[𝗘𝗣𝗜𝗦𝗢𝗗𝗘 𝗘𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧: 𝗣𝗔𝗣𝗔]

EVERYONE WAS SURROUNDED BY THE table, eddie pointing at a textbook that had a printed photo and the words the war zone.

"check this out. the war zone." eddie says, looking over at everyone. "i've been there once. it's huge."

"course you have," sage mumbled as eddie glared at her. "they got everything you need for, uh . . . well, killing things, basically." eddie informed.

"you think fake rambo has enough guns there?" robin asked him. "is that a grenade? i mean, how is any of this legal?"

"well, lucky for us it is, so . . . this — this place is just far enough outside of hawkins." eddie explained. "as long as we steer clear of main roads, we oughta be able to avoid cops and, uh, angry hicks."

"if we're trying to avoid angry hicks, maybe we shouldn't go to some store called the war zone." erica mentioned. "normally, i'd agree, but we need the weapons. so i think it's worth the risk." nancy replied to the young sinclair.

"me too," lucas agreed. "but is it worth the time? it'll take all day to bike there and back." dustin mentioned to everyone.

"who said anything about bikes?" eddie asked.

"what? you got some car we don't know about?" steve questioned the munson adult. "it's not exactly a car, steve." eddie replied as he stood up straight. "it's not exactly mine, but, uh . . . it'll do. hey red —"

"max," sage corrected. "whatever, uh, you got a ski mask or a bandanna, something like that?" eddie asked the mayfield teen.

max stood there with her arms crossed before raising her eyebrows at the idea crossing her mind.

   EDDIE POPS OUT FROM BEHIND THE trailer in a michael myers mask that max wore on halloween in 8th grade.

the munson adult raised his hand and motioned the group to follow him.

sage and max keep each other close as they follow eddie. the group go around a trailer before reaching a couples moving trailer (forgot what it was called lowkey). the munson adult opens the window and hops inside, taking the mask off.

"that was suffocating," he mentions as the rest of the group follow him inside the moving trailer.

sage helps max into the vehicle before getting inside herself. eddie was currently in the front and was hot-wiring the vehicle.

soon enough, eddie was able to start the trailer and the couple was now screaming for the group to get out of their vehicle.

"shit!"

"go!"

"everybody, hang on to something!" steve yelled to the teens in the back.

"oh my god! let's go! let's go!"

sage and max sat in the back, holding onto each other and the couch.

"go, go, go!"

steve drove off and everyone was shocked.

"it's not every day you lose your house and car in one fell swoop," robin mentioned as the teens bounce around, attempting to stay still.

"hold on! hold on!"

steve took a sharp turn before ending up on the road, heading straight toward war zone.

   "WANNA PLAY UNO?" SAGE ASKED robin, dustin, and eddie. "play what?" eddie asked the wheeler twin. 

"uno!" sage shows eddie the cards. "how does that work?" the munson asks.

"basically you have seven cards and you place one down. if you have a red card and it says number eight, you have to put down either a red card or different colored card that has the number eight on it." dustin explained to him. "first person to get rid of all their cards win!"

". . . okay,"

"wanna play then?"

"sure."

sage gave each herself, robin, dustin, and eddie seven cards before starting. the wheeler twin puts down a blue number six card. robin puts down another blue card, dustin following. eddie looks down at the stack before putting down a blue card as well.

sage puts down a plus four and robin groans, grabbing four cards from the extra stack.

"what color?" robin asks. "green!" sage answered before dustin speaks. "shit!"

dustin begins to search for a green card until he finally found one. he placed the green card down and eddie puts down a green card as well. sage grabs a number four green card and slams it down. the buckley teen changes the color to red and dustin visibly smiles.

the henderson teen puts down a plus four and eddie glares at him.

"you little prick," he mumbles as he gathers his four cards. "color?"

