*Regretful sigh.* I'm sorry again this is taking so long...again, a serious lack of time to really write like I used to. But I swear to you, you don't have to worry about the chance I'll just stop writing and leave you hanging for one reason or the other. I'm committed to bringing this story to its conclusion, one you'll be thoroughly satisfied with as fans of RESIDENT EVIL and SILENT HILL, and I'm working as hard as I can when I can! If for any reason I *can't* finish this work, I will let you know...but I don't see that happening either, unless it's not up to me.

A huge thank you to everyone who has stuck with me so far...now back to Black Falls and our favorite survivors! :) Alpha Team will finally reach the hospital in the heart of town. There they'll have some nasty shocks...one of them involves the fact that they'll begin to realize there's a form of evil within this town they've never encountered before...the SILENT HILL kind of evil all of their heavy firepower might be completely useless against! And if that's not bad enough, friends are about to turn against friends at the worst possible time, when they need each other the most! That's all I can say to introduce Chapter 23...

RESIDENT EVIL X SILENT HILL: JUDGMENT DAY

written by Charles Spencer,
inspired by Ygure

Chapter 23:

"RENDEZVOUS"

-1-

It had been impossible for Alpha Team to keep track of how much time had passed since they entered the fog. How long had they trekked into the bleak, obscured wasteland that was once Black Falls, Vermont? No timepieces in this town worked, and the watches on their wrists stopped functioning the moment they entered the unworldly mist. Captain Chris Redfield, the team leader, himself could only guess that several hours had passed from mission start to when they reached Wyler Community Hospital. It should have been daylight by now - perhaps? - but it was impossible to tell because the grey they were immersed in was unchanging. All anyone could be sure of was, it had taken too damn long to reach the heart of Black Falls and the place where they were to rendezvous with Bravo Team.

The pale edifice of the hospital, several stories high, almost blended with the omnipresent mist. It was once stark white, but had become as grimy and derelict as everything else. Everyone tried to keep their hopes high that Bravo Team was already here, but the horror and uncertainty that surrounded them muted such precious commodities as hope. They reached the front doors, which were open...darker environs invited from within as the agents ignored the Black Falls Sheriff's Office truck that was parked haphazardly on the sidewalk. Chris edged close to the entryway from one side...anticipating/hoping/praying Leon S. Kennedy, his sister Claire and the rest of Bravo were inside and waiting, he hissed, "Tears!" He paused for a long moment. His expression tightened as he repeated, louder, "Tears!" It was part of the code sign-countersign system that Chris and Leon agreed on before the mission and was drilled into every agent of both teams to identify each other as friendly. Ideally, if Bravo Team was already here, he would have heard Leon reply with the countersign 'Rain!'

Instead, he heard a frightened man's voice call out, "Wh-wh-who's there?! What the heck are you saying?!"

Chris frowned as he shouted, "Who are you?! Identify yourself now!"

The voice came from someone obviously terrified: "I-I-I'm an officer of the law, mister! B-Black Falls Shuh-Sheriff's Office!"

"I'm a federal agent in command of a special team sent to find out what's going on here! Captain Chris Redfield, Alpha Team!" A beat passed. "We need to come in! I promise we mean you no harm!"

Uncertain silence for a moment. Then the man called out from inside the entrance, "O-okay! But come in slow and easy! I'm armed and I g-gotta advise you not to make any fuh-funny moves!"

"Don't worry, mister!" He looked quickly at Jill and the others and said in a hushed whisper, "Slow and easy, just like he said, but don't put away your guns." It was a risk, not knowing what they were walking into, but they had little choice. "Jill, we're going in first. Everyone else, wait ten seconds and then follow us. If we don't give you any kind of warning before then, it should be all right. Ready, Jill?"

Jill Valentine nodded cautiously. "I'm with you."

Chris and Jill entered slowly and deliberately, unarmed, praying they weren't walking into a trap. But it became bleakly obvious what the situation was. The hospital lobby was dank, dark and ominous, just like everything else here. Lights here and there (that is to say, the ones that worked) flickered weakly. Behind the long and wide main desk was a short, thin man dressed as a deputy, holding a shotgun that seemed bigger than he was...he pointed the weapon at them as he visibly trembled. The deputy stammered fearfully, "K-k-k-keep those hands in the sky, or there's gonna be t-trouble!"

Jill's heart broke for this terrified deputy instantly, but she also had to be very careful. Any little thing might make him panic. Jill said gently, "It'll be all right, deputy. We're friends. Like Chris said, we need to find out what happened here."

The deputy's wide eyes blinked, unsure. "Y-you're really here to help?"

Jill nodded...her smile was soft, the tone of her voice naturally soothing. "I promise we are. I'm Jill. What's your name?"

The deputy finally said, visibly affected and calmer, "B-Barney."

Jill nodded deeply as Chris relaxed a little...as Barry Burton, Regina, Cybil Bennett and the others came in slowly behind them. Jill asked, "Is there anyone else in this hospital, Barney?"

