CHAPTER 016. TURN RIGHT & RUN

(WARNING: Brief mention of a male guard slapping Laurie)

THIS ISN'T REAL.

Robin's frantic and borderline incoherent babbling lead the group to follow her up the stairwell and finding purchase just before a door situated at the top. They naturally gravitated towards the flashing beams of light leaking through the large windows to their left, and they peer inside to reveal another room; one filled to the brink with loitering scientists who are looking back and forth at the large array of clipboards scattered across the benches in front of them.

Although Laurie desperately wishes she could sneakily grab one of their papers and find a way to translate what is apparently so important on them, her heart feels like it's in her throat when she moves her gaze to the source of the light that peaked Robin's interest to begin with.

The girl is quick to shield her face from the sudden flash of blue light as the group erupt in unprepared gasps. She can hear Steve and Dustin muttering beside her, and Erica and Robin curse under their breaths. After a few seconds, Laurie manages to crack her eyes open to peer back through the window, eyes growing wider and wider at the sight in front of her.

There's a large weapon ahead, placed between long stretches of grated metal flooring where soldiers in red hazmat suits are congregating. Sparks of electric currants fly between hinges and Laurie is almost certain the suits the Russians are wearing won't protect them from jack. The soldiers are placing the acidic green goo into the sides of the weapon, in turn causing the beam shooting out of the machine to shine bigger and brighter.

Lauries mouth feels dry from begin left dropped open and her eyes start to sting because she's afraid that one second of vulnerability might cause her her life. Whatever the hell this is, whatever the Russians are doing with that laser and the acidic goo is nothing like what she thought they were here for and that's not how this was supposed to go.

She thought the Russians were here for information, maybe in Hawkins to lay low whilst they slowly infiltrate their military or maybe even rat out what the KGB are plotting for the Cold War. But this? This isn't human, this isn't logical or explainable and shouldn't even be possible- this is as supernatural as it comes strange.

"What the fu-"

Laurie's profanities are cut off as she flinches when Steve's hand roughly grabs at her own. He tugs her arm, pulling the girl backward and away from the glass because her body and eyes can't seem to move away from the sight in front of her. He whispers harshly, "Laurie, come on. We have to go. Now,"

It's only then that she comes to realize how both Robin and Erica, both previously smushed beside her with their faces a mere inch away from the glass, are nowhere to be found. It takes her a second or two, but Laurie eventually complies and joins Steve in rushing down the stairs with the rest of the group.

"I don't understand, you've seen this before?" Robin inquiries breathlessly, eyes glued to her shoes as she attempts to prevent herself from losing her footing from her quick descent down the steps.

Steve runs his free hand through his hair. "Not exactly,"

"Then what, exactly?" Erica asks after jumping from the last step, planting a hand on her hip as she looks at the older boy, eyes narrow.

Steve opens his mouth to speak, but Dustin quickly waves his hand in the air. "Nothing! It's.. it's nothing. Look, all you need to know is that it's bad, all right?"

"It's really bad," Nods Steve, and Laurie frowns.

"What do you mean really bad?" Laurie repeats, her words wobbling with nerves. Her satchel bag annoyingly bounces against her hip until both her and Steve have joined the rest of the group in the comms room. Her voice is more urgent and in combination with her hand squeezing Steve's and her doe eyes looking up at his, she successfully grasps his attention. "Steve? What do you mean really bad?"

The curly-haired-boy who can't seem to stand still, pacing back and forth as a crinkle forms above his brow looks up at the girl when Steve seems at a loss of words. "Like end-of-the-human-race-as-we-know-it kind of bad,"

Laurie snaps her head over to Dustin. "What?"

Robin clamps her eyes shut for a moment, moving her hand to squeeze at her temples before brushing her frizzed hair away from her now sweat covered forehead. "I'm sorry, how do you know all this?"

"It's a long story," Steve interjects, and Laurie feels slightly frustrated that him and Dustin are acting like Carol Perkins and her posse when they're gossiping in the halls at school.

"So tell us the story!" Snaps the girl, arms flailing in the air and she'd be embarrassed at her desperation if she wasn't so panicked. "Why are you being so secretive? Do you two know something about that rip in the universe that we should?"

"Laurie, look, just- just calm down, okay?" Steve says softly, reaching out for her again. "We'll explain everything once we're out of here and-"

"Calm down? You want me to calm down, Steve?" Laurie challenges, completely unlike herself, but she's freaking out. How the hell can he stand there and expect her to not be losing her mind after seeing a giant gash in the universe? "I just found out the world is about to end! How can you expect me to be calm?"

