Nyctophilia 🌪 Reddie

xii

None of the teenagers in the base had spoken since their encounter the night before. By then they had figured out that Richie and Eddie ran off, but they couldn't do much. They tried to act clueless, following their daily routines and not selling themselves out.

Bev had seen that more officials were stalking around, determined to keep the remaining teenagers within the base. It wasn't until two days after Richie and Eddie had vanished that Bev was able to speak to Stan without an official hovering around her.

"We need to do something," she hissed, as they stood in an empty hallway, constantly glancing up and down.

"What are we supposed to do, Bev? We don't know where they are or what their plan is, or if they even have one!" Stan snapped back, leaning against the wall in irritation. "It wouldn't be the first time those assholes took off without a plan."

Bev ignored Stan's comment. "If what Richie saw was true, everyone's in danger. If the Hive isn't gone-"

"Fuck, I know, Bev," Stan said, grabbing his hair in annoyance. "We need to tell someone."

"We can't unless we want to sell Eddie and Richie out!"

"We can't let them risk their lives to stop the Hive without backup!"

"What if they're not trying to stop the Hive? What if they're after the Hawkins kids or something? The one thing I know is we can't do anything from in here."

Stan narrowed his eyes. "We can't break out, Bev. They're gonna be on a wanted list. We'll be lucky if we ever see them again!"

"They're our team. Isn't it our job to protect them?" Bev protested.

Stan sighed and began to walk back toward the cafeteria where the other losers were eating lunch. As soon as they entered, they realized there was a group of officials watching them.

"Where were you two?" one asked.

"Bathroom," Bev answered plainly, sitting next to Ben.

"For twenty minutes?" the official asked again, glaring.

"Don't judge my lady problems," Bev snapped, arms crossed.

The official opened his mouth to say something else when his eyes started to roll to the back of his head and he collapsed. The other two officials looked down at him and saw a red dart buried in the exposed skin on his neck. They looked at the teenagers, lifting their guns, before they fell as well.

"What the fuck?" Stan asked, crawling under the table for cover, the others following quickly.

They heard heavy footsteps, and everyone stayed quiet. They knew anyone entering the room could see them hiding, but it didn't matter. If the Hive had survived and was coming after them, they would try to hide.

"What the fuck are you guys doing?" came a harsh but familiar voice.

A big figure bent down, wearing the same outfit that the other guards were wearing, but with a mask. He pulled it off and the teenagers were confused but sighed in relief.

"What the hell are you doing here, Bowers?" Stan asked, climbing out from under the table.

"No time to explain," Henry said, pulling his mask back on. "Where's Tozier and Kaspbrack?"

"Gone. They took off a couple of days ago," Bev said, picking up one the official's discarded weapons.

"Smart on them. Come on," Henry said, walking hastily. "We need to get out of here before they realize I'm not a real guard."