Chapter 10: The Only Lead

He felt his body dragged on something cold.

Unsure, he tried to open his eyes. They were too heavy, he couldn't open them. He was tired from all this insanity, he just wanted to wake up in his bed back in Central, go to work and see his colleagues. Speaking to Riza, teasing Fullmetal, bossing the others while doing almost nothing.

No.

That statement was wrong.

He wasn't going to do nothing, he had something big to accomplish. Even, maybe, greater than being the next Fürher. Once the deed was done, his mind would be clear from doubts and anxiety. But most importantly, he shall be avenged.

A sob.

The sound of a weak cry from close-by, in front of him.

His eyes snapped opened.

Two big red eyes were shining on his face. The same eyes from his previous dream.

And it... was crying? No way, monsters don't cry. It had to be someone else, something else, but not this monster. Anything but this thing!

His mind screamed, literally. Voices from the depths of his conscious haunted his thoughts, they were familiar and one in particular made him realizethe cause of these screeches. The screams of the agonized Hightides, the pleas of the mechanical abomination, the twisted howls of the demonic dogs, all united. All united in his mind.

No words could describe this pain. Only two words came out from his mouth, before his scarlet sight faded to black.

''It hurts...''

It was under a lantern's light Roy's eyes snapped open. It took him a moment to realize that he was still alive, which relieved him at first. He remembered clearly his fight against the mechanical abomination, the blackened animals, and the stranger who shot at him.

The stranger.

His head suddenly pained him. He could see the moment before this person pulled the trigger; he remembered the clothes he was wearing and the glasses shining under the fleshy chandeliers' fire. Something was wrong, very, very wrong.

He knew him!

He was the same man in the headquarters before the explosion. Everything was almost clear, but only one detail couldn't be explained. The face of the stranger was distorted and blurred out from his memories. His consciousness was covering the stranger's face. To what end? To hold up to the last shreds of sanity remaining in him or because it was due to the bullet he supposedly got in the head, causing him to forget about this important detail?

Whatever the reason of this slight amnesia, Roy could feel his heart aching when he realize his incapability to remember. Something about this person felt familiar, yet dangerous. Just who was it? Who was he?

His head ached more as he tried further to remember the man's face, blinding him from a coming colleague.

''Are you awake, Mustang?''

The voice made him jump. If it wasn't for the lantern's light, he couldn't have seen Samantha standing at his left.

''Samantha? Where are...''

He tried to stand up, but his side paralysed him in his efforts. A hand reached the source of the pain, to feel something soft on his skin. It was then he realized he was in a bed. Samantha must had removed his upper part of the uniform and patched him up with heavy bandages. It didn't discomfort him too much, but the weight of the bandages couldn't go unnoticed.

He looked up, directing his stare on the weakly illuminated woman's face. She looked worse than the last time they met. She had begun to have a small mass of blackened skin under her eyes and her skin was soaked. In fact, she was drenched to the bone. Her skin was paler from what Roy recalled and her uniform seemed to have been assaulted by something with claws.

He immediately suspected the monsters to have done this and mostly the demonic dogs, since they were the only monsters with something resembling claws. She probably jumped into the lake to save herself from the monstrous animals. However, even with this encounter, Samantha always seemed to be a statue as her face wasn't expressing any emotions at all, which began to be suspicious.

''We are in the hospital.'' She talked without any feelings in her voice. ''It was the only safe place.''

Roy suddenly realized something. One, he was in Silent Hill's hospital, the last place in the entire town he wanted to be. If he learned anything from horror films it was this: NEVER go to the hospital, it's always there where the main protagonist meets the worst kind of monsters. Second, 'the only safe place'? Maybe she meant 'It was the only safe place for me, so I took you along.'' because Roy didn't feel safe at all. He would have preferred to wake up back in the prison's cell than on a hospital's bed. But, without this building's equipment, he could have been in worse shape.

''To be frank with you Samantha, I don't feel safe enough in a hospital and especially one with some thing with claws.''

She looked at one of the most apparent scratches on her uniform and looked back at the colonel.

''I guess I owe you an apology,'' she told him without moving her stare away from Roy.

''An apology?''

''Yes. When you told me about these 'bizarre creatures,' I thought you were mad. But... it turns out you were saying the truth.''

Finally! Some good news.

Roy knew that he wasn't insane and didn't imagine all of this. The monsters were real, he sighed out of both relief and concern. It was now a question finally answered, only a few hundred left.

It was good on one hand, but on the other it was terrible news. If the monsters were indeed real, than it meant that they could come out of the town and attack nearby towns and villages. The consequences could be catastrophic. It was now imperative: he had to escape Silent Hill to inform all of this to Central.

But why escape? Why not kill the source right now? The man named Samuel came out of his mind like a bear waking up from hibernation. It was surreal, after his fight against the mechanical abomination he hardly believed it was human, but if he killed this well-hidden, mad alchemist could he end the production of all these monsters? Two choices were in front of him: escaping Silent Hill or killing Samuel.

''Mustang?''

The woman's voice broke the run of his thoughts. He simply raised his head toward Samantha.

''Y-Yes, I accept your apology. My... My thoughts just drift away for a moment.''

