𝐟𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 ➵ stranger things

xxxi. artificial air

➵

IF CLAUDIA HADN'T ALREADY BEEN whiplashed from before with the burning crisp of hot temperatures that heated her skin, or how within every single time that the quickest arm on the clock ticked by was she losing the soul she once possessed as her own...well, by the aftermath of the elevator that finally came to a nauseous jolt, Claudia definitely was feeling breathless and weak. Her throat ran dry from how much she had screamed, and the girl blinked a couple of too many times to awaken herself up as she darted her blinded vision between left and right. She was completely sandwiched; no shit her vision was blind. Her back was uncomfortably forced in the metal corner of the elevator while a body was pressed up to her front side of her small figure. And only when a groan could be heard from the body - that was crushing Claudia's body between the collision of two wall's and itself - did she realise that, in fact, the body was blocking her off from the danger of fallen boxes around the room. 

"Oh, my groin, it fell on my groin!" The voice exclaimed through the rest of the winces and groans that bounced off the metal walls in the confined room. Steve only complained more as he pushed back further, which only made Claudia get herself pressed up against the corner more and, yep, that hurt.

She whimpered, "Steve, you absolute dingus- get off of me!"

"I can't! This box is crushing my groin!"

A couple of grunts escaped Dustin's raspy mouth while his eyes squinted when he lifted up the heavy box, the crumpling feeling finally being released like a bullet that flies out of the gun. And so Claudia pushed the strong boy off of her overwhelming self with a loud grunt that followed afterwards, and then a small chorus of apologies from her older brother.

Well...at least the elevator stopped.

━━━

They'd been walking for so long now.

It was silent and quiet, the only sounds of breathing coming from the other people's throats out of nervousness and cautious, like even the simplest of survival tactics would get them in trouble. Especially since they were in such an open and closed in space with long thick pipes that ran down the sides of the walls through the everlasting tunnel of coldness and blue. The air was different; artificial, fake. Like it was fucking man-made oxygen with a touch of uneasiness. It was tight and uneven and Claudia loved it. Craved this kind of taste that intoxicated her surroundings and was sucked right into her aching lungs. She was hungry, he was starving, and it wasn't for food that's for sure. The cold was only growing him more and as much as she should have felt bad, know that this was his fault, that he was making her feel like this...she was just as insatiable as him now.

At first, the Runaway just listened in on them talking about something about how these tunnels weren't made for walking and definitely for transportation, which was true. And she was distracted when Steve decided to steal her red polka dot scrunchie from her wrist and wrapped the hair accessory around his own, which, even though Claudia scowled at him because she was going to tie her hair back up soon, she let him have it. So while they still spoke about something about that was about promethium and how they were possibly walking towards a nuclear weapon, Claudia chose that maybe, yeah, as much as she needed to focus on trying to stay sane, it should be important to listen in on whatever they were saying. 

"But if they're building something, why here?" Robin started up, her tall figure towering over Erica's that stood to her left, and then Claudia walked in between Steve and Erica while Dustin was on Robin's right. And so the question had her thinking, "I mean, Hawkins. Seriously. Of all places..."

Exactly, why would something so technical and big be built underneath the pit of Hawkins? A boring ghost town that was only now significantly known for it's bright and best Starcourt Mall.

But then again, the Upside Down was here as well and maybe-

Wait, shit-

Claudia froze in her footsteps, followed by Dustin and Steve. And it seemed that the other two boys had the same thought running through their minds because the young girl whispered a, "You think the Russians know?"

She left the part about 'the Upside Down' because she didn't need Robin and Erica - who still walked without them - hearing.

"About...?"

"They could."

"So it's connected?"

"Maybe,"

"How?"

"I don't know, but it's..."

"Possible," They all answered in unison, and so the three teenagers sighed when the sudden realisation that this secret Russian underground area could possibly be connected to the Upside Down. Like- why else would they have something so important here?

Claudia exchanged glances between the two boys with concern and worry, hoping that they didn't dig themselves in more of a pit than they already had. But it was only when Robin whipped her head around to speak - "I'm sorry, is there something you'd like to share with the class?" - did she realise that they had been thinking way too hard for way too long, and were wasting special time.

But then, a chorus of static hissing rang through the cold temperatures. It stung the air like flames would when that same old familiar man started to speak about, only Russian murmuring and mimicking the static voice when the group of kids quickly rushed to Erica's bag to take hold of the walkie talkie. Claudia squinted her eyes, flickering her sight between everyone's expressions as she tried to listen in to the voice on the radio herself.

It was the same one.

The same code.

A trip to China sounds nice...

"The code," The brunette chirped up, her eyes a little widen as she spoke, "It's the code. S-So wherever that broadcast is coming from, it's close, right?" Claudia finished, her eyes never missing one single thing about her surroundings.

Robin grinned widely and knowingly, "And if there's one thing we know about that signal..."

"It can reach the surface," Dustin added.

Suddenly, the gears were starting to click.

And yeah, even if they dug themselves deeper in the hole, at least they had a good reason for it.

/////

hi!!!

i'm so sorry

but when i asked you guys to yell at me to update and you successfully did, i had to write. and i'm happy that i did!

the only reason why i didn't want to write was that this is the most boring part of fadeaway. but i hate doing big ass timelapse and this small part of entering the underground lab is important so i had to do a lil writing on it. but i promise it'll get more interesting soon, jus gotta get the boring shit out of the way.

okay, give feedback please. love you guys sm, bye!!!

- indiana