(Ep. 5: The Flayed)

It seems the tunnels were nothing but endless. They've been walking for a very long time and there's no sign of this continuous cycle ending.

There was nothing left to do than just fill the silence with ideas on what the green substance was and why it could've possibly been made. Surely this mall served as more than just having retail stores and restaurants, it was made to transport whatever is in those vials to the Red Army.

"You think they built this whole mall so they could transport that green poison?" Steve asks, dumbfounded at the fact his workplace was involved in something as sneaky as this.

"I doubt it's something boring as poison," Gwen stated, beating her brother before he could say it as they both were thinking the same thing.

"It's gotta be much more valuable, like promethium or something," Dustin adds on, not even explaining what he means knowing Steve would definitely ask.

"What the hell is promethium?" he questions.

Rolling her eyes, Robin begins explaining, "It's what Victor Stone's dad used to make Cyborg's bionic and cybernetic components."

Daphne smiles at her, loving the way she clearly explained it without slurring her words once. Only she was the only Sinclair to be impressed since Erica was deeply embarrassed to be around them.

"You're all so nerdy, it makes me physically ill," the young girl stares at them weirdly and shakes her head disappointedly.

"No, no, no. No, don't lump me in with them," Steve interrupts, offended by being considered weird and not cool. He motions between all five of them and tugs at Gwen's arm to hold her against him. "I'm not a nerd, alright? And Gwen isn't either so don't drag her into this."

"Why so upset? There's nothing wrong in being a nerd," she interjects, "Afraid of being considered anything less than a cool guy?"

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

"Promethium," Dustin corrects, confused on his lack of knowledge on a simple element everyone should have heard about.

"And I'm pretty sure Prometheus was a Titan who stole fire from the Gods to give to humanity," Gwen added.

"I thought you said she wasn't nerdy," Erica remarked as she glared at Steve with a hand on her hip and with her sassy demeanor.

Steve frowns at her and ignores her statement. He places his arm around Gwen as they lazily continue to walk despite how tired they are.

The young boy continues, "Like I was saying, it's probably being used to make something."

"Or power something like a nuclear weapon," Daphne suggests, not helping herself from smiling when seeing Dustin and Robin wholeheartedly agree with her.

She started to feel like she belonged in the short time being around them. From not being able to make friends because of being considered too strange, she's glad of having made the right decision in choosing to visit Hawkins for the summer. Sure they were stuck under a Russian underground system, but surprisingly, it's been the most alive she's felt in quite a while.

"Walking towards a nuclear weapon. That's great. That'd be great," Steve sarcastically says as he regrets ever agreeing to help Dustin with the code.

"But if they're building something, why here?" Robin thinks out loud, getting distracted when noticing Daphne's hand almost brush against hers.

"Why Hawkins, out of all places?" Daphne continues.

Gwen, Steve, and Dustin exchange a few looks. All three of them were thinking the same thing regarding the lab, all the monsters, and about El. Hawkins may appear to be some shithole town, but there's more that lurks in the dark that all started because of the lab, which makes it not the worst place to settle a secret underground facility.

"At the very best, we're a toilet stop on your way to Disneyland, but maybe that's it..."

The three of them fall behind, now growing more concerned that there's the slightest chance the Russians might know something about the Upside Down.

Gwen gathers them together and waits until the others walk further to say, "Do you guys think these Russians know anything?"

"They could," her brother says.

Steve groans, wishing not every unusual thing has to be connected, "But how?"

"I don't know, but it's-"

"Possible," the three of them say in unison, causing the rest to stop when noticing they've fallen behind.

"I'm sorry, is there something you'd like to share with the class?"

Before anyone could say anything, a static sound was heard that was followed by a Russian man's voice. Immediately, all of them huddled around Erica's backpack and pulled out the walkie. They listen attentively to the voice as they start to realize it's the same code they spent days trying to figure out.

"Wherever that broadcast is coming from-"

"It's close."

