Chapter Text
May 15th, 1986.
Hawkins, Indiana.
Max sits in a wheelchair, eyes blank and white, tucked in the corner of Mike Wheeler’s basement, a comic laid open in her lap and she slowly turns the pages. Lucas sits on the couch, leaning over, head hovering over her shoulder and he’s reading the pages out loud to her, every now and then describing the panels for her and she just nodded here and then.
Will lays on the ground, flat as he looks up at the ceiling, mouth taut as it pulls into a frown. His hands are folded neatly and resting on his lap and he’s breathing steady.
El sits on the couch, fiddling with her shirt and mumbling quietly to Mike. Mike’s pushing his hair back over his shoulders repeatedly as it keep falling back over no matter what he does. He’s nodding here and there, whispering back to her. They broke up after Vecna a few months back, they needed to focus on the town right now, and they still hadn’t properly resolved their last argument, they needed a break.
That’s what they were calling it, a break.
Everyone was pretty sure that was the end though.
Dustin was fiddling with some machine at their D&D table, dismantling one of their radios despite Will telling him to stop that because it was their only communication to the adults and older teens. He just kept waving his hands frantically and telling him to shut up, he’s working . Erica was ridiculing him for his “shoddy workmanship” and he was simply flipping her off.
El stood up and sat down, moving to lay next to her brother and Will turned his head to look at her.
She smiled weakly.
“You okay?” She asked and Will sighed.
“I can… feel him. The Mind Flayer.” Will mumbled. “Have ever since we got back.”
El nods, her short hair barely brushing against the floorboards as she does so.
“Me too,” She mumbled and then moved her arm, palm up. Will grabbed it and she held it tightly. “But we all have each other. And hope.”
Will sighed and looked back up at the ceiling. “It just… It feels like every time we defeat him, every time we get closer to winning, we just take even more steps backwards. He’s back again and what if we can’t stop him again? What if we can’t even slow him down.”
“Will,” El said firmly, eyes determined and she squeezes Will’s hand. “We can do this. Okay?”
She looks at her brother so determinedly, her eyes shining as if daring him to disagree. He’s silent for a moment, tongue heavy with an unknown weight in his mouth and he sighs out slowly.
“Okay.”
The front door of the house slams open and everyone jumps into action, grabbing the nearest weapon and moving to stand in a half circle in front of Max. El stood in front of them all, hand raised and they all stared at the basement door as feet moved around upstairs. Erica grabs Lucas’ arm tightly, small hand shaking violently and he moves to stand directly in front of her, arm out to stop anything from getting to her.
Someone knocked on the door, four times quick, then a pause, twice more, pause, then five times.
They all turn to Dustin and he takes a shaky step forward, readjusting his grip on his bat as he stares at the door, reinforced with four different locks and a board across to keep it shut.
“Password!” He shouts out, voice wavering a little.
Someone behind the door groans loudly. “Are you serious?” They shout and Dustin frowns.
“Pass! Word!” He shouts out firmer and the person groans even louder.
“Omigod okay, Ewok!” The person shouts and jiggles the handle. “Now let us down, Henderson!”
Dustin turns to El and nods. She tilts her head, undoing all the locks and the door opens.
At the top of the stairs stands Steve, Robin, Jonathan, Nancy and Argyle, carrying vast assortments of grocery bags and backpacks. They wore near battle outfits, vests, baggy pants, hats or bandanas, long socks, long sleeves, outfits to cover them up completely. As Robin kept calling it, they all looked “totally Post-Apoc.”
“Jesus dude,” Steve said as he began to descend the stairs, kicking off his shoes. “What’s even the point of a secret knock if you’re gonna make us do a damn password anyway?”
“Extra security! Why do we have locks on the basement door if we have locks on the front door, Steve ?” Dustin shot back as Steve dumped the bags on the table.
“Fine, fine, okay, I get it.” Steve waved him off and Mike departed from the group to rush to Nancy, eyes searching her face. “Did you see them? Dad and Mom? Holly?” He asked her, as he always asked whenever she came back from a run.
Nancy’s eyes drop to the ground, hands tightening around the plastic bag she held.
“No,” She mumbled. “Didn’t see them.”
Mike’s jaw tightens and his lip quivers a little and Nancy’s eyes soften and she pulls her younger brother into her arms, holding him tightly. Mike doesn’t hug back but he doesn’t push her away either.
“We’ll find them, Mike.” She promised, a hand caressing through Mike’s hair gently. “We will find them. They were out shopping when the cracks happened, they might just be stuck in another part of town, they’re going to be fine.”
“You can’t promise that,” Mike said, trying to keep his voice even, not let his fear and tears slip through. “I know I bullshit about hating our parents all the time, but I can’t- I can’t lose them, Nance. And Holly- She’s six . She’s so little.”
“I can’t promise they’re alive, that’s right,” Nancy said with a small nod. “But I can promise I won’t stop looking for them.”
They stay holding each other for a long moment before Mike pushes out and shakes his head, wiping at unfallen tears. “So, what did you guys score?”
“We got a lot, little dudes,” Argyle says, a lazy smile on his mouth as he starts taking out everything in his bag. “We got some beans, chips, rice, we even got like, the last cases of soda they had at the store.”
“Yeah uh, we’re gonna have to start going out farther for supply runs,” Jonathan says as he dumps out his load, consisting mostly of clothes and medical supplies. “Almost everywhere within a square mile has been completely looted. Getting harder to find supplies and food for all of us.”
“You know we can help, right?” Will said. “Go out, forage with you guys.”
“You know what Hopper said,” Robin said. “You twerps are top priority to keep safe and it’s hard enough with all of us out there, you would all just be a liability. It’s better you all stay down here, tucked up safe and sound, while us older kids go out and do the dangerous stuff.”
“We were out doing the dangerous stuff before you guys,” Lucas argued. “Literally before all of you.”
“Yeah, when you guys were ten and shouldn’t have even been involved in all this shit anyway.” Nancy argued. “Will was stuck, Eleven escaped, that doesn’t mean you guys are experts on this.”
“But we can help!” Dustin argued. “We can-”
“You kids stay here! End of story!” Steve interrupted. “Look, we aren’t even being allowed to help out with the important shit, okay? Joyce and Hop have us benched, they’re out scheming and plotting with Murray and we aren’t allowed to know what about!”
Dustin stares hard at Steve for a long, long moment and no one else speaks as Steve holds the stare.
“Fine.” Dustin mumbled and Steve raised an eyebrow. “Fine?” He echoed.
