mercy ; peter ballard

18. fight or flight

march 27, 1986

the rv buzzed as they drove along the road. it seemed like the road was never ending. the air felt tense in the rv as they prepared themselves. it was suffocating, at least to beatrice.

they were stocked up on as many supplies as they could muster. three shields with nails hammered into it, two guns, an axe, two makeshift spears, five bottles of molotov cocktails, two lighters, three pocket knives, a baseball bat, and a pack of skittles. bea tried to make as many weapons as she could, but knew her powers were weaker than they have been five years prior.

a journey song played on the radio as they drove in silence. bea's knee bounced, anxious for the outcome. she felt sick to her stomach. she wanted to look ahead to assure herself everything was going to be okay, but she couldn't. she was weak from making the weapons and needed to conserve her abilities. she remembered that her visions may no longer be accurate if peter could alter them. she felt helpless.

the rv finally stops in front of the creel house. max, lucas, and erica begin to collect their stuff.

"max," beatrice called, turning the redhead's attention to her. bea stood up and engulfed her into a warm hug. "please be safe."

max's arms wrap around her. "i will be. thank you...for everything."

"thank me when you get back," bea tries to lighten the situation. "love you, sweetpea."

"love you, too, bea." max broke the hug. to bea, it felt like a part of her was going with max. she couldn't help but feel the dread, the fear. the fear that she might not see her again. she felt eyes begin to burn with tears. she sat down in her seat.

erica takes the lead, hopping out first. lucas and max followed behind, closing the rv door. as they walked closer, it was like the house was a venus fly trap, waiting for its prey before devouring it.

"she's going to be okay," robin tries to assure her.

"i hope so," beatrice says as they drove out of view. she watched the windows as the sun set around the scenery. the darkness was closing in. there was no time to waste.

steve sped over to the trailer park, parking behind a bunch of trees. steve sits in the back with eddie, bea, robin, and dustin as nancy pushed to the front.

"okay. i wanna run through it one more time," nancy says, turning around. "phase one."

"we meet erica at the playground," beatrice answered. "she'll signal max and lucas when we're ready.

"phase two?"

steve looks up at nancy. "max baits vecna. he'll go after her, which will put him in his trance."

"phase three?"

dustin points at eddie. "me and eddie draw the bats away." eddie ruffles his hair, playfully.

"four?"

robin speaks up. "we head into vecna's newly bat-free lair, and," she holds up a molotov cocktail. "...flambé."

"nobody moves on to the next phase until we've all copied. nobody deviated from the plan, no matter what," nancy commands. "got it?"

"got it," everyone replies, collecting their stuff.

beatrice grabs a gun and they leave the rv, heading towards eddie's trailer. steve throws open the door. he filps on the light switch and they pile in. steve takes off his vest, preparing to go through the gate.

"this is definitely not how i expected to spend my birthday," bea whispers to herself.

"be careful," dustin says, looking up.