Chapter Text
“Aaaggh!” James shoved the lumbering creature back but didn’t get a chance to retaliate–dark-colored liquid splattered everywhere, causing the green-eyed man to stumble backward into a bookshelf.
The liquid smelled awful—garbage left out in the sun all day or a fridge filled with rotten food, which was worse. James couldn’t tell, but this scent clung to his hair and clothes like a second skin.
The creature was on its feet again. Its faceless head bobbled up and down, gurgling wetly as it threw its head back. James blinked owlishly; it was going to headbutt him again. He groaned and gripped the bookshelf for support, his other hand tightening around his nail-embedded 2x4. If he attacks the head, maybe just maybe…
“Stay down!” A male’s voice bellowed into the establishment, followed by the ringing of two shots being fired. James backed up further against the bookshelf, watching with slightly wide eyes as the creature–faceless with its arms bound to its body as if in a straitjacket–lumbered forward. It let out a pitiful moan before collapsing onto its back. It squirmed and wriggled like a worm on the worn wooden floor before going still; a pool of blood began to spread followed by the stench of rigor mortis setting in.
It’s dead. It’s down.
“...”
“These things are everywhere.” The new voice breathed, letting out a long sigh. The sound of a gun replaced in its holster made James look up. “Hey, are you alright?!”
James didn’t reply right away. The world was messy with grays and blacks, the smell of the creature’s vomit heavy in his nostrils. He groaned and stood up, gripping the bookshelf behind him for support again.
That’s when his vision cleared up, and he could finally make out the newcomer who saved him.
It was a man. Judging by his face and voice, it was a man younger than James. At most, he wasn’t older than twenty-five; his face was slightly round, and he had big, almost Bambi-like blue eyes and a shock of brownish-blond hair. His hair was shorter on one side, and his bangs fell over one eye.
He looked…normal. He was a normal-looking young man in blue jeans and a dark blue jacket. To be fair, something was out of place: the gun, for starters, and the holster strapped to his left thigh. Most normal-looking guys don’t carry–James only stared at the younger man as he leaned against the window sill. “Hey, can you hear me?” The man tried again, his somewhat thick eyebrows furrowed.
“Y-yeah,” James said finally, giving a shaky nod. He pushed off the bookshelf as the younger man vaulted into the bookstore using the open window. “Thanks.” James glanced back at the dead creature, his stomach churning as the blood went from red to black.
“No problem,” The younger blond said, carefully stepping over the dead figure. “I don’t know what these things are but they get pretty nasty. They’re all I’ve seen since coming into town.” The younger man frowned, eyes narrowed only to remember he wasn’t the only human being around. He turned his attention back to James, expression softening. “You sure you’re okay? That thing’s vomit is like acid, and it stinks.”
“It got me a few times,” James admitted, frowning. “But I’ll be okay.” He watched the younger man’s eyes fall onto his 2x4. “Are…are you okay?” This is the first new face James has seen since the girl back at the graveyard–the first new human face, too. It’s been nothing but fog and monster-like creatures thus far.
The younger man let out an exasperated huff, shaking his head. “Yeah, yeah I’m okay. As okay as someone can be in an abandoned town in the middle of nowhere infested with monsters.” He smiled, showing off a hint of straight, white teeth. “The sign I passed read Silent Hill, but…do you know where this is?”
“What do you mean?” James asked, tilting his head to the side. He let his 2x4 hang at his side. This guy wasn’t a threat, and he didn’t think the older man was a threat either. He didn’t try to reach for his gun again.
“I mean I don’t know how I ended up here.” The younger man explained, rubbing the back of his neck. “I was on my way home from the station. I take the same route home every day when suddenly this fog is everywhere. I couldn’t see, so I pulled over to wait it out. It was only for a few minutes, but the road just disappeared. When I got out and started walking, I ended up outside Silent Hill Ranch.” The younger man paced as he talked, shaking his head in disbelief. “I know I know it sounds crazy but it’s the truth. I tried calling the station to warn them about the fog, but no answer.”