“Yeah, fine! Fine we’ll stay here and not do shit and waste away slowly doing nothing because we haven’t seen sunlight for weeks! Fine!”
“For the record,” Robin says, a finger held up. “ We haven’t seen the sunlight for weeks either. No one in Hawkins as there’s like… a red cloud over everything.”
Dustin just rolled his eyes and grabbed a can of soda before storming off to a corner away from them all.
“Oh, Sinclairs,” Steve said and Lucas and Erica looked over. “We passed by some group of people when we were out, one of the survival groups left. They mentioned having seen your parents out with another group once. As far as we know, they're completely safe right now.”
Lucas and Erica sigh in relief and smile. “Thanks, Steve.” Lucas said and Steve nodded.
“It’s nothing. And we can try and get the all clear from Hopper to go up and see them soon, once we find out where they're staying, okay?” Steve said and Lucas nodded.
The group begins to mill about again, Nancy and Robin putting their supplies away neatly, cans stacked in the corner, clothes folded up into a basket. Steve and Jonathan reinforced the boarding on the door that led outside, making sure the lock on the garage door was still secure. Argyle walked about leaning in too close to the kids, trying to see what they were doing.
It was just like every other day had been for the past few weeks.
A monotonous, endless loop. First, wake up, surrounded by limbs and bodies in a too warm basement. Do round checks to make sure every board, every lock, was tightly sealed in place. Do a headcount, make sure every kid, every teen and every adult was accounted for. Once everyone is collected, they eat in the living room, one of the only times the kids were allowed up on the main floor (The older people were afraid someone would spot them, that a demobat would peek through a crack, see them and attack, something would find Eleven and kill them. So they kept them in the basement much to all of their protests. Eleven had teased Mike though when he argued).
Then after breakfast, after moving around in a more open space, all the kids would cram in the basement again, whining and groaning and protesting as they descended the stairs. They’d sit around playing games, most times D&D, or trading off on the few Atari’s they’ve gotten. The young adults would sometimes upstairs on watch, armed to the teeth with traps, guns in one hand, matches in the other, ready for attack just in case. The adults would go off somewhere, likely Murray’s bunker, to plan their next move of attack. Eventually the adults would come back and they'd all head downstairs, talking for a bit before they'd split up times for showers.
Every Wednesday, Joyce and Murray (sometimes Steve) would wash all their clothes, leaving them all chilling in comfy pyjamas as Will hosted a D&D session for all of them as they waited for their clothes to air dry.
Fridays, the young adults went out to gather supplies, armed even more with weapons, sneaking their way down the streets of Hawkins, avoiding demobats and demodogs that roamed the streets freely, breaking into stores and stealing every non-perishable thing they could get their hands on.
Sometimes Steve would detour, see some game that he thinks Dustin would like or a funny shirt that reminds him of Max. Sometimes he’d come very close to dying just to get those things, but he always told the others it was worth it.
He also never told the twerps how he risked his life for the small things, asked the others not to tell the kids either. He didn’t want them to worry, didn’t want them to tell him to stop getting them things.
Because no matter how close he came to death, the way Max’s face lit up as she rubbed the fabric in between her fingers, the way Dustin laughed gleefully when he opened a new game case, it was worth it all.
His, so far, favorite day had been when he had come back with a plastic wrapped wig from Eleven. Steve had come the closest to dying that day, and Robin had been clinging to his side as he handed the wig over to Eleven. But seeing her eyes light up and fill with happy tears had made it worth it. She had hugged him tight, her face buried in his chest as she sobbed happily to him, thanking him a million times before rushing over to Joyce and asking for help putting it on.
The end of their daily schedule concluded with the adults coming back from their scheming, not telling them anything new about their plans, but jumping into action to make them food. Murray would sing some song in Russian and 9 times out of 10 he was the one cooking for them. Then they’d all gather in the basement to eat together, and talk about their day, but it was nothing ever really eventful.
Then they’d clean up, and then they’d set up their sleeping spots, the adults swapping off who would sleep upstairs so they’d be ready to attack any intruders and they’d talk in hushed voices until they fell asleep.
Routine like this is what drives a person insane, Mike had argued once.
But it’s to keep them all safe, Hopper had argued back and that was that.
It was Friday, there had been the supply run, and now it was waiting for the adults to get back.
Will was tucked into himself on the couch now and his jaw was set. Mike sat next to him, Jonathan sat next to Mike. They said nothing.
El was reading with Lucas and Max now, Erica close by and listening in as she repainted a D&D figure.
Argyle walked around hovering while Nancy walked around, doing a headcount and making sure everyone was okay. They were talking to each other, or more, Argyle was talking and Nancy was listening with an amused smile.
Robin was talking to Max about something, her expression uncharacteristically serious but Max was grinning from ear to ear, so there was no real cause for concern.
Dustin grabbed Steve and pulled him to the side, notebook in hand and as far into the corner away from everyone as possible.
He looked at the group, then Steve, then shoved the notebook in his hand.
Any sign of Eddie? Was written on the notebook page.
Steve sighed and shook his head and Dustin frowned.
“Henderson, I told you,” Steve’s voice low. “Those demobats they- They probably ate his remains, that’s why nothing was there when you went back.”
“There would be a skeleton,” Dustin insisted and then glanced over his shoulder again, scribbling quickly onto the notebook.
Eddie is alive, I know it. I know you know it .
“Look, let’s- Let’s just say he is, okay? I told you a million times before, it’s too-” Mike looks over at them and Steve clears his throat, grabbing Dustin’s notepad and writing down.
It’s too dangerous to go back!
And so began the quick exchange back and forth of writing down on the notepad, Dustin getting increasingly frustrated.
It’s not dangerous if we have weapons!
I’m not letting you go back alone
So come with me! We can sneak out tomorrow, gather gear, armour, we have it all, slip into the Upside Down, find Eddie and bring him here!
What if he’s dead?
Then we can at least give Wayne a peace of mind .
Steve stares long and hard at Dustin and Dustin rolls his eyes, not doing this Mexican standoff again and just raises an eyebrow.
Steve bites the inside of his cheek.
“Fine,” Steve mumbled and Dustin grinned wickedly. “But, I lead. We leave at 8 am tomorrow. If you aren’t awake, we don’t go .”
Dustin nodded. “Okay! Okay, I’ll be awake and ready.”
Steve nods and then Dustin scampers off.
Mike turns to Will.
“What do you think that was about?” He whispered and Will turned his head to look at Mike. They’re close, basically breathing each other’s air.
