The walking was endless, Christine feeling like her calves were going to fall off as they continued to trot down the tunnel. Dustin was talking about the architecture of the building, and the only person who was really commenting was Steve, who never really had anything to say. Christine was counting their steps, figuring they were getting a pretty decent amount of exercise in right now.

"I mean you have to admit, as a feat of engineering alone, this is impressive." Dustin said, Christine looking down at him to her right.

"What are you talking about? It's a total fire hazard. There's no stairs, there's no exit, there's just an elevator that drops you halfway to hell." Steve said, making Christine chuckle. She really had no complaints anymore, the girl just glad they were no longer trapped in that elevator.

"They're commies. You don't pay people, they cut corners." Erica deadpanned, shaking her head at Steve.

"To be fair to our Russian comrades I don't think this tunnel was designed for walking. Think about it, they developed the perfect system for transporting that cargo." Robin said, giving the Russians some credit for their almost foolproof plan,

"It all comes into the mall like any old delivery."

"And then they load it up onto those trucks and nobody's the wiser." Robin said after Dustin, the two comparing their thoughts and looking at the others.

"You think they built this whole mall just so they could transport that green poison?" Steve asked, Christine shaking her head as he said it.

"Definitely not." She said, wiping at her nose.

"I very seriously doubt it's something as boring as poison. It's gotta be much more valuable like promethium or something." Dustin said, making Steve's face scrunch up in confusion at the use of the big word.

"What the hell is promethium?"

"It's what Victor Stones dad used to make Cyborgs bionic and cybernetic components." Robin said, making Christine want to groan at the fact that there was no way Steve was going to know what that meant.

"It's a metal." She said, bumping his shoulder and giving him a nod.

"You're all so nerdy, it makes me physically ill." Erica chimed in, Steve quick to retaliate.

"No, no, no. Don't lump me in with them. I'm not a nerd alright?"

"Why so sensitive Harrington? Afraid of losing cool points to a ten year old child?" Robin asked, the girl chuckling dryly as she said it.

"Because baby can't get over the fact he's not in high school anymore." Christine said, staring down at her feet as they all walked, Steve giving her a sideways glance and trying to ignore what she had said.

"No I'm actually just saying I don't know jack shit about Prometheus."

"Promethium. Prometheus is a Greek mythological figure,but whatever. All I'm saying is, it's probably being used to make something." Dustin explained, Robin added in a comment.

"Or power something."

"Like a nuclear weapon." Dustin proposed, his eyebrows raised in wonder as he said it.

"Oh great." Christine deadpanned, her sarcasm coming out as they continued towards whatever it was.

"Waking towards a nuclear weapon. That's great. That'd be great." Steve said in a mockery of the two of them, shaking his head in defeat.

"But if they're building something , why here? I mean, Hawkins, seriously...of all places. At the very best, we're a toilet stop on your way to Disneyland." Christine, Steve and Dustin all seemed to have the same realization at the same time, the three slowing down their paces is they could all share a look.

"You think the Russians know?"

"Is this all connected?" Christine asked, looking at the other two. She was hit with the reminder of Billy and his sketchiness, something she hadn't thought about in awhile and something that brought her back to the reality that if this is was happening to them, something was probably going on with everybody else too.

"About the-"

"They could." Dustin cut Steve off, the older boy looking over at the girl with wide eyes as images of the mind flayer and the demo dogs filled their heads.

"So it's connected?"

"Fuck." Christine said, feeling a pit grow in her stomach.

"Maybe."

"How?" Steve asked, shaking his head as he tried to see how it could be connected.

"I don't know but it's-"

"Possible." They all three said together, Christine having a thought and choosing to share it.

"What if it because the government-"

"I'm sorry is there something you'd like to share with the class?" They all shared another look at Robins remark, taking in a breath before the walkie talkie started to speak. The three rushed over to them, Erica pulling the walkie from the book bag and handing it to Robin. She began to copy what the man was saying, looking up at the four of them with a determined look.

"It's the code." She said, looking between them all as she held the walkie.

"Wherever that broadcast is coming from—"

"It's close. And if there's one thing we know about that signal-"

"It could be our ticket to getting back home." Christine said, a small glimmer of hope replacing the pit in her stomach.

"Let's go."

:::

Steve peeked around the corner as cart drove by,  the boy checking ti make sure they were in the clear. Robin was behind him, Erica and Dustin between her and Christine who was at the back of them.

"Okay clear. Clear, come on, let's go." Steve said, waving them along as they snuck out from behind the wall they were hidden by. Christine looked behind her, her paranoia through the roof now that they had actually spotted people.

"Okay that was close." Robin said, walking warily behind and casting a nervous glance at the other older girl who was nodding.

"Too close." Dustin said, the boys nerves making him antsy.

