The town was going to become a war zone once Vecna started releasing creatures from the Upside Down and both Owens and Brenner heavily advised against being caught out in the midst of it all when that storm finally hit.

"Military is rolling into Hawkins as we speak," said Owens. "Lots of people will be leaving town but for those who stay, we'll be setting up compounds, armed safehouses. It would be best for you all to bring your families there. For the past few days, the people I've sent ahead have been clearing and repurposing the lab to be one of those safehouses. It's large enough and with properly prepared rooms that we could do a controlled burn on Eddie there. The sooner, the better."

"As previously advised the last time we were all in a room to discuss this very situation, if you have your emergency packs ready to go, now is the time," said Brenner. "It may take some hard work on your part to convince your families to stay but if you do, know that the longer you delay in getting to one of these safehouses, the lower your chances of survival are. The roads will soon be congested with families fleeing town, so be quick about whatever decision you make. For those who wish to remain in Hawkins as an advisory group to help us defeat Henry, we will be stationed at the lab, which is furthest from the earthquake opening point. The other safehouses are here at the hospital and the high school."

Hopper chimed in with a bit more decisiveness, "Anyone who is planning on splitting from the main party, you need to take a radio and let us know what you end up deciding."

"We're staying," said Nancy. "Mike and I are staying, even if our parents decide to take Holly and leave. Lucas, I can drop you off with your parents and sister on the way."

"I'll take Robin and Dustin and we'll check in with our folks, but we'll be going to the lab after we get our gear from home," said Steve.

"My group will meet you there," said Hopper in reference to himself, Eleven, Mrs. Byers, Will, and Murray.

"I'll take Isaac and Chrissy," Eddie volunteered. No one encouraged this idea and he had to draw attention to the fact that he had far too much energy for someone who should be on bed rest. "I'm good, really. I mean, despite the fact that I've got a gaping hole in my stomach, I'm good. I don't even feel it. Incidentally, that actually concerns me. Why don't I feel it?"

He posed this last question to Owens but it was Brenner who came forward, lifted Eddie's shirt in a major invasion of his privacy, and tugged at the bandages on Eddie's stomach until they unraveled enough for him to reach his hand under them and feel for the hole.

"Hey, pal, you're getting way too handsy for comfort right now," Eddie protested.

"And you're almost fully healed," concluded Brenner, showing the room that what had been a hole the size of a small child's fist not even twenty-four hours ago was now a sealed scar as it had once been.

"Holy shit," said Dustin.

"Accelerated healing, thanks to the presence of Henry within him," said Brenner. "I say give him back his firearm and his van keys and let him be on his way."

"Regardless of what the hole looks like, he's been through some major trauma in the last few hours," said Mrs. Byers in a motherly tone that Eddie appreciated but also found irritating.

"And he's not gonna work through that trauma sitting in here scratching his ass while everyone else heads for the lab," said Eddie in third person, somewhat peeved. "I can drive just like I normally do."

This, apparently, was the wrong thing to say, for everyone in attendance let out a groan of no confidence.

"Alright, alright! What is this, the Shit on Eddie Hour? I'm driving, end of discussion. And I'd like that firearm back, thank you. And since my uncle's still out in the waiting room, I'll fill him in on as little as I can without giving too much away and send Max back to the trailer park with him. From there, Max can grab her mom and make their way to my place."

"Yeah, sure, great," said Max brusquely and excused herself from the room.

Eddie thought he knew the reason for her abrupt departure and followed with instructions to Chrissy to get Isaac prepared for discharge. Max was out at the drinking fountain and Eddie leaned against the wall beside it until she had finished to ask what had so suddenly set her off.

"Was it something I said?" he asked.

"No."

"Something I did?"

"No."

"Well, then, you gotta give me something to work with here because we don't really have time for the silent treatment."

"I'm just pissed, is all," said Max bitterly. "Pissed that this is happening again and that this time, you're the one caught up in the middle of it. Our chances don't look good and I'm not stupid enough to think that we're all gonna make it through this unscathed but I'm more scared this time than I have been any other time because this time, I stand to lose something. Last time, all Vecna could do was kill me and I didn't wanna die, but at least I thought I was his only target and that he would leave all my friends and family alone. Not like this time. I'm gonna do whatever it takes to help bring him down for good because what that son of a bitch has done to Isaac, what he's doing to you–it's exactly how he killed Billy. My brother died from this and I am not letting it happen again, not to you. I am not losing you."