Barney stood behind the main desk as he pointed his shotgun upward, completely charmed by the beautiful survivor. "Y-yes, ma'am. Upstairs. There's a lot of folks who need help upstairs." He shrugged. "It's my turn to stand guard down here so nobody comes in to...t-to cause any trouble."

Jill asked, "Can you take us to the others, Barney?"

"Yeah...yeah, I can do that."

"Thank you."

Chris was there next to Jill as he asked, "Barney, have you seen another group of agents arrive here recently? They're called Bravo Team."

Barney's big eyes blinked again. "Buh-Bravo Team? N-no, you're the first folks to come through that door for hours. The guy who stood guard before me sure didn't see anyone like you show up!"

"Okay," Chris said, but it really wasn't okay at all. Where the hell was Bravo? He turned to two of his team and ordered, "Hivers, Ronson, you two can take the lobby. Watch out for Bravo Team, all right?"

Marissa Ronson nodded and said crisply, "Yes, sir!"

The big armored man, Hector Hivers, also nodded. "We'll be on the lookout, Captain!"

Barney volunteered, "W-we've got to go to the third floor...we'll need to use the stairs. Nobody here trusts the elevator."

Leaving behind Marissa and Hector, Alpha followed the thin deputy up the dark stairwell. Barney explained to them that because of the horrors outside, the survivors in the hospital virtually abandoned the first two floors altogether to find shelter and safety from the third floor up. As they passed the second floor, Jill said, "Barney?"

The man said shakily, "Y-yes, ma'am?"

"Why is the door to the second floor barricaded?"

Barry Burton couldn't help but observe, "Looks like the door's nailed to the frame, too!" It was, and that was besides heavy wooden planks nailed across the door and its frame and a desk jammed against the door that everyone almost had to squeeze by.

"Oh. That." He looked at the door and said too quietly, "I-I-I'll let someone else tell you about that. I just know it...i-it'd be bad to go to the second floor."

Each and every member of Alpha Team who heard that had to wonder why. And immediately worried they wouldn't like to know more.

They finally reached the third floor, where two more armed men waited, and entered its hall...Barney led them to the heart of the floor, its Nurse's Station, and dear lord, the smell! Before, this place had that overpowering antiseptic scent typical of all hospitals, for better or worse. But there was decay, waste and worse in the air now. It was as dark and terrifying here as anywhere else in town. Sounds of crying, moans and other noises that expressed unknowable suffering came from everywhere, from behind every patient's door. None of these soldiers wanted to look into any of the rooms...even Christine Yamata, the medic for Alpha, felt overpowering fear grip her heart as her senses were overwhelmed. There were so many people in the hall, as well, maybe throughout this and the upper floors. They looked like refugees from a disaster, disheviled and dirty, standing aimlessly or sitting on the floor, entire families huddled together for warmth or some form of comfort that being together can bring. They looked at the newcomers of Alpha Team with a glimmer of hope, but unlike the people they found in the city hall, there wasn't so much fear as there was the knowledge in their haunted eyes that they were in every sense of the word, trapped.

Then, from the Nurse's Station ahead of them, a nurse noticed them and suddenly burst toward them. She was a beautiful woman with black hair, her short white uniform a bit dirty from long use but still in stark contrast to the grim surroundings. Head Nurse Gwen Park reached Alpha Team and declared, "Oh, thank god! Rebecca said help would be coming, but I was starting to lose hope!"

-2-

There was initial excitement from the team, especially from Jill, Chris and everyone who knew Rebecca Chambers. Unfortunately, Gwen told them that Rebecca hadn't been in the hospital since yesterday afternoon, when everything changed. When the Head Nurse told them the pixie had just saved Cheryl Mason and a young couple from 'monsters in black robes', Barry Burton called a time out for everybody. The man-mountain said, "Nurse - ! I'm sorry, who are you - ?"

The woman answered, "Gwendolyn Park. I'm the Head Nurse for this hospital." After Chris and Jill introduced themselves and identified that they were with the BSAA, like Rebecca...Gwen was asked how she first met their friend and fellow agent, and what happened after that. Gwen gave a quick and abridged recounting of yesterday afternoon. The Head Nurse told them how the Medical Specialist saw the townspeople possessed by parasites on the second floor of the hospital; that Rebecca and Gwen realized the hospital's administrator, Doctor Burton Young, worked with The Order and was party to the horror; and finally, how Rebecca saved Cheryl Mason from something unspeakable and rescued a couple being held captive, as well. When she heard what the young couple looked like, Cybil Bennett realized to her shock it was Alex Shepherd and his wife Elle - Elle was like Cybil, a police officer in Brahms, Maine. Gwen finally finished, "I haven't seen Rebecca and the others since they left. They needed to find a safer place with Doctor Young and those animals still here."

Chris Redfield held up a picture of an artist's sketch of Reeve Meyers. "Was this one of the people who kidnapped Cheryl?"

Gwen's eyes turned cold as she recognized the man in the sketch. "Yes, I think he was the one in charge."

"His name is Reeve Meyers. He leads the group we believe is responsible for all of this, The Order."

Jill Valentine asked, "Is he or Doctor Young still here?"