Gwen smiles as the hope of getting out of here returns, "Since the signal was able to get intercepted..."

"It's able to reach the surface."

There's two ways this could end for them. One, they're able to get in contact with Hopper and he uses his resources to get them out of here. Second, they're not able to reach anyone which means they'll be stuck here at a higher risk of getting caught and possibly killed.

Robin nods, forming a gentle smile and stands up, "Let's go."

__________________

It's only a matter of time until they get caught. Based on how many times they've managed to hide behind lots of carts and dodge the Russians, it's only realistic to expect the worst.

Gwen doesn't want to be pessimistic, but luck hasn't exactly been on their side because if it was, they wouldn't be stuck underground and surrounded by armed men. She knows she can't be the only one who thinks this, but all of them are just too adamant to stay positive because what more can they do?

Following Steve's lead, the group makes sure to hurry and make as less noise as possible. Not wanting to risk stepping on anything or bumping into the metal bars, they're careful to take steady and cautious steps.

All of them look behind them, checking to see if there's a cart heading their way, when they bump into Steve, who had stopped to watch in complete astonishment the sight in front.

Gwen was shocked and now even more frightened when seeing scientists were also involved. Nothing good ever comes from them and the fact they're now working with Russians just makes everything worse, because why in the world would they choose to work together if it isn't about the Upside Down?

Steve yanked her down to the ground with the rest of the group. She was too entranced by the sight to forget about the risk of getting seen that she felt quite stupid for forgetting something so crucial.

"I saw it," Erica's voice makes all of them to look away from the headquarters. "First floor, northwest."

Gwen forcefully looked away from the crowd and turned to the young girl, "Saw what?"

"The comms room!" Erica loudly whispers.

Skeptical about this, Steve can't help but wonder if what she truly saw was right, "Are you sure? You could've been mistaken."

She scoffs, "I'm never wrong so I'm absolutely positive. The door was open and I saw a bunch of lights and machines and shit in there."

"That could be a hundred different things," Dustin argues and Gwen can't help but agree. It'd be a great risk if they decide to barge into that room. What if Erica's mistaken and they get captured right then and there? As much as Gwen wants to be brave, she's not sure if she can be at this very moment.

But she figures, staying here and doing nothing is more cowardly than risking it. "Screw it. Let's check it out."

Robin tilts her head at her and smiles, "I'll take those odds."

"This is the stupidest idea. You're seriously considering listening to a kid?" Steve looks back, running a hand through his hair as he wonders if there's the slightest bit of a possibility sneaking into that room would offer some escape.

"Do you have a better plan?" she sighs, frustrated at the time they're wasting that she decides to take charge in this. "Come on. Follow my lead."

Quickly, she latches her hand with his, motioning the others to do the same. Not thinking twice, they grip onto each other tightly and follow her as she carefully leads them past the main room to the hopefully comms room. She's not able to make out the angry whispers coming from Steve, but she can only guess he's telling her off.

She stops behind one of the cargo carts before a group walks past them. Steve nearly tumbles from how sudden her stop was, only making him mumble a few incoherent words on how frustrated he's become over her risk taking.

The only reason he likes leading the way is to make sure if there's any danger, he's able to protect them and make sure no harm comes their way. But now that she's in front of the line, it's terrifying him that she's going to be the one to face all the danger. Even if he loves her bravery, he wishes she didn't need to try and do everything herself.

"Let's go," she waves them to follow her, quickly dashing to the comms room before the door is able to close. It seems Erica was right because there's a desk filled with buttons and the room has flashing lights and machines.

Only they're not able to celebrate getting there safely when their eyes fall upon a Russian guard sitting in front of the desk. Her body stiffens as she feels her heart pummel. This is what she feared would happen. Luck was definitely not on their side and this was a clear sign.

The guard lowers his headphones and stands up. He glances at all of them with a puzzled look, which only worsens the trembling spreading throughout her body. Her hand, still holding on to Steve's, feels a squeeze as both of them are still in the same position of closing the door.

