Chapter Text

will

Tuesday 07:30

“BREAKFAAAST!”

Will jumps at Holly’s shout reverberating down the stairs. He forgets how loud she can be even after living with her for six months. Jonathan thanks her as he passes the stairs, but the floor creaking above means she’s already run off to wake the rest of the house. How she’s always the first one up besides her parents is beyond him. Did he have that much energy as an eight year old, too?

Once he’s dressed, Will follows Jonathan upstairs. Karen is dumping the last round of bacon onto a plate. “Morning, boys,” she says warmly. “Sleep well?”

“Yes, Mrs. Wheeler—” they begin to reply.

“Good morning,” their mom says, rushing into the room. “Karen, it smells great! What can I help with?”

Will tries to slip past, but Karen shoves a jug of orange juice into his hands and waves vaguely toward the dining room. She smiles and thanks him, and even though her gratitude feels like an afterthought, he doesn’t mind. The Wheelers were kind enough to accommodate them after their unexpected move back from California. Overnight, Karen went from caring for a family of five to a family of eight. Then a census was collected pinning every citizen of Hawkins to whatever home they were in when the earthquake seized and the dust settled, and once the quarantine officially went into effect, finding a new place to live was forbidden. They’ve been living here for six months. If Karen forgets to be polite while trying to feed eight people, Will certainly won’t complain.

Once the orange juice is on the table, he retreats to the kitchen for more things he can bring out. On his second run, Nancy rounds the corner.

“Morning,” she says.

“Morning." Glancing up the stairs, he listens hard for more movement, but it's silent. "Is Mike up yet?" He isn't usually the last to join them. 

"Um… No." Shaking her head, Nancy says quietly, “He’s not in his room.”

“Huh. I guess he stayed with Lucas at the hospital.” He remembers it being late when Mike crept downstairs. Jonathan was already asleep, and Will was halfway there when he heard his name whispered in the silence.

He'd jolted involuntarily, chills running down his spine. Then he heard it again, this time in a voice he recognized. “Will?” Mike wasn't exactly close, probably lingering on the stairs. “Are you awake?”

His voice made Will go slack with ease. Then, he was too tired to do anything but mumble, “Yeah?”

“I’m going to the hospital to hang out with Lucas. Do you want to go?”

“Something wrong?”

“No, I… I think he just needs someone.”

In his groggy mind, Will was glad Mike was nice enough to invite him. Though they’d made up in California, things have still been weird and awkward between them. Sometimes, it’s like they were never separated, but others, it’s like they have no idea how to talk to each other.

When Will didn’t respond immediately, Mike said, “Don’t worry about it. You get some sleep. I’ll see you in the morning.”

He’d already been skimming the surface of unconsciousness, so he wasn’t sure their conversation even happened until now.

Nancy’s mouth twists. “No change from Max, then?”

Will sighs. “None.”

“Okay kids,” Karen says, parading into the room with her hands full of pancakes and eggs. “Dig in!”

After breakfast, Nancy offers to take Holly to school, but Will insists. The elementary school is on his way but completely out of hers. Outside, he grabs his bike and waits for Holly to wheel hers out of the shed. 

“Thanks for waiting,” she says. The Mike never does that goes unspoken, and he’s glad, because he wouldn’t know what to say. He doesn’t want to bad mouth his best friend, but his dynamic with Holly is kind of weird to him. Jonathan always waited for Will. Maybe that’s the difference between having a brother and having a sister.

“His bike’s gone,” she observes as they walk to the end of her driveway. “Do you know where he is?”

Will winces. “I think he stayed at the hospital last night.”

“Oh. Is your friend doing any better?”

He bites his lip, considering the best answer. “She’s… not doing any worse?”

“Well. That’s good, I guess. Too bad he took his bike,” she adds, shrugging. “We can’t listen to the Squawk now.”

“But good for the rest of Hawkins. You know he can’t drive to save his life.”

