Author's Note: This is a work of fanfiction. I do not own Higurashi or Silent Hill. Higurashi is property of 07th Expansion, Silent Hill is property of Konami.
Satoko Houjou walked north along the road, which was, according to a sign Satoko could only barely read through the fog, called "Saul Street". The entire place seemed deserted, and there were no lights on in any of the houses, in fact some of them were boarded up. All of the streetlights were also out.
After walking about 100 meters down the road, Satoko spotted the first the first sign of life in this deserted town, a person, only visible as a dark figure in the distance through the fog.
"Hey!", Satoko yelled, "Over here, I need help!"
The figure, however, just turned and walked into an alleyway coming off from the side of the street. Satoko sprinted over to the alley and turned, however, there was no sign of the figure.
"Hello?", Satoko turned down the narrow alley, which ran through a four-foot gap between two brick buildings, "Is anyone there?"
There was no answer. Satoko kept moving along the dark alley. She was sure she had seen someone here. She turned a corner, looking down an alleyway perpendicular to the one she was on. Around the corner, Satoko saw the figure again, only about twenty feet away.
"Hello?", Satoko said as she shone her flashlight on the dark figure. As the flashlight revealed the figure, Satoko felt her a chill down her spine. The figure was a man wearing normal enough clothing, but he was carrying an axe, furthermore, on his face, he wore a mask similar to the "demon masks" that were worn by the Shinto priests in the Furude Shrine during the Watanagashi Festival back in Hinamizawa… but why would they be wearing them here, half way around the world in a small town in Maine?
The masked man raised the axe and charged at Satoko. As he got closer, Satoko realized that the skin on his arms and neck, the only exposed areas, looked dead, decayed, almost zombie-like.
Satoko held the aluminum trekking pole she had taken earlier and tried to block the axe strike. The axe blade struck the pole, bent it, and snapped it in two. The axe kept falling, missing Satoko by centimeters and impacting the concrete between her legs with a flash of sparks. Satoko held the two broken ends of the trekking pole like daggers and thrust both of them into her attacker's chest. The axe man fell to his knees, then face down on the floor.
Satoko grabbed the man's axe, realizing that, if there were probably more things like the axe man and those insectiod monsters from earlier, she would need a weapon.
After the initial adrenaline rush, Satoko realized the full gravity of her situation. "I… I… killed him", she said to her self. Satoko contemplated running, "No… wait, that would make it worse, I should got to the police… It was self-defense, he was coming at me with an axe…"
At that moment, Satoko realized something else… the man she fought… his skin looked diseased, decayed… Satoko look down on at the body. Indeed, his skin did look rotted, decayed, and corpse-like, in spite of being so recently alive, smelled strongly of decay. Slowly, with much trepidation, Satoko removed the mask on his face… to reveal a face that had rotted away, parts of the bone being visible, the flesh having decayed.
"What the hell is going on here!", Satoko asked herself, "How was that man alive".
After a few seconds, Satoko regained composure. "Come on, Satoko", she thought to herself, "Whatever's going on, I need to get help. I have evidence, I'll show them the bodies of the "zombie (?)" and the those insect things, as soon as the police find them, they'll know I'm not crazy… then, they'll do something to take care of this…"
Satoko slowly walked forward, towards the exit to the alleyway, onto Brite Street. The shadow of the Centennial Building loomed large in the distance as she slowly walked towards it.
She made it a few hundred yards further down the road, to a major intersection between Brite Street and Lansdale Avenue, before she reached an intersection and stared in shock and confusion at what she saw. A great chasm had appeared in the middle of the road, blocking any further travel along the road.
"What the…", Satoko said out loud, "Was there an earthquake or something? Was that what forced the bus off the road?"
Satoko's thoughts were disturbed by a chittering sound coming form her right. Satoko turned just in time to see another of those insect-like monsters jump out an alley, jumping straight at her.
Satoko raised her axe over her face, blocking the attack by the monster, striking it the blunt end of the axe and forcing the creature to the ground. Satoko then raised the axe over her head, burying the blade into the creature. Satoko struck the monster three times, and then stomped on it as hard as she could, making sure it was dead.
After dispatching the creature, Satoko examined the map. The road alleyway that monster came out of should lead her to Cook Street, which she could then take down to Laymond Avenue, and up to the Centennial Building.
Satoko crept down the alleyway, her axe clutched firm in her hands, the weapon being her only source of security in the dark, deserted town of horrors that was Silent Hill.
Satoko made it down the alley and onto Cook Street without encountering any adversaries. Satoko was constantly on edge. It was almost scarier when you were alone than when you were being attacked.
Cook Street too was deserted, with no signs of anyone alive, only boarded up shops and abandoned vehicles. Finally, after only about twenty minutes, though it seemed like much longer, Satoko had made her way up Raymond Avenue and back onto Brita Street. She was now at the door to the Centennial Building.
