𝐖𝐄 𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐏𝐈𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐒! [𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐢𝐧 𝐛𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐞𝐲]

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐢𝐯𝐞

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐋𝐀𝐘𝐄𝐃

The room was filled with cacophonous screams. Dustin was in the corner, still trying desperately to press the 'open door' button, and still, nothing happened. "We're going down!" Steve shouted. 

"Yeah, no shit!" Robin said from the other side of the room. 

Then, they stopped moving at once, and Margo was thrown to the floor. She could feel her head crack against the pavement, but didn't feel the pain for another second or two. Not another concussion, she thought wearily. She'd only just recovered from the one Billy gave her the year before. She put a hand to her face and it came back bloody. "Shit," she muttered. 

"Is everyone okay?" Robin asked, holding onto the back of her head and staring at the ground in shock. 

"Yeah, I'm great!" Steve screamed, standing up. "Now that I know that Russians can't design elevators!" 

He shoved Dustin out of the way and started rapidly pushing buttons on the control panel. Robin struggled to her feet. "I think we've clearly established that those buttons don't work." 

"They're buttons! They have to do something," said Steve, not lowering his voice. 

"Yeah, if we had a keycard," Robin argued. "Margo, tell him- Margo?" She did a double take of Margo sitting on the floor, then knelt down next to her. "Are you okay?" 

"Yeah, I'm fine," Margo said quickly, trying to clear her head. 

Robin's eyes were wide. "Are you sure? You're bleeding." 

Margo wiped some of the blood from her forehead. "It's not that much. I'm good. Steve, the buttons won't do shit if you don't have a keycard. It's an electronic lock." 

"Yeah," Robin said hesitantly, still staring at the blood on Margo's face. "If we don't have a keycard, it won't operate, meaning-" 

"We're stuck in here," Dustin finished her sentence. 

"Just so you nerds are aware," Erica said loudly, "I'm supposed to be spending the night at Tina's, and Tina always covers for me. But if I'm not home for Uncle Jack's party tomorrow, and my mom finds out you four are responsible, she's gonna hunt you down, one by one, and slit your throat." 

Steve was leaning against a box, his eyes squeezed shut. "I don't care about Tina!" he shouted. "Or Uncle Jack's party! Your mom's not gonna be able to find us if we're dead in a Russian elevator." 

Robin was holding her knees to her chest, completely zoned out. Margo gently tapped her on the leg. "Hey, you good?" 

"A little claustrophobic." 

"Right," said Margo. She got to her feet. "Steve, shut the fuck up. There has to be some way out of here-" 

"Hey," Dustin interrupted. He pointed up at the vent. "What if we climbed out?" 

It didn't take long for Margo and Robin to pile up boxes and for Steve to boost Dustin up to the grate. Once he was out, the other followed. They were standing in an elevator shaft, a thought that made Margo queasy to even consider, only the tunnel above them stretched so high, she couldn't even see the top. "What were you saying about climbing out?" said Steve. 

Everyone went back into the warehouse room, but Dustin stayed in the elevator shaft with his walkie talkie, trying to page whoever might be able to hear him. "This is a code red," he kept saying. "I repeat, a code red. Does anyone copy? We are innocent children and we are trapped under Starcourt Mall. The Red Army has infiltrated Hawkins, and if we are found, they will torture and kill us."