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❛ sᴏᴍᴇᴛʜɪɴɢ ᴡɪᴄᴋᴇᴅ​​​​​​​​​​. ❜ ° . ༄
- ͙۪۪˚   ▎❛ 𝐅𝐈𝐕𝐄 ❜   ▎˚ ͙۪۪̥◌
»»————- ꒰ ᴅᴀɴɢᴇʀ ᴢᴏɴᴇ ꒱


❝ HIGHWAY TO THE
DANGER ZONE ❞

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They emerged into a room filled with cylinders that contained the same green liquid from the Chinese take out boxes. They walked between the main isle as Dustin's gaze fell on a golf cart-like vehicle that waited patiently off to the side. He made a beeline for it and began to look for the keys.

Erica watched him skeptically. "Do you even know how to drive?"

"How hard can it be? Max did it." He hopped into the driver's seat.

Max. Jessie hadn't thought about her in hours. A part of her wondered if she'd ever see the red-haired girl again. To her surprise, her chest squeezed slightly at the thought.

"You seriously thought they'd just leave keys in there?" the younger girl asked.

"There's gotta be a spare."

As he began to search around, Erica moved away towards the other end of the room before she called back: "hey, Dustin?"

"Yeah?"

"How big did you say that Demogorgon was?"

"Big." He was distracted as he searched through his toolkit. "Nine feet or so. Why?"

Erica didn't answer but walked away from the cage. Dustin located a screwdriver and began to open the locked cabinet while Jessie examined the wheeled vehicle. Her hands slid into her pockets and her fingers brushed against the cool silver of her pistol. She winced.

Why hadn't she thought to use that earlier?

Oh, right: she'd been more worried about passing out in front of Russian Commies. Still, it might be useful for their escape. . . which made her think of the other weapon she carried with her.

"Found 'em!" Dustin exclaimed happily. He turned and looked for the other girl. "Erica?" She appeared suddenly with an electric prod in her hands. It buzzed and crackled as she switched it on, causing the boy to jump away. "What the hell is that?"

"A deadly weapon. Could be useful."

"For what?"

"What do you think? Taking down Commies, saving your friends."

"Thought you were more realistic than that," he commented as they got in the car. "We don't even know where they are and even if we did, there are a million guards up there with weapons way deadlier than that. The best thing we can do for them is to get out of here and find help. Our chance of surviving— and theirs— rises substantially. Just trust me on this. Please?"

Because there were only two seats in the car, Jessie let the younger girl take the passenger's place while she stood propped on the edge of the vehicle. One of her hands grasped the metal support pole as she leaned forward while her other hand reached between the pair. She ducked inside the car to avoid the roof as her fingers uncurled to reveal a lumpy, slightly cylindrical object. "If it's deadly weapons you want, I've got them in spades."

Dustin glanced away from the road for a second to look at what she'd produced before he returned his gaze. "What's that?"

"A grenade."

If it had been less cumbersome, the mini car would have swerved into the wall. Instead, all it did was shake a little as the boy turned the wheel suddenly in shock. His voice rose to cracking-level as one of his hands swatted at hers. "Holy shit! What the hell? Why are you carrying that around? Are you trying to get us all killed? Holy shit! Shit, shit—"

"Would you relax?" the brunette huffed. "It's completely harmless right now. And if you must know, it's one of the few useful things the war gave my dad. I found it in one the pockets awhile back and I've kept in on me for safe keeping."

Erica gave her an interested look. "Is that real?"

"Of course it's real. I wouldn't carry a cheap imitation on me."

"Absolutely not," the curly-haired boy said firmly. "If we use that, we blow us up with the base."

"But—"

"No grenade, Salvador."

Jessie sighed. "Mouthbreather."

"What was that?"

"Mouthbreather," she repeated more loudly.

"Well I'm sorry if I have realistic expectations of our rescue mission—"

.・。.・゜✫・.・✫・゜・。.

This time, it was Jessie and Dustin who argued the whole way. While he'd nixed her more pyromaniac tendencies, they'd compromised and he promised she could use her pistol if any Russians threatened their escape.

When they arrived at the room where their friends were being kept, the boy took the prod from Erica and readied himself by the door. Jessie shifted impatiently behind him and unlatched the safety. Then, he burst through the door as he yelled loudly.

She raised the pistol as well. "Hands up where I can see them!" The curly-haired boy jabbed the prod at the man in the room, causing him to collapse as Steve cheered. The brunette sighed with disappointment. "Damn, there was only one." Her arms dropped to her sides.

Dustin quickly ran over to the older teens and began to untie them as Steve continued: "that's crazy, I was just talking about you."

"Oh my God!" Robin exclaimed.

The boy didn't pay attention to their rambling and instead warned them: "get ready to run."

.・。.・゜✫・.・✫・゜・。.