The Centennial Building was easily the tallest structure in town, rising up 18 stories, with a massive clock on top. Above the entrance, large black wrought iron letters read: "Centennial Building", and below that "Silent Hill Municipal Complex".
Satoko with some trepidation, Satoko put down her axe, deciding it was best to leave the weapon before turning herself in, and opened the door, entering into the deserted foyer. There was nothing there but an empty front desk, and to the right and left of the desk two elevators.
"Maybe the receptionist doesn't work this late", Satoko said. On the opposite wall, Satoko examined a diagram of the tower. The diagram showed that the police headquarters and academy were on the third floor.
Satoko walked over to the elevator and pressed the button. Almost immediately, the elevator doors opened, revealing an open elevator. Satoko entered the elevator and pressed the "Third Floor" button. Slowly, the elevator ascended.
After about one minute, the elevator reached the third floor of the Centennial Building. The elevator door slowly opened to reveal the Silent Hill Police Headquarters in a state of disrepair. Satoko gasped at what she saw.
The window in front of the front desk was shattered, scattering broken glass on floor, there were bullet holes in the walls, most disturbingly, there was the dead body of a police officer lying on the ground, gun clutched in his hand, spent shell casings lying around him. Across the room lay the bullet-riddled body one of those zombie-like people (?) in oni masks that Satoko had encountered earlier, a kitchen knife lying next to them.
Satoko immediately grabbed the phone on the desk and pushed the "1" button.
"Wait a second", Satoko realized, "Its not 119 in America, its 911"
Satoko then hung up and dialed again, this time, dialing "911". Satoko waited several seconds before the phone connected, however, instead of an operator, she only got a deafening burst of static.
After a few seconds with no connection, Satoko put down the phone and took several deep breaths.
"OK, I need to get help", Satoko said, "I should try going to one of the other areas of town". Satoko got out the map. "Looks like South Vale is the next nearest.", Satoko thought.
Satoko grabbed the knife and the police officer's handgun and nightstick. Satoko then examined the gun. The weapon was, according to the label stamped on the slide, a Colt M1911 .45 Automatic handgun. After examining the pistol for a second, however, Satoko realized the barrel was damaged on the other side- a large dent in the barrel, as though it had been struck with a hammer or something.
Satoko put down the useless handgun and turned away from the corpse of the fallen police officer. As she did, she noticed a sign on a door reading "Police Academy, Armory, Firing Range".
"Excellent", Satoko thought, "Looks like I can find some firepower after all."
Satoko opened the door, and attempted to flip a light switch, but nothing happened.
"Must be broken", Satoko said to herself, "Good thing I have my flashlight.
Satoko walked down a hallway with a number of doors that appeared to be lecture rooms in the police academy, but Satoko couldn't be sure, as they were all locked. At the end of the hall was a door marked "Armory, Firing Range"
Satoko opened the door to find and indoor shooting range with several targets on one end of the range. Behind a counter on the other end of the room were several lockers. Most of them were empty, but one of them was closed.
Satoko attempted to open the locker, but it was locked with a combination lock controlled by a ten-number keypad. Below lying on the floor below the locker was a note
Satoko picked up note and read it: "If you want to open this locker, you must have the courage to face death four times over".
It was clearly some kind of clue to open the lock, but something about it didn't make sense… "But why would a police officer leave a clue to access his weapon lying around, and why would the clue be something like this?"
It took Satoko several seconds to notice what would be to many the most obvious thing that was unusual about the note: It was written in Japanese.
Between the article about Hinamizawa she found on the dead hiker in the woods, the monsters, the "zombies" in oni masks from the Watanagashi Festival, and now this, Satoko got the distinct feeling that someone in this town knew about her past, And that they were out to get her…
But that brought Satoko no closer to deciphering the riddle. She read through it again, stopping on the Japanese character for death, pronounced shi.
"Wait a minute!", Satoko thought, "ichi, ni, san, shi…. 1, 2, 3, 4". By some odd coincidence, the Japanese word for the number "four" was also shi. In fact, in some Japanese horror movies, the number is associated with death.
"Face death for times over…", Satoko thought, "That was it! Shi, shi, shi, shi…"
Satoko pressed the "4" button on the keypad for times. The display above the keypad read "4444". Satoko pressed enter and heard the lock click. Satoko tried opening the door.
The locker door opened to reveal a handgun of the same kind as the destroyed pistol belonging to the dead officer in the room, a Colt Model 1911. This one was very much intact, and next to it were two magazines of .45 ACP and a roll of duct tape.
Satoko took the handgun and pocketed the magazines, as well as the duct tape, figuring it might come in useful.
Suddenly, Satoko turned around, hearing a chittering sound behind her. Satoko turned to see four of the monsters that looked like oversized insects she had faced earlier coming at her from beyond the shooting range.
Satoko turned towards them and pressed down a switch on the pistol that she hoped was the safety, before taking aim the first monster, which was only about 15 feet away. As Satoko pulled the trigger, the Colt M1911 let out a loud report and recoiled more than Satoko expected as it sent a .45 caliber round flying towards the creature. The insect like creature was struck in the center mass, causing it to shriek loudly, but the monster kept advancing. Satoko realigned her shot and fired again, putting another slug into the monster. This time, the creature stopped moving, falling to the floor, dead.