“Station? You’re a cop?” James stated, bewildered. That explains the near-perfect execution of the monster, but this guy was a police officer? Just how young is he?
“Yeah, Leon Kennedy.” The younger man introduced himself, his blue eyes on James’s face. “I work for the Raccoon City Police Department, and have for over six months now.”
He’s a rookie. Well, not technically a rookie but still so young. He must have had high marks while in the police academy–he could handle himself, at the very least.
“Raccoon City…you mean the city near the Arklay Mountains? Home of Umbrella Pharmaceuticals? That’s states away from here.” James said, watching Leon’s face ashen in shock and horror. “Silent Hill is in Maine.”
“What?!” Leon exclaimed, his eyebrows flying into his hairline. “I…how? How is that possible? I was in Raccoon City only minutes ago, but you’re telling me I’m in Maine?” The younger man ran his fingers through his hair to keep himself grounded. “How does fog do that? I…I,” Leon was at a loss for words, staggering back into a bookshelf as his knees wobbled.
“Hey, it’s okay,” James whispered so as not to startle Leon. He almost reached out and touched the other man’s shoulder, but changed his mind at the last minute. His hand instead just hovered awkwardly in the air. “What matters is that you’re okay. You’ve handled yourself well up to this point, better than I have. I’m James, James Sunderland...”
Leon blinked owlishly, his brain slowing down enough to process this new information. “Thanks again for saving me. Aside from that girl in the graveyard, you’re the only person I’ve seen around here.”
“Girl? Graveyard?” Leon echoed, his mouth pressing into a thin line. “So there are people here…but this town looks abandoned. Some roads lead nowhere, and every other building I’ve poked around is barren. All I’ve seen of life is these things,” he gestured to the dead monster still leaking blood. “This fog is unnatural, something about it feels wrong. But…”
“But what?” James pressed gently, leaning in a little. He watched as Leon’s eyes seemingly brightened, making him look even younger than he was.
“But it also feels familiar. It feels like my hometown, where I was born and raised before moving to Raccoon City.” Leon looked out one of the bookstore windows, the weak breeze blowing his hair back. “The way here I felt drawn to it. I don’t know why, but I thought looking for a police station or a hospital was a good idea. There are always people in those places–I ran into monsters exactly like this one; I don’t have a lot of ammo on me, so I just ran away from some until I heard you yelling.”
James wrinkled his forehead as he tried to make sense of this, Leon looking down at the broken glass littering the floor. “When I heard you yelling, I came to see if I could help. Your voice is the only human voice I…” The younger man trailed off, shaking his head. “Wait. This town might not be abandoned, but why are you here? It’s dangerous.”
“...” James pressed his lips together, unsure how to proceed. Leon was armed and saved his life. He was a police officer, so he had experience with firearms and could handle himself. He seemed like a nice guy who just wanted to understand what was going on, and he didn’t hesitate to put himself at risk for James who was a stranger to him. There were a lot of pros to his presence here, a positive in an otherwise horrible situation.
Of course, this could go wrong and Leon could shoot him to death…but it was a risk, just like coming here looking for Mary was a risk. Risky; a stupid and reckless stunt, foolishly chasing after the impossible.
Leon didn’t press, though. He stood there quietly, either gauging James’s mood or waiting for a response it was hard to tell. But his body language didn’t read hostility. “I’m here…I’m here looking for someone.”
“So that’s what brought you to Silent Hill. A letter from your wife, Mary, right?” Leon’s eyes darted from the woman’s photograph to James’s sad face, his heart heavy as lead.
The woman in the picture was beautiful: kind, with warm eyes, soft-looking brown hair, and a thin face wearing a spring-season dress and pink cardigan. She looked demure and regal, the type of woman anyone would fawn over Leon included. The girl next door you dreamt of talking to but never had the guts.
“You got a letter from her saying she’s waiting for you here in Silent Hill. She’s here by herself?”
