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

PAGE 4: Get caught with Steve and Robin

"GO!" Steve yells. "NOW!"

You don't. You say to Dustin, "Get Erica to safety and get help!" before you close the grate behind you. You slam all your body weight against the door on the other side of Steve.

"Son of a—go, now!" Steve snaps, glaring at you.

"I'm not leaving you," you say. "Either of you. We're in this together. Right?"

"Right," Robin echoes. "No matter what."

The soldiers breach the door, sending you all flying across the floor. They grab you three and march you down the hall, muttering to each other in Russian the whole way.

You share a tense look with your friends. You highly doubt these guys will take it easy on you.

Your fear spikes tenfold when they start dragging each of you to different rooms.

"Hey!" you shout, voice wavering. "What are you doing?!"

"No!" Robin says, trying to wrench free. "Stop it!"

"Don't hurt them!" Steve yells as the soldiers shove him into his interrogation room. The door swings shut, and you hear him shout, "Don't you dare touch them!"

The door to Robin's interrogation room closes, and then you're thrown into yours. The soldier forces you onto a bench and levels a gun at your chest. You keep your eyes on it, trembling from head to toe.

"What do you want from us?!" you say.

The soldier doesn't reply. A few minutes later, a general enters the room.

The soldier salutes and says, "General Ozerov. This is the third infiltrator."

Ozerov nods and murmurs in Russian. The soldier lowers his gun.

"Hello there," Ozerov says, turning to you with the kind of smile a shark gives a guppy before taking a bite. "My name is Ozerov. This will go one of two ways. Either you are smart, and you will answer my questions willingly. Or you are, ah, how you Americans say? Big stupid, and you will be tortured into answering. Sound good?"

You wish you were braver. You wish you could spit in his face and call him a dickhead and demand he let you and your friends go. But, right now, the main thing in your mind is survival, so you nod without saying a word.

"Good. Who do you work for?"

You swallow hard and gesture to your red Waldenbooks vest.

"Uh, Waldenbooks," you say. "It's the bookstore in the mall."

Ozerov sighs. "Well. I guess you are big stupid. Ivan?"

Before you can even blink, the soldier—Ivan—punches you in the stomach.

You gasp for air, gripping your abdomen.

"Now, let's try again. Who do you really work for?"

"No one!" you sputter. "No one except the bookstore!"

"How am I supposed to believe that?!" Ozerov says with a harsh laugh. "You found our base, so you must have been watching us, yes?"

"No!" you say. "I swear! I only just moved here a few months ago, and we found this place by accident! We just—"

"Just what?" Ozerov said. He leans close, eyes glinting. "Go on. Lie again. Make Ivan's day."

Ivan chuckles darkly. You steel yourself for another punch and say, "I'm not lying. I'm telling the truth."

Ozerov nods, and Ivan rears back his fist. You realize there's no winning in this situation. No matter what you do, you're getting your shit rocked.

WHAT DO YOU DO?

A. FIGHT BACK - go to page 8

B. TELL THE GENERAL THE TRUTH. AGAIN - go to page 9