Hopper wasted no time to get to the farms. He drives his truck with tools in the back. Mainly, a shovel. In order to figure this out, he needed to go where it all started. Merrill's Farm. He skids to a stop and gets out of the truck as he parks near the crops. He walks around and gets the shovel out and heads to the middle of the field and begins to dig. He hopes he can find something that can tell him what's going on in his town. After digging for a while, he looks up for the first time and notices that the lab wasn't there anymore. Owens must have gotten all the samples his team needed.

Hopper mutters to himself, hoping that Owens won't keep him in the dark about this. He needed to know...is this something from Upside Down?

As night was beginning to fall, Hopper continues to dig and dig a large hole in the middle of the farm. He was determined to find something. This is where the rot began, there had to be something here. He grunts as he shoves into the dirt over and over again. Sweat pouring down his face. Even with the cold air, doing all this work made him sweat. He tosses the dirt out of the hole, losing hope of finding something...but, suddenly, when he stabs his shovel into the Earth...he hears a squelching sound. He slowly lifts his shovel and sees slime dripping from the tip. He found something.

Panting, he pushes the dirt away to see a very soft spot. He stabs into it again and pushes the shovel to lever the dirt. With a powerful grunt, he sees rotten vines and hears air hissing from below. He stabs the dirt more to see the soft spot collapsing. It was covered with vines down below. He stabs and stabs as he hears bubbling. Forming a hole...a path...for him to go through and see what's happening down below.

Breathing heavily, Hopper tossing the shovel away as the hole was big enough and begins to fit himself inside. Slowly lowering himself inside. He grunts as his feet hits the ground; his breath continues to come in heavy fits. He grabs his flashlight from his belt and turns it on. That smell. His eyes widen as he looks around and sees...tunnels. Ash floating around him. These tunnels aren't supposed to be here. From his knowledge, mines weren't located around here. These tunnels were made recently. That's what Will was drawing. Tunnels. Underground! Upside Down was leaking and making tunnels in his town. Right under his nose!

"Oh, Jesus."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Joyce was growing worried as well as Amelia was.  Both were worried about Will and Jim.  In the back of Amelia's mind, Eleven was another worry.  She was all alone.  She just hopes she'll be okay.  Theo should be watching over her. 

Amelia sighs and tries to keep herself busy by going through more of Will's pictures to find where they connected while Joyce was calling Hopper non-stop, but she couldn't reach him.

"Hey, you reached Jim. I'm probably doing something incredible right now, and I can't-" With a frustrated sigh, she hangs up the phone and slumps on the chair. But she frowns when she looks at one of the pictures, recognizing the lines. She grabs the picture and follows the drawings. After giving Will more crayons and paper, he has been drawing more and more of the pictures. But, right now, he claims he was done.

The entire house was covered from wall to wall, floor to floor of the mysterious drawing. Joyce and Amelia were basically playing connect the dots with these pictures. Joyce didn't want to stop till every picture was up. She finally found the spot for the picture. Her arms covered with tape. She places the picture on the wall where it connects and tapes it down.

Inside Will's room, he begins to tell Mike more about the Shadow Monster. What he feels. Mike looks at the drawing, feeling a dark cold child rush down his spine as he eyes it. He gets up and looks at all the drawings in his room, trying to figure out what it means.

"It's like... It's like I feel what the shadow monster's feeling. See what he's seeing." Will says, fear in his eyes as he stares off into space.

"Like in the Upside Down?" Mike asks.

"Some of him is there. But some of him is here, too." Will says, shuddering silently with fear as he continues to feel like he had eyes on him.

"Here, like, in this house?" Mike asks.

"In this house and...in me." Will grimaces and feels Mike sit next to him on the bed, "It's like... It's like he's reaching into Hawkins more and more. And the more he spreads, the more connected to him I feel." Will explains.

Mike shivers from the cold air whistling from the widows, but he could see Will sweating as if there was a heatwave going on, "And the more you see these now-memories." Mike says in realization.

"At first I just felt it in the back of my head. I didn't even really know it was there. It's like when you have a dream, and you can't remember it unless you think really hard. It was like that. But know it's like...Now I remember. I remember all the time." Will's body begins to shake as terror rushes through him.

"Maybe...Maybe that's good." Mike says as he thinks of a theory.

Will frowns at him and exclaims in disbelief, "Good?"

"Just think about it, Will. You're like a spy now. A superspy. Spying on the shadow monster. If you know what he's seeing and feeling...maybe that's how we can stop him. Maybe all of this is happening for a reason." Mike says.

Will thinks about that, it could be true. He begins to calm down a little and the shaking slows.

"You really think so?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I really do." Mike assures him.

But Will was still unsure. He looks over to the picture of the Shadow Monster, Mike following his eyes. The shaking begins again as they both feel the cold fear again. It was nearly suffocating. Will's hand shakes violently.

"What if he figures out, we're spying on him?" His voice trembles as he sniffles, tears fill his eyes as the fear grows, "What if he spies back?"

