Dummy – Book One
Sour Times
Scrunchii

Scrunchii Note: A bit of advice before you start reading Sour Times: pay very close attention to the dates and times whenever they're given as its easy to get confused as to what time everything is taking place.

Prologue

I

October 2nd, Monday
11:23 a.m.

Josie Rodriguez hated her job with the passion of a thousand burning suns. Every day she came back to the Rodriguez apartment smelling of French fries and greasy hamburgers, spending seven hours seven days a week listening to the chatter of teenagers and overweight forty-year old men, their mouths stuffed with food that would no doubt be the cause a heart attack by the time they hit fifty. Only five years ago she had graduated from high school with big dreams. She was going to university, she was getting out of Silent Hill, she was going to do big things, going to change the world, to get the Rodriguez family out of that little town and bring them with her to sunny California. And then reality hit her like a ton of bricks and she knew she wasn't getting out of Silent Hill. No one ever did. She would spend the rest of her life behind the cash register of Happy Burger, taking orders and rolling her eyes, trying to wish her way out of the little town that was her prison.

There were those who didn't mind Silent Hill – even, dare she say, liked Silent Hill. One of her best friends, Lucy Flanning, and Lucy's older brother John, loved Silent Hill. John was a mechanic and Lucy was, like Josie, a cashier at Happy Burger. Neither of them got that much money but Silent Hill was hardly expensive. It used to be huge with tourists but then slowly they all stopped coming and Silent Hill fell apart financially. With its lack of tourists, the town suddenly looked gloomy 24/7. Fog rolled across the roads, the sky was a dull gray, and the lake became too cold to swim in. There was talk of abandoning the town, leaving and allowing Silent Hill to be swallowed by the mists, but there were families like the Rodriguez's that couldn't leave. They had nowhere to go, no money to get them there. So Silent Hill was forgotten by the outside world, yet Josie was still here.

And she was miserable.

"Josie, baby, c'mon inside, it's sooo cold out there!" Lucy squealed through the window, shivering in one of John's old wool sweaters. The Flanning siblings had lost their parents years ago, but John, who was nineteen when his parents took their lives together, driving into the lake with the doors locked, took care of Lucy, who had been only thirteen. Lucy and John lived alone in their own house, not even a mile away from town. October had brought early snow and the Flanning siblings and Josie found themselves stuck in the Flanning house, the snow too deep to let them go anywhere.

"Jo-Jo, come on!" John called from the kitchen. "I made hot cocoa!" Josie sighed and pulled open the screen door, glad to have an actual excuse to skip out on work. She'd gone to pick up Lucy so they could drive to work together, as always, when it started to snow. She'd come an hour early so they could watch their soap opera together and by the time they were ready to leave, the snow was past the tires of Josie's car.

John was wearing a thick cotton sweatshirt and a pair of faded jeans, hanging loosely on his thin frame. Josie had had a crush on John for years, a crush she'd never let Lucy know about. With his out-of-place large nose and thin face, John wasn't the definition of handsome, yet there was something about him Josie found herself drawn to. John, however, had never shown any interest in Josie. He'd had a girlfriend for about four years at one time but they had broken up months ago. John wasn't entirely over the girl, but Josie liked to fool herself into believing one day he'd look at her and not see a second little sister, but as Josie, the girl who had been at his side since she and Lucy were three years old.

John handed Josie a cup of warm hot chocolate and Lucy pressed her own mug against her cheek, smiling at the warmth of it. She sighed contentedly and sat back against the soft, squishy couch in the Flanning living room.

"John, you really do make the best hot chocolate ever!" Lucy declared loudly. Lucy was small with a thin frame like John, with soft, kittenish hair and big blue eyes, but she had a loud mouth on her and she exercised it with every opportunity she could find. John's old wool sweater seemed to swallow Lucy up, the sleeves rolled up at least five times so Lucy could see her hands, her own faded jeans hanging on her little hips.