“Yeah,” James mumbled, a twinge of pain in his stomach. “She said she’s waiting for me in our ‘special place’. But I don’t know where in town that is–our special place, Silent Hill, this was it.”
“And this place is bigger than it looks.” Leon agreed, chewing on the inside of his cheek. As James put away Mary’s photograph, the younger blond uncrossed his arms and pushed off the wall. “Well, do you have a map on you? Maybe we can start from here and cross out the places that don’t help.”
The older man reached inside his muted green, military-style jacket. He pulled out the maps of Silent Hill he found and opened them; Leon inched closer to take a better look, silently marveling at the red scribblings. “Look at you, you’ve covered a lot of ground so far,” the younger man praised, smiling slightly. “Okay, so…these roads lead nowhere, right? And you’ve covered most of the places on Martin and Lindsey St.”
James hummed softly, running the end of his finger down the map. “Everything so far has been a dead end. I’ve yet to go to the pharmacy and Neely’s Bar–it’s a long shot, but if I have to go through every place here to understand what she means…”
“Then we better get started,” Leon said, checking how many rounds he had. When James said nothing, he added, “What? You don’t think splitting up in a place like this is a good idea, right? You can handle yourself, sure, but it’d be better to stick together if we’re going to find your wife.” He leveled James with a steady stare. “I mean, I won’t make you do anything you don’t want to. I just think it’d be a better idea to work together. We don’t know what’s still out there; this could be the least of our problems.”
“You want to? You said so yourself: you don’t know how you got here. Don’t you want to get out while you can?” To say James was baffled was an understatement. Leon was sweet to offer his help; James’s current predicament had nothing to do with him, yet he went out of his way to help someone he just met. It was sweet, and his offer was sincere from the look in Leon’s eyes.
On the other hand…why? Why did Leon feel the need to offer help? Was it because he was a cop, and felt obligated to help a civilian? There are plenty of cops who’d turn a blind eye to something like this. Or suspect the worst.
James’s skepticism must have shown on his face because Leon smiled. “You’re right,” he began, mulling over this carefully. “I do want to get out of here. It’s unsafe, and I still can’t wrap my head around that I’m not in Raccoon City anymore. That being said, you’re looking for your wife. If Mary’s here alone, she could be in danger. If I can help you find her, we can get out of here together.” The younger man put his gun back in its holster, resting his hands on his hips. “Again, Mr. Sunderland, it’s up to you. I won’t stop you if you want to tackle this alone.”
As James went quiet, weighing his options, the younger man returned to the window. He peered around to make sure the coast was clear, sighing. “There’s got to be a gunshop or something around here…”
“Okay,” James said, eyes flickering to lock with Leon’s. “Let’s work together. I…thank you, Officer Kennedy.”
“Leon,” Leon corrected with a snort, “you can call me Leon.”
“Then call me James, not Mr. Sunderland.”
“Alright, James,” Leon nodded, looking at ease now. “You said you wanted to scope out Neely’s Bar. Maybe we can check any cars nearby and see if they have anything we can use.”
“You mean to break the windows and take what we can?” James pointed out, holding up his nail-embedded 2x4.
Leon dared to blush!
“Well, when you say it like that it sounds like we’re doing something wrong. In situations like this, ensuring we can defend ourselves is key.” The younger man quickly changed the subject, the pink in his cheeks subsiding. “This place has a pharmacy, right? We should see what we can salvage for medical supplies–I have mixed herbs and bandages, but nothing wrong with stocking up.”
“Mixed herbs?”
“From the Arklay Mountains, they’re used for medicinal purposes. There are three different colored herbs, and they each have unique properties,” As he talked, Leon pulled out a paper packet from inside his jacket. James saw green and red powder when he removed the tape and unfolded the crinkly paper. “I’ll explain more on the way, but these help in a pinch.” He taped the packet closed and replaced it inside his jacket. “Ready when you are.”