Complete Chaos

059

The rest of the teens caught up to the three boys and Melody.

Nancy handed Eddie the food. He kneeled down under the Skull Rock and ripped open the brown bag. He opened a can of coke and drank from it.

Julia grabbed Melody from Steve's arms. Melody squealed, seeing her mother even though she saw her twenty-five minutes ago. It felt like an eternity for the young girl.

Eddie began to explain the events that occurred last night. "When I got to the shore, I tried calling you guys," he said, glancing at Julia, who was smiling at Melody.

He looked away and said, "But, uh... my walkie was busted, man. Drenched."

His bangs were still a little bit wet. With the back of his leather jacket, he cleaned his mouth and said, "So, uh, I did the thing that I do now. Apparently, I ran," he chuckled dryly.

Julia looked at Eddie sadly.

"Do you know what time this was? The attack," Nancy asked, standing next to Robin.

Dustin was behind them, walking back and forth, looking down at his compass. No one paid attention to him.

"Yeah, no, I know exactly what time it was." He looked down at his wrist and unclasped his watch. "My walkie wasn't the only thing that got soaked."

He threw his watch at Nancy, who barely caught it. " 9:27," Nancy read the watch.

"Same time our flashlights went kablooey."

"Which means what, exactly," Steve asked next to Julia, who was sitting down on a trunk with Melody on her lap.

"That surge of energy was Vecna attacking Patrick." Nancy threw Eddie's watch back to him.

"Well, we're one step closer," Robin said, her hands in her jean pockets.

Julia set her backpack down on the ground next to her legs. She unzipped the bag and got out food for Melody.

"We know how Vecna attacks."

Noticing the spoon in her mothers hand, Melody got eager to eat. She hit her mothers lap with a big smile on her face and did a little dance from side to side.

"And where he attacks from," Lucas added with one hand on his hip.

Julia looked at Lucas as she took the lid off. "So now we just need to sneak into his lair in the Upside Down and drive a stake through his heart," Max said, her arms crossed over her chest.

Julia placed the lid next to her on the tree trunk.

"If he has a heart," Robin said. "A stake? Is he like a vamp? Is he a vampire?" Steve asked, looking down at Julia, but she was busy with Melody.

"It was a metaphor," Max responded.

"A bullet should work on him, right?"

"I say we chop his head off," Lucas added.

Melody yelled, "do you agree with them, Mellow," Julia said to her daughter, but the reason why Melody yelled was because she was hungry and wanted her mother to hurry up.

"All of the above, but we can't do any of that 'til we find a way into the Upside Down," Nancy told the group.

"We need El to get her powers back."

Steve had his arms crossed over his chest. "Everything was way easier."

Steve began to explain, looking at Eddie. "We had this girl. She had sup-"

Eddie interrupted Steve. "Superpowers. Yeah, you mentioned her."

Eddie was still on the ground in a squat position. His elbows rested on his knees. "Hey, uh, Henderson's not, uh, cursed, is he?"