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The Resurrection of Eddie Munson

Summary:

Wayne Munson had always loved his nephew and has done the best he can with raising him in his brother's absence. But now Eddie is dead, and the world is literally ending. Hell is on earth, monsters have taken over Hawkins, they've been locked in and left to fend for themselves, ash is raining down from the sky, the ground is opening up to swallow them whole, and the last people he ever expected to be with in the apocalypse was his ex and his ex’s boyfriend.

Notes:

Honestly I didn't expect to get attached to this fan-fic idea, I just wanted to write about Wayne reuniting with Eddie in some way and put the story in his perspective.
This first chapter is mostly some back story for both Eddie and Wayne and a recap of S4 through Wayne's eyes the next chapter is where im getting into stuff.

(See the end of the work for more notes.)

Chapter 1: Coward of The County

Chapter Text

Wayne Munson had always loved his nephew.
From the moment his brother, Dennis Munson, showed him the little devil.
Edward ‘Eddie’ Munson had been a large baby, his fat rolled over his small body and his arms were large and swollen, Wayne had laughed at how puggy he was at the time and teased his sister in law over it calling him ‘Pilsbury’ for the first few months of his life.
But as Eddie grew he slowly began to fit into the rolls of his skin and ironically by age 4 the boy was rather scrawny looking, despite that he was always full of energy. There was never a dull moment babysitting him; he'd find ways to crawl onto the highest shelf, locate the most dangerous of items, and wake up at the earliest time possible.
When he wasn't wreaking havoc on sleep schedules though he was playing pretend, one week he was a cowboy out west riding horses and the next he was a vampire stalking in the night. The kid had such a big imagination and drew a lot of it too, the amount of drawings the kid produced was far more than he and Dennis had ever made combined.
Wayne loved that Eddie was so bright and creative but Dennis was always trying to get him out of his ‘childish’ phase, never truly approved of the way Eddie acted. In private he would often complain to Wayne how Eddie had no interest in sports or fishing and spent a lot of his time doing arts and crafts instead. In his eyes he saw no issue with it, people are born for different things in life and that's just the way it is, but he and his brother had hardly ever seen eye to eye.
Dennis was a complicated man or at least that's what Wayne used to tell himself. Growing up he remembered getting into trouble with his brother quite often, he was the younger of the two so Wayne was raised to listen to Dennis and hardly ever question him.
If his brother dared him to shoplift some cigarettes from a store he’d do it, if Dennis threatened him he would shut up, and if he told Wayne not to tell when he snuck out or sold drugs. He didn't.
Wayne tried to convince himself for many years that's just how siblings were and how family showed love but deep down he always held some kind of discontempt for his brother.
He had tried to keep his thoughts all down for the sake of family for many years, he bit his tongue more times than he could count and allowed most of his brother's misdeeds to go unchecked. The irony of it all though was when Dennis found out he was gay he alerted the whole family and it wasnt long until they all had cut contact with him.
There was no pause for understanding or hesitation, not even a ‘maybe we can change you’ before he was banned from family events and basically disowned. It hurt after years of serving them, helping them, and loving them but as always he just held his tongue, packed his backs, and left without protest. Eddie was just shy of 7 years old when that had happened, and the gift he had bought for him ended up in storage.
It was a difficult time in his life, he tried to linger around other towns in Texas but eventually had to move away and ended up hopping around from state to state for 2 years. He survived by taking odd jobs and shitty apartments before eventually settling in Hawkins, Indiana. It was a small town he could lay low in and though he couldn't get a nice apartment it didn't bust his wallet half as much as most other towns.
Wayne found that he was lonely without the connection of the community he grew up in but didn't miss his family. He missed Eddie but none of the others.
As much as he ran though it seemed like fate had a way of catching up to him and in a bizarre twist of fate, Eddie showed up at his doorstep 11 years old, head buzzed short with a trash bag full of his belongings, and a pair of police officers.
When he spoke with the cops he found out then and there that his sister in law had passed away 3 years back, and that his brother had just been arrested for reckless endangerment of a minor, assault on a police officer, possession of drugs and other illegal substances, and grand theft auto. Apparently no one else in his family wanted to take Eddie in and he was their last attempt before placing him in the foster system.
Had Wayne been a wise man he would’ve let them, but he was never really known for his smarts, so he took Eddie into his small trailer home, the room he had used as storage space got transformed into his room and Eddie got his old room.
As far as he saw it, he and Eddie were the black sheep of their family. No one approved of their ‘lifestyle’. So he wasn't going to abandon him like everyone else had.
At first it was tense. Wayne had never expected to become a caretaker and was unsure how to approach this new responsibility. And Eddie, well he was used to being raised by his father, not a kind fate to his memory.
Eddie used to hide pretty much everything from him and would wait till he either left or was in his own room to step out to get food or watch tv and he only played guitar when Wayne wasn't home. But as time went on they both became more comfortable with each other's presence. Eddie would start to come to him asking for his opinion on drawings or songs he was writing, he even made friends and roped them into a board game he liked a lot.
Of course it wasn't perfect, sometimes when he came home he would find Eddie with a bruised eye or a cut lip and from time to time he had to go to school to pick up Eddie after he got into trouble.
But Wayne never blamed him, Eddie almost always meant well, he had a good heart and half of the cuts he got were from trying to protect his friends or were from the hateful people of Hawkins. And Eddie wasn't the strongest kid, he just wasn't afraid to be himself despite the consequences.
The biggest adjustments though came with budgeting, kids need a lot of things; books, papers, school clothes, shoes, backpacks, calculators, etc. He was happy to provide this of course but Eddie was always looking for ways to justify the space he took up in their home and despite the reassurance Wayne tried to give his nephew always jumped at an opportunity to make money so it wasn't long till he got his first job.
The one good thing Dennis had taught his son was how to fix and understand cars, so Eddie started an apprenticeship at a local mechanic shop by lying about his age and in no time he was upgraded to a part time mechanic. That’s when he started getting into shaddier stuff though, because the owner of the shop was Rick Lipton.
Everyone knew he dealt in drugs, he often did his deals at the shop in fact. The only things the cops were missing was hard evidence against him.
And Wayne wasn’t an idiot; he knew what Eddie was doing behind the scenes, he knew his job alone wouldn't be enough to get him a new guitar or leather jackets. But he also knew that living was expensive and that Eddie deserved to get himself nice things so he mostly let it be. There wasn't much he could do anyway.
Then in High School Eddie formed a club called ‘The Hellfire Club’ it had something to do with his board game, Wayne remembered his nephew showing off the different designs for the logos he had considered and even made shirts for the club members with it. He looked excited for it and as much as Wayne tried to understand the game it always confused him.
But as long as it kept Eddie away from Rick, Wayne was happy.
The following years were all kind of a blur, he had to pick up more hours at the plant to keep him and Eddie floating, he’d never tell him but it was because Eddie isn't working too often at the shop anymore.
And maybe he wasn't paying attention enough but the year he was supposed to graduate Eddie was held back, he learned then that his nephew had been struggling in school, specifically math. Wayne had tried to help but he was just as lost if not even more so than Eddie and the boy had this father’s temper. After 30 minutes of trying to solve the same question he’d become angry and lash out, sometimes leaving for the night and returning the next day.
Unlike his father though he almost always apologized after cooling off.
Despite his efforts, he was held another year.
Eddie promised him that he would graduate this year, but Wayne didn't mind, he never graduated high school either so it would be harsh for him to judge.
Eddie kept his head held high though, and just started pouring more of his passion into his interests like his band and club. At the time he thought the worst thing that could happen is that Eddie failed to graduate and would need to start working for another mechanic shop. But something far worse happened.
In March of 1986 Wayne’s life was turned upside down.
Wayne came home early in the morning from work, he was beyond exhausted and didn't even notice that Eddie’s van was missing from its usual spot, he just walked up to his trailer and found the body of a poor girl lying in his living room. Her corpse was mutilated, arms and legs twisted back in unnatural ways, her eyes had dried blood underneath them, and flies buzzed around her. At first he had first stumbled out of his trailer in shock, nausea hitting him in a wave before the dawning realization hit him and he rushed back in calling for Eddie, he moved past the body and ran through the trailer shouting his name but found no trace of him.
So he called the cops worried someone had attacked Eddie and the girl, it wouldn't be the first time either of them have gotten attacked or followed and if someone like that took Eddie, he couldn't bear to think about what they would do to him considering the body.
But when the police came followed by reporters they all said the same thing. That Eddie had probably killed the girl in his trailer. Wayne at first tried to get them to understand that Eddie has been harassed before and has gotten hurt but each time they drew it back to drugs or metal music or a damn board game as if it had anything to do with it.
He knew Eddie wouldn't do something like this, the boy may cheer and laugh at horror movies but he gags at roadkill. But there was no point trying to fight what people thought, hate runs bright and it wasn't even a day until rumors spread. People glared at him whispering about things they didn't understand and unless they were a reporter they avoided him too. Wayne could hear everything they had to say about how it was only a matter of time, that the boy was always in trouble and that they hoped he'd be caught and arrested.
If Eddie really did run like the cops say then this is why. Wayne knew that.
Not even a full day later agents came by to his trailer and asked to inspect it, he had no fight within him instead he just moved aside and let them in.
To his surprise they asked him to relocate for the time being. It confused him but he also didn't feel like staying in the trailer either so he packed his valuables and needed items. The only issue would be trying to find a place to stay.
An ex boyfriend of his, Luis, was kind enough to let him stay at his place for a bit, and he and his new boyfriend, Alan, expressed their concern for Eddie. Luis had only met Eddie a few times when he was younger but knew that Eddie wasn't capable of taking a life.
Days passed and Wayne was beginning to get desperate, the police werent sending out any search parties and tensions were rising.
So he started putting up flyers himself and asking around the places he knew Eddie hung out but everywhere he went turned out to be a dead end. No one had seen him at the shop, none of his teachers knew anything, the members of Eddie’s band didn't either, and there were no updates from the police, they just shooed him away.
In the end even risked going over to Ricky’s house but as expected no one was there. Wayne walked around the property for a bit and peaked inside one of the windows. There was an open can of food and a pot on the stove but no Eddie.
To make matters worse Alan came home one day frantic and told Wayne and Luis that the majority of the town were ignoring law enforcements now hunting Eddie saying that he’s the leader of a satanic cult.
He knew he couldn't count on the cops helping him find Eddie and now he wasn't even sure there were any souls left in Hawkins who wouldn't shoot Eddie on sight. It hurt him seeing how everyone had twisted the image of his nephew and it hurt even more knowing there was nothing he could do about it even if they did find him.
Both Alan and Luis that night went driving around in their car looking for traces of Eddie, Wayne went by himself in his truck and headed into the woods behind and maybe he was losing his mind but through one of the patches of dense trees he swore could hear Eddie’s voice
Wayne ran around shouting for him in circles but the voice faded and he began to wonder if he ever heard it at all.
The next night was when the earthquake hit.
Alan had been at work in a warehouse when it happened and a pile of collapsing crates landed on his leg and had to be rushed to the hospital. Luis told Wayne he would be staying at the hospital as much as he could but asked if he wouldn mind taking care of his house. Wayne had no complaints; he made sure to keep the place tidy, tend to the garden, and fed the cat.
When he wasn't tending to the house he went out to check on the flyers, if they hadn't been taken down they were defaced.
He never let anyone see how much it affected him, he always kept a straight face as he replaced them silently, occasionally teens or kids would walk past him and shout ‘Devil Boy’ and giggle as they ran off.
Then one fateful day it happened. Wayne had just finished replacing the flyers downtown and went to the temporary shelter set up in the high school, they had a board dedicated to missing persons and resources to help but it never seemed like anyone was bothering to look for Eddie or to help him.
That’s when a small boy approached him, Wayne had instinctively tensed up when he noticed a figure coming up. The kid was walking with a limp and had very politely addressed him as “Mr. Munson”, despite this Wayne was still cautious and attempted to leave before the boy who introduced himself as Dustin could talk more. Then he said:
“I was with him…”
His body ran cold at the words. He could hardly push the words out when he asked where Eddie was, trying to make his voice deep to counter the threatening tears. He knew the answer. There were many dead or missing and more injured.
The small boy stared at him, lip quivering before he pulled out a guitar pick necklace. The first guitar pick Wayne had ever bought for Eddie.
At first he hadn't said anything. He just pressed the pick to his lips and kissed it softly closing his eyes. His whole body had felt weak. He had been searching non-stop for his boy believing that he was alive somewhere and the weight of it all finally crashed on top of him, there was no point in fighting this. So he sat down, looking away as the tears finally broke through. Eddie was gone.
Wayne expected for the boy to just leave, to just leave him with that but instead he sat down with him and talked. Talking how amazing Eddie was, how kind and brave he was.
Then he was hugged. And it all pooled out he sobbed, clutching the necklace, it was the first time he had heard anyone speak so highly of Eddie and with such affection and in the face of everyone else it felt like a small sliver of hope that Eddie’s name wont forever be clouded in satanist conspiracy theories.
“Thank you” was all Wayne could muster.
The next day Wayne went back to the remains of his trailer, it smelt awful and was mostly destroyed, half of it being in the ground. He carefully stepped around carrying a trash bag rummaging through the remains. Most of his mug collection had been shattered but in an act of good grace god seemed to keep his favorite, the Garfield one, intact with just a small chip on his ear. Eddie had bought that one for him.
Halfway through putting stuff into the bag he heard a car pull up when he turned around to face the people ready for a string of curses to be sent his way but instead a boy stepped out of the driver's seat, if he’s remembering correctly that was Steve Harrington, his boss's kid.
Before he could question why he was here of all places others piled out of the car but the only other one he recognized was Dustin who was wearing Eddie’s vest.
The others were two young boys and a slightly older looking girl, they had boxes with them and their eyes didn't hold hate or pity, just remorse.
Mike, Lucas, and Robin were the names of the new people. They had all introduced themselves as friends of Eddie and started helping him by putting the items he had in the trash bag neatly into the boxes Lucas even wrapped up his mug for him to protect it from other items. Then they began rummaging through the remains, picking up items and asking what he would like to keep clearing up trash to see if there was any treasure underneath. With all their help he was able to clear out most of the trailer much quicker than if he had been alone, only one area remained and the others seemed to know too. They excused themselves and headed outside to give him privacy.
If he was being honest he was avoiding the remains of Eddie’s room.
When he finally mustered up the courage he found Dustin there holding Eddie’s guitar. He was stroking it softly and crying, when Wayne approached him the kid apologized quickly trying to put the instrument back down but Wayne didn't mind instead he offered Dustin to teach him some of the beginner cords he taught Eddie. There was a small smile on his face and he nodded. They both worked silently packing up cassette tapes, rings, dnd figures, and all sorts of other little things.
Overall the salvageable items fit in three medium boxes and one small box, it only took so long because of all the trash and debris, the kids all loaded the stuff into Wayne’s car. and as thanks he offered them all one item from Eddie’s things to remember him by with a few exceptions of course.
Steve passed the offer awkwardly saying he didn't know Eddie well enough, Mike took a small hand-made dnd figure, Lucas took a movie poster, and Robin took an Iron Maiden cassette tape.
They all said their goodbyes and said if he needed anything that he could always come looking for them.
On the drive back to Luis’s house he started crying again.

