July 3rd, 1985

Beneath Starcourt Mall

"Shit! Shit!" Dustin's screams were one of the many that could be heard from inside the room, or now as we recognized it an elevator, as it descended multiple stories at lightning speed.

"We're going down! We're going down!" Steve panicked as his grip on me tightened painfully. "Yeah, no shit, Harrington!" Robin shouted from the other side of the room, desperately holding into the metal shelves that we're anchored to the wall.

"Why are we just standing here!" I screamed at the four, pulling myself away from Steve on shaky legs as I quickly walked across the shaking room and towards the control panel.

Surely if one of these buttons got us in this situation, one would have to be able to get us out of it.

Slamming my finger on the button that looked like an arrow pointing upwards, it had little to no effect on the disembarking elevator.

"Why don't these buttons work!" I yelled out of frustration before slamming my hand against the control panel. "Press the button!" Erica yelled at me over the screams of the others as she pushed my hand away from the panel, instead slamming her finger on the 'open door' button.

"What do you think I'm doing?" I groaned out in frustration, continuing to press the multiple buttons in front of me as Dustin pushed his way over. "Come on, press something! Just press the button!" He yelled repeating the same action as Erica.

Just as I threw my hands up in defeat, the elevator came to a crashing halt, sending us flying to the ground. Multiple boxes tipped over and off of the shelves as the room shook violently one last time.

Steve let out a pained groan from the corner of the room as the rest of us tried to regain our footing. "My groin... It fell on my groin. Nell! Get this off of me."

Turning to face the corner, I found Steve pinned on the ground by one of the Imperial Panda boxes.

"Are you okay?" I whispered, quickly picking the heavy box up and off of him.

"Yeah, I'm great, now that I know that Russians can't design elevators!" Steve yelled as he pushed himself off of the floor, running a stressed hand through his hair as he hurried past me and towards the control panel.

"Well then... is everyone else okay?" I muttered watching as Steve slammed his hand against the buttons.

"I think we've clearly established that those buttons don't work." Robin pointed out as the buttons still had little to no effect on the locked door. "They're buttons! They have to do something!" Steve yelled, turning to face Robin with annoyance dripping from his tone.

"Yeah, if we had a key card." She stated the obvious as she gestured her hand towards the panel. "It's an electronic lock. Same as the loading dock door. If we don't have a keycard it won't operate, meaning--"

"We're stuck in here." Dustin concluded as Steve slammed the door to the panel shut. "I don't get it? How could the door's open without the key card in the first place?" I inquired, approaching the panel to examine it.

"What are you doing?" Steve questioned anxiously as I kneeled beside him to look at the lock. "What? I've been studying magnets all summer, I'm sure I can bypass a simple card reader." I shrugged, quickly tying my hair back. "But, I do need a screwdriver." I stated, Dustin was quick to hand me the one from his fanny-pack.

"Just so you nerds are aware, I'm supposed to be spending the night at Tina's, and Tina always covers for me. But if I'm not back home for Uncle Jack's party tomorrow and my mom finds out you four are responsible, she's gonna hunt you down, one by one, and slit your throats." Erica informed, sliding a finger across her throat threateningly.

"I don't care about Tina! Or Uncle Jack's party! Your mom's not gonna be able to find us if we're dead in a Russian elevator!" Steve yelled at the young girl, looking to be on the verge of a panic attack.

"We are not going to die down here." I stated, lightly grabbing onto Steve's hand to calm him down before going back to work on the control panel.

"What if we climbed out?" Dustin questioned as he looked up at the ceiling of the room, a metal hatch lingered above us, and luckily, it wasn't locked.

Climbing up the metal shelves, Dustin pushed open the hatch before climbing out of the room, Steve following close behind him.

"So, how many stories are we gonna be climbing?" I questioned, though I was only answered with silence from the two boys before they dejectedly climbed back down into the room.