"Hey-" Laurie must've pulled herself out of Steve's grasp in the midst of her panicked tangent, because Steve, frowning, leans forward to grab her hand. "Laurie,"

"Hey, lovebirds!" Erica's voice catches the groups attention and Laurie turns her head over to the youngest girl in the group. "Where's your Russian friend?"

After being too situated on Laurie's - rightfully - dramatic tangent, the group come to notice that the Russian guard Steve had just fought is nowhere to be seen, the only thing left to remind them of his existence being a small pile of blood on the floor. Laurie looks away, feeling queasy at just the sight of the liquid.

Then, before the group can erupt into a state of panic - and almost comically so - a loud alarm starts blaring in Laurie's ears and red lights spring to life on the ceiling, flashing on and off like scene from an action film.

Oh, God.

Instantly, Steve bolts to the door they entered through earlier, peaking his head out for a few seconds before slamming it shut again. Although the walls in this place are thick, it doesn't conceal the incoherent shouts of Russian officers getting louder and louder. "Shit!"

Robin groans. "Nice one, dumbass!"

Steve doesn't have time to snarl at his coworker because he catches a glimpse of Laurie's distressed face and something inside him snaps, causing him to spring into action. The boy frantically gestures his hand in the direction of where they just came from as he rushes over to the group again. "Go, go! Back up the stairs!"

When he rushes past the group he quickly laces his hand with Laurie's and she doesn't hesitate to let the boy pull her along, her white shoes thumping loudly against each step and she hopes that Robin doesn't trip behind her.

Instead of stopping at the door this time like before, and without even an ounce of hesitation, Steve shoves his shoulder into the navy doors and forces them open.

The boy stops dead in his tracks for a second and the Russians inside swivel in their chairs and glare at the group like they're a bunch of delinquents. Narrowed eyes, mouths agape, and one Russian even drops their clipboard onto the floor, Laurie feels her body turn rigid.

Except when Dustin bumps into her mere seconds later the the girl yelps, hand that isn't laced with Steve's flying and grabbing at his bicep. "Steve-"

"Shit- there!" Dustin suddenly shouts, bolting for a staircase located to their right. The group are quick to follow, sneakers screeching at their sharp turns and Laurie can hear the sounds of the Russian soldiers voices echoing behind them. She glances back just for a second and her eyes seem to pop out of her skull when she catches a glimpse of one of the men, his jaw tight and his eyes flashing with fury.

"Where are we going?!" Erica cries out as Robin drags her by the hand. Before any of them could even answer, Dustin turns and starts sprinting down the bridge beside the giant machine they stared at in awe earlier. He shrieks, shoving one of the Russians in the red hazmat suits and causing the man inside to grunt when he hits the railing behind him.

Laurie can feel a rush of heat hit her face as they slide past the giant beam of electricity, squinting her eyes as she does her best at shielding them with her free hand. Dustin curses periodically, nearly tripping off the edge of the grated platform before Steve yanks him backward by his shirts collar.

They're at a dead end, and unless they want to drop down into the dark nothingness below them, they're standing here like bait. "Holy shit!"

This is unlike anything Laurie has ever seen - in real life, anyhow. Now being much clearer than what she saw before, Laurie comes to notice how the crack in the wall has something shiny lining its jagged edges, almost identical to how Jason Voorhees looked when he met his demise at the end of Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter.

A thick layer of skin and grime and maybe even blood cling against the concrete wall and Laurie can feel her empty stomach trying to salvage whatever it can for her to throw up. It doesn't look real, almost like it was ripped right out of a science fiction novel Dustin or Robin would read.

But then again, what part of any of this seems real? Aside from the obvious bright laser being powered by an acidic substance and the fact that she's been trapped in a secret Russian base for the past 24 hours, something seems wrong and off putting, something unexplainable that even Steve can't smooth talk away.

The 6-foot gash almost looks hurt; bruised and raw like a reopened scar and it's trying all its might to fight against whatever the Russians are forcing into it. Even so, it looks like it's trying to piece itself back together, string of micas dangling between the edges and attempting to stop the bright white beam from entering into the red, glowing abyss.

Maybe it's her mind playing tricks on her, or maybe it's the fact that the flashing lights of the laser are irritating her eyes, but Laurie could swear that the gash looks like it's moving, breathing.

