Disclaimer: I own nothing from Silent Hill. All items used belong to their respective owners. This story is a work of fiction. Any similarity with the characters in this story and any person living or dead is pure coincidence and not by design.

Rain of Brass Petals

The sun shone brightly against the Appalachian Mountains as dawn had recently broken. The hills and valleys a picturesque scene of West Virginia. A Hawk soared lazily through the air, scanning the ground for its breakfast. All around the sounds of birds, happily chirping, added to the serene environment.

The morning tranquility was suddenly broken as three UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters flew like bats out of hell through the valleys. In each, eight sets of eyes scanned the ground looking for any evidence of the downed plane. In the lead Black Hawk, colonel Holland listened in to all the military channels, waiting to receive word that the plane had been found, along with any survivors.

"Colonel, we have some news, I don't think your going to like it though." came the electronic voice of Chief Warrant Officer, Mike Volker, as he spoke into the microphone.

"What is it; At this point I don't give a shit what kind of news it is." Col. Holland replied.

"Well sir, a search party went out last night with three vehicles. They have not been heard from since and we can't locate them either. We have another 12 people MIA sir."

"Goddamn it!" Col Holland shouted. All the crew members looked back at him as he could be heard over the deafening throbbing of the rotors. Col. Holland continued to rant and rave as he threw his clipboard out the side of the air craft. No one said a word, not wanting to invoke his rage further.

Lexington looked at Ashley as she smiled up at him from the dusty bed. He was glad to see her, but he so wished it could have been Jenna. The way she lay on the bed, her small and frail body peacefully sleeping amongst chaos. She crawled from the bed and walked over to him, confused as to why he wasn't acting happy.

Lexington, what's wrong, aren't you glad to see me?" Ashley asked.

"What, oh yeah, it's just that so much has been going on. I'm sorry." he told her, putting his hand gently on her cheek.

Ashley got the smile back on her face as she went across the grey and dusty hotel room to look out the window. Lexington followed her over there; he cringed when he accidentally bumped his arm on one of the old wooden drawers that one so often finds in a hotel room. Noticing his pain Ashley went to him.

"You're hurt, are you all right?" she asked.

"Yeah I'll be fine, it's dislocated, and I'm going to need your help to fix it." Lexington told her, as he did so, he could see the look of uncertainty on her face.

"Ashley, you're going to have to help me. I can't do it by myself."

"What do I need to do?" Ashley asked, fearing the answer.

"Here, I need you to hold my arm steady, you need to make sure it doesn't move." Lexington said as he put Ashley's arms around his, showing her to hold it tight. Lexington then reached around and grabbed his knife from its sheath and put the handle in his mouth. He looked at Ashley and she nodded to him.

Lexington moved so fast Ashley almost let go of his arm. Lexington shifted his body weight forward and up. The sound of wet scraping of bone could be heard as the arm socket seated itself back into place. Lexington didn't make a sound, but his face was twisted in pain.

After a minute, Lexington took the knife out of his mouth and rubbed his shoulder, attempting to massage the pain from it. He then reached into his combat pack and took out a first aid dressing. Taking it from its package, Lexington wrapped the medicated bandage around his arm where the demon bird had grabbed him with its talons.

Lexington then took his helmet and all of his combat gear off, Ashley looked at him confused.

"Look I went through hell to get here, I need to take a break." he said tiredly.

Ashley looked at him and could do nothing but agree with. She sat down on an old dirty chair that sat quietly in the corner. After a while, Ashley could tell that Lexington had fallen asleep. Ashley sat in the chair quietly, she was a little mad at him, but she didn't want to force the issue.

Zack tried to comfort both, Brooke and Vanessa in the pitch black of the room they were in. Brooke could be heard crying while Vanessa tried her best to calm the frantic girl. Zack tried to sort out all of the noises, his head spinning.

"Hey, you guys, calm down all right, we'll be all right." Zack said as calmly as he could. "Here this might help."

Zack then flipped the flashlight of his rifle on and illuminated the terrified girls' faces. After they had calmed down, Zack then swept the rifle around the room, checking their surroundings.

The floor had changed, the elegant marble of the room being replaced with a heavily rusty iron. The walls had changed as well. Some were the normal flesh covered walls, but some were also a rusty chain link fence, creating a maze that they would have to navigate. The balcony that Lester once stood on had rotted away and the only thing that remained was the rusted support structure.

Deciding that he had seen enough, Zack turned back to Brooke and Vanessa. As he looked at them, their eyes pleaded with him to help them, to get them out of this hell. Goddamn, I wonder if this is what it's like to have kids. Zack thought to himself.

