Resident Evil, White Claudia

Part 4/7

By Fenris Ulf

Disclaimer: Capcom owns Resident Evil and Konami owns Silent Hill.

The darkness pressed in all around her. It seemed to go on forever as the nightmare that Don had spawned faded away with his once human body. The lab faded away, leaving Sherry alone with her thoughts. She stood up, a pistol in her hand.

Was he right? Had she doomed herself to an eternity of darkness when she had collected the talismans?

She felt her alter stone in her pocket. A little peice of technology that was almost meaningless except as a means of interfacing with the nameless powers that now threatened to press in all around her.

She dared not turn on her light, she dared not talk or fire her weapons. She was afraid to move, she was afraid to walk. More so than Raccoon City, more than any other time in this benighted town.

She knew that the creatures of her nightmares were just beyond her perception. They were waiting for her: zombies, zombie dogs, zombie crows, Lickers, Tyrants and other Umbrella chimeras. They were out in the darkness, waiting for her.

Suddenly, a bitter wind blew past her. It smelled of rust and rotting flesh, but it was cool and broke up the stale air of the metal grating under her feet.

She inhaled the wind and managed not to gag on the sickly sweet smell of rotting human flesh. She put one foot in front of the other. Suddenly, she knew what she had to do.

She had to redeem her legacy. She had to make up for everything that her parents had done, including what Don had done. She had to survive this hellhole and make it back to the waking world.

She holstered the pisol and unslings the rifle. She walked foward determined to go back.

Some time later, she was sitting down. Determination was one thing, but she was tired. She didn't really feel thristy or hungry anymore, but she had been on the move for a very long time. She had been on the move, under hostile action and she could use a breather.

That's when she heard it. The heavy foot falls of someone or something approaching her position.

She got her rifle ready when she heard a voice in the darkness. "Is there anyone human out here?"

Sherry carefully stood up, incredulous. Was he a victim like her or a man like Don?

"I'm here," she said, turning on her flashlight.

The foot falls grew faster and a man turned a corner. He was an older man with long hair more grey than black. He had a short beard and was wearing black body armor of some sort with a black overcoat over the whole thing. He was armed with an AK-47.

"Turn that off. Do you want every thing to come running for us?" He held out a hand. "Ben Morrison."

She looked at him for a moment. "Sherry Birkin," she said, grasping his hand.

"Now, turn that damn thing off and come with me."

Under the cover of darkness, they moved across the landscape. Every now and then, something would come at them and they had to kill it before moving on.

After an eternity and fifteen minutes, they both approached a large structure with a heavy iron gate in front. Ben reached into his coat and withdrew a key. He inserted it into the gate and turned it. There was a click, then the massive gates parted.

"Come on," he said to her, "no one's going to harm you in here."

She walked with him into the building.

"Welcome to the Alchemilla Hospital." This remark came from a pretty woman in a nurses uniform with a red cardigan sweater and a green armband. She was a little older than Sherry and she had a burn mark on her cheek in a rounded diamond shape.

"Hi," Sherry got out. She looked around in amazement. The hospital seemed to be completely normal. It was composed of clean lines and surfaces. "I'm going to clean up, Lisa," Ben said.

"All right." She turned toward Sherry. "My name is Lisa Garland."

"Uh, Sherry. Sherry Birkin. What is this place?"

"Come with me. I'll get you settled down. While we walk, I'll answer your questions the best that I can." They began walking. "Well, the best way I can describe this place is that its an oasis. Our oasis in the darkness. Of course, its not totally free of its own weirdness, but its not a constant horror film."

"And, how did he know I was out there?"

"That part is a little more complicated. Let's get you to your room."

Lisa took Sherry up to the third floor. She opened one of the patient rooms. The room was tiny, not more than a small cot and a night stand. "Its not much, but I guarantee that its safe. Do you want to take a nap?"

"I'm tired, but I don't feel like sleeping." She sat down on the edge of the bed. "I wasn't able to get a good night sleep for years after Raccoon City, and I think that'll be even worse now."

"Raccoon City? What happened there?"

Sherry looked up at Lisa. "You've been here for a while, haven't you?"

Lisa gave her a tired little smile. "Sometimes, it feels like I've been here forever."

"I see. Is there some place I can take a shower or bath around here?"

"There's a communal shower on this floor. Don't worry though. There's only a few people on this level, so you'll still have lots of privacy."

"Any chance of extra clothes?"

"I think that there might be some in the store room. I'm not sure if it'll fit."

"Let's go there first."

"This wasn't here before," Lisa said.

"I see," Sherry said, looking at the items in question. "When you said this place wasn't free of its own weirdness, you weren't kidding." She looked at the luggage, all of which bore the initials SB. "On the bright side, I don't think I'll have much trouble getting some clothes that will fit me."

