There's No Place Like Hawkins//Stranger Things. SH

FIFTY TWO

The Sauna Test

"Erica, do you copy?" Robin asked, speaking into the radio. It was now dark, the mall was shut and their plan was in motion. The teens were located on the roof, keeping watch while Erica prepared to crawl through the air ducts from Scoops Ahoy.

"Mm-hmm. I copy." Erica's sassy voice replied through the radio. "You nerds in position or what?"

"Yeah, we're in position." Robin told her.

Cat pulled the radio towards her. "And please don't calls us nerds. Not all of us are smart enough to be shoved into that category."

"It's all quiet here," Robin told the young girl, "so you've got the green light."

"Green light, roger that. Commence Operation Child Endangerment."

"Can we maybe not call it that?" Robin suggested, the others nodding their heads in agreement beside her.

"See you on the other side. Nerds."

"Would you please stop calling us that?" Cat complained, resting her head on the wall.

***

The wait for Erica Sinclair to crawl through the vents felt like forever, when in reality it probably only took between thirty and forty-five minutes. Catherine was teaching Steve how to braid her hair when Erica contacted them again. "All right, nerds. I'm there."

"Please stop calling us nerds." Catherine complained, yet again, as she wrapped a hairband around the end of her braid. For a first attempt, Steve had done a pretty good job. Her hair was out of her face and no longer a distraction.

"Do you- do you see anything?" Robin asked into the radio.

"Yeah, I see those boring boxes you're so excited about."

"Not excited. Just curious." Cat corrected.

"Any guards?" Robin asked.

"Negative."

"What about booby traps?" Cat asked.

"If I could see them, they'd be pretty shit traps, wouldn't they?" Erica sassed.

"Thank you for that."

There was a few seconds of silence while Eric jumped out of the vent. "I'm in."

"Oh, God." Steve sighed.

They waited a few moments until Erica manged to open the doors, stepping outside. From the roof, the teens could see Erica standing with one hand on her hip. "Free ice cream for life."

***

Finally off the roof and in the hidden room, the 'Scoops Troop' gathered around as Steve sliced one of the boxes open. Inside was another box, although this one was metal. "What the hell..." Cat muttered, peering over Steve's shoulder. Steve turned the handle, air hissing as he did so. He pulled off the lid and they all peered into the box where four more smaller containers laid. "What is that?" Cat asked, although no one knew the answer.

"That's definitely not Chinese food." Steve commented. "Uh, maybe you guys should, you know, stand back."

Cat immediately took a huge step back, not having to be told twice- unlike Dustin. Robin and Erica moved back, but Dustin protested. "Dusty, please, just step back." Cat begged, not wanting for her younger brother to get hurt.

"No." He turned to Steve. "If you die, I die."

Steve stared at him for a moment before giving in, not wanting to waste time arguing. "Okay."

"You cant be serious." Catherine said, her voice full of disbelief. "What if you both die? I'm not losing both of you."

"You won't." Steve reassured her. Before Cat could protest any more, Steve twisted the handle of one of the smaller containers. He lifted it up, revealing a glass cylindrical container filled with some sort of green, bubbly liquid.

"I think I'm gonna puke." Cat mumbled, lifting a hand up to cover her mouth.

"What is that?" Robin asked, even though none of them had a clue.

Suddenly, the room began to rumble.

"Was that just me, or did the room move?" Dustin asked.

"Booby traps." Erica whispered.

"She might be right." Cat said, moving over to Steve and taking the container. "We should put this back... and maybe run."

The room began to shake some more.

"Cathy's right. Let's just grab this and go." Robin said, reaching over and taking ahold of the weird liquid.

Dustin moved over to the door, pressing the 'Open Door' button. Nothing happened. "Which one do I press, Erica?"

"Just press the damn button, nerd."

"Which one? I'm pressing the button, okay?"

"Press 'Open Door'."

"I'm pressing 'Open Door'."

"Just open the- Press the other button." Steve joined in, moving over to the panel of buttons.

Cat pushed herself as far as she could go into the corner. The situation was stressing her out and she could feel her breathing getting uneven. She screwed her eyes shut and clamped her hands over her ears.

Robin, upon noticing her friend, moved closer to her. "Cathy? Catherine? Are you okay?" She turned towards Steve. "Steve, I think something's up with your girlfriend. Is she having a panic attack, or...?"

They all stared at Catherine, not sure what to do. Blood started to trickle from her nose.  "Oh, God." Steve muttered. "Something's gonna happen."

The panel behind him and Dustin exploded, causing a set of red doors to come down, locking them in the room. The lights began flickering as the room shook and plummeted straight down. All five of them began to scream as they attempted to grab on to something.

***

A/N:

Oof, this was a bit shorter. At the current time of writing (18th March 2020) the UK is yet to go on proper lockdown and no one knows what to do. Its been advised to not go out but nothings been enforced because the government is pretty crap right now. There's no proper info about what's gonna happen with the exams or school.

Basically, the world's a massive mess and this Coronavirus can suck it.

***

(Edited: 13/07/2020)

(Edit 2: 14/09/2021)