[The Purge]

[didntrun]

This is bullshit.

Darrow can be dangerous, Eddie is well aware of that, but most of the danger can be avoided if one is careful. Eddie is careful, most of the time anyway, and maybe one could argue that his friendship with Lestat isn't careful, but he doesn't see it that way. He takes care not to put himself in situations where he might end up dead or even maimed, because he very much likes being alive and having all his parts. He likes his life in Darrow.

It's probably his fault he and Chrissy are stuck in this situation now. The Purge had sort of seemed like a joke. He knows Will and a bunch of others are holed up in a bunker, which had honestly seemed kind of dramatic to him, and while Eddie loves a good bit of drama, he also hadn't wanted to freak Chrissy out.

And it had sounded too insane to be real. A night where all crime is just suddenly legal? That's fucked up.

But people are howling in the halls of their building and Eddie can hear other people screaming amidst the sound of breaking glass and pounding fists on doors. At one point, he's pretty sure he even hears a gunshot and now he's freaking out.

"We should try to get to the bunker," he says to Chrissy, wishing he had some kind of a weapon besides a shitty pocket knife. It isn't going to do much against a gun.

Comments

[queenofhawkinshigh]

They should have done something more for this. Chrissy knows it. She has known it, but she's wanted so much for the Purge not to be a thing that could really take place that she almost convinced herself that it wouldn't. Even now that they're in the midst of it, it doesn't make sense that it could. There's no denying it, though, the sounds echoing through the halls painting a terrifying picture of what must be happening, of what could happen. The very fact of that makes her want to stay put, actually, not to venture out into it at all, but she knows Eddie is right. It'll be better, probably, to take the risk to get somewhere safe than take the risk of staying somewhere it might not be.

Still, the breath she lets out is a shaky one, even as she nods in agreement, almost like she's trying to persuade herself of it. "Is it close?" she asks, looking up at Eddie with wide eyes from where she's sitting on the couch. "I don't want to have to be out there long."

[didntrun]

"It's not that far," Eddie says. "Will told me it's under a warehouse downtown, the south side, we're pretty close to downtown here."

They're almost right in downtown and he thinks, if they're fast and don't engage with anyone, they'll be able to get there before too long. They just have to stay focused and stay together.

"Don't let go of me while we're out there," he says. "Okay? Even if you just have my jacket, just hold on."

[queenofhawkinshigh]

"Yeah, okay," Chrissy agrees, though it isn't something she needs to be told. It's all she can do even now not to tuck herself against his side, like having an arm around her shoulders would be enough to protect her from the madness outside their apartment. Really, she knows it wouldn't. Through no fault of either of theirs, he couldn't keep her safe before, couldn't keep the monsters at bay. At least this time, those monsters skew more human than not, but this time, the city's full of them. It's hard not to be terrified of that.

She reaches for his hand instead, fingers lacing securely through his. She suspects he'll notice that she's trembling a little, but she decides not to say anything about it. "Not letting go."

[didntrun]

Before they leave, Eddie stands at the door and listens. This isn't what he's cut out for, this insane sort of adventure where people really get hurt, could really die. He knows he's not a hero, no matter what he did in the Upside Down to try and help.

But if there's anyone in this world he's going to try for, it's Chrissy.

When he's sure the coast is clear, Eddie unlocks the door as quietly as possible and eases the door open slowly. No one slams into it from the other side and so he steps into the hall, checking both directions, then tugs Chrissy out after him. It's probably pointless, but he locks the door anyway. Just in case it helps.

"Stairs," he whispers. The elevator will make too much noise and will announce them to anyone lying in wait.

[queenofhawkinshigh]

Chrissy nods in agreement as she looks up at Eddie with wide eyes, still holding onto him. It feels like the only thing she can do, and while she wishes that weren't the case, there's nothing they can do about that now. She doesn't really think they could be faulted for not expecting it to be like this, anyway. While she's seen a lot of messed up things and known a lot of awful people, she wouldn't have believed that so many people would be so willing to gleefully wreak havoc just because they've been given permission to do so.

Maybe that makes her naïve. Maybe she should have known better. Either of those seems preferable to being totally cynical, though.

She just wishes they'd taken a few more precautions.

"Stairs," she echoes, just as quiet. The elevator seems too dangerous, leaving them with no way of knowing what the doors would be opening to. "Good idea."

[didntrun]

They move down the hall, quick and quiet, with Eddie still tightly holding Chrissy's hand. He opens the door to the stairwell cautiously, wincing a little when it creaks softly on its hinges, but when he pauses and listens, it doesn't seem like anyone has heard.
 
