FicWad

BROOKHAVEN CULT
NIGHT 1

Alone, Walter roamed the halls of Brookhaven hospital. He carried with him only his steel pipe, swinging it slowly from side to side. Much to his delight, nightfall had brought on a new crop of monsters for him to kill and revived a few that he had already slain.

In addition to the monsters, the onset of night had also turned the walls to a pulsating, red, flesh-like substance. The walls throbbed like the chambers of a heart. The floors had turned to grating that stretched over a black void that seemed to be endless, even though the second floor should have only been a short drop below Walter’s feet.

But the scenery had no effect on Walter. Without a flashlight, he was immersed in almost total darkness. The light that reached his eyes was only barely enough to keep him from walking into walls. He could hear the monsters he hunted long before he could see them. Whenever he heard the heavy breathing of the nurses as they stood in the halls, he would blindly swing his pipe in powerful arcs as he approached, waiting for the meaty impact of his weapon into their bodies. When he made contact, he struck again and again until their cries of pain stopped.

When he had finished off everything on the third floor, he descended the stairs to the second floor and began again. He walked down the long, straight hallway, killing nurses as he went. He reached the end of the hall and was about to turn back but something caught his eye. A small white square was on the wall. With closer examination, he found it to be the same kind of sign that was used to number the different patient rooms. The second floor held patient rooms M1 through M6, but this placard was marked only with an M, no number specified. Furthermore, Walter did not remember if there had been a door there when he checked earlier in the afternoon. He felt around on the wall until his hand grasped a doorknob. Curious, he turned it, and opened the door.

The hallway beyond was dull red with rust and brightly lit from an unknown source of light. Walter squinted in the sudden brightness as he entered the hall. There were no doorways or windows in this hall. After a few feet, the hallway branched in two directions. Walter chose at random and soon came upon a dead end. He returned to the intersection and took the other path. The hall branched again. Walter picked a hall and shortly arrived at another intersection.

As he was about to choose, a rusted chain-link gate slammed down behind him. He turned and examined the gate. The gate looked brittle and worn, but would not budge when Walter tried to lift the gate back up. Unbothered, he returned to the intersection.

Walter spent several minutes navigating this maze, occasionally finding a dead end. Without warning, a gate would close behind him, forcing him to continue deeper into the maze. Finally he found one long, seemingly endless hallway. As he walked, a series of gates closed behind him at set intervals, banging out a slow, clattering rhythm that Walter enjoyed.

He came upon an altar upon which rested a small item wrapped in white cloth and tied with a black thread. He remembered that the producers of the show had told everyone that Immunity Idols would be presented as such. He picked up the item, untied the black thread, and opened the cloth. There inside was a Seal of Metatron, the familiar red markings carved into a disk of stone. He wrapped it back up in its cloth and retied the knot. He stuffed the seal into his pocket. His thick, heavy blue coat completely disguised the new addition, making it impossible to tell that he had anything in his pocket.

He turned and found that a new hallway had appeared behind him. He walked down it and quickly came upon a door. He opened it and found himself back in the darkness of Brookhaven’s second floor. The door closed silently behind him. When he glanced back, he saw no door at all. Nothing but a blank, empty wall.


ALCHEMILLA CULT
DAY 2

Henry sat up in his bed. His eyes were bloodshot and his hair was messy. He looked over at the bed next to his, to Eddie’s sleeping form. Oblivious, Eddie continued to sleep, his low snores occasionally punctuated with short cries and moans.



HENRY: ALCHEMILLA CULT
Ugh… it was a bad night for me. I had to bunk up with Eddie. I’ve never heard of anyone shouting in their sleep before. Just when I was about to drift off, I’d hear, like, “GET OFFA ME” and Eddie would punch his bed. He did this like, I dunno, five or six times at least. I barely slept at all.

yawns



“Hey guys, check this out,” Travis called. The others shuffled out of their beds and into the hall. Eddie continued sleeping, snoring softly. Henry decided not to wake him up.

When everyone was assembled, Travis pointed at the wall. “This wasn’t here before, was it?” Travis asked.

There on the wall, written in red were the words,

As the second sun rises,
Seek the survivors safety and prizes.
Victory formed from the bodies of the dead,
Victory claimed in the other clan’s stead.
All a part of life’s eternal game:
Burn the weak or extinguish your flame.

“Wall mail?” Mary asked.

“Guess so,” Travis said. “But what the hell is it saying?”

“Well,” Mary said, “The first two lines seem pretty clear. We’re going to have a challenge today, the second day. I guess it’s going to be for reward and immunity. ‘Safety’ and ‘prizes.’ As for the rest…”

“A fire challenge or something?” Henry suggested.