Lisa nodded. "When you're done taking a shower, meet me down in the reception area. I'll fix you something to eat."

Ben was there. "How's our newest arrival?"

Lisa shook her head. "I think that she has to be one of the bravest people I've ever met. She used to live in a place called Raccoon City."

Ben whistled. "She used to live in Raccoon City? Was she actually there? I didn't think that anyone who was there was still alive after they nuked the place."

Lisa stared at him for a while. "They used a nuclear bomb? On American soil?"

"It was probably a good thing that they did," Sherry said. "The T-virus had spread through the entire city. If they hadn't, it might have spread through the country. Unfortunately, it also destroyed all the evidence too, but I learned a long time ago that you can't have everything. I couldn't find any towels."

"What?" Lisa asked her, her mouth open.

"Towels, so I could dry off after taking a shower."

"I think we shocked Lisa off her rocker. I'll show you where the towels are."

The kitchen was fully stocked, though nothing really fancy was there.

"I know that I'm going to regret asking this, but where does all the food come from?"

Ben looked back at her. "To tell you the truth, we just don't know. Sometimes the food just appears in the freezer. Sometimes we'll hear a thump on the roof and we'll find boxes. Sometimes we'll be going over a storage room and we'll find some food."

Sherry dug out a frozen dinner. It boasted a sirloin steak.

"Is there anyone else in this place?"

"There are a few more. You'll meet them all in time. I usually eat my meals on the roof. You can meet Melvin."

"Melvin?"

"Yeah, he's an astrophysicist. He wandered in here and the first thing he wanted to do was try and explain this place in scientific terms."

They took the elevator to the third floor, then made the short hike to the roof. Melvin was about thirty years old. He was wearing a camoflage, military outfit with a red bandana on his head.

"Hey, Melvin."

Melvin tore himself away from a display screen to look up at Ben.

"Hey Ben."

"Melvin, this is our newest resident, Sherry Birkin."

"Hi," she said to him.

He held out his hand. "Melvin Bricker. Pleased to meet you." She shook his hand. He pointed to her TV dinner. "That looks like a pretty good idea."

"One step ahead of you," Ben said. He produced a second frozen dinner.

"Thanks, Ben." Melvin got out a utensil set and began eating.

Sherry looked over his equipment. Some she recognized, some she didn't. "Pardon me for asking, but what are you doing here?"

"Well, I'm trying to explain all this," he said, gesturing at the empty blackness of the sky. "We can talk about dark gods and magic, but I believe that as long as we have something we can touch and see, it can be exlplained. I know it sounds hopeless, but that's what I believe."

"Have you made any progress," she asked.

"I've made more progress in the negative more than the positive."

"Huh?" Sherry responded.

"What I mean is that I know what we aren't dealing with. For instance, the gravity of this place is Earth normal, so we probably aren't on another planet. There are no lights or other radiation sources above us," he said pointing to the dark panels mounted on some metal pipes.

"What are those?" Sherry asked him.

"These are just X-ray film mounted on some electromagnetic transparent filters. They aren't the best for this kind of work, but its the best we have."

"Also, I find it very interesting that the creatures out there generate a radio signal." He pointed at an oscilloscope. "I've been trying to see if its tied to anything else." He stood up and stretched. "Well, I'm going to take a break. See you later you two."

"He's not as cracked as I thought he'd be," Sherry said.

"He's okay. Better than that psychiatrist who came through here convinced that we were all figments of his imagination."

They ate for a few moments in companionable silence before Sherry looked at her dinner partner. "Ben, I know I'm going to regret asking, but why are you here?"

He paused for a moment. "Well, its another horror story, I'm afraid. I served in Vietnam, and something happened to me over there. Its like, my conscious shut off once I left the States. I became one of those soldiers that you hear about sometimes. I killed inncocent people, tortured them, and worse. If it was evil, I probably did it. For some reason, when me and my squad were taken in on charges, we all got off pretty light. A few months in a stockade and a dishonorable discharge.

"When I came back home, my conscious came back to me. I regretted everything I did and I tried my best to self-distruct.

"Then one day, I wandered into Silent Hill. I guess you know what happened next."

"So, Lisa. Ben told me that there are more people here. Can I meet some of them?"

"Well, most of them are out combing the dark, trying to find a way home. I think that Brad's here, but he was wounded and he's resting. Melvin's probably here, he'll be on the roof if you want to see him. Then there's Jim."

"Jim? What about Jim? You make him sound like a disease or something."

"He's very odd compared to most of the people who make it to this hospital. He came in here demanding sanctuary. We found out that he was with that cult in Silent Hill. He was so crazy that we put him in the psyche ward in here. That made him happy, for some reason. Whenever someone goes out into the dark, they tend to make it a point to consult him first."

