Jopper OS

Snowy Promise

Jopper ST4 (imagine)

━✯━

1986

Joyce couldn't believe that his hand was really in hers. It was too good to be true. She had tears in her eyes, not knowing whether they were tears of joy at finding him, seeing him again after all this time. Or tears of fear of being in a labour camp deep in Russia with Russians armed to the teeth inside. Or if it was just her eyes complaining about the cold. Maybe all three...?

She fixed her gaze on him. On his thin, muscular and pale face. On his beardless face, on his hairless skull. She had never found him so handsome, but it was probably the fact of not having seen him for many, many months that had this effect on her. However, there was nothing to do, she couldn't take her eyes off his face, afraid that he wasn't there, that it was only a dream. A wonderful dream that she had had many times during these last months, too many times. After all, there was a very small chance that he was still alive.

Hopper could feel Joyce's eyes watching him, and to be honest he could hardly contain himself from doing the same. However, this wasn't the time for that, not really. Not when they had to get out of here as fast as possible before someone realized he was missing from his cell.

Murray stopped dead in his tracks, gasping for breath in front of them, and Joyce narrowly missed hitting his back. 

"Murray, what the hell!"

Charlie and Andy, two American soldiers who were with them on this operation, also stopped, in front of a door that led out of the camp. To freedom... It was locked, a red light was flashing above the box.

"Well, the complications are in front of us it seems..." Murray sighed as he turned to Hopper and Joyce.

Hopper rubbed his face and sighed in turn before releasing Joyce's hand, who felt a shiver run through her body as he approached the box in front of them. This ridiculous little thing that prevented them from escaping.

"What do we do now?" Charlie asked with a frown.

"What if we break it...?" Joyce asked, she hated this place, even more so now that the five of them were gathered in front of a door that led outside, knowing that at any moment a Russian could see them and she would be separated from Hopper again. That was out of the question, she had promised El to bring her father back so she would. Whatever it takes.

"No, that would be too dangerous. We don't even know if the door will open after we break it, but we know we'll be spotted very quickly. We need another plan."

"I have one."

Hopper's voice was no higher than a whisper, and everyone turned to him, waiting for the rest.

He stared at the door in front of them for a long moment, biting his lip, before finally turning to them.

"I know where the control room is", he said, meeting Joyce's frightened gaze.

"No", she said, shaking her head.

"Joyce, this is different-"

"No, no it isn't, Jim. You're not going there."

Murray slowly approached her before placing a hand that was no doubt intended to be reassuring on her shoulder, Joyce tensed, her feet sinking a little deeper into the snow.

"Joyce, this is our only way", Murray replied in a soft voice that surprised her.

"No, no, there's got to be another way", she said, wiping her wet eyes with a quick motion.