Eddie had no way of knowing how long he had been racing through this hellscape, but he did know that he was running out of time.
His lungs were screaming, there was a stitch in his side that felt like a hot poker was jamming itself between his ribs, and every breath was coming out in a panicked wheeze. All he wanted to do was let himself collapse, but he pushed himself to keep running, turning blindly into another disgustingly yellow room.
He had to keep running. If he could just get out of this room and through the next, maybe he could lose these things that were chasing him. When he first saw them, he thought they were bats. Then one had flown at him and ripped into the skin on his arm.
But none of that mattered. All that mattered was getting away. Getting somewhere safe. Eddie could do that. He had spent his entire life running from bullies. These were just slightly more murderous evil monster bullies.
He could do this. He could do this.
Then he tripped.
The bats were on him in a second, disgustingly slimy tails wrapping around each of his limbs and pulling him spread eagle. One of the bats curled up on his chest, letting out a soft snarl as its entire face opened up into rows and rows of jagged bloody teeth.
Eddie shrieked in terror, sure that this was the last breath he was ever going to be able to take.
Then the bat was knocked off of him, hitting the wall with a terrifying squeal of pain. Another bat roared near his neck, and Eddie flinched away from it just in time to see a Louisville slugger come crashing down against the creatures skull, smashing it to oblivion. Eddie scrambled backward,
There was a man in front of him, slamming another bat into the opposite wall with a furious yell. A girl about his age dragged Eddie away from the melee, while another with a knife came up from behind and began to stab the bats on the ground.
Okay, now Eddie was nearly positive he actually had died. There was no way he was being saved from giant bat shaped monsters by the hottest guy he had ever seen, wielding a bat studded with nails, while wearing a sailor costume and booty shorts.
But, if he had died, Eddie really couldn’t figure out if he had ended up in heaven or hell.
The bats began to flee, seeming to realize they were outnumbered. The guy got a couple more down, but most flew away, disappearing around another corner of this god awful place.
“Fuck I hate those things,” The man cursed as the sound of their screeching died away, one of the girls next to him nodding along as the other continued to stab each bat that was left behind. He turned his face towards Eddie and gave him a once over.
“You okay?”
Eddie nodded, even though this was probably the farthest he had ever felt from ‘okay’.
“I’m Steve,” The boy in front of him said, panting as he leaned his nail bat against a nearby wall and slid down it, letting his long tanned legs spread out in front of him. Steve gave Eddie a brief grin, nodding to each of the girls nearby, “This is Robin, and that’s Nancy.”
Robin gave him a nervous little wave, and Nancy rushed over. She deftly untied the flannel knotted around Eddie’s waist and pulled it away from him, taking out a knife and ripping off one of the sleeves.
“Hey!” Eddie protested immediately, giving the girl a slight glare. That flannel had cost him a good amount of money. Nancy rolled her eyes and continued to cut it up into strips.
“You wanna keep bleeding?” She asked rhetorically, bandaging up his arm in tight but efficient movements.
“Oh, thanks,” Eddie said awkwardly, holding still and doing his best not to flinch as Nancy pressed down on his wound and began to securely wrap it. Her easy movements told him that she had experience with first aid, but her bedside manner sure left something to be desired.
“You got a name new guy?” Robin asked, letting Steve lean his head against the side of her leg and looking at Eddie with suspicion. She was also in a sailor’s outfit, matching blue and red with Steve like they were the oldest pair or shining twins Eddie had ever seen.
“Eddie. I’m Eddie Munson”
Nancy stopped mid wrap as he said his name, her eyes narrowing as she stared directly at his face. He wasn’t sure exactly what she was searching for, but her instant suspicion was disconcerting
“What? Eddie wondered aloud, doing his best to not sound defensive. This weird group of strangers had just saved his life. That at the very least earned them a little bit of trust.
“Your name. It just…sounded familiar, that’s all,” Nancy said, shaking her head and standing straight up. She walked back over to the other two and hefted her bag onto her shoulders, brushing her curls out of her face, “We should get out of here before any of the other bats come back.”
“Yeah, let’s get going,” Steve agreed, grabbing his bat and hefting it onto his shoulder. He walked over to where Eddie was still on the floor and held his free hand out as an offering.
“Well, Eddie Munson. Welcome to the Backrooms,”
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