John had let Josie borrow one of his sweaters as well when he saw she was only wearing a thin, long-sleeved shirt and her black Dickies pants. Josie wished she looked as small and delicate as Lucy did in John's shirt. Josie had a large chest, strong arms, and broad shoulders so the sweater didn't look as huge on her as it did on Lucy. She watched her best friend enviously, wanting the girl's soft blond hair, her big blue eyes, small pink lips, delicate, skinny frame. John always went for girls like that. Not once had Josie seen John with a girl wearing a pant size over five. Josie was a ten.

"So, Jo-Jo, darling, I've heard you have yourself a B.F.," John said with a wink. He put one of his feet on the coffee table and leaned his elbows on his knee, still holding his cup of cocoa.

Josie felt her cheeks burning and felt like a teenager all over again. Twenty-three years old and you're still blushing at the mention of a new boyfriend? Grow up! Josie scolded herself but she knew she was still blushing.

"Yup," Lucy piped up, brightening at the mention of new gossip. "It's Will Hahn, the grocery-store guy." She followed her brother's lead and winked at Josie. "He's a real cutie-pie, eh, Josie?" Lucy elbowed Josie playfully and giggled. John grinned.

"He a good guy?" he asked, his smile fading slightly. Josie nodded shyly, knowing John was only protective of her because she was like his little sister, not because he wanted her for himself. Too often had she tried to fool herself into believing any minute John would pull her aside and confess he loved her. But she knew it was a fantasy, and it would always be a fantasy. She wasn't John's type, anyway.

"Will's great," Lucy prattled on. "He and Josie make a great couple, they even look good together. You know, like, when they stand side-by-side, they look good. That's important 'cause when you pose together in pictures and stuff you should look good otherwise it'll look bad and that's not good."

"I thought Will had a girlfriend," John said to Josie, ignoring Lucy as she continued to go on about couples who looked good together. "That city-girl, Emilie?"

"Will said they broke up," Josie said with a shrug. "I mean, she hasn't come to Silent Hill for months. It was just a matter of time…" She let the sentence hang in the air. John's last girlfriend had broken up with him for just that reason. She wanted to get out of Silent Hill and when she finally managed it, John wouldn't go with her. For a few months, they tried a long-distance relationship, fooling themselves into believing John would eventually decide to leave Silent Hill, but eventually she had just given up and that was the end of that.

"Well that's great, Josie, I'm glad," John said and took a gulp of his hot chocolate. Josie sipped from her own mug, feeling the warm liquid burning her throat. The window behind her was cold and even though it was shut, the cold from outside was managing to seep into the house, settling on the bones of the three friends.

"Yeah…" Josie said softly, looking down at her mug of hot chocolate.

There was a moment of silence and finally Lucy spoke up. "Wanna watch TV?" she said brightly, reaching for the remote. Without waiting for an answer, she hit the power button and the TV screen lit up. A reporter's face took up the whole screen, smaller, less important news items flying across the bottom of the screen in little orange letters. The reporter's hair was perfectly in place, her teeth straight and white, face flawless. Her eyebrows were furrowed, giving her a concerned look and it took the television a second for the sound to kick in.

"…nothing more than an elaborate hoax, playing on the very real tragedy which overwhelmed Raccoon City earlier this week," the woman said, shaking her head. "The perpetrators of the hoax, Jill Valentine and Carlos Olivera, are being sought for questioning by the FBI." Two pictures took the place of the reporter's face. The picture on the right was an attractive woman, probably a few years older than Josie, with short brown hair and a no-nonsense expression, the picture on the left was a handsome man with strong features and the same serious expression as the woman.

"Oo," Lucy cooed, raising an eyebrow. "He's cute…" She winked mischievously at Josie and giggled.

"Yeah, he's also a sick bastard," John said, his expression stony. Lucy's smile immediately disappeared and the three were silent. John's oldest and best friend, Eric, had been in Raccoon City when the reactor of the nuclear power station when critical, killing everyone in Raccoon City.

