When they were ready, Ryan and Julia exited the medicine room and walked into the hallway of the first floor. Ryan walked out in front, keeping his eyes and ears open for any anomalies. Julia trailed slightly behind him. The pain in her arm was excruciating, but she knew that it wouldn't last long. The pain killers she had been given would kick in sooner or later. She grasped her pistol with her good hand and followed Ryan. As safe as the hospital seemed, she was pretty unnerved by how quiet it was. Except for themselves and the things that roamed the streets, the entire town was deserted. Julia could deal with being safe. But being alone was a whole other story. She cringed as memories of the movie 28 days later filled her head.

The lonely man, waking up and finding everyone gone. Walking the vacant streets alone. Calling out for anyone who would listen. Their predicament was a stark representation of the movie's protagonist. It gave her an uncomfortable feeling. Then the memories of the films monsters sprang into her head, making her imagination run wild. In a few short steps she was walking right next to Ryan, afraid to let him out of her sight and thus be left all alone in the dark. Ryan noticed her quickened pace.

"Something on your mind?" he asked, glancing over to her.

"It's just creepy is all, being alone in a place like this"

Ryan nodded his head to himself, understanding her feelings.

"I know what you mean. This isn't exactly what I had in mind when coming here. It would be nice if there were a few more people with us."

He turned to look down the hallway. The lack of noise had just become a bit more noticeable to him and a chill ran down his spine.

"I don't like being alone either. But man, what is going on in this place? I mean, how did a town like this get so completely messed up?"

"You're asking me?" she said as she walked.

Even though their destination was one floor up, Ryan was compelled to check any door that they came across. Each time he reached for a knob his heart started to pound in anticipation. He expected something to leap out of the shadows and attack him. He went to each of the doors and tried them. Most, if not all the doors were completely incapable of being opened. One after the other, they were either locked or the knobs had been broken off. Ryan's fear gave way to frustration as he was denied entrance from each of the doors. A storeroom and three offices remained closed to them. The only door that would budge led to the kitchen.

Julia curiously followed Ryan into the room. The light shone on the area, revealing chrome stove and table tops. A quick look around the area gave away nothing. All the cabinets and drawers were empty. There were no utensils, pots or pans, cooking supplies or any other indication that the kitchen had used in a long time. Even the freezer in the area was devoid of food. Defeated, they left the kitchen and continued their search.

"Lame" Ryan said as he closed the door behind them.

"I know. I could have gone for something to eat too." she replied as they made their way to the end of the hall. Her stomach grumbled at the prospect of eating something.

The hall ended and they were left facing an elevator and a set of stairs leading down. Julia started to head towards the stairs when Ryan stepped past her.

"Let's just leave that for later" he said blocking her way.

"Why?"

He pulled out the map and showed her the basement area.

"Cause I don't really wanna go down there" he said, pointing to a little square that read "Morgue"

"Fair enough" she said. "But if this elevator doesn't work, we're going down. Besides, this place is deserted. What could possibly happen?"

"You seriously don't want me to answer that" Ryan said as he walked to the elevator.

Swallowing and then exhaling a breath, he pushed the button on the wall next to the elevator doors. Within seconds there was a pleasant "ding" sound and the two doors parted into the walls.

"Yes!" he said in self satisfaction.

Julia followed him into the car, just as the doors were closing again. Looking at the inside panel, she spied the buttons that would lead them to the other floors of the building. Hesitating, she turned to Ryan.

"Which floor was the nurse's center on?"

Ryan pulled out the map. He began to trace it with his finger.

"Uh…second" he said.

Julia hit the button and the elevator car started to shake. So the place still had some electricity. That was at least a little good news. If they were lucky they could get a TV working and find out what the hell was going on. Julia turned around as she heard Ryan slump to the wall of the car. He was breathing heavily and looked drained. He was also holding his head and trembling.

"What's up? Headache?" she asked

"Yeah. My head has been hurting ever since the crash. I think I might have a really minor concussion. I keep spacing out and hallucinating. Like some stuff is just a mirage or something. It's like my mind is playing tricks on me. Plus, I… I just…it's, I don't know how much more of this I can take you know? Walking into your own worst nightmare just takes its toll on your mind. This is all just getting to be a bit much to process."