“Who’s got the map?” Travis asked. “We don’t even know where we’re going.”

“I have it,” Dahlia said. She went to her room and returned a few seconds later with the map in her hand. She unrolled it and showed it to the group. As they scanned the map, comparing it to the riddle on the wall, Mary noticed that the graveyard in the southeast corner had been circled, and a small date and time had been written next to it.

“That wasn’t there before, was it?” Mary said.

“No, surely not,” Dahlia said.

“That’s one hell of a walk,” Travis said. “That graveyard’s clear on the other side of the lake. It’d take all day to get there.”

“But if you would only open your eyes, child,” Dahlia said. “There, by the river, is another marking that is new.”

Dahlia pointed to a part of the river that was almost right across from the street from the hospital. There the word “boat” had been written in red, with an arrow pointing to a spot very close by.

“Well,” Alex said, “it’s gone from being one hell of a walk to one hell of a boat ride.”

Henry yawned loudly.

“You get any sleep last night?” Alex asked. Henry shook his head.

“Yeah, it was a rough night for everyone,” Alex said. “Definitely worse for you guys who had to bunk double.”

“Hopefully no one over at Brookhaven fared any better,” Harry said.

“They couldn’t of,” Travis said. “I can’t imagine anyone getting a really good night of sleep in Silent Hill.”



MARY: ALCHEMILLA CULT
I had the most horrible nightmares last night, the kind that never seem to end. From how ragged everyone looks, I’d say that everyone had the same kinds of dreams. No one seems to want to talk about it, and neither do I. They were… very personal dreams. Not something you share with others. And it doesn’t help to wake up from a nightmare and find that the walls are bleeding.



Shortly thereafter, Henry woke Eddie up and the cult went into the waiting room to eat breakfast. They hadn’t found any food in the hospital, so there was only the beef jerky to eat. They had rationed it out and estimated that they could only have about a quarter of a bag of beef jerky per day in order to last all the way to the end of the game. When the survivors had finished their miniscule portions, they were all still hungry.

“Nothing left but to get moving,” Travis said. “Maybe there’s a food reward.”
The cult grabbed their weapons and set out. Less than a block away, they found a narrow trail leading though a field to the river. At the end of the trail, a motorboat big enough to seat at least a dozen was beached on the shore.

Six of the survivors piled into the boat. Henry, Harry, Alex, and Travis stayed on the beach and pushed the boat off the sand into the water. When it was afloat, they all jumped inside and fired up the engine. Travis steered the boat down the river to Toluca Lake, effortlessly cruising through the cold fog. When they got out to the lake, Mary noticed a dull glow in the sky, like a spotlight, coming from the direction of the graveyard. Travis made a straight line to the light, crossing the still lake in only a few minutes. There they found a run-down dock and, at the top of a hill, what appeared to the graveyard. They tied their boat off at the dock and left their weapons in the boat.

“Come on up, guys,” Joseph called. They ascended a narrow pathway up the hill to the graveyard. At the same time, Brookhaven Cult approached from the west, walking in single file. Inside the graveyard, there was a large red mat and a large blue mat. All ten members of Alchemilla assembled on the red mat, Brookhaven on the blue.

Next to Joseph was a pedestal. On top of the pedestal was the Flauros, a small metal
artifact that looked like four pyramids with their bottoms fused together with their points facing out.

“Are you guys ready for your first challenge?” Joseph asked. Both cults agreed enthusiastically. “All right, here’s how it’s gonna work.”



JOSEPH: HOST
In this graveyard there are twenty marked headstones, ten blue and ten red. Six members of each cult will grab shovels and dig at one of their cult’s marked headstones and unearth a coffin. Inside, the coffin will either be empty, or it will contain unassembled wooden mannequin parts. There are a total of four coffins that contain mannequin parts, while the other six are empty. On each headstone there will be a riddle, hinting at whether the coffin below is empty or not. When all four coffins of mannequin parts have been found, you must bring them over to the mat where the remaining four cult members must properly assemble the whole mannequin and put it in a sitting position on the wheelchair provided. The first cult to do all this wins immunity and is safe from Cult Assembly.

In addition, you are playing for reward. First team to assemble their mannequin will also win this toolbox full of valuable gear. Rope, a saw, a hammer, nails, among other things. Everything you’ll need for repairs and to make your hospital a little more hospitable.

All right, survivors. I’ll give you a moment to strategize and then we’ll begin.



