the view between villages // a stranger things choose-your-own-adventure

PAGE 33: Bats with Dustin and Eddie

"We can stick to the plan," you say. "I'll go with Dustin and Eddie."

Steve looks like he wants to protest, but he simply nods and wraps you into a hug.

After dropping Max, Lucas, and Erica off at the Creel House, you head into the Upside Down with Steve and the others.

"Don't try to be heroes," Steve warns, eyes flicking between you, Dustin, and Eddie. "Get out of here if it gets too dangerous. Okay?"

"Don't worry, Steve," Dustin teases. "You can be the hero, all right?"

"See you soon," Steve says. He starts to turn away, but you say, "Steve, wait!"

He looks back to you and you barrel into him, grabbing the collar of his jacket to pull him in for a kiss. It's much too passionate of a kiss for prying eyes, but you don't even care. All you care about is pouring all your love into this kiss, just in case it's the last one you ever give Steve.

You don't want to think like that, though. So you pull away and whisper, "Please be careful."

"Careful is my middle name," Steve says with a teasing grin. But his eyes are sad—he's just as worried as you.

You watch him, Nancy, and Robin go, worry churning in your gut.

However, the next part of your plan is a little fun. You and Dustin watch Eddie shred away at a Metallica song on his guitar, successfully distracting the bats.

"Most metal ever!" Dustin screams once you three are safely back in the trailer. The safety doesn't last long, though. The bats find their way in through a vent.

You and Eddie usher Dustin up the rope and back into the real world. You start to climb up too, but stop when Eddie looks back over his shoulder.

"Eddie, what are you doing?" you ask. "We have to go now!"

"Someone needs to distract them!" Eddie says. "If we don't, the bats will head to Hawkins. Our Hawkins."

You imagine the gory sight: demobats swooping on unsuspecting townspeople, hurting or killing them. It's horrible and can't happen. But you promised Steve you'd run if it got too unsafe...

Screw that. You're saving Hawkins today.

You use the spear Erica made for you to slash at the rope.

"Hey!" Dustin cries out. "What are you doing?!"

"Distracting them!" you shout. "Stay there!"

Dustin yells after you, but you and Eddie ignore him. You barrel out of the trailer, yelling for the bats and drawing them away from the trailer and the gate.

The bats aren't too happy to see you. They swarm, biting and clawing at you and Eddie. You can only do so much with your spears and shields.

Thankfully, since it's the two of you fighting together, the injuries are split 50/50. You each take quite a bit of damage, but it would've been a lot worse if it was just one of you against all the bats.

Dustin limps your way, foolishly having jumped back through the gate. Before you can yell at him to get to safety, the bats all freeze and fall to the ground, dead as doornails.

"What the fuck?" you say, turning in a circle and scanning the piles of lifeless bats.

"Did we do that?" Eddie asks, one eyebrow raised.

"I don't think so," you say. "But who did?"

You don't have time to wonder. You, Eddie, and Dustin limp back to the trailer, all pretty badly injured.

You find a ladder to get back to the real world, but as you open it in the trailer, an earthquake rattles the whole place.

"Step back!" you yell, grabbing Dustin's arm to pull him out from under the gate. The gash in the fabric of reality widens, like it's unzipping.

"What the hell!" Eddie yelps. "My trailer!"

Sure enough, it seems the gate has not only ripped into the Upside Down version of the trailer, but the real world version as well. You three stare at it, unsure what to do or think, until the sound of the front door slamming open startles you all.

"It's just us!" Steve says, hands raised in surrender when Dustin instinctively points his spear at him. "We have to get out of here now."

"What happened to the rope?!" Nancy says.

"Less talking," Robin says, "more climbing." She scrambles up the ladder, Nancy on her heels. Dustin goes next, with Eddie helping him up.

The earthquake worsens just as you start climbing up the ladder. You gasp and hold tightly for dear life.

"I'm right behind you, Waldenbooks," Steve says, trying to sound calm but coming across frantic. "I got you. Wait, are you bleeding?"

You look down at your abdomen. One of your bat bites is weeping blood.

"Fuck," you say. "Yeah a bat got me. But I'm fine."

You quickly ascend the ladder and flip back into the real world before Steve can say anything else. He jumps in last, and the six of you run clear of the trailer as an aftershock rumbles through the trailer park.

The night is dark and cold. You hear sirens and screams in the distance. You're bleeding, and based on the bigger gate tearing through the trailer park and the looks on Steve, Nancy, and Robin's faces, they couldn't kill Vecna. He got Max.

The weight of it all, plus the injuries you sustained, culminate in a crescendo of stress. You pass out.

GO TO PAGE 38 FOR "HAWKINS' NEW NORMAL" ENDING.