Chapter Twenty-Four:
A Bad Note
.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

"A code red! I repeat, code red. This is a code red! Does anyone copy? Code red." Dustin's voice echoed in the elevator shaft as Ramona trained her eyes on the panda print on the box in front of her. She felt like if she heard the words code red one more time she would lose her mind.

"I repeat, a code red! Does anyone copy. We are innocent children and we trapped under Starcourt Mall! The Red Army has infiltrated Hawkins! And if we are found, they will torture us and kill us."

"Hey!" Steve scolded, poking his head through the hatch. "You gotta take it easy on that thing or you'll drain the battery."

"The mall just opened!"

"So?"

"So, someone could be in range."

"If they start arguing again, I'm gonna lose my mind." Ramona grumbled, causing Robin to nod in agreement.

"It doesn't matter!" Ramona hissed, "It doesn't matter if I like him or not, because he's Nancy's ex-"

"Yeah, well, Nancy's datin' Jonathan." Erica piped up, "So she already broke girl code."

Ramona jumped, turning to look at the younger girl. "I thought you were asleep!"

"Yeah, well, I'm not. Because those nerds are being way too loud." Erica scoffed, pointing towards the ceiling before directing her attention to them. "So can you just admit that you like him-"

"Sh!" Ramona shushed harshly, waving her hands in front of her wildly. "¡Tranquilo! Él te pudo escuchar."

"Mhm.." Erica hummed, looking her up and down. "Interesting."

Ramona scoffed, rolling her eyes and crossing her arms as Steve and Dustin bickered above them. 

"Why does it matter that he's her ex, anyway?" Robin asked, "And don't give me the 'it's girl code' answer."

"Me and Jonathan ended on a good note." Ramona muttered. "Nancy and Steve didn't.. He was a mess that night."

"So?" Erica asked as she opened one of the boxes. 

"So, they ended on a bad note-"

"Look away!" Steve's voice echoed through the shaft, clearly aggravated. Ramona turned her head to the wall, her jaw falling open when she saw liquid begin to drip down the wall.

"Steve!" Ramona shouted, scrunched up her nose, "Eso es jodidamente asqueroso!"

"Can you redirect your stream, please?" Robin asked as she continued to fidget with the control pannel.

"Jodidamente desagradable." Ramona muttered under her breath as she looked away from the now stained wall. 

The sound of glass banging on metal brought Ramona's attention away from her feet and back onto Erica. "Eres estúpida!"

Erica shot her a look as Robin rushed forward and took the tube from Erica's hands. "Hey, hey, hey! Be careful, careful. Careful! We don't know what that is."

"Exactly! It could be useful!" Erica said, reaching forward and trying to pull the object from Robin's hands.

"Useful how?" 

"We could survive down here for a long time without food, but if the human body doesn't get water, it will die." Erica said, her tone changing as she taunted Robin.

"I hate to break it to you, but this 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 said, pulling it from Robin's hands as she rushed over and pressed her ear to the wall.

"¿Qué estás haciendo?"

"Why are you speaking so much Spanish?" Erica asked, "None of us can understand you-"

"She's freaking out." Robin said, "Now shush! I'm trying to listen."

Ramona sighed, watching as Robin pushed away from the wall and rushed over and climbed onto the table. "We've got company!"

~~

Ramona covered her mouth with her hand as she looked down at Steve as his body hit the ground. A grunt left his lips as he slid the green liquid-filled tube under the door before it could close.

Ramona's feet hit the ground as she watched him slide Erica's backpack under the door. "Go! Go, go, go, go, go, go!"

"I'm going!" Erica hissed.

"Ramona!" Steve pointed at her, rapidly moving his hands as he gestured for her to go under. 

"Calm down!" Ramona rolled her eyes, dropping down onto her stomach as she slid her self under the door. Her heart dropped when the vile started cracking as Dustin appeared and quickly stood up beside her. "Steve.."

She clutched the crossed necklace, holding her breath as she watched Robin appear from under. "Steve. Let's go."

"Come on, Steve, let's go!" Robin whispered harshly.

A sigh of relief left Ramona's lips as she frantically pulled him up, brushing him off and double-checking that he was okay. "You good, Harrington?"

He nodded, his eyes focused on the green liquid as it burned a hole in the metal floor. Ramona's hands dropped from his shoulders as she cleared her throat awkwardly, a gasp leaving her lips at the sight of the burned floor. "Mierda."

"Jesus Christ!" Steve exclaimed, shaking his head in disbelief.

"Oh.." Erica grimaced, shaking her head with wide eyes.

"You still wanna drink that?" Robin asked sarcastically, shooting Erica a look,

Erica rolled her eyes as Dustin turned around, minor panic flooding his body at the sight of the seemingly unending hallway. "Holy mother of God!"

