The pair's footsteps rapped briskly on the dirty pavement, Gray's sneakers

making heavy thumps, Julia's shoes clicking sharply. Gray was keeping a fast pace, his

face etched into grim lines as he clutched the pistol tightly. His backpack made thump-

thumping sounds as he walked.

Behind him, Julia was beginning to tire. Gray hadn't slowed in nearly fifteen

minutes, and she was beginning to get a heavy stitch in her side. Finally, she stopped,

panting heavily and doubling over. Looking up, she was horrified to see Gray still

keeping the same pace into the fog.

"Gray!" she cried. "Gray, WAIT A MINUTE!"

He abruptly stopped walking and turned around, giving Julia the exquisite

displeasure of being nailed with that reptilian gaze once again. Slowly, he walked over to

Julia.

"You're really a pain, you know that?"

"I'm…sorry," she panted. "You walk really fast. I can't keep up with you."

"Too bad," Gray said coldly. "Keep this up and I won't have any qualms about

ditching you here. And believe me, if you get tired out this easily then you won't last ten

seconds out in the streets."

Julia looked up at him, shocked by this remark. "You jerk!" she cried.

Gray raised an eyebrow at this, then responded, "Am I? Fine. I really don't give a

damn. But if you continue to be a burden, I'll leave you here. And I promise the

residents won't let you die quickly."

With that, he turned and began walking again. After watching him for a long

moment, Julia followed.

-------------------------------------------

"This is taking a lot longer than it should," Gray muttered as he stared at the

makeshift map. He turned it around to look at the message. "The only way is to go

forward…who the wrote this?"

Suddenly Julia said, "Um…Gray…what is that thing?"

"Hmm?" Gray looked up and saw what she was talking about.

It wasn't one of the Paperfaces, but it was doubtless another monster. It was only

about 3 feet tall, and seemed to be wrapped in some kind of bloody canvas from head to

toe, with only a hole cut open for the mouth – not exactly a good thing, since it made the

thing's strange, mewling cries very audible. It was wobbling towards the pair uneasily,

as if it had just learned to walk. As they watched, it was joined by another, and then

another.

"Oh, it's so sad," Julia whispered. Gray's eyes widened as she started walking

toward the first one. "Is it hurt or someth-"

"You idiot, GET AWAY!" Gray screamed. He snatched onto her neck and

yanked her away just as the thing's mewling cries turned into ear-shattering screeches.

As he watched, two bloody claws popped out of the canvas on its arms. The other two

followed suit.

Julia screamed as the three monsters started advancing on them, ramming their

claws into the ground and they dashed with terrifying speed. Gray calmly raised the

pistol and pumped off three rounds, each hitting one of the heads of the baby-things.

Without another sound, they fell.

Gray turned around and stared hard at Julia.

"Don't…do…that…again," he snarled. "If you make one more move that stupid,

then I swear I'll kill you myself."

"I'm sorry," Julia said. "I just wasn't thinking."

"Wasn't thinking!?" Gray shouted into her face. "Wasn't THINKING!? How the

hell can you not be thinking in a situation like this? Do you expect me to do all the

thinking for you, maybe? Well guess what," he continued, "I am NOT here to protect

you. And if you don't start making yourself useful, then…" He suddenly trailed off.

"What is it?" Julia asked timidly. She had been taken aback by his sudden

outburst. But then she could hear it too – a quick, sharp sound that was approaching fast.

Sniksniksniksniksnik…

"This isn't good. Those babies had friends," Gray said, eyes wide. Then he

looked at Julia. "I'm running. If you want to, you can follow. But remember what I

said."

Without another word, he dashed off into the fog. Julia followed without

hesitation this time, for the sound was getting louder and she could hear the slavering of

those monsters that possessed the claws.

They ran, Gray using the map to see where they should turn. But as fast as they

went, they could hear the sounds getting louder. If either of them slowed, they would be

torn to bits by those monsters.

"Gray!" Julia cried.

"What us it now?" he panted. He was getting tired.

"Over here!" she responded. Gray looked and saw a small alleyway between two

houses. It was a long shot, but better than dying. Gray went in.

"Stay quiet and don't move," he whispered. The sounds were getting unbearably

loud. Finally, the creatures came.

They were the babies, but there were a lot more than the ones Gray had killed –

perhaps as many as two dozen. They moved quickly, their claws pounding into the

asphalt with uncanny precision – they were as organized as a line of train cars, each claw

entering the hole made by the previous monster. They passed by the pair without

hesitation, and gradually the sounds faded into the distance.

"That was close," Julia sighed.

"I owe you for that one," Gray said. "There was no way I would have found this

place."

"It's okay," Julia said. "You were right – it was stupid of me to just come close to

one of those monsters. I'll…I'll try to be more careful."

"See that you do," Gray muttered. He took another look at the paper. "Looks like

we're here." He pointed.

Julia followed his finger and saw a large, dirty brick building with the words

MIDWHICH HIGH SCHOOL printed on it. It stood tall among the other, smaller

buildings crowding to the left and right of it.

"Wasn't it an elementary school in the game?" Julia asked.

"Hell, Silent Hill can change its appearance to anything it wants. If it wanted to it

could turn that building into an outhouse." He held up the paper. "And our admirer here

seems to know that."

They stepped out onto the street and looked in wonder for a few seconds at the

Cadaver Babies' handiwork. The holes from their claws stretched as far as the eye could

see – which, granted, wasn't very far due to the fog. The holes were perfectly clean,

without a single jagged edge. Those claws were honed to a razor point.

Gray stepped up and saw yet another note on the door:

BEYOND THESE DOORS LIES THE TRUE HORROR OF SILENT HILL. REVOKE

AND REPENT, OR YOU WILL NEVER RETURN.

THE TRUTH CAN ONLY BE LEARNED BY GOING FORWARD.

"Happy birthday to you, too," Gray said sardonically. He pushed open the doors,

wincing a little at the rusty screech they made. The pair then stepped through.

And if we listen, we can hear the doors lock securely behind them.