Mike reaches and grabs his hand, stopping it from shaking and gaining Will's full attention, "He won't."

"How do you know?" Will shudders.

"We won't let him." Mike says strongly. Determined to save Will from the Monster and stop it once and for all.

Will shudders, "He wants something." He says as a thought pops in his head, not his thought, but the creatures'. 

Mike frowns at him as Will continues, "We have something he wants...and he wants it badly.  I can feel it as if...it's my own need." Will stutters.

"What does he want?" Mike asks.

Will struggles to figure it out, "I don't know.  But he wants it so bad.  The craving is so strong." 

Amelia walks towards the door and knocks, slowly opening to peek inside, "Hey, dinner is ready.  You boys hungry?" She asks softly.

Will looks up at her as the creature's thoughts invade his mind.  Feeling the creature's urges. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Throughout the night, Hopper investigated the underground tunnels of Upside Down. He knew it! He knew the Upside Down was leaking, this was his proof. Wait till he tells Owens about this. He's going to raise hell. But he needs to find the source. It should be close. But the cold and the smell were unbearable for him. He couldn't stop the heavy breaths due to the cold, he tried to hold his breath several times, but he couldn't. He grimaces in disgust and the feel of the slimy squishing noises made from beneath his feet. He wasn't even sure how far these tunnels go, and he didn't want to stray too far from the entrance.

He squints he scans the area with his flashlight. Even with the powerful glow and the help of the moonlight from the hole he made, it was difficult to see how far the tunnels go and how much of these vines were in here. Who knows how long this has been going? That worried Hopper.

He jumps in alert when he sees the vines moved! He holds his gun up in caution and protects himself if any of these things try to attack. Remembering what happened to Will in Upside Down. How they were shoved down his throat.

"Ugh!" Hopper backs away from the vines and continue his path. Gun in hand to protect his way

He jumps as he hears screeching erupting in the distance. It sounded close but he wasn't sure where it was coming from. His heavy breaths continue non-stop as fear creeps up his spine, giving him a cold sweat. He jerks towards another way as he hears the horrible hissing. He holds his gun and light up, but he couldn't see anything. Till he slowly lifts his light up above and sees a huge plant-like form. As if it was flower still blooming and hasn't opened yet. But it was covered in black substance, similar from the rot. It hisses loudly above him and spits out a huge black cloud of ash into Hopper's face.

Hopper coughs and gags at the smell. Feeling himself swallow the smell in settle in his lungs. He could barely breathe. He coughs and coughs in fits to get rid of it, but it was so strong in the air. He falls back against the tunnel wall, and, from the corner of his eye, there was movement. He shines his light and sees another flower. It explodes more of the black ash in his face, making him cough more and scramble away.

"Ugh!" Hopper grunts in disgust, wiping away the black sludge from his eyes as it burns.

Grimacing in disgust, Hopper rushes to get away from the spitting plants and head back towards the entrance. He grunts as he struggles to get back to where he came in, coughing non-stop. He begins to notice his vision getting blurry and his body felt like it was shutting down. The lack of air was causing him to lose consciousness or was it those spitting plants? He couldn't think as he struggles to get back to the entrance.

Finally, his body just gives up and he collapses on the ground. Unknowing the vines around him has closed off his only path to freedom. Trapping him in the tunnels. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Gasping loudly, Will sits up fast in his bed. Waking up from his nightmare...or was it a nightmare? He had a deep, dark feeling that it wasn't. In his mind, he saw Hopper. Lying unconscious in the dark.

"Will, what's wrong?" Mike asks cautiously as he sits up from the floor, in his sleeping bag.

Will didn't say anything. He gets to his feet and rushes into the living room to find his mom.

"Hey, sleepyhead, you two ok?" Amelia asks as she fixes everyone breakfast, but she frowns at Will's worried look. She quickly shuts everything off and places the food down over stove holders.

Will finds his mom staring off into space at the drawings. Joyce was struggling to understand everything. But she couldn't. It was literally right there in her face and she had no idea how to crack it.

"Mom? Mom? Mom?" Will calls out to her, then places his hand on her shoulder, shaking her out of her thoughts.

Joyce gaps and touches his hand, sighing in relief, "Yeah?"

"I saw him." Will states.

Joyce frowns at his worried look, "You saw who, baby?"

"Hopper. I think he's in trouble. I think he's going to die." Will says with fear in his voice.

Joyce, Amelia, and Mike all shared a worried look.

"What?" Amelia gasps.

Joyce gets to her feet and turns towards Amelia.

"You said the farms are experiencing rot. And Hopper said Will was drawing vines. What farm is he talking about?" She asks.

Amelia stutters, "Every farm in the county is experiencing some sort of unknown rot. All the crops are dead and, from what I heard from Eugene, it's not just the crops. It's spreading throughout the forest." Amelia sighs and rubs her head, "I'm not even sure how far it goes. But it's enough to start a pandemic."

"Did you go to anyone about this? The EPA or...?" Joyce stutters as she asks.

