WILDFIRE ↝ E. MUNSON

[20]

"Hey there," Nancy said, out of breath, and Eddie picked up the other oar as Nancy swung hers again, getting rid of the other bat at Steve's side.

Robin lurched forward, pinning the third creature down with her boot as Nancy swung the oar again, attempting to sever its tail in two, but she was unsuccessful.

"Hold it, Robin!" Nancy exclaimed, attempting to hit it again.

"I got it," Robin confirmed.

"Kill it!" Eddie shouted. "Kill it!"

The sound of screeching grew louder around them as Lily looked up to see another bat descending on them, though she couldn't yet tell where they were coming from. She lunged behind Eddie as he swung at it, hitting it and knocking it away while Nancy and Robin continued to attempt freeing Steve from the bat pinning him down. They watched as the bat now flew towards Nancy, whose back was to the creature.

"Nancy, behind you!" Eddie shouted. "Watch out!"

Nancy screamed as the bat landed on her back, sinking its claws into her sweater, but Robin was quick on her feet as she grabbed the tail, attempting to pull it off of her.

"It's not working!" Robin exclaimed, but Sarah was hot on her heels, and together, the two began to work at prying the bat off of Nancy while Debbie and Nick moved to help Steve.

"Lily!" Eddie shouted as he swung the oar back again, and she ducked as he hit a bat hovering near where she had previously stood, though as the creature went flying back from the impact, the oar split in two. "God damn it, shit!" he exclaimed.

Lily watched in horror as a bat descended on Nick, digging its claws into her back not unlike the one still clinging to Nancy, and as the younger of the Munson siblings began to scream, letting go of Steve in the process, Lily dove for the discarded end of the broken oar, seizing it and rushing towards Nick.

"Nick!" Lily exclaimed, bringing the shattered edge of the oar up to the creature and driving it into its back.

The bat began to screech, black blood dripping where the oar now lay protruding from its body, and it let go of Nick as Lily drove the oar down to the ground, cutting the creature off mid-screech as it connected with the pavement, still stuck under the sharp wooden rod. The two girls looked back up at each other as Nick took a shuddering breath, nodding at Lily.

"Thanks for that," she said, and Lily nodded back in return.

"N-no problem," she stammered nervously.

Still pinned on the ground with Debbie attempting to pry off the other bat, Steve leaned forward, sinking his teeth into the creature's tail as it began to screech, loosening its hold enough for him to jump to his feet and pull the creature off. Robin and Sarah managed to get the bat off of Nancy, throwing it to the ground as she drove the edge of the oar through its skull. Eddie was now up against another bat, driving it to the ground with his broken end of the oar, and Steve held down his own bat with one foot, using the rest of his strength to rip the creature in half before spitting the leftover black blood from his mouth, where it stained his teeth.

"Steve," Nick breathed, approaching the boy as she began to inspect his injuries.

"Oh Christ," Eddie sighed in frustration as the other bats retreated, the sounds of their screeching fading off into the distance. "Jesus H. Christ!" he screamed, throwing the broken piece of oar onto the ground.

"Are you okay?" Nick asked Steve, who was cupping one of his sides with one hand, and he pulled it away, seeing it slick with blood.

"Well, they took about a pound of flesh." Steve said. "But other than that, yeah, never better."