Erica, Dustin, Robin, Steve, and Lauren stood in front of the glass. Their faces colored by the bright blue light drilling into the possible end of the world. The fact that a Russian could turn around and see them wasn't a worry. The only thing that made the three that knew everything worry was that the whole "end of the world" part.
"Is that..."
"The gate." Dustin finished Lauren's sentence. Robin looked over at them.
"The what?" This made Steve, Dustin, and Lauren snap back into reality a reality that involved Robin and Erica knowing the truth, knowing what this was.
"It's a gate..." Dustin said, pushing away from the glass using that momentum to start running down the stairs. "And it's...it's bad."
"Wait, I don't understand. You've seen this before?"
"Not exactly."
"Then what, exactly?"
"All you need to know is it's bad."
"Like really fucking bad."
"Like end of the human race as we know it bad." Robin looked as confused as anyone who got told this would be.
"And you know about this, how?" Robin asked, trying to make sense of the little information she had.
"Um, Steve." Erica asked grabbing everyone's attention. "Where's your Russian friend?" There was nothing on the ground besides a small pool of blood, but no Russian. Almost on queue the alarm started to blair with a flashing light.
"Shit." Steve said when in a second he ran to the door. It was open for about two seconds before they started running they ran as fast as they could opening a door this one was the door to the control room holding several Russians. They stopped in their tracks, bumping into Dustin. For a moment, both the Russians and the kids looked at each other. Only for a second, though after that second Dustin pushed through them down a fight of stairs.
At this point, they were being chased on the metal platform, getting closer to the beam of blue energy. Dustin pushed yet another person out of the way till they were pushed to the end of the platform, "Holy Shit!" Was repeated around twenty times out of Dustin's mouth. While he screamed, Steve was thinking, Robin was worrying, Lauren's heart wad beating a million beats a second, and Erica was looking for anyone to tell them what to do.
Holding a small hand gun, the Russian gaurds got closer to them, and Steve screamed, "this way!" Taking the stairs feet away down to a dark level. There was an open archway that they would have taken, but there were more Russians running that way. Without a thought Steve pushed the mysterious metal barrels at them at least to stun them a little as they began to run again. Again, the opened door, this one was clear. No Russian in sight, that didn't mean they weren't still right behind them.
Steve held the door while everyone else ran further into the unidentifiable room. Lauren noticed his absence and ran to help him, seeing that just him versus four Russians wasn't exactly a a far fight. With Lauren's audition, it only held the door closed a little bit more. "Help!" Steve yelled to Robin right before she joined the other two in closing the door.
Erica and Dustin continued making their way up the stairs of the room and into "escape hatch," as it could be called. "Come on!" Dustin yelled.
"Go! Just get out of here!"
"Hust come in now!"
"No! Just go get some help, okay!?" Dustin slipped in the hatch as they three continued to push the door closed as best they could. "What are you doing?"
"I won't forget you!"
"Go!" The three yelled, pushing back on the door. It was like a game of tug of war between the Russians and the Americans their were more Russians who had to push the door open. The teens just had to keep it closed. For a moment they thought it was okay but it wasn't and they were immediately sent to the ground. At least five guns were on them at once whike they were being screamed at in a language they didn't understand in the slightest.
Lauren's finger wrapped around Steve's as they had their hands raised to avoid getting shot his finger squeezed it. Aside from the yelling and the gun holding the went doing anything. That didn't stop the three from being terrified for their life. Though she was scared she whispered something, "what do we do?"
"I don't know." Steve said with shaky voice. "Robin?"
"No." One gun dropped and then another ot was hope and then it wasn't as they grabbed Steve's arms.
"No. No. Leave him alone!" Lauren cried out but the didnt stop. They probably didnt even understand a word out of her mouth. Steve tried to fight but they held him tight.
They pulled him to his feet and Lauren got up and tried to run after him but was grabbed by one of the men that's not what stopped her running it was Robin.
"Lauren, stop!" The girl screamed. Lauren listened to her without hesitation she stopped running the Russians hand in her shoulder holding her into him. When Lauren looked at the Robin her eyes were focused on Lauren's abdomen when Lauren's eyes looked down the man had the gun pressed into her hip. "Don't move," She nodded and didn't move till the man sat her back down next to Robin.