"Jim went to discuss this with Dr. Owens." Amelia says and sighs, realizing she was giving them way too much information, but she can't keep this from them. "Jim thinks something from the Lab could be leaking out and causing the rot to spread. He already got them out to one of the farms to do tests. But from the sound of it, it doesn't look like Dr. Owens is putting much effort into it." She rolls her eyes.

"Do you think Hopper went back to the Lab?" Joyce stutters.

"No. He wasn't at the lab." Will says. "I saw him...in the dark. Some place dark...cold." He trembles. "I don't know how I can see him. I have a horrible feeling something bad is going to happen if we don't find him."

Joyce looks at Amelia, "Can you find him?" She asks. 

Amelia sighs, "I can try scrying for him.  I need a map and something of Jim's." She says.

Joyce found Jim's cigarettes he tossed a few days ago in her bin and Mike grabbed a map for her.  Amelia goes through her bag and pulls out a long chain that held a Clear Quartz Crystal.  Wrapping the chain around Jim's cigarettes, Amelia begins to move the crystal over the map. 

"What exactly are you doing?" Mike asks.

"It's a way witches use to find someone who is lost or missing.  They take a personal item of the person they wish to find and use a seer crystal to find them.  You know how gypsies use a crystal ball at fairs to look into the future?  Lots of them are bullshit, but they're using the right tools." Amelia says.

Suddenly, the crystal begins to spin around the map, searching for Jim. 

"Come on.  Where are you, Jim?" Amelia whispers.

Suddenly, the crystal was spinning way too fast, "Is that supposed to happen?" Will asks.

Amelia frowns, "No...that's something..." She screams when the crystal was yanked out of her hands and crashes into the wall, shattering it all over the floor. "What the hell?!" She shouts.

Joyce looks at her with wide eyes as they all jumped in shock, "What was that?"

Amelia looks at Joyce in fear, "That thing...it doesn't want us to find Jim." She runs her fingers through her hair, rubbing her face.  Fear was taking over her heart.  Where was Jim?  Where was he?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hopper, suddenly, snaps his eyes open. Gasping awake. Finally, regaining consciousness. He wasn't even sure how long he's been out. But he could see where he was. Barely. Still in the tunnels. He grunts as he struggles to get up, but his stomach begins to twist in knots as the smell was getting to him. He turns and vomits black sludge. He spits one last time and grimaces. Turning away from the pile. He grunts as he struggles to get to his feet. Wiping his mouth to free it from the horrible taste.

He reaches and grabs for his flashlight and hat, searching for the entrance he made to get into the tunnels, but for some reason, he couldn't find it. He frowns as he follows where it should be. He wasn't wrong. This is where he came from. He was positive. He follows the vines, to find the hole. But he skids to a halt when he comes across a dead end. Panting heavily, Hopper turns sharply, waving his light around. He knew this was the way. Where was the exit?

In a brief moment of panic, Hopper begins to scramble around, trying to get his bearings.

"Shit!" He pants in panic. Where was the exit?!

He needed to get out. He wasn't going to last long down here, with the toxic air. He looks at his sleeve, seeing a tiny hole forming. He had an idea. It wasn't permanent but it will buy him time. He takes his pocketknife and tears the hole wider. Ripping his sleeve off his uniform and ties it around his face to block his mouth and nose from the air. It wasn't 100%, but it helped. He goes through another path but stops when he comes across a fork in tunnel. He shines his light down one path and then to the other. He can't make a mistake. These tunnels had to lead him somewhere. Hopefully, back to civilization...maybe even the lab.

Hopper stiffens as he senses movement behind him. He looks over his shoulder and sees those vines again, spitting more and more of that air and ash into the air. With the protections of his sleeve, it didn't bother him, but soon, the air will become too strong for the cloth mask to contain. He didn't want to get lost, so he gets his pack of cigarettes.  He was relieved that Amelia didn't take these away from him.  He begins to tear one into pieces. Like breadcrumbs, he drops them one at a time as he goes down the left path. Unaware of the vines following him behind. Hissing silently in the darkness.  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thunder rumbles over the Byers' home as everyone furiously tries to contact Hopper, but no one knew where he was. Amelia assumed he could be at one of the farms. From the sound of the fear in Will's voice, it was clear that Hopper was running out of time. They needed to find him.

Will furiously draws the area where he saw Hopper in his mind. He could only show where he was located in the vine drawing. Where in Hawkins is the problem.

When Will was done, he hands the drawing to his mom, "Hey, is this where you saw him?" She stutters, "Is this where you saw Hopper?" She asks.

Will nods, "I think so. Yeah."

"Okay." Joyce says softly.

"'Where' is a big question." Amelia scoffs as she scans through the drawings that covered the house with Mike and Joyce.

Mike managed to find a matching picture, "Here!" He calls from the kitchen and points at the fridge.

Joyce, Will, and Amelia rush towards the kitchen and finds the spot Mike found. It was a huge area with more than one path.

"Okay, so... so Hopper is here?"

"Yeah." Will nods.

