Chapter 27
The inky sludge seeped in quietly, rising up from the sinks, the floor drains, the toilets. Andrei had to respect the thing's tactics. Why bother breaking through a concrete wall when you can just flow in through the pipes? Once he got word what it was doing, he ordered the prisoners to start blowing the plumbing. It was too late to prevent the incursion entirely, but it reduced the amount of – whatever it was – they had to deal with. In a way, he was impressed with the stand the prisoners made, and almost wished he could let them go at the end. But it didn't matter. Soon, no more reports came from the upper floors. He ordered his men to be on alert.
It slithered down the walls, instead of taking the stairs like a self-respecting monster. His hair stood on end as it started to pull itself together into something like an immense spider. The guards fired and bits of the thing splashed around, but it just reformed and threw the men like a careless child would his toy soldiers. Andrei pressed himself into a corner and debated his options. He was a good shot – he could hit it in the brain. But no. The brain was on the other side of the portal. He looked at his pistol in disgust. A lot of good this was doing.
He ducked as a man hit the wall next to him and fell with a sickening thud. "Come on, Alyosha," he thought.
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The door to the lab was thick, but not thick enough to drown out the monster's roars and the men's screams.
"It's taking care of our jailers," Hopper said grimly.
"Maybe I'd rather take our chances with the Russians," Joyce said.
"No, you wouldn't," Hopper retorted. "Not if you knew what they're capable of."
They were silent for a moment. "We all thought you were dead," Joyce said. "I never imagined – especially not like this-"
"Yeah." Hopper took a breath. "So, um, Enzo's-"
"If we make it out of here alive."
"Hey," Will said. "Sorry to interrupt, but something's going on."
"What is it, honey?" Joyce asked.
"Something's coming. I can feel it."
Hopper picked up his borrowed Kalashnikov and started to join the guards.
"Maybe you should stay here," Joyce said. "Alexei said the control room's built to survive a small explosion-"
"And Alexei just knows everything, doesn't he?" Hopper retorted. "I think Smirnoff's going to need all the help he can get with these things."
"Okay, but I'm locking the door, so don't come crying!" Joyce yelled. Hopper just grunted. She smiled, in spite of herself.
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The Upside Down, as the kids called it, looked much like what he had seen when the thing wanted to control him. Alexei limped behind as the prisoners carried the key in. It occurred to him that he had no earthly way of knowing how far they needed to go, but he felt a strange rising dread as they moved further. Maybe this was what Will felt.
So far, the creatures had kept their distance. Perhaps the faint radiation was enough to keep them at bay. Or perhaps he was walking into a trap.
A sudden wave of fear hit him and he bent over, half-expecting to be sick right there. "This is the spot," he said. "I'm sure."
The prisoners set the machine down and he went to work. "How long is this going to take?" one of the guards asked.
"Two minutes to arm it. I can set the timer for up to fifteen. That should give us enough time to get out of here."
"Can't you work any-" the guard started to say, before a creature enclosed his head in its jaws. The other guards used their guns and managed to wound a few of the creatures, but it was an unequal fight, and the prisoners had no weapons. Alexei pressed himself against the machine and connected wires as quickly as he could. This was the only way to help. He flipped the last switch. It was armed.
He looked around. He was alone. Anyone the creatures hadn't killed had run off. And at least a dozen of the things were surrounding him and the machine, making their horrible clicking sounds. They didn't dare get close enough to touch him, because of the radiation, but they'd also left him no escape. In fifteen minutes, he'd be torn apart by his own creation. Well, it probably would be over with quickly.
Then suddenly, something changed. The creatures seemed to get an inaudible order, and lost all interest in him. They were headed toward the entrance. Toward the girl who would close the portal. If they killed her, the Mindflayer would recover from any blow he delivered and rule Russia, if not the world, from the portal they'd opened.
He quickly reset the dial. Five minutes. Once it exploded, those things would be in no position to attack. It was up to Hopper now, to keep them away from El for that long.
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The demogorgons streamed through the portal. The guards sprayed them with bullets, but for every one they killed, three more poured in. Hopper positioned himself outside the door to the control room, shooting the ones that got close. The monsters hit the glass, over and over, but it didn't crack. Well, these Russians made something half-decent.
He caught El's eye. "Close it," he yelled. He didn't love the idea of trapping Alexei in the other world, but he was probably already dead – if he'd even lived long enough to arm the bomb. Smirnoff wasn't his responsibility, and if his comrades didn't save him, that was his bad luck.
El stretched out her hands and roared with effort, as blood started to drip from her nose. Slowly, the portal began to inch back together. Hopper turned back just in time to shoot a demogorgon inches from his face. "Do it, kid," he thought.
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Alexei limped back as fast he could. The adrenaline was coursing through him, but it hit up against the limits of his ruined leg. He half-wondered if it would be better to go back, lie next to his machine and wait for the end, but then he saw a sliver of light. It wasn't closed yet. He still had a chance. He pushed as hard as he could, and just managed to reach his hand through the rapidly closing portal.
"Please!" he screamed. "Please, don't leave me!"
Someone grabbed his hand and pulled him through. Hopper. "Know how to shoot?" Hopper asked.
"Yes."
"Good. Duck." Hopper blasted a demogorgon over his shoulder, then tossed him a gun. "Kill something."
It had been a long time since the shooting practice he'd had to do as a teenager, but it came back easily enough. He and Hopper stood back to back and fired at anything that moved.
"How long until this thing blows?" Hopper said.
"Less dan a minute."
"I can stay alive that long."
Alexei wasn't sure he could. His gun was out. When one of the creatures got close enough, he swung at its head. It barely noticed. The creature picked him up and started to open its terrible jaws – then dropped him and fell to the ground. The others also started to fall. He looked at El, then back at the portal. She'd closed it. Thank any god that might exist.
Then the earth rumbled. "Dat was it," he said to Hopper.
Hopper picked him up and let him put an arm over his shoulder. "Come on, Smirnoff, you're coming with us."
They picked their way over the bodies of the guards outside. There was no sign of his brother. The kids started to head for the steps, but he directed them to another door. "Dey take de bodies out dis vay. It's faster," he said.
They raced through the cold to the nearby airstrip. Tanya was waiting at the hangar. "Last plane out," she said, and rushed them on.
"These conditions aren't good," the pilot complained.
"Things are about to get a hell of a lot worse here," Tanya said. "Fly east."
"How far?"
"Until we hit U.S. airspace."
"What?"
Tanya pulled her gun. "I don't really feel like explaining this. Just make it easy for both of us."
The pilot complied, and soon they were taking off into the wind. Everyone slid around the back, but no one protested. They were going home. That was all they needed to know.