Emboldened by her success, Satoko turned the gun towards her next target and said, "Haha, more target practice!" as she fired two more shots, killing the creature. The third monster fell to three more gunshots.
Satoko took aim at the last of the insectiod creatures, now only about four feet away, and pulled the trigger, but heard only the click of an empty chamber.
"Shit!", Satoko said, as she dropped the pistol and drew the kitchen knife and nightstick she had found earlier, wielding the knife in her right hand the nightstick in her left. Satoko struck the creature in the top of the head as it prepared to lunge at her, halting its attack in stunning it as it let out a high-pitched shriek.
Satoko then thrust her knife in the back of the creature first once, then twice, three times, four times. She lost count of how many times she had stabbed the monster, punching through its exoskeleton and covering her hands with hemolymph.
Satoko breathed heavily several times before she got up and retrieved her handgun. Satoko examined her the weapon closely yet again, finding the second switch on the handle, the magazine release.
The magazine fell out onto the floor as Satoko loaded another seven-round magazine into the pistol.
"Looks like the gun only has seven rounds of ammunition in the magazine.", Satoko thought, "I should save ammo for the tougher enemies. If only I had a better melee weapon…"
It was at that moment that Satoko remembered the duct tape from the cupboard. Satoko pulled the tape out of her pocket. As she did, she felt something on attached to the roll. On closer inspection, it turned out there was a piece of paper attached to the tape.
Satoko pocketed the paper and got back to her immediate task. She wrapped the duct tape around the nightstick and the knife handle, with the blade sticking off the end of the nightstick. It wasn't the best weapon, but it would last until she found something better… Satoko hoped so, anyway.
With her new melee weapon complete, Satoko turned her attention to the paper. It too was in Japanese. It was an official-looking typed document, with much of the text redacted with the permanent marker. Satoko stared in shock at the document. The document read:
TOP SECRET, LEVEL FIVE SECURITY CLEARANCE ONLY
Report Pertaining to Operation (REDACTED)
On the night of (REDACTED), (REDACTED) personnel entered (REDACTED) and (REDACTED) Codename R by means of (REDACTED), imitating (REDACTED) in order to maintain (REDACTED). Upon the (REDACTED) of Codename R, Level 5 (REDACTED) manifested in the (REDACTED) of (REDACTED). (REDACTED) personnel responded within (REDACTED) to commence Operation (REDACTED), the (REDACTED) of (REDACTED). (REDACTED) were (REDACTED) into several (REDACTED) points in the (REDACTED) area, at which point (EXTENDED REDACTED SECTION).
Satoko couldn't really tell what it all meant with all the redactions, but it was clear to her that, if this paper was real, the people who wrote this paper had something to hide. And then there was the issue of the paper being written in Japanese… Why was it here, in Silent Hill? Satoko was convinced that someone in this town was trying to mess with her head.
"Whoever's been leaving this stuff", Satoko thought as she walked back down the hall, into the lobby, "I'll find them. They're not going the have the satisfaction of destroying me!"
Satoko walked over to the elevator and pressed the button, planning to go back down the first floor and exit the tower and keep going until she found someone who was still alive.
Satoko's mind was changed, however, when she saw a poster on the wall next to the elevator. The poster stated:
"The Mysteries of Silent Hill", New exhibit. Town Museum, 12th floor, Centennial Building".
It was a long shot, but it maybe that exhibit might have something, anything that would shed some light on what was going on in this town. With that thought in mind, Satoko pressed the call elevator button.
New Items:
Woodcutting Axe (discarded by Centennial Building): An axe meant for splitting logs, the axe has a heavy head and a handle of about a meter in length. It makes of an unwieldy weapon, but a hit can be devastating.
Nightstick: A wooden, tonfa-shaped nightstick. This is a standard police-issue nightstick used as a melee weapon when use of a firearm is not appropriate, typically used in a non-lethal manner.
Kitchen Knife: A knife with a triangular blade used for cutting food. A knife such as this can be found in just about any kitchen.
Duct Tape: Strong, water-resistant multipurpose tape. Useful for numerous of applications. It's practically a universal repair tool!
Bladed Nightstick: A weapon created by using the duct tape to attach the knife to the nightstick to create a weapon with a powerful thrusting attack. The tape won't hold forever, but it should last for while.
Colt Model 1911 (7/7): The Colt Model 1911 is a venerable, reliable .45 ACP handgun in service with the US military through both World Wars, Korea, and Vietnam. The gun had good stopping power and a range of about 50 meters, but its seven-round magazine is shallower than some newer handguns. In addition, ammunition may be difficult to find.
Redacted Document:
An official-looking document written in Japanese. Most of the text is redacted, making it impossible to get any meaning out of it… But why is it here?
