Same Drugs (Billy Hargrove)

the trick of the trade

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Once back at the surface and officially in the mall, I realized it hadn't been fully closed at all. The movie theater and a few other places were still open, and a bunch of people were inside. "Okay, can we get out of here now?" Dustin asked, clearly exhausted from getting us out of the real-life Russian escape room. I nodded and began to feel my pockets for my keys, but looked up in horror when I realized I had lost them. "They're gone," I whispered to myself, but Dustin overheard me and his eyes widened immensely. "Run that by me one more time?" Dustin asked, the fear on my face creeping onto his. 

"I must've lost the keys when we were running away from the crazy Commies!" I whisper-yelled, trying to make it clear to Dustin that we had to now find another way out.  I realized that Robin and Steve, the two drugged up teens, were roaming around aimlessly, and I sighed. "We need to contain them while you and I find a way to get out of here," I said, and Dustin pinched the bridge of his nose. We both looked at Erica, and she immediately shook her head. "No. Whatever the plan is, I know it's stupid and I know I'm involved, so no," She instantly protested. 

"Erica, please. We need you to just go into the movie theater and watch it with these two children?" I begged, and Erica groaned. "I've got ice cream for life from those two idiots, and from you? I want rides anywhere and anytime for as long as I live," She said. I stared directly into her eyes, knowing I intimidated her. "You get two weeks on my terms. No more, no less," I said. 

Erica shrugged and sighed, "That works." I nodded and Dustin and I led them all into the theater, seating them in the front. Once we had explained to Erica what she had to do, Dustin and I set off trying to sort everything out. I realized that there were far too many people in the movie theater than roaming around, so to leave, we would have to wait for a crowd to form. I spotted a few men dressed in all black start to stand around by the movie theater entrance.  

"The Russians are back," I hissed at Dustin, and we both darted behind a wall, making sure not to be seen. Soon, we simply decided to go back into the movie to get our friends. "Down in front!" Someone whispered angrily as we ducked, trying to relocate Erica. When we found her, we, unfortunately, had lost some other key players in our plan. To our dismay, Steve and Robin were nowhere to be found. 

"Wha-what?" I stuttered, not sure about how to process the information that had just heard. Erica, clearly guilty, looked down as she fiddled with the belt around her hips. "Erica! What the hell happened?! Where did Steve and Robin go?" I whisper-yelled. She shrugged, looking around. "They were just here!" She protested, and I sighed dramatically. I pinched the bridge of my nose and continued to look around for them as Dustin searched outside of the theater. He soon came running back in to tell us that he had located the two. 

Erica, Dustin, and I ran outside to see where the high teenagers had run off to and saw them standing outside, rubbing their temples. They seemed sober, which was good for us because it meant they could actually contribute to our little escape project from the mall. I hadn't realized that the movie theater was like... a thing that stayed open at night... so I had forgotten completely that people would be milling about before we lost Steve and Robin, but I had been trying to think of a plan since then. 

Finally, we planned to simply walk out of the building, so we each followed Dustin out as he exited with the rest of the crowd. As we walked, I noticed Russian guards randomly stopping people, and I realized that we were screwed. "Turn around," I hissed, and we attempted to do exactly that. However, as we turned, the Russians noticed. We tried walking faster, but they seemed to pick up on the fact that we were trying to run. We eventually lost them, which was just our luck and found ourselves out by a car in the parking lot to which I had the keys. As I unlocked it and tried to get in, I heard an engine rev in the distance. 

As everyone tried to hop in the car, I turned in the other direction and looked at where the noise had come from. My breath stopped shortly after realizing whose car it was. The Camaro was undeniably the car that made the noise, and I turned to see what it was directed at. Suddenly, a shaking Nancy was in my range of sight, frantically trying to get into another car. I realized that Billy was still possessed, and was aiming to run straight into her. "Get in the car," I muttered to Steve, who couldn't hear me. 

"What?" He asked, and I distractedly tapped the car with my hand, "Get in the car." When Steve saw what I was staring at, I think the part of him that still felt for Nancy took over. He jumped into the driver's seat and drove directly into the line of fire, cutting off Billy and crashing the car. I knew it had to be done, but I still groaned internally. 

I saw the look in Steve's eyes and realized that no matter what, he would save Nancy if it really came down to it. I then looked at Billy's face. Although he was unconscious, I saw the hate and fury resting in his furrowed brows and I knew that I had lost him. The last thing I ever wanted was to lose him.