"…in fact, she was part of the elite Special Tactics and Rescue Squad, or S.T.A.R.S., before she was suspended. The details of the suspension are unknown, but a source with the Umbrella Corporation has indicated that it had to do with similar hoax perpetration. As for Olivera, he is a former Umbrella employee who was let go shortly before the accident, and was last sighted at a cabin in the woods. It is possible that he holds a grudge against Umbrella and was working with Valentine to discredit the company with Morales as their unwitting dupe…"

Lucy turned off the TV, looking worriedly at John. "You okay?" she asked softly. It had been two months since the Raccoon City tragedy but it was obvious the mention of the incident still hurt John. Not that Josie was surprised; if Lucy had been in Raccoon City when it was destroyed she didn't know what she would have done.

"I'm fine," John said, shrugging. "I'm just mad that people would go and do something sick like that when…you know, something horrible like that happened. It's disturbing. I just hope they catch those two."

Josie and Lucy exchanged glances, not sure what to say. Lucy was a sweet girl, caring and she could be sensitive, but she was horrible at providing comfort. Josie didn't like to think of Lucy as selfish but in a way, she was. She was twenty-three years old but inside Lucy really was just a child.

"I've gotta go take a piss," John said and put down his hot chocolate, walking out of the living room as quickly as possible.

"Think he's gonna be okay?" Josie asked Lucy when she was sure John couldn't hear her.

"Yeah, John's fine," Lucy said with a shrug. She grinned at Josie. "You know John's a trooper. He and Eric were really close though. I think that…" Lucy bit her lip and shook her head. "Never mind, actually, it's really stupid."

"What?" Josie poked Lucy's elbow. "What's stupid?"

"I just, I dunno, I think John and Eric were…you know." Lucy raised her eyebrows, leaning her head forward. "I think they were secretly a couple. You know, gay?"

Josie burst out laughing, the serious mood of the conversation ruined. "John?" she said in a hushed voice. "Gay? I don't think so." Lucy nodded earnestly, holding her head high. "What about all his girlfriends?"

"They never meant anything to him," Lucy said. "He and Eric were making plans on moving to Raccoon City together. The only reason John hadn't left yet was because of me. He was going to make sure I was completely taken care of and then he and Eric were going to move into the apartment Eric had just bought in Raccoon City. If it wasn't for me, John would have been in Raccoon City when it was destroyed."

"But that doesn't prove he's gay," Josie insisted, crossing her arms.

"I'm his sister," Lucy said, shaking her head. "I know John better than anyone else. I'm telling you, there was something going on between him and Eric and it wasn't just friendship."

Josie frowned, suddenly unsure. Who was she to say whether or not John was gay? The only reason she was being so defensive was because she didn't want to believe it – if John was gay it would ruin any chance she had of being with him.

"Let's just watch TV," Lucy said, turning the TV back on. "But not the news…" She changed the channel before the sound turned and flipped through the channels until the girls saw the familiar face of the host of one of their favorite reality shows. They sat back and settled into the squishy couch, both trying not to dwell on their last conversation. Josie hated it when she and Lucy disagreed on anything, although it happened quite often. The awkward silence lasted until finally one of the contestants said something so stupid the girls couldn't help but giggle together.

Their giggling was cut short by a loud, urgent knock on the door. Josie looked at Lucy expectantly but Lucy ignored her, obviously not interested in getting up to answer the door. Josie sighed and stood, looking out the window by the couch to see who was on the porch. A pudgy arm pressed against the screen blocked the view and Josie looked out the peephole on the door. Her boyfriend, Will Hahn, stood at the door, looking around urgently and suddenly he grabbed the door handle and pulled open the door. Josie jumped back and Will pushed the pudgy man into the house, then slammed the door behind him, locking it.

"Hi, Will, what's going on?" Josie asked hesitantly, trying to smile. Will ignored her and looked out the window, his eyes wide and panicked.

"Arthur, make sure the doors are locked," Will said to the pudgy man, Arthur, and pushed past Josie, checking all the windows. "Where's John?" he asked Josie, his voice sharp and demanding.

