"Let's go, let's go!" Lily shouted as they ran for the side of the trailer, where an alternate version of Wayne's truck lay in the grass, tangled in a mess of vines.

Lily tossed her spear and shield into the bed of the truck next to where Nick's now lay, sparing a glance back at the approaching swarm of Demobats. Their screeching was nearly deafening, coming at them from all angles as they grew closer and closer.

"Move! Move! Move!" Eddie exclaimed, and Lily jumped from the edge of the trailer, landing on the roof of the truck and retrieving her spear and shield before following the others down into the grass in their attempts to get to safety before the bats could reach them, with Dustin in the lead and Eddie bringing up the rear of the group.

"Come on, hurry!" Dustin yelled.

"Go, go, go!" Eddie shouted as the bats descended, now close enough that Lily could make out the grotesque tentacles hanging from the edge of their gray bodies.

"Shit, shit!" Dustin yelled as they reached the makeshift gate made from the fence across the field, and Lily dove in after Dustin and Nick to get inside. "Eddie, shut it!"

Eddie slammed the fence door shut without a moment to spare, a few bats latching onto the now closed gate as they began to hiss at the four intruders to the Upside Down. He took a step back as more reached the fence, pushing the others behind him in an attempt to shield them as they backed into the trailer, shutting the door behind them.

Adrenaline raced through Lily's veins as she attempted to catch her breath, the four teenagers looking back at one another in awe as thunder boomed outside, accompanied by the sounds of the bats still screeching outside the trailer. Eddie appeared awestruck, looking around speechlessly at the others while Nick bounced up and down excitedly.

"Dude," Dustin panted, looking over at Eddie.

"Oh my God," Eddie breathed.

"Most metal ever!" Dustin yelled, grabbing Eddie by the shoulders and jumping up and down, the others joining in as they began to scream with excitement.

"Oh my God!" Eddie shouted excitedly, turning to Lily with a wide smile as soon as the jumping ceased. "Did I do good?"

Lily couldn't help the smile that grew on her face, and she leaned over, kissing him on the cheek. "You did great," she assured him.

Nick's smile faded as the sounds of bats hitting the trailer grew louder, the creatures now slamming against the walls in an attempt to break in and reach them. "I hate to break this up," she said, "but I don't think our job is over just yet."

Lily nodded, looking back at the closed trailer door and taking a step back as another hit the wall with a loud thudding sound. She tightened her grip on her spear and shield as Eddie and Dustin each reached for theirs, the four of them moving into the living room to huddle as close to the gate back to Hawkins as they could get, in case anything went south and they needed to make a quick getaway.

Lily stood with her back to Nick, with Eddie and Dustin on each of her sides. The four of them slowly turned around in circles, eyes wandering around the trailer as a silence fell among them, punctuated by the bats still hitting the trailer and the booming thunder casting a red glow from the lightning against the white shade covering the window. She shivered slightly from the chilly air of the Upside Down, their breaths visible even indoors.

Dustin's eyebrows furrowed together as the thudding sounds grew less and less frequent, the screeching also growing quieter. "Hey dipshits!" he shouted in an attempt to keep the attention of the Demobats on them, rather than retreating back to the Creel House before Nancy, Robin, Steve, and Debbie had a chance to defeat Vecna. "Give up that easy, huh?"

"Shh!" Eddie scolded. "Is that really necessary?" he hissed.

A dull thud sounded against the roof of the trailer, pulling Lily's attention up to the ceiling, to whatever waited for them on the other side of the small home. She glanced over at Eddie, who looked back at her with an uneasy expression.

"They're on the roof," Eddie said softly, the thudding soon accompanied by others as, one by one, the swarm landed on top of the trailer.

"Shit," Dustin whispered. "Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit."

"This thing can hold up against a swarm of bats, right?" Lily whispered as the group broke out of their circle, following a new sound as the bats began to move across the surface of the roof.

"Oh yeah, this place is in great shape," Eddie muttered sarcastically as they followed the sound to the small circular vent in the middle of the trailer, so small they hadn't even thought to board it up along with the windows.

"They can't get in through there, can they?" Dustin asked, his spear aimed up in the direction of the vent.

As if to answer his question, the fan covering the vent toppled to the ground, the round head of a bat peeking through as it clung to the edges of the ceiling, shrieking at the four teenagers. They jumped back in surprise for a moment before beginning to emit a yell, advancing on the bat as they began to stab upwards at the opening to force it back outside, their shields now discarded behind them on the floor.

"Die!" Dustin screamed as they attempted to stab the bat in the vent, two more bats visible just above the first one, though as they made brief contact with it, a gooey substance began to drip from the bat's mouth, despite the creature still moving as if unharmed. "Die, die, die!"

"It's not working!" Nick yelled.

As the second bat's head neared the opening of the vent, Lily, Nick, and Dustin continued attempting to fight them, though it appeared to be of no avail as they kept shrieking, the harsh sound echoing off the walls of the trailer. Eddie stepped back, his eyes searching around the room before they landed on one of the discarded shields.

