the view between villages // a stranger things choose-your-own-adventure

PAGE 3: Escape with Dustin and Erica through the vents

"GO!" Steve yells. "NOW!"

You want to protest once more, to join him and Robin in barricading the door, but you realize why he wants you to go so badly: he wants you to keep an eye on the younger kids. He wants them safe and out of the clutches of the Russians.

"We'll come back for you two!" you say. "I swear it."

With that, you duck into the vents and close the grate just as the door bursts open. You hear yelling in Russian as Steve and Robin surrender.

You slap a hand over your mouth to keep yourself from crying out. How the hell did your life turn into whatever the fuck this nightmare is?

Dustin and Erica crouch a few feet ahead of you in the vent. At the sight of you looking so scared, they wilt.

"Are they going to be okay?" Erica asks, voice small.

"I don't know," you say. "But we're going to find a way out of here so we can come back for them and bring them home. Let's go."

It's much easier for Dustin and Erica to crawl through the vents. You, on the other hand, feel a bit like Alice in Wonderland when she eats the wrong thing and grows way too big.

"Ouch!" you grumble, the top of your head smacking against the ceiling once more. "God, I wish these were bigger."

As you three wander toward relative safety, Dustin regales you and Erica with the true history of Hawkins. It turns out the boring small town you chose to start over in has a much, much darker past than you thought. Even worse than Russians, somehow.

Erica is shocked that her brother Lucas was involved in any of the heroics, finding that too hard to believe.

"Need help with that?" Erica asks as he tries to stop a fan from spinning so you can get by.

"No."

"Well, it's taking a while, so—"

"No shit Sherlock!" Dustin snaps.

"Let's not fight," you say quickly, hoping to keep the peace while you're all in close quarters. "We have to work together to get out of here and get Steve and Robin some help."

"They're screwed if we can't stop these fans faster," Erica says. "We've made it about 0.3 miles in 9 hours. Then, we had to walk 3 hours down that tunnel, so I'd estimate ten miles back to the elevator, which should take us...12 and a half days."

You and Dustin share a look.

"Did you just do that math in your head?" you ask.

"I'm good with numbers," Erica says proudly.

Dustin cackles and proclaims that Erica is a nerd, to which she protests vehemently. However, you agree, especially when Dustin reminds Erica that My Little Pony is inherently nerdy.

"Don't worry, Erica," you say. "All the best people are nerds."

"Whatever," she grumbles, just as Dustin gets the fan stopped. The three of you continue trekking through the underground vents.

Your mind wanders to Steve and Robin. You can't believe they were taken. You're no badass, but you'll do anything to get them back. They don't deserve to rot in this place, especially when they sacrificed themselves for you three.

It's a relief when Dustin slides open a floor panel and ushers you and Erica out of the vents. You've ended up in a storage room of sorts, filled with rows of the neon green corrosive liquid.

Dustin beelines for a transport cart and sits in the driver's seat.

"How about you let the person with an actual license drive?" you say with a raised eyebrow.