𝖕𝖆𝖗𝖆𝖓𝖔𝖗𝖒𝖆𝖑 || 𝘀. 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗼𝗻

S3E5: The Flayed

I lie down on my back, hoping to spread the force of impact when the elevator finally hits the ground. My backpack lies under my head. Maybe that'll help prevent a concussion.

Screams all around me echo down the grinding shaft. It's mostly Steve, but Erica and Robin are just as loud. I screamed the first few hundred feet we fell, but at this point I've just quietly accepted the fact that we're all going to die.

"Shit! Shit!" Dustin screams at the top of his lungs, pounding on all of the buttons.

"We're going down! We're going down!" Steve yells.

"Yeah, no shit, Harrington!" Robin rebukes.

I stare at the ceiling. My heart beats a million miles per hour, making me wonder if it's going to burst. I swallow, making my ears pop as we fall farther and farther down. Everything happening has become a blur around me.

"Why don't these buttons work?!" Dustin panics.

"Press the button!" Erica's voice shouts.

"What do you think I'm doing?!"

"Come on, press something!" Steve begins to completely lose it. "Just press the button!"

The elevator jolts, sending all of them to the floor. Boxes collapse on Steve. One almost hits me, but I slide out of the way in time. I raise onto my knees, noticing everything has stopped moving now.

"We're alive?" I breathe out. I flex my fingers and move my ankles. Everything seems to be okay. Nothing's broken.

"My groin," Steve groans. "It fell on my groin. Get this off of me! I can't move."

I help Dustin lift the box off Steve and set it back on top of the others. Steve pants and sits up, leaning against the wall.

"Is everyone okay?" Robin asks, rubbing the back of her head.

"Yeah, I'm great, now that I know that Russians can't design elevators!" Steve screams, throwing his hand in the air. He shoves Dustin out of the way in his hysteric state and starts punching all the buttons.

"I think we've clearly established that those buttons don't work," Robin says.

"They're buttons. They have to do something," he snaps, wildly gesturing his hands in the air.

"And they would if we had a keycard," I say, noticing the card reader on the same unit as the buttons.

"A what?"

I slide my finger over where the card would slide. "See? It's an electronic lock like the one at the loading dock. We don't have a keycard, so these buttons aren't going to work."

"We're stuck in here," Robin summarizes.

"Just so you nerds are aware," Erica begins, her tone dripping with sass, "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, who is leaned against a cardboard box, his eyes hopelessly downcast, suddenly comes to life. "I don't care about Tina!" His hands wildly gesture around as he shouts. "Or Uncle Jack's party! Your mom's not gonna be able to find us if we're dead in a Russian elevator!"

"Hey." Dustin gets our attention. He points at the maintenance hatch on the ceiling. "What if we climbed out?"

We scoot a metal rack under the hatch, then Dustin and Steve climb up.

"What do you see?" I call up to them.

Steve looks down the opened hatch at me from the top of the elevator. "I don't think climbing's gonna work out."