Texts have been sent, plans have been made, and Bill, Eddie, Stanley, and Mike are all piling into Richie's car. "I'm not so sure about this adventure Richie has for us," Stanley says as he buckles up.
"How come?" Eddie asks, looking back at his friends through the rear view mirror.
"I think we will have a great time," Mike interjects.
Stanley moves his eyes from Eddie to Mike. "No," he says, "All I'm saying is last time we went somewhere Richie and Bill almost died. I'm not saying that's Richie's fault, I just don't want something like that to happen again."
Eddie looks at Richie, then drops his gaze. "I hear you," Eddie says.
"Stan The Man, I can promise you that this place is nothing like the quarry. I go there a lot."
"A-Are we going to Chucky Ch-Ch..Cheese?" Bill asks, an elbow nudging Stanley in the side as he leans forward.
"No, but that would be an adventure," Richie laughs.
He backs out of his driveway and drives down the street, also drowning out the light conversation between his friends so he can concentrate. Maggie never trusted his ADHD being mixed with friends in a car, but with a few pointers from Beverly he's got it under control. Sometimes he does get distracted, especially if Beverly is deep in a story or the music is too loud, but at least he's never crashed, right?
He gets through main roads and pulls off to the side and onto a dirt clearing. Mike peers out the window at the steep hills and thin tips of dead trees, then turns to Richie asking, "It's a bit cold to go hiking, don't you think?"
Richie parks and turns off the car, also peering up out the window. "Good thing we aren't going hiking then, huh?" Mike and Eddie watches as Richie unbuckles and gets out the car, soon following his actions themselves.
Richie locks up and turns to his friends, a contempt smile on his face. "Ready?" He asks and receives unsure looks. "Oh, it'll be fine." He shrugs and starts the steep climb up the hill. He hears Eddie struggling behind him, his breathing ragged and heavy.
Once he reaches the top, he is quick to turn around and reach out for Eddie, who instinctively grabs onto Richie's open hand.
"Thank you," he breaths out, a hand flattened against his own chest as it rises and falls rapidly.
Richie smiles down at him and pulls him farther from the slope. "Always here, Eddio."
Stanley comes up from behind them, yet keeps his distance. "Is it your asthma?" He asks Eddie. The petite boy looks up at him and shakes his head.
"It might be, but I think I'll be fine."
Stanley nods his head and lingers in his spot for the others to continue walking along the tracks they've climbed up to before walking himself.
"I didn't know Derry's train tracks were so close," Mike says, leading the group down the path. Bill hops on every other three wooden slabs to catch up, his hands pushed into his pant pockets.
Richie feels Stanley lagging behind, most likely on purpose. A tinge of sadness hits him, his mood faltering. He looks over his shoulder and there he is, walking far behind the group with his eyes trained on the ground.
"Hey," Richie whispers to Eddie, who looks up at him with curious eyes. "I'm gonna go talk to Stan. If that's alright."
Confusion falls over Eddie's face and he looks over his shoulder. "Oh," he says softly. "Is something wrong?"
"Not sure, but I'm going to figure it out, alright?" He says. It feels wrong lying to Eddie- it feels wrong lying to any of his friends, really. But it's for a good reason.
Eddie nods and reaches out to grab Richie's hand, giving it a light squeeze before departing from his side and going to Bill and Mike. Richie watches as he leaves, the two up ahead easily welcoming Eddie into their conversation.
Stanley sees Richie waiting for him and his steps slow as he comes up next to him. "Hey," Stanley says slowly.
"Hello," Richie replies, side stepping to motion for Stanley to walk with him. He does, and the two trail behind the three excitedly talking with one another.
"Are you.. okay?" Richie asks, looking at the boy only to squeeze his eyes shut and shake his head. "No, that was a stupid question. I'm sorry."
When Stanley doesn't respond it only hits Richie harder in the guts. The guilt he feels weighs heavy on his chest, he feels it in every breath. Nothing of what to say comes to mind. He doesn't even know if he should say something.
"That's okay. You're.. okay, Richie."
Richie nods curtly, staring straight ahead. He doesn't know if the atmosphere is tense on only his side or
not. Stanley doesn't seem stiff as he's simply walking alongside Richie, as if there's not this messy, horrible situation tearing them apart.
"I just..." Stanley sighs, his head tilting. "I just want him to be happy."
"What do you think that is?" Richie asks.
Once again, Stanley doesn't respond right away. They get a few feet ahead, listening to Bill laugh freely at something Mike is saying, also laughing in between words.
Richie wishes he could be up there with them. He doesn't want to be dealing with this, he doesn't want to deal with anything messy.
"As much as I don't want to admit it, Richie," Stanley says at last, "But it's probably you."
Richie couldn't help but let out a laugh. "I'm not- I can't be... You make him happy, too," he attempts.
