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ZOE HAD CHANGED FOR THE BETTER. She knew that much, considering that now she felt happier— she felt like herself. Sure, she was now petrified of needles and forever will be— but she was determined to become a better person. One that stranded away from constant lies, and instead, planned movie nights with the girl she really liked. Perhaps Zoe Addams had very much preferred life without torture and crazy Russians, but she was in it deep now. And she really needed to survive. How much crazier could her life get? She was about to find out.
Dustin creaked the bathroom door a bit, watching as people began to filter out of the theaters. He instructed everyone to blend in to the crowd, which at the moment, was an amazing plan. The five of them kept together closely, heading closer and closer to the exit. "Well, shit, that worked," Erica commented, and this time, her voice wasn't dripping sarcasm.
The five of them were so close to freedom, "Of course it worked. Now we just have to get on the bus with the rest of these plebes, and home sweet home here we come." Dustin remarked, a bit proud that his plan had worked out so well.
"Uh, Dustin?" Steve stammered, "Yeah, we might not wanna go to your house. I might've told them your full name." He admitted, which had brought Zoe back to reality as well. She threw a slight glare in Steve's general direction because now she had to tell Erica that she had done the same.
"What is wrong with you?" Dustin reprimanded, keeping his eyes locked forward to not draw any attention.
"Dude, I was drugged." Steve tried defending himself, only to end up elbowing Zoe for her to confess as well. Zoe shook her head, not wanting to get the same heated response as Steve. But the adult boy was not having it, an outed her instead. "Well, Zoe said Erica's name as well!"
Erica's head whipped around, not caring about the attention that it drew. "What the hell Zoe!"
Zoe turned to Steve, "What the hell Steve?!"
"You were both supposed to tough it out! Tough it out like the man and woman I both know you are!" Dustin kept his head forward still, but his agitation seemed to grow by the moment. Erica had just about enough of everything.
"Guys?" Robin drew out her voice worriedly. She held Zoe, Steve, Dustin, and Erica back as she continued looking towards the entrance. Zoe saw it too. It made all the hope she had gathered up fall almost instantly. Two Russian guards, dressed in head-to-toe black were checking everyone's ID's as they left the building. There was no way the five of them were going to make it past them.
"Abort," Dustin spoke, just as urgently as every other time. One of the Russian guards slowly turned their head in the group's direction. The five of them were frozen for a moment, growing more terrified with the possibility of getting caught. "Abort, abort, abort!" Dustin yelled. That seemed to drag the group out of their trance as they began walking towards the escalators.
In a moment of panic, Dustin slid down the middle of the escalator, wasting no time walking down the steps in normal fashion. After Erica, Steve slid down quickly after. Zoe tightly squeezed Robin's hand before letting it fall. Robin reciprocated the action by smiling before she slid down the escalator as well. Zoe looked behind her, watching with wide-eyes as the guards began to round the corner. If Zoe were to slide down now, she would reveal their location in an instant. But, if she made a break for it— the five of them would have a greater chance of survival.
And so, as she looked down at her friends who looked almost concern for Zoe. She mouthed an apology. Before running away before the guards could catch her. Before Robin could rush towards her— before anything could change her mind. Zoe slipped past the guards as they had come distracted. She ran back towards the entrance, stopping to catch her breath as she enjoyed the fresh air. Her plan? She didn't exactly know yet. Obviously she was bound to get help, but how exactly was she going to explain her current predicament?
Did she happen to get trapped in an underground secret Russian base? And now Russian guards were after her and her four other friends? Zoe doubted anyone would believe her. As she began hatching a plan that would help her friends, a loud sound had caught her by surprise. She didn't have to raise her head to realize it was the sound of tires screeching too close to her form. The car stopped in front of her, and suspiciously— Zoe backed up slightly, ready to run if she had too. The passenger's door opened, then the drivers, revealing two teenagers that Zoe knew all too well.
Nancy and Jonathan.
The doors from the back of the car opened up as well, revealing five younger kids— ones that Zoe had seen before but hadn't bothered to socialize with. She had seen them hang out with Dustin before, so she figured they were probably friends. What they were doing here, however; was a different question entirely. Zoe relaxed a bit, figuring that Nancy and Jonathan weren't some Russian soldiers that were here to hurt her. She cleared her throat, drawing all the attention towards her. "Uh hi— yeah? The mall is close so you might want to uh, come back tomorrow or something." She spoke, her confidence raising a bit to appear more dominant.
One of the younger boys spoke, "Where's Dustin?" His voice was urgent, but his slight waiver had not put anyone in their place.
"Come on, Mike! Do you really think she knows who Dustin is?!" Another boy spoke, causing Mike to deadpan and spur a bickering match between all of the kids.
Nancy and Jonathan groaned, clearly aggravated with how quickly they managed to lose sight of their real problem. Nancy had just barely recognized the girl before her. Zoe's face was stained with grime and dried tears, while her posture had screamed exhausted. Her makeshift ponytail was enough to pull her hair away from her face, but it didn't do much at covering all the bad Zoe had gone through. Nancy could only wonder- what exactly did Zoe go through? It was a crazy idea, but maybe Zoe did know where Dustin was. Maybe she knew a little more.
Zoe straighten herself out before she began talking once more, "Dustin Henderson? I know where he is."
AUTHORS NOTE!
Hello, I'm back from my hiatus and I decided to update! I love this book with all of my heart and I decided to take a different route with today's chapter. I wanted to write at least one original scene before I throw Zoe back into all of the action. I'm planning for a lot of Zoe x Robin fluff so stay in tune for that! Thank you for 2k reads! It really means the world to me!!