"Yeah, I know" she said, looking at her watch. "But hey. Sunrise is in another seven hours. We can make it through the night and then go for help"

She put a hand on his arm to reassure him. He looked at her and she understood he was grateful for the sentiment. They gave each other weak smiles while Julia turned a mild shade of red.

"You'd think with all this freaky shit going on, there would at least be some news coverage. Something to let others know what's going on in this town"

"Maybe something is keeping that from happening" she said.

"Like what?" Ryan asked.

"I don't know. Bad power lines, bad reception or bad internet connection. But if someone read a news story that started off with 'Hell overtakes small American town' would you bother staying tuned?"

"That's a good point. But it still doesn't answer why this whole place went into the gutter"

III

The elevator car came to a stop and another "ding" sound rang out. The doors opened and they each aimed their weapons into the dark of the 2nd floor hallway. Just like the first floor, it was quiet. They slowly made their way out of the elevator and the doors slammed shut behind them. Julia and Ryan started to walk down the hallway, passing by several rooms and doors. Ryan noticed that she was looking at them and then turned to look at him. Her non-verbal cues were easily readable.

"We'll check em out later" he said, not faltering. "Right now, I think some of your answers are in this Nurse's Center"

"Alright" she said, accepting the decision.

Several feet away, they turned a corner and saw three doors. One right in front of them which would lead to the other hallway of the second floor. One to their left with the words 'Operating Prep Room' stenciled on a plaque. And the last one to their right that read 'Nurse's center'.

"Bingo" Julia said as she stepped forward and opened the door.

It creaked open with a loud, grinding noise of wood on metal. The sound made Julia's skin crawl as she was reminded of old horror movies. They walked in and closed the door. Moving the flashlight about the area they saw that it had a large oak desk with a blank chalk board behind it. Cabinets with glass windows lined the walls. The light revealed that they were filled with medications as well as medical supplies. A group of four lockers were along the south wall and there was another door. Where it led was anyone's guess.

Walking over to the desk, Ryan started going through the drawers and folders that were around the area. Julia stared at him from a few feet away, rubbing her arm. The drugs had started to kick in and the pain was dying out.

"What are you looking for?" she asked, taking a step towards him.

"Staff records, a log, pictures of the staff or personal information. Records like those would be kept here" he answered, not looking up from the papers.

"You sure?" she asked doubtfully.

"Pretty sure" he said as he thumbed through the small piles of paper that he had found.

From within the dark, Julia could hear Ryan talk to himself as he skimmed the papers. As he went through the papers he was mumbling off names and numbers and how this would all be easier if everything was in alphabetical order.

"Anything I can do?" she asked hoping that she could do more than just stand around and wait, looking at the floor.

"Naw, I'm almost through here" he said with a light shake of his head.

After a few more turns of paper and Ryan made a small gasp, drawing Julia's attention. Her head snapped up expectantly. He looked at her and made a noticeable, approving look with his face.

"You were right. You do look a lot like her" he said as he pointed to a file that was on the desk.

In less than a second, Julia was at his side looking at his discovery. Her heart fluttered in her chest as a file photo of her aunt stared right back at her. Lisa Garland was filmed from the chest up. Her dirty blonde hair hung past her neck and a nurse's cap was adorned on her head. Wearing the same cream colored blouse and red sweater that Julia remembered, the woman gave a big happy grin in the photo. Julia smiled as she reached down to touch it, her hand quivering. Tears of happiness came to her eyes as she looked at her aunt for the first time in years. Julia couldn't believe that she was finally getting some answers. Ryan reached for the picture and tore it from the file. He handed it to her.

"There. Now you have a picture to go by. She's real pretty by the way"

"Thank you." Julia said as she wiped away tears from her eyes, sniffed and hugged Ryan, giving a quick, strong squeeze. "Is there anything else?"

"Let's see" he said as he traced the page. "Birthday, date she was hired, blood type, yadda, yadda, yadda, occupation outline, blah, blah, blah. Oh, here we go! Phone number and home address. 78995, Simmons St."