Holly giggles. “That’s true. Nancy would have killed him, too.”

He chuckles. “Yeah.”

Then she gasps, and he looks over, startled. Staring wide eyed into her basket, she reaches in and pulls out Mike’s Walkman. Her eager gaze flickers to Will, who can’t help but smile. She fumbles with it, trying to turn it on, but her bike keeps wobbling.

“Here,” Will says and takes it from her. Straightening his spine, he holds the Walkman in both hands, squints against the sun to find the correct button, and flips it on.

“Gooood morning, Hawkins! This is WSQK, the Squawk!”

When he passes it back, he blushes at the awe in Holly’s eyes. “You have to show me how to do that!” she exclaims.

“Sure,” he promises. “Maybe we can work on it later.”

“Good news folks!” Robin’s broadcast continues. “It looks like the storm clouds are finally beginning to clear, and I think I even see some sunlight out there. Temperatures are ramping up, too. So even though the kiddos are back in school after that craaazy earthquake that split our perfect little town in half, we still have one last stretch of summer to enjoy! I certainly plan to soak up that sun as much as I can—that's your friend, entertainer, and DJ, Robin Buckley, at your service. My friends call me Rockin' Robin, though. Nice to meet ya! But before we get into the festivities, I have a very special guest joining me today. All the way from the Military Access Control Zone, AKA the MAC-Z, please welcome to the stage Lieutenant Robert Akers!”

A fake applause sounds in the background, the last touch of humor before Robin’s soundtrack cuts out and a stern voice takes over.

“Fanfare is unwarranted after the crime committed last night by two moronic juveniles," Lieutenant Akers hisses. "I am only here to reiterate the rules of the MAC-Z, since some of you are still confused and fail to listen to one of your own." Out of the corner of Will’s eye, he notices Holly looking back at him. The joy she usually wears when listening to the broadcast is gone. He smiles half-heartedly, hoping to ease her nerves. She returns his smile weakly.

“The MAC-Z is a highly restricted area. Anybody caught trying to sneak in will be shot on sight. This is your final warning.”

Although Will has never even seen this man before, his presence makes him nervous. At least Steve is with Robin right now, and Nancy and Jonathan are on their way. That makes him feel a little better.

“And there you have it folks,” Robin says, her cheery tone still intact. “Thank you Lieutenant Akers for reminding us you and your men are here to protect us, and that you don’t want to see anybody hurt.” She speaks pointedly, filling in the gaps that the lieutenant must have forgotten to include. Then she laughs and pivots to a different topic, and her Morning Monologue Mixtape continues.

When they pass the gate to the MAC-Z, Will doesn’t so much as glance inside. Not with armed soldiers posted out front and Mike’s little sister so close to his side. Fortunately, Holly has never been curious about the area. She’s never once considered seeing what they’re hiding behind the giant fences—at least, she’s never said anything out loud. And for that, she might be the smartest Wheeler in the family.

Will takes Mike’s Walkman before leaving Holly’s school. Then, he heads to his least favorite spot this side of Hawkins Lab: the high school.

“Will!”

He looks back, relief flooding through him when he sees Dustin a few feet behind. It’s not that he’s incapable of walking into school alone, but it’s much easier to do with a friend by his side.

Dustin frowns at the line of bikes as they dismount theirs. “Mike and Lucas aren’t here yet.”

Will doesn’t know how he’s so sure when half of the bikes look the same, but he knows he’s right. He’s wary of the bad feelings in his gut. What should be intuition and instinct has been watered down to anxiety over the years. So, the unease that creeps in as he scans the crowd for their friends could just be paranoia. But for some reason… He knows there’s more to it.

“Did you hear the lieutenant’s warning on the Squawk?” Will asks.

Nodding, Dustin’s eyes jump across the scene. “They wouldn’t be that stupid, though.”

