CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX
CAUGHT
Hours later, and the group were still walking down the long corridor. Kimmy was so tired she half wished that she was back in the small room.
"I mean, you have to admit," Dustin spoke up, Kimmy refraining from rolling her eyes. The boy had spoke the entire time, and Kimmy wished for nothing more than for silence. "As a feat of engineering alone, this is impressive."
"Well I'm not very impressed." Aaron retorted with a scoff. "God forbid something would go wrong, then you're fucked. There's no exit doors or stairs, just one crappy elevator that drops you to the pits of the Earth. This place is a total fire hazard."
"They're commies." Erica shrugged in response, much calmer than Aaron was. "You don't pay people, they cut corners."
"And, to be fair to our Russian comrades," Robin spoke up in a tired voice sighing as she did so. "I don't think this tunnel was designed for walking."
"Think about it, they developed the perfect system for transporting that cargo." Dustin spoke up again, rambling once more. "It all comes into the mall like any old delivery. And then they load it up onto those trucks and nobody's the wiser."
"Maybe that's why the mall was built." Kimmy shrugged in a bored voice, her eyes glued to her feet as she walked.
"You think they built this entire mall just so they could transport that green poison?" Steve asked Kimmy with a surprised voice, the brunette glancing up at him and shrugging.
"I seriously doubt it's something as boring as poison." Dustin shot down with a shake of his head. "It's gotta be much more valuable, like promethium or something."
"What the hell is promethium?" Erica asked with her face scrunched up in confusion.
"I have no idea." Kimmy told the girl honestly Kimmy had never heard about whatever Dustin was talking about.
"It's what Victor Stone's dad used to make Cyborg's bionic and cybernetic components." Robin explained in a blunt voice.
Kimmy raised her brows but didn't say anything about it, knowing if she didn't get the reference she didn't really care enough to make the girl explain.
"You're all so nerdy, it makes me physically ill." Erica mocked, placing her hands to her stomach as she pretended to vomit.
Kimmy wasn't phased by Erica's remark, not caring that she had been lumped in with Dustin, Robin and Aaron.
Apparently Steve didn't have the same opinion.
"No, no, no." Steve shook his head, completely offended by what Erica had said. "Don't lump me in with them. I'm not a nerd, alright."
"Why so sensitive, Harrington?" Robin teased, only annoying Steve more. "Afraid of losing cool points to a ten year old girl?"
"Yeah," Aaron agreed in a teasing voice as he looked up at his brother. "Are you scared we're going to find out your super, scary secret that you're really a nerd? Steve Harrington is a nerd-"
"No." Steve shook his head as he cut Aaron of in a firm voice. "I'm just saying I don't know jack shit about... Prometheus."
"Promethium." Dustin butted in, correcting the older boy. "Prometheus is a Greek mythological figure, but whatever. All I'm saying is it's probably being used to make something."
"Or power something." Robin agreed with a shrug.
"Like a nuclear weapon." Dustin nodded, causing Steve to scoff.
"So we're walking towards a nuclear weapon." Steve remarked, rolling his eyes while speaking. "That's great."
"But if they're building something." Robin continued, completely ignoring Steve's words. "I mean, Hawkins. Seriously? Of all places? At the very best we're a toilet stop on your way to Disneyland."
Dustin dragged Kimmy back by the arm as she tried to keep walking, the girl having not realised that Dustin, Steve and Aaron had stopped walking.
"Do you think the Russian's know about all the Eleven stuff?" Steve asked the three in front of him fearfully.
Kimmy's eyes widened at his words, only now catching on to the reason Dustin had pulled her back. She hadn't even registered that maybe the reason this was all going on in Hawkins could maybe be because of the lab as well as the gate. Maybe it was all tied together.
"They could." Dustin replied in a whisper, placing a hand to his face due to his abrupt stress.
"What, are you saying it's all connected?" Aaron asked his brother quietly, stuffing his hands in the pockets of his shorts as he bit the inside of his cheek in thought.
"Maybe." Steve answered his younger brother in a slightly worried voice.
"How though?" Kimmy asked with a confused look on her face, trying not to let herself panic over a simple theory with no proof to it.
"I don't know," Steve muttered, scratching his jaw in thought as he spoke. "But it's possible."
"I'm sorry, is there something you'd like to share with the class?" Robin asked in a snarky voice, the abruptness of her question causing Kimmy to flinch as she turned to face her.
The group of four shared worried glances, unsure if they really should say what they were talking about or if it was a bad idea.
Luckily, the four didn't have a chance to talk over their response because the sound of static hissing caught everyone's attention.
Steve ran over to Erica, pulling the three fourteen year olds behind him. Erica caught on to what Steve wanted her to do, crouching to the floor as she took off her backpack, taking out the walkie as everyone crouched down next to her.