"You won't–"

"You don't know that. You don't know anything," she snapped. "It was hell, watching what happened to Billy, seeing him die right in front of me, but the reason Vecna found it so easy to come for me wasn't because of that trauma, it was because of the guilt I felt after he had died. I hated my brother and I wished for something to come along to teach him a lesson. I wanted him to hurt how he had always hurt me so that when something finally did, I thought it would bring me some satisfaction. But all I felt was remorse. Billy was able to tell me that he was sorry as he died. The last thing he ever said was that he was sorry, and that showed that he was a better person than I was or ever could be because he didn't wish for something awful to happen to me."

Eddie didn't know why she was telling him this as if he could absolve her of those feelings. That didn't make her a bad person to wish ill upon someone who had hurt her. She had been a part of a relationship that was built on hatred and abuse and it was positively normal, even encouraged for the submissive party to want karma to come for the oppressors. How many times had Eddie wished for something terrible to happen to Jason Carver? He didn't feel like a shitty human being for wishing those things, even if he personally didn't follow through on making those wishes come to fruition, and he didn't think Max should feel guilty about wanting something to happen to take her out of her shitty situation.

"So I got what I wanted, my brother died, and Vecna fed on that," she continued. "And if Vecna is back, he'll be coming back for me but he's already getting to me because he's using you against me. He knows he can hurt me by taking you from me because I have something to lose this time. You're my brother and he wants to make me watch it happen all over again. And I can't, Eddie. I can't do that again."

She wiped the heel of her hand furiously over her eyes and kicked the wall, angered by her show of weakness. It was the same reaction Eddie and Isaac had when they were caught out with their emotions: disappointment in themselves for not being able to just suck it up.

"I swear to God, you've got that Munson stubborn streak in you," said Eddie in lightheartedness. He bent slightly at the waist to come down to her level as he held her shoulders. "I'm not gonna bullshit you and say that I know what's gonna happen because I sure as hell don't, but I've actually got a pretty good feeling this time around, believe it or not. We were just a small group of young people going in to fight Vecna last time and we killed him. It was just a fluke that he survived so this time, with an army of soldiers behind us, doctors and scientists, Eleven, Hopper, and the know-how to beat Vecna, we're better prepared than we were before. It may not seem like we've got a good chance because of the minor issue of my brother and me being possessed by the bastard, but this same thing happened to Will before and he made it out on the other side by pure luck. I'm still scared shitless, but I'm hopeful, and I'm usually the alarmist, aren't I? I don't even know what the hell's going on half the time but this time, I'm hopeful. I'm not worried about me, so I don't want you to either. You can start to worry when I do and I'm not there yet."

"But say something happens–"

"Then something happens and we'll figure it out when we get to it. Shit's always gonna happen, Max, and we're not gonna get anywhere or make any progress if we hide from it. We've gotta take it as it comes. Now, lie to me and tell me I did a good job in consoling you."

"Consider me consoled."

They both paused, daring the other to be the first to crack a smile and Eddie won as Max covered her mouth with her hand.

"Come here…" He gave one of her braids a playful tug and touched the tip of his small finger to her nose. "I promised you I'd get you your driving permit, so I'm not going anywhere for a very long time."

Max nudged him in the ribs with her elbow.

Now would be the hard part in trying to convey the sense of urgency to Wayne who had to have become more than suspicious after Owens accepted everyone into Eddie's hospital room except his one true family member. Eddie found him with a cold cup of coffee in the waiting room which his uncle promptly spilled across his lap at the sight of Eddie walking in.

"How're you even on your feet right now?" asked Wayne.

I've got a buddy possessing my soul and speeding up the healing process of the giant hole he planted in my stomach. It's nifty.