“With Dustin and Steve? He’s probably trying to get Steve to ask Robin out, again .” Will said and Mike gives him a crooked smile.
“Yeah, yeah totally. I mean, when do you think Dustin is going to realise that boat is never gonna sail.” Mike said and Will snorts, a small smile forming quickly. "I mean personally I think Robin is way too cool to ever date Steve."
“Don't be mean.” Will joked and Mike just chuckled. “With everything going on, I think maybe Dustin's brain has just erased all senses of logic.”
And the two dissolve into giggles then, much to the annoyance of almost everyone in the basement.
“What time is it?” Max asked and Lucas paused his reading to check his watch.
“It’s seven fifteen, why?” Lucas asked and Max’s hands still on her comic. “They’re normally back by six.”
Twelve heads turn to look at the door, varying expressions of worry or concern.
“I’m sure they’re fine,” Jonathan says, but his hands curled around the lighter in his pocket.
“Yeah,” Robin says nervously. “I mean, it’s not like it’s a rule they have to come back at six, sometimes they’re late.”
“They’re fine guys, don’t begin worrying yet.” Steve reaffirmed.
And the adults are fine, the three of them are surrounded around a table in Murray’s bunker’s basement, maps of varying sizes and information spread across the table, some of Will’s D&D figurines placed across some.
“Okay, okay so you said that the cracks all formed from kill spots, meeting up in the centre?” Joyce said, pointing at all the four red dots on the map that resembled where every victim had died.
“That’s what the kids said, yeah,” Murray nodded, pushing his glasses up. “Back when the cracks formed, that was as far as the cracks had gone, but now they’ve grown way farther back. They’re all circling, like this,”
Murray picks up a red marker and begins to draw a line connecting the end of every line to each other. “It- Vecna, is trying to trap us all here, us less fortunate guys who didn’t have money to just pick everything up and leave.”
“We can’t leave Murray, we can’t leave the government to deal with this shit, they never deal with it right,” Hopper said, an unlit cigarette hanging between his lips. “How close do you thing the chasms are to closing? And why aren’t they closing as fast as the other ones formed?”
“I think he’s waiting for everyone else to leave, I- I mean, his whole plan is to stop El, or at least a big part of it is. What if he’s- He’s just waiting until everyone else is gone to face her off alone?” Joyce suggested.
“I don’t think that’s it, the kid beat his ass pretty well, it could be he doesn’t have the power to do it this fast. The other ones formed after all four deaths were sealed, so it could be that those were enough to power on their own, but if he's out of commission right now, he may be using the smallest amount of power to close it up, biding his time to attack so once he’s got us fully trapped he can make his move.” Murray explained.
“This chasm here,” Murray points to the one in between Chrissy and that jock kid's death scenes. “It’s moving the fastest. I’m not sure why, maybe because the distance is bigger? But the one between the jock and that nerd haven’t moved much even though it’s the same distance. We should try and figure out why that is, it could be potentially helpful information.”
“Potentially,” Hopper scoffs with a shake of his head. “Do we even have any idea what we’re heading into, Murray?”
“No, Jim, because you refuse to let us get the kids to help us with this,” Murray argued.
“Because they’ve been through enough, okay? Unless we absolutely need El, she stays put and the rest of her friends stay put, okay? I’m not going to traumatise those kids anymore than necessary.” Hopper argued right back.
“Yeah, but we could really use their information and strengths. Nancy said she got to see inside Vecna’s mind, that he showed her the future of his plans and that his future has already begun happening. We could really use her help.” Murray said. “And Lucas was right there when it all happened. And Will has inside information and yes, El, she’s strong, stronger than before. We could really use their help, all of their help.”
“Not happening,” Hopper argued, arms crossed.
Joyce groaned out. “Look! Can we just- Try and figure this all out? I mean, have there been any other irregularities? Besides the chasms, when the commies were here to open the gate, there was the whole mess with my magnets, anything like that happening here?”
“We’d need to go out, search or investigate, collect data.” Murray said. “Which will take forever since it’s just us three.”
“We’re not getting the kids in on this.” Hopper said firmly.
“Hop,” Joyce said, hand waving around a bit. “... They could help.”
“No, Joyce, we’re not putting the kids in danger again.” Hopper insisted.
“It wouldn’t be danger! They can handle themselves, they’ve handled themselves repeatedly, some investigating, they’d be a big help.” Joyce said and smiled gently. “I know you want to protect them, and I love you for that, but they are capable, and they have each other. I mean, even Argyle is pretty tough in battle.”
Hopper is quiet for a long moment, simply staring down at the maps and Joyce stares at him, waiting for an answer.
Their walkie talkie statics before Mike speaks through it: “Ancients, what’s your status? This is the Party and the Watchers speaking, Ancients, what’s your status? Over.”
Hopper groans and picks up the walkie.
“How many times have I told you, stop calling us Ancients.” Hopper says into it, not giving Joyce an answer.
Silences fills the air and Hopper groans.
“Over.” He growls into the walkie.
“Your name is Ancients cause that’s what you are. What’s your status? Over.” Mike’s voice crackles through and Hopper looks at Joyce.
“I’m going to kill that kid.” He mumbled and Joyce chuckled.
“Can’t do that, my kid’ll be very upset if you do,” She teased and Hopper rolled his eyes.
“We’re at Murray’s, why, do you runts need something? Over .” Hopper said.
“Checking in because it’s almost eight now. Over.”
Hopper whips around to look at the clock on Murray’s wall and Joyce and Murray also look, neither of them seeming to have realised just how late it is.
“Shit,” Hopper grumbled before turned to the walkie. “Look, we ran over time some, we’re gonna start heading back now. Don’t go upstairs, understand? Over.”
“We’re hungry,” Max’s voice chimes through now. “Are you really going to deprive a bunch of children of their necessary sustenance because you don’t have proper time management? Over.”
“Bother Steve about it, over.”
“Hey wait! Do not make this my proble-” Hopper turns the walkie off as Steve yells at him and begins to pack his bag as Joyce makes sure all their guns are loaded, Murray making sure all their lighters have proper fluid in them.
The main reason they’re always back by six is because after that, it gets dark. And when it gets dark, more Upside Down creatures come out. It’s not that they’re adverse to the light, but it’s like the creatures know how creepy it is, how to keep them in check, by roaming the streets freely at night.
The first time they’d gone out late, Murray almost lost his leg to a demodog. They’d learned their lesson and tried to always be back before late.
