Chapter Five
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Adventures In a Russian Elevator

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            Once night had fallen, Robin, Steve, Olivia, and Dustin ducked on the roof of the mall again so they could notify Erica when the coast was clear. Just yesterday morning, Olivia was anxiously awaiting Dustin's arrival home from camp, and now she was helping Dustin figuring out what these "evil Russians" were up to. The weirdest part was that Olivia wasn't even that surprised. This was Hawkins. Everything that has gone down the last two years was nothing but normal. "Erica, do you copy?" Olivia spoke through the walkie. 

            "Mmhmm, I copy," Erica hummed. "You nerds in position or what?"

            Olivia sighed in relief, glad to know that she was okay. If something happened to her, she would've felt like it was all her fault. "Yeah, we're in position," Olivia answered. "It's all quiet here, so you've got the green light."

            "Green light, roger that," Erica repeated. "Commence operation child endangerment," She sneered.

            "Can we maybe not call it that?" Olivia pleaded, as Steve nodded in agreement beside her.

            "See you on the other side, nerds," Erica retorted.

            Steve and Olivia shared a worried look as they waited for Erica. Olivia was in between Steve and Dustin. She clung on to Steve's side, anxiously waiting for Erica. She knew she didn't need to worry about Erica, she made it very clear that she wasn't afraid of anything and that she could handle it herself, but still. Olivia was a lot like Joyce in that way, she constantly worried about the safety of others. After a few minutes (though it felt more like hours), Erica spoke up through the walkie again.

            "Alright nerds, I'm there."

            Olivia relaxed a bit after hearing that she made it safely. "Do you see anything?" She queried, her voice still quivering. Steve held on to her hand to help ease her worries.

            "Yeah, I see those boring boxes you're so excited about," Erica remarked.

            "Any guards?" Robin piped up.

            "Negative," Erica answered.

            Robin quirked her eyebrows. "Booby traps?" She questioned with amusement.

            "If I could see them, they'd be pretty shit traps, wouldn't they?" Erica snickered.

            "Thank you for that," Robin retorted.

            Olivia chewed the ends of her chestnut colored hair out of worry as she heard a clang through the walkie. "Erica? Are you alright?"

            "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm in," Erica informed.

            "Oh, god," Steve mumbled worriedly. Olivia patted his shoulder.

            On the other side, the elevator doors opened, which revealed Erica, who stood there with a smug smile. Olivia let out another sigh of relief to see that she was okay. Everyone looked impressed at the small girl. She was extremely brave for opening the elevator for them. Olivia thought she was more brave than Olivia ever was and yet Erica was only 10 years old.

            "She did it, she actually did it," Olivia said with pure amazement.

            Walking confidently out of the elevator doors, Erica pointed at them. "Free ice cream for life," She reminded them.

            "You deserve it girl!" Olivia called out to her.

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            Walking into the grungy elevator, there were stacks and stacks of Imperial Panda and Kaufman Shoes on the shelves. Olivia shuddered with fear as she entered, the elevator was giving her the heebie-jeebies. An inkling feeling came over her that they should leave right away, but after all the trouble they went through getting there, she wanted to know what these mysterious evil Russians were up to.

            Steve cut open one of the Imperial Panda boxes with a knife and everyone leaned over to see what was inside, curiosity getting the best of them. Inside the cardboard box was a metal safe keeping box with a twisted lock on top. When Steve twisted open the metal lid, steam started to rise and there were four more twisted locks to open.

            "That's definitely not Chinese food," Olivia mumbled. She was suddenly hungry as her stomach started rumbling.

            "Uh, maybe you guys should, you know, stand back," Steve motioned.

            Robin and Erica shuffled back, while Olivia and Dustin stayed by Steve's side.

            "No," Olivia insisted.

            "Guys, you need to stand back," Steve repeated more firmly.

            "No, Steve!" Olivia insisted. "Remember what I said last year? We're in this together. I'm not leaving your side."