"Look, I don't know what you've been told by the doctors here or Chrissy or anyone else but there's some things about to happen that are gonna make you regret not taking me up on the offer to teach you the rules of D&D. Let's just say that things are about to get a lot more unbelievable. There's gonna be an announcement going out over all the stations for everyone in Hawkins to either evacuate or fall back to a few checkpoints that are being fortified against attack. If you want to leave, that's your choice, but if you stay, I need you to go home right now, pack some essentials, and then make your way to one of these checkpoints. The closest one to the trailer park is gonna be the lab, and that's where I'll be going. If you go to the lab, have some of my friends radio me that you're safe."

"The hell, son?" said Wayne, which was a much better and calmer reaction than Eddie had expected from him.

"And take Max with you. She needs to get to her mom and then the two of them are meeting back at my place before we all head to the lab."

"None've this is making sense to me–"

"And it won't, but I need you to trust me."

Whether or not this reflected on Eddie's upbringing, his uncle was not a man known for putting up much of an argument when things were beyond his control, so he agreed on the condition that Eddie share more inclusive details once he arrived at the lab. He told Eddie to have Max meet him in the parking lot in five minutes and Eddie dashed back up the hall to where Max was sitting on a chair outside his room.

"Okay, we're a-go with Wayne. He'll drive you back to the trailer park and from there, you get your mom. Say whatever you need to, but you make her leave with you and you come to my house. I don't care if you have to take the keys from her and drive her car yourself, you come to my house as soon as you have her. Stay in touch on the walkie."

"You too."

Eddie wasn't completely sold on the idea of splitting up the party to tend to their own families, but he was doing the same and understood that sometimes, family had to take priority over friendship.

Back in his room, only a few party members remained, one of whom was Dustin who looked–for the first time in Eddie's memory–worried.

"Break a leg, Henderson, we've only got about an hour of sunlight left and I'm sure none of us want to be caught out after dark nowadays," said Eddie as he stuffed his bloody clothes into a plastic bag that had been provided for him and tucked his Colt into the back of his pants where it belonged.

"You'd be safer off just staying here if they're gonna make this place one of the checkpoints," Dustin reasoned. "I'm not saying you're unfit to be driving around, but there's a lot of open land between here and the lab to cover and I don't like the idea of you and Isaac having to fight your way through demogorgons and whatnot to get to there. You should wait for an armed escort."

"We're not important enough to be wasting those kinds of resources, kid," said Isaac modestly.

"And they can't do a controlled burn here because they don't have the equipment and we need to get this Vecna shit out've us, so heigh-ho, it's off to hell we go."

"What about the rest of us?" Dustin demanded.

"What d'you mean?"

"Well, what're we supposed to do about all of this?"

"I dunno, Dustin, maybe try not to die? Look, I can't be in charge of you all because I'm not your parents and I'm not the one calling the shots. This time, I lucked out that there's older, better, more experienced people at the wheel and I'm just going with the flow, which is to take care of our own and get relocated to the lab."

It was bewildering to him that Dustin was choosing to have this conversation now when time was of the essence. Eddie looked to Steve and Robin who were waiting on Dustin since they had to drive him home but neither of them seemed to understand Dustin's timing either.

"Okay, so we all relocate to the lab, then what? We don't even have a plan to defeat Vecna."

"Well, gee, I think we can take care of that once we're at the lab. The lab's the best place for all of us to be because it's out of the way of the town and there'll be fewer casualties if Vecna decides to show himself to those who are holed up there, which he probably will because that's where all of his old pals will be."

"I just don't think it's a good idea, splitting everyone up like this."

"We've all got our own families to see to, man. Once you're home, it's gonna be up to you to convince your mom to stay if that's what you wanna do. If she says go and you wanna stick with her, then go. This is gonna be bigger than any of us and you can't stay here just because you know what sort've shit is about to hit us. There's military out there on the roads, so a group of teenagers and young adults aren't gonna cut it anymore. We know what's coming, we know how to fight it, but we–and by we I mean you and everyone else in the party under eighteen–are gonna die if we try to fight it alone like we did last time."

"Is this you giving up?"

Eddie let out a very uncharacteristic cackle because not only was the idea of giving up so ludicrous, but so was the notion that it was Dustin–the eternal optimist–who was asking this of him.