Chapter 2: The End of The World As We Know It

Notes:

Still in the awkward phase of writing but I'm having a lot of fun getting chapter 3 down so far! Originally I was gonna try and finish this chapter on my birthday yesterday but couldn't either way. I'm happy I finished it now cause it was killing me

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

A month had passed. 

Wayne has been trying to set up a funeral service for Eddie that entire time. But between all the deaths from the earthquake, the fact that he doesn't have a body, and that many people still don't like Eddie it was hard to get anything scheduled. A small guilty part of him was grateful, he didn't feel ready to say ‘goodbye’ to Eddie, it was still lingering on the idea that Eddie would come home, that he’d wake up one day to a knock on the door and he’d be there. 

His mind kept wandering back to the forest where he heard Eddie, and he couldn't help but think if he had just searched longer he would have found him before the earthquake.  

Often Wayne these thoughts found him early in the morning, he’d get up much earlier than Luis and Alan, typically by the time it was 3 or 4 am he was sitting outside on the porch smoking and thinking. 

Eventually either he’d drag himself inside or Alan or Patrick could call for him.

But recently his spiral had been amplified by odd dreams.  

It was always pitch black in them, he couldn't see anything but he could hear Eddie. 

Mumbling, breathing, crying, and sometimes screaming. 

When he would try to call out to him his voice was always stuck unable to make a sound. Everytime he stirred awake from those dreams he felt a pit in his stomach gnawing at him. 

This time around he had been staring at the porch light, it had been flickering rapidly, hardly giving his eyes a moment to relax. It hummed until it eventually went out. 

Shortly after that Alan invited him inside for coffee.  

He was currently sitting at the dinner table with an empty cup dissociating as the tv played from the living room, courtesy of Alan. His brain filtered out most of the junk but occasional phrases would slip past ‘more armed forces-’ ‘curfew’ ‘ash continues to rain down–’. He’s heard it all already, the tv has been spewing doomsday nonsense for weeks now. 

“Alan, would you please turn that down? I’m already waking up with headaches.” 

Wayne snapped out of his trance at Luis’s voice. It had always been soft and gentle, especially in the mornings. He was a slow riser and liked to take his sweet time getting ready for the day ahead. Back when they were dating Luis would constantly try to get Wayne to relax his shoulders, slow down eating, and to keep his back straight but it was really no use. 

Wayne was always hunching, always tense and always scarfing down his food like somebody was going to steal it right out of his mouth. 

Despite that Luis had always treated him with love and care, always took time to massage his headaches away and bring him into his arms to relax when watching a movie running his hands through his hair and sprinkling kisses around his face. 

He would be lying if he said being here with him in the same house didn't make some of those old feelings rise again.  

“Sorry dear, I’ll just turn it off. It’s all the same anyway.” Alan muttered as the tv sputtered down, taking its fear mongering words with it. 

Alan was nice too, before this Wayne hadn't even known of him but he found that he’s a great drinking buddy and that they have a lot in common. They both liked to hike, Garfield was their favorite comic strip, they enjoyed reading in their spare time, they both grew up in Texas, and they both like Bon Jovi. 

