You Lie All The Time [S.Harrington]

chapter twenty

The sun had fully set by the time Susie, Steve, Robin, Nancy, Eddie, and Dustin arrived at the trailer park. They prepared their weapons in the RV and discussed their plan.

"Okay. I wanna run through it one more time." Nancy began. "Phase one."

"We meet Erica at the playground." Robin recited. "She'll signal Max and Lucas when we're ready."

Nancy nodded. "Phase two."

"Max baits Vecna." Steve said. "He'll go after her, which'll put him in his trance."

"Phase three?" Nancy raised her eyebrows.

"Me and Eddie draw the bats away." Dustin spoke. Eddie smiled, setting his hand on top of Dustin's head.

"Four." Nancy continued.

"We head into Vecna's hopefully newly bat-free lair, and..." Susie maintained. 

"...Flambé." Robin finished Susie's sentence, shaking the bottle of lighter fluid in her hand.

"Nobody moves on to the next phase until we've all copied." Nancy said sternly. "Nobody deviates from the plan, no matter what. Got it?"

"Got it." Everyone confirmed. They took their weapons and headed out. They went into Eddie's trailer and stared up at the gate. The blanket still hung from it.

"Be careful." Dustin looked at Steve. 

"Thanks, buddy." Steve patted Dustin's back, then started climbing the blanket. "Here goes nothing." He peeked in through the gate, then flipped over. Once he landed, he looked up at the others. 

"Whoa...what does he want us to do, applaud?" Robin muttered sarcastically.

"Come on, Robin. It's Steve." Susie rolled her eyes. "Of course he wants us to applaud." Susie started climbing. As she did, Steve set down a mattress beneath the gate for her to land on.

"Alright, Steve, just because you think you have special ninja skills, doesn't mean you're the only one who can stick the landing." Susie spoke in a strained voice as she climbed. She tried to flip over like Steve, but ended up falling on the mattress.

Steve stared down at her with a slight smirk. "You were saying?" He held out his hand to her.

"I can help myself up." Susie rolled her eyes. Still, she let Steve pull her up. Once he did, the two stood very close to one another. Steve stared at her for a moment, then looked down at her lips.

"Calm down, Steve. We're about to save the world. Control your hormones." Susie shoved past him, allowing Nancy to throw down some weapons through the gate.

Nancy and Robin fell down next, followed by Eddie and Dustin. They threw the weapons down after each person fell. Once everyone was ready, they made their way out of the trailer and into the dark and ominous Upside Down. There was growling and thunder heard in the distance.

"Hey, guys, listen." Steve turned around to face Dustin and Eddie. "If things here start to go south, I mean, at all, you abort." He ordered. "Okay? Draw the attention of the bats. Keep 'em busy for a minute or two. We'll take care of Vecna." Assured Steve. Dustin nodded.

"Don't try to be cute or be a hero or something." Added Steve. "Okay? You guys are just--"

"Decoys." Steve and Dustin said at the same time. Steve nodded.

"Don't worry. You can be the hero, Steve." Dustin stated. 

"Absolutely. I mean, look at us." Eddie agreed, looking at Dustin. "We are not heroes."

Steve sighed, nodding again. He turned back around and continued walking, leaving Dustin and Eddie behind. 

"Hey, Steve?" Eddie called out. Steve turned back around.