"Now we just need to find out where here is, right?" Amelia says as she points at the center of the picture.

"Right." Joyce whispers as she tries to think.

"Did he say anything? I mean, before he left?" Mike asks.

Joyce sighs, "Uh, some... something about vines?"

"Ok, so we know he's not at the lab, so he's got to be at one of the farms. But finding the right one will take a long time." Amelia sighs out.

"We can't wait long." Mike states strongly.

Amelia holds her hands up, trying to calm the boys down as she sits on the armrest of the couch, "I know, sweetie. But Hawkins has farms in every corner of the Earth. We have to find the one if we want to save him."

All of the sudden, the phone begins to ring.  Joyce gasps and rushes to answer it, "Hello?  Hopper is that you?"

Everyone waits for her to give them a sign of who was calling.  Joyce frowns and stutters, "Hello?" She calls out again.  "I'm sorry, I can't hear you.  All I can hear is your cat."

Amelia sighs in realization, "It's for me." She walks towards the phone and takes it, "Theo?" Meow... "What?" She freezes in shock.  Meow... "She did what?!" Meow... "And you're where?" Meow... "Oh, god." She rubs her face.  "Okay, okay.  Look, just let her do what she wants, but don't let her get into trouble." Meow... "What?!" Meow... "Oh, the hell you are!  You two are not going to Pennsylvania." Meow... "As long as you live under my roof, you have to obey my rules." Meow! YOWL! "I SHOULD DO WHAT TO MYSELF?!" Amelia's jaw drops in shock.  "Hello?!" She shouts at the phone when she hears a click and soon a busy signal. "Oh, that little bastard!" She slams the phone down on the hook.

Joyce frowns at her, "What did he say?"

Amelia throws her hands up in annoyance, "Being a little asshole demon! What else is fucking new?!" She growls in fury and stomps away, leaving the three of them in confusion.

Suddenly, the sound of a car pulling up is heard from outside. Joyce quickly rushes towards the window.

"Hopper." She sighs in relief, but when she peaks outside, she sees it was Bob. Bob?! "Oh, shit. It's Bob." She says softly in panic as she turns towards Amelia with wide eyes.

"What the hell is Bob doing here?" Amelia whispers, frowning in confusion.

"I don't know." Joyce whispers.

"Get rid of him." Amelia whispers and urges her out.

Joyce quickly meets Bob outside as he was getting things out of his car and walks up towards the porch with a big smile.

"Surprise. I would've called, but you said not to clog up the line." Bob greets her.

Struggling to find the right excuse to send him off, she waves off his apology, "You know, I...We're fine, we don't need anything." She stutters.

"When I was sick as a kid, and I was sick all the time as a kid, nothing made me feel better than focusing on these brain teasers." He says and holds up a stack of board games and a cube wrapped in rubber bands.

"Those are great. Ah..." Joyce smiles, trying so hard not seem pushy.

"I could teach him how to play." Bob says excitedly.

Joyce stutters and stops him from going in, "You know, he's sleeping."

Bob nods in understanding as the thunder continues rumble up above, "Okay. I could wait with you?" He asks with a charming smile. Wanting to spend more time with Joyce.

Joyce sighs softly, "Listen, it's just not a good time. But, um, you know what? I'll call you, okay? Thank you." She says gently.

"You sure?" Bob asks.

Joyce nods, giving Bob a strained smile, "Yeah."

Bob sighs, understanding that she wants to tend to her family, "Well, have him call me. They don't call me Bob the Brain for nothing. He chuckles and turns to leave.

Joyce nods, laughing softly and turns to head inside, but she gasps as an idea pop in her head. She turns fast to stop him from leaving.

"Bob!"

Bob turns and smiles at her, "That's my name." Happy that she didn't want him to leave, but when she tells him to come inside and ask no questions because they were playing a game that Will created. What he sees in her house had him stumped and speechless. " Huh. Hmm." He mutters as he studies the drawings that was in every corner of the house as everyone watches him to see what he was thinking.

"You drew all these yourself?" Bob frowns as he turns to ask Will.

Everyone nods, "Mmm-hmm." Joyce says.

"Why, exactly?" Bob frowns in confusion at Will.

Joyce waves it off, "I...I told you the rules. No questions, okay?" She states.

Bob frowns at Joyce and nods anyway, "Yeah." He mutters and scans the drawings.

Joyce begins to walk towards the kitchen with everyone, "We... we just need you to help us figure out what..." She trails off when she realizes Bob wasn't following her.

Amelia walks up to him and snaps her fingers in his face, "Bob, focus, please." She says.

Bob snaps out of his thoughts and turns towards Joyce as she calls out for him.

"Bob? Bob? Over here." She says as she points the way and shows him. She kneels down in front of the fridge and draws a circle on the picture and an 'X', "Where... where this is."

"That's the objective. Find the X." Mike adds.

Bob grins, thinking this was all a weird game, "Yeah? What's at the X? Pirate treasure?" He chuckles, but no one was laughing.

