Chapter Twenty-Five: The Escape

(The Flayed, Pt. 3)

***

Mierda.

That was the only thought running through Valerie's mind as she crouched on the roof of the elevator, her heart pounding a fearful rhythm against the bones of her chest. She didn't know if she was even breathing, as below them, movement echoed up to them, voices speaking in a language that could only be Russian. Knowing that only this roof was what was keeping the Russians from catching the six of them, and that made that fear ratchet higher up in Valerie's brain.

If they saw any sign they were here, if they saw the box Steve opened with its missing canister or the button panel...

They were all dead.

Valerie tried to swallow down her fear as sweat beaded on her forehead, as she saw Rowan look at her and Robin, as the footsteps sounded like they were leaving. Valerie watched as the dark-haired girl looked over to Dustin and Erica, the twerp holding the canister filled with the green liquid still, and finally at Steve as he peered down through the hatch, spying on the Russians, before he looked up and peered around their little group, a finger pressed to his lips, a clear reminder to stay quiet—not like Valerie needed to have that reminder—until his eyes landed on Erica.

Or more specifically, the canister in her hands.

Erica looked confused as to why Steve was staring at the canister, but Valerie wasn't, as she could see the idea forming in Steve's head.

Their shot at escape—their only shot at escape—becoming possible.

When Valerie couldn't hear the footsteps anymore, and instead she heard the whirring sound start up again, she relaxed as Rowan let loose a breath she must have been holding, before she visibly tensed up. And that was when Valerie heard it too—the doors beginning to close.

They had to do this. Right now.

But Steve was already moving, taking the canister from Erica and going back into the elevator, Valerie watching as he fell to his stomach and skidded the canister over to the doors. And since Valerie couldn't hear a slam, it had worked in stopping the doors.

"Let's go!" Steve hissed to them, and Rowan didn't hesitate to shove Erica and Dustin to the hatch as Valerie scrambled to her feet, getting prepared to head down as Robin did the same, the three of them getting behind Dustin and Erica as the twerp went down first, throwing her backpack to Steve as he slid it through whatever gap he created, before motioning to Erica to go next as he hissed, "Go. Go, go, go, go!"

"I'm going!" Erica snapped as she crawled through the gap and now Dustin got prepared to go through, as Valerie, Robin and Rowan dropped to the elevator floor, letting Valerie see the canister holding up the door, creating a gap just big enough to crawl—and letting her see the cracks forming.

Carajo, Valerie thought as Steve motioned to Dustin to go next, whispering, "Henderson. Go. Go!"

Dustin didn't hesitate, army-crawling through the gap and out through the other side. Robin was next, shimmying through as Valerie was right on her heels. Never was she so glad to be short as she crawled through the gap, getting to her feet and panting as Robin held her, and normally Valerie would be feeling panic at Robin holding her—if not for the cracks growing steadily larger, and Rowan and Steve still in that room.

"Graveswood, come on!" Steve exclaimed in the elevator.

"No! You go first, I'll keep it up!" Rowan hissed back, and confusion struck at Valerie. What was Rowan talking about?

"You can do that on the other side, now come on!" Steve argued—and that confirmed what Valerie had suspected. Steve knew something about Rowan. And when she looked at Dustin, at the look on his face, he knew, too.

"God damn it, Steve!" Rowan hissed before she was crawling through and scrambling to her feet. A second later, Steve was crawling through, as the cracks grew larger and the door groaned with the strain of being unable to close.

"Come on, Steve, let's go!" Dustin shouted as Steve crawled through faster and Valerie's heartbeat spiked up and down with panic, that the doors would come crashing on Steve and he would be crushed, he had to get through now.

Steve did—but narrowly as the canister's glass finally cracked and the door crashed down just as Steve scooted away. Just barely avoiding being crushed to death.

But Valerie's relief over that was destroyed when she saw what was inside the canister.

Valerie's eyes widened as she stared at the green sludge eating away at the concrete, smoke drifting up as a sharp, acrid smell stung Valerie's nose. And everyone crowding around it had similar looks of shock on their faces.

"Jesus Christ," Steve said.

"Holy fuck," Rowan breathed, her eyes wide.

"Mierda," Valerie cursed under her breath.

As the acidic sludge kept hissing and destroying the concrete, Robin looked over to Erica and asked, "You still wanna drink that?"

The expression on Erica's face was answer enough, as the liquid she thought was a good alternative to water was, in fact, dangerous after all. And Valerie didn't want to think about what that could do to the human body.

"What are the Russians doing with that?" Valerie whispered as she kept staring at it, her mind screaming about what the fuck could Russians be doing with it.

"I don't know," Rowan muttered as she too just stared at the acidic sludge.

"Holy mother of God."

As one, the five of them turned at hearing Dustin's uttered shock—and Valerie's jaw dropped as she saw what looked like to be an endless corridor in front of them.

¿Qué carajo?

"Well, I hope you guys are in good shape," Steve commented after five seconds of shocked silence. "Looking at you, roast beef."

He patted Dustin's stomach, Dustin giving him an annoyed look, as Steve walked forward and Rowan rolled her eyes, Valerie also feeling a little bit annoyed.

When Steve noticed they weren't following, he turned around and said, "Let's go, come on."

"All right, we're coming, asshole," Rowan called back as she glared at Steve and he turned around to keep walking, before she looked over to Valerie and said, "We better follow him and make sure he doesn't get killed by a goddamned Russian or something."

"Yeah, definitely," Valerie agreed, and they grinned at each other even though Valerie knew that could be very likely if they were caught.

"Why me?" Dustin muttered, obviously still annoyed at how Steve had singled him out.

"Come on, menace, we better start walking," Rowan said as she followed after Steve. They were a step behind her, and Valerie tried to ignore how close she was to Robin, as they headed deeper into the secret Russian base that was apparently under the mall.

And Valerie tried to ignore the fear of what could happen if they were caught, the confusion of why there was a Russian base underneath Starcourt, as they headed down the corridor.

***

Short, I know, but hopefully the next one should be longer

Yes, Scoops Troop have escaped! And yeah, Valerie's confusion has only grown with that little bit of Stowan arguing (along with confirmation that Steve and Dustin definitely know something about Rowan...)

Also, we're more than halfway through the season—and let me just say, I've got very exciting plans for the latter half >:)

Spanish translations:

Carajo: Fuck

Mierda: Shit

¿Qué carajo?: What the fuck?

Please read, comment and vote!

GhostWriterGirl out!