WILDFIRE ↝ E. MUNSON

[9]

Lily wasn't sure when she finally managed to drift off into a restless sleep on her pile of lifejackets and a canoe, but it was only after her eyes shot open that she registered the sound of car doors shutting from up the hill at the house. She looked over to see Eddie already on his feet as he jumped out of his boat, the broken beer bottle clenched tightly in his fist as he rushed over to peer out of the window.

"Shit," Eddie muttered as Lily quickly climbed out of her boat, reaching to pick up the oar Steve had dropped after being threatened by Eddie the night before.

"Who is it?" Lily whispered, stepping hesitantly towards the door, oar held tightly in her hands. If it wasn't a friendly face, she only hoped she could buy Eddie enough time to escape.

"I can't see," Eddie whispered, shaking his head. "Shit."

The door burst open with a loud crash, Lily and Eddie both brandishing their weapons and preparing for the worst as sunlight streamed in through the boathouse, accompanied by a group of more than welcome faces. Dustin was at the head of the group, followed by Nick, Debbie, Steve, Robin, and Max, the former carrying two bags of groceries for the stowaways.

"Delivery service," Dustin greeted with a proud smile, and Lily sighed in disbelief, tossing the oar back onto her canoe.

"What the hell is wrong with you people?" Lily asked, bringing a hand up to her face. "Does nobody know how to knock anymore?"

"Well fine, we'll just take our goodies and leave." Dustin said, but Lily reached forward, snatching one of the grocery bags out of his hands.

Inside the bag, she found two boxes of cereal, along with a few bottles of Yoohoo. As Eddie stepped closer to the group, she handed him one of the boxes and a bottle, which he accepted before taking a seat back in his boat. She grabbed the other box, setting the bag with the leftover bottles on the ground as she took a seat on one of the foot stools.

"How'd you sleep?" Debbie asked, taking a seat next to her, and Lily laughed humorlessly.

"How do you think?" she asked sarcastically, opening up her own bottle of Yoohoo and taking a sip of the sweet beverage before opening the box of Honeycomb cereal, Eddie's already torn open as he began to shovel fistfuls into his mouth.

"So we got, uh, some good news and some bad news." Dustin began, taking a seat on the stool next to the boat. "How do you prefer it?"

"Bad news first," Eddie said around a mouthful of cereal, attempting to wash it down with a drink of his beverage. "Always."

"All right," Dustin said, "Bad news: We tapped into the Hawkins PD dispatch with our Cerebro, and they're definitely looking for you." At his words, Eddie's face fell, his eyes lowering to the ground. "Also they're, uh, pretty convinced you killed Chrissy."

"Like, a hundred percent kind of convinced." Max added, causing Lily to shake her head at their words.

"And the good news?" Eddie asked finally.

"Your name hasn't gone public yet." Robin explained. "But if we found out about you, it's only a matter of time before others do too, and once that gets out, everyone and their shallow-minded mother is gonna be gunning for you."

Eddie's body tensed as the color drained from his face. "Hunt the freak, right?" he spat, his eyes moving back up to Robin.

"Exactly," she said.

"Shit," Eddie murmured.

"So, before that happens, we need to find Vecna, kill him, and prove your innocence." Dustin assured him, trying to lighten the mood.