𝐖𝐄 𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐏𝐈𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐒! [𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐢𝐧 𝐛𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐞𝐲]

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐢𝐱

𝐄 𝐏𝐋𝐔𝐑𝐈𝐁𝐔𝐒 𝐔𝐍𝐔𝐌

"I don't understand," said Robin, pounding down the stairs after them. "You've seen this before?" 

"Not exactly," said Steve. 

"Then what, exactly?" said Robin. 

Margo exchanged a look with Steve. "All you need to know is it's bad," said Steve. "It's really bad." 

"Like, end-of-the-human-race-as-we-know-it kind of bad," Dustin chimed in. 

Robin widened her eyes at Margo. "Are they for real?" 

"Yeah," Margo said solemnly. "Yeah, a hundred percent." 

When they got back to the control room, Robin rounded on Margo. "And you know about this how?" 

"Um, Steve-" Erica interrupted. "Where's your Russian friend?" 

As if on cue, an alarm sounded. Steve ran to the door. "Oh, shit," he said. Red lights flashed overhead, and in one motion, he slammed the door shut. "Shit. Go, go, go!" 

He herded everyone back towards the steps and into the hallway above. Without thinking, Dustin pulled open the door of the next control room and slid inside. He froze. Everyone in the room stared at the group of kids in the doorway. 

"Go!" Steve shouted, and they sprinted across the room and down the next set of stairs. People around them shouted in Russian, but Margo tried to block it out, only following the back of Robin's head in front of her. 

They burst through a door, and then Dustin stumbled. Margo grabbed the back of his shirt before he could tumble into the abyss below. They were on the ledge right next to the laser shooting into the gate to the Upside Down. "Holy shit!" Dustin screamed. They were cornered. 

"This way!" shouted Steve, and he started pushing past the guards surrounding them, heading back the way they'd come. 

Everything was chaos. They were running aimlessly, just trying to get away from the guards. At last, they skidded into an empty room and Steve, Robin, and Margo all leaned against the door to keep in shut. Steve had a bloody nose. Margo couldn't tell if the blood on her own face was from her old injury or a new one. 

Dustin and Erica ran ahead of them, then turned back. "Come on!" Dustin shouted. 

"No!" said Steve, still holding the door with all his weight. 

"Come on!" 

"No!" Steve said again. "Just go get some help, okay?" Dustin hesitated once more, staring back at them desperately. "What are you doing?" Steve yelled. 

"Go!" said Robin and Margo at the same time, the door rattling behind them. 

"I won't forget you!" cried Dustin, real tears streaming down his face. 

"Go!"

Just as Dustin disappeared into the nearest grate, the door opened and Margo, Steve, and Robin were all flung to the side. Russian guards flooded the room, and all Margo could see were the guns being pointed at her from all angles. 

She put her hands above her head, and Robin and Steve followed suit. They were cornered. It was the end of the line. Then, everything went dark. 

--

When Margo woke up, she was tied to a chair in an empty room, a Russian guard standing over her. "Who do you work for?" he said, but it sounded like gibberish in Margo's foggy mind.