"Well, I guess I might as well talk to him too."

"Sherry Birkin. I'm so glad you made it. I was worried that Corporal Morrison wasn't going to take me seriously when I told him about you."

Sherry nodded. "Then, I have you to thank for my rescue. How did you know I was coming?"

He pointed to one of the walls. It was actually a large, padded room, about twenty-feet square. The walls were completely covered in dark red lettering.

The part that he pointed to merely said: "She is coming."

"There's more to it then that," he said to her. "In this place, the Will shapes the Word. Usually, it brings our most powerful feelings to life, and the oldest and most powerful feelings of the human race is fear."

"What do you mean by the Word?"

"Magic is made out of thoughts, and we humans express our thoughts as Words. Some thoughts and some words have more power than others."

Sherry looked at the rest of the walls. They were covered with everything from elegant writing from some of the most sublime works of man to the most childish scribble. There were symbols that took from the holiest of signs to the most evil.

The writting was so complex and intertwined that it was hard to keep track of where you were looking.

"Did you want me to do something for you?"

"Yes, I do, but its something that you're not going to find easy. I can tell that you have some of the symbols of the gods of Silent Hill, but I can't tell which ones. Will you show me?"

"Uh, sure," she said. She brought out her PDA.

"Hm. You have Ophiel, Lobsel Vith, and God herself! That's impressive." He gave it back to her. "Give me a while longer. I know that you're the key to making my dreams come true. What I don't know is why you are the key, or how I will use you."

"Can you help me get home?" she asked him.

"I don't know that either. I may want to talk to you again. I'll leave a message."

So it was that Sherry got into life at the Alchemilla Hospital. She helped Lisa tend to the wounded that staggered in, she accompanied Ben on his attempts to keep the perimeter of the hospital clear of monsters. Without the sun, the time seemed to blend together.

One day, while Sherry was talking with Ben and Lisa in the Director's office, they all saw the walls bleed.

"I need to see all of you now. Jim," read the blood-red letters. It only lasted for a few moments until it faded away.

"I guess we'd better see what he wants," Ben said.

They opened the door to the room and the three of them gaped at it. The room was now huge. The scribbles now changed and flowed every second.

"Please, come in," said a figure in the center of the room. Jim was dressed in a white shirt and pants, which were also covered in red writing. "I now understand."

"Jim, what is gong on?" Lisa asked him.

"Yes, if anyone deserves to know, it is you."

Then, Sherry had a vision. She seemed to look at a staic filled film. A woman had her head down on a table.

"What is it?

Still has an unusually high fever...

Eyes don't open...

Getting a pulse...

But just barely breathing.

Her skin is all charred!

Even when I change the bandages,

the blood and pus just start oozing through!

Why...

What is keeping that child alive?

I... can't stand it any longer...

I won't tell a soul... Promise.

So please..."

"Do you remember this, Lisa?" Jim asked her.

"I remember," she said, her face as white as a sheet. "They wouldn't let me go. I couldn't take it anymore. I took her off the PTV and replaced it with a morphine drip."

"God remembered your kindness and tried to protect you."

Lisa covered her eyes with her hands. "Protect me? It would have been kinder to let me die."

"God didn't see it that way. Do any of you know the story of God?"

Each shook thier head. "Then listen. In the days of old, man was immortal, but not perfect. He grew old and infirm, he was beset with disease and sores, and he was wounded with arrows, but he could not die. His suffering went on, until one day, God was born to a man and a woman. God heard thier pleas and ended thier suffering. Then God started to build Paradise, and to help her, she created many beings. The Red god, Xuchilbara and the Yellow god, Lobsel Vith, and many more besides. However, God was tired, and died of weariness. She said that one day, she would return and lead the people to Paradise."

"Is that what you people believe?" Sherry asked him.

"If you ask if that is what I believe exactly, then no. That's why I was running away. The others were afraid of the answers I would find if I looked too closely into the workings of God. Now you're going to ask what this has to do with all of you."

Jim stood up. "Alessa Guillespe was carrying God within her when her mother burned her alive. When you stopped her PTV, that allowed her to call to her other half and merge them together. Later on, Alessa's avatar did something extraordinary to you, Lisa Garland. Have you never wondered why this place is as free of the darkness as it is? How you returned from death, from being one of the monsters here?"

"I have wondered," she said to him. Here she shivered slightly. "I'm afraid of the answer though. I don't know how long I've been here, wandering in the dark. I don't know if I'm alive or dead, if I've been saved or damned. I don't know what to do or if I can go back. Will your answer help me?"

He paused for a moment, his whole body quivering with some intense, suppressed emotion. He then relaxed suddenly. "I think that, with your help Lisa Garland, I may be able to send some of these people home."

To be continued...

Next part: Touchstone.