"The hell it is. I'm just trying to get from point A to point B. I'm on a deadline, man, literally. I have to get this thing outta me and my brother before things get much worse out there and that means I need to be moving fast without anything to tie me down so that means I can't be worrying about any of you. So if you go with your mom, let me know over the radio but if you stay, you go to the lab and I'll see you there, Henderson, okay? Be safe, don't do anything stupid, and I will see you there."

"Sure," said Dustin in a very unconvincing tone as he left.

Eddie turned to Steve with his hands up in a what did I do gesture and Steve shrugged.

"I dunno, man, I think he's just scared. He's usually level-headed but scared but now he's just–scared," said Steve.

"Thank you for that in-depth analysis. Just get him there safely, will you? Him and his mom, if she decides to stay in Hawkins. I don't see that she'll be able to convince him to leave, but I'm not certain of much these days."

"I've got him, don't worry. We'll radio you when we're coming back to the house to grab our stuff."

Eddie fist-pounded with Steve and then Robin, then turned to Isaac and Chrissy who were now only waiting on him. He gave Isaac a once-over and then motioned at the hood to Isaac's jacket. "I know it's probably ninety degrees outside, but that hood needs to go up. We don't have time for people to stop and gawk at you like they did when Hopper first came back."

"It's actually getting cold outside," said Chrissy. "There's about a twenty degree temperature drop between downtown and our neighborhood, according to Robin. And it's only getting colder."

"That's great news for those of us who've recently learned that we hate heat but all the same," Eddie pointed at Isaac again. "You. Hood. On."

Owens and Brenner were taking care of the discharge paperwork which allowed Eddie, Isaac, and Chrissy to more or less walk right out the front door into what was essentially a scene of panic. Across the street, there was a mad pileup for gas and the nearby grocery store was overflowing with people trying to buy provisions as if they were stocking up for a ten-year famine. Cars packed to the ceiling with hastily stuffed boxes and bags of belongings sped off both east and west to access the quickest routes out of town. Then the first tank rolled by.

"I guess the news did a good job in telling everyone to stay calm," Eddie muttered as he scanned the parking lot for his van. Someone had pulled it into a corner space and as he unlocked it, he got a good look at what essentially appeared to be a semi-cleaned up crime scene. Blood was splattered all over his seat, the floor, the wheel, and the dashboard. The walkie had a bloody handprint on it as well.

"Munson!"

"Jesus Christ, not now," Eddie moaned as he recognized the voice calling to him. "Chrissy, Isaac, both of you stay quiet while I figure out what this prick wants." He kicked his door open so he could see Jason Carver clearly even though he had no desire to do so. "What?"

"Is that blood?" Jason asked as he came in close enough to see the red stains.

"Yup, have a good night."

"No, man, I have some questions that need answering and you and your pals are the only ones I can think of who can do that. I'd been talking to Patrick and he said he was getting bad feelings again since the earthquake and thought it was something to do with that Satanic shit that happened over Spring Break, then it goes out all over the radio and the news that we should seek shelter and hunker down or evacuate town. What's happening? I know you know."

"Patrick would be right. You should go home to your family and prepare. If you've got access to firearms, you'll need them."

"What's about to happen, Munson?"

"Some shit like you've never seen before, and on that note I need to be going so I'll be seeing you never." Eddie tried to pull the door shut but Jason kept it open and then leaned sideways to get a look at Isaac who had been trying to remain inconspicuously silent in his seat.

Jason's eyes grew wide as dinner plates and he did the unexpected thing by hauling Eddie out of the van by his jacket and shaking him. "Is this some kind've sick game, huh? What the hell is that in there? He's supposed to be dead!"

"Someone dumped him on the side of the road last night and he just got cleared to come home with me pending further investigation," Eddie invented and then added at the sight of the weapon in Jason's hand, "And why do you have a metal rod with you? Were you planning on using that to beat me if I didn't give you the answers you wanted?"

"For protection. I see the town going nuts, I arm myself however I can. But I don't buy it that your brother who was supposed to have been kidnapped, tortured, murdered, or whatever, is suddenly back in town the day the earthquake hits? What's he got to do with this?"