The two sat there hands interlocked, whispered exchange and hopelessness passed through each others eyes till there was another man in there with yet another gun. This is when they went for Robin's arms. "No!" Lauren yelled once again as the grabbed the girl this one was quick when the had her arms the pulled her to her feet. As Lauren watched the girl get ripped away from her she didn't notice nor care that she was being dragged away just the same as Robin had.
When Robin turned a corner Lauren screamed out for her but didn't get a response as she squirmed in the hand of the men. The walked down the hallway was quiet with background noise however the sound of Lauren's heartbeat and the sound of evry footstep she took was at an astronical level.
"Where are they going?" Lauren asked useless questions. She was not going to get an answer that much she knew but she was scared, she had to ask, she needed to know where Steve was if- if he was still alive, that thought was horrible but the fifteen minutes that he had been gone was a long time. The next thing Lauren new she was being handcuffed to a railing on a wall back to sitting on the ground.
One Russians sat by the door as the other was holding onto the girls wrist putting the metal band around her wrist. Lauren staired at his hands, when he fished with he hand cuffs his hand sat on her bear knee looking into her eyes. Lauren's eyes staired back into his despite the look behind each set of eyes was very different.
"Where are they?" Lauren whispered to the man but he didn't acknowledge it. Thay only thing he seemed to down was rub his hand on the bottom of the white dress. Lauren started at his hand again the hand that was pulled away from the words of the foreign language out of the other mans mouth.
He retracted his hand and pushed back to his feet leaving Lauren there eyes wide from fear. "Is he alive!?" Lauren yelled to the man walking to the door with the other one.
The room was empty with the new found absence of the Russians. This was something that far from calmed Lauren down this created a rage in her. Not only for her deeper and deeper grown ignorant fear for Steve and Robin but for the fact that she had no idea how long she was going to be here.
She did know if she was going to be here for minutes, hours, days, weeks. She didn't know if they were going to kill her or take her somewhere, nothing about anyrhing was known. What the fuck was Erica and Dustin doing? Did they get out or didn't the get caught too? Would she ever see anyone she loved again. It wasn't the possibly of death that scared her it was the possibility that the ones she loved could die. She was scared of everything and she was mad about being scared so it turned in to anger.
"Hello!?" She screamed, no response. That's how it continued for an hour. Screams the lead to no response. She hadn't given up for a hour. In that time she tried to pry open her hand cuffs and when that didn't work she tried to smash it against the wall. Her wrist bruised and slightly bloody her voice cracking she didn't stop. Admittently there was nothing left to do but fight kick and scream even if it was to no one.
"Let me the fuck out of here!" No response. "I'm going to kill you, where the fuck is he." No response. Lauren pulled her arm away from the cuffs as she could but it did nothing but cut her. "Shit!" This inky oissed her off further. "Let me out!" No response.
The little blood from her cut dripped on her white but jt was the least of her problems. But after all it was Lauren and after another fifteen minutes those screams got more and more shaky where the began to crack more and more. Her eyes began to water and those along with her fight and voice feel. She began to cry as she always did, but as far as anyone knew this was it next thing she could happen is the door flying open with a singe bullet flying right into her heart.
"Please tell me they're not dead." Lauren cried pulling her legs to chest. "Please if you're there tell me. I'll stop fighting, I'll stop yelling. Are they okay?" Lauren's head rest in her legs when the door got creaked open. Immediately he body was filled with anger again. "Where the fuck are they? If you hurt them I'll gut every single fucking one of you." Lauren screamed at the top of her lungs as they Russians were walking her out of her cell.
The Russians had been sitting outside her room and could hear every single time she screamed. They didn't understand it but it was beyond aggravating. Lauren would not stop squirming in their arms trying to get her arms out of the death grasp of the men.
"Where are we-" Completely fed up with Lauren and her constant screaming, one of the men covered her mouth. This didn't stop her from trying to scream. She let out the loudest audible scream she could. What she thought it would do, she didn't even know. Muffled like that, all they way down her nobody would hear anything. Her hope was that Dustin and Erica got out and Robin and Steve aren't dead.