Breathing heavily, Zack tried to get a better grip on things. Once again lives depended on his ability to make decisions, if he couldn't both girls were going to die, and Zack had decided that he didn't want that. Zack shook his head and looked around himself once again.

"O.K. Vanessa, I need you to pull Brooke, I will be behind you making sure nothing happens. You still have that pistol I gave you, don't you?" Zack asked Vanessa.

"Yeah but it is broken." Vanessa said as she handed it to Zack. "It shot once but it wouldn't shoot again when I tried to kill…tried to kill a monster." Vanessa said, nervously. She did not want Zack to know what she tried to do. He might leave me if he found out.

Zack took the pistol and pulled the slide back, ejecting the round. Zack then bent down and picked it up, examining it. "Here's why, the primer is not there." Zack said.

He then took the magazine out of the pistol and checked each round for defects. After he was done, he put them back into the pistol, pulled the slide and chambered a new round. He then handed the pistol back to Vanessa.

"There you go. It should work now; you just had a dud round is all." Zack said.

Vanessa weakly smiled at him and took the pistol back. Subconsciously she wished it had been broken, she still didn't like the weight of it and what it represented. Brooke then looked to them both.

"What about me, do I get something to protect myself?" She asked. Zack thought for a moment. He then reached around and pulled his knife out.

"Here take this. It may not seem like a lot, but I never go on a mission without it." Zack told Brooke as he handed her the knife. Zack could see in her eyes that she was happy.

"All right you two, we need to get going." Zack then gave Vanessa the flashlight from the barrel of his rifle. "Here, you'll need this if you're in front."

Vanessa nodded to him and took the flashlight; she then affixed it to the front of her pistol like Lexington had done. The group then started walking through the maze of Hell.

Ashley had lost track of how much time had passed. By what she figured, two hours had passed and Lexington was still out cold.

"Damn, why don't you wake up already?" She asked sarcastically. She was motivated by two things. One was boredom. The second and more important one was they needed to keep moving, this whole place was more than anyone could handle. The less time spent in it the better.

Ashley sighed as she went over to Lexington's battle gear. She stood for a moment and looked it over. She then picked up his helmet and put it on her head. It sat loose so she adjusted the straps until it fit her like a glove.

Ashley moved her head around testing the weight of it on her head. "This thing is cool." She said to herself. She then spotted the bullet proof vest. Ashley picked it up and was amazed at its weight. Inside the vest she saw that it had a tag sewn to the back of it.

Point Blank.

USN:0192929007

Interceptor body armor

This vest when used in conjunction with SAPI plates

Will stop shrapnel and projectiles up to 9mm.

This vest is not designed to stop puncture attacks

Ashley then decided to put the vest on despite its weight. She put her arms through the holes and worked all of the snaps and fasteners until it too, was snug against her body. Well I've gone this far. She thought to herself and then managed to get into Lexington's combat harness, which held all of his gear, his ammunition, and his pistol.

She then made her way to a mirror that was in the bathroom. The door creaked open, protesting the movement after so long of inactivity. In the bathroom, The tub was filled was a plaster, drywall, and dust, the curtain having fallen off long ago, sat piled on the floor. The toilet was devoid of water and there was more plaster and dust to be found there.

Ashley went to the mirror that was over the sink and as she wiped away the dust and grime, she saw herself for the first time in a while. Her normally bright blond hair was matted and dirty, her face was tired and she had lost some weight. She was not a big girl to begin with, only being five foot three inches and all of a hundred and twenty pounds, she looked tired and sickly, and her bright deep brown eyes were the only thing shining about her.

She looked at herself in the military gear. The fact it was made for a man three times her size, made her look all that much smaller and weaker. She turned to the side and looked at a profile view. "This thing isn't very flattering to the female form." she said to herself. "GI Jane Mother fuckers, come get you some." she said with fake machismo.

She was startled to hear a loud crash from somewhere out in the hallway of the hotel. She was sure Lexington had woken up and she knew she would have a hard time explaining why she was in his gear. Ashley listened for a moment and heard nothing more, not even from Lexington. Ashley then started to make her way slowly out into the hotel room.

She found that Lexington was still happily sleeping. She was glad for that, but she still wanted to know were the noise had come from. Ashley then went out into the hotel hallway, leaving Lexington to sleep. She found that there was nothing that could be seen.

The grey and foggy atmosphere still pervaded. The deathly quiet and motionless environment was the same as before, nothingness. Grey light came into the hallway from somewhere down the hallway, giving the only light available. Vanessa started to get scared. Vanessa then went completely out in the hallway trying to get a better look.