"Great. I can go check out her house!" Julia said, building her hopes.

"Whoa, slow down" Ryan said. "First things first. Lets survive this night then we'll worry about taking a trip to your aunt's place."

Julia didn't like how he was bursting her bubble. But he was right. Their survival took precedence over anything else.

"Was there anything else?" Julia asked. "Like, any information about what's happening here or where she might have gone? Anything?"

"No, just her file. But we can look around some more. Maybe we might find something else", he said, hefting the shotgun.

His face twisted with confusion as he looked down at the remaining file. A man in a suit stared up at him. He was an older gentleman and had a serious look on his face.

"Hmm, Dr Kaufman?" he said, looking at the profile. "Why would a doctor's profile be in a nurse's station? And right behind your aunt's to boot"

A sound from somewhere in the room made Ryan grab the shotgun and point it into the dark. From around his neck, he could hear white noise coming from his ear buds. Julia pointed her weapon in another direction.

"What?" she asked, her mood shifting to fear once more.

"Shhh" he said, putting a finger to his lips. "Do you hear that?" he asked.

Julia listened for a few seconds before she heard what Ryan was talking about. At the other end of the room was a sound that was unmistakably human. It sounded like gasping or moaning. The feminine noise emanated from a rack of coats near the lockers. Whoever it was, she sounded like she was frightened or cold. Cautiously, Ryan inched towards the coats. The closer he got the more the gasping, moaning sound increased. He got close enough to see that there had been a person in the room this entire time.

"Oh, my god" he said as the realization hit him. "There's a survivor in here"

The woman's back was to them, but Ryan knew he was staring at the back of one of the hospital's nurses. The woman was dressed in a very dirty, old fashioned hospital outfit and hat. She had incredibly long and attractive legs and he could see that she was twitching. Her skin was also incredibly pale.

"Must be cold or something" Ryan thought as he moved closer.

The woman must have been scared or traumatized not to notice the two of them. She didn't turn around to face Ryan as he shinned the light on her.

"Miss?" he said as he reached toward her. "Miss, are you alright? Our cars broke down right outside of Silent Hill. Something is seriously wrong with this town. Do you know what's going on? Where is everyone else?"

"Is she alright?" Julia asked him.

"I don't know?" he said glancing back at Julia before as he touched the woman's shoulder lightly.

Once his hand made contact with her, he yanked it away in a quick motion. The woman was filthy. Ryan didn't know what she had been rolling in but her shoulder had made a soft "squish" sound when he touched it. He was starting to like this less and less. Something was totally wrong with this woman. She started to twitch and turn around. In the blink of an eye, she whipped around and lashed out at Ryan with her hand. Julia yelped as the nurse's arm smacked against the shotgun, sending it clattering to the floor. Something sharp cut into Ryan's arm and he stumbled back. The woman plowed right into him and they both fell to the floor in a heap.

From where the shotgun lay on the floor, its light pointed at Ryan and the nurse that was on top of him. Julia stared in horror as it thrashed on top of him. It was covered in blood which contrasted the once white outfit. Ryan was trying desperately to hold both of its arms away from him. She could see that it held a long scalpel in its hand and was forcing it towards Ryan's throat. He struggled to keep her away. But perhaps most disturbing of all was the nurse's face.

There was no face. All that it was was just layers of skin and possibly bandages. Blood seeped from the inhuman thing's face as it twitched its head. The twitching of its head was unreal, like it was a rabid dog. Julia swore she heard vertebrae grinding together as the thing's head jerked from side to side, inching closer to Ryan's face. Julia was frozen in terror as the nurse wrestled with Ryan.

"GET IT OFF ME!" Ryan yelled out. His scream broke Julia out of her trance and she aimed the pistol at the nurse.

Julia was hit with a new wave of fear. She had never fired a gun. That coupled with the fact that she couldn't even get a clean shot on the thing, made her more scared than she had ever been. She moved the pistol up and down slightly, trying to aim the gun correctly. She didn't want to hit Ryan. He looked over at her and noticed that she was hesitating.

"WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?! SHOOT IT!" he screamed as he fought off the thing enough to sucker punch it. The nurse growled and continued to trash on top of him.

Julia aimed the pistol and her finger tightened around the trigger.

III

"OH GOD, IT'S TOUCHING ME!" Ryan screamed as the nurse got a hold of his arm.

For as dainty as the thing had looked, it was impossibly strong. It took everything he had to keep it from getting its weapon any closer to his throat. Ryan looked to his right and saw that the flashlight was creating one morbid shadow puppet against the wall. If he wasn't certain that he was about to die at this moment, he'd almost confuse the shape with two people having sex.

He looked to his left and saw that Julia was aiming her 9mm in his direction. To be more specific, she was aiming the gun at him, with shaking hands, with her eyes closed.

"What the fu…?" he said and scrunched his eyes shut.

POP, POP, POP, POP…!

Several rounds tore into the nurse. It twitched violently as the bullets hit it. Several nailed it in the chest. But it was the final round that drilled into its head that finished it off. It screamed as it was thrown off him and a small cloud of red settled to the floor next to him. Breathing heavily, Ryan jumped up and snatched the shotgun from the floor. He then ran over to the thing on the floor and unloaded several shells into the fallen creature. The room exploded with sound as the slugs were ejected from the barrel. They impacted the nurse, blowing open its chest cavity and head. He knew he was done when he heard the dry click of an empty chamber. The form of the nurse lay on the ground in silence. Dark splashes of read were everywhere and he was pretty sure that he had shot it all the way through to the floor. Several holes punched clean through the creature. Ryan breathed heavily for a few seconds to let the adrenaline in his system wear off. Then Ryan turned to Julia who was gaping at him in wide eyed horror, her pistol pointed at the ground. She looked at him and knew he was very, very angry.

"Did you just shoot at me with your eyes closed?!" he shouted at her.

"Well it worked didn't it?!" she replied.

Ryan grabbed the pistol from her and held it out in front of him in a demonstrating manner.

"Aim and shoot!" he said, handing it back to her.

They each started to reload their weapons. Ryan slid slug after slug into the shotgun and loaded it with a pump of the handle. Julia had ejected the magazine and with Ryan's help, had put in several new bullets. She slapped the clip back into the gun and the slide slid back into place.

"How much ammo you got left?" he asked.

"Uh…plenty" she said, looking at the several boxes she still had on her. "You?"

He looked into his pockets and said, "Shit, I'm down to twenty nine slugs. This thing only holds seven at a time." He said referring to the shotgun.

"Where do we go now?" Julia asked, wiping her brow and glancing over at the dead monster.

"As far away from here as we can get. This place probably has more of those things crawling around here" he said looking at where she was looking. "Lets go"

"It was a nurse. How the hell did it get like that?" Julia asked, pointing her pistol to the dead body on the ground.

"Who cares? Lets go, NOW!"

They ran to the door that they didn't come through and wound up in the other hallway of the 2nd floor. Ryan swept the light back and forth to search the area. What it fell on made his jaw drop to the floor. Staring back at them were at least ten or eleven more of the nurse monsters. They were all milling around the hall. But the second they light was cast on them, they all looked at its source. Instantly they all started twitching their heads and walking towards Ryan and Julia. The sound of their high-heeled shoes resonated in the hallway. The nurses were all armed with a variety of bladed weapons.

"Oh come on!" Ryan said, exasperated. "Give me a fucking break!"

From the other direction of the hall came the sound of metal scraping across the floor and a sound like water hitting something solid. Ryan turned the light towards the sounds and stared in horror at the monstrosity walking towards him. It was like the nurse creatures except it was a bit taller, bleeding profusely from everywhere on its body, and dragging a large ax across the floor. With its free hand it reached towards them in desperation. It took the ax and swung it through the air, smashing it into the wall with a loud, audible crunch of wood. Splinters flew through the air.

"RAAAAAAAAWWWWWWRRRRR!" she screamed at the two of them.

Julia turned back and grabbed at the door handle, but it wouldn't budge. They were boxed into the hallway. And they were going to die.