But that's all it was, hope. There was no way of knowing if it was reality they all could be dead and it was her turn.
Lauren screamed both words and pure horror movie screams. It was the only thing she could do now. The soilder seemed to be every bit annoyed with this, so with his leg, he kicked her. Nothing but another scream and a glare back, but Lauren shut her mouth as the soldier did so.
As they made at turn to a long empty hallway, Lauren opened mouth as if she was about to scream again. However, this time, she bit down on the man's hand as hard as she possibly could. The most discussing feeling was bitting through flesh and blood, but she did. If he had been squeezing her face any harder, she probably would've taken a whole finger as opposed to the major flesh wound.
A shriek escaped the soldier along with an immense amount of blood running down her mouth. The man let go to console his own hand, and she used this to pull away from both him and the other soldier who was completely caught off guard by the other ones shreck. Lauren ran and ran, not looking back. She didn't need to look back she could hear their boots behind her. She was praying that somehow she'd get out that she could get help. Each step, she should hear them getting closer. But she ran anyway. Like she was running from everything that could easily consume her.
Quickly, she was brought back to reality when her hair was yanked to the ground. The Russian standing over her picked her up by her blood covered neck and held her to the wall. Lauren staired at the man with black dead eyes her body struggled, searching for the ground, searching for a way to breathe.
It's like every piece of her body was begging for oxygen, and she couldn't get it. It felt like a million pound of rubble was resting on her neck. Just as everything was disappointing and turning black, her body hit the floor and got a surge of oxygen.
The man yelled something she didn't understand at her. A bunch of other men were back around when one bent down to pick her back up she spit her saliva mixed with the man's blood in his face. "You should have fucking killed me." She screamed. Now that she knew there wasn't a chance to get out again that was more a wish than a threat but she want going to say that. When she screamed the man in which she spit blood at slapped her across the face. "I'm going to fucking kill you." She yelled when the picked her help and held her in the arms of two men dragging her into a room and throwing her in slamming the door behind her.
The door opened again this time with different soldiers holding Steve. When his body hit the ground. Lauren turned doing over. "Steve?" She grabbed on to the boys face. Yet another door opened and Robin got thrown to the ground. "What did you do to him? What did-" Lauren was cut off by another slap across her face. Robin leaned over Steve who she was consoling to help Lauren before she got her own hard slap that sent her to the ground.
Lauren was grabbed yet again where she opened her mouth making the man flich at first before continuing to do is job and tie he to the chair. "Steve? Steve, wake up."
"Steve?" When Robin said this they wrapped a large thick belt like thing around the three. "What did you do?" She cried out. The Soilder, the only one Lauren hadn't seen yet picked Steve's unconscious head up.
In unison the girls said, "don't touch him."
"Steve? Can you hear us?" Lauren said a tear running down her face.
"I think you friend need a doctor." Lauren took a deep breath as the man was in her face.
"So does your friend." Lauren looked over at the man with fabric from his shirt over his finger. The soldier didn't acknowledge her words walking over to Robin. "Good thing we have the every best." The taunting laughs of them make Lauren wish she could bite all of their fingers off.
"You're going to regret that," was the next thing Lauren understand, she didn't know what happened and she didn't want to know. When they all left the room Robin and Lauren tried to scream but they weren't going to do anything with it... again.
"Robin!" Lauren yelled as the girl continued to yell. "Are you okay?"
"I'm okay, are you?" Robin sounded very nervous. "I mean you're bleeding."
"It's not mine."
"Steve's?"
"No." Lauren said with a voice crack. "He's not dead, right?"
"No, no, he's fine they wouldn't tie someone who's dead up, right?"
"Yeah, yeah, that's right. He's gonna be alright." Lauren tried to convince herself, but until he woke up, she wasn't going to be okay. "I don't-"
"Lauren." Robin said while Lauren continued to talk.
"It's just a matter of-"
"Lauren!"
"What?"
"Over here." Lauren tried to look, but it was directly behind her she couldn't see. "Scissors. They have Scissors out."
"Well, grab 'em."
"I'm trying." The belt on Lauren's chest tightened as Robin reached the best she could to get them. "They're way to far." Lauren planted her feet in the ground and tried to push the three of them.
