scout, move. NOW.
But even as the mental command leaves his consciousness, Adam knows it's too late. Scout is too far away, the Demodog too close, and Bob—
Bob looks up from the computer terminal with satisfied smile, sees the monster coming through the window, and his expression shifts from triumph to acceptance in the space between one heartbeat and the last.
I'm too late. I'm always too late when it matters most.
[LEVEL 28 ACHIEVED: COMBAT EXPERIENCE]
[EXPERIENCE GAINED: +4000 XP]
[CREATURES LOST: 2 VINE CRAWLERS]
[SOLDIERS SAVED: 6]
[BOB NEWBY STATUS: CRITICAL]
[QUEST FAILURE IMMINENT]
Adam watches through security cameras as the Demodog that should have killed Bob hesitates for a crucial instant—Scout arriving just in time to tackle it through the window in a explosion of glass and interdimensional violence. Bob stumbles backward, alive but trapped as more creatures converge on his position.
Not dead yet. He's not dead yet.
There's still time.
There's still hope.
As alarms continue to scream and emergency lights paint everything in hellish red, Adam grips the control room window and makes a promise to the chaos beyond.
I'm coming, Bob. Whatever it costs, whatever I have to reveal—I'm coming.
You called me son. Now let me prove what that means.
+1 CHAPTER AFTER EVERY 3 REVIEWS
MORE POWER STONES == MORE CHAPTERS
Love [ Stranger Things Demogorgon Tamer ]? Unlock More Chapters and Support the Story!
Dive deeper into the world of [ Stranger Things Demogorgon Tamer ] with exclusive access to 40+ chapters on my Patreon, you get more chapters if you ask for more (in few days), plus new fanfic every week! Your support starting at just $6/month helps me keep crafting the stories you love across epic universes like [ Game Of Throne ,MCU and Arrowverse, Breaking Bad , The Walking dead ,The Hobbit,Wednesday].
By joining, you're not just getting more chapters—you're helping me bring new worlds, twists, and adventures to life. Every pledge makes a huge difference!
👉 Join now at patreon.com/TheFinex5 and start reading today!