''About?''

He wasn't sure if he should divulge his hasty plan, but maybe Samantha could help him. Yes, she might be mad, but she seemed resourceful and strong enough to assist him.

He took a gamble and decided to tell it.

''I was thinking of two possibilities we could take right now.''

''They are?''

''Either we escape from Silent Hill or we find Samuel and kill him.''

''Samuel?'' she asked, almost surprised by the man's declaration. Her emotions changed when a couple of seconds passed by from questioning to joy.

The last time the alchemist could recall her smile was when she introduced herself to the man, but something about that smile didn't fit right. Maybe it was the dim lighting, but Samantha's teeth seemed to be more yellowish. He couldn't tell if he also had that same condition, since he didn't find anything that could reflect his image, but by judging the woman's condition it would make sense.

''I see where you're getting at.'' Her smile was glued to her lips like clown makeup. ''You think by killing Samuel the monsters will die too, right?''

''Exactly.'' He nodded, determined by this idea. ''If we do so, there will be less to worry about and it would be easier to track down and annihilate. It will be faster than escaping and reporting the whole situation to Central. Now that I think about it, I don't even believe Central will believe us if we talk about the monsters.''

''That's true, but I have a question for you, o Colonel.'' She crossed her arms and her smile faded. ''Do you know where Samuel is?''

For his answer, Roy stood mute for a moment. She had a point; he hadn't seen any direct signs of Samuel since he came in Silent Hill. The only connection, and it was debatable, with the mad alchemist was the monsters and they appeared in different, faraway places. There wasn't a place where they were more present than another place and they appeared to be few in numbers. Samuel could be anywhere in the town and Roy didn't know the place by heart...

Except.

''Samantha.''

She continued to glare at him.

''Samuel worked as a soldier before he went mad, correct?'' She nodded. ''Can I presume that you worked with him in the past?''

He hit something in Samantha's mind. When he finished his sentence, the woman looked away slightly and her eyes showed sorrow. Her muscles also tensed at his declaration. It was enough for Roy to understand the woman's answer.

''We did.'' She collected herself back and spoke up. ''We were partners for two years.''

He gave a weak smile at the woman's answer. He was finally getting somewhere with her and not just fragments of answers.

''Do you know a place where he usually goes like a shop or a park?''

He could see his questions were irritating Samantha. She was biting her lower lip from the inside, a sign of discomfort. Roy began to suspect the woman's real relationship with Samuel. She must be thinking of a specific place which he didn't suspect her to be involved in, but it was obvious nothing came to her mind.

''Samantha.'' She stiffened at Roy's voice. ''Whatever happened between you and Samuel isn't my business, you must still have...''

''SHUT UP!''

The woman's yell was predicted by Roy and stopped when she ordered him. The woman was red with embarrassment and anger. She was uncomfortable with listening to the man's speech and cut him off right in the middle of his sentence. She turned her back like an upset child.

''The amusement park. The amphitheatre mostly.'' The tone of her voice was weak as if she was trying not to wake up a sleeping infant.

She looked back at Roy; her eyes were watery, but no tears fell down. It must be hard for Samantha. She was going to help someone who was going to kill the one she loved, yet she was willing do to this sacrifice for the good of the country.

Roy didn't add more on the subject and tried to get up. His sides were still hurting, but not enough to make him stop in his tracks. He took back the lantern, which lit Samantha's back and a bit more of the room he was in. In the light's edge, he saw his belongings and retrieved them in the cold silence. After adjusting his coat's sleeves, he looked at Samantha who was still lightly in shock.

''You got everything? If you want, I can guide you to the amphitheatre, but that's all I can do for you.''

He kept his silence and only nodded, accepting the woman's offer. Before they headed out to the amusement park, he had one last question on his mind.

''Samantha.'' She stopped. ''Before we go, I have one last question.''

She glanced over her shoulder while one of her delicate hands was holding the doorknob.

''How did you manage to get me in the hospital?''

The female soldier slowly turned toward Roy, her hand released its grasp on the door's handle. She seemed suddenly more serious than usual.

''I didn't do anything. You were already in the bed when I found you.''

It was then that something hit him. He looked at the floor and saw dry blood covering the tiles. He was shocked. The blood was making a trail directly toward the bed. When he was on it, he didn't take the time to see the sheets or the bed itself. They were the color of a rusty crimson. Even though he didn't see his skin, also crimson on his arms and such, he couldn't imagine his entire body being covered in blood.

After taking a shaking breath and pushing away the image of him covered in his vital fluid, he looked back at the woman.

''Let's go.''

The woman only nodded and opened the wooden door to walk away. Roy didn't follow her immediately. He quickly glanced at his clothes, no signs of blood. Everything was wrong. He recalled the dream he had with the red-eyed monster. He remembered being dragged by the thing. Maybe, just maybe, this dream wasn't a dream. Nothing made sense, why would a monster have saved his life?

''Mustang.'' From the corridor darkness, he heard Samantha.

He had to go; once all of this was over, perhaps it would make more sense. He advanced into the corridor and followed Samantha from behind as she guided him to the amusement park of the cursed town.

Thanks to WargishBoromirFan for the beta-reading.