"If we're talking terms of percentage, about two percent, so step off and mind your own business."

"Did you plan this all out? Trying to cash in on what's about to happen? I think you liked the attention, so you made up some bullshit story about how he went missing, hoping to collect."

Eddie bristled in indignation that Jason could both be so narrow-minded and so wildly off point at the same time. "Do you have to work hard to spew out shit like what just came out of your mouth, Carver, or does it just come naturally? I have seen and heard some spectacular shit in my day, but never anything quite so steaming and shining as that. I was suicidal for a month, you moron. I didn't talk to reporters, I didn't get any attention or recognition at all. No one wanted to talk to me about Isaac. I got a call that he'd been found and I came to the hospital to identify him. He doesn't know where he's been for months because they kept him blindfolded in a dark room. But what happened to him is playing backseat to what's happening now, and I've gotta make sure he's taken care of, so I need you to see to your family while I see to mine."

"He's got something to do with all of this, doesn't he?" Jason demanded. "You and him, you knew about those murders and then he conveniently goes missing so everyone forgets about it for a while, now this earthquake and that red lightning storm happen and suddenly he's back in town. You're not letting on about everything you know and you're gonna tell me right now."

Eddie had a strong desire to challenge that with or what, but felt it would be childish to do so. Wondering how quickly he could shove Jason out of the way, lock himself in his car, and pull out of the parking lot without running the prick over, Eddie thought of his gun, but it had fallen in the space between his seat and Isaac's and was out of reach.

"Spill it, Munson. I kicked your ass before and I'll do it again if I have to," Jason threatened and he looked quite deranged as if he truly believed he had the right to know about all of this above anyone else in town.

This wasn't high school anymore and Eddie no longer had to worry about being jumped by a band of jocks in the hallways, so he wasn't going to be putting up with any shit from this walking penis. "I've wanted to kick you in the balls for months, Carver. I've wanted to shoot you in the knee and laugh while you squirm. I would've had every right, but I didn't. If you haven't learned your lesson by now, let me explain to you that if you push someone far enough, they'll turn right back around and make you regret ever setting eyes on them. Then everyone will wonder, golly, what could've caused that? You peaked in high school and you don't know how to take out those bullying tendencies anymore, so all this bullshit you've got going on? It's getting real old real fast. You don't get to threaten me anymore like you used to. We've got bigger problems than your grudge against me so just do like I told you and go home."

Jason threw Eddie to the ground and dug his heel into Eddie's chest to keep him down but no sooner had he planted his foot that he was met with a pistol nozzle pointed right at his temple. Isaac had moved across the divider and Eddie's seat silently and quickly enough to have earned him a place of honor among Navy Seals or maybe some elite assassination squad.

"Are we really gonna do this again, asswipe?" he said in that new raspy growl he had developed during his time in the Upside Down. "Last time I was only human. This time I will rip your fucking arms off if you don't step off in the next three seconds."

Jason swung the metal bar and Isaac's left hand caught it with reflexes that no human should have. Eddie could see black webbing making its way up the side of Isaac's neck.

"Isaac, no, don't hurt him!"

But Isaac had already launched himself out of the van to tackle Jason. Eddie knocked the revolver out of Isaac's other hand and intercepted him and all three of them went down on the asphalt with Eddie using his own battered and bruised body as a shield to protect the undeserving dickhead behind him. For once, he weighed more than his brother which wasn't saying a lot since Eddie couldn't tip the scale at a hundred and thirty pounds soaking wet, but he was all that stood between Isaac and a man who absolutely would have deserved the ass-whupping of the century and he had to do the honorable thing in preventing that from happening.

Isaac had a small but strong hold on Jason's wrist and was squeezing tightly enough that Jason was actively twisting around to try and free himself.

"Get him off of me!"

"Isaac, let him go! Let him go, dammit!" Eddie tried to work his fingers underneath Isaac's hand, but couldn't even get it to budge an inch. "Chrissy, help me out here!"

Chrissy scrambled out of the back and locked her arms across Isaac's throat, leaning back to pull him away. That maddened look was back on Isaac's face, the same as there had been when he first saw Brenner, and Eddie silently thanked the ensuing chaos around them for blinding everyone to this very loud, very public skirmish happening on a street corner.

