CHAPTER SIX
russian friends.
THEY RUSHED TO THE ORIGIN OF THE NOISE, THE RADIO SITTING IN THE BACKPACK ERICA WORE. A Russian man was heard speaking over the radio, the five of them listening intently whilst Robin tried to translate it. "A trip to China sounds nice. If you tread lightly." She spoke. "It's the code."
"Wherever that broadcast is coming from-" Dustin began, Robin finishing his sentence for him.
"It's close." She said. Steve, Jennifer, and Erica simply listened in on Robin and Dustin's conversation, quickly moving once they finished.
Eventually, the group found themselves much closer to the main hub; this being known by the fact Steve had to sneak by several Russian soldiers, calling back to the others whenever it was clear for them to follow. "Relax." Steve said, trying to calm down Robin and Dustin who exclaimed how risky it was getting. "All right? Relax. Nobody saw..." The boy trailed off as he stood across from a large hub, a plethora of Russians wandering around, unaware of the five Americans that were sneaking through their tunnel system. "Shit." Steve exclaimed, the group quickly rushing to hide behind a box to get out of view from what appeared to be security holding heavy firearms.
They sat cautiously for a few moments until Erica spoke up. "I saw it. First floor, northwest." She spoke, confusing the others. "The comms room." She tried to clarify.
"You saw the comms room?" Steve asked, taken aback.
"Correct." She assured, though, Dustin still was unsure. "Positive. The door was open for a second, and I saw a bunch of lights and machines and shit in there." She explained.
"That could be a hundred different things." Dustin noted.
Jennifer, from next to Steve, then spoke up. "I mean, it's the best we've got." She added. Considering that was the only room that - or at least Erica - had seen clearly, it was probably their best shot. Steve sighed before silently agreeing. The five of them peeked their heads out from their hiding spoke, checking to see if the coast was clear.
"All right. We're gonna move fast, we're gonna stay low. Okay?" Steve whispered, Jennifer teasingly saluting to him. Slowly but surely, the group made their way to the room, sneaking through the door and into what they suspected to be the comms room as one scientist left the room. They breathed a sigh of relief once they were inside, though, when they turned to see a Russian man turning around and looking at them, their heart rates shot up.
The man reached for his gun, Robin quickly stepping forward. "Tread lightly!" She spoke in Russian, the only thing she could think to do. "Tread lightly." She repeated. The man seemed to have asked them a question, though, with Robin's Russian knowledge being limited, she could only respond shortly. "Silver cat... silver cat." She said, gesturing to the others behind her. The Russian man shook his head. "China?" Robin said, almost asking it as a question. Though, none of what she had said helped as the man continued to pull out his gun.
Suddenly, Steve yelled, startling not only Jennifer, Robin, Dustin, and Erica, but also the Russian man. He ran at him, pushing him into the panel behind him. They continued to fight for a few moments, the others watching on anxiously with nothing to do.
In those moments, Jennifer only wished she had brought the gun or at least the metal pole. Even if she didn't have any bullets, she still could have intimidated him and given them some more time to think of what to do. Somehow, Steve had pulled through, using. a microphone to knock the man out. "Dude!" Dustin exclaimed. "You did it! You won a fight!" Jennifer couldn't help but chuckle breathlessly at his excitement.
Whilst the others stopped to look around the room, Robin and Jennifer walked up a set of stairs to the side, lights flashing on the other side of it. As they walked up - Jennifer walking behind Robin -, Jennifer couldn't help but gently grasp onto Robin's arm, seeking some type of reassurance as her heart raced thinking of what they may have been walking towards.
Robin ran back down the stairs to get the others whilst Jennifer moved into the room by herself, her heart pounding in her chest. When she felt bodies move behind her, she jumped startled, though, Steve quickly calmed her, placing a gentle hand on the small of her back as she realised it was just them. They looked at the large whirring machine cautiously, Jennifer, Steve, and Dustin sharing a look; one that told one another they had the same idea as to what the Russians were doing; or what they were opening.