"Robin help me push." Robin looked over at what the girl was doing. Lauren's pushing was not doing anything.
"I can't exactly get my footing." Robin tried to help push, but her shoe keeped slipping.
"Robin fucking help!" Lauren ended as she pushed as hard as she could.
"I'm fucking trying!" Robin responded equally frustrated. Robin stopped, and so did Lauren for a moment. "We can try hopping." Lauren was up for anything so she agreed. "Okay on three."
"One. Two. Three." The girls got there chairs up but it didn't move much, Steve's chair was like an anchor. "One. Two. Three." They hopped again, moving a miniscule amount.
"Hey, would you stop bouncing you shaking up my brain."
"Steve!" Both girls had relief in their voice.
"Oh my god, thank god." Lauren sighed with pure relief. "Are you okay?"
"My ears are ringing, and I can't really breathe, my ear feels like it's about to pop out of my skull, but, you know apart from that, I'm doing pretty good." Steve said un a groggy voice.
"Well, the good news is that they're calling you a doctor." Lauren and Robin scoffed at the serious situation.
"Is this his place of work? I love the vibe." Robin chuckled while Lauren swallowed down a horrible feeling that something was really really wrong. Aside from the obvious.
"Yeah tell us about it. So, okay, do you see that table over there to your right." It was quite for a second. "No, you're other right. And do you see those scissors." He mumbled out a yes before Robin continued. Yeah, well, we think if we hop at the same time, we can get over there, and then maybe I could kick the table and knock them in your lap."
"And I could cut the winds."
"Yeah then we get the hell out of here."
"Okay yeah yeah gotcha. We can do that. Those morons they left scissors in here."
"High schools broke into there top secret base thing they're dumb."
"Total morons."
"Okay so on three were going to hop."
"One. Two. Three." They said un unison hoping and inching over. This time they were actually moving.
"It's working." A slight excitement flushed over them. "Okay again."
"One, two, three." Again they got closer.
"Ate we close?" Lauren asked the other two.
"Yeah very. Again."
"One two three." This time the hop turned into a fall, with three teens tied together laid in the ground. Two facing walls the other the ceiling. A quiet whimpering sound came from the girl on the ground.
"It's okay, it's okay."
"Don't cry. Robin." The whimpers turned into a clear laugh.
"Is she laughing?"
"I think so." Steve replied.
"I'm sorry!" She started laughing harder. I'm so sorry. It's just... I can't believe... I'm going to die in a secret Russian base with Steve "the hair" Harrington and Homie Hopper. It's just too trippy." She said still in her fir of laughter. She seemed to be the only one to find this comical.
"We're not gonna die." Steve said, he was the only one that seemed to think so. Lauren was convinced this was it. Robin didn't know what to think, but surviving wasn't the first thought. "We're gonna get out of here. You gotta let me just think for a second.
"Do you remember, Mrs. Clicks sophomore history class?" Lauren sat staring at the ceiling like she it was spinning but it wasn't it had not interesting factors there was just nothing she cared about more in that moment. It was weird as Robin and Steve talked her ears turned off. Instead she stared at the ceiling.
The gray metal ceiling had no significance it looked like the rest of this lab/base what every noun you wanted to use. There was just fluorescent light there was not fire water spouts. As her red-ish eyes looked at the gray her mind went blank there wasn't a though in her mind. Only a feeling a feeling she had experienced once before.
For minutes it was like this nothing but the light shining in her eyes and a blank mind right before she felt like she would see through the ceiling through the mile of dirt and through the ruff of the mall she saw they fireworks. How could see see something that was a mile above her.
Immediately she was brought back to reality with the a her feet hit the ground. It was like the blood that went to her head as she laid with her head nearly upside down feel back to exactly where it was supposed to be in an instant. It still took her a second to adjust back to what was really going on infront of her with the light still temporarily burned into her vision.
"Let's try telling the truth this time, yes?" Was the first words Lauren heard in minutes. "It will make you visit with Dr. Zharkov less painful." Lauren turned her head looking at the Russian holding Steve chin. The steps of the Doctor worried Steve but Lauren couldn't see why.