Stanley lets out a bitter laugh and brings his hands to his face, rubbing his eyes tirdly. "Shut up, Rich. I don't make him happy in the same way as you and we both know it. You have him, okay? Let's just.. let's just leave it at that."
Richie's eyes dart to him. "Just.. leave it?" He asks, "At that?"
"Yes," Stanley says, nodding. "It kinda... kinda hurts to say, but he likes you. I've known that for a while, but I don't think I wanted to admit it until recently. Pretty stupid, I know."
Richie shakes his head. "No. That's not stupid at all."
Stanley nods slightly and Richie doesn't know if he believes a word he says.
"You know, it's kinda funny- like, at the beginning of everything Bill and I used to make fun of you and Eddie. Just something I teased him about to get under his skin. I never really- never really thought too deep into it.." Stanley breathes in deeply and wipes his hands down on his pants.
"I'm sorry, can we please stop talking about this?" He asks, looking over at Richie. "Please?"
Richie nods, silently thankful that it's over. He takes a second to think of something to say, something to change the topic, but as he's about to speak he sees Bill turn around to face them.
"Guh-G-Guys! T..There's a train on the t-tr..tracks up ahead!"
"It's not moving!" Mike adds quickly, looking from Bill to the two trailing behind. "It's still!"
Richie glances at Stanley, a hesitant smile coming onto his face. He reaches out and taps Stanley on the shoulder, saying "Tag!" before running towards the waiting three.
"I'm not running," Stanley calls out.
Richie's feet stutter to a stop and he turns around, his eyebrows drawing together at the hit of rejection. "And why not?"
"I'm saving the last of my dignity and not running."
Richie hears Eddie snort from over his shoulder before he says, "Stop being such a party pooper, Stan."
Stanley lifts his eyes to the boy, lingering for a moment before falling. "Sucks," he shrugs, speeding his pace to finally catch up to everyone.
They all fall in line with each other, Richie and Eddie on the tracks while the other three are forced to walk alongside them on the ground. Richie's eyes trail down the long line of train carts, most a steel gray color with splashes of graffiti here and there. Others look like actual train carts, boxy and red with sliding doors.
"Let's go check it out," Mike offers, starting to trail off the path.
The others start to slowly follow, all rounding around the last train cart. Richie has heard the train's horn blowing deep within the nighttime, an eerie sound washing over Derry, but this is the first time in years he's actually seen the train.
"Oh, guys, look," Eddie says as he lifts a hand to point ahead. "There's an open space in one of those... um.."
"T-Train carts," Bill finishes.
"Right," says Eddie. "Come on, lets go."
He jogs up ahead and reaches out a hand to ghost over the iron walls of each cart. He briefly pauses at one to admire the graffiti before venturing on. As the others pass by Eddie's path, Mike and Bill also pause to glance over the artwork.
Eddie approaches the open cart and peers inside, lightly placing his hands on the wooden flooring. He looks over at his friends and says, "It's disgusting in here. Hurry up so we can go in."
Richie lets out a laugh and picks up his speed, joining Eddie at the entrance. "This is.. interesting." He looks down at Eddie and shrugs, then places his hands on the flooring and pushes himself up. Eddie does the same and the two roll into the cart, giggling as they get to their feet.
Richie grabs onto the edge and looks out, his eyes taking in the scenery. The hills roll down into a large field where overgrown grass and small wildflowers grow. He then looks over to his friends and waves them over, hurrying them to come join him and Eddie.
"This is nice," Eddie says, looking over at the same scenery.
Bill is the first to come up to the entrance, then Mike and finally Stanley. Unlike Mike, Bill's getting up into the cart was not as graceful. His knee hit the wood and as he hissed out in pain, his arm shook violently before collapsing in on itself.
"F..Fuck!" He sputters out, regaining his balance as his friends burst out in laughter.
"That was sad to watch," Stanley says as pulls himself up almost as gracefully as Mike. Bill wipes his hands down on his pants before trying again and finally succeeding.
"It feels like the inside of my grandpa's barn in here," Mike says, looking around at the water-damaged walls. "Dusty and.. bad-smelling."
Bill laughs softly before settling down on the floor. "It doesn't f-f..feel too bad in.. here," he says, his hands lightly patting the ground around him.
Mike goes to sit down next to him and Stanley kneels by the entrance. It seems they've all collective decided to take a rest in the musty train cart, sitting in a lopsided and far apart circle.
Silence falls around them. Stanley quietly watches out the entrance, his eyes scanning the cloudless skies that expand far over Derry. Mike and Bill sit against the wall opposite of Richie and Eddie, who the latter watches as Richie scrolls through his phone.
It's peaceful, quiet, and they could've stayed there for hours if they truly wanted to. Richie bets Stanley would've liked it better if there were birds out, though. Too bad they won't be showing up for a few more months.