But sometimes, like tonight, they ran late.
Hopper grabbed a gun from Joyce, book bag strapped on his back securely as Joyce cocks her gun.
“Let’s go,” Murray said as he began the extensive routine of unlocking the bunker door.
They began to slowly slink out, looking around carefully as they made their way to Joyce’s van.
There was chittering heard nearby, but not close enough that it would be able to smell them. They were slow, careful not to make too much noise but it was hard when the ground was completely gravel.
Hopper led the group, Joyce pressed almost right up against his back as Murray walked half backwards, making sure nothing snuck up on them.
Hopper walked slow, and they walked slower, letting him lead the short trip to their vehicle and they heard chittering get louder before something screeched.
The three adults all turned to the side, seeing a demogorgon far down the street, screeching at a demodog that was blocking it’s path.
They continued towards the car, almost successfully there without a single bump in their trek.
Which of course, meant something had to go wrong.
A rat ran across the ground, right under Murray’s foot and the other jumped back a little as to not step on it, which unbalanced him and sent him falling onto his ass.
The fall made a loud thud as some of the gravel scattered underneath him and the demogorgon down the road turned to them.
“Shit,” Hopper grumbled and turned to pick Murray up to his feet. The three ran off full speed to the car, not caring how much sound they made as they ran across the gravel, the demogorgon rushing full speed at them and Murray grabbed a can of hairspray, courtesy of Steve, from his bag, lighting the lighter in front of it, creating a makeshift flame thrower as he got in the car.
The demogorgon reeled back but the demodog they’d heard before came running from the other side, Joyce shutting her door just in time as it began scratching at the door.
Hopper quickly started the car, attracting the attention of even more monsters and Joyce rolled her window down to begging shooting them, getting them to back off enough for Hopper to pull out and drive quickly down the road.
They passed a handful of monsters as they drove, speeding because there was no reason not to anymore, trying to outrun them.
Joyce stuck her head out the window to try and shoot them all back and her eye widened.
“Hop? We got a problem!” She shouted.
“What is it?” Hopper yelled back.
Something thudded on the roof of the car and she turned.
“That.” She said and a clawed hand punched through the roof of the car and began clawing around, scratching at Murray’s face and digging a deep cut in his cheek.
“Oh fuck, everytime!” He shouted, hand pressing to the wound as Joyce empty an entire round in the arm, enough that the arm fell off and into the car.
“Oh, just gross!” Murray shouted as he picked up the twitching hand and tossed it out the window.
Joyce quickly reloaded her gun and shoved it up the hole, shooting at the demogorgon on the roof until it fell off, tumbling against the road.
“Are the others gone?” Hopper asked, quickly checking the rearview mirror.
“Yeah, yeah we’re good Hop.” Joyce said and Hopper turned down the road to the Wheeler’s house.
They rushed inside, aware that any monster nearby definitely heard them and locked the front door, rushing to the basement door and frantically knocking.
“Password!” Mike shouted and Hopper wanted to kill the kid, he really did. In fact, he genuinely thinks he might one day if the kid kept annoying him.
“Ewok, let us in!” Hopper yelled and the door unlocked and the three all rushed in, El locking it behind them just as fast once they were in.
“Holy shit! What happened?” Jonathan asked as Murray rushed over to the corner where they kept all their first aid supplies.
“Take a wild guess,” Hopper said as he set his gun down.
“I’ll start dinner soon, just give us a moment,” Joyce said as she hugged her sons real quick.
“It’s okay, Steve’s already on it.” Dustin said. “He’s upstairs in the kitchen making something , he wouldn’t tell us.”
“He’s got a weapon, right?” Joyce asked.
“No, he’s a complete and utter idiot,” Robin said sarcastically. “He may be a dingus, but he’s got common sense. He’s got a gun and lighter.”
“Did he give you a time he’d be down?” Joyce asked.
“Yeah, eight twenty five. It’s eight seventeen now, don’t worry yet.” Robin said and Joyce nodded.
“I always worry about you kids.” Joyce said softly.
“We’re not kids though, mom.” Jonathan said and Joyce sighed, pinching one of his cheeks.
“You will be 35 and still be my baby, Jonathan.” She said and Jonathan groaned as Nancy cooed.
Murray drops his bag onto the table. “Alright twerps, enough mushy shit, we do have something important.”
Everyone gathers around the table as Murray begins unloading a shit ton of blank cassette tapes and walkmans. Joyce grabs Hopper’s bag and pulls out batteries and headphones.
“Okay, we figure Vecna is getting pretty close to coming back and we want everyone to be prepared.” Murray said. “You’re all going to tell us your favourite song, or song that holds a lot of meaning to you, whatever, and we’re going to record loops for you.”
“You kids are to keep this on you at all times, with backup batteries, understand?” Hopper said. “If anything happens, if the tape gets messed up, if the cassette tape breaks, your headphones won’t connect, you tell us immediately . We are not taking any chances here, understand?”
A chorus of understands, and got it, and we’re not idiots, and yeah yeah yeah fill the room as Joyce hands out the blank tapes.
“Write down your favourite song, artist and title, and your name and we’ll record them tomorrow.” Joyce said and everyone began to look around for a marker or pen or pencil.
Will sits down on the couch, a pencil in his hands as he thinks. Mike sits next to him with a purple pen he found in Nancy’s stash.
“Are you… thinking about what your favourite song is?” Mike asked as he begins writing down.
“Yeah,” Will said and shrugged. “I don’t want to get it wrong, you know. Like, what if I think I know what my favourite song is, but then I’m actually wrong and then I’m screwed?”
Mike pauses in his writing to look at Will.
“I mean… shouldn’t your favourite song be an easy thing to know?” Mike asked, brows furrowed.
“Well, I mean sure ,” Will mumbled. “But with Max it was also a song that meant something to her. I have a favourite song that I like to listen to but then a song that means a lot to me but isn’t exactly my favourite.”
“Well what’s your favourite song?” Mike asked.
“Should I Stay Or Should I Go, has been, since, forever.” Will said with a smile. “But it also… kind of means a lot to me? Jonathan showed me it once when… Our parents were arguing. And it introduced me to a whole lot of new music. And it did save me when I was stuck in the Upside Down.”
“So why not use that song?” Mike asked as he finished writing down on his cassette tape.
“Well,” Will waves a hand around. “There’s another song that… It also means a lot to me. I relate to the lyrics I guess? It’s a new song I heard in Lenora, it’s kind of goth, but I really like it.”
“What is it?”
