voltage ; stranger things

eleven ; near-death cliche

          INTO the ground the elevator plunges, carrying with its regular shipment, the six stowaways. They scream and brace themselves on what they can grab, even the boxes of strange green goo and each other. The ground vibrates beneath their feet and the walls rattle noisily in their ears, leaving room for nothing but panic and sheer terror.

"Holy shit!" Dustin shrieks. "Holy shit, holy shit!"

Colleen, with one hand latched onto Tony's arm in an iron grip, presses the other to the wall of the elevator and attempts to reach out. She searches through the darkness, surrounded by the heart-wrenching cries of her friends, and finds nothing. It's different down here. The air is heavier, and goosebumps rise along her skin the further they go. It's different down here. A bad different.

Then, without warning, the elevator stops. The group falls to the ground, the world spinning around them, as all falls silent. Well, for just a moment.

"Where the hell are we?" Erica demands, as if one of them has the answer.

Dustin and Steve quickly rise to their feet, at once beginning to mash buttons on the control panel and argue loudly over who's doing what wrong. They rise in volume, so much that their furious and panicked yells echo up from where they just came.

Colleen, getting up, presses a hand to her forehead and closes her eyes. She can feel it. She can hear it. But not over those stupid boys. "Hey!" she shouts. "Enough! Sit down and shut up!"

Steve and Dustin exchange a look before backing away from the control panel, murmuring low to one another.

"Are you alright?" Tony asks, reaching out to touch Colleen's wrist. "Did you hit your head?"

"No," she says, leaning against the table. "It's... I don't know." She looks up, lowering her hand. A small voice whispers in her ear, though she can't understand what it's saying to her. A touch trails over her body, but there's no one even close to her. She's lying; she knows.

"Great." Dustin rubs his eyes, almost tiredly. "Just great. Our canary in the coal mine is dead, so now we don't even know what we don't know."

Tony, his flashlight still flickering on and off, clicks it off and tucks it in his pocket. "Well," he says, "we have to be somewhere beneath the mall. I didn't feel any turns or anything."

"Yeah, by the way, who the hell are you?" asks Steve.

"Hey," says Collie, "chill out-"

"Tony Martinson," he interrupts, crossing his arms and standing a bit taller. "I work at Radio Shack. Who are you, and why were you messing with company property?"

"I'm Steve Harrington, Scoops Ahoy," says Steve, walking forward to meet the new boy. He puffs out his chest, only then realizing he's a few inches shorter. "And I don't think that's any of your business."

"Well, since I'm down here with you now, thanks a lot, I think it is my business."

"Oh, says the guy who kicked out the stopper."

"Hey-"

"Okay, gentlemen," says Robin as she shoves the two teenagers away from one another, "let's stop for a second, shall we? You can compare whose muscles are bigger when our lives aren't on the line."

Steve and Tony look each other up and down, though for now hold their tongues. Colleen shoves between them, making for the control panel. Just when she reaches it, however, Dustin shuts whatever plan she was thinking of down.

"Uh, guys," he says, "I think we've got company."

A couple quick minutes of boosting each other up and grumbles and snarky remarks later, the six are crouched in the space above the elevator, watching silently like gargoyles. The steel door is opened and two armed guards enter, with cigarettes between their teeth and Russian upon their tongues. They speak as they unload a few boxes from the elevator onto what looks like a truck just outside, unaware of the eyes on their backs.

As they exit for the last time and close the door, Dustin shakes Colleen and whispers, "Now."

She thrusts out a hand when the door is a few feet from the ground, giving them just enough room to wiggle through. She focuses on the steel as they climb down from the ceiling and squeeze through. They usher the kids along first, then slip under themselves.

"Are-are you doing this?" asks Tony when he's halfway through the tiny gap.

Blood drips from Colleen's nostril, her eyes clenched shut. She says, "Tony, I swear to god, if you don't move I will drop this thing on you."

When he's disappeared, the others drop to their knees to motion her forward. "Collie, come on, your turn," says Robin.

Colleen inhales deep, then opens her eyes to reveal their pale hue. She stares hard at the door as she lowers herself to her back, beginning to slide feet first through the gap between the steel and the floor. A hand grabs her thigh, helping to pull her through. For just a moment, she loses focus.

The door slams closed, or tries to, until she cries out and looks back up, throwing out her hands. The others yell, multiple people grabbing her legs and torso as the steel stops to rest upon her chest, just centimeters from chopping her in half.

"Oh my god! Holy shit!" Dustin says, yanking at her right leg. It pulls her slightly, making the door lower just a touch more. On the other side, she groans as it presses into her chest.

"Dude, stop!" exclaims Steve. He frantically scoots as close as possible to the opening, grabbing her belt loops and work shirt. "Collie, focus, okay? We're gonna pull you out on three." He gets a moan of frustration and pain in return. "Okay, okay. One, two, three!"

The others yank her across the floor, saving her just before the door drops shut for good. It catches the edge of her jacket, snagging her in a sort of trap. She flails, thinking she's lost an arm and just hasn't felt it, before Steve tears her loose and frees her from the denim. They collapse together, each heaving breaths and clinging to one another without at all caring what the others think. For a moment. Then, they roll away and stare up at the ceiling, their fingers close but never touching.

"Well, that was a near-death cliche." Dustin, wiping the sweat from his forehead, lifts his head and catches sight of what's before them. He exhales. "Holy mother of god."