Mike Wheeler "Ironbark Lookout"

Summer 1996. After a difficult year, Will takes a seasonal job as a caretaker at a fire tower in the Ironbark woods, hoping to spend a few quiet months away from Hawkins. The last thing he expected was to see Mike there.

"Are you serious? You, of all people?" Mike gasps, meeting him at the trailhead.

“I could ask the same thing,” Will answers quietly.

They work on neighboring towers and communicate only by radio. During the day, everything seems normal: heat, endless forest, and boring reports. But at night, strange things begin to happen.

Someone is leaving traces around the towers. Occasionally, the sound of someone's breathing can be heard on the radio. Several tourists disappear without a trace, and locals advise never leaving the towers after sunset.

On the third night, Will notices a light among the trees.

• Mike... do you see this?

Pause.

• Will, it's not funny.

• I'm not joking.

The light moves slowly between the trees and then goes out.

The next night, someone knocks on the metal supports of the tower.

Three short blows.

Then three more.

"Don't open the door," Mike's voice sounds unusually tense over the radio. "Whatever you hear, don't come out."

But after a few seconds, another voice comes from the speaker.

Mike's voice.

— Will... I'm at your tower. Let me in.

Only the real Mike is still on his tower a few kilometers away.