They raced back down the long hallway as fast as the car would allow them to go. Steve and Robin babbled gibberish in the flatbed of the cart. Dustin barely spared them a glance as he asked, "what's wrong with them?"

"I don't know," Erica replied before her eyes widened. "Dustin, watch out!"

They'd made it back to the elevator. He slammed on the brakes too late and they ran right into the stack of barrels that sat near the elevator entrance. There were two heavy thuds from the older teens. "You guys alright back there?"

They received groans in response but Dustin shrugged it off. "They're fine. Let's go." They jumped out of the vehicle and went he went for the lock as he fumbled to open it. "Come on. We've got to go now."

"Let's go!" Erica agreed.

The older teens reacted slowly, causing them to clap their hands to get them into motion. Erica and Jessie tugged on Robin and Steve's arms while Dustin went over to the buzzer and used the keycard to open it.

"Hurry!" the younger girl exclaimed. "We've come this far. I don't want to be a Commie prisoner now."

"There's always plan B," Jessie pointed out.

Dustin turned away from the lock as the doors opened to give her a stern look. "No grenades."

She pouted slightly as they rushed into the elevator. The doors closed and they began moving upward. Steve had found an empty cart and had climbed onto it while Robin held the handlebars. The boy stood with his legs apart and arms out, so she observed, "you look like you're surfing!"

"Surfing, yeah!" He wobbled on the unsteady surface. "Whoa!"

"They seem drunk!" Erica observed.

"Why would they be drunk?" Dustin asked.

Jessie shook her head. "Not drunk. High."

"Why would they be high?"

She sighed. "Do you know nothing about the FBI during the sixties and seventies? Governments are infamous for that shit."

"I'm a natural, check it out!" Steve called over to them before he toppled off the cart.

Robin laughed. "Wipeout!"

They giggled madly as if they were the funniest people in the world. Dustin went over to the older boy and placed his hand on Steve's forehead. "He's burning up."

"You're burning up," Steve retorted.

"Yep, it's definitely the drugs," Jessie nodded. "Check his eyes."

Dustin did as she suggested. "His pupils are super dilated. Whatever shit they gave them is still there."

The older boy wasn't paying attention and poked the younger on the nose. "Boop!"

"Are you gonna die on us?"

"Boop!" he said again as he giggled.

"We all die, my strange little child friend," Robin put in. "It's just a matter of how and when."

"They're gonna be looking for us up there," the curly-haired boy said, choosing to ignore her as he addressed Steve. "I need you to tell me where you parked your car."

"Oh, can we make a pit stop at the food court?" he mumbled.

Robin gasped. "I would kill for a hot dog on a stick!"

"Alright," Dustin agreed. "Yeah, food. Yes, you can have as much food as you want but only if you tell me where your car is parked."

"Uh-oh," he began as he pulled his pockets out of his shorts. "They took the keys! The Russians, they took the keys." The older girl burst into a new fit of laughter as Steve joined her. "That's a bummer, right?"

The elevator finally reached the first floor and the doors opened, allowing them to stumble outside. Robin opened her mouth as she took in the fresh air. "Oh my God, that tastes so good. Ah! Steve, can you taste the air?"

He copied her actions. "I taste it! I taste it!"

The gates in front of them opened to reveal several soldiers with guns marching towards them.

"Yes!" Jessie breathed. Her hand plunged in her pocket to pull out her pistol.

Dustin grabbed her arm and spun her around. "No time! Let's go!"

"I can buy us time if—" she protested as they stumbled back into the mall.

"Why are we running?" Steve mumbled as they rushed inside.

They made it to the movie theater in rapid fashion and the darkness of the room was soothing after the fluorescent lights. Even with the bright screen that was currently playing Back to the Future, it was far calmer than anywhere they'd been in the last several hours.

Unfortunately for them, the theater was full. While that might help them hide from angry Russian, it made finding seats a difficult task. Dustin found the first pair of chairs in the front row. "You two, sit!" he ordered the older teens.

"No, no, no," Robin complained. "These seats are too close!"

"Dude, these seats blow!" Steve agreed.

"Then don't watch the movie," Dustin hissed.

"We want to watch it!"

"Then watch it!"

One of the moviegoers got annoyed with their raised voices and leaned forward to shush them. Annoyed, Steve and Robin shushed him back. Dustin was more forgiving. "Sorry, sorry." He turned to the pair. "Whatever you do. . . don't go anywhere!"

"Fine, dad!"

"What are we doing here?" Erica demanded as the remaining three found seats in another part of the theater.

"We're laying low," the curly-haired boy explained as he leaned forward to whisper to her. "Cooling off. Like Oswald."

"Lee Harvey Oswald was found in the theater and shot to death," Jessie pointed out flatly. "I only know that because it spawned a dozen conspiracy theories." 

"A week later!"

"The point is his plan didn't work," Erica cut in shortly.

"Only because it was a setup."

"What?"

