The Long Game, Lucas Sinclair

051. i love bald people

CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE.
4x09: The Piggyback

Sam had reached a point where she couldn't deny it: she was scared.

The further Steve drove them in the trailer (which now felt empty in the absence of three members of their group), the more anxious Sam became. Steve was now taking them back to the trailer park. The sun had slowly set in the time it took them to travel, so now there was figuratively and literally no light at the end of the tunnel.

When they finally drove into the lot of the trailer park, Sam felt nausea swirl in her stomach.

For her, this was it.

This was Sam's turn to split up with the rest of the group. Dustin, Auggie, Steve, Robin, Eddie, and Nancy were all journeying to the Upside Down through the Gate in Eddie's trailer. Sam, on the other hand, wasn't.

The remainder of Sam's role would be played out alone.

She was staying in the trailer they had stolen and were currently traveling with. It was parking in the woods, so that the owners of the stolen trailer wouldn't spot they were back in town, but still virtually in the trailer park. All Sam would be using was the static of the radio and a camouflage bandana to blindfold herself; she was going to try and go into the void again.

This time, it would be alone, and this time, she couldn't fail.

Max's life was on the line.

When the stolen trailer finally slowed to a stop, jolting when Steve parked it, Sam felt the tension rising. For a few moments, the group was left in terse silence; all Sam could hear was owls hooting and crickets chirping.

"Okay," Nancy breathed, breaking the quiet. "I wanna run through it one more time: phase one?"

"We meet Erica at the playground," Robin answered. It would be her, Auggie, Nancy, and Steve taking part in this phase. "She'll signal Max and Lucas when we're ready."

Nancy nodded, continued, "Phase two?"

"Max baits Vecna," Steve said this. "He'll go after her, which'll put him in his trance."

"I'll go into the trance too," Sam added. "I'll make sure Max is safe in whatever the hell Henry is putting her through."

"Phase three?"

"Eddie and I draw the bats away," Dustin answered.

Eddie grinned playfully from behind Dustin. He gripped the top of Dustin's head with his broad hand, wiggling it around like a gearshift and nudging him.

"Four?"

"We head into Vecna's hopefully newly bat-free lair, and..." Auggie held up one of the Molotovs that Steve and Robin had made, "flambé."

Nancy inhaled through her nose, displaying a final nod. "Nobody moves on to the next phase until we've all copied," she ordered. "Nobody deviates from the plan, no matter what. Got it?"