            "No, I need you to stand back, okay? Seriously," Steve ordered again. Olivia was the most important person in his life, and he knew he would be lost without her. Whatever was in this metal box was most likely dangerous, and he didn't want Olivia anywhere near it.

            "No, I'm staying by your side and that's that," Olivia repeated. She didn't care what was inside the box, she just wanted to by his side.

            "Alright, fine," Steve sighed in defeat, knowing there was no way he could change her mind.

           "Dusty, maybe you should step back-"

            "No, Olivia!" Dustin interrupted. "You're not just my sister, you're my best friend. If you die, I die."

            "You Hendersons are so stubborn," Steve muttered. After twisting open one of the four locks, he pulled out a tube of lime green liquid with little moving particles in it. Olivia observed it curiously, wondering what it could possible be.

            "What the hell?" Steve said under his breath.

            "What is that?" Olivia murmured.

            Just as Olivia spoke, the elevator shook, startling her.

            "Was that just me or did the room move?" Dustin said slowly, staying closely by Olivia's side.

            "Booby traps," Erica whispered.

            "You know what, let's just grab that and go. I've had a feeling that we should've left since the moment we first stepped in here," Olivia said, grabbing the tube from Steve and placing it carefully in Erica's backpack.

            Dustin raced over towards the elevator buttons, pressing them frantically. "Which one do I press, Erica?" He said in a rush.

            "Just press the damn button nerd," Erica fired back.

            "Which one?" Dustin said through gritted teeth. "I'm pressing the buttons, okay?"

            Everyone started yelling over each other. Steve pushed Dustin out of the way to try the buttons himself. As they bickered over the buttons, the grate suddenly shut, causing them to stop bickering and share looks of worry. The elevator clashed again and Olivia swore her stomach dropped.

            "Shit! Shit!" Dustin shrieked with fear.

            Out of pure instinct, Olivia grabbed both Dustin and Erica and held onto them protectively. The elevator was zooming down, and there was no way to stop it. It was almost like she was on a roller coaster, only this was way worse. There was nothing to protect her, nothing to keep her stable. Her body wobbled as the elevator continued to go down.

            "We're going down! We're going down!" Steve panicked.

            "Yeah, no shit, Harrington!" Robin yelled.

            Olivia shut her eyes and took in deep breaths to try to calm down but it didn't work. After what felt like a lifetime, the elevator finally came to an abrupt stop. Olivia stumbled to the ground, and Dustin and Erica helped her stand back up.

            "Is everyone okay?" Olivia groaned weakly, while Dustin stayed by her side to help support her. Straightening out her Scoops uniform, she looked over at Steve, who got knocked down as well, only one of the Imperial Panda boxes tumbled over him. He groaned, and Olivia and Dustin rushed over to him to get the box off of him.

            "Yeah, I'm great now that I know that Russians can't design elevators!" Steve snapped a bit harshly and stood back up, going over to the buttons to try and push them again.

            "I think we've clearly established that those buttons don't work," Robin retorted.

            "They're buttons. They have to do something," Steve fired back, continuing to hit them all at once.

            "Yeah, if we had a keycard," The blonde informed.

            "A what?" Steve replied, who looked as clueless as ever.

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

            "We're stuck in here," Dustin finished.

            Erica was fuming and let out a heavy sigh of frustration. "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 home for Uncle Jack's party tomorrow, and my mom finds out you three are responsible, she's gonna hunt you down, one by one, and slit your throat," The small girl threatened, pointing to the gang accusingly, though she seemed to direct the threat more towards Steve, Robin, and Dustin and not at Olivia.

            "I don't care about Tina! Or Uncle Jack's party!" Steve shouted dramatically, slamming his hands on one of the boxes in frustration.

            "Steve-" Olivia interrupted, but Steve ignored her.