He would hate to jeopardize a potentially good friendship with feelings from 7 years ago.

Besides, they are both beyond understanding and even with Alan recovering from his injury they agreed to let him pay $42 of rent to stay in their guest room. Any unnecessary drama would be a slap in the face to their generosity.  

Alan attempted to get up from the couch carefully using his crutches for leverage as he wobbled with his coffee mug.

“Ah-ah, come on. You know you should be resting as much as you can,” Luis rushed over, caring as always and made Alan sit back down before taking the mug out of his hands earning a playful huff from his partner. 

“And I’ll take that! Thank you.” 

Wayne stood up from his seat at the table taking Luis's presence as a cue to get the morning rolling. 

“And I’ll get started with breakfast for the both of you” They turned to look at him, then exchanged concerned looks with one another. 

“Don't forget to make yourself a plate too, okay?” Alan encouraged Wayne. He couldn't help but make a face at that. It’s true he’s been eating less and less but every time he’d try and enjoy a meal it would go stale in his mouth and he'd give up after just a few bites.

“Sure.” was his only response as he turned into the kitchen. Behind him Luis entered placing Alan’s mug in the sink before pouring himself some coffee, Wayne pulled out some pancake batter, eggs and sausage. A simple, quick, and good breakfast. 

“Any news from The funeral home?” his voice sounded hopefully as if the answer would have changed overnight.

Wayne didn't bother responding, he just shook his head sadly. Next to him Luis frowned for just a moment, then straightened his back and puffed out his chest, a tell-tale sign that he’s about to go on a ‘inspirational’ ramble.  

“You know what, I’m going to march down there and DEMAND we speak to a supervisor!” 

“Luis…” Wayne was trying to tune him out and focus on mixing the powder instead.

“No, this is crazy! When my grandmother died they had everything set up in less than a week! And you have a down payment ready-”

“Luis.” He really didn't want to talk about this right now.

“You remember Laura? She’s a lawyer Im sure if we talked to her we could-”

“Luis!” Wayne finally yelled and a hush fell over them, Alan was craning his neck to peer into the kitchen, a worried expression on his face.

“Sorry…. sorry…” Wayne dropped his shoulders and looked away from them.

“Your grandmother was never accused of murdering three kids Luis, your grandmother wasnt hated by the whole community and she sure as hell wasnt buried after a natural disasture this whole thing is…” he sighed “different.” 

Luis stared at him in silence unsure of what to say. 

This is part of why they broke up, Wayne was always a pessimist, accepting the worst before it had even settled, and as optimistic as Luis is it can get understably draining trying to keep the lights on for someone who wanted nothing more than to have them off. Wayne took a deep breath and turned back to Luis.   

“I’ll think about calling Laura.” Luis gave him a weak smile before heading back to the living room to sit with Alan. Their conversation was hushed but he knew they were probably talking about him. Guilt settled in as he continued with their breakfast in silence. In a silent apology he cut up some apples for both Luis and Alan. 

A few minutes later they were all in the living room eating and chatting lightly about all the events of the month. As much as they wanted to escape the reality of it all it was hard, the world was scary right now, people were packing up and leaving in waves and half of the ones who weren't were stuck because their family was injured, missing, or had passed and the other half were unable to leave due to financial issues. 

To make things worse the military preacance that had rolled into their town after the earthquake haven't left, if anything they’ve dug their heels into the ground. Everyday they imposed more and more odd restrictions; strict curfews, checkpoints throughout the town, soldiers in stores, water and food rationing, restriction on the purchase of alcohol, and the forced temporary closure of nonessential stores.

The news said they were here to help with tragedy relief but it didn't feel like it, maybe Wayne has just been to one too many protests in his life but they felt more like a threat then protection. 

Whenever Wayne went out to get food or even just some air it wasn't long until soldiers would approach him, question what he was doing, where he was going, why he was going there, ask how long it would take, if he was meeting anyone, and advise him to get home as soon as possible. 

Hawkins always felt like somewhat of a prison but this was a whole other level.

Doom hovered over the living room and even Luis poked sadly at the scrambled eggs on his plate. Wayne swallowed his own pessimism for a minute. 

“Well guess it's fortunate you got stuck with me and Luis then huh Alan, worse comes to worse you got two of us to grow some food, and Minnie will be alright cats are simple creatures im sure she can catch herself a few mice.” 

Luis scoffed playfully, rolling his eyes. 

“Minnie. Is a spoiled little girl, I'm sure if we didn't give her wet food she’d starve herself.” 

Before Wayne could protest about animals reverting back to their true nature Minnie herself started hissing loudly. Alan pulled his recliner back and looked down the hall, Wayne craned his neck to try and get a good look too and sure enough Minnie was staring at the back door yowling. Her hair was pricked up, ears flattened against her head as her tail flicked angrily. 

With a loud groan Luis stood up cracking his back as he did so. 

“It’s that damn dog again isn't it? I’m telling you Alan we should really do something about that loose fence board, if that mutt digs up any more of my tomatoes-” he left the sentence unfinished letting out a huff in its place instead before walking around both Wayne and Alan to head down the hall to the backyard.  

The door shut behind Luis as he went to the back, both Wayne and Alan relaxed back into their chairs, the cat was still meowing but they ignored it instead opting to talk about Luis’s distaste for dogs. Alan liked dogs and use to have one when he was a kid but didn't mind owning a cat instead of a dog, it was a lot less walking so that was a bonus, Wayne himself never really had pets and didn't see any point in getting himself a pet if he couldn't afford to dedicate time to making it happy. 

Midway through their conversation Minnie dashed into the living room leaping onto Alan's lap meowing loudly in his face.

“Woah woah settle down girl it's okay, that dog isnt gonna get you in here” Alan assuredly reached to pet the top of her head but instead received a swat to his hand earning a sharp yelp from him.

“Now what's wrong with her?” Wayne has never seen her act like this before, usually she’s all about rubbing up against your leg or demanding pets and scratches, he stood up and reached to grab Minnie but before he could touch her she lept right off of Alan’s lap and started weaving between Wayne’s legs before darting towards the back door again.

“What are y-” 

Before he could finish the sentence a loud yell pierced the air, it was Luis. 

Wayne didn't waste a beat and marched towards the back, behind him he could hear Alan scrambling to get up from the chair but didn't bother to tell him to sit back down. Wayne flung the door open, Luis was on the ground, body facing the back door, he had a rock in his hand and there was a hairless dog latched onto his left arm, the dog’s skin looked sickly almost slimy and its tail ended in a nub and it was thrashing its body. 

“DON'T JUST STAND THERE! HELP!!” Luis screamed, smashing the rock against the dog to no avail, after the momentary shock Wayne sprinted and grabbed a shovel by the garden beds and ran back over to Luis who was screaming louder by the second there was blood all over his blue shirt now. 

Wayne didn't even consider the dog might belong to someone he just pulled the shovel back and smashed it against the side of it as hard as he could, the dog yelped and released its grasp on Luis’s arm and stumbled off to the side hunching over. Luis didn't waste a second in scrambling up, his sleeves were torn through and blood dripped from his arm. Surprisingly he still held the rock tight in his hand. 

“Holy hell Luis, are you alright” 

“Kill it!” was his only response, backing away from the dog. 

Wayne has seen dogs similar to this before, Xoloitzcuintlis, but it wasn't common to see them outside of Texas or Mexico he couldn't begin to fathom how one got here in Hawkins Indiana let alone one so rabid and sick looking either way he doesn't feel right just killing it without calling a pound or something. 

Just as Wayne got ready to make his next move the dog rumbled making odd clicking sounds as it did turning to completely face them.

Wayne would have yelled for it to scram and threatened it except…except it didn't have a face. 

“What in the-” it shrieked loud enough to momentarily make his ears ring, its face split opening up and it lunged at Wayne.

“FUCK!” He took another swing this time, smacking its head and sending it sliding backwards just slightly but it didn't yelp seemingly now ready for the attack it scrambled forwards again this time going for his legs. The shovel is obviously only a minor inconvenience for the creature as it stalks around Wayne looking for an opening. 

Luis threw his rock at its back and its head snapped to him quickly. 

“Oh no.”          

Just as Luis turned around to run it leapt back onto him this time latching onto his back, before Wayne could react two gunshots rang out.

Wayne was shaking, shovel gripped tightly in his hand, he watched the creature slump over and collapse on top of Luis. He whimpered and crawled away, kicking the body off of him. 

Both of them turned around and saw Alan standing at the door, whole body stiff with a rifle in his hands. 

They all stood there for a moment too stunned to say anything. 

“What. In Christ's name was that?” Alan broke the silence re-balancing himself on his crutch, Wayne walked over to Luis but kept his eyes on the seemingly dead creature, he stuck out his hand to Luis not letting his eyes leave the carcass for even a second. After pulling Luis up and putting himself between the two he poked the body with the shovel. No movement. 

“I’ve been on a lot of hunting trips…I ain't never seen anything like this before” Wayne muttered.

“I think the Williams might have.” 

Wayne snapped around, Luis had already made his way to Alan.

“What?”

“T-the Williams boys, 3 summers ago I heard them running through the woods screaming that they saw…something.” Luis clarified “They lived next door before they up and left. But they said that there was a creature in the woods that didn't have a face. I thought they were just trying to scare the neighborhood...you know k-kid stuff.” 

