Chapter Text
Will was going to die. Soon. He had felt this way ever since he was taken to this other world, but this time it really was true. It happened on the latest supply run (Will couldn’t say how long ago, even if he tried. His sense of time had eroded long ago).
Every supply run was pushing Will further and further from his base, the Wheeler’s home, and this time he decided to raid a supermarket in an un-scouted area. Will desperately needed to stock up on supplies, and he had just taken the last of the water bottles from the previous supermarket.
With his backpack and loaded shotgun, Will carefully entered the store. It was quite a distance from the Wheeler house, but Will had vague memories of visiting this store from the real world.
Just like every supermarket in the dark world, this one was full of the stench of rotting food. Will pulled his mask a little tighter and scanned the aisles for canned goods. The perk of raiding a new supermarket is that Will could stock up on some rare sweet treats, like canned peaches. Will grabbed a couple cans and dropped them into his backpack. He then located the water bottles and grabbed as many as he could without weighing down the backpack too much.
Leaving the store in high spirits, Will set off at a brisk pace back to his base. He walked about a mile when he heard the telltale chirp of the flower dogs. Whipping around, Will realized that he had encountered a group of flower dogs. Weighted down with water and rations, Will was slow to react and the pack lunged at him.
Will shot the dog in the face and set off at a sprint. If he could put some distance between himself and the dogs, he could use his powers to kill the pack.
Will was agile, and plenty fast from his years of living in the dark world, but he was no match for the speed of the flower dogs. He fell to the ground as one of the dogs latched on to his calf. Will yelled out in pain as the dog ripped a chunk of flesh from his calf.
Suddenly his body went limp, and he saw the rather trippy sight of himself through the eyes of the flower dogs. Tapping into Henry’s powers, Will raised the dogs into the air and snapped their bones with a loud crunch.
When he came to, Will saw the corpses of the dogs. He didn’t like relying on his powers, as he sometimes drew the unwanted attention of Henry. The same thing happened when he interacted with the lights. Oftentimes, a flower man would be there in a matter of minutes.
Will slowly got onto his knees, but when he tried to put weight on his injured leg, he immediately cried out in pain. His leg felt like it was on fire.
Will resolved to leave the backpack and retrieve it when he was well. He limped home in a dazed state. The pain in his leg almost made him pass out and he was drained from using his powers. Every other step made a soggy sound because the blood had soaked through his shoe. When Will arrived back at the base, he knew from the survival books he found in the library that he needed to clean the wound and stop the bleeding.
When Will made it back to the base, he knew exactly where to go. He did his best to keep a well-stocked medical supply. He had to patch himself up on several occasions: mostly minor bite wounds from the flower monsters and bats, but also from a scratch that took his eye out, and some of his face. In his arms he took bundles of gauze, bandages, and a bottle of hydrogen peroxide.
Will sat collapsed on the dusty floor and took a deep breath as he picked up the bottle of hydrogen peroxide. He hissed in pain as he poured the antiseptic on his leg. The burning feeling was almost worse than the pain from the wound. Will then grabbed some gauze and pressed it against the gaping wound to stop the bleeding. He screamed as black spots clouded his vision. The gauze was quickly wet with blood, and Will placed another patch on the wound. Again, he pressed on his leg with all of his strength.
The books didn’t say how painful this was , Will thought. Then again, they are for helping patch other people up, not myself.
When the gauze was no longer turning red within seconds, Will wrapped his leg with a bandage and secured it. Breathing heavily and covered in sweat, Will promptly passed out, right on the floor.
It was the thirst, followed by the throbbing pain in his leg that woke Will up. As he reached for his dwindling supply of water, Will lamented his failed supply run.
Checking on his leg, Will noticed that he had bled through the bandages. He cleaned the wound again and applied a clean bandage. To be extra cautious, Will decided to take one antibiotic pill every day.
Will decided that today would have to be a slow day. He rummaged through his medicine supply until he found a pill bottle labeled Percocet. Will had found it in the Wheeler’s bathroom. The pills were like magic, they helped him heal much quicker. Sadly, there were only a couple left.