All of them continue to stare blankly at the guard, unrealistically believing if they don't move, he simply won't see them. They're silent for what appears to be a very long time when they notice he starts reaching down to his belt for his gun.

This is it. We're definitely dying at the hands of a freaking Russian!

That's when Robin steps forward and says something in their language. Daphne follows her lead and uses her skills, thanks to that 10th grade Russian class. But her panic and intense fear that he could kill them at any moment makes her choke on her words.

It sure doesn't help that the guard says something with a confused expression all while he continues to reach for his gun. Gwen knows they can't get out of this in one piece. As much as she wants to remain optimistic, this doesn't look like something they can get out of.

Gwen feels a pair of arms shove her back before she hears Steve's loud screams as he dashes to the guard to tackle him. Glances are exchanged between the rest as they're surprised and fearful of the outcome. They quickly stand protectively in front Dustin and Erica and hope they're able to make it out alive from this.

The guard grabs Steve by the collar of his shirt and throws him against one of the panels. Soon after, he sends the first punch that Steve's able to dodge by leaning backwards against the button filled desk. The guard grabs his sailor shirt and flings him once more, only Steve is able to elbow him in the chest which sends the guard back with a loud groan. Before he's able to stand up, Steve reaches for the phone and harshly smashes it against the guard's head, sending him to the ground unconscious.

Everyone's eyes grew wide and their mouths hung open as they watched Steve toss the phone with his dominant hand across the room. Panting with filled adrenaline, he rushes a hand across his messy locks away from his forehead.

Holy shit, that was hot, Gwen thinks to herself as she stares in complete amazement.

"Dude! You did it!" Dustin cheers, "You won a fight!"

Breaking off her trance, she rushes to check if he's okay. She quickly grabs his face and starts inspecting it in close detail, but her eyes can't help but fall upon the sight of his tense muscles and the way he's staring at her with a tempting smirk.

"That was incredibly hot," she whispers to him, gaining that charming smile of his as he embraces her tightly and takes a breather.

"What are you doing?" Erica complains as she watches Dustin reach for the guard's belt.

He removes the keycard and dangles it in front, "Getting us our ticket out of here."

"You want to walk all the way back?" she questions, brows cinching together in a perfect scowl, as she meets Dustin halfway.

"Well, we can hang out for a bit, relax, have a picnic maybe," Dustin nonchalantly responds, sarcasm dripping from his tongue, as he's just about had it with the girl's complaints.

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

"Oh, my God, Erica. This seems like a better plan because think about it, more guards could come rushing in at any moment, and Steve's not going to be able to handle all of them himself!" Gwen exclaims, already losing her patience as she walks forward to stand by her brother.

"Umm, did you not see I handled that shit well? I can definitely take on more," Steve prides himself, tugging at his collar boastfully, and folding his arms across his chest with that cocky smirk.

"You just got lucky!" Dustin argues, rolling his eyes at how pompous he became over his first win.

Steve scoffs, offended his fighting skills are still being doubted even when he just knocked that guard unconscious, "I didn't get lucky, jackass! Have you considered that maybe I've improved?"

Erica laughs, "It's hard to take you seriously when you're wearing that ridiculous outfit."

Gwen rolls her eyes and runs her hands through her messy hair on how ridiculous this is turning. "Who cares if he got lucky? The point is, going back to the elevator and using this keycard is the better and safest way to go. Now can we stop arguing about this and just cut the bullshit and leave already?!"

She sighs deeply, catching her breath while placing her hands on her hips. Ignoring all the looks received, she starts tying her hair back from how increasingly hot it's getting. It's only through the silence that she's able to notice Robin and Daphne are nowhere to be seen.

"Where are they?" she questions, not even having to say who since all of them start frantically looking around. Only they hear footsteps coming from the staircase at the end of the room. The vibrant blue light reflects on both girls as they motion them to follow.