Pitting his full weight against his brother, Eddie slammed Isaac against the side of the van, astounded at his newfound strength before remembering that this was just a side effect of being possessed by a demon. Jason's wrist had slid out of Isaac's grip during the move but Isaac was still fighting to get at him.

"Enough. That's enough!" Eddie held his forearm to Isaac's windpipe and Chrissy moved out of the way to avoid the line of fire. "You calm down now and I mean right now." It pained him to see Isaac struggling with this other more dominant personality within him, trying to force himself to tame the beast. He knew Isaac had a level head on his shoulders; he always gave as many chances as he could afford and only attacked if backed into a corner, but this entity inside of him left him no choice. Isaac's only instinct was to fight and Eddie was the only one who could reach him when he sank into that mindset.

The black marks started to sink back into his skin, his eyes stopped bulging, and a look of awareness came over him that had not been there before.

"Are you good now? Tell me you're cool. Say, 'I'm cool, bro'."

"I'm cool, bro," said Isaac heavily.

"What the hell was that?" Jason demanded.

It was a mark of just how devastating this slow takeover of his brother's body was that Eddie could temporarily forget that Isaac had almost single-handedly broken Jason's wrist. Turning back around to address him, Eddie planted himself wide to prevent Isaac from having another go at him just in case.

"That was what I've been trying to tell you. That shit that happened with Patrick? It took my brother, not two random men. It took Isaac and infected him and used him to come back and that's what's happening now. That's gonna happen to a lot more people before this is over."

"Then he should be put down like the rabid animal he is."

Snatching up his pistol from where it had fallen, Eddie held it loosely at his side in an open demonstration that there was no threat unless Jason made one. "You're not gonna touch him. You're gonna walk away and stay away."

"Watch your back, Munson. Both of you. This town doesn't have room for backstabbers and wild animals."

Eddie glanced left and right, up and down the rapidly emptying street. "Looks like there's enough room now. We're not the problem here, man, but we know some people who might now what is the problem and we need to be getting to those people, so let us leave before something worse comes along."

"Something worse is coming, alright, and it's coming for the two of you. You cursed Hawkins, you and your brother and everyone who was with you that night at the trailer park. Maybe you've got everyone else thrown off the scent but I can see you for what you are," said Jason vehemently. A closed mind was one that would piece together any possible plausible solution to explain the inexplicable and if blaming Eddie and Isaac for everything currently happening in Hawkins was Jason's only way to cope with it all, Eddie pitied him.

Here now was proof that Jason was about as sincere as fuck-all and despite everything, Eddie had to smile to himself that he had not fallen prey to false sympathy. "Remember when you tried to apologize to me on the last day of school? Remember how you swore you were just trying to be nice after years of being the reigning champion of douchebaggery? Still think I was wrong to write off your bullshit? Back away from me, now. Isaac, Chrissy, in the van."

"This is what you left me for?" Jason shouted at Chrissy as she began to climb back in. "He'll get you killed, Chris! He doesn't give a shit about you, never has! He just wants to rub it in my face!"

Chrissy, bless her soul, was immune to such dire warnings and didn't so much as give Jason a backwards glance as she sat down behind Eddie's seat. Eddie turned the van on and pulled backwards out of the parking space quickly enough to burn rubber and make Jason leap out of the way. He stuck his arm out the open window and flipped Jason the bird as he drove out of the parking lot.

"Well," he said brightly as he made for home, "we're off to a great start with keeping Isaac's return under wraps."

Isaac shot him a glare that he couldn't maintain and despite how very unfunny and downright dire the situation was, he dissolved into pained laughter, holding his malnourished ribs as he curled up in his seat. Eddie was actually feeling rather proud of himself for weaseling a few moments of amusement out of his brother. It was good to know that Isaac was still capable of laughter after spending so much time alone, trapped in his own head without anyone to pull him out.

