We sat there for a long time after the others left and hauled my body away. I was finding it all hard to process and Eddie was giving me time to think. I suppose all we had was time now... It didn't matter how long we sat there in the dark for.
"What do we do now, Eds?" I finally asked under me breath, "you said you couldn't follow us out before... are we stuck in here forever?"
"I don't know," he admitted and I fell silent again. I couldn't think of anything more maddening that being trapped in this horrible place knowing we could never get out. I let out an uneven sigh and Eddie squeezed my hand in his, "but we're together, alright? I'm not going anywhere Richie. Not this time..."
I looked towards him and offered a sad smile, "thanks, Eds. I'm sorry you're gonna be stuck listening to my voice for all eternity."
Eddie laughed, "fuck... okay, I changed my mind, I'm going to go hang out with the rats I saw earlier."
For the first time since I'd lost Eddie, I laughed. He smiled back before joining me and soon our laughter was echoing through the sewers. It was refreshing to feel a little happiness again and I grinned at my friend.
"Thanks, Eddie."
"So you're not regretting your decision to come down here?"
I scoffed, "are you kidding? I literally died coming down here! That's like the worst thing that could have happened to me!"
He laughed again, "at least they took you away! I'm going to be stuck rotting away in there," he gestured behind him and I chuckled.
"Yeah, maybe so... but you were stabbed through the chest by a child-eating clown... I got wet and hit my head," I rolled my eyes at how lame that sounded, "I always hoped I'd at least die in some horrific, memorable way."
"Some of us just die better than others... It's not your fault your last moments were shit," he teased and I pushed him playfully.
"You're such a dick."
"Come on, let's go for a walk. It's depressing sitting in the same place for so long."
He got up and extended his had which I took without hesitation.
He pulled me to my feet and we wandered through the sewers and back the way we came when we first entered the wretched place.
"So, what should we do to pass the time down here?" Eddie asked as we shuffled through the tunnels.
"I don't know about you but I can think of a bunch of things we could do to pass the time," I raised a suggestive eyebrow and he sighed at me.
"How charming... do I really have to spend all of eternity with you?"
I nudged him, "You died first; your fault."
"Hey... Richie?"
"Come on, I was joking, don't get all-"
"Richie!" He snapped and I shut my mouth, "I remember this place... It's near the hole in the ground... the one with the weird symbols on the cover that we climbed down... right?"
I looked around, "yeah I think so... why?"
"I couldn't get this far before."
"What?"
"I couldn't get this far before! Are you deaf as well as stupid?"
"Alright," I huffed, "calm down..."
"When I followed you guys out of here the first time it was like I hit a brick wall... I couldn't get out, I was trapped in here but now... if I've gotten this far, maybe we can actually get out of here?"
We shared a moment of realisation before pressing on and hurrying towards the way out.
In reality Eddie had been down here only a little longer than I had, but to him it had felt so much longer, and I could see how determined he was to get back outside.
He clambered up to the surface ahead of me and back through the hole in the ground that we'd entered the tunnels through, "Eds, wait up!" I called but he wasn't stopping.
I did my best to keep up with him but he was more nimble than me and I took longer trying to drag myself up the slippery rocks.
When I reached the entrance of the hole and crawled out, I saw the cover laying to one side and my eyes scanned the cave for Eddie.
"Eds?" I called, beginning to panic when I couldn't see him anywhere, "where you at, Bud?"
All was quiet and for a moment I felt real fear set in.
What if he left me and I'd be trapped on my own in here forever?
"This way, dipshit!" Eddie beckoned me over to where he was standing and I scrambled over to him.
"I thought you'd left me for a second there," I panted.
"I should be so lucky..."
We kept going until we reached the bottom of the well and Eddie smirked back at me, "moment of truth..."
He didn't waste any more time and started to climb up the rope, and I followed close behind. I was looking forward to getting out and seeing daylight and when Eddie climbed out I was blinded by the rays as they lit up the well.
Eddie grabbed my arms and hauled me out with him and we sat gasping in the rubble of the Neibolt house.
"We fucking made it!" He laughed, "I can't believe we're out of that shit hole!"
I pulled him roughly into a hug and we both laughed in the early morning sun.
