the flayed

♛

It had been an hour and a half since Scarlett's strange near-death experience and their fall, and to say the group was confused would be an understatement. Scarlett sat against the wall beside Ben, in the room they had remained trapped in for the past hours. "It doesn't make sense. Was it the fall?" Ben was trying to figure out the reason she'd choked. There really was no logical explanation.

Then again, nothings logical in Hawkins.

"I don't think it's supposed to make sense. I mean, we're sitting in a room that literally plummeted thirty million feet into the ground!" Robin voiced, a sudden thought coming into her head. "What if the Russians have something to do with this?"

Dustin pointed at her, her statement sparking something in him as he turned to where Scarlett sat. "What if.. the Russians have some sort of connection to the Upside Down, and maybe you're like, linked in? I mean, in D&D, once you enter the shadow realm you never escape." He whispered to her.

"Wow, Dustin. Thank you so much for that. That makes me feel better." She groaned, sarcasm laced in her voice. "Can we just.. get out of here? Then we can figure out whatever just happened." She stands up, Ben's hands immediately shooting out to stabilize her just in case.

"Is everyone okay?" Robin chirped, now noticing everyone had now caught their breath, and the room was no longer moving.

"Yeah, I'm great, now that I know Russians can't design elevators!" Steve yelled and he stomped over to the door, swinging open the metal cover that concealed the gadgets.

"Just press the damn button." Erica demanded of Steve and Dustin, who stood continuously pressing the open door button.

"Why don't you press it one more time?" Scarlett teased sarcastically, placing a hand on her hip as Steve shot her a glare.

"I think we've clearly established that those buttons don't work." Robin stopped the boy from breaking anything.

"They're buttons. They have to do something." Steve stressed, running a hand through his hair as he pressed the button once again, expecting something to occur, but nothing did.

"Yeah, if we had a keycard!"

"A what?" Steve had no clue what Robin had just said, he just wanted to get out of the tiny, dense room he felt like they were going to die in.

"It's an electronic lock," Robin explained, approaching him. "Same as the loading dock door. If we don't have a keycard it won't operate, meaning-"

"We're stuck in here." Scarlett groaned, slumping back down on the wall next to Ben. "Why does everything bad happen to us?" She complained, throwing her hands up in the air.

Erica's sass had now fully returned, "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 we're not home for Uncle Jack's party tomorrow, and my mom finds out you five are responsible, especially you Scarlett,  she's gonna hunt you down one by one and slit your throat."

"Shit." Scarlett put her head in her hands, moving to rub her temples. "I'm really not trying to get disowned.. again." Scarlett whispered to Ben, who pat her shoulder comfortingly.

Steve suddenly snapped, "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!" He yelled towards Erica, the smart-ass look on her face morphing into one of surprise.

"Hey," Dustin had caught all of their attention, their heads snapped in his direction to see him pointing up at the hatch in the ceiling, where Erica had dropped out. "What if we climbed out?"

"Uh, I don't think-" Scarlett began, Ben immediately cutting her off.

He pat her knee, standing up and approaching Steve and Dustin. "We'll test the waters, check the climb, you know. Just- we'll be right back." And with that, the three boys left the elevator, climbing out through the hatch.

Scarlett joined Robin and Erica by the shipping crate, taking a seat on it. "I was gonna say, it's probably not possible considering how long the fall was." She laughed, Robin cracking a smile.

"Oh, we most definitely fell more than what's climbable." Robin agreed with a nod, "We can let them dream though."

Ben's head poked through the hatch, "Okay so, climbing is not an option." He hopped down with Steve right behind him. "Dustin's gonna try to get in contact with anyone in Starcourt."

"If we can't climb out, what makes you think we'll get a signal from down here?" Scarlett questioned, "We're definitely not in range.. at all."

"Tell him to bring it in for the night. Mall's closed there's no point." Robin groaned, running out the hope of them ever escaping the elevator.

The six scoop troop members settled in for the night, Erica immediately falling asleep next to Ben, him falling into slumber next. Robin and Dustin wiped out, and then the room went silent. Scarlett sat against the back wall deep in thought, silently fumbling with her hair.

Steve admired her from afar, he noticed every little thing in that moment. The way she played with her hair when she was anxious, her slightly furrowed brows as she sat deep in thought, her tired eyes. He slid next to her, snapping her out of her thoughts. "Hey." He smiled softly, settling next to her.

"Hey." She returned the smile, appreciative of the boy. Her mind was whirring, running a million miles per hour, and he knew that.

"What's going on in that pretty little head of yours?"  Steve bumped her shoulder, desperate for her to open up, and tell him what she was thinking.

She looked up at him, a wave of warmth hitting her. "It's probably stupid, I might just be overreacting-"

"No, no." Steve interrupted her. "I can promise you whatever you're stressing about is not stupid." He affirmed, causing her cheeks to tint red.

