𝐀𝐓𝐎𝐌𝐈𝐂, 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐨𝐧 | 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞

chapter ten; the russian vs harrington

"Guys, there's something up there." She gestures towards a dark hall with nothing but a staircase leading up to a doorway.

One by one they follow Robin's lead, the walls beginning to glow with an illuminating blue hue and a low pulsing sound fills the air as they get higher. Summer is the last one up the stairs and when she reaches the top everyone had gathered by a set of doors, peering through the glass windows with wide eyes.

Steve turns back to Summer, a solemn expression taking over his features as she slowly, and cautiously, meets his side.

Behind the doors was a small station filled with Russian scientists, confined behind glass windows that peered out onto a walkway. Where people in red and green hazmat suits were inserting the green viles they'd found into a large gun-like machine.

Though it wasn't the scientists or the unknown machinery that was bothering them. It was what the machine was being used for that ignited the fear within them, because beyond the glass and the room full of scientists was a giant, glowing, tendril infested wall and there was only one reasonable explanation as to what it could be.

"The gate." Steve and Dustin say in unison, confirming what the three of them had been thinking.

Summer swallows the lump forming in her throat and burrows herself closer to Steve's side. He wraps his arm around her protectively and when he looks down he sees that her hands had started to shake. Dustin looks up at the two of them, him too noticing the shaking motion and moves his hand to hers, hoping to help ease her nerves as he holds onto them.

Along with Will, Joyce and El, Summer had been one of the most affected by everything they'd experienced and neither Dustin nor Steve wanted to see her relapse and go off the rails as she had before. Especially, when she had just started to feel like everything was finally going back to normal.

They watch on as one of the scientists gives a signal to the group dressed in red hazmat suits and they begin to power up the machine. The ground starts to vibrate and a loud thrumming follows as the machine whirs into motion. A bright blue colour grows and eventually shoots out the end, right into the wall.

"They're opening it." Summer adds, her voice a bare whisper as if the sound had been stolen from her.

"We've gotta get out of here," Steve demands, pulling Summer away from the door and the others follow suit.

Robin shakes her head and lets out a confused sigh. "I don't understand, you've seen this before?"

"Not exactly," Steve admits.

"Then what exactly?"

"All you need to know is it's bad," Dustin adds. "Like end-of-the-human-race-as-we-know-it kind of bad."

"And you know about this how?" Robin asks as if she didn't quite believe them, though she was also trapped inside a secret Russian lair, which she didn't believe at first either.

As they reach the bottom of the stairs Erica's face contorts into one of confusion as she looks to the ground, Summer noticing so she follows the girl's gaze to see nothing but a small puddle of blood on the floor and no sign of the Russian.

"Um, Steve? Where's your Russian friend?" The younger girl points to the blood at the exact moment an alarm begins to go off, it's loud noise blaring throughout the underground facility.

Without a second thought, Steve races towards the door and rips it open to see the soldier he had knocked out limping towards his fellow comrades. All eyes fall on the boy in the sailor uniform when he turns to point back at the door and a group of soldiers start swarming towards it. With their presence now compromised Steve quickly shuts the door as they all yell for him to 'halt' and signals the others to run.