CHAPTER FIFTY THREE

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Judy had to run away as fast as she possibly could, almost falling down the stairs

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Judy had to run away as fast as she possibly could, almost falling down the stairs. Making it back into the Comms room, her body involuntarily hunched over and heaved.

"Judy!" Steve yelled after her, coming from behind to press a concerned hand on her back.

Coming back up for air, Judy's face tightened in a cry, "This is bad! This is so bad! This is last year, and the year before, all over again. I don't want to do this again."

"Breath, alright?" He tried to stay calm for her, but Steve was feeling the same dread. "You have to breathe. Calm down."

Steve held on to Judy's heaving body as tight as he could. She clutched his shirt just as tightly, trying to find any bit of comfort.

"Uh, guys? Where'd that guy go?" Dustin questioned, looking around the Comms room.

Steve and Judy let go of each other just enough to look around as well, finding an empty floor. The Russian soldier Steve knocked out earlier, had vanished.

A blaring alarm rang through the group's ears and Steve seemed to drop Judy out of his arms to run over to the door. He opened it to find a group of soldiers. Seeing Steve, they advance.

Steve slammed the door without hesitation and motioned frantically for the others to run. They went back towards the observation room and stopped shortly before the Russian scientist, who looked at them perplexed.

Dustin, Steve, Judy and Erica run downstairs and into the rift chamber as the soldiers burst in. They scurried across a catwalk – reaching the end of the machine – its beam of energy relentlessly working to open the Gate. As the soldiers got closer the group ran in the opposite direction and down another set of stairs.

More soldiers burst through the door and Steve knocked over a stack of barrels, temporarily blocking the soldiers path.

Finding another door, leading to another room, Steve used his body weight to hold it shut as soldiers tried to force their way in. Dustin and Erica searched for a way out and Judy rushed over to Steve, noticing he needed help keeping the door shut.

Steve and Judy used all the strength they had to keep the door shut against the stack of Russian soldiers on the other side. They stared with wide eyes as Erica lifted a panel above ventilation ducks. Her and Dustin jumped in right away, disappearing. Steve and Judy continued to struggle, even as Dustin popped his head above the hole he'd just gone into.

"Come on!" he yelled.

"Get out of here!" Judy encouraged, knowing that nothing good would come out of trying to run away from the door.

"No!" Dustin yelled back in his chicken squall. "What are you doing? Come on!"

"Go!" Judy and Steve yelled over each other, "Get some help!"

Dustin hesitated, looking frightened as all get out. But he put on a brave face - sort of. "I'll never forget you," he yelled again, in a cheesy movie actor way.

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