Raining Hellfire 3

Chapter 8: Code Red

"This is a Code Red. Can anyone hear me? Code Red!"

You practically yelled into your radio, letting out a frustrated sigh when all you heard back was static.

Great, you thought, everyone is off fighting completely different things and I'm alone. Again.

You sigh, leaning back against your car. It was your own fault. You'd thought that by pushing everyone away, you could somehow keep them out of danger. But that was the funny thing about you and the people you loved. You were just as stubborn as eachother.

You squeeze your eyes shut, panicking. There was another person who could help, one you trusted with your life after they literally saved it. But you may have alienated that option when you told him you didn't have feelings for him.

Every part of you just wanted to crawl under covers and cry until you didn't feel anymore. You had lied to so many people and when you finally can open up to someone, the universe divides you. If your fate was to be all alone, it had succeeded.

But, as you said, you were stubborn.

Driving to Starcourt Mall was a daily occurrence for you. It shouldn't feel so different this time but it was. Because you were about to plead for forgiveness.

You marched straight to Scoops, dead set on grovelling until Steve could help you find a way to stop whatever the hell was going on in the basement of the steelworks factory. He was a natural born leader and the others respected him. You weren't so sure anyone would listen to you.

Arriving at Scoops was as bone-chilling as it came for you. A crowd of angry customers stood just outside, grumbling about the lack of service. They all started yelling at you once you headed to the employee room and you span around with a frown.

"I don't fucking work here! There are hundreds of food places, you don't need ice cream at 8 in the morning!"

A few people swore, some scoffed and left. You couldn't care less.

Pushing through the door, you muttered your apology under your breath. You hoped it would work.

You enter the room and were met with nothing but empty chairs and a table full of scattered paper.

You frowned.

"What the..." Your eyes drifted to the cover of a vent, discarded on the ground while a chair stood under the opening.

You climbed up, peering through at the tight space and shook your head.

"Okay there's no way any of them were fitting in there." You mutter and in an instant, you notice something shiny laying further in the vent. You lean forward, arm extended as you patted around the vent until your fingers clamped over the object and pulled it out.

You frown at your hand.

You were holding a unicorn hair clip.

"Okay..." You couldn't imagine it belonged to Steve, definitely not Robin. And it didn't seem Dustin's style either. There was only one person you knew that actually liked unicorns, a girl you babysat-

Your eyes widened. Erica.

Stepping down, you pocket the hair clip and walk over to the piles of paper left on the table.

"I can't believe they dragged a ten year old into this." You whispered to yourself as you scramble through the mess, trying to find clues. You move a few things when you find a blueprint. You stop, staring down.

The blueprint was scribbled over with red lines, some sort of pathway leading through the vents. It was slowly making sense to you now. They had found the Russian base. That's what Dustin was trying to tell you.