voltage ; stranger things

twelve ; the gate

          EVERYONE slowly follows Dustin's gaze, at once understanding his awe and exasperation. Before them is a long, long hallway lined with metal pipes and support frames, stretching on forever and ever with no end anywhere in sight. The Russians rode in a small vehicle to unload the delivery; they have nothing but their own legs.

          "Well," says Robin, "I hope everyone's in shape."

          The group of six walks for what seems hours, leaving the elevator behind and never reaching whatever destination they're headed towards. They're stuck between nothingness on either side, trapped in a metal limbo.

          "You know," Dustin says as they plod onwards, "this would actually be a really good system for the Russians. This tunnel obviously isn't made for walking; by the time someone found them, they'd be gone."

          "It's not good, it's a fire hazard," says Steve. "Miles underground, no doors, no exits. This place is a death trap."

          Colleen glances over at him for a moment, then looks back down at her feet. Her skin still tingles from where he pulled her from out of the elevator and clung to her like a life preserver. His hands have left echos, his fingers still seeming to grasp her middle and trace her arms. She blinks, a bit startled, when her heart flutters and the realization dawns upon her that she actually craves the touch. His touch.

          But then another thought hits her. Does she miss his contact, or does she miss the feeling Jonathan used to give her?

          After, as their watches tell them, an hour and a half of walking, they at last hear voices and see an end to the tunnel. They rush forward, keeping low, and dart behind a large crate set at the hallway's mouth. As one, the six peek over it, and collectively inhale.

          They're staring at a small atrium with high ceilings and dozens of control stations mounted to the walls and floors. Russians, at least twenty that they can see, work diligently; guards with machine guns, generals with badges on their uniforms, women in white lab coats. They record numbers and talk into service lines and carry the metal boxes filled with green goo back and forth. It's an entire Russian lab beneath Hawkins, Indiana.

          The teenagers press back into their hiding spot, each heaving in deep breaths. "Oh my god," says Tony, "oh my god."

          "What in the hell are we supposed to do now?" asks Dustin.

"There's a control room on the other side," says Erica, risking a peek again. "We could get through there and radio for help."

"How do you know it was a control room?"

She furrows her brows and looks at him as if she's surprised a person as dumb as him could still exist. "Uh, duh, I saw a bunch of switches and blinking lights and stuff in there."

"That could be nearly anything," says Tony. "I think we should go back."

"And what, hotshot?" Steve asks. "Wait for GI Joe to swoop down and save us? I don't think so." He looks around at the others and motions for them to keep close to the ground. "Alright, we're gonna keep low and run like hell for that room. Follow me."

Tony huffs and rolls his eyes, but says nothing.

They wait for a break in the Russians that walk back and forth into adjacent hallways leading to god knows where, then trail after Steve as he moves. The group slinks across the atrium on silent feet and file into the control room, softly shutting the door behind them. Then they turn around.

"Oh, shit," says Erica.

A guard, who was sitting at the desk of flashing lights and switches, jumps from his chair to face the teenagers. He speaks something in Russian, which none of them are able to understand.

"Does anyone know what to do?" Dustin asks.

Colleen looks to the control panel. If she could get over there, there's a chance she could-

Before she can even finish her thought, Steve releases a gladiator-like war cry and charges the guard. He slams the man twice his size into the control panel and lands a blow to his jaw before he's thrown backwards. "No!" he says when Tony steps forward. "No, I've got this!"

The guard picks him up and tosses him across the room, where he rams into the wall and leaves a sizable dent in the metal. The Russian begins to draw a pistol from his waistband before Steve grabs a microphone from the desk and smacks him across the head with it. The man tumbles, allowing him to strike again, before falling like a sack of hammers. Blood spills from the gash in his forehead, staining the floor.

The room is silent, save for Steve's deep pants, until Dustin throws his hands up and exclaims, "Holy shit! Dude, you won a fight! You never win fights!"

Colleen listens as they bicker over if Steve has ever won a fight, then stops and touches the side of her head. The whispers return and the phantom touches trace her skin. Slowly, she turns her head. There's a set of stairs leading to a security door, where light flashes and sparks fly through the window. She begins to climb the stairs, unaware of the others exchanging glances and following her. At the door, she touches the glass and stares through the window.

"No," she whispers.

Beyond the door is an expansive lab, where men in hazmat suits travel across catwalks that all lead back to one thing. A gigantic machine, three times the size of any car, spins like a tornado in the center of the room, producing crackling electricity and pure energy. The soldiers use canisters of the the green goo the fuel the contraption, which shoots a blinding ray of power towards the lab's far wall. And there, with its pulsating heartbeat and slimy strands and impossible light, is the gate.

"What... is that?" asks Tony.

Colleen's breath hitches in her throat. "The upside down," she says.