Into Every Stranger Generation

Chapter 30

 "How?" Becca breathed softly, her eyes focused on the space where the Mind Flayer had once been. Now, it was just a vast emptiness, the landscape looking as if a tornado had decimated everything in its path, just barren and eerie. The bats and the demodogs had taken off, probably to protect the only master they had left.

Will shook his head slowly, his eyes staring off in the distance, "I don't know exactly. It...it was like all those cables you have behind your tv that are all jumbled up and tangled. I had to follow the lines and disconnect each one. Each one was someone or something that it was connected to, the hive mind. Every time I did, I could feel it getting weaker. It tried to fight back, but it couldn't. It was like I was too strong for it. The last one was difficult. It didn't want to let loose. It was Vecna's cord. Vecna chose to be connected to the Mind Flayer. He wasn't simply possessed so that one took more time. He didn't want to let go. He was desperate to hold onto that connection, that power, but I..."

Will's eyes rolled up into his head and just before he hit the ground, Steve was there, grabbing him and making sure his fall was gentle. He laid him on the ground, immediately checking for a pulse.

"He's alive," Steve told them.

Robin's eyes were wide. "He's probably drained, just like Eleven gets. I mean, what he just did...that had to take some massive juice. His battery probably needs to be recharged or something."

Eddie looked around at the disheveled group. He saw a lot of bruises and cuts, many tired eyes and haggard faces but everyone seemed to be okay. They would need showers, bandages, and a lot of sleep, but they were all alive and still standing.

"Shit, the walkie!" Becca exclaimed. "Ivy, tell the others that it's done so they can go after Vecna. We can't waste any time now. That bastard definitely knows we have to be coming for him next."

"Dustin," Ivy called into the walkie, "Dustin, are you there?"

The walkie crackled and a voice answered, "We're here. Is it done?"

"The Mind Flayer has been neutralized," she stated. "Will did it. He is unconscious but alive and okay. Go ahead with your part of the plan."

"Got it," he answered. "We will meet you back at the gate."

"Okay," Ivy barely got out before Eddie had yanked the walkie from her hands. She stared up at him in irritation but he looked so concerned she didn't say anything.

"Dustin," he said, "I mean it man. You better be careful. Anything goes sideways, you get your asses out of there and back to the gate. Don't do anything stupid and don't try to play hero."

"Why am I having a weird sense of deja vu?" Steve asked. "Oh yeah, because I said the same thing to you and you didn't listen!"

"You mean like you?" his friend quipped over the walkie.

"Henderson, this is not a joke," Eddie growled, glaring at Steve, his shoulders tense, his body rigid. "No one else dies, got it? If it even looks like things are going south, you turn heel and run."

"Got it. No heroes today," Dustin answered. "We'll see you at the gate."

The walkie went silent and Eddie sighed, pressing it against his forehead. He couldn't stand that Dustin was out there without him to watch his back. Eddie knew he had to try to trust that Nancy and Jax would watch over him, but he didn't know Jax particularly well. He was Becca's friend and he'd fought monsters before, but would he risk everything to save a kid he barely knew? He knew Nancy would but neither of them had superpowers and the only superhero on their team would be focused on taking down Vecna.

A small hand found his; warm fingers winding through his own frigid ones. He would know that touch anywhere. It was forever imprinted on his skin like a brand or a tattoo. Opening his eyes, he saw Becca, her eyes soft and full of empathy, knowing how he was struggling. He pulled her to him, holding her against his chest, breathing in the scent of her. It was a bit muddled after a fight to the death in this hellscape but his sharp vampire senses could still detect it and it soothed his soul.