Ashley found herself alone, the silence her only companion. Spurred by a sudden bravado, she made her way to the hallway intersection. Here she found the stairwell, blocked by fallen debris, opposite that was a small sitting area. A plain table sat against the wall with a vase, containing the wilted remains of flowers. A small sofa and a chair completed the area. Across form the table, the elevators, one of which the door was wide open.

Ashley made her way to the elevator. She cautiously looked inside. The decoration was old and about forty years out of date. Seeing no immediate danger, she entered and looked at the control panel. She then started pushing buttons. Floor five, nothing, floor four, nothing, floor two, nothing, she then pushed the button for floor one, to her surprise it lit up.

Now frightened she tried to get off of the elevator. The doors creaked and rattled to life as they shut, closing her in the elevator. "Oh shit." she said afraid of what was to happen. She felt the elevator shudder as it started to move. It made it about five feet before it stopped again, this time a malfunction light came on.

Ashley began to claw at the door, hoping it would open. Her anxiety was reaching a climax. The elevator lurched; Ashley took a shallow breath, holding it. A loud creaking moan came from somewhere in the shaft as the elevator was let lose of its bind. Ashley screamed at the top of her lungs as she fell with the elevator. She then fell to the ground with tremendous force, as the elevator got stuck once again.

As Ashley looked up, she saw the elevator doors had been jarred open. Not wasting anytime, she scrambled out into the hotel foyer on the first floor. As she turned back to the elevator, it fell the remaining way to the basement below with a thunderous crash. Ashley had become hyperventilated, adrenaline coursing through her. She got to her feet and looked around. Dust came billowing out of the elevator shaft; the rest of the building lay undisturbed.

Ashley caught her breath as she thought about how she was going to get back upstairs. She was unconscious when she came here, so she didn't know any way around the debris. Ashley then started to check out the foyer. She made her way to a sitting area when she heard someone giggle. Ashley turned and standing in the threshold of the main door was a girl that looked just like her.

Ashley was dumbfounded. At first she thought she was looking a mirror. The girl said nothing to her as she turned around and ran out into the cold foggy street. "Hey wait a minute" Ashley called out to her as she took off running after her.

Ashley could only catch glimpses of the girl as she wove her way through the fog and ash. Ashley continued to call out to her but she was only answered with more giggling. Ashley followed the girl for quite a while until she noticed that she could no longer be seen, or heard. Extremely frightened at the thought of being alone, Ashley ran frantically around trying to find a distinguishing land mark.

Finding nothing, she started to cry and fell to her knees.

Lexington was awakened by a loud thunderous crash. His eyes darted around the room trying to find Ashley; she was nowhere to be seen. Lexington jumped to his feet and started looking for his combat gear, it too was missing. Scared and confused, he sat back down on the bed trying to figure out what was going on.

Lexington knew he had to go find Ashley, whether she had wondered off, or was taken he did not know, but he knew he had to find her. He reached to his side where his pistol normally hung, thinking it was still there. "Goddamn it!" he shouted. Even more frustrated.

A Million thoughts raced through his head at once. He berated himself for falling asleep, giving the enemy a chance to get Ashley, He berated himself for taking off his combat gear and he was scared he would never see either again. Lexington quickly gathered his thoughts. He knew what he had to do, now to make it happen.

Trying to formulate a plane he went over to the window and looked out of it. Barley visible in the ashy fog, Lexington could make out the shape of a small girl chasing another small girl. The girl who was chasing the other one was wearing all of his combat gear. Lexington then got really angry.

"I swear to god almighty I'm gonna smack that little girl!" He said as he sat back down on the bed. He felt something under him and was relieved to find his knife was still with him. "It's not my gun, but it's better than nothing." With that he got up and left the room.

Lexington followed Ashley's footsteps and found that she had taken the elevator. Looking down the shaft, he saw it was destroyed on the basement floor; however, the connecting cables were still there. Lexington grabbed one and tested it to make sure it would support his weight. Deciding it was safe, enough; he swung out over the empty elevator shaft and slid to the first floor.

When he got to the first floor opening, he reached in and pulled himself to the landing. Straightening himself up, he made his way over to the main door and out of the Hotel, the cold stinging him sharply. Lexington followed Ashley's footsteps in the ash, it was the only lead he had. As he followed them he noticed that they grew fainter and fainter, until they disappeared all together.

"Aw fuck!" he shouted.