The crack in the wall looks like it's alive.

"Oh, my god," Laurie utters, her voice shaky and she's left unheard because of how loud the laser beside them is. Her lip trembles and her eyes turn glassy because this can't be real. This can't be happening.

"GUARDS!" Screams the Sinclair girl from behind, and the group of teens snap their heads around to see the Russians are hot on their trail. In a beat, Steve is looking for an escape route, head whipping around frantically before his eyes land on a stairwell just below them.

"Come on, this way!" He yells, and before Laurie can even begin to question where this alley would lead them, the boy is already pulling her down with him. Suddenly, there's a group of Russians coming out from another tunnel Laurie didn't know existed. Steve curses as he lets go of Laurie's hand before diving towards a stack of barrels, knocking them over to block the entryway.

"Come on! Go, go!"

Laurie only stopped for a split second to make sure Steve didn't get left behind, and as she goes to catch up with Robin, Erica, and Dustin, she suddenly feels herself getting pulled backwards by a pair of large, rough hands.

The girl shouts, barely finding the strength to twist her body out of the unknown grasp. The Russian is quick, however, and their hands find purchase on her bag, fingers digging tightly into the fabric and stopping her from running back to the group.

"Get off of me!" Laurie barks, trying all her might at tugging her bag out of the grip of the guard. Steve's head shoots over to her direction almost immediately and he starts shouting profanities as he makes his way over, voice suddenly louder than before as the guard refuses to let go of Laurie.

Unexpectedly, Laurie rips her satchel's strap off of her body with haste, catching the Russian off guard and causing him to stumble back a few steps. Steve calls out to Laurie for her to get back with the rest of the group, but she doesn't listen.

With her new found bravery in combination with the adrenaline rushing through her veins, Laurie finds herself swinging her leg as the soldier straightens himself upward. Before she knows it, her foot hits the man smack-bang in the crotch and hurtles him onto the ground with a loud grunt. She gasps, eyes frantically looking at the sight below her because in what world has she been capable of something like that?

"Holy shit!" Steve's voice causes Laurie to jump, but she quickly relaxes when he grabs her arm and his eyes flicker with something that causes heat to rise in her chest. The boy is breathless when his hands move to grab at the sides of her face, and Laurie is quick to wrap her fingers around his wrists as if she's done it a million times before. His shocked expression quickly falls and his eyes scan her face, worried. "You okay?"

"Guys, come on!" Robin's raspy voice catches the pair's attention before Laurie can even think of a reply - because, in all honesty, she doesn't know what being okay means anymore - and they whip their heads around to see the freckled girl is pointing towards a door they hadn't noticed. "In there!"

In the mere seconds Steve cradled Laurie's face she somehow forgot about the herd of Russians sprinting towards them. Even now, after everything, he still has her absolutely smitten. The two of them make a break for the door, narrowly slipping into the unforeseen room before Steve slams it shut, pressing his back against it.

Erica and Dustin are across the room, struggling at trying to pry something from the ground open and Robin stands between the scattered duos like a headless chicken, hands gripping at her knotted mess of hair, completely unsure of what to do.

Laurie's head is reeling, and although Steve never says it out loud, there is no way he can prevent the Russians who are pounding on the door from breaking in long enough for the kids to finish what they started. So, Laurie does the only logical thing she can think of, slamming her shoulder into the door and applying as much of her weight as she can against it.

"Shit!" Dustin's swear is barely heard over the Russians loud shouts from behind the door. His eyes dart from Erica, who's visibly struggling to pull up the latch, and to the group of teens and his eyes flash with panic. "Someone help us!"

"Robin-" Laurie's words are cut off when she lets out a loud gasp as the door thumps against her ribcage harshly. Steve snaps his head to look over at her, eyes widening with alarm, but she doesn't have the time to meet his gaze. She huffs, "Robin, go!"

Laurie's best friend nods and swiftly rushes over to the pair of kids, eyes darting between them before she grasps onto the grate that's situated between them. She manages to pull it up a few inches before shouting, "Jesus Christ, why are you so weak?"

"I DON'T KNOW!" Dustin sobs, voice going higher than Laurie's ever heard before as he shoves the brim of his cap upward in a panic.

Robin let's out a groan as she tugs the grate upward, quickly followed by a faint gasp as she finally manages to find the time to swap the positions of her hands. Unhooking them, she quickly braces the heavy metal with her palms. Robin huffs, letting it go and just before it can fall back down, she swivels and shoves her red Converses under it before kicking it away with her heels.