Silence fell upon them again, Wayne bent down and moved the body some more, its mouth flopped open from being turned showing rows of bloody teeth. The realization hit him. 

“Luis your arm.”

Luis stood there staring at him for a long second, the adrenaline must have been distracting him because next thing he knew Alan was consoling him in the bathroom as he shouted and ranted about rabies and venom. 

Wayne was scrambling to grab the first aid kit from the kitchen, by the time he came back in Luis was leaning his head against the wall looking away with his eyes screwed shut as Alan washed his arm of the blood with a white rag. Wayne leaned down, opening the kit and pulling out gauze and disinfectant. Behind them in all the chaos Minnie was meowing more, there was something loud outside, dogs were starting to bark too, he thinks he could hear muffled screaming, Luis was still rambling, there was a rotten smell in the air. 

All the sounds and the tight space in the bathroom were starting to overwhelm him and his hands shook too much to properly disinfect his friend's wounds. Finally he shoved the items over to Alan and stood up.  

“I’m going to see what's up with Minnie , it could be another one of those things. Take care of him.” It wasn't the best excuse but Alan nodded either way. 

As Wayne exited the bathroom he heard Luis yelp, in the hallway Minnie ran to the front door still screaming her head off. Wayne pulled back the curtains, he hoped Minnie was just going insane cause she was worried about her dear owner but instead Wayne was greeted with the sky turning red as a dark shadow fell over Hawkins. He could hear more clearly now, there were screams outside and gunshots coming from down the street and faintly he could smell the stench of rot. In the woods vines were rapidly wrapping around trees and crawling along the ground. Everywhere they touched decay followed, green seeping away from its leaves and crumbling to ash.   

Leaving town suddenly seemed like a great idea. 

“We need to get out of here.” Wayne declared coming back to the bathroom entrance.    

“Now?” Alan asked surprised, looking up from the finished bandages on Luis’s arm.

“Yes. Now. We need to grab what we can and get out of here.”

“Wayne-Hey Wayne!” Alan yelled after him but he didn't linger, he was already in the kitchen grabbing a bag and shoving canned goods, non perishables, bottled water, and cat food into it. Alan caught up to him, having abandoned his crutch and limping along the wall. Luis was just barely poking his head out of the bathroom head searching for a light source. 

“We can't just leave I think we should take Luis to the hospital we don't know what that thing was and he’s right it's bite could be venomous and-” 

Just then rapid gunfire rang outside, contrasted with the dark sky they could clearly see the bright light coming from the guns, it lit up the living room. 

Then the shots flew through the window, without thinking Wayne tackled Alan, dragging him into the ground Luis a few feet away from them dropped himself too covering his head. 

Wayne used half of body to shield Alan and the other to reach out to Luis and pull him closer. They huddled together on the ground as the firing continued, more screams and inhumane sounds filled the air no longer filtered by glass. 

After what felt like ages the shots ceased. 

Glass and splintered wood littered the floor but Wayne knew they had to act fast, he scrambled up, zipped up the bag he already packed with food.  

“We have to move.” Luis was helping Alan up and they both nodded.

“You got it.” 

“Yup, leaving sounds good.”

Luis was grabbing money, maps, a pair of walkie talkies, vegetable seeds, a knife, and a few other items.Wayne didn't see where Alan went but trusted he was doing his part too. 

Half way through gathering items the lights began to hum, he and Luis froze watching them glow brighter and brighter until the fuses all bursted around them.

“Damn it” Wayne rushed outside to the back, the cloud was now fully over them and red lightning flashed in the distance. Wayne picked up the shovel he had used previously, the only gun he had fell into the earth with most of his trailer but any weapon would do. He went to the shed and grabbed rope, a flashlight, and heavy duty gloves. Upon exiting he looked at the creature again, inspecting it carefully when he heard a familiar clicking sound, his eyes darted up and from over the fence stood a much larger version of the dead creature on the ground.  

Wayne shuddered at the idea of what it could be as compared to its counterpart. He slowly took a step back, not turning his body from the creature as it tilted its head and moved it side to side completely looking past him; it was almost as if it was blind. 

He was inches from the door now, he could reach out and feel the doorknob at his fingertips then the door flung open and he was dragged inside. 

He was finally able to let out the breath he was holding, Luis was still holding the scruff of his jacket and peering out the window as well. 

Minnie was behind them meowing again. 

“It's okay baby it's okay,” Luis reassured letting go of Wayne and trying to pick her up but only earning a swat on the hand. Alan came into the living room a few moments later trying to move as quickly as he could with the crutch and balancing a box of firearms, ammunition and other weapons. On top of the box was a cat carrier, Wayne ran over and grabbed it putting on the heavy duty gloves and shoved Minnie against her wishes into the crate. She’d just have to understand later. 

Alan grabbed a pistol from the box and handed it to Luis as he reloaded his rifle.

Luis looked between them nervously then to the gun in his hand. Wayne knew about Luis’s stance on guns, he never liked to fire them hell he barely let Wayne at least teach him how to properly hold one.

“Don't worry, it’ll just be for emergencies” Luis nodded, turning on the safety.

They crept over to the front door slowly, Wayne peekd it open slightly, down the street he could see the retreating gunfire. The power must've gone out for the entire town because there wasn't a single light source for miles.

Silently he motioned for them to start moving. They sped out the door to Wayne’s truck, haphazardly throwing everything into the trunk except Minnie of course. Wayne scrambled for his keys as he leapt into the driver’s seat, Luis entered first with Minnie’s crate on his lap Alan climbed in not a moment later tossing his crutch in and claiming the window seat. 

Wayne didn't wait for them to buckle up before he started moving the car in reverse and sped down the road. Out of danger they were finally able to breathe, but no one said a word they just took in the chaos around them. 

There had been scattered electrical storms throughout the month but nothing like this, there was no more light overhead just deep dark clouds shrouding them in shadows, as they passed the trees they could see the spreading decay and the odd movements of the vines wrapping around light poles and buildings some creeping slowly onto the street.  

More and more cars piled onto the road all having the same idea to get the hell out of here.  

There was constant gunfire muffled in the distance, presumably from the soldiers'.

Alan was looking out the window and up to the sky. 

“Do you think…they knew something like this was going to happen?”

There was a short beat of silence as both Luis and Wayne took a second to consider the question.

“What?” 

Luis was holding Minnie’s cage to his chest, seeking comfort in his feline friend.  

“Think about it. We are a small town, no more than 15,000 people even less with all of the evacuations. We get an earthquake and suddenly there are tanks and soldiers all over town. They stay here over a month,” Wayne felt his knuckles tighten around the steering wheel as Alan continued 

“They start policing what everyone is doing and rationing out food and supplies, they even begin implementing curfews…and you know the rumors.”

Of course they do. Everyone knows the rumors that shady things are going on in this town and that they are hiding some kind of weapon here to fight Russia or something. Wayne always chalked it up to people with wild imaginations and bored kids but…now he isn't so sure.

Alan took a breath tearing his face away from the window to look at them earnestly.

“What if this is it? Their weapon? Some kind of biological warfare?” 

“Why wouldn't they just tell us to leave? Or why not test it in the desert where no one lives” 

“Maybe they didn't know it would be this bad? Maybe they needed actual people to test it on” Wayne entertained, Alan looked back at him and nodded.

 Luis looked between them and sighed. 

“I don't know and I don't care, we should just…focus on getting out of here and figuring out where to go. I have some family who might let us crash with them up in Elkhart.”

Luis reached into his pocket and pulled out a map, glancing over it quickly, he read out the best roads to take to make it to their new destination. 

It was best to drop the subject so they opted to move in silence.


There was a roadblock. 

By the time they made it to the end of the street that was supposed to be their salvation there were cars piled up stopped in front of military tanks and soldiers that formed a border. 

“EVERYONE RETURN TO SHELTER YOU ARE NOT PERMITTED PAST THIS POINT ANY VEHICLES ATTEMPTING TO LEAVE WILL BE SHOT. FOR YOUR OWN SAFETY I REPEAT RETURN TO SHELTER. BARCADE YOUR DOORS AND DO NOT EXIT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES. I REPEAT-” 

The color drained on Wayne’ face as turned to face the other two, the same look of horror plastered on their face. 

“W-what do they mean we cant leave? They can't…they can't do that right? This is an emergency they have to let us out”

Waves of distressed voices surrounded them; many people had their windows rolled down and were shouting amongst themselves and to the soldiers. Some begged, some cursed, a couple turned to their neighbors trying to piece together what was going on.

A car lurched forward suddenly, attempting to speed past the military barricade. Within seconds the car was fired at, it spun in a circle having had its tires popped and crashing into the side of the road. 

“SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER.”

“Shit shit shit!” Alan yelled, slamming his fist on the car, his shoulders going slack.

Wayne looked at the two besides him, Luis’s glasses were smudged, his shirt was still covered in blood and his left sleeve was cut off, presumably by Alan. The perpetrator was currently covering his mouth and looking behind them at the other cars that were piling up also trying to leave honking their horns. His mind’s rushing trying to think of a way to get out or a place to go. 

“The hospital.” Luis mutered

“What?” Alan and Wayne said in unison both being broken out of their trances.