"There's something up there," Robin's eyes are wide and filled with perplexity. She points behind her and doesn't wait for the others as she and Daphne run back upstairs.

Exchanging a couple looks, they decide to follow them and hope their curiosity doesn't get the better of them again. The right thing would be to not keep exploring and just head back to the elevator, but of course, their nosiness clouds their judgment.

Reaching Robin and Daphne, they're blinded by the flashing lights coming through a small window on one of the doors. They take a quick peek before deciding to explore furthermore and go inside another room. There, there's two large windows reaching from the roof to the floor, giving them a better sight of what these Russians and scientists are performing down there.

Two scientists are sitting in front of a desk filled with blinking buttons while the rest are standing on the far left taking notes on their clipboard. They exchange a few words they're not able to make out from how stunned they are at the sight in front.

There's people in red hazmat suits walking behind a large machine that's standing in front of a concrete wall that has a bright red opening in the center. It appears to be growing with every jolt received and seems to be breathing.

Gwen's mind starts returning to last fall when El closed the gate, but she was certain it was at the lab. Is that where they are? Under the lab? No, it couldn't be. Surely they must have created another gate, but why in the world did they need to?

She continues watching as the soldiers carry the familiar vial with the green substance and place it into one of the latches on the machine. Seems Dustin and Daphne were right in thinking it was made to power something.

Electric currents spark from the machine onto the crack, sending various flashes of white all around that opens it even more. They squint their eyes while attempting to look away from the petrifying scenery.

"Guys, this is definitely-"

"The gate," both Steve and Dustin finish her sentence and grab her arms to pull her away from the window. She's quick to notice that Robin, Daphne, and Erica are no longer at their spot, which makes her trance become broken as this has just gotten a million times worse.

"I don't understand. You've seen this before?" Robin questions, her eyes glued to her shoes to keep from tumbling down from her quick pace down the stairs.

Unsure if he should let them know everything, Steve tries giving out the least specific answer just in case this is not what it seems, "Not exactly."

"Then what, exactly?" Daphne questions and jumps over the four remaining steps and holds her hand out for Robin, who follows her footsteps and leaps down.

"All you guys need to know is it's bad," Dustin adds on.

"Like end of the world bad," Gwen continues, feeling her heart thump aggressively and cold sweat start forming on the fear that once again, they've gotten involved with the whole Upside Down debacle.

Robin narrows her eyes, confused and even more worried those three seem to know more than they let on. "And you all know about this how?"

"It's a very long story," Gwen takes a deep breath and leans against the wall as she places her hands on her thighs and tries to compose herself from growing increasingly terrified of coming face to face with any monster again. Given her streak of injuries, she really doesn't want her arm to get hurt again, because how is it possible to get hurt in the same place every time? It's getting incredibly frustrating having to lie to every person that asks her about her scar that happened all thanks to those demo dogs.

"So tell us the story!" Daphne demands, waving her hands up all panicked and annoyed they seem to want to keep this to themselves. "What's with all the secrets, huh? Because if you guys know something that could harm all of us, we have a right to know!"

Steve groans as he covers his face with his hands. Not wanting to deal with explaining everything to three strangers, he hopes Dustin has some plan to dismantle their curiosity.

"We need to get out of here first and then the story will come," the younger boy states, even though he plans on not telling them anything and hopes to avoid the topic for the rest of the summer.

"Are you serious?!" Robin challenges and takes a step closer to them, making the boys take another step back towards Gwen.

Gwen rolls her eyes and leaves her spot from growing incredibly irritated at this incessant bickering. "Yes we're being serious. There are far more important things than storytelling, like getting the fuck out of-"

"Hey, losers!" Erica catches the entire group's attention, making all of them snap their heads at her. "Where's your Russian friend?"

Having become too caught up in their arguing, they didn't seem to notice the guard Steve fought earlier was nowhere to be seen. The only thing left was a small pile of blood on the floor that brought them all to glance at each other in worry.

