eddie and i were on the run.
the police had found my car there and were looking for me once again.
they had officially put eddie's name out, along with mine.
so i was pretty much fucked.
eddie's walkie had been drenched when he fell into the boat so he had stolen one from a construction site nearby and i had tuned it to the same frequency as the original.
"eddie holy shit, are you ok?" the radio creaked.
"nah man, pretty far from ok right now." he sighed.
"where are you? and where's winnie? the police have her as a missing person." dustin questioned.
"fuck, fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck!" i cursed at myself.
i shouldn't have abandoned my car.
i shouldn't have swam after eddie.
but i couldn't lose him again.
i couldn't.
"calm down, we're at skull rock, steve should know where that is." he said, rolling his eyes.
"yeah it's near cornwallis and garrett. we'll be there soon!" steve yelled.
"we'll be there soon, i promise. hold tight." dustin added, the sound of a car door closing in the background following.
"wait, dustin!" i yelled, snatching up the walkie from eddie.
"what's up winnie?"
"where's my car?" i asked.
"uhh, i don't know. i think the police have it."
"shit, shit shit shit the police can't have my car." i panicked.
"why? what's in your car that's so bad?"
"like...a lot of drugs." i inhaled sharply, wishing this was all a dream.
"jesus christ winnie- hang on. steve can you see- what's your car's name again?" he asked.
"baby, she's a black, '67 impala."
"can any of you guys see baby?" he asked.
it went quiet.
"robin found it earlier, it's behind the boatshed."
"the police haven't touched it then. steve i need a favour so huge right now."
"i got it, i'll take baby back to my place and then we'll come up to skull rock."
"no, steve take her home, please. if anything happens to me out here my car needs to be with my family."
"jesus christ you're dramatic, i'll take her home, we'll be at skull in about an hour."
"bye." i turned our radio off.
"you have good taste in cars." eddie looked up at me from his squat on the ground.
about an hour later we heard leaves crunching and we scrambled up a tree to hide.
"you just can't admit that you're wrong you little butthead." steve smirked at dustin from below.
eddie nodded to himself then jumped down.
"i concur. you, dustin henderson, are a total butthead." he smirked, watching dustin force him into a hug.
"wait where's winnie?" steve asked.
"stuck on a branch." i yelled.
the oversized shirt eddie had stolen from a construction site had gotten caught and i was in fact, stuck.
"just jump, it'll pull off the branch." steve called.
"if i jump, i will be shirtless. i know you'd love to see that but nancy and dustin would not."
"i'm coming." dustin began to climb toward me.
"what happened?" steve asked.
and eddie began to retell the story of last night.
"winnie, your turn."
by the time i got there, it was dark. no lights except empty cars.
i could hear faint splashing and assumed the worst.
i got out of my car, grabbed my bat and ran for the lake, mud coating my shoes.
"fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck." i cursed to myself as i saw jason and his friends swimming after eddie in the lake.
"eddie!" i yelled, trying to get his attention.
"go after her!" jason yelled back.
i ran to the boatshed, looking for anything that would still float.
i sighed and started to undress.
this was my only option.
i ripped my jacket off, then my shoes,then my shirt, then my jeans.
i stood there in the freezing cold wind, barely covered by my undergarments before i turned around to face the lake.
"one...two...three." i counted to myself, running and jumping into the water before swimming after eddie.
i had taken swimming lessons my whole childhood and i loved the beach.
i used to visit billy a lot too before starcourt happened.
my body tensed as the splashing got closer.
"come here freak!" a familiar deep voice yelled after me.
"get away!" i screamed, swimming as fast as i could.
"eddie!" i called, getting closer to him and jason.
"winnie stay back!" he yelled to me.
"no way!" i called, gaining on jason and patrick.
suddenly patrick stopped.
i couldn't hear jason and him talking so i just kept swimming, diving under the water to gain speed.
i heard someone scream while i was under.
my head snapped to the side as my eyes opened and i saw patrick being pulled under before he shot up to the sky.
i reached the boat and grabbed the side, watching in horror as patrick's bones began to snap like cheap chopsticks, his jaw snapping out of place and his eyes sucking into his face.
i gotta admit, i nearly puked.
eddie fell backwards into the water and i dove under to help him to shore.
"and then i heard a clock."
"you heard the clock again? how soon after patrick?" max asked.
"i don't know, like immediately."
"i heard it too. he's taunting his future victims." she nodded.
"but why me? i've been hearing this thing nearly a week and nothing has happened yet."
"that we don't know. maybe you're special in some way." nancy piped up.
"boom!" dustin yelled.
"bada..bada..boom! i was right. skull rock was north!"
"this is literally skull rock."
"yes...and no. this compass was right at the wheelers, right when we got in the car on curly, and it started slipping the further east we went. and now, it's way off."
"i wasn't wrong, the compass was wrong!"
"you are still wrong." steve and i said.
"what affects a compass."
"magnets?" i asked.
"mhm, and there's no super big magnet around here so therefore..." dustin continued.
"there's a gate." i said after a moment of realisation.
"but we aren't near the lab, so there'd have to be a smaller gate somewhere near here!"
"wasn't your compass messed up near eddie's place?" steve asked.
"and if it's messed up here too..." robin started.
"vecna's leaving gates at his victims graves." i snapped my fingers.
"exactly!" dustin smiled, walking off.
"hey, hey hey! these two are still wanted, we can't just go for a hike in the woods!" steve protested.
"this could save eddie, and winnie, and max...what say you, eddie the banished?" he asked.
"i say...you're asking me to follow you into mordor, which i think is a really bad idea. but the shire...the shire is burning."
"so mordor it is." he finished.