Gwen shook her head softly. "No, they must have left at some point after Rebecca and Cheryl got away. No one here has seen Doctor Young or anyone with him since we started securing the building, making sure no monsters could get in. We've been letting in people from time to time, anyone who's been attacked and hurt by the monsters or just needed a place to stay." Gwen looked down, her expression shifting to reflect how she truly felt...and her face expressed incredible weariness. "I'm sorry to say this is no sanctuary, really. I'd hesitate to call this place a hospital anymore. Things have become..." Her lovely features tightened as her lips pursed into a thin line briefly. Gwen managed finally, "It's been a nightmare since everything changed, and it's only going to get worse."

Chris sympathized completely, but he kept himself focused on business. He said, "You showed Rebecca those patients infected by the parasites...she sent us pictures of them. Where are those patients now?"

Gwen looked at him. "My main worry was about them after Rebecca and the others left. They're still on the second floor, which I had sealed off completely. I didn't want them to hurt anyone if they escaped their restraints, so I had the doors to their rooms and to the stairwell itself barred and nailed tight. We've had someone check the second floor at regular intervals since, just in case."

Chris said quietly, "We can go and ensure you won't have to worry about those patients anymore, Nurse Park."

"What do you mean...?"

After sharing an uncomfortable glance with Jill, Barry and a few others from Alpha close by, Chris told the Head Nurse, "Until we find something that can remove the parasites safely from their victims, any hosts are a threat. It would be a logical step to...go down there and eliminate the infected patients, so they won't be a danger to you and everyone else."

The light dawned on Gwen Park and her eyes widened with shock. The woman quickly said, "No-no-no, that won't be necessary! Doctor Young created something that can remove a parasite from its host!"

Jill stared at Gwen as she asked, "Are you sure?!"

Gwen nodded emphatically. "Yes! Rebecca looked excited when she saw the sample Doctor Young showed us. She called it, uh...oh, it was a strange name - that's right! A-aglaophotis! That's what she called it! It's a serum that's dark red in color."

Regina asked, "Is there any of it here in the hospital?"

Gwen almost winced. "No, and I've looked everywhere in Doctor Young's office. He must have taken the aglaophotis with him."

Chris said, "That means he and The Order must have it." It was only logical. Of course The Order would create this aglaophotis for solely their own benefit, to protect themselves against the parasites they used to enslave others. And until they could get ahold of any of this serum, Alpha and Bravo would have to continue to use lethal measures to defend themselves from any innocents possessed by the parasites. He snarled angrily, "Damn!"

Christine, the team's medic, felt the need to shift their talk's focus in another direction. "How has your hospital been affected by the crisis, Nurse Park?"

"Call me Gwen, please." The Head Nurse's expression became downcast... "We've been affected at every conceivable level, and our patients are suffering because of it. You can see how things are, there isn't a part of the hospital's environment that hasn't been compromised. Everything is unclean now; even what was once stored and kept sterile to help our patients have become dirty and unuseable. It doesn't matter what state of recovery patients were in when the fog hit, they've all developed infections and their conditions have been deteriorating...some far, far worse than others." There was an incredibly fatigued, exhausted quality in her brown eyes. "Meds don't seem to have any affect anymore, so we can't treat the infections or stop diseases from spreading. Something's gone wrong with the plumbing, making many of the toilets in the building back up, and that's only heightened the problem. Some lights will work, but our most advanced machines and equipment won't...just like every clock in the building, things we desperately need to diagnose and heal people have become nothing but paperweights. We've had to resort to old fashioned means to treat everyone, keep them comfortable in every way we possibly can, but...j-just listen." Everyone in Alpha did, and they heard the voices that moaned in pain and agony around them. "We lost over twenty patients since yesterday afternoon. It's like we were sent back to the goddamn Dark Ages."

"Gwen?" The lady and everyone in Alpha turned to the voice...to the heartbreaking sight of a teenaged candy striper, a waif of a girl who looked as weary as Gwen sounded. The brunette's once-bright uniform was dirty with extended use. Jill couldn't help but notice a gold charm bracelet on one of the girl's ankles. The candy striper said softly, "I just checked on Mister Hendricks, and he...he passed away."

Gwen sighed shakily. "O-okay, Bea. I'll get a couple of guys to help move him. Mrs. Simpson can take his bed." The candy striper began to open her mouth to say something, but seemed to rethink it as her expression shifted to reluctance. The Head Nurse asked, "What?"

Bea's expression was so tired, but as she spoke she talked faster...her voice lilted higher with increasing stress as she explained, "M-Mister Hendricks let go with his bowels, most likely when he passed away...it's really bad, Gwen. I've got nothing that'll clean it up...we don't have any bleach or disinfectant or anything, w-we don't even have anything to kill the smell, so I dunno if anyone would want the bed anyway - !"

Gwen quickly but gently said, "It's okay." She repeated to the girl, "It's okay, sweetie. Just get a couple of orderlies to...to help you flip the mattress over. We have too many here who need a bed, and it's all we can do."

Barry Burton quietly said, "Jesus."

Gwen looked at Alpha and said to them, "This is Bea Montoya, one of my volunteer nurses. Bea, these people are from outside the fog."

