𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐓𝐀𝐁𝐋𝐘 𝐍𝐔𝐌𝐁 | 𝐄𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐞 𝐌𝐮𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐧

☆ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ 27

                  THE MOMENT Eddie yanked the door open, the bats were on him.

There were hundreds of them. All of them flying at Eddie as he quickly grabbed a bike, trying to put the rifle behind his back at the same time as trying to ride the goddamn bike. Luckily for him that their previous visit to the Upside Down left him with the bikes they had taken to ride from Nancy's house to Eddie's trailer. His spear and shield were already on his back and when he finally managed to put the rifle on his back, he took the handles with both hands and sprinted off.

The swarm of bats was right behind him, screeching and growling.

Eddie was terrified.

He was so fucking scared. He didn't know what to do, his heart was beating way too fast that he was sure it would pop out of his chest at any minute. His eyes were covered in fear, his hands and body were shaking so terribly that Eddie was worried he might fall off of his bike. Not only that, but his mind was racing, trying to come up with any type of a plan but fucking hell, he wasn't the planner in this group. Nancy was. Robin was, Steve was. Sam was. Eddie wasn't. He wasn't a planner nor someone who know how to act in situations like these except run on his impulsive thoughts.

Eddie turned to look behind himself and wished he didn't.

The bats were close, too close.

Jesus H. Christ. Eddie was petrified.

His palms were becoming sweaty, his eyes were filling with horror and, to Eddie's surprise, tears.

He didn't really want to die.

Not yet, at least.

"Come and get me, you sons of bitches!" Eddie screamed, turning to look in front of him once again.

Eddie managed to ride past few more trailers before, finally like Eddie had asked them to do, the bats got him. One of he bats, to be specific. It bumped its body into Eddie and said Eddie, scared and shocked, fell sharply onto the ground with few rolls. The bike made loud noise as it fell but it wasn't loud enough to cover up his own terrified thoughts and the shrieking of bats as they flew angrily.

Eddie didn't waste a second and stood up immediately, messily trying to regain balance as he kept breathing erratically. He took a second to look at the bats before he took off, turning towards the exit of the trailer park and trying to run as far away as possible.

Eddie knew of himself as a coward.

He had always ran away, always hid from his problems, always tried to put this stupid fake confident barrier around him and pretend as if the insults he got every goddamn day weren't harmful. As if they didn't hurt.

He suddenly stopped, a conversation he had with the group rolling in his mind like an all too old broken tape of photos.

"I didn't know what to do, so I... I ran away. I just ran, and I left her there."

"I mean, look at us. We are not heroes."

Eddie turned towards the bats, sharp look in his eyes as he did so.

He was a coward.

He had always been a coward.

Eddie Munson was never a hero and, quite frankly, he hated that.

Eddie hated that he could never stay and fight, hated that all he ever did was use words as a shield of protection. He hated that he couldn't be strong and stay his ground when Chrissy went flying up at the ceiling, when she died. God, Eddie Munson hated himself.