"Okay! Wait, wait, wait! What's is that thing." When the "doctor" made his way to the other side of Steve could see him with a metal needle gun like thing with blue liquid in its capital.
"It will help you talk." The man said reaching for his neck. Lauren kicked her foot out but during to her binds she bearly even made contact.
"Wait did you even clean that thing!" Steve said before her started screaming.
"Leave him alone!" Lauren yelled fighting to get out of her restraints.
The man with a new bandage on his hand spoke up to the one the spoke English.
"He says you next."
"Don't touch her." Lauren didn't fight the man that grabbed her head or the needle in her neck but that didn't stop her from screaming. It was nearly two seconds later before Robin screamed they hadn't even gotten the chance to protest not that it would have done anything.
"Very well we'll be back." One by on the walked out the door.
"You guys okay?" Steve asked.
"Yeah, I guess as good as we can be."
"I second that." I room sat silent what what there to talking about they didn't know what was going to happen again. Their future was enevitably down there and down there only.
☆
About a half hour without a single sound out of the threes mouth Lauren sighed. "Happy fourth guys." Lauren joked.
"Happy fourth I guess."
"I'm not feeling this shit are either of you?" Steve cut straight to the point.
"No."
"My neck stings hurts, but they also choked me so I don't really know. Which that's from. But I kinda feel."
"Good?" Lauren giggled.
"Really good."
"Wanna know a secret? I like it too." All three if them shared a laugh.
"Morons, they messed up the drug."
"They messed it up! Such morons!" Robin yelled with a chuckle. "Morons! Hey, morons!"
"Something's definitely wrong with us." They laughing stopped as the buzzer ding and the door opened. The doctor began setting things down on the table metal thi gs that sounded sharp.
"Would now be a good time to tell you that I don't like doctors."
"Yeah I eat me apples." Lauren added to Robin's words.
"Let's try this again, yes?" The Russian man said standing intront of Steve and Lauren ignoring the girls' comments.
"Why do you say everything like a question are you insecure?" Lauren asked getting a glare from the man whike Robin on the other end of them tried not to burst out laughing.
"Who do you work for?"
A little scoff come from the boy, "Scoops." He let out another laugh as the girls aside him let out their laughter. "Scoops Ahoy."
"How did you find us?"
"Totally by accident."
The man said something in Russian to one of the other men. "My mom's partents speak polish and my grandma tells my grandpa it's rude to talk about people when they can't understand you." Lauren said to them man.
"I don't care what you grandmother says." The doctor walked around Lauren with a something else metal.
"Do you guys like metal why js everything you have metal?"
"Whst is that shiny little toy?" Steve asked with a giggle. When the doctor reached for his hand and put the metal tool on his finger nail Steve screamed.
"Code. There was a code. We heard a code."
"Code?" The man walked over to Robin. "What code?"
"The week is long. The silver cat feeds, when blue meets yellow in the west. Blah, blah, blah. You broadcast that stupid spy shit all over town, and we picked it up on out Cerebro, and we cracked it in a day. A day! You think you're so smart, but a couple if kids whi scoop ice cream for a living cracked you code in a day, and now, people know you're here."
"Who knows we are here?" The man screamed, this obviously made him mad making Lauren laugh.
"Uh well Dustin knows."
"Hey, Steve?"
"Yeah, Dustin Henderson he knows."
"Dustin Henderson. It is your small, curly haired friend?" Yet again he said as a question.
"Oh curly-haired. Great hair. Small. Kind of like a 'fro. Yeah."
"And where is he?"
"He's long gone, you big asshole. And he's probably calling Hopper, and Hoppers calling the US cavalry. They're gonna come here commando-style, guns a blazin', and kick you sorry added back to Russia. You're gonna be two pieces of toast."
"Is that so?"
"Yeah." Steve said erupting laughter from the girls. Everyone I. The room seemed to laugh but one side stopped ass soon as the alarm went off. Lauren gasped at the the man left the room.
"How'd you do that?"
"I'm god." Lauren and Robin but out laughing.
"I told you he had a god complex." The door burst own with the two children they protected and let get out. Dustin held a stick to the doctor and it shocked him sending him to the ground.
