No Surrender | Eddie Munson

Chapter Forty-Nine: Our Place

CHAPTER FORTY-NINE: OUR PLACE

SOMEWHERE ONLY WE KNOW — KEANE

I came across a fallen tree
I felt the branches of it looking at me
Is this the place we used to love?
Is this the place that I've been dreaming of?

——————

The dull ache in my head is gradually starting to fade. Grimacing, I rub my nose again and let my head fall against Lucas' shoulder.

"Are you gonna be sick?"

I meet Nancy's expectant stare in the rear view mirror and frown. "It's not that bad."

"You sure?" Robin pipes up. "'Cause you look like you're having an aneurysm. Like, present tense, 'having'."

"Thanks. Didn't realise it looks better than it feels."

She responds with a saccharine smile. "Look, can I stay in the car? 'Cause this is gonna totally and royally suck."

Her new friend shrugs. "It'll be fine."

"I can't stand to see those dull eyes of Eddie's break again. I really, really can't. No offense, Beth."

"Why's that a 'no offence'?"

From the very back of the car, Steve waves the six-pack, narrowly missing my face. "At least he can drink himself into feeling better."

"That's what my mom does," Max mutters.

I wince. Then, turning back to Steve and Dustin with a scowl, I snatch away the tube of Pringles that they stole from Eddie's groceries. Second thoughts soon come and I reach for the rest of the bag.

A moment passes. Quickly sick of the silence, Robin suggests, "Why don't we give it a trial? What are you gonna say, Beth?"

I scoff, "Why is this on me? I was literally bleeding a couple hours ago!"

"Yeah, but you do that a lot. And he's less likely to lose his shit if it's you. Just bat your eyelashes and flaunt that jacket, you know? Like, uh... 'Hey, Eddie—'" she starts in an airy, sultry tone, eyelids fluttering in what looks more like intense pain than flirtation.

My joints ache in complaint as I lean forwards to fix her with a glare. "Okay, I don't sound like that."

"Like what?" she innocently asks.

"Like, that. All... Marilyn."

Blowing out air with a dismissive wave of her hand, she says, "Yeah, sure. Should hear yourself when you talk to him. Can I please finish without another interruption?"

I begrudgingly nod.

"Thank you! So, like I said, just bat those eyelashes, like, 'Hey, Eddie. Uh, good news first this time! We got you some Dustin-approved junk food and that six-pack you requested, and a weird amount of trail mix and herbal tea. Oh, yeah, and we found Vecna. Only, the bad news is that he's in that other, darker, much scarier dimension that we told you about and the Gate's closed so we have no way of getting to him, like, he's entirely shut off to us, so basically you're screwed. And, no, I know you were already screwed but now you're, like, doubly, triply screwed!'"

Lucas frowns. "Wait. Maybe we don't put it like that."

"'We're one step closer to finding Vecna,'" Nancy decides with an exasperated sigh. "That's what we say. That's what's important."

Steve nods enthusiastically and waves another Pringle in our direction. "See, Robin? Positive spin can make all the difference."

She doesn't get a chance to respond before we hear Nancy curse under her breath. Reefer Rick's house is swarmed with police and unfamiliar cars. Over the small crowd, I can just about see the fluff of a boom mic. The local news crew is already here.