She hesitated a moment before speaking again. "I'm really trying to get it out of my head because it's literally just a game, but what Dustin said just stuck to me. I mean, the Shadow Realm and the Upside Down are the same things, that's how we discovered it, through D&D. And I- I was in the Upside Down. I got attacked by a Demogorgon.. but everything was fine after. Or I thought it was fine. I mean, when Will escaped he still had something attached to him."

Steve listened intently, "So what are you getting at?"

"I never really escaped the Upside Down. And I don't think I'm gonna be able to." She concluded, Steve's flash of horror caused her stomach to churn, but he was quick to hide it with a look of sympathy even though it was too late, she'd turned away.

"Hey, listen." He took her face in his hands. "I'm not gonna let anything happen to you. Whatever happens, I'll be right by your side. We'll figure this out together, okay? I promise you'll be okay." He wiped away a lone tear that slid down her cheek.

Scarlett placed her hands over his, "Don't make empty promises, Harrington."

"I would never, Sinclair." The two fell into a comfortable silence as he pulled her into a warm embrace, kissing the top of her head gently.

♛

"Oh, you've gotta be kidding me." Benjamin threw a pebble he found at the ceiling after hearing Dustin's voice echo on for far too long. Everyone had only just woken up, very unpleasantly when they realized they were still stuck in an elevator and it was not a dream. "Can someone tell that kid to shut up?"

Steve sighed, standing up from beside Scarlett to go attend to the kid up above. "Hey!" He popped through the hole in the ceiling. "You gotta take it easy on that thing, okay? You're gonna drain the battery."

"The mall just opened." Dustin answered flatly, not quite understanding his efforts.

"So?" Steve was about to lose it on the kid, it was early in the morning and he highly doubted any logical people would be at the mall.

"So someone could be in range!"

"What do you think, Petey the Mall Cop is gonna rappel down here and save the day?" Steve snapped, pulling himself up to stand in front of Dustin.

"Alright, why are you such a cranky pants after getting to spend the night with Scarlett?" Dustin whispered, Steve immediately shushing him. "I heard you guys talking all night."

"Yeah, I was comforting her after her near death experience, douchbag." Steve rolled his eyes. "And, we were trying to figure out a way to open the door while you children were sleeping. After eight hours, we're still exactly no where, which is, you know, probably just a little bit of the reason why I'm feeling just.. a tad cranky."

The sound of a zipper caused Dustin to look towards the corner Steve stood in. "What are you doing?" He asked, alarmed.

"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm taking a leak, look away." Steve waved him off, and while everything was perfectly fine from where they stood, below, Scarlett and Robin grimaced at the sight of a drip down the wall.

"Gross." Scarlett shook her head, disgust plastered on her face.

"Can you redirect your stream, please?" Robin called out, and soon after, it moved. Not far though. "Ew."

"A guys gotta do what he's gotta do." Ben shrugged as he dug through a box, earning a glare from Scarlett who had joined him.

"You're so unbelievably nasty." She smacked his shoulder, a small laugh erupting in his chest. A clanging sound from behind them caught their attention, Scarlett's eyes widening when she saw Erica hitting the capsule against a metal barrel. She lunged for it, grabbing it out of her hands. "Hey! What do you think you're doing? That could be dangerous."

"Yeah, we don't even know what that is." Robin backed her up, Erica glaring between the two of them.

"Exactly. It could be useful." Erica claimed, trying to justify her actions.

Ben scoffed, proceeding to dig through the box next to Erica. "Said just you. What if it explodes and you kill all of us?"

"What if I shove it up your-" Erica was quickly cut off by Scarlett who shot her a glare which read death. Erica cleared her throat, "We can survive a long time without food, but if the human body doesn't get water, it will die."

"I hate to break it to you, but this," Robin held the capsule in her left hand. "Is not water."

"No, but it's a liquid, and if it comes down to me drinking that shit or dying of thirst, I drink." Erica shot her a sarcastic smile, her voice dripping with sass.

"Erica," Scarlett sighed, "That looks like straight chemicals that'll burn a hole through your body. Me personally, I wouldn't drink that."

"It's either that or jelly." Ben stated with full confidence, Scarlett staring at him as if he had twelve heads. "What? What if it is jelly?"

Robins head shot in the direction of the door before rushing up to it to press her ear to the metal. She shushed the confused group as her eyebrows furrowed during the intent listening. "Do you hear that?" She asked Scarlett who had joined her by the door.

Pressing her ear against the cold metal barrier, she heard the faint whir of an engine, or wheels. She as well, mirrored Robin's expression as she listened. "There's people."

And with that, Robin took off, jumping through the hole at the top of the elevator, "We've got
company." She informed the two boys, who had been bickering for the past twenty minutes.

"We've gotta hide." Scarlett told her best friend as he nodded in agreement and scanned the room before pointing above them.

"Let's just hope they're not going up." Ben commented, boosting Erica up through the ceiling then helping Scarlett. He turned to the door, the whirring sound growing closer and closer, and very quickly boosted himself through as well, placing the cover back in its rightful spot.

Just a moment later, the door opened to reveal two men. One was immediately rushing to move the boxes out of the elevator, while the other simply stood with a scowl, sniffing the air. They conversed in Russian, which most likely meant they were.