Bea Montoya's eyes shone bright with sudden excitement...yet her voice was timid, almost afraid to hope as she asked, "Are you here to help us? Please tell me you can make things normal again. Please...?"

Jill Valentine looked at her solemnly and said, "We'll do everything we can, Bea. We won't stop until we find the people who caused all of this and bring an end to it. I promise."

The weary girl wanted to believe Jill, but...she simply, slowly nodded. Bea looked at Gwen and said, "I'll take care of the bed, Gwen."

Gwen smiled at the girl adoringly as she said, "Thank you." Bea turned and walked away as the Head Nurse told Alpha, "The poor girl just wanted to stay here to help me. But you've been outside...it's worse out there, isn't it?"

Chris told her, "We already lost one of our team out there. It's dangerous as hell, but...good lord, the state of this hospital and what you've had to deal with...!"

Caroline Floyd watched Bea go with sad eyes. "The girl looked like she hasn't had any sleep for days."

Gwen nodded as she said flatly, "Like I said before...we've had a lot to deal with. As far as I know, Bea's been awake since yesterday morning...it isn't how long she's been awake that's the problem, it's...it's what the girl has had to see. And hear." She looked at Chris needfully. "Do you have any idea what time it is now? Or are your watches not working, either?"

Chris shook his head, his expression helpless. "No. We infiltrated the fog at half past two in the morning. It's been...several hours since, I think?"

Jill said haltingly, "That sounds right, but we can't be sure. It should be daylight now, but...!"

Gwen said, "But you can't tell with the fog, can you." It wasn't a question, and lame silence was her answer. "It looks exactly the same outside now as it did yesterday afternoon, and it hasn't changed at all. Just that...dull grey."

Christine thought of something else and asked, "Where have you had to take your dead?"

"The morgue in the basement, but it isn't very big. We've had to start...laying bodies in the hall outside of it." Gwen shuddered when she said that. "I don't even want to think of how many more we're going to..." At that moment, the incalculable weight of the crisis showed on the lovely yet haggard nurse. Suddenly, on her first impulse to help those under her care, she asked, "Please, I know I may be asking for too much, but do you have any medical provisions to spare? Please?"

Michaela Schneider asked, "None of the medicines you have will work at all?"

Gwen shook her head. "The only drugs that weren't affected by the change were what each doctor and nurse personally carried at the time, and we ran out of them fast. I don't understand that or anything else about this...I have a feeling even if I did, it wouldn't help!"

Jill was so deeply affected by the bleak situation in the hospital, she looked at Chris and said, "We must be able to give them something. Anything."

Chris was grim in his expression, though. He said quietly, "We can't give them much. We have our own needs, remember?"

"I know, but I'll be damned if we're just going to leave without helping these people somehow."

Gwen Park looked at the agents with surprise. "You have to leave...?"

Chris said to her, "It's part of our mission plan to rendezvous with Bravo Team here, and then we'll have to go find Rebecca and Cheryl. Then maybe we can stop The Order and return Black Falls to normal."

Christine Yamata volunteered, "We can't give much, but it should go a long way. We have Green Herb capsules and salves - !"

Gwen blurted, "Y-you have GH?!" The miraculous healing herb might have been well known to the medical community, but not every hospital in the world had access to it. A mad scramble was in the process of developing or at least setting aside farmland to grow and cultivate crops of Green Herb, but for now the supply of such a valuable commodity was to say the least, sparse. "That would be fantastic, just a little of that stuff should heal so many of our patients, at least ease their pain and reverse the worst infections!"

Christine gave Gwen a handful of small cases with compartments holding the virtually priceless capsules and tubes. "This is what I salvaged from Agent Borovski, the man we lost. I know he'd want this to be used where it can do the most good. We can only provide a little more than that, though."

Gwen was almost ecstatic to be able to really do something to help those she felt responsible for for the first time in what felt like forever. "It's okay, anything is better than nothing at all. I am so sorry for your friend but this will do so much good, I promise!"

Chris asked, "What about your other needs? Like food and water? How bad is the situation in those areas?"

Gwen's face shifted to a troubled expression again as she regarded Chris and answered, "Talk about things I don't understand...food and water were two of my biggest worries after this started, especially the way they changed. At first, even the snacks in the vending machines were virtually inedible...but that's been changing."

Jill asked, "What do you mean?"

Caroline Floyd commented, "Not long after we entered the fog, we also found out something happened to the food and water. We're still not sure exactly what happened, though!"

Gwen said with a frown, "I can't even start to help with that, but I can say that more and more people, even our patients have been able to eat and keep their food down. I'd be thankful for that if it wasn't for my thinking we're...adapting to the changes, if that makes any damn sense."

"It does, in a way." Everyone looked at Cybil Bennett, who gazed at Gwen with haunted, knowing eyes. "This has happened before in two towns, Silent Hill and Shepherd's Glen. Most of the populations of both towns were...gone, but at least a relative handful of people still lived in them. It made sense they got used to the way things changed over time, that they could still live in those towns and survive on the food and water." Cybil felt a chill in her blood as she tried not to think of exactly how those people were changed, as well.

