Four:
Arthur came to a halt after ten minutes of hard riding. The bike path had been blocked, preventing him from continuing. Although, blocked wouldn't quite describe it accurately. The entire forest path had vanished. The earth seemed to have opened up and devoured it. The deep, yawning crevice stretched as far as Arthur could see, and curved around toward the main road.
He was fairly sure this meant that the event that had started here had a catastrophic influence on the surrounding area. If every road out of town was like this, he was in a great deal of trouble...
Arthur thought, for the first time in a decade, that he could really use a smoke. He'd broken himself of the habit nearly ten years before. With a sigh, he turned the bike and began pedaling down hill, back into the misty streets of Silent Hill. He would take Wiltse Road, back to Sanders and then north to Nathan. He'd follow it past Rosewater Park. If he couldn't reach Paleville by the western road out of town, he'd have to try the old service road off of Rendell. It didn't lead to anywhere in particular, but it lead out of town.
Speeding down the dirt road, he bypassed another limping Dog Thing at the intersection of Sanders and Lindsey. He suspected it was the same one, as rather than chase him it turned and lurched away. Arthur couldn't help but grin.
On Lindsey, he passed Gonzalez Mexican Restaurant on the left hand corner. Further north, and on the left once more, he passed the old Texan steak house. The Silent Hill Medical Clinic stood to his right, the sliding glass doors shattered, the metal frame warped outward, as if something had escaped from within. Bloody footprints seemed to make a mad, drunken path across the street and into the alley behind the Texan.
Arthur slowed only momentarily, staring hard at a hunched shape. It resembled a human, but it was difficult to tell. Whoever or whatever it was, it seemed to be wrapped in a dirty straight jacket that stretched up over it's head. He didn't need to see more. Arthur sped away and turned west onto Nathan Avenue.
Looming on the corner to the south, he passed the South Silent Hill Fire Department, St. Stella's Church, and the Pet Center. Curiosity wasn't enough to draw Arthur toward the pet store. The front windows were shattered, and blood had literally soaked the entire sidewalk. Vague, tattered lumps had been strewn about the sidewalk and the display shelves beyond the windows.
Once again, Rosewater Park came into view. Arthur pulled over, onto the sidewalk opposite the park. He'd rather keep a safe distance from the treeline where he'd seen one of the Dog Things. On the other side of the locked fence, he could make out several more shambling humanoid forms, bound in their strange straight jackets. Arthur could now make out that they had no faces.
He continued on his way, lowering his makeshift weapon at his side, keeping his left hand securely on the handlebars. The ride had begun to drain him, the cold and constant bleak whiteness having a greater influence than he had anticipated.
Come on...Come on...The sooner I get out of here, the better...
Arthur passed the low, sturdy structure of the Silent Hill Historical Society after a time. It was a dark building, made of heavy bricks. It had been built in the 1800s, and had long since served as a source of local "color". From the infamous "Pyramid Executioners" at the old Toluca Lake Penetentiary, to the disappearance of every single settler of the region in a single night.
The old stories of Silent Hill being a Sacred Place for a long dead local tribe. Stories of witchburnings. A cult hidden in the past. And, of course, The Lady Of The Mist, a ferry boat from town to the lakeside Amusement Park and Lakeview hotel. The Lady Of The Mist left one foggy morning in the early 1920's, and was never seen again. Every soul on the vessel had vanished with it.
Arthur could certainly understand how the stories had come to pass. If this had happened before at some point in the past, it would certainly explain certain events.
Arthur's vision had been impaired by the fog for quite some time, and he was almost feeling nearsighted. A sudden blackness loomed out of the white mass surrounding him. Another yawning canyon, cutting the road in half.
He turned sharply, skidding to a halt. The rear tire of the bike slipped out into open space, and he cursed. Pulling the bike away from the pit, he stared into the seemingly bottomless depths. Paleville was cut off as well. Only the service road off of Rendell remained.
"Come on! Just give me a break today...What'd I ever do to deserve this bullshit?" Arthur said, so irritated that he didn't even care that he'd spoken to himself more in this one day than he ever had in his entire life.
With a grunt of disgust, he began to pedal back to town, running out of breath. He'd grown accustomed to pedaling around town, around a flat, even surface. He hadn't practiced going up hill, down hill, and escaping mortal danger in his rides and even if he had stopped smoking earlier in life, the damage was done.
If I get out of this, I'll smoke a whole goddamn pack if I want.
As he passed the parking lot of the Historical Society once more, black shapes reeled into the road. It was as if they'd been waiting for him. The Straightjackets. Arthur swerved around the first, the misshapen creature staggering after him and hissing. He could clearly see that the "jackets" were made of flesh, and seemed to be growing directly from their bodies.
A second and a third got much too close for comfort. With a mighty swing of his club, Arthur bashed the nearest one in what passed for a face, sending the creature sprawling, a gurgling scream rising. On the follow through, a nail ripped through the membrane-like flesh of the second creature's "jacket", causing the monster to reel back and shriek.
Arthur gave a satisfied grin as he left the creatures far behind. He was three for three. He turned onto Carrol, heading south. All he had to do was pass Heaven's Night and the Texxon and he was nearly home free. The two establishments dissolved into view out of the fog...
And so did a hulking, dirty shape in a rust-tinted pyramidal helmet.