21. War Zone

☾.˚˖⁺✦ War Zone ✦˙⊹˚☽

TW // Horror

Song Guide: I Wanna Be Somebody by W.A.S.P.

Eddie pointed for everyone to look at the section he was pointing at from the local yellow book. "Check this out. The War Zone. I've been there once. It's huge. They got everything you need for, uh... Well, killing things, basically."

Victoria nodded her head, "Name a gun, and I can assure you, you'll find it there."

"You think fake Rambo has enough guns there? Is that a grenade? I mean, how is any of this legal?", Robin carried on with her questions.

Eddie smiled, the first Victoria had seen in awhile. "Well, lucky for us it is, so... This... This place is just far enough outside of Hawkins. As long as we steer clear of main roads, we oughta be able to avoid cops and, uh, angry hicks."

"If we're trying to avoid angry hicks, maybe we shouldn't go to some store called the War Zone.", Erica interjected.

"Normally, I'd agree, but we need the weapons, so I think it's worth the risk.", Nancy gave her stamp of approval.

"Me too."

"Yeah, but is it worth the time? It'll take all day to bike there and back.", Dustin pointed out.

Both Eddie and Victoria had a devious grin on their faces as they glanced at each other. "Who said anything about bikes?"

"What, you got some car we don't know about?", Steve questioned trying to prove a point.

Eddie stood up coming face to face with Steve, "It's not exactly a car, Steve. And it's not exactly mine. But, uh... it'll do."

"I can't believe we're stealing a vehicle again, Eddie.", Victoria muttered without realization.

Both Steve and Dustin perked up. "AGAIN?"

"I, um, that is a story for another time..."

Eddie turned away from the group leaving Victoria to handle the questions that were about to burst out between the two boys as he faced Max. "Hey, Red, uh, you got a ski mask or a bandanna, something like that?"

Max stood in thought until it hit her, she left the room as she went searching around in her room until she came back with a Michael Myers mask. "Would this work?"

Victoria bursted out laughing, "That's perfect, quite fitting with the town rumors."

Eddie rolled his eyes as he took it, pulling it over his head. The boy pointed at Victoria warning her not to laugh, but that is all she could find herself doing at how ridiculous he looked.

He groaned, "Alright, come on enough with the laughs."

They all walked out of Max's trailer as Eddie led the way. Turning the corner, they paused as Eddie peaked his head around. It took everything in Victoria to not die laughing again.

The curly haired boy motioned that the area was clear as he stepped out, sneakily running across the trailer park until they all caught sight of the standstill RV.

Eddie walked up to the back window as he slid it open. He knelt down on one knee holding his hands up for Victoria. "Anytime, princess!"

She crossed her arms, "Excuse me?"

He cracked a smile, "Sorry. Anytime, my highness, Queen Victoria of Hawkins."

"Much better.", Victoria laughed as she stepped into his hand being hoisted up into the window.

She crawled inside as she then pulled Eddie through. He tumbled in as he immediately ripped the mask off. "That was suffocating!"

She laughed as the two of them pushed to the front, Victoria locked the door as Eddie made his way to hot-wire the RV. Victoria sat in the passenger seat, as she held Eddie's bag of tools open for him.

He began to pick at the wires, cutting a few open. Steve joined them as he was looking over Eddie's shoulder. "Where'd you learn to do that?"

"Well, when the other dads were teaching their kids how to fish or play ball, my old man was teaching me how to hot-wire."

Same old story, Victoria remembered he had spoken about it to her the first time she had encountered him hot-wiring a car. Summer of '84, right before her Junior year of high school. Eddie had dragged her to fulfill a drug deal which turned into a messy drug heist, if you will, that lead them into having to steal a car and make a run for it.

"Now, I swore to myself I wouldn't wind up like he did, but now I'm wanted for murder, and soon, grand theft auto. So, uh, I'm really living up to that Munson name."

"Yeah, well, you're creating a better legacy Eddie. No longer Eddie, The Murderer, but Eddie, The Hero! Just wait till we get your name cleared.", Victoria grinned with positivity as her friend gave her a hesitant head nod.

Something in the way Eddie reacted to her commentary seemed as if he couldn't consider himself as a hero, but he was. He was to her. Eddie was more than what his family name had labeled him to be, he was always more than that. He had overcome so much in these few days. She just wished he could see himself for the way she saw him.

