Chapter Seventy-Five: The 1

Carefully and quietly, the group followed right behind Eddie. He was leading them to their transport, since the bikes would take way too long to get to the 'War Zone' and back. Time wasn't on their side, so a faster transport was needed.

That is where Eddie and his creepy Mike Myers mask came in. No one could see his face, cause then the police would be on their asses. They would be anyway after this.

Eddie led them to the backside of someone's RV. They were seated in front of it, something Eddie counted on, listening to the radio. Some news broadcast.

They ran along side the RV, Eddie trying to find anything that was open. To his luck, it was a window. Steve wordlessly helped him through the window. He immediately followed and urged the others to hurry.

"We're trying!" Annie hissed through clenched teeth. "Some of us are short and weak."

Steve just rolled his eyes and got out of the way for Nancy to get inside. The rest quickly followed. Annie looked and watched Robin run up to the front where Eddie was hot-wiring and Steve was observing.

Annie watched them, puzzled about what was going on, until the RV suddenly came to life. Music blasted throughout the room on wheels, so loud that Annie could barely hear her own song over it. The clashing sounds were not fun.

The couple who were being robbed started banging on the side of the RV, and the teens up front did a quick switch-a-roo that landed Steve in the driver's seat.

"Everybody hang on to something!" Steve yelled, and that was enough to kill Annie's amused spirit. She and Max, still on the back couch, gripped onto it and silently prayed.

"Drive, Steve, DRIIIIIIIIIVE," Dustin screamed back.

"Go, go, go, go!" Robin yelled, and not even a second later they were in motion, speeding away from the poor couple.

Annie watched them through the back window as the man got up and tried to keep running with the woman (his wife perhaps?).

"Shit, they look pissed," Dustin commented.

It took everything for Annie not to make a snarky reply back. Robin had her covered, anyway. "Well, it's not every day you lose your house and car in one fell swoop."

They kept going, Annie holding on for dear life as they went over some bumps, and then even harder when Steve yelled for them too. She heard something smack against the front and was very relieved to see discarded trashcans behind them.

That's about where the couple stopped chasing them. One more very hard left was made, and they were on clear roads. Roads where Steve could calm down a bit and the kids could relax.

Annie's fingers were cramping from how hard she had been gripping on to the back of the couch. She really hoped the couple would understand their need for taking the RV, though she figured they'd never learn the real reason.

Just another crime to add to the list. Annie almost wanted to write down every illegal activity she had partaken in in the last two years. She'd have a decent list.

Now, it was just the awkward drive to the War Zone. Annie decided to settle in. She scooted closer to Max and nestled into her side. The redhead was very willing to let her, and wrapped her closer arm around the brunette's shoulder.

Annie looked over at Dustin and saw the look on his face. "What's that for?" she asked, not needing to specify.

He shrugged. "You guys are just so clingy. It's weird."

Max snorted. "You're just jealous Suzie lives in Utah and can't snuggle with you whenever you'd like," she commented. It earned her a middle finger and the girls just laughed.

Now that they were able to calm down, Steve turned the radio down a few notches, and Annie could hear her music again. After another few minutes, Annie could feel her blinks getting longer.

She adjusted her position a little, getting her feet up on the couch, and let her eyes stay closed after their last blink.

Max felt Annie relax and her breaths get longer and deeper. She looked down and saw her girlfriend finally getting rest. Rest that wasn't riddled with anxiety, at least she hoped that was the case.

With that, Max decided maybe she'd try and lean back, catch a couple z's while she still could. Instead, Lucas came over from the table he'd been sitting at and sat down on the empty side of Max.

"So, I was thinking," he started, voice low so he didn't disturb Annie. "Two of the three cursed were seeing Ms. Kelly, right?"

Max nodded slow, saying, "Right."

"So, we have really good odds that Vecna may have decided to curse someone else who was seeing her!"

Immediately Max wanted to roll her eyes. She knew where Lucas was going. "Lucas..."

"We just need to go back to Ms. Kelly's office and read all her files, figure out who's next..."

"Lucas."

"Then, we can go and stake out their house..."

"Lucas."

He finally stopped. "We don't have time. We can't... we can't risk someone else's life like that."

"But we can risk Annie's?" he asked, voice sharper than he meant it. When he saw Max's face fall, he close his eyes and sighed. "No, that's not... I didn't mean it like that."

Max shook her head. "I know, Lucas. I get it. Don't you think I wanna find any other way to stop him? I've gone through so many different thought processes in my head, trying to find a feasible Plan B- better yet, a new Plan A. But nothing. Nothing works with the time frame we have."

Lucas's shoulder sagged and he leaved back into the corner part of the couch. "But... we can't just give up. I like Annie- we all like Annie. How can we just let her be bait for Vecna? We've all seen what he's done at this point."

With a sad smile, Max nodded. "I know. But it's... it's also what she wants. This is what she's decided on, Lucas. We have to help her instead of work against her. Okay?" she said, voice just above a whisper.

Even though Max and Annie had literally just talked about this, the words Lucas was saying rang true. It almost felt like they were giving up Annie to the lion's den. They literally were.

"You say Vecna uses our darkest memories against us?" Lucas piped up, and Max nodded. "Maybe... maybe Annie needs to use her lightest memories against him. Fight the dark with the light."

Max nodded. "Makes sense... We'll... I'll talk to her when she wakes up. Right now, I really want her to get some good sleep," she said.

Lucas nodded, and he slipped away back to the table.

After a few more minutes of being alone with her thoughts, Max looked down at her gorgeous girlfriend and wondered what happy memory she might try and use.

And if she was in it.

"Hey, we're almost there," Steve called back to them.

The others groaned in acknowledgement. Max gently shook Annie until she started to stir. "Rise and shine, we're almost at Guns Galore," she whispered.

Annie had never been very graceful when she woke up. She had to sit up and stretch, let out yawns and other weird noises as her joints adjusted, and then finally she was slightly coherent.

"Can't wait. Obviously not everyone is going in," Annie said, a pointed look being given to Eddie. "So who's going and who's staying?"

Up front, Steve sighed. "Well, as much as I hate the thought of you going in there, I'd much rather have you close in case anything happens. So you're coming in with me, Nancy... Robin... Max?"

"And me." Everyone looked over at Erica, who'd been pretty silent the whole time.

Annie raised a brow and asked the question Steve was about to ask, but in a nicer way. "And why do you make it sound like that should be obvious?" she asked.

"Cause, you cannot leave me in here with all boys. I'll kill them all before they get the chance to scream for help," she said. Then, she turned her gaze to her older brother. "Especially you."

Max and Annie burst into laughter at the terrified look on Lucas's face. "Okay... I think that seems fair. For their safety," Nancy answered, looking between the other boys.

"All right. What do we grab?" Robin asks. Annie and Max nodded, also needing to know what goods would be valuable to the ones who actually needed them.

Steve nodded his head. "Anything and everything."

Robin's face scrunched. "That's a terrible answer."

A/n: I could totally see Steve saying some cool one-liner, as if he were in an action movie, and then getting bullied by Robin and Annie for it.