“Uhm, Boys Don’t Cure, by The Cure.” Will said.
“Oh, uber goth.” Mike said and Will snorted with an eyeroll. “If you’re that divided on it, just tell your mom to make you two tapes. Then if one doesn’t work you pop in the other. And if you can’t pop the other in, I’ll be right there to do it for you. It’s good to be prepared.”
Will nods and then scribbles down on his tape.
“So, what’s yours?”
“Hm?”
“Your favourite song, what is it?” Will asked and Mike’s cheeks turn a little pink as he ducks his head.
“Oh it’s… Okay don’t like, make fun of me. It’s by Ozzy Osbourne.” Mike said and Will raises an eyebrow.
“Ozzy? Never thought you’d be a fan.” Will said and Mike shrugged.
“Gotta be honest, not a super big fan.” Mike chuckled. “But this one song, it’s good. Secret Loser, I like the lyrics, the ones I can understand at least. And it’s not just the song it-”
Mike pauses and sighs.
“We’ve talked about Eddie a bit, but he was- He was really cool. Took Dustin, Lucas and I in when we were struggling to make friends. He was awesome and I really looked up to him. He showed me this song one time when we were hanging out for his D&D campaign, and it was just- He was so cool, he got so into the song and it was my first time hearing something that wasn’t the top 40s, you know?” Mike said and smiled gently. “So, it’s not like… I like this song, but it’s more than that.”
Will smiles softly and rests a hand on his shoulder.
“Eddie sounded like a really cool guy.” Will said and Mike nodded.
“I think you would’ve really liked him. He always wanted to meet you, you know. Wish you guys got that chance.” Mike said, voice a little solemn for a moment but then he shakes his head. “It’s whatever though, that’s just it is all. Secret Loser, that’s my song.”
“The metal head and the goth, what a pair we are,” Will jokes and Mike chuckles.
Robin grabs two cassette tapes and a pen and rushes upstairs, other hand holding their nail bat firmly as she sneaks into the kitchen.
“Dingus,” She says and Steve jumps from where he’s hunched over the stove.
“Jesus Robin!” He hissed out. “I’m almost done, my time isn’t even up, what are you doing up here?”
“The olds want us to give them our favourite songs. Which Tears For Fears song should I write down for you?” She said and Steve rolled his eyes.
“Hah hah, my favourite song isn’t a Tears For Fears song.” Steve said and she grinned.
“So Duran Duran then?” She asked and when Steve says nothing she giggles.
“Well, what’s yours then since you want to be so judgy?” Steve asked and Robin smiled.
“Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, Cyndi Lauper.” Robin replied and Steve turned over his shoulder to look at her.
“Don’t get into another argument with El about Lauper being better than Madonna.” Steve warned and Robin grinned as she wrote hers down.
“Can’t help that she is, Steve-O!” She sang and then looked at him. “So which Duran Duran song?”
“Girls On Film.” Steve replied with a casual shrug, not caring much for how stereotypical he may be at times, and shuts the stove off. “I think I’m done here, can you help me carry?”
Robin tucks the cassette tapes into her pocket, same with the lighter, and then grabs Steve’s gun with one hand and a pot with the other. They leave the nail bat up there as they descend the stairs carefully, making sure not to drop any food.
“Alright twerps, dinner is served.” Steve announces once they get to the bottom and they all cheer as El makes quick work of locking everything up again.
Everyone sets up, either sitting down at the table, on the couch or on the floor near either, as they begin digging in and talking.
“So, you guys got a plan yet?” Lucas asked as he shovels food into his mouth. “Or are you still coming up with one?”
“If we had a plan, we wouldn’t tell you guys,” Hopper said and Lucas points at him.
“So there is a plan?” Lucas asked with a brow raised.
“No, there’s no plan,” Hopper grumbled. “And you kids need to stop trying to find trouble to get into.”
“It’s not trouble, we just want to help,” Erica said. “Unless you don’t think we’re capable of helping. I mean, we've only saved your sorry asses, like, a hundred times.”
“Language, no asses at the dinner table,” Joyce said and Erica nodded. “And we just want you kids safe, but we will need you in the future and we will reach out to you when we need it.”
She gives Hopper a pointed look, which he promptly ignores by focusing on his food.
“Oh, Hop, I gotta talk to you later about something,” Steve said and Hopper waves a hand around.
“About what?” Robin asked, frowning. “Are you keeping secrets from me dingus?”
“No, not a secret Rob, I’ll tell you later, okay?” Steve promised and Robin squints at him for a moment and nods.
“If you guys don’t have a plan, then what do you do all day?” Will asked around food in his mouth and Joyce gives him a look and he shuts his mouth.
“We don’t have a plan yet , but we’ve been trying to come up with one,” Joyce said. “We’re aren’t telling you guys anything yet though.”
“Oh come on, mom you can trust us!” Jonathan insisted and she sighed.
“I know honey, but I also know once you guys know even the smallest bit of information, you’re all gonna take off on your own and I can’t have you all doing that.” Joyce said and rested her hand in his. “Just trust me on this, okay? We’ll tell you once we’re sure nothing will go wrong with whatever plan we make.”
“Joyce, respectfully, we can help you though,” Nancy said. “It’s been almost two months since this all started and Hawkins just keeps getting worse. If we all put our heads together, we can come up with a solid plan faster.”
Joyce turns to stare at Hopper again and Hopper groans.
“You kids will be let in on the information when we allow it, got it? For now, shut your pie holes and eat what Harrington made you.” Hopper ordered.
“I’m tired of the same food everyday,” Eleven mumbles and Hopper laughs.
“Says the girl who would eat Eggos everyday for every meal if allowed.” Hopper joked and she smiled a little.
Their repeated meals were tiring, but it was either the same meals every week, or starve, so they may complain, but it was better than the alternative, and after Hopper jokes, everyone goes back to their own covnersations as they eat.
They all mumble on about nothing, a new D&D campaign Will was writing to fill the void of time, Robin talking about a new language she’s learning while Steve teases her for being a nerd, Murray going on about something not at all table appropriate while Argyle laughed joyously at him, and more.
Their words were all muddled together, becoming a loud buzz in the room as they all tried to find something to be excited about, something to talk about that wasn’t complaining about being trapped .
Eventually, everyone finished and Steve and Hopper grabbed all the dishes and went upstairs to put them in the sink.
“So, what was it you wanted to talk about?” Hopper asked as Steve went through and made sure everything was still locked up.