“The hospital. There are doctors, supplies, food, security, and they have back up energy systems. I work there and should be able to get in pretty easily.” 

Wayne didn't even care they needed to get out of here. He reversed quickly, disregarding the traffic signs and lines he paid no mind to the angry honks and the very close calls with a few bumpers. 

He was barreling down the road back into Hawkins honking at cars he saw heading back in the direction of the soldiers and waving them not to, a few cars listened but most continued ahead. It was best not to dwell on it. He did what he could.

By the time they made it deeper into the town those strange vines had creeped onto the road, his truck went over them no problem but judging by what they did to the trees he was fond of finding out what they could do to him.  

Then there was a familiar rumbling. 

Another earthquake? 

Wayne rushed to get them in the middle of the road, they were in the middle of downtown and if any of those buildings were to collapse it would fall on them. Quickly he turned off the car. 

“Brace yourself!” They all ducked covering their necks and shoulders as the rumbling increased. The buildings hook and sure enough pisces collapsed onto the sidewalk and curbs a light pole fell behind them and the street bagan to crack and open up, and from it crawled dozens of little winged creatures they hiss flailing their tails around before stretching their wings and gliding up to the sky hissing loudly as they flocked above.

Wayne hardly noticed the rumbling stopped, his eyes fixated on the creatures. Some people were out on the street now, having just left stores or been at work and coming outside to see what was going on. 

They couldn't do anything but watch in horror as one of the creatures dove down and knocked the woman down, she tried to scramble away but its tail wrapped around her ankle holding her down as she kicked and screamed until a swarm of 6 pinned her down. They all looked away but there was nowhere they could turn without seeing those beasts, lunging at people and tearing apart doors and windows.

“Wayne. Start the car.” The words were said low but with urgency, Wayne quickly listed starting up the car again his heart was racing and panic was quickly taking over. He made a harsh turn 

“What are you doing? The hospital is that way!” 

“And that way is a packed road full of houses and business if we take that road there's a much bigger change that place will be full of those demons I’m takin another road”

It would take longer but Wayne was sure it would be much safer. In the rear view mirror he could see a section of the swarm of batlike creature break off and head towards them

Of course they were. Wayne slammed the gas harder, the truck hummed in protest and lurched forward regardless.  

The bats were over them now, they were shrieking slamming thmsleves on the top of the truck.

“Fuck it.” Alan began rolling down the window halfway sticking the barrel of his gun out.

“WOAH WOAH NOW HOLD ON!” Wayne needed to keep his eyes on the road but he kept glancing at him, Alan aimed his rifle and began shooting it at an awkward angle but it did in fact make them scatter away. Once they were more cleared Alan fully put the window out and began lifting himself up getting his head out of the window. 

“Alan! Get back in” Luis yelled but it was no use he was already climbing halfway out the car’s window and shooting, and man is he a sharp shooter. 

Wayne whistled as he saw several bodies fall out of the sky, some others stumble and retreat back and Alan’s shots. He reloaded every now and then, a rifle could only fire so many bullets.  

“Keep her steady Munson!” Alan called and he nodded even though Alan had no way of seeing him from that angle, the shots continued to ring out as Wayne did his best to move avoid the other creatures that were staring to flock to the street, it wouldn't be a good idea to try and run them down not with his old truck. 

Then Wayne heard the pull of a trigger but no fire. 

“Shit” Alan cursed, ducking back inside the car and fishing into his pockets pulling out another box of ammunition. Wayne took advantage of him being back inside of the car and sped up. 

They were just 3 miles from the hospital now, they had to make it. 

“WATCH OUT!” 

Just as Wayne was about to turn to see what Luis was yelling about something large hit the drivers side of the car, they skidded and Wayne struggled to hold the wheel in place. His first thought was that another car trying to escape had hit them but instead he was greeted one of those full grown faceless creatures, it shook its head obviously at least a little phased by the impact but looked right back at them it roared and charged they were screaming but then it stopped, going slack and slowly backing up and letting its arms drop down to its side almost in a trance-like state. 

Its chest heaved up and down heavily, it looked as if it wanted to move but couldn't. Wayne stared at it, eyes blown wide at the imposing figure. 

Then something landed in front of them crashing down from the sky.

It was Eddie.

There was no doubt even with how different he looked, he could tell that was his nephew.  

Eddie was large, his face was gray and looked almost rotten, his hair was tangled and covered in dirt and debris, wings sprouted from his back and his clothes were ruined and covered in dried blood and dirt behind him an odd tangle of tails followed his legs looked bent and cracked.

“Wayne?” He wasn't even sure who was speaking. 

Eddie didn't move, just stared at them in the car. There was a long beat of silence then he began tapping his foot not moving forward but tapping it rythically never breaking eye contact.

Taptaptap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Taptaptap.

No one in the car made a sound aside from the low hiss from inside Minnie’s crate. 

Then Eddie stopped, something in his expression changing as his mouth gaped open horrifyingly wide, distorting his face as the flesh stretched then he let out a shrill shriek. More of those bat creatures appeared in waves far more than Alan would've been able to fessaibly shoot and even if he could there was not enough ammo to back them up. 

Wayne knew he should start moving. He should step on the gas and get them out of there. But he didn't. He couldn't.

He was paralyzed staring at this creature in the twisted image of his nephew approaching them. The bats were closing in.

Very faintly he could hear Luis and Alan yelling something but none of it was registering, he could feel his chest closing up and he couldn't will his body to move. 

Luis undid his seatbelt leaping over Wayne slamming his foot on the gas pedal while seizing the wheel. None of it was fully processing everything felt like he was watching it through a camera. They plowed through the waves of bats, they cracked the windshield and made denets in the truck. 

He hardly realized Luis fully removed him from the driver's seat and put him in his original spot with Minnie on his lap. They were moving fast and eventually they lost the creatures. 

Alan didn't stick his body out the window again but he did grab Wayne’s hand in his own as they continued down the road.

Notes:

Thank you for reading!! I appreciate the comments and kudos <3

Chapter 3: Visions

Notes:

Edit: I fixed up some scenes and typos cause it was bothering me to hell.

Chapter Text

Wayne hardly noticed when they made it to the hospital, he only realized after Alan nudged him softly and he was brought back to reality. The parking lot was pure chaos, a lot of the cars didn't bother parking neatly or even getting into the parking zones, others were driven onto the grass or on the side of the road. 

“There’s an employee only door around the side of the building, I brought my ID card so we should be good” 

“Get onto the grass, we should get as close as possible to it” Alan interjected, Luis nodded and went over the curb after a few seconds of steady driving, the car powered down and hesitantly they all stepped out. 

Alan got out first aiming his gun towards the sky and looking around, vaguely Wayne realized he should be on guard too and climbed out behind Alan grabbing Minnie’s cage and glanced around the perimeter while heading to the back of the truck to grab the bags and the shovel. 

It seemed mostly clear but they couldn't trust it. 

Luis slinged one of the bags over his shoulder. 

“It seems…awfully quiet.” it was true, there wasn't a noise from anywhere. Even inside of the building. There was a very real possibility this place isn't free from the creatures

“Too quiet,” Wayne agreed. Shutting the trunk of the truck, the trio crept over to the employees only door. 

Luis began shuffling around the bag he had meanwhile Alan and Wane stayed on guard. It was odd feeling this small and vulnerable, their eyes were darting to the trees and the sky like something would leap out of them at any second. 

Wayne heard the buzzing of the door confirming it had opened

“There! Okay let's-”

“FREEZE!” 

Wayne and Alan spun around quickly, Wayne lifting the shovel up and Alan pointing his rifle, there were screams and shouts that none of them truly processed 

“Put down your weapons!” 

“Put down yours!” That probably wasn't the best response to give to four officers pointing guns at you and your companions but it's what Alan said either way.

“I work here!! I’m here to help!!” Luis yelled and at that the cops stopped and turned to him,     

“L-look” he held out his card, they glanced back at Alan and Wayne before one of them reached over and snagged the ID away, inspecting it over. 

There was a long beat of silence then they dropped their guns.

“Hurry.”

 

Upon entering they were hit with the stench of rotten flesh and blood, lights were torn out from the ceiling and the remaining one flickered, there was blood on the ground and walls and as they went deeper into the hospital they found a few bodies of those creatures. 

An emergency ax logged into the body of a bat, the faceless dog full of bullets, and one side of the wall was covered in burn marks and a disregarded fire extinguisher.    

“What happened here?” the question came from Luis, as he stopped at stare at the scene

“Early morning at around 6 we got a call about wild animals attacking some folks out West. Farmers said they heard noises outside then were attacked by rabid dogs. Initially we sent animal control to deal with it but then we got a call from them. But by the time we got there…” The one speaking fell silent so another picked it up for him. 

“It was only a 13 year old girl and her little brother left. The girl was injured so we took them to the hospital. But it was overrun, those ‘dogs’ had broken in and were mauling patients and doctors. We acted as fast as we could and evacuated the bottom floor, while pushing back on those creatures.”