"yellow,"

"oh you bitch." sage says with a glare as she begins to search for a yellow. "ha!"

max glances over at sage, softly smiling as she listens to the song playing in her ears. the red-head thought about her happy place when she was talking to lucas. her first thought was the starcourt mall where they had their first kiss, but she shoved that thought away when the image of billy popped up in her mind. max then thought of their first christmas together as a couple. she was definitely happy with her life then. she was with sage and her friends and her family.

the mayfield teen just hoped and prayed that her plan will work. she just hoped she would survive. she didn't want to die just yet. she was still too young. she didn't wanna leave her girlfriend, her friends, her mother . . . her home.

"here, a yellow damn card!" sage cursed as she slammed the card on the small table. "you have the whole stack now," dustin laughed.

the wheeler twin mocked dustin's laugh while glaring at him.

"robin,"

"yes?"

"destroy him."

"yes, ma'am!"

dustin threw his hands up when a plus four gets placed down by the buckley teen.

"come on, robin! i was good to you!" dustin whined as he took four cards from the stack.

THE EIGHT TEENS/ADULTS ARRIVE at war zone where it looked to be packed. steve parks the vehicle and all the woman (and steve) get out, and walk inside the building.

"why is it so packed? is world war three coming?" sage mumbled, squeezing max's hand. "i hope
not," max whispered back to her.

"let's be . . . fast," nancy mentioned. "yep," robin agreed quickly. "definitely,"

the six begin to walk around, sage and max staying close together as they immediately took some items they found useful. the wheeler twin walked around with max before spotting someone from the basketball team.

chance.

sage's eyes widen as she turns around, turning max around with her.

"the basketball teams here," she whispered in panic. "what?" max asked, looking back at the dark brunette basketball player. "just grab as much more stuff as possible and get to the counter to pay," sage informs her girlfriend.

the red-head nods and begins to stuff the basket she was holding with items. sage spots a dagger and grabs it, taking it out of the holster to look at it. the brunette grins and puts it back in the holster before putting in the basket max had.

"okay, let's go —" sage said and gently shoved her girlfriend to the counter to pay.

the rest of the group was at the counter, paying for the items they had. sage and max place their things on the counter, allowing the man behind to scan them. once the items were payed for, the group rushes out of the store and into the rv.

"what happened?" lucas asked as the group walk into the vehicle. "we gotta go," steve replied as he went to the driver seat.

"your old friends are here," erica mentioned to her brother. "shit!"

"let's go! let's go!"

"i'm going! i'm going! sit down!"

sage held onto max's waist tightly as they were still by the door. steve drove off immediately and they were on the road again.

STEVE HAD STOPPED IN THE MIDDLE of nowhere so everyone could prepare for battle.

max and sage were with nancy, dustin was with eddie, robin with steve, and erica with lucas.

"is this legal?" max asked the older wheeler, watching her cut her shotgun. "pretty sure it's a felony," sage answered her girlfriend. "yup," nancy agreed with her sister.

"right,"

"but it guarantees one thing," nancy mentioned as she continued cutting the gun. "i won't miss." the wheeler hits the weapon, letting it fall.

"wow, okay miss badass," sage mumbled with a grin. nancy smiles at her sister. "how are your powers?" she asked. "uh . . . i think their good,"

"let's hope," max said.

"how's she feeling?" dustin asked eddie as the munson adult lifted up his 'shield'. "light. but durable. deadly. but reliable." eddie replied making the henderson teen chuckle at him.

"hear me now," eddie speaks dramatically. "there will be no more retreating . . . from eddie the banished."

"hey, you're really ready for bat-tle," dustin joked. the munson adult looks over at dustin with a blank expression as the henderson teen laughs at his own joke. "you get it?" he asks. "bat-tle."

nothing.

"b-a-t. no?" dustin groans as he puts his shield down. "i thought i had a good one."

eddie puts his shield down and tackles dustin.

"what are you doing?"

the munson adult shoves dustin with a smile. the henderson teen goes back and tackles eddie.

"you son of a bitch!"

"no wedgies! no wedgies!"

eddie laughed and cupped dustin's face. "never change, dustin henderson," he told him. "promise me?"

dustin shakes his head lightly. "wasn't planning on it," he replied.