Gwen Park felt virtually the same cold in her soul...she commented darkly, "I can't call that a good thing. I wouldn't call any part of what's happened to Black Falls since yesterday good at all."

-3-

More time passed that everyone in Alpha Team struggled to measure as they waited...as they assisted Gwen and the rest of the tired, overwhelmed staff of this dank, nearly hopeless place that was once a hospital. Barry Burton took Chris Redfield aside for a moment and asked quietly, "Have you been able to keep track of how long it's been since we got here?"

Chris shrugged. "I can only guesstimate, Bear. Maybe an hour?"

"And Bravo hasn't hooked up with us yet. I don't like it. It would have taken as long for Leon to get here as it did for us, right?"

"If they didn't run into anything, Barry." Chris was far more worried about that than his old friend was. "They've most likely had as much trouble as we've been having...or they might have run into something worse..." He couldn't help but think of Claire Redfield, his sister, who was with Bravo. Claire, who volunteered to join the mission in spite of Chris.

Barry realized what Chris must have been feeling, and his expression softened. "Chris...they should be all right. Claire should be all right."

Chris couldn't look at Barry as he said, "I hope so...I hope so." Not far away, the lady commando called Regina watched Chris carefully.

Even though the third through sixth floors were full of patients and those there for sanctuary, Alpha kept themselves mostly localized in the heart of the third floor. At the Nurse's Station itself, Michaela Schneider was talking to the Head Nurse during a free moment, which didn't come often. Michaela tone was heartfelt, even through her biohazard mask, as she told the lady in white, "I wish we could do more for your patients, Gwen."

Gwen shook her head as she smiled. "You gave us more than I had a right to ask for. Your being here alone has lifted the spirits of a lot of these people, in case you didn't notice. Unfortunately, there's some things no one can help."

"Like what?"

Gwen's body took a causal posture as she crossed her arms. "Well...it wasn't much at first. It began with a few of our patients who were the worst off. They were among the ones who died before you arrived. But I've been getting word that it's been happening to more people over time, and not just the patients. People have been...hearing things. Even seeing things."

Michaela asked, "I don't understand, do you mean hallucinations?"

Gwen sighed, unsure, "That's the only thing to call it. Some people have supposedly heard voices when no one else has and seen things that couldn't have been there. A few hours before your team arrived, one patient called for help...when I got there, he told me his television came on for a moment. He claimed to see his grandfather on the TV saying his name."

Michaela's face couldn't have been seen, but the tone of her voice was flat: "I do not know what to think of that."

"The patient was scared out of his mind because he said his grandpa was the meanest son of a bitch he ever knew, but I saw the TV wasn't on. I tried turning it on to see if it would work, but it didn't." Gwen bit her lower lip reflexively before she continued. "Something just as strange: the patient said his grandpa had been dead for years. He seemed lucid and rational, but I just wrote it off as him imagining things."

Christine Yamata, who was close by, couldn't help but insert herself into the conversation. The medic said, "You thought it was just the patient hallucinating things, but...you're saying it's been happening to other people?"

Gwen nodded. "Even to some of the people here who aren't patients. And none of them know how to explain it. I talked to a couple more people since all of you arrived, too. Ordinarily, I'd write it off as nothing to worry about, but...I don't know."

Michaela shook her head as her amazonian figure tensed...she said quietly, "There has been very little about this crisis that can be called logical, Gwen. I mean, look at how this all started. A fog suddenly appearing out of nowhere to cover this town completely...!"

Caroline Floyd rested her arms on the Nurse's Station counter and said lightly, "This may sound funny, but this reminds me of a Stephen King story I read long ago. It was about a thick mist that appears literally out of nowhere to overwhelm a town. There's a large group of people holed up in a supermarket trying to hold out against the monsters that came with the mist...kind of the situation we're in, you know?"

Gwen Park managed a wry grin. "That's not too funny, Stephen King writes scary stories!"

Christine's eyes smiled a little over her mask as she said, "I read that story, too! It was made into a movie, right? The mist and the monsters that came with it arrived from another dimension or something..."

"What did you just say?" Surprised, Christine turned to see Jill Valentine...the veteran survivor was walking by the station at the time, but she stopped cold. Her eyes were wide as she looked at the medic.

The others looked at Jill curiously as Christine said, "Oh nothing, Lieutenant, we were just talking about this old story. About a fog or mist or whatever you want to call it appearing to take over a town."

Jill said thoughtfully, "Sounds like art imitating life." No, it was more than that. In fact, the survivor remembered thinking something about the fog that covered Black Falls. The lady began to ask, "What was it you said about - ?"

"Captain Redfield!" The shout came from far down the hall to the emergency stairwell, where Marissa Fairborn burst out...the M249 she held in her hands didn't slow her down at all as she rushed up to the Nurse's Station, breezing through startled people on either side. She yelled louder, "Captain!"

Jill breathed, "Marissa!" She turned and yelled, "CHRIS!"