“Do you know what they are or where they came from” 

“No clue…” their voices were drifting from Wayne’s mind, they continued their conversations as he crept carefully over to the bat on the floor and stared at it, its wings were battered and torn, its mouth wide and full of 2 rows of sharp teeth. The same traits Eddie had. Without really thinking Wayne grabbed the base of the ax and pulled it, the squelching sound it made as it come loose from the bats flesh was disgusting but it was a better weapon than a shovel

“What do you think you're doing?” Wayne glared at the cops 

“Listen, you’d be damn crazy if you think im not getting myself armed against whatever the fuck is out there.”

They all stared at him for a minute. 

“Alright. Let’s not waste anymore time. Follow us”

The elevators were out of commision, it was clear with how busted they look and the exposed electrical wiring. Instead they were led up the stairs they passed the second floor and entered on the third. Once the door opened they saw the true chaos of the aftermath. Dozens of people were lined up against the wall, some being treated on the ground where they were and others simply waiting nurses and doctors were scattered trying to talk among themselves and move on. One of the nurses looked towards them then sprinted up to them with a relieved look written all over his face.

“Dr. Foster! Thank god, we need you right away.” he grabbed Luis’s wrist before he could protest. Luis turned to them helplessly as he was dragged away in the crowd of chaos. Alan with his visible leg injury shortly got taken away by a nurse. 

The police officers began to back into the stairwell closing the door when a little girl dashed past them and grabbed a hold of the door knobbed pulling with all her strength but she was still a rather small girl. 

“Do not close the doors!” 

The officers all groaned 

“For the last time kid, go stay with your brother.” 

“But we have friends out there, we need to make sure they are okay!” 

“Have you looked outside? Listen, I'm sorry but we are locked in for a reason! Now go or one of us will be forced to escort you back.” 

“Listen you dickweeds we helped you with those monsters, just let us out!” 

“Little miss you should listen to them, it's not safe out there for little kids like you” 

The girl spun around and glared at him. 

“Dont ‘little miss me’ Old Man Jenkins go back to breaking your hip or something.'' the statement shocked Wayne out of words and he just stared back at her dumbfounded, but it seems like he severed the perfect distraction because before the girl could turn her attention back to the door it was slammed shut dragging her with it, she grumbled and struggled with the knob to no avail, it was now locked. 

She spun around clenching her fist angrily, for a kid who was 5’2 at the tallest wearing a pink dress with pale yellow undershirt, sword shaped earrings, brightly colored butterfly hair clips, and a My Little Pony backpack she was quite imposing. 

“Now look what you've done, Hawkins and humanity as we know it is probably doomed now.”

Wayne tried to think of a response to this kid when a voice broke out. 

“Erica!” 

“Lucas?” Wayne had quickly recognized the voice, sure enough when he turned Lucas as jogging up to them until he slowed down looking at Wayne.

“Mr. Munson?” He seemed equally surprised, Lucas was a sweet kid he didn't know him for long but the boy was respectful. He remembered how gently he had wrapped the Garfield mug Wayne was able to recover from his old trailer. 

“Glad to see you're doing alright son”

“Uh we are not doing alright cause we are still trapped thanks to your friend here” 

Lucas sighed, it was a heavy tired sigh and Wayne could tell because it was the kind he’s been making for the past few weeks as well. 

There were heavy bags under Lucas’s eyes. It looked as if he hadn't slept in days, his whole body screamed fatigue. 

“Erica please can we just go back to the room?” 

She stood her ground arms crossed in front of the door to the stairwell before huffing and storming off. Hesitantly Lucas met Wayne’s eyes. 

“Sorry about my sister, she’s just…really worried about our friends you know?”

“It’s no problem Lucas I understand, it's crazy right now but I don't think she understands just what is out there” Lucas gave a weary smile and nodded.

“Y-yeah she probably doesn't…”

 Wayne stared at him for a bit before taking off the bag he had and reaching inside, he was able to fish out a bag of beef jerky and hand it to Lucas. The boy stared at him confused 

“You really should eat, this has protein in it and you don't gotta put much thought into eating it.”

He smiled taking the bag 

“Thank you Mr. Munson”

Lucas turned around and began walking away. Wayne knows he was in Eddie’s club…

“Wait”

Lucas turned back to him and waited for him to continue.

“Sorry to ask this of you but….did you.” he was struggling to say the words he took a breath” Did you see Eddie’s body?” 

Wayne could feel the shift that had on the tone between them, Lucas tensed and looked away

“N-n-no sir. I’m sorry.”

He just nodded, not wanting to push.

“Why do you ask?” 

There wasn't really a way to tell this to a kid or to anyone. 

“Nothing boy,it's probably nothing. Sorry to keep ya.”

Lucas stared at him a bit longer, something in his eyes searching for a real answer. 

“If you need anything, me and my sister are in room B029.” 

He just nodded in acknowledgement and the boy too disappeared in the crowd. A soft meow came from the crate in his hands that he almost forgot he was holding. 

“I hear you Dixie…I hear you…” 

—-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

While Alan and Luis were gone Wayne had managed to find a mostly unoccupied corner where he set Dixie free while setting down her plate of food. She ate greedily flicking her tail to let him know she wasn't too pleased being tossed around a crate for an hour. Wayne watched her as there wasn't much else to do, once she finished with her meal she licked her paws clean and stretched having already forgiven him she leapt into his laps settling there comfortably. 

Being alone he finally had time to think. 

He had seen Eddie. Or at least something that very much resslemed his late nephew. But he doubts it was the latter. Something about the way he moved reminded him of Eddie, he was thinking back to the foot taps. It was strange and rhythmic. Absent-mindedly Wayne began to tap along with his fingers.  

Taptaptap

It was so familiar and so well paced. 

The lights from the morning they were in a similar pattern maybe off by a beat or two

Tap.tap.tap

It seemed too specific to be nothing. 

Taptaptap.

S.O.S. 

The answer hit him suddenly. S.O.S. 

Wayne had tried to teach Eddie Morse code when he was 15 years old and told him it would be for emergencies but Eddie had never seemed interested, in fact he only ever learned one sign.

“Hey Munson!” 

Wayne snapped out of his trance, Alan stood in front of him smiling, there was a new set of crutches that looked much more durable than the older ones.

“You're looking happy”

“Yeah well they gave me some pain meds so I can't really feel the whole broken leg situation right now”   

Alan propped his crutches on the wall and awkwardly slid down in order to sit next to Wayne, making sure the cast stayed straight. 

Minnie seemed pleased to have one of her two owners back in her vicinity and started kneading on Wayne’s legs, Alan reached over to give her a scratch behind the ear. 

For a moment they both stayed silent unsure of what to say or do next.

“This is fucking insane.” 

Wayne is glad he said it first. They were trapped in a hospital with demons raging outside and they were being locked in the town by military officials who may or may not have been aware of something like this happening and to top it off there was Eddie. 

“Yeah...yeah it is..”

Alan stared at him. 

“How you holding up?”  

“You saw Eddie right?” 

Alan blinked at him for a moment, he knew what he was talking about. 

“I don't know what it was, and I’ve never met your boy but based on the photos…it was uncanny for sure.”

“But he stopped the faceless monster didn't he?” 

“It…seems like it.”

“A-and the tapping.”

“What about it?” 

“He was tapping in morse code.” 

He sounded insane; he knew that he did, and he could tell from the way Alan looked at him with a raised eyebrow that he thought so too. 

“I know what it sounds like Alan but…I’ve been having these nightmares”

“Nightmares?”

“Yes.I could hear Eddie and he’s just crying…”

Alan didn't interrupt, just hung onto every word. 

“At first I thought it was because I felt guilty but they’ve all felt so real like he was really there. And those woods I told you about where I heard him. It sounded like he was somewhere else? It was distant like I was hearing him through a window but I know I heard him. And the lights on the porch, they also flickered in morse code-”

“I'm going to stop you there Wayne. Listen, I want to believe you but it’s very possible that in all this craziness you're looking for a justification for what happened to Eddie.” 

”But the earthquakes”

 “What?”

“ A month ago Eddie went missing. A month ago there was an earthquake, and a month ago he…’died’. And now we have these things crawling everywhere and on our way here there was a second earthquake that those monsters crawled out of.”

Alan fell silent, he stared off considering this for a moment. 

“I think you need to get some rest Wayne.” 

A few days passed.

Wayne hardly slept that whole time, sometimes he could hear the shrieks of the monsters outside, and he couldn't help but imagine them savanging the floors below them waiting for the chance to work their way up and he couldn't stop thinking about Eddie.

To make matters worse Alan and Wayne hardly got to see Luis, the few glances they did get to see him in the hall he was rushing to another room sometimes still covered in blood but always looking exhausted. It wasn't usually until 12 or 1 a.m. that he would drop by with them and pass out. But usually after the 2-3 hour mark someone came to find him and he was up again. 

Wayne woke up slowly this time, it was 4 a.m. he knew that after staring at the clock on the wall cross for him for a couple of minutes trying to will himself to read it. 

It took even longer for him to get up and decide he should head to one of the coffee bar areas to wake himself up. 

Wayne stirred the coffee mindlessly, he was grateful no one else was there but it felt a little bit eerie, he honestly hadn't seen many people in the hallway either. Now that he thinks about it, it’s oddly silent and either Alan or Luis was nearby when he woke up. He could chalk it up to Luis being busy and Alan going to get food or some alone time but…

A loud static sound jolted him away from his thoughts, there was a familiar tune playing on the counter. When did that radio get there?

He recognised the song. 

