The Long Game━ (l. sinclair)

as above, so below

◦☆＊★ ━━━━━━ ★＊☆◦

Sam had reached a point where she couldn't deny it — she was scared.

The further Steve drove them in the trailer (which now felt empty in the absence of three members in their group), the more anxious Sam became. Steve was now taking them back over to the trailer park that Auggie, Eddie, and Max lived in. The sun had slowly set in the time it took them to travel, so now there was figuratively and literally no light at the end of the tunnel for Sam.

When they finally drove into the lot of the trailer park, Sam felt nausea swirl in her stomach.

For her, this was it.

This was Sam's turn to split up with the rest of the group. Dustin, Auggie, Steve, Robin, Eddie, and Nancy were all journeying into the Upside Down using the Gate in Eddie's trailer. Sam, on the other hand, wasn't.

The remainder of Sam's role in the group's plan would be played out alone.

She was staying in the trailer they had stolen and were currently traveling with right now. It was parking in the woods, so that the owners of the stolen trailer wouldn't spot they were back in town, but, still, she was virtually in the trailer park. All Sam would be using was the static of the radio and a camouflage bandana to blindfold herself; she was going to try and go into the void again.

This time, it would be alone, and this time, she couldn't fail.

Max's life was on the line.

When the stolen trailer finally slowed to a stop, jolting when Steve finally parked it, Sam felt the tension's rising. For a few moments, the group was left in terse silence; all Sam could hear was owls hooting and crickets chirping.

"Okay," Nancy breathed, breaking the quiet. "I wanna run through it one more time: Phase one?"

"We meet Erica at the playground," Robin answered. It would be her, Auggie, Nancy, and Steve taking part in that phase. "She'll signal Max and Lucas when we're ready."

Nancy nodded gratefully, continued, "Phase two?"

"Max baits Vecna," Steve spoke up this time. "He'll go after her, which'll put him in his trance."

Sam added, "Then, I'll go into the trance, too. I'll make sure Max is safe in whatever the hell Henry is putting her through."

"Phase three?"

"Me and Eddie draw the bats away," Dustin responded.

Eddie grinned playfully from behind Dustin. He gripped the top of Dustin's head with his broad hand, wiggling it around like a gearshift and nudging the younger boy.

"Four?"

Auggie said, "We head into Vecna's hopefully newly bat-free lair, and..." he held up one of the Molotovs that Steve and Robin had made, "flambé."

Nancy inhaled through her nose, displaying a final, sure nod. "Nobody moves on to the next phase until we've all copied," she ordered. "Nobody deviates from the plan, no matter what. Got it?"

"Got it," they all echoed in unison.

Then everyone's gazes turned to Sam.

This really was it.

"Well," she breathed out heavily, standing up a little awkwardly because she didn't want her inner tension seeping out, "I guess this is — oof!"