This is just a little epilogue set after the end of the story. It popped into my head one day and refused to leave until I'd written it down. I wrote it mainly to showcase some members of Julian's family and friends, who may be appearing in future stories.

It takes place roughly a week after the previous chapter.

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No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends. (John 15:13)

He rounded the crest of the hill, his feet pounding on the lush, green grass. He raised and sighted in his rifle, taking aim at an object in the distance. His finger tightened on the trigger, and…

Boom.

He was blown sky high, raining back down to earth with little clumps of dirt and grass falling all around him.

"Aww, man. I was on such a roll that time," Julian says, as he shakes his head, his character just now respawning, holding nothing but a pistol.

I walk back in from the kitchen after getting a drink, and pause to look at the scene in front of me.

It's another one of the Kanslers' famous gaming parties, this time at Nick and Rose's house. Julian's cousins throw one annually, for area family and friends. Currently, Julian and Nick's sister Rose, a skinny 13 year old with blonde hair arranged in a long braid, are duking it out on Nick and Rose's Xbox, while the song "Blue Lines" by Massive Attack plays softly in the background, almost drowned out by the sounds of combat. The song doesn't really fit the situation, but it's just going through the playlist song-by-song. No one seems to care, though, as they're all focused on the spectacle of floor wiping unfolding in front of them.

Yep, Julian is losing, and it's almost Nick's turn. Nick's better then Julian, but never in his 12 years, to my knowledge, has he ever managed to beat Rose when she pulls out her sniper rifle. The only reason Nick beat Rose in their famous duel was that all she had was a pistol. But, when Nick lays hands on a Needler…

Well now I'm getting off topic.

I walk over and crouch down beside Julian, nudging his friend Eli, a short kid with a balloon shaped head and long brown hair, out of the way. I need to talk to Julian face to face.

"Hey, man, listen," I say, "Ooh, to your left. Left!"

"Uhuh?" he replies.

'Reload, you've only got one round,"

"I'm on it,"

"Now why wouldn't you have thirteen? Twelve in the mag, one in the chamber,"

"I don't think the developers thought about it that hard."

"Probably right. Hey, when you're done, I need to talk to you,"

"Right-O, after I kill Rosie here,"

"Excuse me. Kill who?" Rose pipes up, "Seems to me that I'm the one doing all the killing around here," she says, before squeezing off a shot that drops Julian for the tenth time, "That's game to me. Ha!" she says triumphantly, imitating Mrs. Krabappel from the Simpsons' famous exclamation and waving her controller in the air, "Who's next into the grinder? Nick?"

Her tall, brown haired brother shakes his head, "I'll pass,"

"You can't. You're next on the rotation, so take it like a man,"

Grumbling, Nick plops down in Julian's vacated seat and picks up his controller.

"Let's go into the kitchen, Julian," I say. When we get to the entrance, I stop and glance back into the living room. The battle's started up again.

"Aw you've got to be kidding me. Spawn camper," Nick is yelling.

"Come on, Nick. Waste her," pipes up Rose's friend Connor, a tall, square-headed boy with brown hair.

"All I can say is thanks for your unending support, Con," Rose replies, sounding offended.

"Hey, someone's got to cheer on Nicks, here. No one's rooting for him. And you know I never take sides,"

"He's got the twins," she replies, gesturing to two almost identical blonde-headed figures sitting along the wall, "Ain't that right, Jess, Kates?" Jessie and his sister Katie look at each other.

"Don't drag us into this," They say at the exact same time. It's really creepy when they do that, and they know it. I swear, I've never seen two people who look so much alike. It's like they're clones. I'd swear they were, if one of them wasn't a girl.

And so the battle resumes, to the tune of "Bodies" by Drowning Pool, a more fitting song in my opinion.

Chuckling, I turn back to Julian, who's fishing himself another root beer from the box in the fridge. "What did you want to talk to me about?" he asks, opening the can with a kcicck.

"How're you doing?" I ask. Neither of us needs to ask why.

"Good. Better then I thought I'd do. A few dreams now and then, but nothing major. I don't know. Should I be having problems?" he asks warily.

"No, no. Not necessarily. That's good, that you're not having any."

"To be honest, from my point of view. I really didn't see much that was scary," he goes on, "I mean sure, the monster you killed was crazy, but it wasn't like I was constantly afraid. What I remember most was sitting in that office listening to you and John bicker like an old married couple."

We both laugh.