The leader of Alpha wasn't far away; he reached the station with Barry Burton as their fellow agents gathered around...a few had their weapons in their hands as a reflex action. Chris said, "I'm here, Jill!" Marissa came to a skidding stop at the station's counter and her commander said, "What's wrong?!"

Marissa's tomboyish beauty was accented by fear and uncertainty in her eyes. She announced, "Agent Kennedy just arrived, sir, but...!" She paused to catch her breath...

...but Chris was impatient as he snapped, "'But' what?!"

The redheaded British-American said ominously, "You need to come down to the lobby, sir!"

-4-

Chris followed Marissa down to the first floor with Jill, Barry, Cybil Bennett and Regina close behind him, and they all saw immediately:

Not far away from Hector Hivers stood Leon S. Kennedy, Helena Harper, Anne Cunningham, Sienna Miller, and Karena LesProux. They all looked like they had raced through Hell, they were all uniformly dirty and weary. But they were the only ones from Bravo Team present. Chris said, full of overwhelming foreboding, "Leon...?"

Leon, a senior agent of the Division of Security Operations, nodded slowly. "Jill. Chris."

Jill was the one who asked the obvious question in the dark quiet of the lobby... "Leon, what's happened? There's only half of your team here."

Chris asked, full of anxiety, "Where are the others?! Where's Claire?!"

The expressions on Leon and the others were downcast, full of gloom. Leon said, "I was hoping they'd be here, Chris. Things went bad and we had to divide our group in two. I had Claire take lead for the others, but..."

Chris stared at his friend. His voice was taut as he said, "Claire's not here. Where is she, Leon?"

Leon finally said quietly, "I don't know...I wish I did." He wished that with all his heart and soul. Helena was strangely quiet and even bleaker in mood as Anne, Sienna and Karena helped Leon recount what happened after they tried to cross King's Bridge. Leon had to order Claire and half of his team to get away as they were trapped in the destroyed bridge and monsters were about to overwhelm the area. They revealed how they managed to get clear of the wreckage and barely escaped themselves. Tragically, they also told Chris and the others about the deaths of Erez Morris and Lawrence Kimbala, both casualties of the beasts in the unrelenting fog. Leon, Helena, Anne, Sienna and Karena ran and had to fight their way to the center of town, where they finally reached the hospital after what seemed like forever.

They hoped they would find Claire Redfield, Sherry Birkin, Rain, Vector and Douglas Cartland waiting here for them along with Alpha.

They were wrong.

Those with Alpha who realized the situation were suddenly filled with dread...even Regina couldn't help but feel fear for her protegee, the fearless young commando in black, Rain. Cybil and Anne prayed Douglas was all right. Jill, Barry, Hector and Marissa also worried deeply as they thought of the missing...

...but it was Chris Redfield who was affected the most profoundly. The man slowly approached Leon and said with building anger, "Let me get this straight, Leon. I trusted you to keep my sister safe, but now you have no idea where she is. You left her and half of your team out there in the fog to face god-knows-what?!"

Jill looked at Chris with sudden alarm as Leon S. Kennedy shook his head slowly...he felt like complete shit about the situation, anyone with a heart would have, and he tried to say, "Chris - !"

KRAKK! Chris Redfield punched Leon S. Kennedy with a stiff straight right to his face, knocking the DSO agent down to the floor hard. Everyone present was shocked beyond words; even Helena Harper broke out of her troubled reverie and quickly moved to kneel next to Leon. Barry Burton cursed and he bolted forward to restrain Alpha Team's leader by wrapping his big arms around the man in a bear hug from behind. Chris started to struggle violently against Barry as he screamed with pure wrath at Leon, "GET UP, YOU STUPID BASTARD! GET UP SO I CAN KNOCK YOU DOWN AGAIN!"

Jill screamed, "Chris!"

Chris didn't hear her...he roared at Leon, "GET UP, ASSHOLE! NOW!" On the heels of that he yelled, "LET ME GO, BARRY! GODDAMN IT, LET ME GO!"

Barry growled, "No-can-do, old buddy! You need to calm down! Right now!"

Hector Hivers stepped between Chris and Leon and said, "You'd better listen to him and chill out, Captain!"

Leon was being helped to stand by Helena as he said, "Dammit, Chris, we had to split up!" He was bleeding from his nose; if he hadn't been trained to roll with a punch, Chris would have shattered it. "If we hadn't, Claire and the others would have been trapped along with us! Didn't you hear a word I said?!"

Chris was furious as he shouted, "FUCK YOU, LEON! YOU'RE THE ONE WHO WANTED CLAIRE TO JOIN US! YOU! I swear to Christ, if anything's happened to her, I'll know exactly who to blame! AND I'LL KNOW WHAT TO FUCKING DO ABOUT IT!"

"What exactly will you do, Chris?" That quiet yet earnest challenge shocked Chris...because it came from Jill Valentine, who in a flash was standing before him, her blue eyes intense as they stared into his. Jill almost cried, "Are you even listening to yourself?! You need to calm down like Barry said!"

Chris looked at Jill with a dismayed, almost wounded look in his eyes. She was defending Leon?! "Jill - !"