"Bob, no questions." Joyce states as she straightens.

Bob nods, "Okay." He sighs and looks around. He was clueless...and concerned. He clicks his tongue and places his board games on the dining table.

Joyce clears her throat and frowns when Bob gently grips her arm.

"Let me talk to you for a second." Bob mutters and then turns towards Amelia and the boys, "Excuse us, Amelia. Hang on, guys." He leads her towards her room and sees more of the drawings. He frowns and shakes it off to face Joyce, "Joyce, you can talk to me. You know that, right?"

Stammering, Joyce frowns at him, "Yeah. What's the problem, exactly?" She asks, as if everything was normal.

Bob frowns at her and scoffs at their surroundings, "What's the problem? Joyce," He stops and sighs, "Will doesn't look well. You don't look well. What's going on?" He asks, concerned for her and Will.

"Nothing. Nothing." Joyce shakes her head.

"Is this an episode? Is this one of Will's episodes?"

Joyce scoffs, "No. No! No." She says, waving it all off, but she could tell Bob wasn't going to give up until she tells him something concrete.

Bob stutters, trying to understand everything, "I'm sorry. I just...I don't...see how any of this is good for Will, or for you. And even if I wanted to play along, I mean, how could I figure anything out if I don't understand the context of the game?" His voice, suddenly, trails off as he looks over Joyce's shoulder at a few drawings, recognizing the shape they made. Thunder rumbles softly outside as he traces the mark with his eyes. "Or..."

Joyce frowns as she looks over to see what he was looking at, "What? What is it?"

Bob moves and points at the drawings, "I know that shape. It's Lovers' Lake. It's Lovers' Lake. I get it." Bob exclaims as he rushes out the room and follows the pictures' trail. "Okay, I get. That's Lake Jordan. And if that's Lake Jordan, then you can probably find...Yeah, that's, uh, Sattler's quarry. 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?" He asks excitedly, pointing out the shapes the pictures made. But, Joyce couldn't see it.

Amelia gasps, "He's right." Her eyes widen. 

"So, you're saying, the drawings remind you of areas?" Joyce asks, trying to understand what he was saying.

Bob waves it off and continues to move around the rooms, explaining everything, "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...they don't go over water. And that's the giveaway. That's the giveaway. Ha! Don't you get it? It's not a puzzle, it's a map. It's a map of Hawkins!" He exclaims.

Joyce's eyes widen and Amelia's heart drops to her stomache in shock. Mike looks over to Will as Will's eyes widen in fear.

Bob laughs and looks over to Will, "Right, Will?" But Will couldn't answer. Everyone felt frozen in complete shock with this information. The creature was spreading all over Hawkins. Underground. But where was Hopper?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hopper was busy, still stuck underground in the Upside Down replica tunnel. With no way out and apparently, no way of communicating anyone from the outside. As he continues his walk through the tunnels, the vines squealing loudly at his harsh steps.

He grabs his COM and tries again to reach anyone out for help, but all he could hear was static.

"Does anybody copy? Look, if anybody copies, this is Jim Hopper, Hawkins' Chief..." No matter what, all he could hear was the annoying static.

Panting heavily, he continues to find some way to get out, but he stops when realizes where he ended up. Surrounding him were skeletons. Dead animals. He frowns when he sees a mauled raccoon and presses his foot on it. The leg of the raccoon jerks, Hopper gasps in shock when he sees the bone leg jerk up. The vines were digging their way through the poor animal's body. Consuming it!

He needed to get out of here now before he becomes the next item on the menu. He shines his light around and sees vines all over the wall. If going through these tunnels were going to get him out, then he needed to dig himself out. He gets his lighter and clicks it on, shining the fire over the vines, hearing it screech every time he brought the fire close. When he burned it, its screeches increases. He looks back and sees items on the floor and had an idea. Since the vines are keeping him from getting out, then he's gonna have to burn his way out. He grabs a bone, takes off his jacket and wraps it around the bone. Setting it on fire, he turns it into a large torch.

With a shove of the torch, he holds it up and watches the vines retreat from the fire, screeching loudly in fear and pain.

With the vines out of his way, he stabs the torch into the ground and begins to dig and claw his way through the dirt and slime. There has to be a way out of here. There had to be. Hopper wasn't going to stop till he was free. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Back at the Byers' resident, Bob puts his intelligence into action as he places a map on the kitchen table and begins to measure distance between areas. Discovering part of the clue has gotten him so excited to figure out the rest of the puzzle Joyce and Will wants him to find. It was fun having others in the game. Mike and Amelia were really into this game, he thought.

"All right. All right. I'm 3.6 inches, what do you got?" Bob calls out as everyone was measuring with a long roll measuring tape.

"I'm not sure. Mrs. Byers?" Mike calls out.

"Hold on." She pulls the tape and marks the spot with it, "Twenty-one feet, four inches." Joyce calls out.

"What about Tippecanoe to Danford Creek?" Bob asks after he marks the area on the map.

"Danford? Where's Danford?" Joyce scoffs and sighs.

