Silent Gulch Chapter 2

Church stood in the empty foggy streets not sure what to do. He walked to one side of the street, a bit unnerved at how each footstep echoed through the air.

He came to a barber shop that looked like it hadn't been used in years. The windows were clouded with what appeared to be a thick layer of dust. He ran a finger over the glass and found that it wasn't dust. The glass felt smooth under his fingers and there was no mark of where he had touched the glass. The letters were so faded that he couldn't even read the name of the shop.

He moved to the door and tried the handle. The door wouldn't budge. He banged on the door but there was no answer.

"Hello?" he shouted, hoping there was someone around.

"God, why are you always yelling?" a female voice asked.

Church looked around confused. "Tex?"

Then he spotted a fading silhouette of her across the street. Without thinking he ran across the street to the image. The silhouette faded into thin air. He was disheartened by the illusion, and shook his head to clear his thoughts. Tex was gone and he couldn't believe that he'd let himself be fooled by a mirage.

"You always were slow," Tex's voice said with a hint of amusement. She was standing about five feet away on the sidewalk. Her bright green eyes stared back at him tauntingly.

"Tex, is that really you?" Church asked, taking a step toward her.

"Who else could it be?" Tex asked. She then turned and started to walk away.

Church started to walk after her. Tex then broke out into an all-out run. She vanished into the fog as Church took off after her.

After a minute of chasing, Church lost track of the figure. "Tex?" Church shouted, looking around. "Allison?" he called, frustration evident in his voice.

He slammed his fist against the glass window of the bank that he was standing in front of. He immediately drew his hand back in pain. "What the hell?" he groaned as he looked at the window. It was untouched and had felt like stone when he hit it.

He looked around the street, feeling a bit of fear. He had no idea where he was or what was wrong with this place. "What's going on?" he whispered to himself.

~Tucker~

Tucker turned toward Church, about to ask him where the Reds had gone. He found that the cobalt soldier had disappeared and he could see nothing but fog.

"Church, where'd you go man?" he shouted, taking a step toward the spot that the default leader had occupied. His head slammed into a light pole, knocking him to the ground.

"Holy hell," Tucker cursed, rubbing his forehead.

"Blarg," the laughing voice of Junior said from out of nowhere.

"Junior?" Tucker asked, spotting the small alien hiding behind a car. It stood up and ran off into the fog.

"Junior, wait. It's me, your dad." He ran off after the alien. Junior continued to run until he ran into a building.

Tucker stopped outside the building, looking at the sign. He could make out the words 'Lakeside Hotel' on the tattered awnings. Tucker tried the door, but found that it was locked.

"Aw, fuckberries," he groaned. He then realized that the door knob had been cold. He shouldn't be able to feel temperatures through his armor. He noticed for the first time that he no longer wore his armor. Instead he was wearing baggy pants and a teal shirt with the words 'Bow Chicka Bow Wow' on the front.

"What is going on here?" Tucker scratched his head.

~Grif/Simmons~

Grif tripped as he was running away from the fog, taking Simmons down with him. They fell to the ground as the fog swallowed up their team.

"Get off me," Simmons snapped as he lay under Grif.

Grif stood up, looking around. "Hey Simmons why is the ground pavement instead of grass?" He was shocked when Simmons stood. "And what happened to your armor?" Simmons stood before him wearing a maroon polo shirt and dress pants.

"I could ask you the same thing," Simmons retorted. Grif's armor had been replaced by a baggy orange shirt and sweat pants. "Do you have no pride in your appearance?"

"No, but can we talk about something important? Such as how we got in the middle of a street?" Grif replied.

"Oh my god, where's Sarge? We have to find him." Simmons looked panicked.

"Calm down, I'm sure he's fine. Sure, Donut might be talking him to death, but beside that he's probably fine.," Grif assured his teammate. "I'm more interested in how we got here."

"I don't know." Simmons looked around. "What happened to the rest of our team?"

~Sarge/Donut~

"Donut, let go of me," Sarge ordered the pink private. "Simmons, status report." He looked around for the maroon soldier. "Simmons?" he asked, confused.

He spotted a young scared-looking soldier in a pink shirt and tight pants. "Donut?"

"What?" the soldier asked. He was looking at Sarge, confused. The red leader wore a red T-shirt and camo pants. "What happened to your armor?"

"I don't know. We've got to find Simmons and get out of here." Sarge looked around, hoping to find his shotgun.

"And Grif," Donut added.

"I can only hope that he has been separated from Simmons, thereby making it more likely that Simmons will survive." Sarge started to walk off in a random direction.

Donut followed the sergeant as he walked off. "Where should we start?"

~Caboose~

Caboose watched the Reds disappear into the fog.

"Um, should we be worried about the scary people-eating fog?" he asked, turning to where Church had stood. Instead he found a dingy wall that seemed to be dripping with a foul liquid. The fog receded from around Caboose and he found that he was in a hospital room.

He spotted a table in the corner with a series of needles on it. "Oh no, needles." He ran out of the room and into the hallway.

The entire hospital looked old and run down, as if no one had set foot in it for years. Caboose moved to hide in a closet, hoping Church would come save him from the needles.

The silence of the hallway was suddenly gone as a screeching noise filled the air, echoing off the moldy walls. A patter could soon be heard with the thumps of something walking. One deep thump echoed through the halls, leaving it impossible to tell which way it came from. Each thud of the footfalls was followed by the screech that made Caboose's skin crawl.

The patter repeated for a minute before a figure slowly appeared at one end of the hall. The thing looked human, but was taller than the average human. It wore no shirt, a pair of brown, worn-out pants, and a butcher's apron that was only tied around its waist. On its head was a pyramid-shaped metal helmet that looked like it had been permanently attached. Behind it, the creature dragged an oversized blade that looked like a larger version of a cutting knife. Each step it made a deep thump as its foot hit the floor. The long blade that dragged on the floor would then fill the space between the steps with its crying screech.

The thing stopped in front of the room that Caboose had arrived in and turned its pyramid head to look inside. It paused only for about three seconds before turning and continuing down the hall. It didn't even acknowledge Caboose or his hiding place. It continued on until the sound faded from Caboose's range. The blue soldier sat in silence for about a minute and then left the closet. He looked at the direction that the thing had gone.

"Maybe he knows where Church is." He walked off after the creature. "Hey, do you know Church?" he shouted happily.