[ 𝙿𝚎𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚜 & 𝚃𝚑𝚘𝚛𝚗𝚜 ] ~ 𝚂𝚝𝚎𝚟𝚎 𝙷𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚝𝚘𝚗 𝚡 𝙾𝙲

XVII - Just Press the Button

Steve was screaming, Robin was screaming, Erica was screaming louder than before, Dustin was screaming. "Shit! Shit!" Dustin yelled, moving over to the button panel on the wall to bang on it. Russell kept a tight hold on Lucy, now sitting on the ground with the younger girl to her chest.

"We're going down! We're going down!" Steve yelled.

"Yeah, no shit, Harrington!" Robin yelped back.

"Why don't these buttons work!?" Dustin screeched, his voice pitched up and creaky.

Erica ran over to where Dustin was, slamming on one of the buttons. "Press the button!" She screamed at Dustin.

"What do you think I'm doing!?" Dustin yelled back.

"Come on, press something! Just press the button!" Steve called as the walls passed by even faster. The four panicked, screaming at each other while Russell just continued trying to keep Lucy calm, whispering soft 'shh's to her as she held carefully onto Lucy's wrists in order to stop her from trying to scratch herself again.

"Push it harder!" Erica called as she and Dustin continued slamming their hands into the multicolor buttons. With a final acceleration, the room slammed to a stop. Robin, Dustin, Steve and Erica all fell and hit the floor. Russell's head flung back and slammed into the metal wall with a loud bang. Boxes fell from the shelves, landing on the six of them. Lucy groaned, Russell jumping as a box landed on the two of their legs. 

"My groin-" Steve grunted, Robin seething in pain she hit her head on one thing or another. "It fell on my groin- Dustin!" Steve yelled at the teen just as he got himself onto his feet. "Get this off of me!"

Russell pushed the box off her and Lucy, looking down at the young brunette. "You okay, Lucy?" She whispered softly, glancing over her for any nicks and bruises.

"Yeah- Just a bruise. . .probably." The younger Harrington murmured, before wiggling her way out of Russell's lap and standing up. She extended her hand out to the Hargrove girl with a small smile, which Russell gladly accepted.

"I can't move-" At the sound of her boyfriend's panting, Russell snapped her attention to Steve. Dustin dropped a heavy box onto the metal table in the center of the room as Steve sucked in sharp breaths of air.

"Is everyone okay?" Robin questioned.

"Yeah." Russell called with a small nod.

"Yeah, I'm great, now that I know that Russians can't design elevators!" Steve yelled. Steve shoved Dustin out of the way and pulled the panel to the buttons back open.

"I think we've clearly established that those buttons don't work." Robin huffed.

"They're buttons. They have to do something!" He shouted in annoyance.

"Steve, come on-" Russell walked up beside him, her hand resting on his shoulder. Steve spun around to look at her, his hand raising in annoyance at the situation. Russell's eyes went wide and she flinched back. Steve didn't seem to notice though, as Lucy's voice spoke up.

"Yeah, if we had a keycard-" She grumbled, pointing out the scan lock.

"A what?" Steve snapped at his sister.

"It's an electronic lock." She explained, her voice careful and quiet as she walked up to her brother. She stepped up just beside him and tapped the glowing orange square.

"Same as the loading dock door." Robin added in. "If we don't have a keycard, it won't operate, meaning-"

"We're stuck in here." Dustin finished.

"Yeah." Robin nodded.

Steve let out a groan, slamming the panel shut as he ran a hand through his hair, stepping away from the wall. Russell flinched as the metal clanged together, instinctively backing up from Steve and slightly in front of Lucy.

"Just so you nerds are aware, I'm supposed to be spending the night at Tina's, and Tina always covers for me. But if I'm not home for Uncle Jack's party tomorrow, and my mom finds out you five are responsible, she's gonna hunt you down, one by one, and slit your throat." Erica snarled.

"Delightful." Russell whispered softly with a sigh.

"I don't care about Tina!" Steve screamed out. "Or Uncle Jack's Party! Your mom's not gonna be able to find us if we're dead in a Russian elevator!"

"Hey." Dustin pointed to the roof. "What if we climbed out?" Steve noticed the hatch on the roof. Russell watched with a sigh while Dustin climbed up onto the table and then a box in order to undo the hatch and lift himself onto the roof. Steve followed shortly after him, their grunts and pants of the expended energy echoed up the vertical tunnel. 

"What were you saying about climbing?" Steve questioned as the two looked up the seemingly endless concrete walls.

————————————————————————————————

Word Count - 788

————————————————————————————————

Published - January 28, 2024

————————————————————————————————