Silent Gulch Chapter 11

The pipe swung down and Tucker was rewarded. The creature's skull caved in under the force and the body fell limp.

Tucker couldn't believe that he wasn't dead. When the thing had appeared he had been sure he wouldn't last a second. Maybe it was all just in his head. Yeah, this all must be some nightmare. There was no way that any of it could be true. "Command must have drugged me or something," Hhe said to himself.

"Honk blarg blarg honk." Junior appeared beside Tucker as though nothing had happened.

"You aren't real, either," Tucker said, turning to the small alien. "You're just something I've dreamed up because I feel a bit guilty about everything that happened."

Junior just looked at him, confused.

"Hell, do you even understand me?" Tucker asked. Junior nodded and Tucker frowned. "Of course you understood, you're a hallucination."

He turned around quickly as the ground gave way under the dead body of the large monster. Tucker moved back away from the freshly formed pit. His back hit something hard and the teal soldier froze. "Please tell me you just had a growth spurt, Junior."

He turned around to look at what he'd run into. Behind him stood a creature that barely resembled Junior. The creature stood at eight feet tall when slouched over, and it wore rusted old armor that looked like it had once been teal, a long time ago. Its arms were elongated, causing its four clawed fingers to drag on the ground.

Tucker moved back, but stopped when his foot reached the edge of the pit. He watched as the creature lifted its foot and then kicked forward. The beast's foot collided with Tucker's chest, sending him flying back and into the pit.

As he fell, the world around Tucker went dark, and for a moment he wondered why he kept falling into holes.

~Caboose/Sister~

"Now what should we do?" Sister asked, looking at Caboose. They had continued to wander though the hospital trying to find the exit. It seemed that someone had gone though and destroyed every exit sign in the whole building.

"I want to get out of here. What if those mean ladies come back?" Caboose asked, worried.

"Then I'll hit them with something," Sister replied, trying to ease the blue soldier's mind.

"I'm so lucky you're here!" Caboose said happily. He turned suddenly as the hallways echoed with the sound of what seemed to be tank treads and was followed by a female laugh.

"Sheila, it's Sheila!" Caboose shouted before taking off down the hallway.

"Wait, Caboose, slow down." Sister rounded the corner behind him, but there was no tank there.

Caboose stood, completely stunned. "I swear that I heard Sheila."

"I heard it too, Caboose, but she isn't here. I don't think she could even fit in here." Sister was a bit worried about her friend. He looked like he had been crushed.

Caboose leaned back against the wall and slid down to sit on the floor. He hung his head and Sister heard the faint sound of him starting to cry.

"Oh, don't cry Caboose. I'm sure that Sheila's fine," Sister assured him.

"I…it's not that, I'm just scared. Church isn't here to help me," he said sadly as he wiped a few tears away from his face.

"Yeah, but I'm here to help you," Sister told him. "You don't need to be scared. Sure, we're in a bad position, but we'll be all right. Things are still better than that time I went to a convention dressed as a furry. Man, I was sore after that night."

"Okay, no more story time," Caboose said, a bit disturbed but feeling less depressed.

"See, now you're feeling better. Come on, let's keep moving." Sister held out her hand for him to take.

"I do feel better," Caboose admitted happily. He took her hand and pulled himself up. "Thank you."

"Anything for a team mate." Sister started to move down the hall. "Now where is that exit?"

~Church~

Church was not at all happy. He didn't know where he was and his clothes were soaked with blood. Bits of his clothes were drying to a crusty state and the smell was almost overpowering. He moved and sat down on a long beam of steel to take a moment's rest.

He looked up suddenly as a young girl sat down beside him. She had brown hair and wore a blue school dress.

"Hello, sir," she said quietly, just staring into the darkness around them.

Church lowered his head to look at the ground. "Hey, kid," he replied unenthusiastically.

The girl turned to look at the soldier beside her. "You look like you've had a bad day."

"You don't know the half of it." Church looked back to the girl. He was surprised for a moment. She now had black hair and a completely different outfit. "Hey, did you change clothes and hair?"

The girl looked at him, confused. "No, I'm just me. I've always been like this," she said, smiling.

"Who are you anyway?" Church asked. "Do you know that other kid that was here, Joshua?"

"My name's Cheryl, but you can also call me Alessa," she replied. "I don't know anyone named Joshua."

"Well, he gave me this." He showed her the flashlight he had been given. It had been a bit useful to keep him from stubbing his toes on all the things lying around.

"Oh, that can be dangerous. Some of the things are attracted to it," Alessa said. She drew her knees up to her chest. "Especially the ones that look like nurses."

"What about the big ones with large flesh hammers for hands?" Church asked.

Alessa looked at him, scared. "I haven't seen anything like that." She looked frightened.

"Hey, I didn't mean to scare you, kid. I only saw one and it's dead," he assured her, trying to calm her down. "So why are you here?"

"I live here," Cheryl replied. "Why are you here? I know you don't live here, I've never seen you before."

"I don't know why I'm here. I'm in the military, soldier you know. Suddenly this fog filled the canyon I am stationed at; then it clears and I'm standing in the middle of the street leading to Silent Hill," Church explained. "I went to the church, found a woman, she tried to kill me, I then followed her, fell into a pool of blood, walked here, and met you."

"You met a woman?" Alessa asked. "You don't mean Danena do you?"

Church looked at her, surprised. "Yeah, that's her. Do you know her?" He hoped the two weren't friends.

Alessa shook her head quickly. "No, she works for them. I think she's crazy." The girl looked away from Church.

"I agree with you on that," Church said. "Who is this 'them' that you mentioned?" he asked curiously.

"The ones that make the things," Cheryl replied. "She calls them gods, I'd call them demons if this is what they make."

"You have a good point. I wouldn't call them gods, either." Church frowned into the darkness "So where are you going from here?"

"Well, I was just going to follow you," she replied, sounding a bit unsure of what his reaction would be.

"Well, I don't know where I'm going. It might even get dangerous," Church warned her.

"I don't care," Alessa assured him. "It's better than being alone. I have no way to protect myself."

Church sighed at her words. Now he couldn't just leave her there. He secretly had a bit of a soft spot for kids, and he couldn't just leave one unprotected in a world of monsters. "Fine, you can come with me." Church stood up.

"Yay, I'm not going to be alone!" Cheryl cried out. She stopped suddenly and looked up at Church. "What's your name?"

"It's Leonard, but you can call me Church," he replied. "That's what all the people that I know call me."

"It's nice to meet you Mr. Church." She smiled happily and grabbed his hand.

"Right back at ya, kid," Church said. "So, do you know where this Danena spends her time?"

"Yeah, but it's dangerous there," Cheryl replied. "Are you sure you want to go there?"

"I told you it would be dangerous," Church pointed out. "It's where I have to go. I feel like she knows why I'm here, and I want to know."

"Well, then follow me." Alessa began to walk off leading Church away.