            "Your mom's not gonna be able to find us if we're dead in a russian elevator!" He yelled. Olivia was slightly taken aback by Steve's little outburst, though it was understandable. There was a chance that they weren't going to make it out of the elevator, and if they did, they'd probably already be dead. She immediately thought of her mom and everyone that she loved. Joyce, Jonathan, Nancy, the kids. What if she never got to see them again? And what if she dies before having the chance to tell Steve how she really felt? If they end up making it out of the elevator alive, Olivia promised herself that she would tell Steve she was in love with him, no matter what.

            "Steve!" Olivia repeated a little louder, catching Steve's attention. "You need to calm down," She said calmly, putting a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Freaking out isn't going to help us get out of here."

            It baffled everyone how calm Olivia seemed despite being in the dangerous situation they were in. She may have seemed calm on the outside, but on the inside, she was freaking out just as much as Steve was.

            "Hey, what if we climbed out?" Dustin spoke up, pointing to one of the tiles on the ceilings that was open.

            Everyone started stacking the boxes to create a ladder to climb up to the ceiling. Olivia went first as Steve helped her up the tower of boxes. She almost tripped over them, but Steve held on to her protectively. Pushing the ceiling tile to the side, Olivia climbed out and extended her hand out to help Steve and Dustin climb out. The three of them looked up, only to see an endless tunnel with no way out. Olivia sighed and put her hand on her forehead. It didn't seem like they were going to get out of the elevator anytime soon.

            "What were you saying about climbing?" Steve quipped, his voice echoing through the tunnel.

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            Dustin was fast asleep on Olivia's shoulder, while Erica was asleep on the other. Olivia tried to fall asleep, but it was kind of hard for her being trapped in a Russian elevator and all. Dustin was snoring softly and Olivia let out a quiet giggle. She didn't know how Dustin could be sleeping so peacefully at a time like this, but she was just glad that he was getting some rest. It reminded her of the times when they were younger when Dustin used to always fall asleep on her shoulder. She missed those times when everything was easier, when there was no danger ahead of them. Steve smiled at the sight in front of him, it was obvious how much those kids adored her.

            "You need to rest," Steve whispered, who was leaning his head against the wall.

            "I can't," Olivia shook her head. "What if we don't make it out of here, Steve? W-What if I never see my mom again?" Tears started to roll down her cheeks.

            Steve slid over to her so that he was closer to her and took her trembling hand in his. He wiped away the tears on her cheeks. "We just need to wait until tomorrow morning for one of the Russian guards to open this elevator, then we can sneak out of here," Steve said quietly, not wanting to wake up Dustin, Erica, and Robin.

            "Hopefully that will be as easy as it sounds," Olivia replied, still sniffing.

            "Hey Steve?"

            "Yeah?"

            "Have ever wondered what it would it be like if the last two years never happened? Like... Hawkins was just Hawkins and our lives were just normal," Olivia wondered, brushing her bangs out of her eyes.

            "Oh, all the time,"  Steve answered honestly. "But on the other hand, I'm kind of grateful for everything that has happened."

            Olivia tilted her head in confusion. "What do you mean? It seems like our lives have constantly been at risk."

            "Yeah, but my life has changed so much, but for the better," Steve shrugged. "Everything that has happened has led me to you."

            "Steve," Olivia blushed and put her hand over her heart. Unaware to the both of them, they were leaning in slowly. However, Dustin's snores gradually became louder, and Steve and Olivia rested their foreheads against each other and laughed quietly.

            Comfortable silence fell between the two teens. Steve desperately wanted to tell her how he felt, but now wasn't the right time. If we make it out of here alive, then I'll tell her, Steve thought to himself. He didn't know how much longer he could take with Olivia not knowing his feelings for her, especially with their lives at risk. He needed her to know that she was the best thing that has ever happened to him.

            "Liv?" Steve spoke up. "I-" He paused, noticing that she had fallen asleep. "I'm in love with you," He whispered and leaned in to kiss her forehead. He scooted back over to his spot and eventually fell asleep too with Olivia in the back of his mind.