"Um, the bathroom, I think…" Josie said. "Will, what's wrong?"

"I don't know, Jo, something weird," Will said, shaking his head. "Haven't they gotten here yet?" He didn't wait for her to reply, just pressed his index fingers against his temples and added in a hushed voice, more to himself than to anyone else. "No, the snow probably slowed them down. Good…that gives us a bit of time…"

"Time for what?" Josie felt her pulse racing. Lucy was standing now, holding Josie's arm with a surprisingly strong grip. "Who are 'they'?"

Arthur came back to the living room and nodded at Will. "Back door's locked," Arthur said. "Windows too."

"John!" Will shouted. "Shit…John!" He hurried out of the living room to the bathroom. "John we've gotta get out of here. C'mon, hurry up!" Josie could hear Will pounding his fist on the bathroom door and only seconds later the door swung open and John came out of the bathroom, his eyes swollen and red, as though he'd been crying.

"What's wrong with you?" John asked incredulously.

"Don't even ask," Will said, pushing John toward the bedroom. "You've gotta get packed…Actually, no, don't even bother. Where are your keys?" Will looked out the window, his long, brown hair falling in front of his eyes. "They're going to be here soon."

"Will, we can't drive in this snow, it's way too deep," Josie said, her hands on her hips. "What's wrong with you?"

"They're these…these things," Will said, running his hand through his long hair. "I can't even describe them without sounding crazy…"

"They're zombies," Arthur blurted out, his fat face growing red.

Josie, John, and Lucy burst out laughing. "Didn't you guys see the news?" Josie said with a grin. "That tape was a hoax, we just saw it on TV."

"We're not talking about that!" Will yelled, the veins on his forehead looking like they were about to burst. "Maybe it's the same thing, but whatever these are they're real, we just saw it in town!"

"Okay, sure, Will," Josie said, rolling her eyes. "Call me when you've got your sanity back."

"Josie, I swear to God, I'm telling you the truth. We've got to get out of Silent Hill." Will took Josie's hands in his own, squeezing them. "Jo, please, just listen to me. I'm not lying to you, I just want to get you out of here, please…"

"Will…"

"Please."

"Fine, whatever." Josie rolled her eyes again and shrugged at John and Lucy. "I still don't believe you, don't think I believe you."

"You don't have to," Will said, looking out the window again. "Gimme your keys. Arthur, make sure it's safe."

Arthur nodded ran out the door. It was as he was shutting the door that Josie noticed the gun in his hand. She felt her heart stop for a moment and she turned to Will. "Why does he have a gun?" she asked softly, her voice suddenly hoarse.

Will ignored her and grabbed Lucy with his free hand, pulling the girls to the front door. "John, come on."

"Will…why does he have a gun?" Josie felt sick. Will continued to ignore her, staring ahead, his shoulder-length hair hiding his face.

"Arthur?" Will asked, pressing his face against the screen. The pudgy man stood in the knee-deep snow, looking around carefully. His hand shook, probably more from fear than the cold.

"Shit!" Arthur suddenly yelled and Josie closed her eyes, hearing two gunshots, then the sound of thundering steps on the porch. "Open the fucking door!" Arthur yelled, pounding his fat fists against the door.

Will swung open the door and Arthur squeezed inside. They slammed it shut behind him and locked the door.

"We're too late," Arthur said, shaking his head. "They're here, they're already fucking here!"

"How many?" Will asked. Josie let go of his hand and shakily made her way to one of the windows. She peeked out and felt sick. There were at least fifty people outside, all shuffling toward the house slowly. Every one of them was soaked with blood, a few of them missing some limbs, their faces torn, clothing ripped, flesh shredded. Josie stepped away from the window and threw up. Will turned and pulled Josie away from the window. He looked up and Josie felt him stiffen. "Shit," Will whispered. "John, you've got a basement, right?"

"Yeah," John said, his face pale.

"Does it have a lock on the inside?"

"I think so."

"Let's go."