𝐙𝐄𝐑𝐎 ✯ steve harrington¹

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐋𝐕𝐄 : sucker punch

WORD COUNT : 3.2k

All kinds of stuff littered the shelves of the local military surplus store. Truthfully, some of the stuff that Owen had picked through just felt like various items the shop owner had brought to the store after a garage clean-up. But Jonathan and Nancy had still managed to find a few useful tools. Owen's basket was still empty despite having walked down nearly every aisle. Nothing had caught her eye that wasn't already tossed into Jonathan or Nancy's basket. That is, until she rounded a corner and came upon a tall rack of shelves. Much like the rest of the store, there were all sorts of items stacked on the shelves – everything from a bird feeder to multiple unlabelled candles. What specifically caught Owen's eye were the two bear traps sitting right there for the taking. Her expression lit up, immediately shoving one of them into her basket as if someone would try and take it from her.

"You really think we're gonna need something like that," Nancy's voice came from over her shoulder. Owen turned to face her, a smirk tugging at the corner of her lips.

"You said it hunted like a bear," she quipped, shrugging. "Couldn't hurt to have something to buy us some time," Owen reasoned. This seemed to be good enough for Nancy, her shrug mirroring Owen's. Jonathan met them at the end of the aisle, his eyes widening at the sight of the bear trap. He pretty quickly decided not to say anything about it, thinking that any amount of firepower against this thing would be worth it in the end.

"You guys think we've got everything," Jonathan checked in, looking between the girls. Owen and Nancy glanced at each other, giving tight-lipped smiles before directing their attention back to Jonathan.

"I think this is the best we're gonna be able to do," Owen answered, eyes glancing dubiously around the store. They would have been in perfect condition if they were in need of turkey figurines and holiday-themed coolers. But the three of them had picked up basically every usable weapon and tool from off of the shelves.

"I just need to get some bullets from behind the counter and then I think we'll be good," Jonathan said with a nod. His eyes peeked at Nancy to make sure there wasn't anything else she needed. She pressed her lips into a firm line, giving him an assuring nod. Jonathan turned on his heel, leading the group towards the cash register.

Once they all came to stand in front of the cashier, each of them began unloading all of the heavy equipment from their baskets onto the countertop. The man behind the cash register was eyeing each of them suspiciously, clearly not sure what to think about these three teenagers loading up on military surplus items.

"And I'll have four boxes of the .38s," Jonathan added once Nancy placed the last of her items in front of the register. The man nodded slowly, reaching back to pluck four boxes of bullets from the shelves behind him. Turning back around, he set them alongside all of the other things they had stacked up in preparation for checkout.

"What're you kids doing with all this," the man finally asked, a thick drawl in his voice. He had started to look pretty closely at each of the items, probably very curious about the combination of lighter fluid, bullets, hammers, gasoline, and a bear trap. Completely unsure of how to answer his question, the three teenagers nervously peered at one another.

"Monster hunting," Nancy replied earnestly, looking back at the man with a shrug. Despite the pure honesty in her words, the older man just scoffed and shook his head. He began to check out each of the items on the countertop, likely assuming that he would just never get a clear answer out of the teenagers. After everything was paid for and stuffed into a precarious-looking cardboard box, the three of them strolled out of the store and back to Jonathan's car.

"Monster hunting," Jonathan repeated, chuckling once they were out of earshot of the clerk. A smug little grin tugged at the corners of Nancy's lips, pretty proud of her quick wit. Jonathan popped the trunk open, allowing for all of them to unload all of the heavy equipment from their grip.