Crush Culture [M.Wheeler]

[55] A BUMMER

Dustin, Erica, And Nori find themselves in a bright room, surrounded by large tubes, which contained the ones with green liquid inside.

"Jackpot." Dustin smiles. He gets out, the holds out his hand to Nori, pulling her up. They look around for a moment, until Dustin finds a small red car.

"Do you even know how to drive?" Erica questions. "Where's Max when you need her?" Nori whispers. "How hard can it be? Max did it." Dustin shrugs.

"Yeah, but Max already knew how it worked because she did it in a parking lot." Nori argues. Dustin takes a seat at the wheel, then groans when he realizes it needed a key.

"Aw, come on." He sighs. "You seriously thought they'd just leave keys in there?" Erica raises her eyebrows. "There's gotta be a spare." Dustin reaches around under the seat, hoping to find anything helpful, Nori aiding him.

"Hey, guys?" Erica calls out after slowly walking off. "Yeah?"

"How big did you say that Demogorgon was?" She inquires. "Big. Nine feet or so. Why?" Dustin informs.

Erica doesn't respond, only walking off. Dustin takes his screwdriver, unscrewing a compartment in the wall, then pulling out keys.

"Found 'em." He says proudly. "Erica?" Nori asks, taking notice of her disappearance. All of a sudden, a loud zapping frightens them from behind.

Erica seemed to be holding a large metal stick, electricity coursing through it. "What the hell is that?!" Dustin yells.

"A deadly weapon." Erica explains. "So sick." Nori smiles. "Could be useful."

Erica turns it on again, pointing it towards Dustin, who quickly backs away. "For What?" He questions.

"What do you think? Taking down Commies, saving your friends." She sasses. "I thought you were more realist than that, nerd." Dustin fires back. "Dustin, She has a deadly weapon in her hands, maybe don't call her that." Nori nudges her friend.

Erica rolls her eyes, walking away. "We don't even know where they are and if we did, there are a million guards up there with weapons way deadlier than that. The best thing we can do for them is to get out of here and find help." Dustin concludes, taking a seat at the wheel, Nori jumping inside the passenger seat.

"Um, where am I supposed to go?" Erica asks, still holding up the weapon. "Easy with that. Just squeeze in the middle." Nori sighs.

"Our chance of surviving, and theirs, rises substantially if we go find help." Dustin states. "Just trust me on this. Please?"

Dustin puts in the key, turning it. "Please don't kills us, Dustin." Nori whispers. "No promises."

***

In an attempt to distract the Russians, Erica, Dustin, And Nori had planned to burn a hole in the ground using the green acid from earlier.

While the alarm blares, they run off towards the room that held Robin and Steve. While Nori holds the electric staph, she screams, running up to one of the men and electrifying him.

She gasps, dropping the weapon by her side as the man falls unconscious. Glancing over at her brother, a wave of relief courses through her.