Eddie was reduced to silence and dragged behind Richie, the blindfold secured around his head being removed once they crawled out of the bunker.
Richie couldn't stop looking at him. Something about the Lucantian intrigued him, not that he'd ever come to terms with it. Instead, Richie tried to think about what he'd do when he got back. If he didn't come home for a day or longer, Maggie would know.
"Stop thinking so much, Richie," Stan said, looking at his friend with a concerned look. "I can see the stress radiating off of you."
"Maggie's going to be pissed," Richie said with a deep sigh, running his unoccupied hand through his hair.
"You don't have to come with us," Henry said with an eye roll. "Go home to your mommy."
Richie took a look at Eddie, who seemed to panic with the idea of being left alone without Richie. He sure as hell didn't trust him, but he knew Richie wasn't going to do anything bad to him.
"I need the money," Richie snarled. "Why don't you go home, huh? We don't need you."
"I'm a scout. I know how to get to their ports better than anyone," Henry snapped back, the intensity of his voice making Eddie cower further behind Richie, though it was difficult.
Richie shrugged and followed the pair to an old canoe type boat.
"It's about twenty minutes ride there and back. I'll go first with the Lucantian and Patrick-"
Bev cut him off. "Not happening. We may all be on the same side, but the Lucantian is under Richie's watch. Meaning, where he goes, the Lucantian goes. Got it?"
Henry scoffed. "Fine. Then I'll go first with the Lucantian and Richie."
Richie climbed into the canoe and sat Eddie in front of him so he was in the safest place. He took a set of oars from Henry and began rowing, following the scout's lead.
Eddie kept shaking, terrified of falling into the water. He didn't know how to swim, since his mother had told him he'd never need to. Instead he had to go to school to learn to write and read.
It crossed his mind that Richie probably didn't know how to read or write, making him wonder what he did in his spare time. Whenever Eddie was bored he'd always write stories or read novels.
"I'm taking off your gag, Eds," Richie said, pulling Eddie from his thoughts. "If you yell or scream I'll stick it right back on, but if it stays on for too long it'll hurt your jaw."
Eddie nodded eagerly, allowing Richie to untie the gag so he could stretch his jaw.
"What the fuck?" Henry hissed. "Put that fucking thing back on him!"
"Like Bev said, he's under my watch," Richie said in a cocky voice. "I make the choices, scout."
"He's going to get us caught, hunter."
Richie ignored Henry and made Eddie face him so he could get a glimpse of any damage that the gag may have caused. "Does anything hurt?" he asked, seeing the red marks on Eddie's cheeks from the rope.
"My jaw's sore but that's it," Eddie murmured quietly, scared Henry would throw him off the boat if he spoke too loudly.
"It might not be necessary for too much longer, depending on how well you behave," Richie informed him, returning to rowing.
"Why does he call you 'hunter?'" Eddie asked, nodding toward Henry.
"That's what I do."
"Hunt?"