Their momentary levity was short-lived, however, for upon pulling up in his driveway less than ten minutes later, Eddie saw that he had a welcoming home gift on his porch. As they all climbed out of the van, Eddie got a closer look at what had been left for them to see and held out his arm to prevent the others from advancing. Someone had deliberately placed several bags of potato chips, an entire cake, a bag of fast food, and two liters of soda on the doorstep. Eddie saw red. He realized what this message was and tried to shield Chrissy from seeing it but she stepped over all of the food, unlocked the front door, and hurried off to her room to pack and gather up her share of the weapons.

"What is all this?" asked Isaac, nudging one of the chip bags with his shoe.

Eddie couldn't answer him; right now Chrissy's need was greater than his brother's. Cursing the woman who bore his girlfriend into this world only to treat her like some brain-addled child in such a vindictive way that targeted Chrissy's past trauma, Eddie gently knocked on Chrissy's door and was in the process of letting himself in when she swooped past him and made for the bathroom. She didn't even manage to slam that door before he heard her drop to her knees and make a violent hurling sound.

Eddie had never been drunk, a testament to his stern resolution to never be in a state where he could endanger lives like his dad had, but he knew that people suffering from hangovers often found solace in having someone nearby. He figured that anyone being sick in such a way, no matter the circumstances, would appreciate the company, and so he pushed the bathroom door open.

"Chris?"

She was hunched over the toilet, vomiting spectacularly into the bowl and heaving back tears brought on by her mother's cruelty. Eddie knelt beside her and rubbed soothing circles on her back until the sickness spell had gone, then handed her a wad of toilet paper to wipe her mouth.

"Come here," he coaxed, trying to pull her to him, but she half-heartedly pushed away at him. "No. Nope, come here, you're not doing this alone."

He pulled her away from the toilet and cradled her to him, drawing her legs up and her head down to make her as small as possible so she could fit on his lap. She needed this, needed him. The past twenty-four hours had been entirely about Eddie but now that he was more or less physically healed, he needed to completely disregard himself and focus his attention on her. He just couldn't understand how a woman could be so hateful toward her own child, and at a time when petty vengeance did not need to be brought to the table. Not to downplay his girlfriend's trauma, but this was something she absolutely did not need right now and something she was being forced to put up with all the same because apparently, it was more important to shove your low opinion of your daughter down her throat by openly mocking her with junk food rather than to check and make sure she was okay during a crisis.

God, he hated that woman. That woman, who was supposed to love and care for her daughter but instead found it necessary to remind her of her mental illness at every opportunity in spite of the restraining order against her.

"You know you're beautiful," Eddie told Chrissy, pressing his cheek against her forehead. "You know that I'm not the only one who believes that and that we don't think any less of you for what you eat or what you look like. Your mother is the only soul on earth who has anything negative to say about you."

"Eddie, we don't have time for–"

"Yes, we do. Vecna could be knocking on that door asking to take a piss and we would still have time. You've worked so hard and come a long way to feel as confident about yourself as you have and you deserve to feel confident. You deserve to be happy."

"I am," said Chrissy tearfully. "With you, I am."

"Well, you know that just tickles me pink, but there's more to life than me." He paused here, realizing he was quoting Isaac's words to Chrissy. Isaac had told Eddie in what was essentially his will that he wanted Eddie to try and find happiness in the wake of Isaac's death, to remember that there was more to life. Though Isaac had come back in a turn of events no one could have predicted, Eddie did not feel that quoting his brother's final words was a good omen to send off to his girlfriend.

There came a crash and shouting from the living room and thinking the worst, Eddie pulled Chrissy along with him to investigate. They found Isaac holding the screen door open with his foot, jamming the junk food into the kitchen trash can, and hollering into the phone receiver which was knotted around him like a snake.

"I don't care who your lawyers are, you fat cow, I'm telling you that I will sue you for every penny you're worth if you step foot on my property again. I know you have a restraining order against you and this violates that on every level. This town is crumbling, we are facing an imminent apocalypse but somehow, it's more important that you mentally abuse your daughter and I promise you that you'll be sleeping on Cornwallis in a cardboard box if I catch you anywhere near her again. You go to hell."

Isaac couldn't slam the phone down since he was too far from the dock but he continued to shove the junk food into the black waste bag as if each article of food had done him a personal wrong and only noticed Eddie and Chrissy standing there when he had finished.