But Jill didn't give an inch as she said, "Listen to me! You need to keep calm, Chris! We need you as a leader, now more than ever! Would a leader let their emotions get the best of them? Would a leader look for someone to blame when things go to shit, or do you want to actually solve the problem?! Tell me right here, right now!"

It was suddenly very quiet as everyone looked at Chris...as Barry held the man tight in his huge arms.

Tense moments passed that felt like hours...and Chris Redfield's muscular frame relaxed in Barry's arms. His expression broke with shame as he said, "Let me go, Barry. Please let me go."

Barry Burton cautiously said, "Okay..." But he was honestly glad to let his old friend go, and he did slowly.

Chris Redfield, the leader of Alpha Team, stood there full of defeat...his posture almost deflated. He looked down at the floor, unable to look up at Jill, who stared at him with her soft blue eyes. Chris finally said, "I need a few minutes. Just...give me a few minutes." Then...he turned and walked out of the lobby, into the stairwell and out of sight.

Everyone looked in the direction Chris left with worried, unsure eyes...especially Jill Valentine. The lady turned to Regina, and remembering the commando had authorization to take Chris' command if he was in any way unfit, said carefully, hopefully, "He'll be all right, Regina."

Regina, who was already worried for Rain, nodded and said, "I hope so, Jill. For all our sakes."

Jill moved to the leader of Bravo Team; Helena was close to him, her arms around one of his. Jill said, "Leon...we'll need your help to figure out what to do next."

Leon wiped at his upper lip; he was self-conscious, barely able to look Jill in the eye. "Jill, I may be the last person you'd want to ask for help."

Jill quickly reassured, "Leon, don't listen to what Chris said! He's angry and afraid for Claire. Don't blame yourself for losing her, either - !"

But Leon cut her short by saying far too quietly, "That's not what I mean. I...I may be unfit for command of my team, anyway." He shared an uncomfortable glance with Helena.

Everyone in the lobby stared at him...Hector Hivers asked, "What are you talking about?"

There was so much quiet fear coming from Leon and Helena...a palpable tension grew. Their comrades present in Bravo, Anne, Karena and Sienna looked a them with an uncomfortable, secret knowledge about to be brought into the dim light of this lobby. With sudden agony in her expression, Helena turned away from Leon, the man she was falling in love with, to stand a couple of paces away, her back to everyone as she wrapped her arms around herself.

Leon S. Kennedy gazed at the woman he was falling for in turn for a brief moment...and then he looked at Jill. He began: "It...it's difficult to explain. It started as we were making our way to the heart of town...with Helena..."

-5-

Only a few hours ago, as Leon's half of the team carefully made their way through the nightmare fog.

Leon was the first to notice that Helena had become increasingly more withdrawn from everyone else, even him. There was even a physical distance growing between Helena and the others, as if she was deliberately separating herself from the others. Leon gravitated closer to her as they moved and he said in a hushed tone, "Hey. You've been pretty quiet. Are you all right?"

Helena answered, "I'm fine. I'm all right." But the tone of her voice told him she was anything but all right.

Leon frowned and said, "You've never been a good liar, Helena. You know you can tell me anything if - "

Suddenly, Helena's beautiful face turned to look at him...there was troubled anger in her eyes when she snapped, "It's nothing, Leon." Her expression softened immediately, but she faced forward again...she said, "Please don't ask me again."

Leon didn't out of respect to her...he hoped and prayed that whatever was wrong, she'd finally tell him one way or the other.

An unknowable interval after that, perhaps minutes after a brief battle with a pack of Hellhounds. Helena suddenly stopped, which made the others stop, as well. The visibility of the fog was terrible, of course, yet the woman seemed to be looking at something far away. Leon asked, "Helena?"

Anne Cunningham drew closer to Helena, inquisitive: "What's wrong? Agent Harper?" The former Secret Service agent didn't respond at all. Anne aggressively moved up to Helena and took hold of one of her arms. "Hey!"

Just like that, Helena looked at Anne as if she just snapped out of a trance...her eyes were full of fear.

Sienna Miller looked at Helena with concern. "You all right, honey? You look like you saw a ghost!"

Leon was close to her as he asked carefully, "What did you see?"

Helena looked at the others helplessly for a few beats until she finally managed, "I...I-I thought I heard something."

Karena LesProux shook her head. "I heard nothing just now. Did anyone else?"

Everyone else was silent...but Anne, a prison guard who barely survived Silent Hill years ago, looked at Helena with a strange curiosity. Anne asked, "What did it sound like, Agent Harper?"

But again, defensively, Helena shrugged her arm from Anne's hand and said, "It's nothing." Leon and the others looked at her, unsure. Helena suddenly said with increased intensity, "It was nothing. Let's go." But the others knew without a doubt then: something was wrong, something Helena didn't want to talk about.

But the others were soon enough enlightened a short time later, as they continued their way through the residential area south of the hospital.

For Helena Harper, it felt like a cold fist suddenly took hold of her heart when she heard the voice again. It came from an unknowable distance away. Calling her name. "Helena...Helena..."