"Well that's great. I've been feeling really guilty," I say, relief clear in my voice.

We're silent for a long time. Julian eventually breaks it.

"Hey thanks," he says.

"For what,"

"For like…Y'know…caring," he says awkwardly.

Another silence.

"I've got something for you," I say after a while. I pull it out of my pocket and hand it to him. It's a necklace: a set of dog tags and a cross pendant. The dog tags contain his name and some basic medical information.

"Every Militiaman wears one exactly like it. And I thought you'd like to have one, seeing as how you've served with us. Congratulations, Julian, you are now an official member of the Silent Hill Militia. Well I should say unofficial, as you haven't technically gone through any training, but I'm calling you official. Anyone who has to face what we faced is official in my book."

I continue, my tone softer, "I got your back, kiddo. You know that? I dragged you into this, so if there's anything you need, anything at all; help, support, someone to talk to about any of this or anything at all, give me a holler, and I'd be more then willing to help,"

"Thanks, Heather," he says softly. I can tell he's touched by what I'd said.

"Hey, let's get back to the party," I say, changing the subject, "It'll be nice to get back to playing again," We'd taken a break from four-on-four multiplayer to do one-on-one duels. Jessie and Katie had brought over their Xbox and we'd hooked it up in the basement. It had been me, Julian, Nick and Rose, Versus Jessie, Katie, Conner and Eli.

Julian turns to me, looking me right in the eyes. He salutes me, "Lieutenant," he says, his tone serious. I can tell he's not joking, not kidding around, that he actually means it as a sign of respect. I return his salute, just as if I was saluting an actual Militia soldier. "Militiaman," I reply. (Militiaman is another term for a private or other such rank. Militia rank structure is necessarily flexible, due to the unique environment we fight in and the unique situation we face, but Militiaman generally means a new recruit, not that Julian is a recruit, but the term seemed to fit.)

I drop the salute. Nick's voice drifts in from the next room. "Hey, Julian, Heather, we need ya. We're in serious trouble over here. The twins've got a warthog. We need backup. Now!"

We look at each other, and leave the kitchen. It's time to, once again, even the odds.

End

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Blue Lines was actually the song playing on my iPod as I was writing this, so I stuck it in here. Excellent and classic song by one of my favorite bands. "Bodies" is a good song too, played, actually, at a gaming party I went to while in the process of writing this.

Credits: (Note, many characters have no actor equivilants that I've found. Any suggestions would be appreciated)

Music: Protection – Massive Attack

Heather Mason: Herself (from the games)

Julian Kansler: Giovani Antonio Cimmino

Rose Kansler: no actor specifically

Nick Kansler: a younger Liam Aiken, a la Good Boy or Series of Unfortunate Events

Eli Locklear: no one in particular

Connor Johnson: Josh Hutcherson

Katie Kansler: Alexandra Beaton

Jessie Kansler: a boy version of the previous.

I actually have two actors in here that played characters in 300. Giovani Cimmino played Leonidas' son Pleistarchos and Alexandra Beaton played the girl from the burned village. (Yes, it was a girl. There's been a lot of arguing about that among fans. I actually thought it was a boy at first. It was clarified in the DVD commentary for that scene that it was in fact, a girl.)

As you may have figured out, they're playing Halo. I've left which Halo is being played as ambiguous, as there's never been a consensus as to in what year SH3 takes place. I've heard the years 2000, 2003, and the "present" year. I'm inclined to believe the third.

Julian's character went through several drafts over the past few months. He was originally blonde, and was a lot more hyper and squirrelly then he is now. His "couch jump" from the first chapter was a relic of his old hyper ways. He was also originally more of the "scared kid" horror movie stereotype, just to give Heather something to protect, but he eventually evolved into a (hopefully) better-rounded and more interesting character. His relationship with Heather evolved from more of the "distant acquaintance" type to a closer friendship as his character evolved. His age also shifted between 9 and 11 years old for a while. I eventually settled on the latter.

The Militia actually came into my mind after finding the IMI Uzi in Silent Hill 3. The idea of some soldiers or some-such fighting in Silent Hill popped into my head. It was originally one guy, sort of a "loner demon hunter" type. Then it evolved into a few armed citizens, and then it finally solidified into the Special Forces group it is today (with the Uzi in prominent use).

Well, hopefully I've honed these characters and this story into something worth reading and worth continuing.

Read and Review, Please.

Peace out and God bless.