"We're going to die down here." Steve muttered, leaning his back against the wall before sliding down it slowly.

~~~

"Seriously it's not a big deal." Steve stated, growing frustrated with me as I pushed his watch away from me for the third time.

"Steve, I'm telling you I need a magnet and aluminum. Your watch won't help me with either of those things. And unless you have a bypass key, this is useless." I complained as he tried to hand me his watch again.

"Well, this is one of two things. You can just use my watch's magnet." Steve's statement caused Dustin's eye's to squint as he thought over the teen's words. "Steve, please I can't use your watch." I mumbled awkwardly causing Robin to laugh from her place in the corner.

"Why not? I thought told me my watch was magnetized. So just take it out." Steve complained as he looked down at the face of his watch.

"Steve, that means your watch doesn't work." Dustin groaned, placing his head in his hands. "Oh... That makes sense." Steve muttered as he looked back down at his watch before awkwardly pocketing it.

Grinning to myself, I watched as Steve and Dustin awkwardly went onto the roof in the hopes of using Dustin's walkie to make contact with anyone on the surface.

"He's an idiot," Robin stated once the boys had closed the hatch, though I was sure Steve could still hear her rude comment.

"He's not so bad," I muttered as I leaned against the wall to stare down at her. "How are you not more offended?" Robin questioned with a quirked brow.

Shrugging off her question, I twisted the silver ring on my pointer finger. "Should I be offended? I mean if he's not, I'm not."

"Well, isn't he your boyfriend? Most girls would be super protective. That or a jealous mess." She continued, waving her hands in front of her for exaggeration. "Do you think I should be jealous?" I quirked with a false grin.

"I wouldn't blame you if you were." She inquired with a smirk causing me to let out a breathy laugh.

"You know, I never would have thought you'd go for someone like Harrington." Robin continued as I adjusted the jacket I had thrown over a sleeping Erica.

"Is that so?" I muttered, slowly approaching her before taking a seat beside her. "Why is that?" I questioned further as I toyed with the ring on my pointer finger, suddenly feeling very subconscious about my relationship.

"I don't mean it in a bad way. Like, don't get me wrong I think you're great for him. I just don't see what he has to provide in a relationship." Robin stumbled over her words, I could tell she didn't want me to take it personally but I couldn't help but feel offended for Steve. "Unless you're not in a relationship, that is." She added.

Letting a sigh pass from between my lips I shrugged lightly, "Everyone seems to have this idea of who Steve is... I don't even think Steve knows who he is... But he isn't the same guy we went to high school with. He's changed."

Robin nodded in agreement, "Sure he isn't the same guy but you can't lie, he does have the tendency to revert back to what he knows." She pointed out one of his worst traits causing me to take in a deep breath. "Don't you think that's the reason he hasn't committed to you? Doesn't that bother you?" She pushed further.

Robin's words shocked me, we had never spoken this much before, when we did it was only through notes in drama class. And Steve's never been the main topic of the conversation until they started working together.

"No, I guess it doesn't... I mean don't get me wrong, it's hard being in a relationship but not actually being in one. But the lack of commitment doesn't really bother me as much because he's never really been mine in the first place. You know, I've never been committed to anyone before and neither has he, not really at least. It's just hard to get used to."

Our relationship started out as an accident and we've just been stumbling our way through it ever since.

"Actually how did you two end up together?" Robin questioned me with a furrowed brow, as far she knew until this summer Steve was one of my many tormentors. "That's a long story..." I mumbled before my jacket was thrown in my face.

"Will you two shut up?! I'm trying to sleep." Erica yelled from her place on the floor beside us before rolling back onto her side.

~~~

"Code red, I repeat, code red." Dustin's voice drifted from the ceiling as he spoke into his walkie for the second time that night or by this point, probably day. "Does anyone copy? This is a code red, I repeat, code red."

I had given up on the card reader hours ago, though I was able to scrap the magnet from Dustin's compass which he seemed to keep on him at all times, I came up short on the aluminum. So, unless someone was coming through that door, we were stuck in here.

"Steve, I think you should tell him to give it a rest." I mumbled to Steve who had his arm thrown lazily over my shoulder as we sat on the ground, staring at the grey wall in front of us for the past hour. "He'll just drain the batteries if you don't." Robin added as she watched Erica pull another vial of green liquid from the canister.

"Alright, alright. I hear you." Steve groaned as he stood up from his spot on the floor before slowly making his way towards the hatch in the ceiling.

"We are innocent children and we are trapped under Starcourt Mall. The Red Army has infiltrated Hawkins and if we are found, they will torture and kill us." Dustin continued to speak into the walkie as Steve peeked his head through the hatch.

"Hey! Gotta take it easy on that thing. Gonna drain the battery." Steve complained, still only sticking halfway through the open hatch. "The Mall just opened." Dustin informed him. "So?"

"So, someone could be in range." Dustin stated hopefully, only to be quickly shut down by Steve, "What do you think? Petey the Mall Cop is gonna rappel down here and save the day?" Steve scoffed before pulling himself all the way through the hatch, slamming it shut behind him.

"What's got him so cranky?" Robin questioned as she listened to the muffled voices of Dustin and Steve bicker back and forth, hearing her name and my name come out of their mouths.

"I think he's just tired." I mumbled before making my way towards Erica as I noticed her trying to twist off the cap to the green liquid.

The sound of water trickling stopped me in my tracks as I began to notice a look of disgust spread over Robin's features. "Would you please tell your boyfriend to redirect his stream?" She requested as she looked away from the wall behind me.

Looking over my shoulder, I found that Steve decided to relieve himself at the worst possible time. "Seriously, Steve?" I questioned, my tone seemed to get the point across as he slowly made a trail to the other side of the room.

"Ugh..." Robin groaned as I turned to face Erica, just in time to watch the young girl bring the vial down on the edge of the table in a weak attempt at breaking it before repeating the action again.

"Hey! What are you doing? Be careful, you don't know what that stuff is." I exclaimed, quickly pulling the vial from her hands and holding it above my head as she tried to reach for it.

"Exactly. It could be useful." Erica commented, still reaching for the vial. "Useful how?" Robin questioned the girl in disbelief as she stood beside me. "We can survive down here a long time without food, but if the human body doesn't get water, it will die." Erica pointed out the fact that everyone knew causing Robin to let out a scoff.

"I'd hate to break it to you, but this is not water." Robin pointed out slowly as she took the vial out of my hand to wave it in Erica's face. "No, but it's a liquid, and if it comes down to me drinking that shit or dying of thirst, I drink." Erica stated firmly before ripping the vial out of Robin's hand, only for me to quickly snatch it back from her.

"Do you hear that?" Robin muttered as she walked away from us as made her way towards the door before pressing her ear against the metal.

From the other side of the door, the sound of something humming could be heard. And it was getting closer with every passing second.

Quickly realizing we had no more time to spare, I quickly ran towards the hatch, climbing up one of the shelves to throw it open, startling Dustin and Steve in the process.

"We've got company." I stated before helping Erica and Robin up onto the roof of the elevator, gently closing the hatch behind me just in time to hear the sound of the lock clicking and the door opening.