“Dustin still believes Eddie is out there,” Steve said and Hopper sighed as he turned the sink on, beginning to wash the dishes. “And he wants to go out and find him.”
“No,” Hopper said and Steve rolled his eyes. “I wasn’t asking for permission. I’m giving you a heads up,” Steve informed, arms crossed and Hopper shook his head.
“Not a heads up, you two aren’t leaving this house.” Hopper said firmly.
“Look, you and I both know Henderson will sneak out, without either of us, if we don’t let him. So I’m going with him, tomorrow morning. We’re going to make a quick trip to the Upside Down, go to where he died and then check around some. When we don’t find him after an hour, I’ll drag the little shit back,” Steve said.
Hopper stared at him for a moment. “You don’t believe he’s out there.” Hopper said and Steve frowned.
“What?”
“You said when you don’t find him,” Hopper noted and Steve sighed.
“Look, as much as I want Munson to still be out there, the chances are slim. I mean, we’ve dealt with all this shit for years and we’re all still only alive because we’ve been hiding out. I mean, I’ve come pretty close to dying just on our food runs. Eddie doesn’t have the experience we do,” Steve mumbled and ran a hand through his hair. “So, yeah, I hope he’s still alive for the little shit, but I don’t think he is.”
Hopper sighed and paused in his dish washing.
“You guys get an hour there. That means two hours round trip, if you’re not back by, when are you leaving?” Hopper asked.
“8,” Steve replied.
“If you’re not back by 10 exactly , neither of you leave this house ever again.” Hopper said.
“Oh come on, that’s total prisoner behaviour!” Steve argued.
“Ten, or not at all.” Hopper said and Steve groaned.
“Fine, fine, we’ll be back by ten.” Steve said and rolled his eyes.
“And you go out in full combat gear, long sleeves and pants. Lighters, hairspray, guns and the damn bat, understand?” Hopper said and Steve groaned.
“Yeah yeah, I’m not gonna let the brat get hurt, don’t worry.” Steve grumbled and Hopper laughed gently.
“Those kids really grew on you, huh?” Hopper joked to him and Steve rolled his eyes again .
“Don’t act like they didn’t grow on you too. Even Mike.” Steve said and Hopper shakes his head.
“He’s grown up. They all have. Doesn’t mean Mike doesn’t still get on my nerves now and then.” Hopper said.
“Oh, he’s just like that to everyone, don’t worry.” Steve said and Hopper laughed boisterously.
They finish cleaning up and return downstairs, where Nancy is currently trying to get Erica to get into her bed.
“I don’t want to, Lucas smells like feet.” She complained and Nancy groaned.
“So sleep somewhere else, but you need to go to bed and be well rested.” Nancy said.
“Well rested for what? Another day in solidarity?” Erica asked.
“I think you mean soli-tary and yes, you need to be well rested in case god-forbid a monster breaks in.” Nancy said and Erica groaned but laid down in her spot, next to her brother despite her arguments.
Steve chuckles a little as he comes down and Nancy rolls her eyes at him as he passes by her over to Robin.
“So, secret?” She asked and Steve looks around. Mike is the closest to him, curled up in his sleeping bag, turned on his side facing Will, who’s snoring away. They’re both definitely sleeping as Mike insists he’s a back sleeper and Will argues that he does not snore at all.
“Dustin and I are gonna check for Eddie tomorrow.” Steve said and Robin’s eyes go wide. “I wasn’t but I knew Henderson would’ve snuck off alone, I’d rather I back him up. I had to get permission from Hopper.”
“Do you think you’re going to find him?” Robin asked and Steve shrugged.
“If we do, I doubt he’s going to be alive,” He mumbled and Robin frowned and nodded. “But Dustin insisted so.”
Robin smiles.
“It’s cute how much you care.” Robin said and Steve flips her off, grabbing a blanket and wrapping it around himself as he settles onto the couch with her.
“Hey dingus, that’s for both of us!” She argues and Steve leans back and immediately pretends he’s asleep as she tries to grab some of the blanket.
The next morning, Dustin is awake and ready at 8 like Steve told him to be, dressed, fed, and geared up. Steve had kind of wished he would’ve slept in like everyone else so they didn’t go.
But he was awake and Steve promised him.
So Steve makes sure they’re stocked up, food in bags too just in case, first aid, water, extra ammo, extra hairspray and lighter fluid, everything they could need, just in case.
“Ready?” Steve asked and Dustin was bouncing on his feet, his weight shifted to one side (his broken ankle had never properly healed and now left him suffering with acute chronic pain) as Steve began to unlock the first door.
Dustin rushed under his arm outside and spun around in a circle as Steve locked everything back up from the outside.
“I haven’t been out for so long!” Dustin shouted. “Fresh air, how I missed you!”
Dustin takes a long, deep inhale before he bursts into dramatic coughing, banging on his chest as he tried to clear his throat.
Steve snorts at him as he turns back around, hand firmly holding a gun as he walks over.
“Not so loud, there’s still some demos out there, don’t signal them all over here.” Steve said and Dustin rolled his eyes.
“Oh come on, I know there’ll only be like three at most.” Dustin said. “But okay mom , I’ll be more quiet.”
They begin the long bike over to Eddie’s trailer, quiet enough to not run into any creatures, but fast enough so Steve can ensure they make their curfew. They run into a few other people going out for supply runs, greet them and wish them luck. It’s still weird to see so many people in Hawkins, trapped in this crazy new world.
Steve was aware most didn’t have the money to get out, or, like him, had no way to get out, but it was still weird that the people not involved with this mess didn’t try to find some way to get out.
News stations had made fun of the ones who stayed, calling them idiotic, morons for not getting the hell out of dodge. Steve hated it, because he knew full well most of the people here trapped wanted out, they just couldn't afford to pick up their entire life and move somewhere else for god knows how long.
He thinks briefly he should start keeping a list of who he has seen staying though, just so they can get a general headcount of who is and isn't here, see if there's people that might help them or possibly people they'd need to protect.
“Hey, get in contact with Suzie at all yet?” Steve asked, breaking himself free from his thoughts and Dustin sighed.
“No, I need Cerebro to get to her. She’s probably worried to hell right now, seeing the news about everything. But I can’t reach her from the basement. Hey, you should help me sneak out to get there one day!” Dustin said and Steve shook his head with a smile.
“Maybe,” He said and Dustin laughed joyously.
After about half an hour, they finally got to the trailer park.
Dustin’s mouth dropped when the saw the chasm growing beyond Eddie’s Trailer and off in the direction towards where the nerd had died just a woods away.