Carefully, they head down, Eddie in the lead. Every few steps, he pauses and listens, but they make it all the way to the ground floor without incident. When he peers out into the lobby, it's deserted.
 
"Let's go," he whispers and they make a break for the front door.

[queenofhawkinshigh]

As soon as they've made it out the front door and onto the street, Chrissy exhales heavily, relieved. She probably shouldn't be. They might be one step closer to reaching their destination, but in the meantime, they're bound to be in a lot more danger out here than they were in their building. For a moment, she wonders if maybe this was a mistake, if they should have just blocked the door and hoped for the best, waited 'til morning in the safety of their own apartment.

Whether that's true or not, they're here now, and it does feel a little better to be in the open than in an enclosed space where they could be an obvious target.

"Roll stealth?" she whispers, looking up at him with a shaky, hopeful smile. This shouldn't be the time to make a joke, and it's very much not one of his games, but maybe it will help.

[didntrun]

Eddie squeezes Chrissy's hand in response, gives her a grateful smile. It's a reminder of all they've been through, both together and separately. A reminder of what he'd done, how he had shown himself and others he could be brave, especially when it came to the people he loved.
 
He was brave for Dustin. He had given his life to help stop the thing that ended Chrissy's. He's not about to let all of that be a waste.
 
They move as fast as they can, as quietly as they can, the sounds of their shoes scuffling on the pavement. Eddie turns toward the boardwalk and then sucks in a sharp breath and pulls Chrissy back against the wall of a building.
 
A block away, a group of people with baseball bats are approaching.

[queenofhawkinshigh]

As quickly as it had appeared, Chrissy's hesitant smile vanishes, replaced with a look of wide-eyed worry as Eddie pulls her back against the nearest building. She has to bite down hard on her lower lip to stifle the frightened sound that threatens to escape her, struck again by the horrible feeling, however irrational, that they shouldn't be out here. It isn't as if they would have been any safer in their apartment. If anything, maybe that illusion of safety would have been worse in the long run. She just hates it — hates that they didn't adequately plan ahead, hates that this is happening at all, hates that there are people so willing to take such advantage of it.

Hates, too, that that part doesn't entirely surprise her.

With wide eyes, she looks up at Eddie, an unspoken question there. How long they wait here, what they do, where they go, she doesn't know, and it comes easily to trust him with those decisions, to follow his lead.

[didntrun]

He has no idea what to do. The people are in their way, exactly the direction they need to go and Eddie is trying to reroute internally, figuring out what streets they should take instead. He closes his eyes for a second, trying to see the layout of the city in his head, knowing he can't let himself become paralyzed by the fear he's feeling.
 
It almost happens. He almost freezes, but then he drags his attention back to Chrissy's warm hand in his and knows he can’t.
 
The idea occurs to him suddenly and his eyes spring open.
 
"This way," he whispers, tugging Chrissy in the opposite direction. "Black Elm. Alex is there."

[queenofhawkinshigh]

Given the way she currently feels, small and scared and so utterly out of her depth, Chrissy thinks she would probably follow Eddie anywhere. He's scared, too, she knows him well enough to be certain he is, but if he can come up with any ideas or start moving at all, then he's better off than she is. It is a good idea, too, one that wouldn't have occurred to her but that makes total sense now that he's said it. Black Elm will be safe. There's no way Alex won't have gotten that place protected.

They just have to get there.

"Okay," she agrees, her voice equally hushed, as she hurries along with him. "Good idea."

[didntrun]

Black Elm is further away than the bunker, but Eddie doesn't see any other possible way for them to get to safety. The streets that lead in the direction of the bunker are just too busy, too full of people who definitely want to hurt them if they were to get their hands on them.
 
He can't let that happen. Even if it means stashing Chrissy somewhere safe, hiding her, and then leading people away if he has to.
 
It's what he's done before, in a different world, and he'll do it again.
 
"Here," he whispers, pulling her down a different street. They're the only ones there and he tries to keep their footsteps from echoing. "Do you have your phone? Can you call Alex?"

[queenofhawkinshigh]

"Yeah," Chrissy whispers, her eyes wide as she looks up at Eddie. She hadn't thought much about it back in the apartment, except to make sure she put it on silent mode before the sirens began sounding. Carrying it has become strangely second-nature, though, a fact she spares just a second to be quietly grateful for as she pulls it out of her pocket.

Scrolling through her contacts, she taps on Alex's name, then almost presses the button to call her. She quickly thinks better of it, though. "I'll text her," she decides instead, shaking her head slightly. "Less noise."

Even that is easier said than done. As she begins typing out a message, she can't stop her hands from shaking.