"Hey! Henderson! That's crazy. I was just taking about you." Erica stared undoing the restraints on Lauren and Robun while Dustin figured Steve out.
"Get ready to run." When Erica cut the leg ties they were ready to go the two younger ones lead the way. Once they met with a vehicle. The older three jumped in the back as Dustin and Erica hopped in the front and speed off.
"Woo, man slow down this isn't the Indy 300."
"It's the Indy 500 dingus."
"No it's the Indy 300."
"No they go 500 miles per hour that why it call the 500. Why would they only go 300 it's a race, duh." Lauren said but Steve put his finger to her mouth to shush her.
"No Lauren its about laps not speed. If they were going 500 miles per hour they enter the g-sporce."
"What the g-sporce?"
"Isn't that a sex thing?" Robin asked with her bottom lip out.
"No, no Robin that the g-force."
"No. It's not." Steve nodded his head quickly.
"It is. I know sex." Lauren smiled.
"That's very true."
"Ewwwww. Stop that."
"Robby you'll understand when you have sex. It's great. You now what's better the USA." Lauren stood up holding on to the top of the cart. "Everybody welcome Lauren Springsteen on the one and only independents day!" She yelled getting claps from Robin and Steve. "Born down in the dead man's town!" Lauren sang as the two these made the beat. The cart stopped Is abruptly sending lauren on top of Steve. After a grown Lauren looked up at the boy.
"When we get home you know what I'm thinking?"
"Freedom cookie dough?" Lauren nodded as Erica pulled her up and out of the trunk like thing. Everyone was assured into the elevator where the began going up. Steve played on a push buggie as they went up.
"Hey! You look like you're surfing!"
"Surfing? Yeah! Yeah I'm surfing!" He yelled right before he feel on his face. Lauren took Erica by her hand spinning her around.
"They seem drunk!" Erica yelled to Dustin.
"I'm not drunk." Lauren softly pushed the girl out to pull her back in before letting go and spinning. "I do things I shouldn't when I'm drunk." Lauren smiled and spun around. "I'm high. I'm happy when I'm high."
"Did they drug you!?" Dustin asked the girl spinning.
"For the last time dad! I don't do drugs it only a little marijuana."
"This isn't runny, okay? I need to know what they did to you. Ate you going to die on us?"
"We all my strange little child friend. It just a question of when and how."
"They're going to be looking for us when we get up there us I'm going to need your keys."
"Oh can we go to the food court."
"I would kill for a hot dog in a stick right now."
"Ohh me too."
"Yes, you can have as much food as you want, but only if you tell me where your car is parked."
"Oh no."
"Oh no?"
"The cars off the board. They took the keys. The Russians they took the keys like forever ago."
"Lauren the truck where are your keys." Lauren tapped her chin and the spun her finger in the air.
"I gave them to Stevie." She loked down out her blood covered dress. "Dresses don't have any pockets. My prom dress did. Why am I not wearing my prom dress? I should have worn my prom dress? Where js my prom dress."
"I ripped it..." Steve covers mouth on the side... "I ripped it off remember!"
"Oh yeah you ripped my prom dress. I loved my prom dress."
"No you didn't."
"I thought I did."
"No."
"Oh nevermind I rode my bike anyway. My gas light was on last night or I guess two night ago now and I told myself I could wait and then it was out of has gas the next morning."
"Wonderful." Dustin said right before the elevator stopped. The door opened and gave them a burst if fresh air.
"Oh, my god, that taste so good."
"Can you taste the air?"
"I can taste it."
"I cant." Lauren said shrugging.
"Shit." Dustin yelled and started running towards them grabbing them and pulling them into the building.
"Why are we running? I'm done running." Lauren said as she continued to run with them. They walked in tha back of the movie theater. Walking down the hall Lauren stopped at the Weird Science poster. "Steve this us the movie was talking about in March."
"Oh it has Walt in it."
"No it doesn't."
"That is too Walt." Steve pointed to the blond on the movie poster before him and Lauren's arms were grabbed and dragged into a theater. Dustin sat Robin and Steve together and Lauren right behind them. "Sit her and be quiet." Dustin said before scurrying off.