[ 𝚃𝚠𝚒𝚐𝚜 & 𝙳𝚒𝚛𝚝 ] ~ 𝙳𝚞𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚗 𝙷𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝚡 𝙾𝚌

XXIX - Green Goop

"Code red, I repeat, code red. Does anyone copy?" Dustin repeated for what had to be the hundredth time into Lucy's TRC. "This is a code red, I repeat, a code red. This is a code red, I repeat a code red. Does anyone copy?" Him and Lucy were on the roof of the elevator room, Dustin pacing and Lucy sitting up against the wall. "We're innocent children and we are trapped under Starcourt Mall. The Red Army has infiltrated Hawkins, and if we are found, they will torture and kill us."

"Dust, give it a break-" Lucy tried. 

"This is important! It might work." He huffed, his voice breaking. 

"Hey!" Steve popped his head up. "You gotta take it easy on that thing. Okay? You're gonna drain the battery." 

"The mall just opened." Dustin responded with wide eyes.

"So?"

"So someone could be in range."

"What do you think, Petey the Mall Cop is gonna rappel down here and save the day?" Steve pushed himself fully up to the platform.

"Alright, why are you such a cranky pants?"

Steve huffed, looking away from Dustin and toward the wall.

"He upset Russell." Lucy mumbled, hugging her knees to her chest with a yawn. 

"Lu, have you slept. . ? Like. . .at all?" Her brother questioned, giving her a weary look.

"Uh. . .yes. . ?" She lied, her voice peaking. 

"God damn it, go to bed-" 

"No thanks." Lucy murmured back. 

"And what do you mean I upset Ru? We were talking all night-" 

"About what?" 

"We were trying to figure out a way to open up the door. While you children were supposed to be asleep." 

Lucy huffed. "Too bad."

Steve pointed his words back to Dustin. "After eight hours, we're still exactly nowhere, which is, you know, probably just a little bit of the reason why I'm feeling just. . .a tad cranky." He glanced back at his sister. "Go back down."

"Why?" 

"Because- Uh- Because I'm your older brother and I told you to." 

Lucy rolled her eyes before getting to her feet and walking back to the open latch, carefully lowering herself onto the box and into the room. She heard a zipper and huffed when she realized why she had to leave. 

"You okay, Lucy?" Russell tilted her head, looking at the young brunette who looked absolutely exhausted. 

"Just. . .tired." She mumbled, scratching at her left arm.

Russell met her hand, pulling it away from the red, scratched up arm. She must've been digging at it all night with how red and bloody it was. 

"Can you redirect your stream, please?" Robin called to Steve. 

Russell grabbed Lucy's backpack from the ground and started sifting through it for something. The Harrington walked over to Erica who was banging one of the green tubes against a metal barrel. 

"Hey, hey! Be careful, careful, careful!" Robin yelled, running over and pulling the mystery goop from Erica. "We don't even know what this is." 

"Exactly. It could be useful." Erica snarked. 

"Looks toxic." Lucy countered.

"Useful how?" Robin questioned. 

"We can survive down here a long time without food, but if the human body doesn't get water, it will die." 

"I have water-" Lucy mumbled under her breath.

"I hate to break it to you, but this is not water." Robin stepped closer to Erica, holding up the tube.

"No, but it's a liquid. And if it comes down to me drinking that shit or dying of thirst, I drink." 

Lucy felt a hand softly guiding her back by her shoulder, looking up to see Russell with a roll of bandages. She looked over to the table in the center of the room to see her backpack open and her first aid kit on the table. She sighed, holding her left arm out for Russell who returned the action with a small smile. 

There was a quiet whir coming from outside the doors of the room, Lucy looked over as Russell carefully wrapped her arm. Robin pressed her ear to the door, before hurrying to climb up the table and box. "We've got company." She told Steve and Dustin. The three older teens rushed Erica and Lucy onto the roof, helping them up before Russell pulled herself up and they fixed the vent. Russell made sure to grab Lucy's backpack and first aid kit, leaving hopefully no trace of the six of them being there. They could see two men come into the room from the grates on the roof, they spoke to each other in Russian. Lucy could understand a little. She'd never really heard it in conversation, more just reading and the recording Dustin took. 

"You smell that?" The first man asked.

"What?" The second responded, a cigarette loosely in his mouth as he picked up one of the boxes for Imperial Panda.

"Piss." 

The man with the cigarette sniffed before shrugging and walking out with the box. The first man went and grabbed a box, the both of them oblivious to the six above them. Steve held a finger to his mouth, looking at Erica and the green tube she held and giving a small nod. At the same time, Russell finished wrapping up Lucy's arm and put the roll back away. She took one of the sunflower stickers Lucy had out of the front pocket of the backpack and stuck it right where the bandage was being held shut with medical tape. Lucy smiled.

Once the men had eight boxes, Steve jumped down. The door started closing and he shoved the green tube upright through the crack to prop it open. "Let's go." He huffed, throwing both Lucy and Erica's backpacks through. Erica jumped down and Steve helped urge her through, repeating 'go' over and over. 

"I'm going!" She huffed as she slid all the way through. Lucy was next, hitting the floor and army crawling through with ease. Dustin was quick to follow, then Russell, then Robin, and last Steve.

Just as Steve got all the way through, the tube shattered and the green liquid covered the floor. It melted the concrete below. Steve huffed out. "Jesus Christ-" 

"Ooh." Erica hissed. 

"You still wanna drink that?" Robin grinned, making Lucy snicker.

"Holy mother of God." Dustin said. 

"That's. . .shit." Russell responded, looking down the hall. It had to be at least two miles long.

"Well. . .hope you guys are in good shape." Steve murmured, walking between Dustin and Lucy and patting Dustin on the chest. "Looking at you, roast beef." He walked ahead of them and when he noticed that nobody but Lucy and Russell were following, he waved the other three along. "Let's go, come on." 

They followed, Dustin turning to Robin and asking. "Why me?" To no response. 

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Word Count - 1,121

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Published - January 28, 2024

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