Lexington continued his search. He found a road that passed through the area and he hoped Ashley would have enough sense to follow it. As he cautiously made his way down the road, he noticed for the first time that The Lakeview Hotel was not really near the town. On both side, large trees peeked through the ashy fog, creating a corridor effect of cold, grey timber. Once again the silence was unnerving, the normal sounds of the forest, birds, animals, and other wildlife was not present. Strangely, the road was visible through the ash; it seemed not to cover it at all.

Lexington kept walking along the road, keeping mainly to the sides, just in case he had to hide quickly. He soon came upon a large set of tire marks in the middle of the road. He then noticed that there was more than one set, three.

Normally tire marks on a road aren't anything to get fussy over, but three in the same spot going the same direction. They were also the same tread used on military High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles, or humvee's. Lexington was now curious.

He followed the skid marks and found a humvee crashed against a tree. He checked it out and found that it was empty. Not finding anything of interest, Lexington continued on. He followed the next set and saw that what ever vehicle they belonged to had careened off the road and into a woodland ravine, not much of a chance of survivors in that one. As he moved on he found Soldiers lying dead in the middle of the road. His first thought was that the creatures had gotten to them, as he examined them closer, he found that they had been shot.

Lexington started to become frantic. The one Humvee meant that there were people looking for them. They wouldn't do anybody a damn bit of good if they were lost too and what or who ever had killed those soldiers was still out there. As Lexington picked up his pace, he began to make out the ghostly shell of another humvee destroyed against a tree.

TATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATAT!!….. Lexington had to jump off the side of the road and into the wood line. A lot of fucked up shit had happened since they had gotten to this god forsaken town, but he had yet to be shot at. Lexington recognized the sound as M249 squad automatic weapon.

"Identify!" Lexington shouted, as he poked his head up just enough to see the feint outline of a soldier sticking out of the top of the humvee. "Identify Goddamn it!" he shouted again.

"Fuck you, your one of them, you're trying to trick me!" the soldier answered back.

"Fuck you too buddy, I'm not one of them, and I'm coming closer!" Lexington yelled going into full military mode.

"Dude if you come any closer I'm rip you up, I don't trust you as far as I can throw you!"

"Calm down, here I came, hold your fire." Lexington shouted back as he got up from his hiding spot.

TATATATATATATATATATATATAATATAATATTATATATAT!!…. The sound of the light machine gun echoed through the valley, the only sound.

Fuck this kid is serious. I've to think how I'm gonna get over there. Lexington thought to himself. He looked around for something he could use to distract the kid.

Private First Class Rolando, stood vigil with his S.A.W. They had gone on a rescue mission the night before, then all of a sudden they got lost. Things didn't make sense. His other teammates had gone to check on the other humvee's and he hadn't seen them since. He had seen a bunch of other things though. Like a man that came from the ashes, demon children, a huge man with an impossibly large sword. Rolando wasn't taking any chances. Plus all of those other monsters that had come up the road looking like they were in the military.

He watched up the road and eventually saw someone coming at him. It wasn't one of his teammates, they would have radioed in. It must be another threat. He fired his S.A.W. and then the thing made a load screeching moan, not unlike the other monsters, the strange thing was, he could understand it. It said something about being a friend or something like that, but it was tricking him. He said he was going to come towards him again, but Rolando fired his machine gun again, making the monster retreat.

Rolando figured he must have killed it, it didn't make any more noises and that was the last he heard from him, still he kept his gaze on the area he had come from. Rolando figured he was alone; his teammates were dead, killed by any number of the monsters out there. The SEAL team members were dead too, they had been gone a longer time than his teammates, so there is no way they could have survived. Rolando was alone, he had to fend for and protect himself.

Lexington found a rock that looked like it could be useful. He picked it up and threw it creating a noise diversion. Sure enough, the kid was scared shitless enough that he turned towards the noise and emptied his machine gun. Lexington knew that this was his chance.

He sprung from his hiding spot and ran headlong towards the wrecked vehicle. He saw the kid trying desperate to reload his rifle as Lexington closed the distance. In one leap he jumped to the top of the humvee and pulled the kid out of the gunners hatch, as they both fell to the ground on the other side.

"Calm down, I'm one of the SEAL team members who are lost; you guys are looking for me!" Lexington shouted at him, he read his name tag, Rolando.

"No way in hell! You're a monster, I can see you plane as day, you're trying to kill me!" Rolando screamed back as the two men continued to fight.

"What the fuck is wrong with you!? My name is Alexander Lexington, your looking for me!" Lexington shouted as the two men finally separated.

They both got into a combat stance and started to circle one another. Lexington hadn't used hand to hand combat since his days in basic training. It was then that he got his first look at P.F.C. Rolando.

He was obviously of Latino descent; he was young too, just like Lexington figured, just out of High school. No wonder this kid was freaking out, he was shell shocked.