Robin popped up from behind Steve, "Eddie, I'm not sure I love the idea of you driving."

"Oh, I'm just starting this sucker. Harrington's got her. Don't you, big boy?", Eddie grinned as he eyed Steve down who had a confused look on his face.

Victoria crossed her arms, "What happened to me being the getaway driver?"

Eddie smirked at her not responding as he started up the RV. The engine crackled as the radio began to sound into the RV and a loud puff of smoke came out of the end of the vehicle.

"Oh, fuck! Guys, time to go!"

The owners of the RV began slamming their hands at the windows yelling at all of them to get out.

"Shit! Go", Steve pushed Eddie out as he hopped over the seat preparing to drive, "Everybody, hang on to something!"

Their chaotic group began to scream as everyone ran around looking for somewhere to sit before they got flung. Victoria panicked as she quickly reached for the broken seatbelt. "Oh, great. Great. Great. Ah!"

Steve pressed on the pedal lunging everyone back, including Victoria as she fell off the seat.

"Shit, they look pissed!", Dustin muttered as he looked out the back window with Max.

"I mean it's not every day you lose your house and car in one fell swoop.", Robin pointed out.

Victoria squealed as she reached over to the seat making her way back up in time to notice Steve was about to drive straight towards a pile of trash cans. "Oh my god, Oh my god, STEVE!"

The brunette boy yelled back for everyone to grab ahold of something as he did wide turn knocking over all the trash. Making a few more turns throwing everyone left to right, Steve had successfully made it on the road.

The RV settled as Victoria hadn't realized how tightly her hands were grasping onto the seat. She turned back to look at the others. "Is everyone okay?"

Looking at Lucas and Eddie trying their best to get themselves off the ground and then some of the girls readjusting their hair, this was as chaotic as it could be.

Victoria glanced over to Steve as they both let out a laugh. "Holy shit, I could've driven better than that."

"No, that took some skill to do!", Steve laughed.

She rolled her eyes at him as she couldn't find herself being able to stop laughing. "Oh, is that so? Have you even driven something like this before?"

"Nope, not at all. But I mean not half that bad. Considering that this is a... house."

They both looked at the road before them as they made their journey to the War Zone.

"Yeah, it's, uh. it's silly, but I... I've actually.", he struggled with his words unsure how he wanted to say what he was thinking to her.

"I always had this dream that I'd have like this really... really big family."

Victoria turned to look at Steve now, seeing his expression slightly change. "I'm talking, like, uh a full brood of Harringtons. Like, five, six kids."

"Six? Like six mini you's, oh god that's sounds like a family of chaos.", the brunette girl teased him.

He smiled. "Yeah. Six little nuggets. Three girls, three boys."

His smile got wider the more he began to speak about his future family making Victoria love every second of this conversation. She too had pondered a lot about her future kids, future husband, future life. It was actually one of her favorite things to think about.

Steve shyly laughed. "And... and every summer, I figured all of us Harringtons, we would pack into something like this and just see the country. You know, the Rockies, Grand Canyon, maybe Yellowstone."

He glanced over to her, everything he was saying had been something Victoria had dreamt of doing. She always loved the idea of traveling and getting to know new places. In fact, Eddie and her had big plans to backpack the Great Smokey Mountains after they graduated. They were dying to do something spontaneous, but by the sounds of it they might have a third traveler join them.

"End up in some beachside town in California. Spend a week parked in the sand. Learn how to surf or something.", Steve continued.

"That sounds nice... I'd die to see you attempt surfing.", she smiled at him.

"Yeah?", he looked over to her.

Nodding her head, not being able to hide the large grin on her face. "Yeah."

The two of them looked at each other for a few seconds until Victoria felt nervous to continue looking into his dreamy brown eyes. She looked back to the road fiddling with her thumbs. "So, uh, six kids? That sounds like a lot."

Steve shrugged his shoulders as he threw his hand back. "If only I had some practice."

Victoria glanced back looking at all the kids around them. They had always been surrounded by the big group of youngsters. Sometimes the number would even surpass the count of six.

Steve had more time with them than she did, but the thought of how big of an impact it had on him was something she adored. She had always imagine having a big family as well, enjoyed the thrill of it. Growing up, she had spent some time babysitting kids around the neighborhood, including her brother and his friends. She loved it.

"You make a clever point, Steve."

"What about you, huh?"