"good." eddie said. "good," he repeated making dustin repeat it back with a laugh.

"hey, sinclairs," eddie called out. "how are those, uh . . . those spears coming on?"

lucas looked up and sent him a thumbs up with a smile. erica scoffed at him.

"flip that damn thumb around," she told him. lucas turned his head and gave her a look. "what?" he asked his sister.

the younger girl dropped her spear and took lucas's spear. "it's too loose, lucas," she informed him as she began to fix it up. "this isn't a basketball game where they blow the whistle when your shoes fall off,"

"okay, okay, for the record, my shoes never fell off,"

"okay, for the record, it's kinda hard for your shoes to fall off when you're riding the bench."

"yet, for some reason, you show up to every game."

"mmm, except the one that mattered," erica mentioned. "plus, mom and dad forced me,"

"bull. mom and dad can't force you to do shit." lucas informed his sister. "well, even though you're a bench-riding loser, you're still my brother," the girl said. "just the facts."

"it just doesn't make sense," steve said as he and robin poured gasoline into a glass bottle. "what doesn't make sense?" robin asked him.

"that was dan shelter. he graduated, like, two years ago," steve mentioned, referring to the boy he saw with vickie back at war zone. "so?"

"so he's in college. which means he was visiting on spring break. fast times was returned, like, i don't know, a week ago?" the harrington teen explained. "right? unless she's got some horndog brother we don't know about. which is possible. or she's just really into judge reinhold?"

"steve," the buckley steve tried stopping him. "what?" he asked her. "i don't care. and i don't understand why you do either with everything that's going on. honestly, this feels like the perfect time for that little pull of the rug because . . . in the face of the world ending, the stakes of my love life feel spectacularly low."

"yeah. i mean, i get you there, but . . . i still have hope," steve mentioned, hanging her the bottle before pointing at max and sage. "but — look at them," robin turned her head.

"they managed to make it work," robin stared at the couple, seeing them smile and laugh at one another like if nothing is happening. "they're the reason i still have hope for you."

"yeah, well, not everything has a happy ending," robin informed him. "yeah, yeah, believe me, i know." steve agreed. "just . . . give it a shot."

robin laughs softly as she glances at sage, max, and nancy. "i'm not talking about failed romance," she mentions as she pours more gasoline into another glass bottle. "i just . . . i have this terrible," she paused. "gnawing feeling that . . ." she stops her actions and looks over at steve. "it might not work out for us this time."

"you think we shouldn't be doing this?" steve questions the buckley teen. "i think we're mad fools the lot of us, but . . ." robin sighs, looking at her surroundings. ". . . but if we don't stop him, who will?" she looks over at sage. "i don't even know if sage has the complete power considering he's been taking it from her, but . . . we have to try, right?" she looks back at steve.

the harrington teen gives her a light nod, "yeah."

robin smiles softly at him.

"to killing vecna," steve proposes and robin grabs another glass bottle, holding it up. "slash henry," she adds in. steve smiles. "slash one,"

their bottles clink.

   THE TEENS WERE ALL BACK IN THE RV on their way to the creel house. it was a silence trip.

dustin was in the far back with eddie and robin, lucas and max and sage were in the booth, erica was seated near the front and steve was driving while nancy was in the passenger seat.

sage held max's hand tightly. she would be lying if she said she wasn't scared. she was terrified.

for her sister, friends, her girlfriend, herself.

once they arrived at the house, the four teens hopped off the rv with their lamps. the stared at the house and began to walk in together.

hoping everything would end they way they want it too . . .

AUTHORS NOTE //

i have finally updated for you guys !!

i apologize deeply for not updating like i used too. i completely lost motivation and my mental health hasn't been at its best. i am getting the help i need, so i'm glad i'm stepping into 2023 with a new me and hopefully a better me!

i'll keep attempting to update as best as i can. we only need one or two more chapters to go before we end season four !!

i love you all and see you lovelies into the new year 🥰

bee <3