Just as he thought that, though, Stanley lets out a gasp so loud it makes Bill jolt. "Shit, guys! Look, a Cardinal!" He doesn't take his eyes off, instead quickly motioning for his friends to join him at the entrance.
They all huddle around Stanley, each pair of eyes following his outstretched finger to a highest point on a tree. It wasn't hard to find, as the red easily stuck out in the wash of muted colors.
"Isn't it beautiful? Not my favorite bird, but they're still gorgeous."
Mike smiles softly and stays to admire the bird for a little longer while Bill and Eddie step back into the cart. Richie also stays, not for the bird, but instead the pure happiness sparkling in Stanley's eyes.
It's nice to see him radiating joy.
Richie is tempted to give the boy a hug, just so he knows that Richie is still there, but he decides against it and only ruffles his hair before walking back to Eddie.
Mike joins Stanley in his bird watching, his legs dangling over the edge as he looks up towards the skies. "What's that bird?" He asks, pointing upward. Stanley pauses, his eyes focused before shrugging.
"Too far away," he says simply.
Richie lets his head fall back onto the wall behind him. To say the least, he could get lost in the dream-like state he's in. In the comfort of his friends and the embrace of the freezing winter.
He's not sure if his ears picked up on it on the first blow or the second, but he heard it. It makes his heart leap up in his throat and the dream state break.
The train whistle. It's ringing out.
Eddie sits up, his eyes wide and staring at Bill who also seems to pick up on the panic.
"I-I think we sh-sh-should g-go," Bill says. Eddie quickly nods and gets to his feet.
It's starts slow, but the train cart the five are sitting in jolts forward. Eddie's feet skids against the worn down wood, a small shriek escaping before he's thrown to his knees.
"Eds!" Richie calls out, getting to his hands and knees to get to the boy.
"I'm okay," Eddie says, rolling over to sit up properly but Richie insists on checking over his palms and knees.
The train cart jolts once more, and it's on the move.
A soft thud hits Richie's ears and he looks over, only to see that Stanley and Mike are no longer sitting at the entrance. He has no time to panic about them because Mike soon jogs up to the cart, eyes spiked with fear and quickly waving the last three to hop off.
Bill is the first to scramble to his feet, swaying awkwardly with the movement as he shuffles to where Mike jogs alongside the train.
"Hurry!" He yells.
Bill clings to the edge, clearly hesitating before jumping off and Mike disappears again. Richie turns to Eddie and grabs onto both his arms, forcibly pushing him to the opening.
"Come on, Eds. Go! Before the train picks up too much speed."
Eddie stares at him, the fear in his eyes so great it makes Richie sick to his stomach. "We'll go on three," Eddie says, gripping right back with just as much strength.
Richie shakes his head as he shuffles closer to the edge. The grass moves past his vision and he can't tell for the life of him if it's speeding up or already too fast.
Eddie quickly joins him at the edge, slowly scooting so close that his bent knees tip over the edge. "Richie, on three. One..."
Richie sucks in a breath, desperately trying to soothe the ball of dread sitting in his stomach.
"Two," calls Eddie's voice.
The train is picking up speed, Richie realizes. Mike is far back, a good few yards behind the last train cart, perhaps.
"Oh, God. Three!"
Richie doesn't know when or how it happened, but Eddie's grip slipped from his arm and next thing he knows he's alone on a fast train. At least it seems fast for him. He can't see Eddie, or even hear if he's alright, but he's gone from Richie's side and that's enough to force him to his feet.
"Eddie!" He yells out the train. He feels as if the whipping winds caught his voice and lifted it up, so much so that it didn't get to the boy it needed to. Maybe no one could hear him yell out at all.
"Eds! Oh- oh, my God.."
Richie hangs on tight to the side, his eyes staring down at the grass as it speeds past from under his feet.
It's too fast, it's going too fast. Oh, God, he can't do this.
Richie's legs shake from under him, either the wind or fear he's not sure. He could jump at any time, get out from this fucking cursed train, yet he doesn't. His feet refuse to move.
Then, he hears him. Clear as day.
"Richie!" Eddie yells.
He's running alongside the train, chest heaving up and down heavily. His eyes are trained on Richie, wide and full of panic. "Rich!" He yells again. It's full of desperation, of need. Eddie's feet pound against the ground, going much faster than Mike or Bill ever could.
Richie takes a deep breath in and looks over his shoulder. His shadow stands behind him, tall against the wall. This is what he wanted, right? Dreamed of ever since middle school. Hell, even Beverly fed into the thought every once in a blue moon.
It feels so simple.
He looks back at the unfortunate town he grew up in. It all feels so insignificant from up there in that train, but all he's ever supposed to know at the same time. He can't leave this, he realizes. He can't leave Eddie.
One more breath in, one more grip to the wall,
and he jumps.