She met his eyes again as they had a hopeful look. It was weird to think that this future could potentially mean it would include her in it. She didn't want to think too far into getting her hopes up, but then again life with Steve sounded pretty nice.

"I guess you can say I'm a big family type as well."

☾.˚˖⁺✦˙⊹˚☽

Max's Pov

Her eyes were glued on the outside view as she was sat alone in the back listening to once again, Kate Bush. As many times as she was forced to listen to this song, she feared the initial effect it had on her was beginning to wear off.

What if it no longer worked the same way it had?

It needed to, there was no other song she'd be able to listen to on repeat. Besides, it was Kate Bush, one of her favorite artists of all time.

Max was pulled out of her thoughts as she saw Lucas approach taking a seat beside her. "Hey."

She hated to admit it, but every time she saw him her heart skips a beat. Pulling her headphones down as she paused the music, she waited for the boy to proceed.

"So, I've been thinking, two of the three of Vecna's victims were seeing Ms. Kelley, right?"

Her face changed, she had already known where Lucas was going with this. She also was still the only person who knew about Victoria's file as well. "Yeah."

"Okay. So I figure there's a good chance Vecna's cursed another one of her students. We go back to her office. We read all of her files. Look for mentions of headaches, nosebleeds, nightmar-"

"Lucas..."

"We identify Vecna's next victim."

"Lucas."

"We stake out his house—"

"Lucas, stop."

Max hated this. She hated that she had to force him to stop. She hated that there was no other way because as she also had thought of this, the unfortunate truth was it had to be her.

"We don't have time for any of that, okay? And even if we did, even if your plan did work, we'd be putting a total stranger at risk. A stranger who has no idea what they're up against. I do."

The thought of Victoria came to mind, she knew Victoria had a future. Her friend had so much to live for, while she, on the other hand, hadn't had a single thought of her future after Billy died.

The look of disappointment on Lucas' face was one she wished she didn't have to look at. It was paining her, the pain she was putting him through.

"He uses my memories against me. But... only my darkest memories. Same with Chrissy, Fred, and even Victoria, right?"

He sighed, "Right."

"It's like he only sees the darkness in us. So, I'll just run in the opposite direction. Run to the light. And maybe he won't be able to find me there."

She was confident about this. Max had spent, so far during his car ride, plotting how her being the bait could work. Dustin had been right earlier, they did know Vecna's weakness, she knew.

Vecna feeds off of his victim's fears and struggles, so giving him the opposite would work as some repellent almost.

"Now, how exactly do you plan on doing this?", Lucas questioned with concern.

"I'm not sure. But it's my mind. Not his, right? So I should be able to control where I am. I just need to... push him away. Find a happy memory and hide there."

She already knew the exact memory she could hide in, it was one of her favorites.

"Hide in the light."

"You got a memory in mind?"

Max smiled to herself. "Yeah."

The specific memory had been the time Max had went to the school dance with Lucas. She felt safe and she felt happy. It was a nicer time, they were so young. She had kissed Lucas for the first time. It was all perfect.

"It was a time when I was, the happiest."

Lucas readjusted himself in his seat trying to hold back a smile. "Was I there?"

The red headed girl sat there trying to find a way to hide her grin, but for the first time, she allowed herself to feel good for once. "That's presumptuous of you."

They both laughed as she missed this feeling. The feeling he always gave her, happiness.

"But yeah", she smiled at the boy she loves, "You might've been there."

He smiled back at her looking at her the same way he had that night making her stomach feel all the butterflies flapping their wings within her.

"Okay, but the second you start to lift, I'm calling in Kate Bush, alright?"

"Okay, deal."

"Deal."

The two of them shook hands on it as Max placed her headphones back on, going back to the depths of Kate Bush city.

☾.˚˖⁺✦˙⊹˚☽

Victoria's Pov

Victoria left no room for anyone to interject if she could or could not step out of the RV to go into War Zone. She was the first out before anyone can snatch her to go back inside.

If there was one thing she had gotten good at over the years while being friends with Eddie, is how to successfully sneak around. She had stolen who's ever baseball cap was in the car, along with some handy dandy sunglasses, and now she was ready to go undercover.

She waited for the rest to pile out as some of the group joined her. Steve, Max, Nancy, Robin, and Erica stepped out.

Steve crossed his arms, "Absolutely not, get back inside."

Victoria cracked a devious smile. "I'm good, sweetheart."

Robin laughed, "You two are literally disgusting."

