𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐭 𝐄𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭

Ⅷ 𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒗𝒂𝒕𝒐𝒓 𝒅𝒓𝒐𝒑 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒍

IF YOU HAD ASKED ANYONE ELSE, BRAKING INTO A RUSSIN BASE WOULD BE INSANE- A THROUGHT NO ONE FATHOM. But it was one of the the most normal things the red headed Henderson girl would do. "Do you need me to hold the ladder?" Chris asked as Erica clipped the helmet on with torches tapped to it.

"Obviously," Erica mumbled stepping up on the ladder. Chris nodded holding the ladder tight in her hands. Erica pulled herself into the vent, calling for Chris to climb up. Dustin swapped places with Chris and she jumped on the ladder.

"Be safe," Dustin spoke as Chris reached to top step.

"Of course," Chris nodded and pulled herself into the vent. The girl's hands and knees make echoes against the metal. "You okay?" Erica nodded carrying on through the vents.

"Just waiting for your ass," Erica snarked.

The girls made their way through the vents, Robin leading the way through the radio. "All right, nerds. Were there," Erica announced moving to the side so Chris could peek through.

"Do you... Do you see anything?" Robin asked her voice slightly muffled by the radio signal.

"Just the boxes, no guards either," Chris relayed her eyes scanning the area.

"Booby traps?" Robin teased through the radio and Chris furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.

"If I could see them, they'd be pretty shit traps, wouldn't they?" Erica snarked. Chris chuckled lightly lining her feet against the grate.

"Thank you for that," Robin said her tone matching Erica's. Chris pulled her legs back and kicked them forward knocking the grate out and tumbling onto the floor. Chris held the side of the vent and slid down the wall, kicking off the boxes. Chris held her hand up and Erica grabbed it using it as a platform for Erica's weight.

"We're in," Erica announced.

Chris walked over to the panel, opened the cover and hit the button that said 'doors'. A loud buzzer went off and both girls walked to the now open doors. "Free ice cream for life!" Erica yelled annunciating each word.

"Asses down here!" Chris yelled out nodding at the three on the roof.

The three others jog down to Erica and Chris and they started looking around the boxes. "That one there," Robin said pointing to a box with a panda. The group huddled around a table in the center of the room with three boxes like the one Robin pointed out. Steve pulled out a pocketknife from his pocket slicing through the yellow tape. He passed the knife off to Chris and pulled the box's lid open, the group peeked inside seeing a large silver box. Steve looked around at the group before taking a hold of the silver handle and twisting it to the side with a click. Steve lifted the lid and a cloud of smoke poured from the box the group stared at it in confusion seeing four handles that looked the same as the lid.

"That's definitely not Chinese food," Steve joked lightly placing the lid on the box next to it. "Maybe you guys should, you know, stand back." The three others stepped back but Chris stayed next to Steve, unmoving. "Chris, just-"

"Not happening so don't try it," Chris declared stubbornly. Steve sighed shaking his head grasping the small silver handle and twisting it like the other one. Steve lifted it up with a click pulling out a canister full of a bright green glowing substance.

"What the hell?" Steve mumbled staring at it in confusion.

"What is that?" Robin questioned quietly. The group stared at the canister in silence and shock when the whole room shook. Chris stared around the roof looking for a reason for the phenomenon but she saw nothing.

"Was that just me, or did the room move?" Dustin asked softly his own eyes fixated upwards.

"Booby traps," Erica mumbled.

"You know what? Let's just grab that and go," Robin announced ripping the capsule from Steve's hand. Dustin turned around facing the button panel.

"Which one do I press, Erica?" Dustin asked and he fumbled with the buttons.

"Just press the damn button, nerd," Erica yelled in an insulting tone.'

"Which one? I'm pressing the button, okay?" Dustin yelled back.

"It's the button that says 'doors'," Chris called, shoving her hands in her pockets. Steve pushed past Dustin and started to hit the buttons, hitting one that sent down a large red door. "The hell is that?" Chris mumbled walking over to the door and pressing her hand against it. Another loud buzz went off and the room shook making Chris, and the others, stumble over. Steve grabbed onto Chris before she hit the floor and pushed them both to lean against the wall and the shelves of boxes.

Steve's eyes went up to the roof spotting something in the corner, "Oh shit." Chris followed his gaze to the corner of the room seeing lights flash to and from view.

Chris pushed herself off the boxes and over to Dustin, grabbing his arm and keeping him steady. "Shit! Shit!" Dustin screamed in a mantra slamming his hand against the buttons.

"We're going down! We're going down!" Steve yelled in a panic.

"Yeah, no shit, Harrington!" Robin snapped back her arms spread gripping the back shelf.

"Why don't these buttons work?!" Dustin screamed again his voice high-pitched and cracking as he slammed his hand against the panel.

"Press the button!" Erica yelled pushing herself next to Dustin. Steve, Dustin and Erica's voices blended together as they screamed trying to press the right button.

"Press the fucking button, Dustin!" Chris screamed and the elevator came to a screeching halt making Chris's body jolt to the side, smashing into the shelf.

"My groin," Steve squeaked in pain as he lay on the floor, one of the boxes falling on top of him.

"It fell on my groin. Dustin! Get this off of me!" Dustin stumbled over pulling the box off Steve's crotch. "I can't move."

Robin rushed to Chris helping her stand. "Ah, shit, your head," Robin observed looking at the cut on Chris's forehead.

"It's fine," Chris promised, wiping away the blood. "Is everyone okay?" Chris called, turning to the others.

"Yeah, I'm great, now that I know that Russians can't design elevators!" Steve yelled banging on the control panel.

"I think we've clearly established that those buttons don't work," Robin declared with a sigh.

"They're buttons. They have to do something," Steve said irritated.

"Yeah, if we had a key card," Robin spoke up.

"A what?" Steve questioned with a sigh.

"It's an electronic lock. Same as the loading dock door. If we don't have a key card, it won't operate, meaning..."

"We're stuck in here," Dustin sighed. Chris walked up to the door, pressing her hand against it again. "Could you melt it?" Dustin whispered looking up at her.

"It'd take me a few hours, but I don't know how that would help us," Chris whispered spinning back and leaning against the red door.

"Just so you nerds are aware, I'm supposed to be spending the night at Tina's, and Tina always covers for me," Erica snarked standing in front of Steve. "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."

"I don't care about Tina!" Steve yelled in anger making Chris jump lightly. "Or Uncle Jack's party! Your mom's not gonna be able to find us if we're dead in a Russian elevator!"

"Hey," Dustin called out, stopping the argument. "What if we climbed out?" Steve looked to where Dustin was pointing. A small door hatch. Steve hoisted Dustin on his shoulders and Dustin cracked the door open. Dustin pulled himself up, Chris and Steve following after. Dustin's grunts echoed off the walls as all their gazes looked upward.

"What were you saying about climbing?" Steve asked looking at the smooth walls that went on seemingly forever. "Chris, could you pull us up?"

"Uh, if I knew how far from the top we were," Chris sighed, puling the smokes from her pocket. "If it's too far I could get tired halfway through and drop us back down." Chris lit the cigarette and blew it in the opposite direction of Dustin.

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