wires, steve harrington

twenty-one.

erica scoffed. "you want to walk all the way back?"

"well, we can hang out for a little bit, relax, have a picnic maybe." he replied sarcastically.

"have a picnic?" erica asked. "we came here for the radio."

"this plan is way better." dustin argued. "if i knew steve could knock out a russian, that would've been our plan in the first place."

steve sent him an offended look. "dude, that's literally what i'd been saying the entire time. stealthy, like a ninja." he reminded him, running a hand through his hair as he panted from the adrenaline rush.

"guys." robin cut him off. "there's something up there." the group all followed her behind the door she'd been looking at and peered into the room in front of them. there was a light illuminating from the center of the room, and meadow had to blink multiple times to adjust to the brightness of it. she stood behind dustin, steve behind her, as they looked through the windows and into the bigger room.

"holy shit." meadow and dustin said in unison.

there, in the center of the room, was a co relation spinning, cracking the walls of the upside down which had been previously closed by eleven.

"the gate." steve, dustin, and meadow all said, looking at each other.

"so, let me get this straight." robin said as the group all made their way out of the room. "you've seen this before?"

"not exactly." steve replied.

"then what, exactly?"

dustin shook his head. "all you need to know is it's bad."

"it's really bad." meadow agreed.

"super bad." steve added.

"like, end of the human race as we know it kind of bad." dustin continued.

robin looked to them. "and you know about this how?"

"um, steve?" erica said. "where's your russian friend?" the guard he had knocked out was no longer passed out, and an alarm had begun to sound. steve looked outside, closing the door immediately as one of the guards noticed him.

"shit." meadow and dustin said, breaking open the back door and running out, the others following them. they moved into another room, this one full of scientists. "go!" meadow said to them, letting dustin, robin, and erica in front of her. "shit shit shit." she exclaimed as she followed them.

"go go go!" steve yelled from behind her. no one looked over their shoulders, continuing to run even when the russians began yelling, running after them. they made their way to a crosswalk in the middle of the room, and dustin screaming as he pushed away a man on the crosswalk, all in an attempt to not slow down the groups' frantic sprinting.

they ended up getting right next to the terrifying light gun. "holy shit! holy shit! holy shit!" dustin screamed. "meadow i think i shit my pants." he said, grabbing his sister's hand and pulling her closer to him. "holy shit! holy shit! holy shit! holy shit! holy shit!" he gasped for air. "holy shit!!" he screeched.

meadow wasn't thinking a single thought at the moment, leaning away from the heat rays of the gun. "you're okay, you're okay. don't shit your pants, gross." she said to her brother, who was holding her hand so hard she thought it would fall off.

"this way!" steve yelled as the guards got closer to them. he led the way down a flight of stairs, pushing a guard down them to get the poor man out of his way. now on a huge adrenaline rush, steve screamed, "oh shit!", shoving two metal canisters to the floor and sending two guards down with them. the group all ran into a smaller room, and steve flew in last, closing the door behind them.

steve leaned on the door to keep it closed, looking around. all of the russians who'd been chasing them now stood on the other side, pounding the door in an attempt to open it. "help me!" steve yelled, thankful as his girlfriend and robin immediately came to his aid. meadow put her shoulder into the door, ignoring the immense pain in her muscles, pressing her converse to the ground for traction as the three attempted to keep the door closed.

erica found a small exit in the room, and she and dustin went to it. "come on!" she yelled to the other three, who were still trying to keep the door closed.

"go!" steve yelled. "just get out of here!"

"go, come on, now!" dustin yelled back. "i'm not leaving you!"

"no! just go get some help, okay?" steve yelled in response.

dustin stalled, looking at meadow, not wanting to leave his sister behind. "what are you doing?" he asked her. "come on!"

meadow knew she couldn't stop to think in a moment like this, and the only thing that she was focused on was keeping dustin safe. she felt her heart break at the anguish in his eyes, but she knew he had to leave now.

"go!" meadow, steve, and robin all yelled at him.

tears broke into dustin's eyes. "i won't forget you!" he yelled.

"go!!" the three yelled louder, not wanting either of the kids to get hurt. dustin reluctantly turned and followed erica into the passageway, closing the small gate behind him.

just as dustin and erica escaped, the russians shoved the door open, sending robin, meadow, and steve tumbling to the ground. they looked up, seeing that the russians all had pointed guns at them. the three carefully stood, holding their hands up.

well, shit.