"What.." Ramona's voice trailed off as her eyes landed on the hallway. "Oh shit.. We're fucked."

"Well.. Hope you guys are in shape." Steve said, patting Dustin on the stomach, "I'm looking at you, roast beef."

Ramona blinked, watching as Steve stepped past her and started walking down the hall. "Let's go."

Ramone pursed her lips, nodding to herself as she walked towards him, "Vamonos, gente."

~~

"I mean, you have to admit, as a feat of engineering on its own, this is impressive." Dustin said as Ramona and Steve shared a look.

"What are you talking about?" Steve argued, "It's a total fire hazard! There's no stairs, there's no exit, there's just an elevator that drops you halfway to help."

"I've been in hell since day one, Harrington." Ramona muttered, shaking her head.

"Well, I hope I make it a bit better." Steve tried to joke as he nudged her with his elbow.

"You do." Ramona winked, snickering at the sight of his red face. "But you're right, if I don't die of thirst, I'll die by fire. Shitty building, these Russians have."

"They're Commies! You don't pay people, they cut corners." Erica shook her head, scrunching up her nose at Steve and Ramona's flirting.

"To be fair to our Russian Comrades," Robin started, "I don't think this tunnel was designed for walking. I mean, think about it! They developed the perfect system for transporting that cargo."

"Perfect?" Ramona laughed, "It was cracked by a couple of high schoolers and a ten-year-old."

"Fair, but the didn't expect us." Dustin pointed out, "It all comes into the mall like any other delivery-"

"And then they load it up onto those trucks and nobody's the wiser." Robin continued Erica's sentence.

"You think they built this whole mall just so they could transfer that green poison?" Steve asked, taking a quick glance over at Ramona as she held her arms close around her.

"I very seriously doubt it's as something as boring as poison." Dustin countered, "It's gotta be something much more valuable, like promethium or something."

"What the hell is promethium?" Steve asked, pointing at Ramona. "Do you know?"

Ramona nodded, "Yeah. Duh."

"Ri-Right, duh." Steve nodded, "I do too, duh. But, uh, remind me again.. what the hell that is."

"It's what Victor Stone's dad used to make Cyborb's bionic and cybernetic components." Robin answered as Steve blinked slowly.

"You're all so nerdy it makes me physically ill!" Erica fake gagged as she rested her hands on her stomach.

"No, no, no. No, don't lump me in with them." Steve said quickly as Ramona rolled her eyes and looked away from him. "I'm not a nerd, all right?"

"Cool it, Harrington." Ramona muttered, "You're not in high school anymore, you can drop the cool guy act."

Steve pursed his lips as he looked down at his feet, "I'm not a nerd."

"Why so sensitive, Harrington?" Robin teased. "Afraid of losing cool points to a ten-year-old child?"

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

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

"Or cover something up." Ramona suggested with a nod, "Like our dead bodies after Steve breaks his promise."

"I won't!" Steve insisted.

"Or power something." Rogin suggested. 

"Like a nuclear weapon?" 

"Totally." 

"Great!" Steve said sarcastically. "Walking towards a nuclear weapon. That's great, that'd be great."

"But if they're building something, why here? I mean, seriously, Hawkins. Of all places. At the very best, we're a toilet stop on the way to Disneyland. But maybe that's it. Maybe it's our very.." Robin's voice became muffled as she stopped in her tracks.

"Shit." She cursed, shaking her head. "Shit."

"You think the Russians know.."

"About the-"

"They could!" 

"So it's connected?" Steve whispered.

"Maybe."

"How?"

"I don't know, but.. it's possible." 

Ramona nodded in confirmation as she raised her hand and rested it on Steve's shoulder. "Good job, Harrington. We're gonna die by monster, bomb, or hunger. Cool."

"I won't let you die!" Steve hissed quietly, as he looked down at her.

"Whatev-"

"I'm sorry, is there something you three would like to share with the class?" Robin cut Ramona's sentence off short as she spun around on her heel to look at them.

Steve and Ramona shared a look as he opened his mouth to speak. Before he could get a word in, a Russian man's voice cut him off.

"Walkie." Steve said, rushing forward and dropping to his knees. Ramona huffed as she slowly walked forward and crouched beside them. Her heart skipped a beat as her thigh brushed against his as she crouched.

Ramona blinked as Robin spoke Russian in unison with the man. "It's the code."

"Wherever that broadcast is coming from-" Dustin began, cutting himself off as he shook his head.

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

"It can reach the surface!" Dustin realized.

Robin smirked as she looked up at the ceiling, "Let's go."

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

{ A/n: ohohohohohohoho }

{ Translations: that's fucking gross, quiet he could hear you, fucking nasty, you are stupid, what are you doing, shit, let's go people }

{ Edited: No }