"Dining room." Amelia calls out and points the area as she watches Joyce making a run towards her with the tape. "Sixteen feet, ten inches." Joyce calls out.

"What about Danford to Jordan?"

Joyce scoffs, she has had it! They need to find Hopper now, "Oh, come on. This has gotta be enough." She stutters as they all move to hover around Bob as he continues to calculate where the X is.

"It's not. It's... it's really not." Bob shakes his head.

Amelia holds her hands up to stop everyone's panic, "Okay. Can't you figure it out? Come on, Bob, you're the most brilliant man Joyce and I know. Where do you think the X is?"

Bob stutters as he tries to think, "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," He stops and scoffs out a laugh, "I would say that the X is...maybe a half mile southeast of Danford?" He suggests, drawing a big circle on the area.

Sighing in relief, Joyce kisses his cheek and grabs the map, "Thank you. Thank you." She praises and rushes with Amelia and the boys to get to the car.

Bob stutters in confusion as he watches everyone rushing out the door, "What? Are we...we really going?"

Amelia stops and turns, "Yes! Come on! We got to hurry!" She urges him.

Bob frowns as he gets into the car, "Wh-why?"

Joyce starts up the car and backs up roughly, causing Bob to shout in surprise and grunt as she spins her tires down the dirt path towards the roads.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hopper digs...and digs...and claws...and digs through the slimy dirt, but it was no use. He was losing energy. He was hungry. Tired. Hot. And his breathing was getting worse. The air was so bad and his lungs weren't so great. He begins to regret not working out when he was offered so many times. Amelia tried to get him to be more active.  Amelia. He must get back to her...but being down there...no water...no food...no fresh air.  He was growing too weak.  He can't stop.

Panting heavily, he grunts as he pulls himself out of the hole he made and slides down on the ground. Maybe he just needs a break. Groaning softly, Hopper coughs as he tries to rest against the wall. Digging into his pockets, he pulls his last cigarette, unaware of a vine making its way towards him. He was just about to light up his cigarette, then he felt it. The soft, wet slithering that was making its way over his foot and up his leg, wrapping itself around him.

"Son of a bitch!" He shouts and gets to his feet, watching the vines rapidly wrapping around his body. He gets his swissarmy knife and begins cutting the vines off of him, but the more he cut, the faster they wrapped around him.

The strength of the vines were too strong for him, Hopper grunts as he falls back against the ground, the knife flying out of his hands. Yelling as he struggles to get free, but it was no use.

"Wait. Wait. No, no! No! No!" He yells and grunts.  He can't let the vines win.  He can't!  He needed to get home.  Back to Amelia.  Back to Eleven. 

He looks over and sees the knife, he struggles to reach for it, but yells in frustration. The vines were too strong and too heavy for him to even move an inch. He was trapped. All he could do was scream deep in the Earth...where no one could hear him.

"Amelia! Amelia!" His voice muffles through the deep dirt as he calls out for her.  All he wanted was to hold her one last time.  Kiss her...and tell her...that he loves her. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Night has fallen and Joyce continues to drive as fast as she could to get to Jim. Bob sat in the passenger's seat as Amelia with Will and Mike sat in the backseat. 

"There's nothing. There's nothing here." Joyce scoffs.  "Are... Are we close?"

"We're in the vicinity."

Joyce frowns at Bob, "What's that mean, the vicinity?"

"It means we're close. I don't know. It's not precise." Bob says, trying to go over the map.  This game was getting a little intense.

"But we did all that work."

Amelia covers her face, worried to death for Jim.  Time was running out, she needed him back.  Will closes his eyes and concentrates.  Trying to fight through the monster's grip and uses its thoughts to find Hopper. 

"I told you, the scale ratio is not exactly one-to-one. We needed to take--" Bob was cut off by Will as he snaps his eyes open with a gasp.

"Turn right."

Amelia jumps, "What?"

"I saw him." Will says.

Bob and Joyce were both looking around, "Where?" She asks.

"Not here. In my now-memories." Will explains.

Bob frowns in confusion, "In your what?"

"Turn right!" Will shouts.

Joyce yanks the steering wheel and jerks the car to the right, crashing into a big sign and haystacks.  Everyone screams as they jerk from side to side.  Amelia holds on to Will and Mike as Joyce drives through a farm.  Once the hay was off the car, they see Hopper's truck!

Joyce slams on her breaks, forcing the car to stop before she hit the truck.  Amelia catches the boys before they could get hurt. 

Panting heavily, Joyce looks over the boys and Amelia, "Are you okay?" She asks. Thankfully, Will nods.  

Mike looks over to Will in shock, he was right, "Superspy."

Bob frowns as he sees Jim's truck, "What's Jim doing here? Joyce?" He grunts when Amelia was forcing his seat forward to get out.  "Ow!"

Joyce looks over to the boys, "Boys, I need you to stay here."

Will stops Joyce, "No. Mom, Mom, Mom, it's not safe."

"That's why I need you to stay here! Stay here!" Joyce says strongly.

