NUMB TO THE FEELING ( eddie munson! )

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

——☆ NUMB TO THE FEELING
chapter eighteen: the great escape

"HE SHOWED ME FOUR GATES SPREADING around Hawkins. They looked like the one outside of Eddie's trailer, but they didn't stop growing," Nancy Wheeler told the group as she sat in front of them, explaining what Vecna had shown her under the curse. "And this wasn't the Upside Down Hawkins. This was our Hawkins. Our home."

Seated on the couch with her hands folded together, Kate Wallace listened intently to her words, unable to move or even speak.

"He's been telling us his plan this whole time," Max Mayfield spoke up, standing in the corner of the room. "Four kills. Four gates."

"If that's true..." Dustin Henderson trailed off, gulping nervously. "He's only one kill away."

"Jesus Christ," Eddie Munson cursed, taking his arm off Kate as he stressfully ran his hands over his face. "Jesus Christ."

"What do we do?" Kate Wallace asked the girl seated in front of her. "We can't let him kill again."

"No, Kate, we can't. That's why we have to go back in there," Nancy Wheeler answered her, clenching her jaw. "Back to the Upside Down."

Widening her gaze, Kate Wallace was shocked into silence. They had just escaped from the Upside Down not even a half an hour ago, and now Nancy Wheeler wanted them to go back? The thought alone made her stomach turn.

"Whoa, no, no, no. What?" Steve Harrington asked the girl. "We barely made it out of there last time! Look at Kate! Her arm is bleeding out! Look at my stomach!"

After briefly glancing at Kate Wallace's wounded arm, Nancy Wheeler clenched her jaw and turned back to face Steve.

"We weren't prepared the first time," Nancy explained to him, nodding in assurance. "But this time, we will be. We'll get weapons and protection. We'll go through the gate, we'll find his lair, and we'll kill him."

"Kill him with what, Nancy?" Kate spoke up. "I mean, it all sounds good in theory, but where are we going to find the weapons to kill this thing?"

Seated beside her, Eddie paused, "Wait, I think I might know a place."

Pushing himself up to a standing position, Eddie Munson quickly grabbed the local newspaper and placed in on the table in front of him. As everyone gathered around, the boy announced, "Check this out. The War Zone. I've been there once. It's huge. They got everything you need for uh...well, killing things, basically."

"You think fake Rambo has enough guns there?" Robin Buckley sarcastically asked. "Is that a grenade? I mean how is any of this legal?"

As the others focused down on the newspaper, Steve Harrington was distracted by a sudden noise outside. Furrowing his eyebrows, the boy moved towards the window and studied the atmosphere. After briefly scanning the area, his eyes landed on a familiar woman standing with two men in uniforms.