And terribly, just like before, she recognized the voice calling to her. Helena stopped and she began to visibly tremble...her voice came out as an agonized moan: "No...no, not again..."

Everyone else stopped to collect around Helena as she heard the voice again: "Helena..."

Her expression was one of pure horror as she shook her head...tears welled in her eyes as she said with denial, "No. It can't be you, it can't be."

Alarmed, Leon took hold of the lady's shoulders gently...he said, "Helena, what's wrong? Who are you talking to?!"

Helena looked at Leon, and the lady was crying openly... "It's her, Leon, it's her, but it can't be! I-i-it just can't be!"

"It can't be who?!"

"Helena..."

Leon S. Kennedy suddenly turned rigid; his expression grew blank with shock as he slowly turned his head to look in the direction the voice came from. He breathed, "Jesus."

Helena looked at Leon and in spite of her fear, she realized. "You can hear her, can't you? I-I thought I was the only one who heard her - !"

Visibly shaken, Leon looked at her and nodded...there was great fear in his eyes, as well. "I do, Helena. I..."

"Sir, what are you two talking about?" This came from Sienna; she and the others stared at them. "What are you hearing?!" But Anne Cunningham looked at them with an expression full of sadness. Unlike Sienna and Karena, Anne had a good idea of what was happening to Leon and Helena.

But Leon said quickly, "It's nothing, just like Helena said. Let's move. C'mon!" After an awkward moment, Leon and Helena led the others again. They held hands tightly.

Leon and the others found a house where, after making sure it was clear, he said they could all get a little rest. But in fact, he wanted some time for something else entirely...to talk to Helena in private. He got her into the house's dark den, which had to be an active place for the family that once lived there. A giant plasma screen TV was set on one wall.

Leon and Helena were in the center of the room - the man had his hands on her hips soothingly as his voice sought to bring some kind of comfort: "Helena, I heard her too, but it's like you said. It can't be her. You know that as well as I do."

Helena's expression was desolate. "I know, Leon."

"There's no way it can be her. She's dead."

With a flare of anger, Helena snarled, "Goddamn it, you don't have to remind me! You saw me let her go. You...!"

Then. A part of the room brightened. The plasma TV came on, its huge screen full of white static.

Leon had the chance to say, "What the hell?" And the picture changed. Leon and Helena saw a haunting, terrible sight on the screen. They had seen it before.

They saw a woman, nude and transformed - she only bore a passing resemblance to human, yet still strangely beautiful in spite of what the C-Virus had done to her. She was falling slowly, so slowly, into complete darkness. Falling to her death. They both heard her say plaintively, needfully, "Helena..."

Helena lifted a hand to her lips as she trembled, as she broke down and began to weep again...Leon looked at the woman he loved helplessly as she moaned in anguish, "Deborah...oh god, Deborah...!"

-6-

And Helena Harper was weeping in the lobby of Wyler Community Hospital, facing away from everyone, as Leon S. Kennedy gently laid his hands on her quaking shoulders. He said in an absent tone, "We both saw her. It was Helena's sister, Deborah Harper. It...it was like watching a slow-motion replay of her falling again in the caverns under Tall Oaks."

Uncomfortable silence then for a moment, broken only by Helena's sobs. Finally, Barry Burton shook his head in denial...he tried to say, "There's got to be an explanation for this. Those Order bastards have to be trying some kind of psychological warfare on us - !"

"It's not The Order." Everyone except Helena looked at Anne Cunningham...the petite beauty with green eyes gazed at Helena with quiet, heartfelt sympathy. "It's the way things are now in Black Falls. Just like Silent Hill."

Leon looked at her. "What do you mean, Anne?"

Cybil Bennett stepped forward and said softly, "In Silent Hill, things...things happened in the fog as I helped Harry Mason find his daughter. We both saw things and heard things. The kinds of things that came from our deepest fears, things that...haunted us. It happened to Anne and Douglas Cartland when they were in Silent Hill, too."

Anne added, "It's like there was something in that town that could look into me...something that knew all my fears, all my inner demons, and brought them to life. Cybil and I worried that if Black Falls became like Silent Hill, then this place would have the same kind of affect on people."

Jill asked, "So what Nurse Park was saying before...those weren't just hallucinations...?"

Leon looked at both of the advisors with confusion and building anger. "And you knew this might happen? Why the hell didn't you warn us?!"

Anne Cunningham said coolly, "Oh, sure! Just tell you you're gonna see and hear things beyond any logical explanation. Things that go bump in the night, right? You would have thought we were out of our minds." She looked at Leon. "I promise there's nothing wrong with you and Agent Harper."

Jill shook her head gently and said, "I...I can't believe that. There's an explanation for everything, even what you just told us, Leon! The Order would have everything to gain by confusing us, messing with our heads! Helena, I have no idea how they could have known about you and your sister...but someone could have easily rigged that television to come on, then all they had to do was press play and - !"

Helena suddenly said, "It wasn't plugged in."

Jill Valentine blinked. "What?"

Helena Harper turned to Jill, and her eyes were haunted as she said, "Leon checked the TV and it wasn't even plugged in, Jill."

TO BE CONTINUED