𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬‚ 𝘦𝘥𝘥𝘪𝘦 𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘴𝘰𝘯

twenty-five

( season four: episode nine: the piggyback )

"IM GOING TO FALL, AND DIE. HURRY UP."

Nell rolls her eyes, heaving the amp up onto the top of Eddie's trailer. She looks down at Dustin, still perched on the ladder. "So dramatic. It's not that heavy," she lies, struggling to drag it across the roof.

Dustin scoffs. "Right, okay." Nell looks at the cords in her hands, as Eddie lifts the guitar strap over his head. She turns to him as Dustin climbs up onto the roof beside her. "What are you going to play?"

He grins. "You'll see."

Nell crawls over to the pile of cords next to the amp, plugging them together. She cranks up the volume, eliciting a screech from the speaker. She winces, and gives Eddie the thumbs up.

"Okay! Now or never."

Eddie nods, snapping the guitar pick off the chain around his neck. He takes a breath, looking to Nell before he starts. She nods, giving him a reassuring smile. Dustin groans, and she whacks him.

Eddie strums the first chord, and it echoes through the speakers. Both Nell and Dustin back away a little, as Eddie's strumming bleeds into a fast-paced riff. Dustin bobs his head, as Nell grins.

She recognizes Metallica's Master of Puppets, which has been on repeat at Indiana Records since it came out. Nell wonders how he's already managed to learn it to this extent, it's only been out for barely two weeks.

She takes the binoculars, peering into the distance. No bats yet. Eddie looks over at her and she gives him a thumbs up. Nell smiles. Dustin's clearly having a good time, and Eddie's playing his heart out.

The Hendersons cheer as Eddie launches into riff after riff, never slipping up once. A screech in the distance breaks the noise, and Dustin whips around with the binoculars.

"Eddie!" He yells. "Lockdown in T-minus 30 seconds!" Nell starts counting, as the swarm of bats fades into eyesight. "Twenty seconds!"

Eddie's hands fly up and down the neck of the guitar, as numbers tick by inside her head. Note after note fills the air. "Ten seconds!"

She's starting to get anxious as the swarm nears, looking much bigger than it had from a distance. "Okay, five seconds." More counting. "Three, two, one!" Nell yanks the cord from the amp, the last note resonating as the screeches echo overhead.

"Go! Now!"

Eddie's guitar solo closes to a stop, and the three of them waste no time jumping down off of the trailer and over the piles of unused sheet metal. Dustin is ahead of Nell and Eddie, screaming for them to hurry.

Eddie pushes Nell through the opening in the fenced off porch, before slamming it shut behind him. A bat clings to the gate, as Nell looks at the guys. "Stop standing around! Inside the trailer!" She shakes her head, pushing them in and slamming the door. "Common sense. Common sense."

As they take a breath, Dustin breaks out into a grin. "Guys... most... metal... ever!" Eddie lets out a yell and Nell laughs as they pull her into their celebration. They've done their job, she thinks. The hardest part is over.

You're okay now.

Eddie pulls her into a quick kiss, and Dustin gags. Nell can't stop smiling as she rolls her eyes. "Okay, "Dusty-Bun". Keep gagging and watch me bring up Never-Ending Story."

Dustin closes his mouth, starting over. "What, so are you guys like, dating now?" Eddie wiggles his eyebrows at Nell, who just shrugs, still grinning.

"Fuck if I know."

Eddie laughs, throwing his arm over her shoulder. "What the lady said." Dustin rolls his eyes. "God, I don't understand you people." The moment is interrupted by a banging on the roof.

Eddie points, looking at the two. "Should we... be worried about that?" Nell furrows her brows as the metal bends under the weight of what's presumably the bats. "I don't think so."

She knows they've got the place boarded up tight... don't they?

Nell's heart sinks down into her stomach. "Guys? We shut off all the openings, right?" Dustin nods, beginning to back away. "We got them all." She looks up at the ceiling. "Even the vents?"

As she speaks, the vent bursts open, a sharp-toothed bat struggling to wriggle its head and body inside. Eddie charges at it, snatching up the spear and piercing its face.

Nell grabs the rifle off the ground, holding it up defensively. "The shield," Eddie yells to Dustin. "Hand me the shield!" Dustin throws it at him in a panic, and Eddie catches it, narrowly avoiding the nails.

"Shit, man. Work on your aim." Eddie slams the thing up against the vent. One final screech, and the bat falls away. Nell looks wildly around the trailer. "Are there any others?"

Eddie gives her a confused look. "Other whats?" She groans. "Vents?" His face pales and his eyes go wide. "Shit." He whips around to look at the bedroom door. Nell hears the screeching of the bats, and starts towards the bedroom door, slamming it shut.

"Go! The gate, now!"

The wood splinters, as the creatures storm the bedroom. Eddie shoves Nell and Dustin ahead of him, facing the door with his spear. Nell gives her brother a leg up, propelling him forward. He lands squarely on the mattress, as she turns to look at Eddie.

He nods. "Go. I'm right behind you." She nods back, pulling herself up the rope and through the gate as Dustin rolls out of the way. Nell quickly checks her brother. "Are you okay?" He nods, and she looks up.

"Eddie!"

She can hear the wood of the door splinter as Eddie grabs the rope. "Come on!" Dustin screams. Nell looks at him, the way he pauses. "Eddie, let's go!" Something's wrong.

Eddie stares up at her, and then back at the door. Back to Nell. In this light he can see her so well, enough to count the freckles scattered across her face. He lets go of the rope, looking back at the door.

It's in this moment that Eddie Munson decides he is truly and wholly tired of running. No more resolutions, or promises to himself that go unkept. He can still buy more time.

The more time the others have to kill Vecna, the greater the chance that Nell can be freed from the curse. Eddie hears her calling his name, hears Dustin screaming, as he takes the spear and swings for the rope.

It lands in a heap of fabric in Nell's hands, and she can't move, staring at the bundle of white that was supposed to be their lifeline out of the upside down.

She feels her heart plummet to the very bottom of her chest as she looks up at him. "What are you doing?" Eddie looks back at her, determined smile never wavering. "I'm buying more time." He snatches the spear and the makeshift shield from the ground, and with one last glance, darts out the door.

It feels like there's no more oxygen left in the world. Nell can't get a hold of her thoughts.

I thought we were supposed to stick to the plan.

What was he thinking?

He's going to get killed out there.

Go after him.

One stands out above all others. And so she follows.

note:

now i write the ending
oh boy