“Woah, what the fuck?” Dustin mumbled and Steve’s brows furrowed.
“This grew,” He stated and Dustin scoffed.
“Understatement of the year, this is way worse than when it happened.” Dustin mumbled. “Okay, what’s the plan to get to the Upside Down?”
Steve looks down at the chasm then over at the trailer.
“I don’t know,” Steve mumbled. “We’ll have to hope the gate is still there from Chrissy, but uh, if it’s not that may be it, dude.”
“Oh come on, we can’t give up that easily!” Dustin whined and Steve shook his head.
“We don’t have the time to mess around, I promised Hopper we’d be back by 10,” Steve mumbled, looking down over the chasm outside the trailer.
“Oh come on, we have a curfew?” Dustin whined and Steve nodded.
“Yes and if we break it, neither of us get to go outside ever again, which means I can’t get you new videos games so let’s stop fucking around here,” Steve said and Dustin groaned but walked up to the trailer, walking inside carefully since there was in fact a giant chasm through it.
“Aha! Still there!” Dustin shouted, looking up into the gate on the ceiling which was huge now.
“Okay, now what’s your plan to get up there?” Steve asked and Dustin looked around, finding no sort of rope or anything to get up there.
“Put me up on your shoulders,” Dustin said.
“Okay genius, then how do I get through?” Steve said and Dustin groaned.
“Uhhh,” He looked around some more, eyes landing on the couch.
“Come on, we can move this up, use it like a ladder? Help me,” Dustin said and began pushing the couch.
“Help you how?” Steve asked.
“Push that end! Damn, you really do need to be told everything,” Dustin mumbled and Steve glares at him.
“I can drag your ass right back to Wheeler’s.” Steve threatens but proceeds to do as instructed and Dustin glares at him.
“You wouldn’t dare, you want to find Eddie as badly as I do.” Dustin said and shook his head. “Though I don’t really know why, you knew the guy for like three days.”
Steve groaned as he began to push the couch vertically up on the wall.
“Trust me Henderson, I don’t know either.” Steve mumbled. And he really didn’t but ever since Dustin came back, face dejected and distraught, telling them all that Eddie hadn’t made it, he felt his heart drop, like something was being torn from him. He hadn't ever really been close to Eddie, hell the only real interaction he's had with him lately was Eddie taking off his vest and throwing it at him.
But Steve knew Dustin cared about the guy, and for some reason, Steve did too, so yeah, he hoped that somehow they'd find Eddie, alive and safe, even if that possibility was very slim.
The couch was set up and Steve pushed against it a little to make sure it was sturdy and then helped Dustin climb up before following after, back hitting the trailer ground hard flat on his back and he coughed out.
“Jesus fuck,” Steve groaned in pain as Dustin pulled him to his feet. “Why didn’t you move the mattress back?”
Dustin grinned cheekily. “If I had to deal with it, so did you. Be glad you didn't break anything. Now come on!”
Dustin ran out of the trailer and Steve quickly followed, worried there’d be tons of monsters crawling around, waiting for them to come out to attack.
There were a few, but enough that they could fight them off quickly and flee the scene before anymore were summoned to their location.
“So where do you even think he’d be?” Steve asked, following as Dustin began to trek into the woods.
“Not sure, but he couldn’t have gone too far, right?” Dustin said and Steve groaned.
“It’s been two months, almost three, he could literally be anywhere.” Steve groaned but followed after.
Back at the house, Lucas was just rising, blinking around the room and immediately noticing Steve and Dustin were missing. He looked around the room, doing a headcount on everyone else.
Joyce, Hopper and Murray were gone, but Lucas could hear them talking upstairs.
Argyle was sat in the corner, meditating, Lucas thinks, he’s not entirely sure. It’s been two months and Lucas still isn’t really sure what Argyle’s deal is, but he was a funny and chill guy, so Lucas didn't mind his presence one bit. He was just.... odd in ways Lucas didn't fully understand.
Mike was curled up into Will’s side, a hand wrapped firmly around Will’s upper bicep (which was like four times the size it was when he left Hawkins, Lucas had noted). They were still knocked the hell out, so were all the girls.
Jonathan was awake, an arm around Nancy as he held her with the most care and love in the world and Lucas smiled gently at that, immediately turning back to where Max was laying.
Max was passed out, snoring with no care in the world and drooling a little. Her hair was a mess, never taken out from her braids but the braids themselves were falling apart. She wore Ted Wheeler's work shirt and it was four times her size, her arms were sprawled out and her legs were gently raised on top of a pile of pillows. Max looked like a right mess but Lucas only felt love in his heart as he looked at her.
He slowly got up, carefully manoeuvring his way through the sleeping bodies and going up the stairs, queitly and slowly to find out where Steve and Dustin had gone.
“I can’t believe you let them out! After all your arguing and complaining!” Joyce was whisper yelling at Hopper.
“The kid would've snuck out on his own, we both know that and it was either I approve it, or we lose a kid.” Hopper said and Joyce sighed deeply.
“Dustin is strong, we wouldn't have lost him. But you're just- You're such a hypocrite sometimes!" Joyce informed and Hopper scoffed.
"You know she's right though, you're the biggest hypocrite known to man." Murray said and Joyce and Hopper turned to him.
"Shut it!" They said in unison ad Murray gave them a soft glare but contently drank whatever the hell was in his mug. Joyce turned back to Hopper, pointing at him.
“So you can trust them to go to the Upside Down by themselves but not enough to be let in on our plans?” Joyce asked and Lucas entered the room then, their conversation cutting off the moment he steps foot into the room.
“Where are Steve and Dustin?” Lucas asked, even though he heard enough of their conversation to figure it out himself.
“They’re… out, honey. Murray’s making pancakes, is that good with you?” Joyce asked and Lucas nodded.
“Yeah, but he’ll have to take it up with El.” Lucas joked and she smiled before patting his head gently.
“It is literally the same exact ingredients!” Murray argued, having already having to deal with Eleven’s “waffles are better than pancakes” argument a dozen times.
“Same ingredients, but cooked differently,” Lucas said and smiled. “Just give in one day and get a waffle maker or some shit for her. She deserves it you know.”
“I’m not saying she doesn’t, but it’s literally impossible to just conveniently find a waffle maker when we’re out, you know.” Murray said and Lucas laughed.
“I’m not the one you need to say that too.”
The door opens and a few footsteps enter the room, the sound of something clanging up the stairs and thudding.
Lucas turns and grins.