"He was just a patsy."

"Tell me you're joking," Erica sighed.

The woman next to Dustin got fed up with their discussion and leaned forward to shush them loudly. The trio turned and did the same to her, irritated with her interruption. The younger girl slumped in her seat. "We need to get out of here."

"Alright you two," he said. "Watch Tweedledee and Tweedledum. Make sure they don't go anywhere."

"Where are you going?" Jessie asked.

"I'm going to find us a ride," he declared as he took his radio from his backpack.

.・。.・゜✫・.・✫・゜・。.

Dustin joined them a short while later and he announced his return by hissing, "do you have any batters? Double-A?"

"Why would I have batteries?" Erica wondered as the brunette nodded.

"I always carry batteries," he replied before he directed his next question at Jessie: "how many do you have?"

"Hold on," she said before she dug through her pockets. "Um. . . one. . . oh! Four."

"Shit. I need eight."

"Eight?"

"Guess we'll have to go to plan B— and not Jessie's plan B." (The brunette gave an exaggerated eye roll at this.) 

"Plan B?" Erica echoed. "What's plan B?"

Before he replied, Dustin leaned forward slowly to where Steve and Robin had been moments ago. "Where. . . are they?" 

.・。.・゜✫・.・✫・゜・。.

They found the pair in the bathroom several minutes later and needless to say, they were less than pleased. However, the younger teens let the issue go in the face of their bigger problem: escaping the mall in one piece. To do so, they followed the crowd that was leaving from Back to the Future and allowed the audience to sweep them towards the doors. They waited for the perfect time before Dustin opened the door wider. "And blend!"

The five of them acted as casually as possible so as to not draw attention to themselves. Unfortunately, Steve's bloody face, Erica's kneepads and Jessie's drab coat all made them stand out. So far, though, they hadn't been caught, much to Erica's surprise. "Well shit. That worked!"

"Of course it worked," the curly-haired boy retorted quietly. "We just have to get on the bus with the rest of these plebes and then home sweet home, here we come."

"Uh, Dustin?" Steve began sheepishly.

"What?"

"We. . . might not want to go to your house."

"Why?"

"I. . . might've told them your full name."

Dustin glowered at him. "What is wrong with you?"

"Hey," Jessie cut in. "It's no big deal. We can go to my house, my dad won't mind."

"I'm going to need to go home eventually."

"But for now you can lay low at mine. Seriously, don't worry about it. In fact, it might be a better idea since Russians would never think to look at my house. It's not exactly prime real estate."

Before the boy could reply, Robin's gaze caught on the entrance. "Guys, look!"

They followed her direction to see men clad in all black guarding the gates. They checked IDs as people filed out, clearly looking for them.

"Abort!"

They were too slow. One of the soldiers with a long ponytail turned faster than they could even start running. His gaze immediately landed on them even as they kicked into gear. Jessie groaned. "I hate running!"

"Well, do you hate running or would you rather live?" Erica demanded as she pushed the older girl towards the escalator.

However, they were out of luck again because they'd been stopped for the night and velvet ropes cut off their access. Robin's eyes widened. "Shit!"

Steve stood off to the side and ushered them down the metal slide that sat between the two escalators. "Come on, let's go. Let's go."

"We need to hide!" Robin hissed once they'd all joined her on the first floor. "They're going to kill us!"

They frantically looked around at the different venues, but this late at night, they were mostly all closed. Finally, Steve's eyes landed on the only open spot. "There! We can hide there!"

As they scrambled behind the counter, Jessie glanced at the giant cookie signs. "Well, as the saying goes: death by chocolate."

"Shut up!" Dustin retorted in a whisper. "We're not gonna die."

Steve shushed them and they quieted. Even though they couldn't see the Russians, they could hear them speaking quietly in their native language. The teens did their best to stifle their breaths and still their movements to prevent them from being found, but it was hard when all they could feel was terror. Even Jessie— who was normally calm when facing Demogorgons— felt her heart pound in her chest.

While she wouldn't call it fear necessarily, it still wasn't pleasant. It was probably from all that running.

Slowly, she shifted her hand towards her pocket where her pistol remained hidden. If she was going to die, she wanted to take some Russian Commies out with her. Steve must've felt her movement since she was sitting next to him and his hand reached out to grasp her wrist to prevent her from following through with her plan. The look he gave her clearly said: are you stupid?

She gave a little nod in response.

The older boy's eyes narrowed but before he could reprimand her further, a loud beeping sounded from somewhere within the mall. They froze, hoping against hope that it would be enough to distract the soldiers. Then, there was a tremendous crunching sound that was accompanied by the shattering of glass the car smashed into the counter.

Slowly, they rose to their knees to peek above their hiding place. On the mall's second-story balcony, Eleven stood outlined against the faint glow of the neon lights, surrounded by the rest of their friends.

[edited jul. 2022]