WHEEZY // an IT story

e l e v e n

JUNE 9th, 1989

"what did you guys bring?" mike asked the other teens. they were gathered in bill's front lawn, at 8:00 in the morning, looking like total losers. ben held up a large kitchen knife. beverly had a small handgun, and two army knives, that glinted dangerously in the sun. richie tightened his grip on the metal baseball bat he had brought. eddie swung a piece of fresh pipe he had taken from his garage. of course, he had triple checked it for rust. stan had an only rifle that was strapped across his body. he also had several boxes of bullets. finally, mike turned to show his bolt pistol, which was also stepped across his body.
"how the fuck did we manage to get all this shit?" richie asked. the losers all just shrugged, not wanting to tell their tales of the smuggled weapons.

"looks like it's bill that's late," stan said, glancing towards bill's house. suddenly, as if on command, bill's garage door opened. bill appeared with a ton of supplies, that looked like camping supplies. he carried out the large bundles one by one until they were unloaded in the front lawn. finally, bill grabbed a rifle and a box of matches.
"what's all this?" ben asked.
"it's better if i tell you later," bill replied, looking out into the street.
"how are we gonna bike this stuff all the way to three mile island? it's a couple towns over," eddie asked, putting his hands on his hips. richie took this opportunity to snake his arm around eddie's waist.
suddenly, a large black van pulled up in front of the losers. the front window rolled down, revealing a grungy-looking older teen.
"hey mitch," bill called out, before opening the van doors. there were no seats, so the losers piled in on the ground, shoving the giant bags wherever they would fit.
"you can go," bill said, and the teen nodded before hitting the gas.
"so can you tell us what all this extra stuff us for yet?" mike asked. bill nodded.
"we're uh, we're going to be camping," bill said, letting the words sink in. richie was the first to speak.
"oh thank god! we're going somewhere safe! i can't believe i actually thought we were gonna fight this clown!" richie laughed, grabbing eddie's hand.
"no, richie. we're camping on three mile island. for a whole week," bill said.
each of the losers let out their own outburst of horror, richie being the loudest. 
"a whole week?! without telling our parents?! my mom is gonna have a heart attack!" eddie yelled, causing mitch, the driver, to swerve a bit on the road.
"my mom has it covered. she thinks we're going to portland," bill said.
"she's already contacted all your parents," he added. then, the losers breathed a sigh of relief. for now, their parents were off their backs.
"what about mitch?" beverly whispered.
"won't he tell?" richie asked. bill shook his head.
"mitch won't tell a soul. i can count on it," he assured. mitch lit a cigarette, and cracked the window a bit.
"you all are gonna go try and kill pennywise, huh?" he asked, eyes still on the road.
"yeah. but how do you know who he is?" stan answered.
"i've dealt with him before," mitch replied nonchalantly.
"what did you do?" beverly asked.
"notice how i don't have any friends? yeah. that's my fault. i had a choice and i chose myself," he said, putting out the cigarette.
"oh. wow," ben said, turning back to the losers.
"be careful," mitch said.

after a few hours of somewhat awkward driving, the losers finally arrived at three mile island. the small flat of land was totally empty, except for the looming forest ahead of them. it was the middle of the day, but the weather was strangely cold. the island was haunted, after all.
the losers waved their goodbyes to mitch, who would be staying in his van for the week. then, they started their descent into the forest.

eddie hoped they would all be able to leave the forest, too.