Not Just Another Number

Captured

Sarah's POV

We all walk down the long, empty hallway. I keep my arm around Steve's shoulders to keep myself steady because my legs haven't stopped shaking since I burned the metal door. Looks like that upgrade came with a cost.

We walk in silence for a while, with Dustin looking around in wonder. What's so great about this place? It's a long ass hallway leading to God knows where. I wipe my nose, wiping away some of the blood I forgot to clean.

"Sarah, are you okay? You almost passed out earlier." Steve asks, looking down at me. I shrug the best I can. "I'll be fine. Just never melted anything like that before. It just took a lot of energy." I reassure him. He nods, but doesn't bother hiding the concern on his face.

"Have you always been able to do that?" Erica speaks up, making us all look at her. I smile nervously and look down. "Yup, since the day I was born." I see her nod out of the corner of my eye, looking down as well.

"I mean, you have to admit, as a feat of engineering alone, this is impressive." Dustin says, changing the topic easily. Steve scoffs. "What are you talking about? It's a total fire hazard. There's no stairs, no exit."

"Especially with a arsonist down here." I comment, laughing lightly at my own joke. I take my arm off of Steve's shoulders, trying to walk normally. "They're commies. You don't pay people, they cut corners." Erica sasses, holding onto her backpack straps.

"To be fair to our Russian comrades, I don't think this tunnel was designed for walking." Christine comments as she runs her hand on the pipes lining the walls. "Think about it, they developed the perfect system for transporting that cargo."

Dustin hops on, nodding along. "It all comes into the mall like any old delivery." Robin nods from beside Christine. "Then they load it on that elevator and no one's the wiser."

"You think they built this whole mall just so they could transport that green poison?" Steve asks. I scoff and walk ahead of them. I turn around to face them, walking backwards as I talk. "Please, knowing this town, it has to be something much bigger than just some measly little poison. It's probably something like promethium." Yes, I'm a nerd. Sue me.

They begin to talk about what promethium is, so I begin to tune them out. I turn around again and walk a little more ahead. There are no turns, and no exits anywhere. I feel the air shift around me, like it was becoming stale. Please, not now.

Suddenly, it's silent. I turn around and see all of them stuck, frozen in time. Great, what's going on now? I feel that pull from a few days ago, but now it's much stronger. What is this?

I walk over to one of the walls and place both hands on the pipes. "What are you trying to show me?" I ask to no one. I feel the pull get even stronger than before, to where it physically pains me.

I groan in pain as I slide down the wall, feeling the pain get worse. Why does this always happen? I feel this cold feeling wash over me, like if I was in the Upside Down again. I wrap my hands around myself as the pain worsens.

I sit down fully and lean against the wall of pipes, feeling my head go fuzzy. My nose begins to bleed, making the familiar smell of copper fill my senses. "Fuck. Make this stop." I mumble to myself.

I feel the air move around me, as time goes back to normal, but the pain does not leave. The sounds of the group's voices fill the tunnel, distracting me from the pain briefly.

"Sarah?!" I hear Steve say. I hear rushed footsteps meet me as I see Steve crouch down in front of me. "What's going on? Are you okay?"

"Do I look it?" I snap, hissing through my teeth.