Chapter Six: The Lair

Lydia wasn't entirely sure what she'd expected to find at the end of the corridor, but it definitely wasn't a full blown Russian lair.

They'd been walking for miles and Lydia's sneakers were rubbing uncomfortably against the back of her heels. In a way, she was glad to have finally stopped. Though, she wasn't looking forward to avoiding being spotted by the hundreds of Russian workers milling around.

Lydia joined the others, pressing her back against the wall. Steve leaned forwards, slowly peering around the corner. "Clear." He motioned them ahead with his hands. "Come on, let's go."

They followed his lead, diving from corner to corner to remain out of sight. Lydia couldn't quite believe it was actually working.

She reached the next wall, ushering Erica and Dustin to safety. Robin and Steve hurried over, ducking down to avoid detection.

"Okay, that one was close," Robin breathed out, tilting her head to face Lydia, who nodded in agreement.

"Too close," Dustin added.

"Relax," Steve spared a glance at them over his shoulder as they continued on. "All right? Relax. Nobody saw."

A woman's voice started to announce something in Russian over the PA system. Lydia looked up in interest of where it was coming from, but was suddenly shoved behind a red metal box.

"Shit!" Steve swore as he pushed her backwards. He had one hand on Lydia's waist, whilst the other arm rested beside her head on the box to break her fall. She glanced up at him, breathing heavily. Their stares met, only breaking once the others had joined them in diving for cover.

"I saw it," Erica stated. "First floor, northwest."

"Saw what?" Steve asked, hands lowering back to his sides.

"The comms room."

Steve did a double take. "You saw the comms room?"

"Correct."

"Are you sure?" Dustin checked.

"Positive," Erica assured. "The door was open for a second, and I saw a bunch of lights and machines and shit in there."

"That could be a hundred different things," Dustin pointed out.

Excitement danced in Robin's eyes. "I'll take those odds."

Steve looked at Lydia for confirmation, who simply shrugged. "We're gonna die anyway."

"Great. Thanks for the optimism," Steve said sarcastically. "Real helpful."

"You're welcome."

Lydia peered around the edge of the box, finding her eyes drawn to the red flashing lights that Erica had described.

"All right," Steve turned to address them. "We're gonna move fast, we're gonna stay low. Okay?"

"Okay."

He was the first to sneak forwards, hunching down to remain out of sight. The group scurried across the open area, pausing behind the large metal boxes occasionally when they were forced to wait for workers to pass.

They halted outside the comms room, watching the door intently. A man, oblivious to their presence, walked out, eyes transfixed on the clipboard in his hands.

"Let's go," Steve directed. He reached for the door inches before it closed, allowing them to quietly slip inside. "Shh," he whispered, finger placed to his lips.

Ahead of Lydia, Robin stopped suddenly, prompting them to almost crash into one another. Lydia stepped aside to see past her, locating another man sat at a chair in front of the desk. He had been facing the opposite direction to them...emphasis on the had.

As the door shut, he looked up to find all of them stood there. Immediately, his hand edged towards the gun at his hip. Robin started forwards. Lydia reached out to stop her, but Robin's arm slipped through her grasp.

Robin held out a hand towards the guard, speaking in Russian. He responded in the language, but his fingers remained rested beside the gun.

Robin took a step back into Lydia, who placed a protective hand on her shoulder just as Steve let out a rallying cry. He hurtled towards the man, tackling him onto the desk. The Russian stealthily shoved Steve aside and swung at him. Steve ducked down, narrowly dodging the punch, but the guard was swift to pick him up by the scruff of his shirt.

Lydia winced as Steve was thrown against the table with a thud. The Russian shoved him down, but Steve was faster this time, jabbing the man in the abdomen. It knocked him aside momentarily, time which Steve utilised. He rushed to the switch board and grabbed the telephone, swinging the cord and slamming it into the Russian's head, knocking him out cold.

A stunned silence overtook the group. Lydia stared at him in disbelief. Steve panted heavily, running a hand through his hair.

"Dude!" Dustin exclaimed excitedly, a huge grin breaking out on his face. "You did it! You won a fight!"

"Jeez," Steve chuckled lightly. Lydia caught his eyes momentarily, managing a small smile. Either she was going soft or Steve deserved a tiny bit more credit than she gave him.

"What are you doing?" Erica questioned. Dustin had moved towards the unconscious Russian, snatching his keycard.

"Getting us our ticket out of here," he replied, sliding the card into his pocket.

"You want to walk all the way back?" Erica asked.

"Well, we can hang out for a little bit, relax, have a picnic maybe," Dustin replied sarcastically.

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

"This plan is way better," Dustin said. "If I knew Steve could knock out a Russian, that would've been our plan in the first place."

"Guys," Robin interjected. Lydia looked over as her best friend pointed up a set of stairs. They led to another room, which had been illuminated by a pale blue light. "There's something up there."

