didntrun | (no subject)

This is not what Eddie had planned for the day. Not even close.

"Shit," he breathes as he presses back against a brick wall, his eyes squeezed shut tight against the ash falling from the sky, as if he'll be able to wake up if he just tries hard enough. Because this has to be a dream. It has to be. There is no way in hell he turned a corner while walking to work and found himself in the fucking Upside Down.

Darrow is full of bullshit, he's well aware of that, but someone would have told him if this was possible. Someone would have, because they wouldn't want him to end up here completely unaware that it was possible, without a weapon, without a hope in the world of actually surviving.

Eddie doesn't know the last time he's been this scared. It isn't just sweaty armpits and shaking hands, this is bone deep, ice cold dread that paralyzes his muscles and closes his throat and makes it so he can't do anything at all but think about running.

Run, his brain says. Run, run, run, runrunrunrunrunrun...

He opens his eyes and he's still here. Ash still drifts down from the dark, stormy sky. And somewhere out there in the shadows, very large teeth gnash together, something snapping between them, the sound of a brittle bone breaking into pieces.

Something lurches around a corner up ahead, a jarring movement on long legs and Eddie stares, disbelieving, as the fucked up version of someone in a sexy nurse costume staggers forward. Two more follow, their faces covered by something he can't make out from this distance. They seem blind, but then he shifts slightly, his jacket scraping against the wall, and all three turn in his direction. More follow around the corner.

Runrunrunrunrunrunrunrun.

Eddie turns and begins to run.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"The upside down? Yeah, no. They're..." Will winced. "They don't seem very smart, for one. Which is good, I guess?"

The demobats and dogs were animals, too, but they were clever, and connected to something bigger. The things here seemed almost as lost as he and Eddie were.

Closing the door behind them, after making sure the safety latch still worked and they wouldn't end up trapped inside, Will leaned back against and empty set of shelves and tried to catch his breath.

Eddie is a lot of talk. He knows he is, that's why he makes such a good Dungeon Master, but when it comes down to moments like this, he's just so fucking lost. Will knows what to do here better than Eddie ever will.

"What happens if um... if we don't go back?" he asks. "Or if we get separated? We'll have to find food and water at some point if we're stuck here for that long."

Or what if something comes for them? The question he can't bring himself to ask.

"I found a little food," Will said, hurrying over to the stash he'd put inside backpack he'd found. Stolen, really, but it wasn't like anyone was using it.

He'd found a few cans, and a church-key can opener, and a few packages of crackers and even a box of granola bars that didn't look too questionable, and a couple of cans of flat soda.

"You're right, we should have somewhere to meetup. You know, if we do get separated."

It's a relief, having someone else in charge, having another person make decisions for him. They might feel like small decisions, the food, the soda, even the backpack, but they're still decisions made.

It gives Eddie enough confidence to nod and then suggest, "Here. If we go out and get separated, we come back here. It's safe and I'll remember how to get here."

"Okay," Will agreed, reaching out and resting a hand on Eddie's arm. "We're gonna be okay."

As soon as he made the promise, his stomach swooped anxiously. He couldn't know that, and no matter how badly he didn't want to think about it, the truth was that they probably hadn't both made it out of the Upside Down in one piece.

Eddie nods, too, even though he's not entirely sure that's true. He wants it to be, though. He wants Will to get back to Stan, to his mother, to his art and all the cool shit he's going to do in his life. Eddie wants that for himself, too, minus the mother and Stan, but Chrissy and... well, kind of Will's mom, too. It's not like Mrs. Byers has let him get away with not being mothered.

"Yeah," he says. "We have to. We should think of looking for a way out. There has to be a way, right?"