Downside Up [W.Byers]

027

Will jumps up from his bed, gasping for air. Ruby quickly awakens and doesn't hesitate to get up and sit beside him. "Will, what's wrong?" She asks worriedly.

He sits shakily, not responding. "Come on, Will. We can go tell your mom." She takes his hand, pulling him up.

Once they reach the living room, Will taps Joyce. "I saw him." He says. "You saw who, baby?" She questions.

"Hopper. I think he's in trouble. I think he's going to die." He explains. "I'll invite Mike again. He's good at understanding all this stuff." Ruby says, earning a nod from Joyce and Will.

Will continues to draw, then sets his crayon down once the page is full of blue and brown scribbles. "Hey, is this where you saw him? I-is this where you saw Hopper?" Joyce stutters as mike and Ruby watch carefully.

"I think so. Yeah." He nods. Joyce takes the paper and holds it up, searching for a place to fit it. Mike does the same, leaving Ruby and will beside each other. "You can go help if you want." Will says softly.

"I wanna stay here." She takes his hand, giving it a light squeeze. Will grins, awkwardly looking off to the side to hide his blush. Suddenly, the door opens and a loud voice booms in.

"Woah, what's happened here?" The man asks. Will and Ruby both share a look. "Bob." They say in unison as they speedily exit the room.

Bob carefully examines the drawings, then turns to Will. "You drew all these yourself?" He asks. Joyce nods in response.

Why, exactly?" Bob asks. "I..  I told you the rules. No questions." Joyce reminds. "We just need you to help us figure out what..." she begins walking, noticing that he wasn't following.

"Bob? Bob?" She calls from the other room, motioning for him to join her. "Where... where this is." She marks the center of will's drawing with a red X. "That's the objective. Find the x." Mike adds.

"Yeah? What's at the X? Pirate treasure?" He jokes. "Bob, no questions." Joyce repeats. Bob sighs. "Let me talk to you for a second." He pulls Joyce to the side, leaving the kids alone.

"We can't waste this much time." Will speaks up, seating himself down at the table. "Okay, I get it. That's Lake Jordan." Bob walks out, interrupting their conversation. "And if that's Lake Jordan, then you can probably find... Yeah, that's, uh, Sattler's quarry." He snaps.

"And if you just follow it naturally...it moves to.. the Eno River. And there it is. That's the Eno, do you see it?" Bob points up. "Okay, so the lines aren't roads. But they act like roads. And they act like roads 'cause when you follow 'em, you'll see.." Bob trails off.

"They don't go over water. And that's the giveaway. That's the giveaway. Ha!" He says in accomplishment. "Don't you get it? It's not a puzzle, it's a map. It's a map of Hawkins."

Everyone, excepting Bob, exchange shocked looks. "Right, Will?" Bob asks. Will, wide eyed, nods slowly.

Bob sets down a large map of Hawkins onto the wooden table. He takes out a pen from his jacket pocket, then begins writing. "All right. I'm 3.6 inches, what do you got?" Bob asks.

"I'm not sure. Mrs. Byers?" Mike calls as he holds the measuring tape by Lovers' lake. "Twenty-one feet, four inches." She replies. "What about Tippecanoe to Danford Creek?" Bob asks.

"Danford? Where's Danford?" Joyce stammers. "Dining room!" Will shouts back, leading Joyce to the right spot.

"Sixteen feet, ten inches." She says, checking the measuring tape. "What about Danford to Jordan?" Bob asks once again.

Joyce sighs. "Oh, come on. This has gotta be enough." She argues. "It's not. It's..it's really not." He shakes his head. Ruby turns to Will, who shrugs in response.

"Okay. Can't you figure it out?"

"Well, it's hard. The ratio isn't exactly one-to-one. I mean, if you're twisting my arm, and you are twisting my arm, I would say the at the X is.. maybe a half mile southeast of Danford?" Bob draws a straight line onto the map.

"Thank you!" Joyce smiles happily, pecking his cheek before taking the map and running out, followed by Ruby, Will, and Mike. "What? Are we.. we really going?" Bob asks in confusion.

"No questions!" Ruby calls, holding the door open for him.

"There's nothing. There's nothing here." Mike says in disappointment as he looks out the car window into the dark night sky. "Are.. Are we close?" Ruby asks tiredly. "We're in the vicinity." Bob replies.

"What's that mean, the vicinity?" Joyce questions. "It means we're close. I don't know. It's not precise." Bob argues.

"But we did all that work."

"I told you, the scale ratio is not exactly one-to-one. We needed to take—"

"Will?" Ruby asks, noticing that his eyes were closed. "Turn right." He speaks up, startling the others. "What?" Joyce asks. "I saw him."

"Where?"

"Not here. In my now- memories." Will explains. "In your what?" Bob asks confusedly. "Turn right!" He repeats.

Joyce takes a sharp turn, causing them to knock over a sign. They're completely off the road and driving blindly on the grass. All of a sudden, hopper's truck comes into view.

Joyce quickly stops the car, stopping the screaming from everyone. "Are you okay?" She asks. "Superspy." Mike mutters. "What's Jim doing here? Joyce?" Bob furrows his eyebrows. "Kids, I need you to stay here." Joyce sighs as she opens the door.

"No. Mom, mom, mom, it's not safe." Will warns. "That's why I need you to stay here! Stay here!" Joyce slams the door.

Ruby looks down at Will's hand, intertwining their fingers. As will looks up at her, she sends him a reassuring smile. "It's not safe. We have to go out there." Will states.

The three of them leave the car, walking out to stand above the large dug up hole. "Do you see anything? I mean, in your now-memories?" Mike asks. Will shakes his head.

All of a sudden, multiple cars pull up behind the three. Large white vans park themselves in front of the children. "This isn't good, is it?" Ruby asks worriedly.

Men in large hazmat suits walk out of the vans. Some stay out, and submerge themselves into the pit.

Ruby, Mike, And Will stand together, walking along with an officer. Out of the blue, Will collapses onto the ground, clutching his stomach. "Will!" Ruby screams, bending down beside him. He begins to shake profusely, as if he were having a seizure.

"Will, what's wrong?" Mike asks. "What's wrong with him!"

"Someone help!" Ruby cries. Will let's out a high pitched shriek as he lies on his back, shaking. Commotion begins to surround the young boy as Ruby and Mike back away.

"Will!"