If I Should Stay
Part 1 | . . . | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15
Steve, Robin, Nancy, Jonathan, and Eddie exchange looks. “Can you tell how long?” Nancy asks.
“Less than a day,” El says, sounding apologetic. “Other than that…” she shakes her head and slips the blindfold off. “I am sorry.”
“You’ve done more than enough, El,” Robin soothes. “Thank you.”
“We have to go after her.” Nancy looks pleadingly at Steve. “You want to save her, too, right? Not just Will?”
“I do,” Steve nods. “I didn’t know how long we’d have. I’d hoped we’d have more time, but it looks like we’ll have to go in twice: once for Barb and Will, and once to kill Vecna.” He looks around the room, focusing on the three boys. “I know Will was the artist, but Lucas, I know you can draw too. If we get you a map, can you find points and direct us?”
Lucas sets his jaw and nods. “I’ll do my best.”
“Okay. Here’s the plan, then: you three, stay here with El.” He looks at Dustin, Mike, and Lucas. “We’ll have walkie talkies, so we can keep in constant communication. El, how long can you stay in that space?”
She looks at him steadily. “I can do it.”
Steve looks at her, then nods. “I trust you. Robs, you’re with me?”
“Just try and get rid of me, Dingus.”
Dingus? Jonathan mouths to Nancy, who shrugs.
“Nance, Jon, and Eddie. You’re with us. We’re getting in and out as fast as we can. If all goes according to plan, we’ll have two more people coming with us on the out. They’ll be weak, but between the five of us, we can and will get them out safely. Robin, you stay here, direct the weapon-making. Make sure I get a bat. I’m going to go get walkie talkies, masks, and a whole lot of first aid supplies.”
“Got it,” Robin nods, then points at Eddie, Jonathan, and Nancy. “You three, with me.” She leads them to the backyard, and Steve knows she’s bringing them to the shed, where his old sports things and various tools are.
He looks to the boys. “Keep working on those plans. We’ll need them for the second attack. El, do you want to rest before we begin?” She considers it, then nods. “Okay. You know where the bed is. I’ll be back in less than an hour, alright?”
She nods and begins climbing the stairs. Steve looks around once more, taking stock, then grabs his keys and walks out the front door.
He gets to the store no problem, walks inside and starts filling his basket. Seven walkie talkies, seven masks, seven pairs of goggles, antibacterial cream, bandages, a suture kit, some ice packs. Two bottles of pain pills. He thinks about it, then makes his way to the front desk, smiling at the employee. “Hey, could I use your phone for a minute, please?”
He looks at Steve, unimpressed, then shrugs and gestures towards it. Steve thanks him and dials his home number.
“Hello?”
“Dustin. Do me a favor and get Eddie?”
“Yeah. One second.”
He hears Dustin yelling for Eddie as he walks outside, then a minute later, Eddie’s on the line. “Hello?”
“Hey, Eddie. I grabbed some pain meds, but I’m wondering if they’re going to be strong enough. I can pay you, but could you…”
“Yeah, no, I’ve got it. And no, dude, you’re not paying me. Not for this. I’ll head home and get them right now.”
“Perfect,” Steve says. “Thanks so much, Eds, you’re a lifesaver.”
“Uh, y-yeah, no problem. I’ll, uh, go now.”
“Okay. I’ll probably beat you back. See you there.”
“See you,” Eddie agrees, and they hang up,
Steve looks around for a few more minutes, finds a package of nails, adds those to his basket and goes to check out.
He’s well aware he probably looks like a serial killer, but he knows from experience the cashier is blindly scanning his items.
His luck runs out when Chief Hopper walks in and ambles towards the checkout counter. Steve does his best to keep the sigh internal. “Chief,” he says, giving him a little nod. The chief returns the greeting, peering over into Steve’s basket.
Steve suddenly becomes very interested in the gum options.
“What’s all this?” Hopper asks, inclining his head towards the basket.
Steve shrugs. “A few different things.” Please accept it, please accept it, please accept it-
“Like what?”
Dammit. “Uh… well, I noticed I didn’t have a first aid kit, and I figured I probably should, y’know? And I wanted to do some work around the house.”
Hopper grunts. “The masks and walkies?”
“Um.” Steve blanks. “It’s for a game with my friends?”
Hopper sighs. “If I get a call from your neighbors-”
“You won’t,” Steve says. Promises.
“Fifty-one sixty-four, sir,” the cashier says. Steve’s never been more grateful to be interrupted.
He pays, grabs his things, and sends Hopper a salute on his way out the door. He notices Hopper watching him as he leaves the parking lot, and he forces himself not to speed on the way home.
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