"Relax. Alright relax. Nobody saw..." Steve trailed off, all of them rounding the corner and widening their eyes at the sight in front of them. This must have been the actual base, two levels, a bunch of people walking around and carts zooming by. Christine was quick to grab Steve and Erica by the sleeves, pulling them to the side and towards the red box that they could hide behind.

"Shit! Jesus." Steve said, facing the other four as they all faced him.

"Red Dawn." Dustin remarked, Christine remembering the movie and groaning slightly at how that movie ended.

"I saw it. First floor, northwest." Erica said, looking directly at Steve who gave her a questioning look back.

"Saw what?"

"The comms room." She said, her eyes wide as Christine spoke this time.

"The comms room? How the hell did you see the comms room?" Christine asked, Steve nodding back as he wondered how she had seen it in the two seconds they were standing there.

"Are you sure?" Steve asked, looking over his shoulder briefly and then back to Erica.

"Positive. The door was open for a second and I saw a bunch of lights and machines and shit in there." Erica explained, looking to Dustin who spoke next.

"That could be a hundred different things."

"I'll take those odds." Robin said, turning to Steve and looking at him. Steve looked to Christine for some kind of approval, the girl giving a curt nod as she leaned out and looked to see if anybody was coming.

"All right. We're gonna move fast, we're gonna stay low, okay?"

"Okay." Someone replied, Steve crouching down and running to another spot. They all followed, Christine making sure the kids got there before she did, supposing she'd rather get caught then have the two of them get caught. They snuck to a different spot, Steve urging them in hushed whispers to hurry and then pushing a hair behind his ear. They all set eyes on the comms room, Christine feeling adrenaline due to the sneaking around and almost certain death if they got caught.

Steve caught the door before it closed, ushering the other four in and shushing them, the boy feeling slightly victorious as they made it inside. Christine had some relief in her until she looked around the room, her eyes falling on her worst nightmare. A Russian. She tapped Steve on the arm, the boy turning around and looking at the man with wide guilty eyes. Christine pushed Erica and Dustin behind her, getting them out of harms way as the man took his headset off. He stood, reaching fir his gun as he looked between the five, Robin speak quickly.

"Tread lightly." She said in Russian, Christines eyes widening as she looked at Steve. The man spoke back in Russian, Christine shaking her head as she watched Robin speak again. The man spoke again, Christine realizing this was not going to well. He shook his head, reaching fir his gun but before he could fully pull it Steve let out a yell, running towards the Russian. He pushed him into the panel of lights, the man quickly pushing him back as they began to fight.

"Oh shit!" Christine yelled, breaking into action as Steve dodged a punch from the man. He threw Steve into the table, Christine running up with a chair from the panel and hitting him in the back with it. The man bent over in pain, his head turning to look at the culprit before Steve grabbed the phone from the desk, catching it in his hand and hitting the man in the face, knocking him out cold.

He pushed his hair back from his face, Steve's breaths heavy as Christine looked up at him with absolute awe.

"Dude! You did it! You won a fight!" Dustin said, pointing at Steve with a look of pure amazement on his face. Steve chuckled lightly, looking over at Christine and extending his arms as if to see 'look at that'. She gave him a smile, stepping over the man and patting him on the shoulder, her eyes still filled with awe as she did it.

"Did you just hit that guy with a chair?" Robin asked, walking past Christine and towards the stairs in the corner. Dustin walked towards the Russian, reaching down and grabbing the keycard from his pants as Christine and Steve both caught their breath.

"Team work." She said to Steve, slapping his back again and making him smile down at her.

"What are you doing?" Erica asked Dustin, the attention being taken away from each other and put on the boy.

"Getting us our ticket out of here."

"Good thinking Dustin." Christine said, Erica shaking her head at him and pointing toward the door.

"You want to walk all the way back?"

"Aw well we can hang out for a little bit, relax, have a picnic maybe." Dustins aid sarcastically, no one finding it all that funny considering the two choices were both equally appealing. Get out or get help.

"Have a picnic? We came here for the radio."

"Well this plan is way better. If I knew Steve could knock out a Russian, that would've been our plan in the first place." Dustin said, gesturing towards Steve who took a few steps towards them.

"Guys. There's something up there!" Robin said, coming back down the stairs and pointing up them. They all shared a look, making their way up the steps and to the top where Robin ushered them through the door. Steve, Dustin, and Christine shared a window, all of them looking wide eyed at what they could see in the other side.

"Holy shit." Dustin said, verbalizing what they all were thinking. Christine felt the absolute culmination of everything coming together, her stomach dropping into a pit as she realized what was going on. There was a room with a bunch of scientist looking people, and then past that a large machine that was shooting out a ray of light that was penetrating a terribly familiar red wall, one she had only seen in her dreams after it had been described to her countless times. Dustin and Steve looked at each other, realizing what it was as well and only saying on thing.

"The gate."