"How did you know to call my mom?" asked Chrissy to break the silence.

"Phone book," said Isaac as if this were obvious.

"I know, but how did you know it was her that left that food?"

"Because I remember what a bitch she was the last time I was in Hawkins and I doubted that that had changed just because you left."

"But I never told you what sort of things she did to me."

"I guessed. Eddie didn't have to tell me a thing; I just knew when I saw how you reacted around food. Sorry."

"What are you sorry for?" asked Chrissy incredulously. "What you just did for me, calling my mom to–to say what you said…that was…" She seemed to struggle to find the word because one didn't use the term 'kind' or 'thoughtful' when thanking someone for calling their mother a fat cow over the phone.

"Badass?" Eddie offered.

"Yeah," Chrissy agreed, then went to give Isaac an appreciative hug even with the phone cord still wrapped around him and the trash can in hand.

Eddie shot his brother the A-okay sign in encouragement for doing such a chivalrous thing for Chrissy. It wasn't something Eddie would have done because Eddie wasn't the confrontational sort but he didn't begrudge Isaac for having the balls to call out such an affluent member of Hawkins on the brink of complete and utter chaos. As he stood there appreciating the effort Isaac had already put in to integrating himself back into daily life in Hawkins for Eddie and Chrissy's sake, Eddie wondered if, when this was all over, he could convince Steve to set up a partition in the basement so Isaac could share half of it. That got him wondering if Steve had dropped off Dustin yet and where the intrepid young lad was now, which made Eddie realize that he had left his walkie in the van.

Cursing himself, he darted past Isaac and Chrissy still in the doorway and ran out to the van where he could hear static from the radio. Clearing the talk button of dried blood, he said half urgently, half apologetically, "This is Eddie, what did I miss?"

"Eddie, it's Max," came her voice in hardly more than a whisper. "They're here, in the trailer park. I just saw creatures spilling out all over the place and everyone ran. My mom and I are locked inside our trailer, but there's no way to get to the car. I tried to signal Wayne but I can't call on the phone or they'll hear us. There's people screaming out there and–and noises that mean that there's bodies, or parts of bodies. I can see someone dead from my kitchen window."

Her voice was trembling and Eddie heard the terrified shrieks of someone either being dragged away or eaten alive on the other end of the line, followed by some other-worldly howl like a dinosaur calling out for help.

"I have a knife, but nothing else. We won't make it if we run."

"You're not gonna run because I'm coming to get you," Eddie told her sternly. "You stay in that trailer, away from the windows. You stay right where you are and I will be there in fifteen minutes. When you hear the horn, then you run for it, even if you have to drop everything. You and your mom be ready and signal Wayne to tell him I'm coming. Hear me, Max? I'm coming for you."

"Hurry."

Eddie sprinted back into the house, down the hall, and to his bedroom closet where he gathered up one of his shotguns, an extra box of nine millimeters, and a machete.

"Where are you going, Rambo?" asked Isaac at the sight of Eddie preparing for battle.

"Trailer park's under attack, Max just called me. Demodogs, spiders, vines, I don't know, but I've gotta go get her."

"I'm coming with you, then."

"No offense, bro, but you can't go out there; all of Hawkins thinks you're dead and I'm heading into the one part of town where they actually know your face and I really don't have time to be arguing with you about this right now so I need you to stay here with Chrissy and–where'd she go?"

"I'm here, and I'm coming too," said Chrissy, strapped with a rifle and a crowbar and Eddie had never been more attracted to her and less enthusiastic about her coming with him than he was in that moment.

"And I don't think many people are gonna be slowing down in the dark to try and match my face," added Isaac, relieving Eddie of the shotgun. "Your heart's usually in the right place but you're not known for coming out of single-handed fights on the better end so you're gonna need help. I'm coming with you and if you don't like it, you can suck it."

There was no time for further arguments; Eddie had told Max fifteen minutes and she, her mom, and Wayne may not even have that much time. He ordered Chrissy to hold onto something in the back and shot backwards out of the driveway, veering around and speeding off toward Forest Hills Trailer Park in the last rays of sunlight.