Before being able to officially panic, the alarm starts blaring, piercing their ears that just made everything more real as red lights started flashing on and off.

Steve rushes to the door and peeks his head out, immediately closing it when seeing armed guards heading their way. "We have to go now!"

"Way to go, dumbass!" Daphne complains.

Steve ignores her and looks over at his girlfriend, who has a distressed face and is holding her hand against her chest and taking frantic breaths. Quickly, he snaps out of his state and reaches for her hand as he waves at the others to follow. "Go, go, go! Upstairs, now!"

Instead of avoiding entering the room, all of them burst through the door and are faced with Russians. They stare at the group with squinted eyes and mouths hanging open as they look to their comrades as if they're expecting answers.

Dustin is left completely frozen as he doesn't know what to do or if he should say something. He doesn't speak any Russian so it's not like it'll be of any help. His mouth gets ready to say a few words, but he's unable to when his sister drags him by the arm out of the room and into the base of the huge machine.

Right as they run out, armed guards come bursting in and shout at each other. Gwen really wishes she understood them right now to know if they're planning on shooting at them or just capturing them. She feels regret on not having taken the Russian course as her elective back in freshman year, because how is French going to come in hand now?

Not even realizing where they're at, she's soon faced by the blasting heat that's radiating from the machine. The white sparks emitting from it have them trapped in between the wall and the angry soldiers, who keep yelling and pointing their guns at them.

We're definitely going to die now.

They're at a dead end, leaving no more solution other than to panic as there doesn't seem to be a way out of here. Sure, they can drop down to the complete darkness, but that's one stairway to heaven, so all they can do is just stand there and wait for their demise.

"Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit!" Dustin is now in full blown hysteria as for the first time, he feels his life is about to end and all thanks to his necessity of translating the damned code.

"Guards!" the youngest Sinclair informs them, sending the group to look behind them as they've officially lost all hope. Only Steve decides this won't be the end for them. He starts looking for an escape route and scans the entire area until finally seeing a stairwell nearby.

"This way!" Steve yells and before Gwen is able to pry her eyes off the gate, he pulls her with him to the stairs. Not even a few seconds into running, a few guards come rushing in from a dimly lit tunnel, causing him to let go of her and toss a few barrels their way to block their path. "Come on! Go, go, go!"

Gwen stops before reaching the door to make sure he's not fallen behind. She waits for him to catch up and grabs his sleeves to push him in front of her so he'd make it inside first. Halfway inside, she feels harsh hands grab her from the arms and pull her backwards.

"Let me go, you piece of shit!" she yells and attempts to free herself from his grasp by twisting herself in his arms. Steve's head snaps over in her direction, making him quick to jump out from the room as he begins to curse the guard out while delivering punches to his face.

The Russian releases her and lays his focus on Steve. He reaches down to his belt for his gun, but Steve is able to raise his arm to curl around his wrist before he's able to shoot any of them. The gun falls to the ground, leaving the guard with nothing but his hands as his weapon.

Another soldier runs to them, more specifically at Gwen. Running as he yells with a clenched fist, Gwen is able to catch it before his knuckles make contact with her face. Using all her strength, she manages to twist his arm all the way. The guard groans as he uses his free hand to smack her across the face, only making her more angry as she provides a harsh kick onto his chest that sends him flying back.

She gasps, panting uncontrollably before her eyes frantically glance at Steve. She grabs him from his sleeves and pushes him into the room. Slamming the door, both of them lean against it to prevent any Russians from barging in.

He looks over at her and stares at her cut cheek, filling him with a wave of anger and intense hatred for the guard that dared hurt her. "You okay?" he exclaims, but doesn't give her the chance to answer. "That fucking asshole is going to pay for what he did!"

"Come on! Let's go!" Daphne's panicked voice brings the pair's attention as she and Robin help the kids remove the grate that leads them to some type of vent. Before any of them could say anything, she pointed her finger at the now opened exit, "Get in there!"