Erica handed the walkie to Robin who was crouched next to her. The older girl holding it up to her ear to try hear what was being said.
There was a man talking in Russian, that much was obvious. However after listening for a moment longer, Kimmy soon realised it was exactly the same as the recording Dustin, Kimmy and Aaron had heard over his new radio. The same saying that they'd spent forever trying to decode - the one that Aaron had actually managed to decode while the other four were out 'spying'.
"A trip to China sounds nice." Robin spoke along with the man speaking in Russian. "If you tread lightly. It's the code. And wherever this is coming from-"
"It's somewhere close." Kimmy nodded at the older girl, the brunette allowing herself to feel the slightest feeling of relief.
"And if there's one thing we know about that signal..." Robin trailed off, a grin pulling on her lips as she spoke. "It can reach the surface."
Kimmy smiled at the girl, happy that at least the group hadn't been walking aimlessly down the long corridor for no reason.
"Let's go." Robin told the group, a toothy smile of relief on her lips as she stood and began walking away.
Everyone quickly copied the girl, running after her, moving swiftly. The group moving with much more energy as they had priorly, knowing they at least had something they were walking towards.
...
Eventually, the group did make it to the end of the corridor, turning a corner cautiously with Steve in the lead in hope it would lead them out of wherever they happened to be.
"Shit," Steve mumbled, rushing to duck behind a large metal container, leaving Kimmy more than confused.
Soon, the five he was with copied him, rushing to crouch next to the older boy quietly as they caught sight of two guards making their way towards the group.
Steve hesitantly looked over the container to make sure it really was okay for the group to move from their spot.
"Okay," the boy whispered to the group, standing fully as he motioned for the group to follow him. "Clear, come on, let's go."
"Thanks for warning us." Aaron whispered to his brother, clearly annoyed as he followed him. "You didn't think to tell us the guards were there? Or did you just want rid of us all?"
"Shut up, Aaron." Steve shook his head, not bothering to face his younger brother as he spoke. "I know what I'm doing."
"No, he's right." Robin jumped into the conversation, breathing a little heavier than usual as she fought back panic. "That was too close."
"Relax." Steve muttered, still not turning around. Robin scoffed at him, yet Steve didn't care. "Just relax, alright? Nobody saw..."
Steve trailed off when he turned a corner, stopping in his tracks as he looked ahead with a wide eyed expression.
Because of his abruptness, Kimmy went walking right into the back of him. However Steve didn't even seem fazed, Kimmy furrowing her brows in confusion. It was as if Steve hadn't even noticed.
Kimmy moved so she was stood next to him so she could see what he was looking at, surprised to find what was looking back at her.
There was what looked to be some sort of two story lab, scientists and guards walking all around calmly and routinely.
Every single guard had a large gun in their possession, murderous glowers on their faces as they walked around.
"Shit." Steve mumbled, running over to a slightly smaller metal box that was left disregarded to the side as he motioned for the group to follow.
All six of them were crouched behind the box, Kimmy peeking out to the side to try see what was really going on.
"I saw it." Erica gasped, her brows furrowed into a look of fear. "First floor, northwest."
"Saw what?" Kimmy asked the younger girl quietly.
"The comms room." Erica exclaimed in a panicked whisper.
"How the hell did you manage to see the comms room?" Aaron asked with a surprised expression, confused on how she had caught sight of the comms room with a couple second glance.
"Because I have a pair of eyes." Erica retorted, glowering slightly at the blond while rolling her eyes at him.
"Are you sure?" Kimmy asked the girl, drawing Erica's attention off of Aaron.
"Positive." Erica replied, the glower dropping from her face and was replaced with fearful look once more. "The door was open for a second, and I saw a bunch of lights and machines and shit in there."
"That could be a hundred different things." Steve rolled his eyes, not willing to take the chance just because Erica suspected it might be the comms room.
"I'll take those odds." Robin mumbled to Steve quietly as she nodded her head firmly.
Steve sighed, shaking her head as he quickly thought over his options. He then looked over his shoulder and past the metal box to try catch a look at what Erica was referencing.
"Alright." Steve whispered after turning back around to face the group with a slightly reluctant look crossing his face. "We're gonna move fast, we're gonna stay low. Okay?"
The group nodded back at him, the slight feeling of fear beginning to settle in the depths of her stomach at Steve's idea.
Steve then moved out from behind the metal box, crouching as he moved swiftly, the group following and doing the same actions as the six of them went from box to box, hiding behind each object they could as they moved in sections.
Steve waited for the door to the comms room to open, watching carefully to make sure no one was watching.
The second the person Kimmy presumed was a scientist left the room, Steve checked around him frantically to make sure it was safe to move once the scientist had left and was out of view.
The older boy moved from his spot, running up to the door and catching it just as it was about to close.
Holding it open for everyone to safely get into the room before he shut the door.