Amelia rushes towards the large hole, "Jim!" She shouts, but he wasn't there.  She could see a small hole in the middle, covered with black vines. "Oh, my god." She grunts as she moves to climb down into the hole.

Joyce and Bob rush to get out of the car as the boys stayed behind, watching with worry. 

"Hey, be careful." Bob says as they watch Amelia climb down the hole. 

Amelia grunts as she slides down the dirt and gets to her feet, panting heavily.  She grabs the shovel off the ground, "Vines." She whispers and grits her teeth as she begins to stab them.

Joyce shouts with Bob, gasping in shock as they watch her stab the vines over and over, hearing them hiss and screech at her.

"Give...me...back...my...man!" Amelia shouts at every strike.

Finally, the vines move out of her way, making a path for her.  Amelia tosses the shovel away and turns towards Joyce and Bob.  Joyce slides down into the hole and stands next to her. 

"Bob, go get a flashlight." Amelia says.

Bob stutters and rushes back to the car, opening the trunk as he searches for a flashlight.  He rushes back as he finds one just as the boys were getting out of the car to watch them. Bob tosses the flashlight to Amelia.

"Okay." Amelia pants as she catches it and turns it on, "I need you two to help me get down there."

Joyce nods, but Bob grunts as he slides down the hole "What are you talking about?"

"Bob! Now!" Amelia shouts, there was no time for arguments, she needed to find Jim.

Bob and Joyce take Amelia's arms and slowly lower her into the hole.  She grunts and grimaces at the smell of decay around her.  It was so cold inside the hole.  She could see spores floating in the air.  She grunts as she lets go of their grips and lands on her feet. 

"Oh, god." She shines her light everywhere, "Jim! Jim!" She calls out, her voice echoing through the tunnels. 

Joyce grunts as Bob begins to lower her next, Amelia turns and helps her get down.  Joyce gasps in shock and looks around, searching for Jim with Amelia.

"Hopper! Hopper! Hopper!" She shouts.

"Jim!" Amelia cries.

Mike rushes to the trunk and pulls out a long rope.  He didn't want them to get stuck down there like Hopper.  He ties the rope around Joyce's front bumper and carries it to the hole. 

"Bob!" He shouts and tosses towards him.

Bob grunts as he catches the rope and lowers it into the dark hole.  He yanks on it, making sure it was secure and could support his weight.  He grutns and pants as he carefully uses the rope to lower himself into the hole. 

He gasps once he makes it down and slips, landing hard on the dirt floor, "Joyce, what is going on? Where are we?" He groans.

Joyce turns fast as she hears the thud of Bob's body hitting the ground, "Bob, are you okay?"

Bob frowns and gasps as he looks around, seeing how familiar it looked, "Tunnels. Is this Will's map?"

"Jim!" Amelia continues to call out for him.

"Are we in Will's map?" Bob asks in shock.

Joyce and Amelia were both focused on finding Jim than answering his questions.  Amelia paces down a path, "Jim! Jim!"

"Hopper! Hopper!"

Bob gasps and follows them both, "We're in Will's map.  We're actually inside of Will's map. How did he know all this?"

Amelia sobs in terror, "Jim, where are you?!"

Joyce gasps as she sees something on the ground, "Amelia! Over here!" She shouts.

Amelia turns and rushes towards her, she was holding up a piece of Jim's cigarette, "It's his."

Amelia cries, "I'll never complain about his smoking.  I swear to God!" She sobs.

Joyce grabs hers face, "Calm down! Calm.  He's down here and we'll find him.  Okay?  Calm down." She lets go of her and takes her flashlight, shining down the forked tunnels, pointing the light where she found the piece of cigarette.  She sees more down one path, "He's gotta be this way. Come on." She says and leads the way with Bob and Amelia. 

"Jim!" Amelia calls out.

"Hopper!"

Will and Mike could hear the echoing of their voices calling for Hopper in the dark.  Mike looks over towards Will.

"Do you see anything? I mean, in your now-memories?" He asks.

But before Will could answer, they hear in the distance sounds of tires screeching.  They look towards the roads and sees many cars speeding towards where they were.  Mike knew those black cars well.  It was the Lab.

Amelia, Joyce, and Bob continue to search for Hopper.  Amelia grunts as she almost trips over a vine.  She slams her foot down on one, growling in fury.  These things had Jim and she was going to tear through them all to get him back.

"Jm! Jim!" Amelia calls out.

"Hopper!" Joyce shouts.

Amelia sighs and scans around them.  Suddenly, she sees something hiding in the vines.  She could see fingers wiggling!  She gasps and rushes towards the lump of vines.

"Jim!  Oh, my god!" Amelia could see him clearly.  She gets to her knees and begins to grab the vines, forcing them off him.

"Oh! It's his arm." Joyce shouts and rushes to help her, grunting with effort.

"It's choking him." Bob says as he tries to help them. 

"Knife." Jim grunts out, his voice muffled from the vines as they wrap around his neck tightly.

