✓ Adventures In Babysitting / Steve Harrington ¹

𝙭𝙭. the gate

"Поездка в Китай звучит неплохо. Если вы ступаете осторожно," Robin repeats as the code continues.  A trip to China sounds nice.  If you tread lightly.  "It's the code."

"Wherever that broadcast is coming from—" Dustin starts.

"It's close," Robin finishes.  "And if there's one thing we know about that signal ..."

"It can reach the surface," Dustin says with a wide grin.

"Let's go."

And with a renewed determination, the group jumps to their feet.

✫*ﾟ･ﾟ｡.☆.*｡･ﾟ✫*

Abby isn't sure how much time has passed before they finally hear the voices.  Her calves ache and her eyes droop from the fitful sleep she had gotten on the elevator floor the previous night.  They've run out of the food that they had packed in Erica's backpack sometime before.  She knows that her companions are beginning to feel the same fatigue, but none of them voice the complaints that have to rest on the tips of their tongues.

They duck behind the nearest wall just before the hawk-like gaze of one of the guards lands on them.  Abby holds her breath as she presses herself flat against the cool metal.  After a few tense moments, Steve slowly and cautiously pokes his head from around the corner.

"Okay, clear," Steve whispers as he steps out from around the corner.  "Come on, let's go."

"Okay, that was close," Robin voices.

"Too close," Dustin agrees.

"Relax," Steve responds.  "All right?  Realx.  Nobody saw ..."

Steve trails off as their eyes land on the main hub before them.  A voice is broadcasted over a PA system in Russian as scientists dressed in white coats move about.  There are Russians dressed in red padded suits and deep blue hazmat suits.  Another red cart loaded with boxes passes by while guards dressed in their uniforms march past, armed with guns.  They patrol the main hub and walk along the balcony that rims the second story.

A guard's head turns in their direction and the group is quick to duck behind the nearest bright red structure and safely out of sight.  For the next few moments, they waited silently, hoping that they hadn't been caught so quickly already.  When no shouts of alarm are raised by any of the Russian guards, Abby allows herself to take several deep breaths, even if they aren't quite out of the woods just yet.

"I saw it," Erica whispers.  "First floor, northwest."

"Saw what?" Steve whispers back.

"The comms room," Erica answers. 

"You saw the comms room?"

"Correct."

"Are you sure?" Dustin asks.

"Positive," Erica affirms.  "The door was open for a second, and I saw a bunch of lights and machines and shit in there."

"A glimpse that lasted a few seconds isn't exactly promising," Abby responds.

"Yeah, that could be a hundred different things," Dustin agrees.

Robin turns to Steve and Abby and tells them with a glimmer of hope in her eyes, "I'll take those odds."

Steve only lets out a weary sigh and shakes his head.  Together, the five peer out from behind the red structure that they have taken shelter behind.  The hub has cleared of the activity and Abby can just barely glimpse the window of the comms room that Erica had seen.  She hopes that the girl is right and they're not about to walk straight into a mousetrap.  The game of cat and mouse has to end at some point, and though the Russians are not yet aware of their presence in the base, it's inevitable that they will.