Victoria pulled her sunglasses to the brim of her nose as she shot Robin a wink causing the girl to blush. Pulling her sunglasses back up, she trailed behind Erica who had a mission to enter the store.

The group of them entered as they glanced all around them. It wasn't exactly how Victoria had remembered it, but at least she knew the names of all the good stuff they would potentially need.

"So much for avoiding angry hicks.", Robin scoffed.

"Let's be... fast.", Nancy spoke to everyone.

"Yep."

"Definitely."

They all dispersed to different sides of the store, as Victoria snuck her way through the aisles. Grabbing hold of a basket, she began to fill it up with all sorts of knives, lighters, and protective gear.

Her eyes fell on Steve and Robin who were on the other side of where she was. Steve was quick to get changed as he was now wearing a shirt and an army themed jean jacket, he looked hot. 

She then saw the way Robin had been looking towards the direction Victoria was in. She glanced around to see whom she was looking at. Robin had been looking directly at Vickie, the girl who was in band with Robin.

Glancing back and forth between the two girls, it had clicked in Victoria's head. She muttered to herself, "Holy shit!"

Robin likes girls!

She had a sense that there was a possibility with the way she had been acting around Nancy, and the way she got nervous just then when she had winked at her. This all made sense now. Victoria smiled, as she saw Robin begin to take a few steps wanting to approach Vickie. "Come on, you got this!"

The ginger haired girl was quickly interrupted by a blonde boy who was now kissing her. Victoria saw the face of hurt on Robin. She frowned, if there was anything she hated most was seeing her friends get hurt.

Victoria purposefully bumped into the couple, with the more aggressive nudge towards the blonde boy.

"Hey, watch it!", he snarled at her.

Victoria grinned as she flicked the blonde boy off. "Fuck off, dipshit."

She skipped away from them as she looked back over to Steve and Robin, only noticing that Robin had vanished. Her eyes met those of Steve's, he shrugged his shoulders as he went after their friend. Victoria sighed, she tried so hard to make it better for her.

She continued around the aisles collecting things as she paused in her tracks. Her eyes fell upon two of the basketball players. Noticing one of them being Andy, Jason's best friend.

This wasn't good. She walked the opposite direction finding Erica being still in place with wide eyes. She quickly sped her way over to her. "Hey, so, um.. We got an issue."

"Yeah, you think!", she motioned to in front of her where stood Jason and Nancy.

This was really bad.

"Erica, go check out and go back to the RV."

"But-"

"Just do it, and if you see the others, tell them to leave. Do you understand?"

She nodded her head as she pushed her cart quickly towards the exit of the store. Victoria brought her attention back to Jason who was now roughly grasping onto the rifle in Nancy's hand.

Nancy was holding back the fear she was feeling in the moment. They all knew Jason had become some lunatic trying to avenge Chrissy, as Lucas had explained to them.

Victoria began to panic, debating if she should intervene or let things play out. She knew if she did intervene that meant she could potentially get caught in a bigger mess, but if she didn't god knows what Jason would do.

"Here goes nothing.", she whispered to herself.

She took a few steps forward until she feltherself get yanked back. "Are you insane!", Steve scolded her.

"But, Nancy!"

"She can handle herself. You, on the other hand, have to get back to the RV now."

She frowned, but knew he had a point. They pushed through the crowd of people as they found Robin, Erica, and Max at checkout, perfect timing.

Steve and Victoria both nervously glanced backwards as they finally saw Nancy making her way towards the exit giving them a head nod.

Both relieved they quickly all checked out as they rushed back to the RV. Steve swing the door wide open as he threw a bag at the first person he saw, Eddie.

"What happened?", Lucas questioned.

"We gotta go!", Steve replied.

Victoria was next to pile through with the loads of supplies in hand.

"Your old friends are here.", Erica told her brother.

"Shit!"

Dustin began to yell at everyone the way he always did, "Let's go! Let's go!"

"I'm going! I'm going! Sit down!", Steve replied.

He started the vehicle, barely any of them had time to take their seats that including Victoria. Steve grabbed ahold of her hand before she was thrown back, as he pulled her to her seat. "A warning would've been nice!"

"I'm sorry, I'm trying to get all of us out of here."

Victoria glanced out the window as she made direct eye contact with Jason. She had wished Steve was driving quicker because she knew Jason had noticed her. "Shit."

The way his eyes widened as his fists clenched at his side. He knew.