"All right, come on, let's go!" After the grate thuds loudly when it hits the ground, Robin slips into the vent and wipes sweat from her brow, chest heaving. She offers her hand out and Erica is quick to take it and plops herself into the tunnel, disappearing from Laurie's sight as she ducts further into the ground.

Dustin is next, hesitating for a moment when sparing a teary eyed glance at Steve, eyes wide and soft like he wants to say something but he's biting his tongue. Before he can say anything though, Robin shoves the boy down by his shoulders and into the hole. They don't have time for this, Laurie reminds herself, because otherwise she'd scold Robin for being so rough.

Robin snaps her head towards the pair pressed against the door before shouting, "Laurie, Steve! Come on!"

"No- Robin just go!" Laurie rapidly shakes her head and she twists her body so her back is against the door, feet slipping as she tries to put more of her weight against it and the Russians continue to cause it to thump against her spine. If either her or Steve move from their positions, there is no possible way the both of them can escape. "Get the kids out of here!"

"What?" Robin shouts at her best friend, eyes wide with surprise at the suggestion of leaving both her and Steve behind. "Are you crazy?!"

Steve's knuckles have turned white from how tight his grip on the door handle is and his hair has fallen across his forehead. He motions his head away from the door and shouts, "Just get out of here, Buckley!"

"Don't be a hero, Dingus, come on!" Argues Robin, voice getting higher so her pleads can be heard over the increased shouting from outside the room. "I'm not leaving without-"

"No! Just go get some help, okay?" Steve demands his coworker, and the girl remains still when her brows knit together. The boy's mouth drops open at her hesitation. "What are you doing?!"

"We'll be fine, Robin! Just go!" Laurie cries out. "Please!"

Robin moves her gaze down into the vent and back at her two friends who are becoming weaker by the second. She frowns, and Laurie's eyes silently beg for her to stop putting up a fight and just get to safety. Robin let's out a weak and defeated breath, eyes turning glassy before saying, "If I don't see you again-"

Laurie doesn't often see her best friend cry, but this is a close call. She can't afford to get emotional right now because when Robin gets upset she does too, and Laurie doesn't want to jeopardise everyone's safety because she can't hold back a few tears. So, Laurie swallows her negative thoughts and glares at her friend because this can't be the last time she sees her, it just can't be.

"GO!" Steve and Laurie shout in unison one last time and Robin finally complies, hooking her hand between the gaps of the metal grate and pulling it with her as she descends into the vent.

It's only then that Steve and Laurie silently agree to stop fighting and the Russians finally overpower them, bursting open the door and causing them to come crashing into the ground and Laurie hisses when her back collides with the concrete wall behind her.

She isn't given the time to acknowledge the dull ache echoing through her body though, because a swarm of guards quickly circle around her and Steve and they point their guns in their direction.

Everything seems to blur together after that. She remembers the feeling of her skin bruising from the way the soldiers tugged her and Steve out of the room they barricaded themselves in and the taste of her tears when the Russians knocked him unconscious after he berated them for touching her.

She remembers the way her limbs went limp after they forced her and Steve apart and how her throat felt hoarse because of how loudly she cried for help, for them to leave Steve alone, for them to just let them go.

She remembers how the leather straps around her joints made her skin burn because of the way she tried to fight the restraints and the stinging sensation on her cheeks from the first of many slaps she received because she wouldn't give the Russians the information they wanted.

And for the first time in a long time Laurie prays. She prays because she's almost certain that she's going to die down here. She prays to whoever is listening that Robin, Erica and Dustin are safe and sound and as far away from Starcourt as they can be. She prays to whoever is listening that her family will be okay with her absence. She prays to whoever is listening that the Hawkins Police Department find out about the Russians and make sure nobody has to go through this ever again.

She prays to whoever is listening that Steve is okay and that she'll be able to see him again, and that maybe, just maybe, she'll finally be able to tell him how she feels before it's too late.

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authors note!

me? updating? who would've thought!

i'm so so so sorry for posting this later than expected, i'm currently dealing w some personal stuff so it's been hard to find the time and energy to write. (in saying that, i'm trying to work on getting a more consistent schedule for you guys, i swear)

thank you for your patience and endless support :)

WHEN HE SEES ME © austrxlians, 2022.