Complete Chaos

048

Once they were done; with breakfast the small family of three got in the car. It was a new day they weren't ready for.

After Steve picked up Robin and Dustin, they went to a store. Eddie needed food and water; he had been eating only candy.

Julia bought a few Gerber baby food for Melody. Her young daughter was eight months, and she had started to eat Gerber. Her favorite was apple, and her least favorite was sweet potato. Melody had spit it out the first time Steve fed her.

Julia bought the apple since she knew she liked it, but she also got new flavors like banana, carrot, and peach.

She put the food inside the backpack after she paid for it. The small gray bag had all the things for Melody.

The rest of the food was on the trunk of Steve's car. They didn't spend much time at the store; they quickly got what they needed.

A few minutes later, they arrived at the shed where Eddie was.

Dustin and Robin got the grocery bags out of the trunk. Steve carried Melody.

The girl was mesmerized with the tall trees as the leaves moved with the wind. Two little birds with short beaks were on the tree next to eat others.

Melody pointed at them "ah," she expressed as they passed by, but no one seemed to care about the creatures above.  She stared at them until they were out of sight.

Without a warning Dustin opened the door of the shed, not realizing he had scared Eddie. "Delivery service," Dustin said with a smile, lifting two bags, one on each hand.

Steve and Melody waved at the boy. Eddie, who was close by the small window, let out a breath of relief, knowing it was only them and he didn't get caught. They all walked in.

Eddie sat in a boat with the grocery bags around him.

He opened a yellow box of cereal. With a handful, he shoved the cereal in his mouth, eating urgently.

"So we got, uh, some good news and some bad news," Dustin said, sitting to Eddie's right side. "How do you prefer it," Dustin asked calmly.

"Bad news first, always," Eddie responded, his mouth full of honeycomb cereal.

Melody smacked her lips, seeing as the older boy was eating.

"All right. Bad news. We tapped into the Hawkins PD dispatch with our Cerebro, and they're definitely looking for you." Eddie looked down sadly.

Dustin continued with the bad news and said, "Also, they're, uh, pretty convinced you killed Chrissy."

The young baby whined, moving her body. Julia held on to her, not wanting her to fall. She moved Melody by placing her back on her chest and sitting her down on her arm with her other hand on her chest to support her so Melody wouldn't fall forward.

"Like, 100% kind of convinced," Max stated, and Eddie looked at her. "And the good news," Eddie asked, a bit hopeful.

"Your name hasn't gone public yet. But if we found out about you. It's a matter of time before others do. And once that gets out, everyone and their shallow-minded mother is gonna be gunning for you," Robin added.

"Hunt the freak, right?"

Julia looked at Eddie sadly. She didn't like what was happening to Eddie. Everybody had this idea of Eddie, but they weren't even close to knowing the real side of him. The Eddie that she knew was funny, kind, honest, and talented.

Julia bounced Melody in place as the young girl continued to fuss, stretching her little arm toward Eddie, wanting some of the food.

"Exactly," Robin responded slowly.

Eddie had cereal on his hand, and he ate a few.

"So, before that happens, we find Vecna, kill him, and prove your innocence," Dustin added quickly, seeing how Eddie was taking the news.

Before he ate another honeycomb cereal, he said, "That's all, Dustin? That's all."

He wasn't hungry anymore; he was going to put the remaining cereal back in the box when he noticed the tiny child looking at him with one of her hands in her mouth. More specifically, she was looking at his hand. He dropped the cereal back in the box except for one.

"Yeah, no, that's pretty much it," Dustin said, his voice cracked.

With a singular honeycomb in the center of his palm, he stretched his hand toward the small child. Melody moved her legs excitedly. She took her hand out of her mouth and half smiled. Eddie's palm was near Melody, but she still couldn't reach it. Julia leaned, helping Melody get closer.

The young girl, with her wet fingers, grabbed the cereal from Eddie's palm. Her mouth was wide open before she even had the cereal in her hand. In a fast motion, she moved her hand to her mouth.

Melody was acting as if she hadn't eaten anything in days. With the few teeth she had, she struggled to eat the cereal.

"Listen, Eddie, I know everything Dustin is saying sounds totally delusional, but we've actually been through this before. I mean, they have a few times, and I have once. Mine was more human-flesh-based, theirs was more smoke-related, but the bottom line is, collectively, I really feel we got this," Robin rambled, trying to make Eddie feel better.

Hearing his name Eddie looked at Robin. He cleaned his palm on the side of his jeans.

"We usually rely on this girl who has superpowers but, uh, those went bye-bye, so," Steve said, unsure how he was going to end his sentence.

"So we're technically in more of the," Robin said, moving her hands around, trying to think of something.

Steve thought for a second about what to say, wanting to sound as if they had everything under control. Max helped in and said, "Brainstorming phase." 

"Brainstorming," Steve snapped his fingers and looked at Eddie. 

"T-there's nothing to worry about," Dustin said slowly but confidently. Steve and Dustin looked at each other.

The group heard the sound of sirens getting closer. Eddie hid under the tarp as the group went to the window.

Three police cars and an ambulance passed by the road nearby.