I've been trying to write a crossover between these two shows forever.
There are monsters outside.
Many names have been passed between the occupants of the pub, but the name that prevails is "The Upside Down." And it's a name that suits it well.
The pub is the safest place around, and even then it's still dangerous. Nelson insists that the doors won't be thrown open again by another monster attack and for them to all have some more booze, but the fear still lives. None of them have slept since they came here, they don't need to, but even if they did they wouldn't be able to for fear that they'd be attacked and killed in their beds.
When Sam first came here he assigned them a name from a teenage hood playing too much Dungeons and Dragons. He called them Demogorgons and the name stuck. There are more fitting names but they don't call them that as it only installs more fear into their souls. All of them have wondered if Hell would have been a better place to go
On first look in the pub it's normal. People mingling at the bar, lots of booze and cigarettes. It's only if you look closer you see the way their hands shake when they sip their beer, the way they look fearfully at the door like it could burst open at any moment and the way everyone huddles when the lights flicker. The fear in the building is universal and unbending, they all know too well what can happen at any time.
The saloon bar doors are bolted shut now, the windows covered in masking tape to hide the horrors inside. The last attack breached it, monsters rampaging as they attacked the people within. Many people were lost, mainly women due to the fact that it had been claimed by them long before any sign of the monsters. Shaz and Annie were lost to the monsters of The Upside Down along with many others, Alex only managed to survive because she was at the bar ordering and didn't realise what was going on until she heard the chaos behind her. The screams still echo in the mind of those who witnessed it from the main bar but were powerless to help, haunting them every second. All those people, friends, colleagues, lovers, gone in an instant to the monsters that plague their lives.
Chris was the only one who made it out of there. He'd been talking with Shaz and had just turned to walk to the bar to help Alex order when the attack started. He ran, looking back only once to see the woman he loved so much teared to pieces in front of his eyes. A Demogorgon managed to injury him before he crashed through the doors just before they managed to get them closed. He collapsed onto the floor bleeding from where the monsters attacked him, shirt splattered with the blood of the people he'd known for so long and eyes fixed onto the ceiling in fear. They stayed fixed in that position, barely blinking as his brain replayed the events like a scratched record, for half an hour until Nelson brought out something to knock him out so they could assess his injuries. 3 Long scratches on his left cheek are all that physically remain from the attack but mentally, the damage is plain to see.
He spends half the time rocking himself to get through the internal pain and muttering incomprehensible words under his breath. Everyone thinks he blames himself for being the only one to escape though they aren't sure. He's a complete shell of his former self and for the people who knew him in the real world it's horrible to see. He doesn't seem like Chris anymore.
When he's more comprehensible he only talks to Alex, especially since Ray left, like he knows she's the only one there who might know how to help. He's told her how he sees the love of his life alone in utter darkness screaming for help whilst he can do nothing but watch. He replays the attack in his mind on a constant loop that he's unable to prevent, everyone torn to pieces in front of his eyes and the pain that came with it. Alex tries to get him to talk about it in more detail but he refuses, tears streaming from his multi-coloured eyes as he recalls the horrors of that day.
The world before seems so far away now. Sam's told the ones who weren't there how before the monsters came the pub was the happiest place he'd ever known. Now it's a place infused with fear and there is no one to protect them. All they can do is try and survive, ride out the storm of the monsters.
Occasionally other voices come through from outside. Chris hears them the clearest, his injuries gave him a heightened awareness of the outside. The rest hear them too, albeit faintly. The sound of 3 American teenagers and occasionally a softly-spoken girl drifts through the murky glass every so often, restoring fragile hope. They hear Gene sometimes too, talking to them in his gruff way. Telling them that he's trying to get help and one day soon, he'll ride in in the Merc and rescue them like he did so many times before.
One day. It's a promise all hope isn't empty. That they'll escape this place someday and be reunited with who they've lost.
One day.