"I don't understand. You've seen this before?" Robin asked as they rushed back down the stairs.
"Not exactly."
"Then what, exactly?"
"All you need to know is it's bad." Dustin noted, Steve and Jennifer quickly agreeing. "Like, end-of-the-human-race-as-we-know-it kind of bad."
Robin was quick to retaliate. "And you know about this how?" She questioned the young boy.
Jennifer simply placed a hand on Robin's arm, giving the girl a look, begging for her to simply trust them and what they were saying. "Um, Steve?" Erica spoke up. "Where's your Russian friend?" The group quickly looked around, the man Steve had knocked out no longer lying on the ground where they had left him.
As if on cue, an alarm started blaring, a red light softly flashing from the roof. Steve rushed to the door, opening it slightly to see men outside the room yelling out in Russian before spotting Steve, calling for him to stop. "Shit." Steve muttered as he slammed the door shut. "Go, go, go, go go!" He yelled, the group rushing back up the stairs.
They barged into the room filled with Russian scientists, uncaring of their alerting stares and simply ran past, down the stairs and into another room as the Russian soldiers continued to chase them. They rushed into the room, Robin stepping in first whilst Jennifer ushered Dustin and Erica in, Steve doing the same to Jennifer with his hand slightly caressing her waist.
As Jennifer was about to rush off to find a way to escape, the sound of Russians banging against the door alerted her. She was quick to run beside Steve, the two trying their best to hold the door shut against a handful of Russians. "Robin!" Steve called out for more help, the girl joining the two.
Across the room, Dustin and Erica had managed to list up a vent, quickly calling for the others to hurry over. "Come on!" Dustin called out.
"Go! Just get out of here!" Steve ordered, Jennifer staying quiet, too occupied by trying to keep the door shut to respond.
"Go, come on, now!" Dustin repeated.
Steve quickly shut him down, his voice strained. "No! Just go get some help, okay! What are you doing?!" He called out, when he say Dustin staying frozen, half out of the vent. "Go!" He called out, Robin joining him.
"I won't forget you!" The young boy called out, though, it only irritated Jennifer, Steve, and Robin with how long the boy was taking to leave. Once he was finally down in the vent with Erica, the door swung open, Jennifer, Steve, and Robin hitting the wall as the Russians cocked their guns at them.
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JENNIFER SAT TIED TO A CHAIR, IN FRONT OF HER, A RUSSIAN MAN WHO APPEARED TO BE IN CHARGE WITH ANOTHER MAN STANDING NEXT TO HIM. "Who do you work for?" The man questioned again with a Russian accent.
"I don't work for anyone. We just found some stupid radio channel; we're kids, we were curious." She spoke desperately, looking up to the man. He looked at her for a moment, seemingly trying to read her expressions; he simply nodded at the other man next to him, causing for him to move forward and shoot a right hook to her face. Jennifer's face snapped to the side, her eyes lightly watering. "I'm telling the truth!" She called out, though, it only irritated the man further, another punch being delivered to her gut; Jennifer lurching forward in response.
A few minutes later, Jennifer was dragged towards another room, when she was thrown inside, Robin and Steve were already being tied to their chairs which were sat back to back. The man with a hold on her roughly placed her down on a chair that that was next to Steve and Robin's, the three then being tied together with what appeared to be thick leather belts.
Jennifer mind was racing, unable to comprehend exactly what was happening around her other than the fact that Steve was passed out, Robin was calling out to him, and they were surrounded by several Russians. When Jennifer finally came back to it, the Russian officer was walking in front of her, looking at the three teens. "I think your friend need a doctor." He spoke. "Good thing... we have the very best." He said, his hands on his knees as he crouched down in front of Robin, a laugh erupting from his mouth.
Robin simply responded by spitting into his face, the man wiping it with a cloth. "You are going to regret that." He said, calling Robin what Jennifer assumed to be a swear in Russian. Once they started leaving through the door that sat right in front of Jennifer, she immediately started calling out to them.
"Hey! Don't leave us here, assholes!" She yelled.
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