The second Kimmy made it past the door, her feet came to a halt and her eyes widened. The fear she had once felt washing back over her a thousand times stronger.
There was a guard sat speaking into the radio in front of him, repeating the same saying Robin had decoded.
The man paused, turning slowly to face the group, standing abruptly as a look of fury made his way onto his face.
Kimmy felt her breathing pick up, the girl stilling out of fear as she felt Dustin do the same.
The brunette really begun to panic when the man went to reach for his gun, Kimmy's stomach dropping as she tried to take a deep breath to calm herself down.
Kimmy couldn't find it in her to fully be confused as she heard Robin begin to speak Russian to the man, repeating the same phrase she had heard over and over on Dustin's recording.
Surprisingly, the man spoke back to her, a confused look on his face as Robin hesitantly walked forward.
Kimmy didn't think Robin knew what to do, momentarily panic crossing her features before she recollected herself.
She continued to repeat the saying that she had memorised accidentally, the guard quite literally scoffing in her face, causing Robin to flinch back slightly.
The man shook his head, reaching for the gun in his pocket.
Kimmy wasn't given the time to panic over this, because the yell that left Steve had her eyes blowing wide with confusion as she looked to him.
The older boy ran forward at such a rapid pace, it took Kimmy a moment to realise what was happening.
Steve grabbed the man, slamming him against the control station behind him. The man snapping around with a furious expression as we went to punch him, Steve dodging it but not my much.
The man then picked him up by his shirt and slammed him against the table harshly. From what Kimmy could see, Steve had grabbed some sort of microphone. Gripping it firmly as he swung it at the mans face with such force that the guard went flying backwards, smacking his face against the corner of the table, ultimately knocking him out.
Kimmy watched the interaction with wide eyes, the man was lying limp on the floor with blood spilling from his head. The girl wasn't sure if he was unconscious or if he had actually died from the force of the hit.
"Dude!" Dustin yelled excitedly, clearly having a different reaction to what had happened than Kimmy. "You did it, you won a fight!"
Steve laughed softly in response, a smug look pulling on his face as he shrugged to the boy.
Aaron walked up to his brother, a slightly amused look on his face as he gave him a high five, Steve ruffling his brothers hair in response.
Dustin rushed past Kimmy, crouching in front of the guard as he took his keycard.
"What are you doing?" Erica asked clearly puzzled from next to Kimmy.
"I'm getting us our ticket out of here." Dustin answered simply, turning away from her as he took the keycard off his uniform.
"You want to walk all the way back?" Erica exclaimed, completely against the idea.
"Well," Dustin sighed as he stood, walking back over to the younger girl with the keycard in his hand. "We can hang out for a little bit, relax, have a picnic maybe."
"Have a picnic?" Erica retorted, clearly not picking up on his sarcasm. "We came here for the radio."
"This plan is way better." Dustin shot down with a shake of his head. "If I knew Steve could knock out a Russian-"
"You're the one who said he couldn't!" Kimmy exclaimed, ignoring the scoff Steve sent her way. "No one thought he could-"
"Guys!" Robin yelled, her eyes wide as she pointed behind her. "I think there's something up there."
Kimmy moved forward a little, trying to see what was behind Robin. Puzzled to find that there was a small flight of stairs behind her, a room at the top looking as if it were glowing blue.
Hesitantly, the group went to climb the stairs, Robin leading the group as they climbed the stairs slowly.
Once at the top, the older pushed open the door and motioned the group to follow her as she walked into the room and made her way over to the two doors with a window in each door.
The six scrambled to look inside the room which had the hue of blue coming off it.
Kimmy felt her eyes widen as she looked inside, glancing forward in awe as she tried to gather her thoughts.
She knew she was looking at the weapon they had spent all day speculating about.
There was a small lab looking room behind the doors, the room looking out towards the weapon.
Dozens of the tall thin containers filled with the same green liquid that the group had seen burn a hole in the floor were stacked into some sort of big electrical machine that was quite literally shooting a strong wave of electricity out the other side.
What really took Kimmy by surprise, was the large hole in the wall that the machine's electricity was directly shooting at.
Only it wasn't really the wall, it was moving, and was a light red. Really, it reminded Kimmy of when she had first seen the demogorgon almost two years ago, the sort of wall it came crawling out of.
Kimmy had to admit, it really did look like something that would be related or even in the upside down. Although she knew that wasn't a good thing.
Suddenly, it all clicked for the girl. She glanced to Dustin who was stood next to each other, the pair wearing matching expressions of fear.
"The gate." The two whispered fearfully to each other.
...
"I don't understand." Robin insisted once the group were back down the small flight of stairs. "You've seen that before?"
"No." Kimmy told her, wincing as she realised she wasn't really making sense. "I mean, not exactly."