Knowing it's not possible for all of them to make it out of here, Gwen shakes her head and yells back, "Go! Get out!"

"We're not leaving without you!" Robin's voice starts trembling more out of fear that if she leaves with the kids and Daphne, she won't see her friends again. And how can she even consider the possibility of letting them fend for themselves when she has the chance to help them?

Thinking the same thing, Daphne runs at the same time with Robin to the door and press their backs against it. Steve and Gwen stare at them in full panic mode at the fact two kids are being left alone and their friends are being incredibly idiotic in risking themselves by staying.

"What are you guys doing?! Get out of here and get some help!" Steve yells and plants his feet with even more strength.

"We're not leaving you!" Both of them exclaim as they refuse to leave their friends behind.

"Stop trying to be heroes and just get over here!" Dustin's shaky voice has gotten higher than any of them have ever heard.

"Just go get some help, okay?" Gwen avoids looking at her brother knowing it'll make the situation worse. She can't get emotional right now when there's armed guards threatening to barge in. Taking a deep breath, she turns to Robin and Daphne and says, "I love that you guys are trying to help, but you can't leave them alone when there's guards everywhere."

Robin nods, blinking profusely as her feet start slipping, "She's right. Daphne, you have to go with them."

Daphne's mouth hangs agape at the ridiculous suggestion of leaving them, "I'm not leaving you guys!"

Steve motions his head away from the door and says, "I'll take care of them, Daph. I swear on my life that I won't let anything happen to them. But if you don't go with those shitheads, I will hand you to those Russians myself."

"No! I can't-"

"We'll be fine, Daphne! Just go!" Robin demands as the girl tries arguing back. "Please."

Daphne moves her gaze to the kids, feeling her heart break at the crossroads she's at. Those kids need her, but her friends, Robin, need her too. How can she possibly choose between them?

She looks down at the ground, her body stiffening as her eyes start getting teary, "You three better be alive by the time we come back."

Nodding their heads at the same time, they watch as she runs up the platform and rushes the kids to get inside. Hesitantly, Dustin looks over at his sister and Steve, praying all of them make it out alive and he'll get a chance to see them again. "I won't forget you!"

"GO!" The three of them yell in unison as Dustin, Erica, and Daphne finally make it inside the vent. Once the grate is fully closed, they silently agree to let go and hope they didn't make a grand mistake.

The door swings wide open, sending all of them across the room. Before any of them can react, they're soon faced by the swarm of guards surrounding them and pointing guns at their faces.

Raising their hands into the air, they watch as a guard makes his way to the center. He smirks as he reaches down for his gun and starts pointing it at Robin, Steve, and finally at Gwen. She swallows hard, trying her best to ignore the fact that this is the same guard she fought earlier.

In a quick instant, she feels the base of the gun hit her across her temple, sending her down to the ground with a loud groan as Steve's yells fill her ears. Her eyes shut painfully as she starts sliding herself back up when the man's boot kicks her on the chest the same way she did to him earlier.

"How did that feel?" he snarls in his heavy accent and hovers above her for a better glimpse.

Gwen's chest feels like it's on fire and like a blazing knife is spreading from her chest all throughout her stomach. She breathes deeply and lets out a cough before rising up. "Go to hell," she mutters before feeling his hand smack her across the face.

Steve continues yelling and tries freeing himself from the two guards holding him back. He flails his legs up and twists uncontrollably in their grasp, until the same Russian that's grown a hatred for Gwen walks over and bashes his head with his gun that sends him unconscious.

Not caring for what happens to her, she ignores the weapons pointing at her as her only concern is reaching him. It doesn't matter if she could get shot because all she wants is to make sure that no one dares lay a finger on him. She fades out their yelling and shoves the guard out of her way until she feels a sharp impact on her head, leaving Robin as the only person to remain conscious.