Steve observed their actions through the grate before looking up at each of them with a finger to his lips. As the last box was packed and the men had left, Steve leapt down from the ceiling, sliding the capsule between the closing door before it had a chance to close. At that point, they had to move quick. Each person slid through the door as their doorstop began to slowly crack. Steve was the last to go, the capsule shattering behind him while the green slime sizzled, burning into the ground. Scarlett grimaced, the thought of Erica about to drink it etched in her mind.

The six gathered around the sizzling, "Still wanna drink that?" Robin said to Erica, who shook her head profusely.

"That is definitely not jelly." Ben shook his head, a sigh escaping his lips. Dustin cursing caught all of their attentions, everyone turning in the direction he was looking in to reveal a tunnel which seemed to have no end.

"Well," Steve sighed. "Hope you guys are in good shape. Lookin' at you, roast beef." He pat Dustin's chest before walking into the tunnel, everyone following suit.

Scarlett sighed, the long trek ahead of them not looking too appealing to her. Ben noticed her straggling behind, slowing to her pace to stick by her side. "This is so insane." Scarlett shook her head slowly in disbelief.

"Only in Hawkins would we get trapped in a secret Russian base after falling eighty thousand feet." Ben joked, earning both a shove and a laugh from Scarlett. "Batman and Robin back in business, baby."

"Batman and Robin defeat the evil russians after getting trapped in their base." Scarlett panned out her hands in front of them as if she was presenting something. "That's a good one."

"I mean, you have to admit, as a feat of engineering alone, this is impressive." Dustin comments on the topic of the Russian base.

"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 argues, earning looks from everyone around him.

"Fires don't exist in Russia." Scarlett says sarcastically, crossing her arms over her chest as she walks.

"They're commies." Erica told Steve with a look of disgust. "You don't pay people, they cut corners."

"To be fair for our Russian comrades, I don't think this tunnel was designed for walking." Robin reasoned, Scarlett nodding in agreement with her. "Think about it, they developed the perfect system for transporting that cargo."

"It all comes into the mall like any old delivery." Dustin backs her up, the theory made quite a lot of sense.

"And then they load it up onto one of those red trucks, and they're off." Ben finishes with a small smile.

"You think they built this whole mall just so they could transport that green poison?" Steve said plainly.

"I very seriously doubt it's something as boring as poison. It's gotta be something much more valuable, like promethium or something." Dustin suggested, trying to think up all the possibilities.

"What the hell is promethium?" Steve asked, his scowl growing only larger.

"It's what Victor Stone's dad used to make Cyborg's bionic and cybernetic components." Scarlett answered his question, having read that comic from Lucas' collection.

"I love that one." Robin grinned at the other girl, Scarlett mirroring her smile.

"You're all so nerdy, it makes me physically ill." Erica held her stomach, Scarlett glaring at her. Scarlett knew she's been obsessed with My Little Pony ever since it came out, and knew every little thing about it.

"No, no, no. No, don't lump me in with them. I'm not a nerd, alright?" Steve sounded quite offended, causing Scarlett to let out a laugh.

"She touched a nerve, didn't she Harrington?" Scarlett poked his shoulder, a pout on his face.

"Afraid of losing cool points to a ten year old child?" Robin added, backing Scarlett up.

"No, I'm just saying I don't know jack shit about Prometheus." Steve retorted.

"Promethium." Dustin quickly corrected him. "Prometheus is a Greek mythological figure, but whatever. All I'm saying is, it's probably being used to make something."

"Or power something." Robin suggested.

"Like a nuclear weapon?"

"Totally."

Steve immediately thought about turning around, then realized there really was no where else to go but forward. "Walking towards a nuclear weapon. That's great. That'd be great." He noted with sarcasm dripping of his voice.

"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, but maybe that's it. Maybe it's our-" Robin rambled on as her and Erica pushed forward. The four who had experienced what Hawkins was capable of stopped in their tracks, horror on their faces.

"You think the Russians know?" Dustin said once they were out of earshot.

"About the-"

"They could."

"They definitely do. Why else would they have an underground base in Indiana?" Scarlett had a list of reasons they would be here, and it all had to do with the cursed Upside Down, which haunted them ever since it surfaced.

"It's connected." Steve glanced at the girl, his eyes softening when he noticed the terrified expression on her face.

"Exactly." Ben nodded, a gasp emerging as he came to a realization. "Do you think they're opening.."

"I'm sorry, is there something you four would like to share with the class?" Robin called to them, curious to see what they were keeping from her. They shared panicked expressions, but were bailed out when a voice over the walkie began reciting something in russian. Everyone rushed to the voice, Robin beginning to translate it in the language. "It's the code."

"Wherever that broadcast is coming from-" Dustin began.

"It's close." Robin finished his thoughts. "And if there's one thing we know about that signal.."

"It can reach the surface." Scarlett's eyes glowed as she came to that realization, a smirk growing on her face. "We're almost there. Let's go."

♛

wanted to get this out :))