❁

they were met with a sharp corner, hiding in it as the two scientists from the elevator moved the boxes of green liquid. "okay we're clear." steve said as they passed.

"that was close." robin said.

"too close." dustin agreed.

"relax." steve told them. "alright, relax nobody saw-" he trailed off as they rounded the corner and immediately saw a hub of russians in uniform (holding guns) and scientists in lab coats. the place was much more crowded than any of them had anticipated, and they all quickly scrambled back into their hiding places.

"shit!" meadow quietly exclaimed, grabbing her brother's arm and pulling both him and her boyfriend to the corner. the group all kneeled behind a post, ducking down in an attempt to stay hidden from the mass of bad guys.

"red dawn." dustin mumbled.

erica nodded. "i saw it! first floor, northwest."

"saw what?" meadow asked, turning to look at her.

"the comms room!" she said as if it was obvious.

"you saw the comms room?" steve asked.

"correct!" erica replied. "the door was open for one second, and i saw a bunch of lights and machines and shit in there."

dustin shook his head. "that could be a hundred different things."

"i'll take those odds." robin replied. the group all looked over each other's shoulders behind the post, watching as the russians roamed the area.

"alright." steve whispered after looking. "we're gonna move fast, we're gonna stay low. okay?"

meadow nodded. "okay." she and dustin said in response. steve was first to move, leading the group in a low run out from their hiding place. they probably looked ridiculous, meadow thought, moving in an awkward mass as if they were cats with their bellies to the ground. they crouched behind a set of boxes, following steve as he got up and moved his way behind a row of metal canisters. the control room was right in front of them now, and after a scientist walked out, they scrambled through the open door.

once everyone was inside, steve quietly closed the door. a man in uniform was seated by the control panel, and he stood up from his rolling chair, looking to the group in confusion. he reached for the gun on his belt, but robin stopped him.

"tread lightly!" she said in russian, "tread lightly." she repeated. the man replied in russian that meadow didn't understand, confusion clear on his face. "silver cat.. silver cat." robin continued. the man shook his head, even more confused. "china?" he reached for his gun again, and steve let out a loud yell.

steve ran towards the man, wrapping an arm around his waist and flinging him down onto the control panel. the man grunted, grabbing steve and flinging him towards a table on the other side of the room. the man swung a punch that steve expertly dodged by leaning back, only to be grabbed and thrown to another table. the man grabbed steve again, but he stood up, moving to the main control panel and grabbing a telephone. he took it and, with a hard blow, hit the man's face, sending him to the floor.

steve panted, running a hand through his hair as he looked down at the man. "dude!" dustin exclaimed. "you did it!" he pointed at him. "you won a fight!"

"jeez.." steve said as he looked down at the man, laughing softly to himself. he let out a smile chuckle, looking over to meadow for her praise.

she just smiled, giving him a thumbs up. "good job babe."

"what are you doing?" erica asked as dustin crouched by the passed out man.

"getting us our ticket out of here." he replied, searching for the key card.

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.