Billy's gone.
Ruby Buckley's world ended with him.
But Hawkins isn't done with her yet.
When strange deaths begin again, Ruby is pulled into the heart of the storm. Between shadowy nightmares, the town's newest outcast, and someone she was never s...
( songs for the chapter ) up around the bend // ccr dreams // the cranberries that's when your heartaches begin // elvis presley
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Time compressed into something tight and trembling. After everything Ruby said, after everything she saw, the group was buzzing, thinking, scrambling for the next step.
They fell silent, all of them stewing in the same terrifying question: What now? What can they possibly use against something like Vecna?
And that's when Eddie suddenly straightened.
"Wait." He span toward Max. "Do you have a newspaper lying around here?"
Max raised an eyebrow but headed to the coffee table, grabbing the thin, wrinkled paper. She handed it to him across the dining table.
Eddie flipped through it quickly, mumbling to himself, until-
"Check this out." He slammed it down flat and jabbed a finger at a photo on the bottom corner. A man, shirtless, sweaty, long hair sticking to his shoulders, a shotgun clutched in his hands, the American flag blazing behind him. He looked like a feral gym teacher auditioning to be Rambo's chaotic cousin.
"The War Zone," Eddie announced triumphantly. "I've been there once. It's huge. They've got everything you need for, uh... well... killing things, basically."
"Do you think fake Rambo has enough guns there?" Robin squinted at the ad. "Is that a grenade? I mean, how is any of this legal?" She drifted closer, and the whole group crowded around the table. Everyone except Max, who hanged slightly back. Ruby shifted, wrapping one arm around Max's shoulders and the other around her elbow, quietly boxing her into a protective half-hug.
"Well, lucky for us it is, so..." Eddie shrugged, grinning, sarcasm oozing from his smile. "This... This place is just far enough outside of Hawkins. As long as we steer clear of the main roads, we oughta be able to avoid cops and, uh, angry hicks."
"If we're trying to avoid angry hicks," Erica said flatly, "maybe we shouldn't go to some store called The War Zone."
"Normally, I'd agree," Nancy said, "but we need weapons. So it's worth the risk."
"Me too," Lucas nodded.
"Yeah, but is it worth the time?" Dustin chimed in. "It'll take us all day to bike there and back."
Eddie snorted. "Who said anything about bikes?"
Steve blinked. "What, you got some car we don't know about?"
"It's not exactly a car, Steve." Eddie stood upright, looking him dead in the eye, smiling like he was enjoying a private joke with himself. "And it's not exactly mine, but, uh..." He leaned in a little as if evaluating Steve's soul for sport. Ruby watched from beside Max, the amused look on her face mirrored fleetingly by Nancy, whose lip twitched upward for half a second. Max caught Ruby's glance and the two snorted quietly.