"Then what, exactly?" Robin asked, sounding more confused than anything.
"Listen," Aaron spoke up from behind Kimmy, jumping into the conversation. "All you need to know is that it's bad."
"Really bad." Steve insisted with wide eyes.
"Like, end of the human race as we know it kind of bad." Dustin stressed, pacing as he pressed his hand to his face.
"Yeah, and you four know about this how?" Robin scoffed, clearly not believing them one bit.
No one answered Robin's question, Erica stepping in with a shaky voice before anyone had the chance.
"Um, Steve?" She spoke up in a fearful voice, as if she already knew the answer. "Where's your Russian friend?"
Kimmy looked around, beginning to panic when she realised that he was definitely not dead, that he actually was no longer there at all.
Suddenly, an alarm began blaring, Kimmy's hands beginning to sweat with fear.
Steve rushed over to the door, looking out the small window and groaning frustratedly. "Shit."
The older boy then turned to face the group, clearly panicked as he looked to them all, suddenly running over to the stairs and motioning for the group to follow.
"Shit!" Steve yelled, scrunching his face up in panic.
"What's going on?" Aaron asked his brother frantically.
The group were running now, bursting into the small room that was looking over the weapon and was filled with scientists.
No one had a chance to panic over this, simply running past as they looked for a way out.
Dustin was leading the group, and maybe this wasn't such a good idea. The boy had lead the group right out to what the scientists were looking over. The group literally stood right next to the huge weapon, shooting massive amounts of electricity out the end.
"Holy shit!" Aaron exclaimed from next to Kimmy, stressed beyond belief. "Holy shit! Holy shit!"
Kimmy and Dustin let out a scream when they caught sight of the guards that were making their way towards them, Steve instantly running down the staircase behind the group with the six closely behind him.
Kimmy couldn't ever remember running so fast in her life, all six of them were practically sprinting. Suddenly Robin yelled out to the group, pushing open the door to a room that no one knew what the continents of.
"Come on!" The girl yelled at them all, motioning for them all to run into the room through the open door. "Hurry!"
Steve slammed the door closed behind him, Russian guards right behind him as many began yelling and banging on the door, trying to break it down.
"Robin!" Steve yelled at the girl, struggling to hold the door closed on his own. "Robin, help me!"
Robin over to him, pressing her hands to the door as she tried to stop the guards from breaking into the room.
Erica ran frantically up to a latch in the floor, flipping it open with a grunt. Kimmy ushered Erica to go first, the girl wasting no time to jump into the latch.
"Come on!" Dustin yelled frantically at Steve and Robin as he climbed into the latch next behind Erica.
"Go!" Steve yelled in response, struggling to keep the door closed. "Just get out of here!"
Kimmy bit her cheek as she watched the two, realising just then what exactly they were doing. They were letting the guards take them so the youngest four of the group could leave safely.
"Steve, come on!" Aaron tried yelling at his brother desperately. Kimmy felt her stomach drop slightly at the way his voice cracked when he called for his brother, unlike usually, he wasn't yelling to his brother in annoyance, or teasing him. But he sounded so desperate that Kimmy felt her heart drop at the sound. "Please! Just come here!"
"Just try get help, okay?" Steve yelled back at him, clearly worried for his younger brother. "Go!"
Kimmy jumped into the latch after Dustin, looking up at Aaron with a frown. The blond was hesitating, he was seriously debating whether or not to leave.
"Aaron," Kimmy yelled up at him, grabbing his attention as he looked down at her hesitantly. "We've got to go! Steve will be okay, I swear. But we have to go!"
Aaron nodded, shaking his head as he got to his knees and got ready to follow Kimmy into the latch.
With that, Kimmy turned and scooted down into the wide air duct under the floor where Dustin and Erica were already waiting.
Moments later there was a thud and then the latched flipped close, notifying Kimmy that Aaron had made it into the air duct and that the group of four had to make their way down the air duct while on their knees like Erica had done the day prior.
Although the air duct was much wider than the one Erica had gone through the day before. Where Dustin couldn't even fit in that air duct, they were able to sit up straight on their knees while in this one.
Kimmy turned around and went to make sure Aaron was okay after leaving his brother, seeing how upset he was over leaving him. Only to find that the blond wasn't there.
Kimmy's heart dropped and her breathing picked up as she looked to the spot behind her where Aaron should have been.
He had stayed with his brother.
It wasn't that Aaron had got caught, he'd had the most time out of all four of them to get into the air duct, yet, he'd chosen to stay with his brother.
Kimmy's mind began to spiral at the thought of what would happen to the blond, the brunette panicking more than she'd done the entire day as she turned and yelled for Dustin.
...
Another chapter 😬😬😬😬
Also if there are any mistakes please let me know I haven't proof read this lol.
Hope everyone is having a great day !!!!
- AJ :)