Rolando had been taken by surprise when the monster rushed him and pulled him out of his humvee. He said he was his friend and he was one of the SEAL team members they were searching for. He wasn't a very good liar. As the two circled, ready to fight Rolando got his first look at the creature.

The creature was indeed wearing MARPAT camouflage. He was with out any combat gear, a rifle, or a helmet. His uniform was dirty and grey, covered in ash. His skin looked normal but his eyes were white, and blood poured from his mouth. He looked just like all the other soldier monsters that came for him. Rolando had never seen any of the creatures up close like this though.

Lexington had had enough. He charged the kid and the two men once again fell to the ground in a hail of punches and kicks. Lexington knew that this kid was confused, he didn't want to do what he had to do, but he was obviously a threat. People who are shell shocked can be cured, but it takes months if not years of therapy, Lexington didn't have that kind of time.

As the two men wrestled on the ground, Lexington silently pulled his knife and thrust it up under Rolando's body armor, piercing his diaphragm. Lexington was inches from his face as he watched his eyes go wide, and then extinguish. Certain that the threat was over, he got to his feet and continued to examine the crashed humvee's

Ashley had kept walking, she didn't know where she was going or who she was following, she just kept walking. The fog covered everything; she couldn't see three feet in front of her. All she knew was that she had made her way back into town. Once again store fronts lined the street, both an ominous and a welcoming sight.

Ashley blindly probed her way through the fog. Left turn, then a right turn, then another left, she found herself at a dead end. Her way blocked by a large sing that read: Caution, Construction Zone, only enter with hard hats. The only problem was, there was no door.

As Ashley checked the blocked way for passage, she was stopped dead in her tracks when she heard something coming for her. Ashley slowly turned and saw slowly coming through the fog was an entirely grey creature. He was abnormally tall and he was split down the middle. One half of his face had a happy expression while the other half had an angry face. Both halves flailed wildly, seemingly independent of each other.

The creature made a low, guttural growling as he moved closer. One of the creature's hands was a bulbous mass, which looked extremely hard and calloused, while the other was a long sharp, jagged growth. Ashley cowered before it as it came closer to her. She then remembered that she was carrying Lexington's handgun.

Ashley pulled the handgun from its holster and tried to aim it at the creature. Unlike the Lugar she had before, Lexington's MK23 SOCOM was a monster of a gun and it was hard to get a good grip on it. The two sided monster continued to make his way to her as she fired, at it three times, the bullets, sinking into its grey flesh. The handgun was too much for Ashley to handle as it flew out of her hand and hurt it in the process.

The two sided creature raised his clubbed hand and swung it down toward Ashley. She barely dodged it as his sharp jagged hand swept across the back of Lexington's body armor, destroying it. She was thankful that she had it, but she knew Lexington was going to be pissed. With her hand hurt and the pistol lying harmlessly across the alley, Ashley was defenseless.

The creature moved towards her and thrust his jagged hand at her; again she could feel the wind with a near miss. As the creature recoiled, it let out a loud scream. As he recovered from his battle cry, the creature charged Ashley. She wasn't sure how she had dodged the attack, but the creature flew past her and ran head long into the construction wall.

Ashley began to cry, knowing that she was going to die a horrible death. She fell to the ground and got into the fetal position. Curled up and crying, things went into slow motion. The creature screamed again and turned around, slowly coming towards her to finish her off.

Why did I have to run off? Why couldn't I have stayed with Lexington? I hope Vanessa doesn't forget me. So this is what it feels like to die? Ashley thought to herself. Her mind raced with thoughts of her childhood, her family, Vanessa, Zack, Lexington, all of the things she held dear, as she mentally prepared her self for death. She saw the two sided creature coming towards her, he raised his clubbed hand, as Ashley closed her eyes, waiting for death. She hoped he would crush he skull and grant her at least a quick death.

She opened her eyes as a puff of ash hit her in the face. She then saw a tan military boot come into view, and then a rain of bright brass, Rain of brass Petals. She thought to herself. She shifted so she could look up and she saw a dark figure standing over her, a large rifle in his hands. She heard not a sound as the man continued to fire his weapon, the only thing she heard was the metallic clink as the shell casings hit the pavement.

Ashley then looked back at the two sided creature. The weapon the man was firing must be automatic because the creature had recoiled, and was being torn apart by the hail of bullets. She watched the creature fall to the ground in his own pool of blood; she then looked once again to her savior. Out of the shadow came the familiar face of Lexington.

A/N: All right next chapter up. Hope you all enjoyed it. Keep the reviews coming.