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BOTH HOPPER AND SEB WATCHED AS JOYCE LOOKED AWAY FROM THEM, TWISTING THE KEYS. Immediately looking to his father, Seb understood the man's signal as he literally pointed to the gate's direction. Rushing in that direction, Seb felt his legs failing on him, his eardrums being burst by the explosions behind him. Hopper crossed his fingers as he ran, praying that both him and his son made it. The explosions caught up with the two of them, Seb's grunts being silenced by the large explosion of the machine.
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HOURS LATER, THE GATE HAD BEEN KEPT OPEN BY MULTIPLE MONSTER KEEPING IT THAT WAY UNTIL IT FINALLY CLOSED, HOPPER'S EYES OPENING. The immense pain in his back and all over his body made the man's breathing ragged as soon as he woke up.
Seb.
Looking to his right with only his head, the pain increased in his neck as he saw Seb laying there. The boy's closed eyelids were facing him, blood from his mouth pouring onto the ground below him. He was barely recognisable with all the blood and ash that covered his face. He was deathly pale, Hopper grumbling in worry. The boy wasn't moving. "No..." Hopper murmured out, his voice croaked as he urged himself up, ignoring the shooting pain that came with it. The man limped over to his son, dropping to his knees to hold his shoulder. "Buddy, wake up..." Hopper's voice croaked, worry flooding his mind. There's no way he made it and Seb didn't. "Seb." Hopper urged, brushing the boy's hair back from his forehead. Staring at the boy's eyelids, he watched as there was some slight movement occurred behind them.
"Please, Sebastian." Hopper gasped out, dropping his head to the floor as he missed the boy's eyes fluttering open. A groan made the man look up quickly, meeting eyes with Seb's. Relief flooded the man, kneeling closer to the boy. "Shh, you're alright." Hopper assured as he weakly held Seb's head to his chest. The two sat in silence for a while before Hopper silently held Seb's shoulders and helped him to sit up. The boy hadn't said anything yet, Hopper examining his face and rubbing the blood off with his already dirty sleeve. "Are you okay?" Seb whispered, Hopper nodding. "Don't worry about me. Let's get out of here." The man's speech became clearer as he spoke more, Seb nodding as he stood up weakly. The two had had time to adjust to their surroundings, Hopper urging Seb up some ladders.
Pushing the boy up, Seb sat down breathlessly as he faced the stairs, grabbing his father's hand once it was in view. Pulling himself up, Hopper's face dropped when he came face to face with three Russian's behind Seb. Of course the boy couldn't notice them, his sense of surroundings and direction were utterly demolished by what had just happened. Hopper was about to signal their presence before they did themselves, whacking the end of a gun across Seb's head. Knocking the boy out, Hopper quickly looked to where he landed, the Russian's smiling at him. "Where do you two think you're going?" He spat in Russian, Hopper staring up at him in utter fear,
