SATELLITE [STEVE HARRINGTON]

can i just cry for a second?

GINNY COULDN'T BELIEVE HER EYES, OR MAYBE SHE JUST DIDN'T WANT TO. She looked at Dustin and Steve, who stared back wide-eyed. "The gate," they said.

Robin looked confused. "What?"

"Just..." Ginny turned around and started down the stairs quickly. "Trust me, this is bad, really bad."

"I don't understand, you've seen this before?" the freckled girl asked.

"Not exactly," Steve said.

"Then what exactly?"

"Ginny's right," Dustin said, "All you need to know is it's bad."

"Really bad."

"Like, end-of-the-human-race-as-we-know-it kind of bad."

Robin made a face. "And you guys know about this how?"

"Um, Steve?" Erica said, drawing the attention to her. "Where's your Russian friend?"

Ginny looked; all that was left of him was a small puddle of blood.

Just then, an alarm blared over their heads. Ginny spun around to look out the door into the middle of the hub. "Found him," she muttered reluctantly, spotting the Russian Steve had attacked talking to other soldiers.

They looked up and made eye contact with her. "Oh, shit." She slammed the door shut and ran to her friends. "We gotta go!"

Pushing through a different door to the left, they raced after safety, Dustin in the lead. He skidded to a stop inside the control room for the laser, his sneakers squealing and prompting the scientists and guards to turn to look at them.

"Shit!" Dustin said, darting to the left. They raced across the platform, down the stairs.

"Why are we going towards the giant laser?!" Ginny cried, grasping Robin's shoulders to keep her from flying off the edge at a sharp corner.

"Just keep going!" Steve yelled.

Dustin pushed a man in a red hazard suit to the side, shrieking. A dozen guards chased after them, all shouting in indistinct Russian.

Dustin led them to the edge of the platform, screaming. "HOLY SHIT! Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit!" It was a dead end; they were almost cornered.

"Come on!" Steve yanked on Ginny's hand and she stumbled, grasping Robin by the collar of her Scoops Ahoy uniform. They raced down another staircase, Steve shoving guards and soldiers out of the way as they ran to a room underneath the laser.

"Shit, oh shit!" Steve yelled, squeezing around a corner. He shoved heavy metal barrels at the two guards running after them. "Come on! Go, go, go!"

Ginny lead the way into the nearest door, opening it and letting Dustin, Erica, and Robin squeeze in first. She yelled for Steve. "Come on!"

"Close the door! Close the door!" he yelled quickly, after slipping inside. Robin slammed it shut, using her shoulder. Steve pressed his back into it.

"Here, come on!" Erica yelled suddenly, lifting a hatch in the floor that led to the air ducts. Ginny looked their way; a hand knocked into her shoulder hard.

"Go, Ginny!" yelled Steve, he and Robin struggling to keep the door closed with all the soldiers trying to open it. "Go, please!"

"I'm not leaving you!" she said, moving to help them with the door— but Robin pushed her away, too. "Robin—"

"Just go, Ginny! Get some help!"

Ginny's heart sank into her stomach. A hand latched onto her arm and started to pull her away. "No, Dustin— no!" Ginny fought against him, but the look on Steve's face made her stop.