“No,” he agrees. After a moment, he adds, “Mike went to the hospital late last night. He said Lucas needed someone. Maybe…” He trails off, not even sure where his sentence would lead. With a sigh, he decides, “Maybe they just overslept.”

“Yeah. Yeah, probably.”

They're reunited two hours later in the principal's office where Lucas’s mom is waiting.

Will’s stomach drops to his feet.

“Boys,” the principal says, gesturing to the chairs in front of his desk, “take a seat.”

Suddenly his mouth is full of cotton, and every movement feels robotic. Seated between Lucas’s mom and Dustin, his heart is pounding so hard he’s afraid they can hear it. When he looks at Dustin with wide eyes, Dustin doesn’t share his worry. Mouth pressed into a firm line, he glances between the principal and Lucas’s mom.

“What happened?”

“I was hoping you could tell me that,” his mom says. “Lucas never came home last night.”

“Last I heard, he was at the hospital.”

“I’ve already been there.” She shakes her head. “And I asked Max’s nurse. She said nobody’s been in all night.”

“And both Lucas’s and Mike’s teachers have reported them absent in class so far,” the principal adds, frowning at them. “Do either of you know of their whereabouts?”

Will is proud to even register the question with how fast his mind is racing. Dustin keeps talking, throwing out half-assed excuses that eventually fizzle out to, “I… don’t know where else they’d be.”

Lucas’s mom inhales sharply. Will’s head snaps toward her. He immediately regrets it when he sees the tears in her eyes. With trembling hands, she digs into her purse and pulls out a tissue. “I heard that officer's warning on the radio today. Surely they would—I mean—” Her face contorts with a mess of emotions, repulsion and devastation and fear. “If they shot my son, they would at least call, wouldn’t they?”

“Mrs. Sinclair,” the principal begins, horrified by the implication, “let’s not assume the worst. I’m sure he’ll turn up. Meanwhile, I’ll inform our staff to keep a look out for him. For both of them.”

“We’ll look, too,” Dustin says. “Don’t worry, Mrs. Sinclair. We’ll find him.”

Will doesn’t take a full breath of air until they’ve cleared the office entirely. Fortunately, class is still in session. The halls are empty. Dustin grabs his arm, leading him away when they see Mrs. Sinclair walking toward them.

“Still think they wouldn’t be that stupid?” Will says, scoffing. Part of him still believes the answer is no, but if they didn’t get caught by the military, then where are they? Did another gate open somewhere? He would have felt it, wouldn’t he?

When he doesn’t hear a response, he turns around. “Dustin,” he says, harsher than he means.

“I’m thinking,” Dustin snaps back. Then, he sighs. “Sorry. It’s just… This feels a lot like when you were missing.”

The fight drains out of him. Of course. “It’s okay. I’m freaking out, too.” Considering his next words carefully, he adds, “At least if it’s similar, we might know where they are.”

Dustin shakes his head and asks quietly, “What the hell would he want with them?”

“What did he want with any of us?”

A thick, suffocating silence envelopes them. Will regrets saying it, but there’s no taking it back now. Dustin clenches his jaw, glaring at nothing. “We need to tell Nancy and the others.”

“Yeah,” Will agrees softly. Movement above Dustin draws his attention. The horizontal light hanging above their heads is flickering—but not all at once. Starting at one end, the energy creeps along like someone harnessed a fireball and is sliding it through a lightbulb.

“Dustin….”

Once the light reaches the end, it retreats, moving just as slow. This time, the bulb beside it joins in.

“What the hell?” Dustin mutters, squinting up at it.

At the end again, the extra energy disappears. It’s just a lightbulb.

Then, the next row down the hall begins to glow.

“That… That's gotta be something from the Upside Down, right?” Dustin asks. Will nods, sure of it. “Well, shit. A demogorgon?”

“No. I’m not feeling anything.” Will starts down the hall, keeping his eyes on the light.

“Shit,” he hears Dustin mutter before running after him. “I have to stop overestimating my friends.”