He limped over to his drawing supplies and settled down on the couch. He decided that he would sketch a scene from one of his favorite campaigns. He, Lucas, and Dustin had barely any health left. Mike had created a truly merciless campaign, leaving them to fight the Aspect of Tiamat Dragon after a terrible barrage of darkweavers. When it looked like a loss, Lucas rolled a nat 20, and was able to snick a win. Will remembered fondly how Karen came down to scold them because of how loud they were being.
As he drew, Will smiled to himself. When he concentrated, he could hear the Wheelers bustling around in the morning, getting ready for the day. Will could almost make out snippets of their conversations.
Ted -- w-- keys
Mike! Ge----oom!
--- late!
Aside from the centralized location, it was part of the reason he chose the Wheeler household to be his base. With the chaos of the house, he could almost pretend that he was back at home, waking up with Mike after a sleepover.
It was only on the third time waking up after his injury that Will realized something was off. The throbbing in his leg had only worsened and the percocet pills had long run out. Taking a breath, Will reached down to the bandaged leg. When he unraveled the bandage, he saw that his calf was swollen and the skin around the bite was red and hot. Slowly, Will reached down to touch the skin. Even just touching his calf made him yelp in pain. Something was clearly very wrong.
Refusing to give into panic, Will cleaned the wound again, and re-bandaged it. With luck, he would be on his feet in no time.
What fucking luck. If I was lucky, I wouldn’t be here in the first place.
In the back of his mind, Will knew that he had to heal quickly. His water supply was running dangerously low, and Will would rather blow his brains out then die of thirst.
The next day however, brought no such luck. Will woke up shivering uncontrollably. It was always so cold in this dark place, but Will liked to think that he had gotten used to it. Now, no matter how much he bundled up, the cold seemed to run through his veins.
His leg was another story. It burned like it was on fire. Even moving it triggered waves of pain that seemed to penetrate his whole body.
On top of that, Will was extremely weak. It took him several minutes to crawl out of bed and drink the last of his water. On shaky arms and legs, he made his way back to the bed.
For the next few days (or hours, Will couldn’t tell) Will faded in and out of consciousness. Every time he woke, he felt weaker.
Will wasn’t a doctor, hell he hadn’t even finished seventh grade. But it didn’t take a doctor to know that Will was going to die.
Even in his addled state, Will felt a deep anger. He had done everything right. He cleaned the wound, he bandaged it up, he even took antibiotics and the magic pills. This place didn’t care. He had been destined to die ever since the flower monster had taken him. If it wasn’t the infection, then it would be running out of water, or an unlucky encounter with flower monsters, or catching Henry’s wrath.
With his dwindling strength, he took his sketchbook and wrote one final entry.
If you are reading this, I am sorry. You are probably stuck down here in this shithole, just like me. Don’t be discouraged. I had a good run, I survived longer than I thought I would. If you somehow get out, please give this note to my mom and my brother Jonathan. I want them to know that I love them, and that I miss them everyday.
Here are some things you should know: vines attract monsters, you can communicate with the lights but it also attracts monsters, avoid Henry at all costs, look for water and canned food in grocery stores. If you are really desperate, the bats are edible.
You probably have shitty luck just like me, but I hope you can get out, back to the real world. I hope that you will be able to see the sun again, breathe fresh air, eat fresh fruit, and take a hot shower. I think I will go now, if I’m not too much of a fairy to shoot myself.
-- Will Byers
Will put down his pencil with a shaky hand. He sincerely doubted that anyone else would find this note. If it was ever found, his mother and brother would surely be long dead. They will die never knowing what happened to him. His friends too.
It was a small comfort to Will that he could give up, and had every right to. He could take his shotgun and end it all. It was in arms reach, as Will kept it close at all times. Will took the shotgun into his lap and stared into the barrel. Faintly, he realized that he hadn’t eaten anything in at least a couple days. No matter, it will be over soon. It would be so easy and Will was in so much pain. He could end it all.