 

“We've got the right to choose and there ain't no way we'll lose it

This is our life, this is our song”

 

Wayne found himself mouthing the lyrics as he recalled them, the lights started to flicker overhead, the music on the radio was being distorted suddenly he could see the walls were deteriorated, ash floated through the air and vines filled the room. 

 

‘Ca….us…e 

Yo…u don't k…now us, you… do…n't belo…ng”

 

It continued as he backed away from the sound the he hit something, he spun around

Eddie was hovering over him, his eyes pitch black and face covered in blood. He was unmoving just staring at him. 

“Eddie?” 

“Wayne!” 

He flinched awake gasping for air, he darted his head around looking for where he was. The clock from across the room read 1:15 a.m. Luis was staring at him concerned

“Sorry! Sorry. You looked like you were having a bad dream so I woke you up”

Wayne’s chest was still heaving trying to catch up on itself Luis looked him up and down 

“Are you alright?” 

Wayne hated being weak, he hated allowing himself to show weakness but Luis did something to him and he wanted to cry. Quickly he bolted up and excused himself to the bathroom so that he could splash cold water on his face. 

By the fourth day Wayne was feeling restless, he was awake at 2 a.m. he managed to fall asleep at 12 a.m. but it obviously didn't last long, when he woke up Luis’s head was resting on his shoulder Alan was laying his head on Luis’s lap and as much as he wanted to move he didn't like the idea of disturbing either of them so early so just layed there. Taking to listening to the noise 

“We have to tell him about Eddie.” Wayne froze

“Erica you know we can’t” 

Their voices were muffled slightly but Wayne could hear mostly everything. They were arguing. 

Wayne’s eyes darted around looking at the room numbers. They had to move from their usual spot when a couple more people came in, he hadn't noticed they were in the B020s section.

“Lucas, the 4 horsemen of the apocalypse are outside. I think we are past hiding top secret information, it's hardly a secret anymore!”

Lucas groaned, Wayne was trying hard not to breathe unevenly and just listened.

“He can help us, listen, they have the supplies we could need and me and you alone have no chance of pulling this off. I can't fit in air vents anymore and you are a terrible liar. The point is we need to get to them.”

Wayne was struggling to keep his breath steady, he glanced over to Luis only to jolt when he saw him staring back. Luis raised a finger to his lips and motioned towards the door. Carefully Luis took Alan’s head in his hands and gently placed him under his coat.

‘Lets get closer’ he mouthed and Wayne nodded, they both crept over closer now being able to hear clearly

“What if I don't want to pull it off?” 

“Lucas. I know you care about Max, I care about her too believe it or not but what is standing around here doing nothing going to accomplish?” 

“I can make sure Vecna doesn't get her again?”

“Do you hear yourself? He already did what he wanted too, he doesnt need her anymore. Dustin and the others? They need us right now and if we really want to help Max we have to do something to stop this and we’ve been sitting around doing nothing for the past few days.”

“Whose Vecna?” Wayne whispered and Luis shrugged. 

“Lucas, I’m doing this whether or not you decide coming with me” Luis tensed, 

“Don't act like this. Now is not the time to act like a brat.”

“If I dont act like a brat then none of you will listen to me!” 

Luis stood up before Wayne could stop him and he stormed into the room, Wayne scrambled up and followed him inside. The room was small, only 2 chairs and one bed and the bed was occupied by a small girl with bright red hair covered head to toe in cast. 

“Were you eavesdropping?!?” Lucas hissed. 

“What do you know about Eddie?” Wayne asked 

Erica stepped forward. 

“I want to make a deal with you three.” 

“Erica.” Lucas warned through gritted teeth but she ignored him.

“We need to get out of here, security won't let us but I have a plan that would need your help. If you help us I will tell you everything you want to know including the truth about Eddie.” 

Wayne felt his face twitch at that. 

“Whatever your plan is, it isn't going to work, there is more happening here than you know.”

Wayne was staring at him confused, it was weird seeing Luis act like this. 

“Uh no offense but I'm pretty sure we know way more than you do” Erica boasted smugly 

“Maybe you do but you do, maybe you know more about what is going on out there but here in this hospital there is something else. We are not safe.” 

“What?” was all Wayne could manage, its true its been hard to talk to Luis over the past few days but it never seemed like he was planning on saying something.

Luis sighed and took off his glasses glancing at everyone in the room, he turned to Wayne.

“Go get Alan.” he nodded, sensing something important was about to happen. He jogged outside and saw Alan still fast asleep. Gently he nudged him awake and whispered to follow him quietly, Alan crept over groggy and confused as they entered the room. Wayne shut the door. 

“I have something I need to tell you all. About what's going on with the hospital, so far we’ve been able to keep it under wraps but I fear we don't have much time.”

Everyone was staring at Luis, it is rare to see him this stern. He was the type to sugarcoat his words and ease people into the reality of situations but right now based on the look in his eyes there was no sugarcoating this. 

“The hospital has plans to close off the upper wings and barricade the doors, effective in a few days. Not only that but soon they are going to start kicking people out, we are running low on supplies and food. People who are not in need of immediate care are going to be thrown out. Even if you are with family and friends.” 

Erica looked smugly over to Lucas happy that her point had been proven.  

“O-okay so they are going to kick people out, but why are they closing off the upper wings? More people could be treated there.” Lucas protested, obviously worried.

There was a haunted look over Luis’s face. 

“They are keeping…monsters contained up there.” 

Alan paled he was fully awake now and looking between everyone in the room

“Woah woah, you mean those creatures outside? Why did they bring them in here?!” 

Luis shook his head.

“No no. It’s not those creatures outside its….something much different.” he took a deep breath

“Patients who die after being attacked or captured by those creatures have something alive in them. 2-4 hours after death they come back alive. They are violent and aggressive, reactive to light, sensitive to heat, and abnormally strong. The ones that don't come back to life are the host to unknown larvae. We currently have about 16 of them in contmaint that have crawled out of the corpses. But I'm sure there will be more.” 

Erica and Lucas turned to each other, their eyes blown wide in terror, Wayne himself went slack and Alan froze.

Silence fell over the room, had this been a different situation Wayne wouldve asked if he was fucking around but….

After a minute of no one saying a word he turned to Erica and Lucas.

“Your sister is right. You can not stay here, not safely, we are overwhelmed and the mortality rate is only rising, we won't be able to contain something like this for long.”

“Maybe we should try to trust them to contain it, it's dangerous out there.” Alan tried to reason

“No.” Lucas spoke finally, he was shaking his head having taken the seat next to the bed and holding the girl's hand “They can't contain something like this..those larvae you described, we’ve seen them before. They grow very quickly, and all of them will grow up to be a demogorgon”

“A-a what?” Wayne recalls the name, if he is remembering it correctly Eddie has talked about it before but…it was a game.

“Demogorgon. It's what we call those faceless creatures, the Demogorgon are the fully grown ones and there's the demo-dogs, and demo-bats as well.” Erica elaborated 

“And we’ve seen what you’ve described before…about aggressive sensitivity to heat and light…it's true we can't stay here…” Lucas’s hand gripped tighter to the girls.

“B-but. But we can leave her. We can't leave Max. She’s in a coma i-if we leave her here they might…” his voice trailed, only implying what he thought. 

“I’m a doctor…well I’ve only been a practicing doctor for a couple of months but I’ve been studying for quite a while and I’ve read up a lot on comatose victims. And if we can get our hands on an ambulance we can transport her safely.” Luis offered. 

Wayne turned to look at him. Was he seriously considering this? It was one thing to attempt to escape together and another to offer to not only take care of but also help kidnap a comatose patient.

Alan seemed to have the same question cause he was looking slack jawed at his boyfriend.

Lucas’s eyes were blown wide, there was clear panic written all over him, his hand gripped tighter to the girl on the bed.

“What if something happens to you? We won't have anyone to look after her.” 

“I can. I know how to do it.” Erica offered, Lucas glared at her.

“Stop messing around Erica. This is serious.” his voice was strained, laced in worry and panic.

“I am being serious. I’m 90% confident I can take care of a comostate patient.”

“No you dont you liar.” he stood up facing her fully.

“I do too! At least now I do. I watched all the routines, the supplies they used, the producers, all the steps, I have everything we need memorized for something like this.” 

“Why would you be looking at that?”

Erica shrugged her shoulders. 

“I was bored. And plus we have a doctor here now. the things I don't fully understand he can teach me.” Lucas stared at her searching for something in her eyes to tell him that she was bluffing but she didn't budge. 

Finally he tore his eyes away looking outside the window and thinking. It wasn't a light question; they all allowed him to take a minute to consider this. Outside the monsters seemed to get more aggressive, thrashing themselves into the sides of buildings and even clawing at the hospital windows and doors. 

“Okay.” Lucas said at last, turning away from the window.

“I’m in if you guys are too”

“Can you give us a moment?” Alan grabbed Wayne and Luis and pulled them to the side, there wasn't much privacy in the small room and the children could definitely still hear them. 

“Are you insane? These are children, and what are you talking about?” he hissed

Luis sighed. 

“I’m sorry I didn't talk to you guys before, I didn't want you to worry but I’ve been trying to figure out a way to get out of here but it's clear we can't do this alone. I don't have access to a lot of areas and I'm constantly needed. It would be suspicious for me to be seen snooping around instead of caring for the many patients here.”