"Knife?" Joyce frowns and gasps as she sees something shinning in the dark, the light of her flashlight gave it a glow.  "It's over there."

Amelia grabs it and begins to cut the vines, "You assholes! Let him go!" She grunts and rips the vines off his body.  Everyone grunts as they help her.  Jim groans as the vines finally got off his mouth.

"Hands! Hands!" Jim shouts at her to cut the vines off his hands and arms.  He coughs and grunts as he manages to get the vines off his neck. 

Amelia slices through the vines, getting them off his arms, his waist. 

"Cut it...Bastard!" Once his upper body was free, he grabs the knife from Amelia and gets his legs and feet free.  Slicing through the vines.  Finally, he was free.  Joyce, Amelia and Bob helped Him to stand. 

Amelis sobs in relief, wrapping her arms around him, "Oh, thank god! Thank God!" She pulls away and reaches up to cup his face, "Are you okay?"

Jim holds her tight against him, sighing in relief as he held her again, "Amelia." He buries his face in her hair.  Roses. 

Amelia cries and grips on to him, she was so scared of losing him.  She honestly thought she was never going to see him again.  He pulls away from her and cups her face in his hands.

"I love you.  I love you, Amelia." He pants out, pressing his head against hers.  After nearly dying, he didn't want to miss anything with her.  He didn't want to hold it back. He loves her. 

Amelia cries, "I love you, too." She sobs out and buries her face into his chest, feeling his wrap his arms around her, kissing her head.

Jim pants heavily and looks over to see Bob and Joyce, "Hey. Hey, Bob."

"Hey, Jim." Bob pants. 

Suddenly, a loud screeching is made and a vine wraps around Amelia's ankle.  She screams when she's yanked out of Jim's arms.  The vine begins to drag her over the floor. 

"Oh, god!" Joyce screams as the three of them rush to help her.

"Get it off me! Get it off!" Amelia screams as she's continued to being dragged. 

Jim gets his knife and cuts the vine; it screeches as more try to go after her.  Joyce and Bob shout as they hold on to Amelia, fighting the vines from pulling her. 

"Get off her!" Jim shouts. 

Amelia shouts when she's lunged forward as a vine wraps itself around her wrist, "LET ME GO!" She shouts as she calls forth the Goddess Ozark.  A bright red light erupts from her palm, making the vines screech in pain and slither away from her.  Letting her go.  Bob and Joyce grunt as they fall backwards with Amelia in their grip. 

Jim grunts and helps Amelia to her feet, "Are you okay?"

Amelia nods, "Yeah." She whimpers.

"Are you sure?" He asks, scanning over her body.

Amelia nods frantically, "Let's get out of here.  Please!" She begs.

Bob helps Joyce to her feet, looking at Amelia in shock, "How did you do that?"

Jim holds on to Amelia tightly, "Another time, Bob." He sighs and pants as the four of them turn to head back towards the entrance, but they all scream as a man in a hazmat suit stands in their way.  He carried a flame thrower in his hands.

"Go! Go! Go! Clear the area! Go!" The man shouts.

They were about to leave, but Hopper runs back to grab his hat, "Wait." He snatches it off the ground and rushes towards the exit.

"Move, now!" The man shouts and gets the flame thrower ready. 

Once they made it to the rope, Bob urges Joyce to go first, "Go!" He helps her climb.  Joyce grunts as she struggles to pull herself up.  She gasps when she sees light shining over her and people surrounded her.  Several men in suits help her out of the hole.

"Come on, babe.  Go.  Go!" Jim urges Amelia, helping her climb. 

Amelia grunts and climbs, she reaches up and grabs the first arm that held out towards her.  She yelps when she's yanked and helped to her feet. 

Jim was next, and then Bob.  They were finally free from that hellish world.

Suddenly, they hear flames roaring in the ground and Mike's voice erupts in panic, making Joyce's heart drop in fear.

"Will? Will, you okay? Will, what's wrong?" Mike panics.

Joyce rushes to get out of the hole, she looks and sees Will on the ground, grunting in pain as he holds on to himself. 

"Oh, my god! Will!" She shouts.

Suddenly, Will turns and arches his back in pain, screaming in agony as his eyes roll back till there was nothing but the white of his eyes. His whole body seizes.

Joyce rushes to his side, "Will!" She tries to help him, hold him down to stop, but suddenly, the scientists from the lab grabs her, yanking her back as they grip her arms. "Let me go!"

"Hey! Hey!" Bob shouts, but more men make a grab for him as well. 

Amelia shouts when someone grabs her from behind, lifting her off her feet, "Let me go!" She pounds on the person's arms, but they weren't going to let go. 

"Hey! Let her go!" Jim rushes to help Amelia, but he was dragged off as well. 

Joyce, Bob, Mike, and Amelia were dragged into their own personal van while Jim had his own van. 

"Amelia!" Jim shouts.

"Jim!" She shouts as she's thrown into the back of the van and the doors shut behind her. Taking her to the last place she wanted to be....the Lab.