'and i can still see it all in my mind... all of you, all of me, intertwined. i once believed love would be black and white, but it's golden.'
Samira Mayfield is forced to move to a new town, transfer to a new school, and make new friends two months...
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CHAPTER TWELVE — the piggyback
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"Okay. I wanna run through it one more time." Nance starts, pacing back and forth in the RV, as we go over each phase again. You can practically feel the anxiety radiating off each of us and my hand finds Steve's instinctively. As he gives it a gentle squeeze, it reminds me of that night when we were standing outside of the lab; the start of a seemingly never-ending nightmare.
Phase One: We meet Erica at the playground. She'll signal Max and Lucas when we're ready.
Phase Two: Max baits Vecna. He'll go after her, which'll put him in his trance.
Phase Three: Dustin, Lila, and Eddie draw the bats away.
Phase Four: We head into Vecna's newly bat-free lair, and...flambé.
"Nobody moves on to the next phase until we've all copied. Nobody deviates from the plan, no matter what. Got it?" Nancy orders and we all agree with her, then head into the Munson trailer in our world. Steve tosses his stuff through the gate, before climbing up. The older boy lands with a flip, causing Robbie to make a remark about him showing off, and a smile to form on my face. I go in next and Robin kneels down, giving me a leg up and I land on my back. Harrington pulls me to my feet and my body is held against his; our faces dangerously close. We breathe each other in and my eyes flick between his eyes and his lips, then up again. I break away from his grasp, so everyone else can jump through.
"Hey, guys, listen. If things here start to go south, I mean, at all, you abort. Okay?" Steve starts, looking between the trio in front of him. "Draw the attention of the bats. Keep 'em busy for a minute or two. We'll take care of Vecna. Don't try to be cute or be a hero or something. Okay? You guys are just..."
"Decoys." Dustin interrupts his speech. "Don't worry. You can be the hero, Steve."
"Absolutely." Eddie adds and looks between Steve and the Henderson boy. "I mean, look at us. We are not heroes."
"Hey, Slam, can I?" Eddie gestures to the side and we part from the group. "No sacrifices, okay? No sacrificing yourself for anyone and no letting those dweebs sacrifice themselves. There's no shame in running."
"Says the guy who has been beating himself up for running." I offer. "Maybe it's time you take your own advice."