"Eddie!" Dustin shouted. "We need you!"

"Get out of the way!" Eddie exclaimed, picking up the shield with one hand and a chair from the kitchen table with the other, and Lily took a step back, allowing the boy to run around her. "Get out of the way!"

Eddie placed the chair down below the open vent, climbing on top of it and holding the shield in both hands. He let out a yell, pushing the shield up against the roof as hard as he could and allowing the shield's nails to puncture the ceiling, closing the vent and keeping it securely in place.

Lily panted as she took another step back, leaning against the wall as the shrieking sound faded away, now muffled through the shield keeping the bats outside. Eddie breathed heavily as he stared up at the shield now attached to the ceiling, before tearing his eyes away from it and looking back at his friends.

"Holy shit," Eddie breathed, climbing off the chair. "Holy shit."

"Nice," Dustin mused.

"Thanks," Eddie said, reaching down to give the boy a high five.

Lily sighed in relief, though it only lasted for a moment before Dustin's eyebrows pinched together. "Are there any other vents?" he asked.

The color drained from Eddie's face as his eyes widened. "Oh, shit," he muttered, reaching down and picking his spear back up. "Shit, shit, shit!"

Eddie ran for his bedroom as the others followed suit, barely inside the open door before the vent against the wall caved in on itself, allowing the swarm of bats to begin flooding into the room. Lily came to a halt suddenly, colliding with Eddie's back as he began to retreat, pushing them all back out of the room and slamming the door mere moments before a bat collided with the wood, a small splinter cracking in the center.

"Shit!" Dustin yelled as the swarm continued to hit the door, wider and deeper cracks splitting across the wood as the four of them rushed backwards, putting as much space between them and Eddie's bedroom as possible, and Eddie leaned down, picking up another shield and holding it up to shield them from the impending onslaught.

"It's not going to hold," Lily said, backing up further into the living room where Dustin collided with the rope still hanging from the gate. "We need to go, now!"

"Let's go, let's go!" Eddie shouted, still holding the shield and spear out towards the bedroom door, which was still holding but getting weaker and weaker by the moment. "All of you, through the gate, now!"

"Dustin, you first!" Nick exclaimed, helping the boy up onto the rope, and as soon as he began to fall through the shifting gravity she climbed up after him.

"Hurry, hurry!" Eddie yelled as Lily jumped up after Nick, her feet catching on one of the knots as she began to pull herself to safety. "Come on, quickly!"

While Lily wasn't overly fond of the shifting gravity at the edge of the gate, this time she welcomed it as she began to fall to the mattress below, pulling her further and further from the bats. She landed next to Nick and Dustin with a small groan, shooting up to her feet as she watched Eddie abandon the spear and shield and jump onto the rope to climb up after them.

"Eddie, come on!" Dustin shouted, and Eddie continued to climb before a shattering sound came from the door keeping the bats away in his bedroom on the other side of the gate, pulling his attention away from the gate and back towards the room.

"Eddie, let's go!" Lily exclaimed, pulling his attention back to them, a strained expression crossing his features.

"Eddie, you're so close," Dustin said encouragingly. "Let's go!"

Eddie looked back in the direction of the door, and Lily's heart dropped into her stomach as his grip on the rope slackened, allowing himself to fall back to the floor.

"Eddie!" Nick shouted, pulling his eyes back up to them from where he now stood on the ground, hands still lightly holding onto the rope. "What are you doing?"

"Eddie," Lily said, tears springing to her eyes as she began to shake her head. "Please," she pleaded.

"Eddie!" Dustin roared as the older boy let go of the rope, quickly reaching down to grab the spear and shield once more. "What are you doing? Eddie, no!"

Without thinking, Lily jumped up instinctively, grabbing hold of the rope as she began to climb back after him. However, she'd only managed to get up about halfway before he swung the spear up in the direction of the gate, slicing the rope in two and sending her toppling back onto the mattress as gravity pulled the rope down after her.

"Eddie!" Nick shrieked as Lily's back hit the mattress, the air being pushed from her lungs as she fought to catch her breath, watching helplessly as Eddie picked up the mattress on the other side of the gate, moving it out of the way to keep anyone from going back after him. "Eddie, come on, stop it!"

"E-Eddie," Lily wheezed, forcing herself into a sitting position as she slowly climbed back to her feet, reaching out for Nick's arm to steady herself. "Please don't do this."

"Eddie, stop!" Dustin yelled, putting his hands behind his head as they watched Eddie helplessly, unable to stop him from the other side of the gate without another way through. "Stop, stop! What are you doing?"

Eddie strapped the spear across his back, looking back up at them with a sorrowful yet determined expression. "I'm buying more time." he said, attaching the shield behind him next to the spear before his eyes moved to Lily's. "I love you."

"Eddie!" Lily screamed as he disappeared from view, the only audible sounds behind him that of the trailer door opening and shutting as he raced back into the Upside Down.