When they reached the top of the staircase, Robin pushed open the door, taking cautious steps as she entered. The others piled inside, all five of them drawn towards the large glass window, where men and women in white lab coats and hazard suits moved around. Way further into the distance, was a huge weapon that Lydia had never seen before, firing large orange blasts at the back wall.

"The gate," Dustin breathed out. Worriedly, he looked up at Steve. "We need to get out of here. Now."

Steve nodded. "Let's go."

Lydia didn't understand the suggested threat of the gate, or why the boys seemed so panicked. She didn't get chance to question it either, for Steve had placed a hand on her upper back to usher her back down the stairs.

"I don't understand," Robin began as they hurried back into the comms room. "You've seen this before?"

"Not exactly," Steve answered vaguely.

"Okay, I'm new here," Lydia started, looking back at them over her shoulder. "But what does 'not exactly' mean? And why do you two look so freaked out about it?"

"All you need to know is it's bad," replied Dustin.

"It's really bad," Steve added.

"Like, end-of-the-human-race-as-we-know-it kind of bad," Dustin clarified.

"Well, I'm glad we've cleared that up," Lydia muttered.

"And you know about this how?" Robin asked them.

"Um, Steve?" Erica interjected. "Where's your Russian friend?"

Lydia stopped in her tracks, eyes falling on the now empty space, once occupied by the unconscious guard. "Oh fuck."

A sudden burst of red light engulfed the room and a loud alarm blared out around them. "Shit," Steve cursed, rushing towards the door. He pulled it open ajar, revealing the commotion from the other side as a group of Russian guards hurried towards them. He slammed it shut, turning back to the others. "Go, go, go, go, go!"

They rushed back upstairs into the weapon room, Lydia almost tripping over herself and then Robin in the process. The people inside stared at them in confusion as the group came to a complete halt, seeming to have collective brain failure.

"Move!" Steve snapped them back into action, urging them to keep going. "Go! Shit, shit, shit!"

Dustin continued to lead the way, shrieking as he frantically pushed past people. "Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit!" He came to a stop, gasping for air as his eyes darted around, looking for a quick exit. "Holy shit! Shit!"

"Guards!" Erica warned.

Lydia spun around, mind completely blanking with blinding panic as the armed Russians stormed towards them.

"This way!" Steve called out, sprinting in another direction. They hurried down another flight of stairs, only to be cut off by more Russians. "Oh, shit! Oh, shit!" Steve shoved a guard aside, stumbling to a stop in front of an amassed amount of barrels. "Woah!" He knocked them all down, allowing them to roll into the oncoming guards. "Come on! Go, go, go, go, go!"

Robin flung open another door, calling out to them. "This way!" Lydia ushered Dustin and Erica inside ahead of her before she dashed inside. "Come on, quick!"

Steve reached them last, slamming his back against the door to hold it shut. The other four scrambled around the room in search of an exit. Lydia crouched down, fumbling along the floor for a hidden trap door or something, anything.

She looked up at the sound of guards hammering on the door. Steve grunted, straining as the Russians tried to force it open.

Lydia ran to help him, pushing her entire body weight against it. The force from the other side grew heavier as the Russians pounded against it. She dug her heels into the ground, using all the strength she possibly could. But Lydia knew it was only a matter of time before they were caught. And as she tilted her head to glance at Steve, catching the fear that mirrored in his eyes, Lydia attempted to make peace with the fact that they were, well, toast. 

"Here!" Erica called out, revealing a vent in the ground. "Come on, let's go!"

Dustin hurried towards it, glancing back at Lydia and Steve who were still struggling with the door. Lydia knew that, if they abandoned it, nobody would get out of there.

"Come on!" Dustin urged them.

"Go!" Steve told him. "Just get out of here!" He turned to Lydia, shaking his head. "You gotta go with them. I can hold it."

Lydia forced herself closer to the door as it began to shake, her firm eyes meeting his. "I'm not going anywhere."

"Go, come on, now!" Dustin yelled.

"No!" The pair shouted back.

"Just go!" Lydia urged.

"Get some help, okay?" Steve instructed.

"Fuck it," Robin muttered, rushing over to the two older teenagers.

"What are you doing?" Steve asked as she threw herself against the door, taking some of the strain away from them.

"Robin, go!" Lydia pleaded.

"I'm not leaving you!"

Dustin hovered alongside the vent, hesitating. His mouth opened to argue with the three of them, but they instantly cut him off. "Go!"

The Russian yelling on the other side was growing louder, and the pushing against the door was becoming harder to hold. They didn't have a lot of time left.

"I won't forget you!" Dustin exclaimed dramatically. He gave them one last sorrowful look before ducking down into the vent and disappearing out of sight.

The door burst open, the force knocking the trio down to the ground. Lydia sat on her hands and knees as the Russians swarmed the room, weapons trained on them. She raised her arms in the air, staring up at the soldiers, knowing only one thing for certain – they were completely and utterly fucked.

A/N

Lydia "I'm not going anywhere" Dolan-Wu we see you.