“Speak of the devil,” he says as he sees Eleven and Max. Eleven is using her powers to help steady Max’s wheelchair up the stairs and her nose is bleeding but she’s focused as she sets the chair down.
“We should really get a ramp. Or a slide,” Max suggested as she wheels over to them, stopping a few feet too far from them. “Or you know those thing where it’s like those old people carts?”
“If we could, we would get all of those for you,” Joyce said and Max smiled in her general direction.
“Or we build you super cool robot legs.” Lucas suggested and Max brightened when she pinned Lucas’ location, wheeling over to him and reaching her hand out. He grabbed it quickly and smiled at her, and he knows she can't see it, but part of him hoped she could feel that he's smiling at her. That he only ever smiles at her. “You become part robot, that’d be cool.”
“That’d be sick ,” Max corrected with a wide smile. “For now though I’ll take air surfing with El’s powers.”
“Are these pancakes?” Eleven asked and Lucas looks over to see her frowning deeply.
Murray and her begin a long argument about pancakes versus waffles, again , and Max turns around, trying to listen.
“Where are Dustin and Steve?” she asked and Lucas and Hopper look at each other.
“LOOK AT THIS!” Dustin shouted at Steve, pointing at a giant cove in between a brush of trees.
"What did I say about yelling?" Steve sighed as he walked over to where Dustin was. Whatever the hell he found was most likely nothing, just like the past five "look at this"s have been. "You're gonna attract every Hell creature over here and then we're gonna die and then Hopper is gonna kill us. You need to be more quiet when-"
Steve paused in his scolding as he came up to stand next to Dustin, looking down at his findings.
There’s a mess of blankets and food, a dead squirrel rotting to the side, chip wrappers crinkled up. A pillow is slightly torn up and bloody, but fluffed up regardless. There’s a few fraying shirts around the mess and Steve leaned down and picked one up, looking at Dustin with wide eyes.
“It’s Ozzy,” Steve said and Dustin began bouncing gleefully, wincing for a moment but he couldn't contain his joy.
“It’s Eddie! Steve, he survived! He survived!” Dustin shouted and Steve actually can’t believe it because how the hell did Eddie survive getting attacked by all those demobats?
There was no way, Steve had barely survived an attack from five, there was no way Eddie survived fifty.
Especially not out here in the Upside Down with no proper medical care.
But what the hell was all this stuff?
Steve leaned down and he rested his hand down to balance a little bit as he looks around.
“This is definitely lived in. Don’t get too excited though, this could be from a while ago. Or someone else. Or a trap.” Steve said and Dustin rolled his eyes.
“God, don’t be such a downer, let’s keep looking!” Dustin proceeds to then run off into the woods more and Steve paniced, chasing right after him.
“Henderson! Calm down!” Steve shouts out.
“Oh come on!” Dustin shouts. “Eddie! Oh Eddie! Are ya out here? Pspspsps, Eddie Eddie Eddie!”
“Be quiet!” Steve yells at him, finally catching up. “Jesus it’s like you want us to get attacked.”
“Oh come on, you can take anything here one on one.” Dustin said. “I mean, you’re One to Two on winning and losing a fight. Of course it’s two you lost, but that Russian guy was more recently.”
“I can win a one on one fight,” Steve insisted. “But with these things? They’ll summon one of their buddies if they think they’re in trouble and I’d also really rather not fight anything more today.”
“Live a little Stevie.” Dustin said. “If you aren’t living by dating Robin, aka literally the most perfect girl ever and she actually tolerates you? Then live by fighting.”
“I already told you, me and Robin are never gonna happen and I’m fine with that,” Steve said and he’s ready to go on an entire rant about how Dustin shouldn’t pry into his personal life anyway, despite how privacy no longer really exists for the group when a low chittering sound interrupts him.
Dustin and Steve both freeze immediately, Steve turning to point his flashlight over to where the sound is and a demodog jumps out from behind a tree.
“Shit!” Dustin shouted as Steve fumbles with his gun and flashlight, shooting the monster a few times in the face until it whines and dropped dead.
Steve is breathing heavily and so is Dustin as he puts a hand to his chest.
“Holy shit!” Dustin mumbled and Steve nodded, standing upright.
“Is that two to two now?” Steve asked and Dustin rolled his eyes.
“I don’t think shooting something in the face counts as fighting.” Dustin argued, crossing his arms and Steve rolled his eyes.
“Oh? Well okay Mr. Fight Expert.” Steve said, hand on his hips. “Pray tell, what does count as-”
Steve is cut off by 160 pounds of something tackling him to the ground, flashlight and gun flying out of his hands as he hits the ground and Dustin screams out.
Steve gasped out but a large clawed monstrous hand wraps itself around his throat and squeezes, the other claw pushing his shoulder down against the ground.
Steve used one hand to grab at the creatures claw around his throat, trying to get it off of him, the other tried to grab for his gun but it’s just out of reach.
Steve turned to focus on the monster attacking him, trying to figure out if it’s a demodog, a demogorgon, or a new thing that they'll have to worry about.
When he comes face to face with a ridiculous amount of hair, he decides it’s a new thing, which panics him because does this mean fire or a gun will work better? With the gorgons, fire was always the better bet, and with dogs, guns were more convenient. Something new left him clueless.
His vision began to go spotty as the creature pushed against his throat more and his heart is racing in panic.
Dustin began attacking the creature, banging his flashlight against its head and the creature turned and hissed at Dustin. Steve panicked at that and the sudden attention caused Dustin to freeze completely and Steve took the monster’s moment of distraction to attack it, twisting and wrapping his legs around the midsection of the monster, giant wings bigger than any demobat they’ve ever seen fluttering out behind the monster, Steve’s arm reaching out far enough to grab his gun as he pushed the monster down into the ground, pressing the gun to the monsters’ head.
Steve just puts his finger on the trigger when he goes completely still, eyes wide. His heart almost stopped in his chest as the monster flails underneath him, trying to break free.
“Kill it, Steve!” Dustin shouted and Steve looked over at him.
“Dustin, ” Steve said, breathless and the creature pushed Steve back, but doesn’t attack, just hissed and screeched as it backed up against a tree in front of them, monstrous arms wrapping around itself.
The creature was frightened, scared. It was as if a switch had been flipped and it's attack mode had washed away. Now it was just shaking, it's head ducked as it's wings tried to wrap around it.
Dustin turned to look at it at Steve's breathless word and his eyes went so wide they practically fell out of his head.
“ Eddie ?”