That was all true, Wayne and Alan knew well enough they were probably looking for him right now.

“If it were up to me I also wouldbt be putting our fate in the hands of these children but…we don't have much else of a choice, they know something about all this that we don't and we may need them.” 

Wayne thought for a moment. Thought about the sounds he could hear at night from those creatures and the vivid dreams of Eddie. There was so much going on, and he could feel a storm brewing in here that was sure to blow up any day now.  

“Okay” 

“Okay?” Alan wheezed looking between them both.

“Alan, I trust Luis, you know he wouldn't lie to us and if what he and those kids are talking is true then we are in real danger here much more than out in the open. And plus they know something about Eddie…they were talking about him and he’s connected to all this. I hate to say it but I’m with him.”

Alan’s shoulders slumped in defeat. He shook his head in disbelief before sighing.

“Okay. What else do we have to lose?” 

The moved away from their huddle, Erica was staring at them arms crossed impatiently 

“Your little book club meeting done? Cause we need an actual plan.” 

The plan was simple enough on paper: 

Erica and Wayne would use the windows in the lobby to shimmy their way into the head Doctor’s office, there's a window that leads to the closet of the office that is big enough to fit both of them once inside they’ll locate a map of the hospital, a keycard, and ambulance keys. 

Once they have all items they will use the map to find ambulance access only parking. While they are doing that Alan will be outside on the lookout for the Doctor, if they succeed then they will head over to the parking garage with the staff key and find the ambulance. 

While they are doing that Luis using his doctor status will go into the supply room and get all the stuff they would need for Max and more. 

Then he would ‘move’ Max to another area of the hospital, he would meet them in the parking lot, load her into the back and drive out.    

Maybe it wasn that simple on paper either but regardless, they had a plan. 

Wayne felt a bit more confident, now having a blueprint. 

—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This was a terrible idea, an awful one, an even potentially disastrous one and he has no idea who in their right mind would let a child do this. 

But guess he should get his member card cause he is standing next to Erica as she shifts through the hospital files. They were lucky enough that there was a keycard placed visibly on the table so that was a quick grab but everything else was a man hunt. 

He is pretty sure this violates quite a number of laws but this kid was doing it nonchalantly like it was just a tuesday afternoon. 

Wayne’s head was shifting side to side constantly looking over his shoulders and listening intently at any footsteps that drew too near.

“Here!” she cheered, pulling out their golden ticket, sure enough it was a map of the whole hospital including the doctors' back rooms and areas. 

“Okay we got what we need, lets go kid.”

“Ah-ah-ah aren't you forgetting something?”

Wayne raised a confused eyebrow, just wanting to leave already

“Geez, I don't know why I even bother with you adults anymore. We need the keys. Remember?” 

Wayne was hoping they would skip this part and settle for his truck, but he knew there was no way they could possibly fit everyone in there. He sighed and hesitantly started shifting through the drawers, Erica was already at work making a copy of the map. He still couldn't believe he was doing this, and all for a maybe. 

“Oh! Doctor!!! I was waiting for you!” Alan’s voice outside the door made them both freeze. 

Faintly he could hear Alan rambling to the Doctor, buying some time for them.

Erica cursed under her breath turning to the printer. 

“Hurry up you old dinosaur” it came out as a hiss. Wayne began rummaging faster, simultaneously closing drawers and fixing up the mess he left behind, he yanked open a filing cabinet then he saw a faint glint he lunged and pulled out a set of keys, behind him Erica yanked the paper out of the printer. 

“Go, go, go” she was shoving him back towards the closet, he boosted her back up as she crawled out the window clinging onto the ledge. He could hear the door unlocking, he scrambled up knockin over a few boxes as he went but it didn't matter. 

He was out and he shut the window. 

They both breath heavily clinging back to the side of the building. Then she started laughing. Wayne couldnt believe this. 

“What? You finding all this funny?”

She was wheezing now shaking her head 

“No no…I just. I had some flashbacks.” 

He doesnt think he wants her to elaborate on that. 

By the time they made it back safely inside Alan and Luis were chatting amongst themselves in whispers both looking worried, when Luis’s eyes darted up a smile replaced his worried swoll 

“You guys are okay!” 

“Shhhhhh” Erica glared at him. 

“Yeah go ahead let the entire floor know we are up to something!” 

Luis mouthed a ‘sorry’ before lowering his voice. 

“Did you get them?” 

Wayne felt like he was going to have a heart attack but yeah he got them. Instead of saying that he simply shook the keys in his pocket. They both beamed. 

“Okay. Phase 2.No backing down.” 

Luis went on ahead, Alan and Wayne made it back to the hospital room, while Alan was scooping up Minnie Wayne poked his head inside the room. 

Lucas was pacing back and forth in there biting his nails, upon seeing them he gave them a nod. Silently acknowledgement that they are moving onto the next step. 

Lucas was prepping Max to move while Wayne and Alan ran back looking for Erica, they found her pretending to read some flyers on a clipboard, seeing them approached she removed her eyes from them and rushed to the doors using the keycard. Quickly they scrambled through the doors shutting it behind them before anyone could notice.

“Hey!” 

Shit. Wayne turned around and sure enough a guard was there, he approached them. 

“You do not have access to this location.”

 Erica froze looking up at Wayne for guidance. Guess she doesn't have a lot of experience getting caught

“Listen Mister, we just got a bit turned around, you see we are looking for this little girl's parents and she said she saw the go through-” 

“Head back inside or I will radio security.” It was an order and a threat.  

“Of course, of course.” 

Wayne isn't sure what overcame him but without warning he punched the man in the face with enough force to make him stumble back and hit his head on the wall knocking out. 

Behind him Alan whistled. 

“One hell of a fist Munson.”

Erica furrowed her eyebrows looking between them. 

“Listen I don't care what you do in your spare time but I don't want any of you flirting in front of me, got that?” that made them both jump. 

“We weren’t-”

“Yea yea sure I’ve seen Lucas and his train of ineligible bachelors enough times, can we get a move on?”

She squeezed past them, taking the keys from Wayne and testing the cars. Alan and Wayne looked between each other awkwardly and shuffled to follow after the girl.  

Luckily enough they found it pretty quickly, Alan took the keys from Erica and handed off Minnie to Wayne. They both climbed into the back of the van, they drove up to the doors opening the back up, Erica climbed out and unlocked the door, Lucas and Luis were both waiting there, they scrambled quickly loading Max into the car and strapping her down. Just as Luis was explaining to Erica some of the supplies he was able to grab, shouting interrupted them.  

“STOP!”

Wayne’s head shot up, from further down the parking garage a group of security guards were booking it towards them he looked around and sure enough there were security cameras pointed directly at them . 

“Shit.” 

“EVERYONE GET IN!” Alan yelled and they all began to fumble, Luis tossed the bags of supplies into Lucas’s arms and crawled through the back into the front. Before Wayne could shut the doors they were jolted forward as Alan started to speed off, Erica stumbled forward and almost out of the back but Wayne grabbed the scruff of her dress and pulled her back in. 

They both worked together and shut the doors, they could hear more shouts from guards who started to take notice but Alan only sped up, they all scrambled to get into their seats and buckle up.

Wayne was gripping onto the sides of the car for dear life, his whole body being tussled around, Luis was yelling directions, Erica was gripping onto her brother shouting at them to avoid driving over the vines, and Lucas was gripping onto the hospital bed holding a hand on Max’s chest to keep her still. 

Minnie was sinking her claws into Wayne lap and even with the thick fabric of the jeans it hurt.   

It wasn't long until they were out of the garage and the guards were long gone.

Finally they slowed down, Alan was now more carefully avoiding the vines. It was slow but that didn't really matter, the hospital wouldn’t come after them that was for sure. One ambulance car and one patient in the midst of the end of the world wouldn't be their top priority. 

Everyone had calmed down as well, Minnie hesitantly removed her claws from Wayne’s leg and Lucas situated himself on his seat next to his sister.

“Okay now that you’ve helped us, we will tell you everything.” Erica said at last.

And they did. 

Wayne kept looking at Alan and Luis to confirm they were hearing the same shit, their eyes were wide in confusion and disbelief. They told them about another dimension full of monsters that they’d stopped three times before, about the secret russian base, about Vecna, about a little girl with psychic powers, about Hopper, about how Max died, and so many other things. 

By the end of it they were all silent.

Wayne would have laughed at them, told them to go home and play their games elsewhere but this wasn't a normal situation, he just helped two kids kidnap a coma patient and his nephew is a bat monster.

“And what about-” Wayne felt his voice wavering, “what about Eddie?” 

Erica looked to Lucas as if she hadn't considered talking about Eddie would mean looking Wayne in the eye and telling him. 

“I think it's best we let Dustin explain that…” 

Wayne decided it was best to leave it at that, he was feeling overwhelmed and tired.

These kids are seriously terrifying.

Notes:

The chapter titles will be cheesy as hell and named after songs i have on a playlist I made while writing this.
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3P0KSJMyDSzTMxbI8j60bH?si=ExqBdF0nS5qsSg8c7zq3Yw&utm_source=copy-link
This is just for fun tbh! Thank you for reading and I hope you'll stay tuned!