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            Olivia, Robin, and Erica waited in the elevator as Dustin and Steve climbed back up through the ceiling. Dustin started trying to contact help through his walkie-talkie by repeatedly saying Code Red.

            "Hey, you gotta take it easy on that thing, okay? You're gonna drain the battery," Steve rolled his eyes.

            "The mall just opened," Dustin shrugged.

            "So?"

            "So, someone could be in range," Dustin clarified.

            "What, do you think Petey the mall cop is gonna rappel down here and save the day?" Steve scoffed.

            Dustin rolled his eyes at the older teen. "All right, why are you such a cranky pants after getting to spend the night with my sister?"

            "Shhh!" Steve hushed, worried that Olivia might've heard him. "Will you just give up on that creepy dream already?" 

            "I heard you guys talking all night," Dustin shrugged.

            "Yeah, 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," Steve huffed.

            "I heard you say I love you," Dustin sang, wiggling his eyebrows. "Is that also why you're cranky?"

            Steve glared at him. "Shut up," He groaned. "She didn't hear me say it, alright?"

            Dustin wrinkled his nose in his disgust when Steve started zipping down his pants. "What are you doing?"

            "What does it look I'm doing?" Steve heaved. "I'm taking a leak. Look away. Look away!"

            Meanwhile, back down in the elevator, Robin was studying the buttons while Olivia paced back and forth. She wrinkled her nose when she heard a trickling sound. She put her hands over her nose to try and avoid the smell.

           "Can you redirect your stream please?" Robin yelled to Steve. She turned to Olivia and lowered her voice so Steve wouldn't hear. "Like I said before, your in love with an idiot!" Robin laughed.

            "Oh, shut up!" Olivia giggled, blushing deeply. She couldn't stop thinking about her almost kiss with Steve last night. Little did she know, Steve couldn't stop thinking about it as well. Snapping out of her thoughts, Olivia and Robin turned their heads to Erica when she started trying to open the tube of green liquid open.

            "Hey careful, careful," Olivia said, taking it away from her. "We don't even know what that is."

            "Exactly," Erica responded. "It could be useful."

            Olivia and Robin shared a look of confusion. The liquid was most likely dangerous, what was Erica thinking?

            "Useful? How?" Robin queried.

            "We can survive down here a long time without food," Erica informed. "But if the human body doesn't get water, it will die."

            "I hat to break it to you, but this is not water," Robin retorted.

            "No, but it's a liquid. And if it comes down to me drinking that shit, or dying of thirst, I drink," Erica remarked. Olivia gasped when she heard muffled voices from the other side of the wall as Erica snatched the liquid back. She climbed up the ladder again to inform Steve and Dustin.

            "Hey, we've got company," She stated.

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            Everyone was huddled on top of the ceiling as they quietly waited for the Russians to leave. When the coast was clear, Steve grabbed the mysterious green liquid from Erica and hopped back down with everyone following behind him. Just as the elevator was about to close, Steve put the tube of liquid under the doors to stop it from closing. Everyone was able to crawl under the small space before the elevator closed and crushed the vial.

            The green liquid in the vial exploded, spilling everywhere while steam arose from it. Robin raised her eyebrows and looked to Erica. "You still wanna drink that?" Robin teased.

            Dustin muttered a curse word under his breath, catching everyone's attention. Olivia put her hands on her hips and sighed in frustration at what he was looking at. In front of them was a dark, lengthy tunnel that didn't seem to have an end to it.

            "Well... hope you guys are in good shape," Steve piped up. "Looking at you, roast beef," He added, patting Dustin's shoulder. "Let's go, come on."

            Dustin looked up at Olivia. "Why me?" He asked innocently as they started following Steve. Olivia shrugged.

            They may have finally gotten out of the elevator, but this wasn't any better.