“Okay,” Joseph said, “We have Angela, Claudia, Dahlia, and Mary working on assembly for Alchemilla. Lisa, Elle, Maria, and Vincent doing assembly for Brookhaven. Everyone else is on shovel duty.”

The survivors on assembly duty waited anxiously near a pair of empty wheelchairs. They could do nothing but stand by and encourage their teammates. The other six from each cult stood on their mats holding shovels and preparing to sprint.

“Survivors ready,” Joseph said. “…GO!”

The two cults sprinted towards their marked gravestones.

“We’re seeing two different strategies here,” Joseph said. “Alchemilla has split up into three teams of two while Brookhaven has split into two teams of three. Alchemilla can cover more ground, but Brookhaven can focus their energy better.”

The three Alchemilla pairs spread out in the graveyard. They all found a gravestone and began reading aloud the different inscriptions written upon them.

“Here lies the crafters of the world—”
“—Inside me, broken, sick, and growling—”
“—Yielding nothing, yielding to nothing—”
“—Those who free me free themselves—”
“—Buried alive, but not for long—”

Eddie took off his hat and scratched his head. “The hell’s all this?” he asked. He was paired up with Alex, who ignored him and continued reading their inscription.

“I think this is it,” Alex said. “Start digging.”

“Eddie and Alex think they’ve found something,” Joseph said. “So do Harry and Henry. Brookhaven still hasn’t put a shovel in the ground yet. Being right is important, but you can’t spend forever on these riddles either. These graves are shallow.”

The two teams of three for Brookhaven were running back and forth between the different tombstones, comparing them with the others to see which ones made the most sense and were the best candidates.

“Heather and Travis have started digging,” Joseph announced. “Everyone in Alchemilla is digging and Brookhaven is still working on their riddles.”

“C’mon, guys,” Elle said anxiously, standing by the wheelchair. “C’mon.”

“—Through birth and through death—”

“—With a thought, the world changes—”

“This one has to be right,” Cybil said, pointing to a gravestone. The others agreed and began digging. Shortly thereafter, the other three members of Brookhaven started digging at a different site.

“Finally, Brookhaven takes action,” Joseph said. “They were much more careful and thoughtful than Alchemilla. But is it going to pay off, or did they overthink this challenge?”

For Alchemilla, Eddie and Alex, Harry and Henry, and Heather and Travis were all working on three different graves. Eddie was quickly tiring, taking smaller and smaller shovelfuls and wheezing all the while.

“Push it, Eddie,” Alex said, never stopping or slowing. “A million dollars, Eddie. C’mon.”

“I’m trying… I’m trying,” Eddie said.

“Brookhaven’s making up a lot of ground,” Joseph said. “But Alex over here is a one-man construction crew. He’s tearing up dirt like he was a backhoe in a previous life.”

As he dug, Dr. Kaufmann stole glances at the nearby headstone, re-reading the text written on it.

“I’m sure of this one,” he said. “This one has to be right.”

There was a dull thunk as someone’s shovel struck wood.

“Henry and Harry have hit their target,” Joseph said. There was another thunk nearby. “Heather and Travis have hit theirs. Now you have to dig it up and open it to see if you were right.”

Another thunk sounded from across the graveyard.

“Dr. Kaufmann, Walter, and Eileen have hit the bottom,” Joseph said. “We’ll see how good their riddle skills are in a few moments.”

Harry and Henry shoveled around their coffin frantically. Fortunately, it was not a full-sized coffin, but instead a child’s size—less than four feet tall. When the two of them had cleared enough dirt away to be able to reach the sides, they began prying off the lid. With several snaps and pops, the lid was torn off the coffin, revealing it to be empty inside.

“Harry and Henry are wrong,” Joseph said. “They have to find another grave and try again. Brookhaven is still in this.”

“Aw, man…” Henry said.

Less than a minute later, Travis and Heather began prying their lid off.

“And Heather and Travis are… right!” Joseph said. “Their coffin has the arms of the mannequin inside. Now that the coffin is open, they can just take the parts out. No need to pull the entire coffin out of the ground.”

“Good job, guys,” Harry panted, reading the riddle on another gravestone.

“Brookhaven’s working on a coffin now,” Joseph said. “Walter’s prying off the lid now and… they’ve found one! They have the torso of their mannequin freed now. We are tied, one to one.”

On the edge of the graveyard, Lisa and Elle cheered.

With hardly any help from Eddie, Alex dug up the coffin and pried the lid off. Inside, it was empty. Alex swore and crawled out of the hole he’d dug. He made for the nearest available gravestone and began reading it.

Heather and Travis, meanwhile, had found that each piece of the arms only extended from one joint to the next. While this made it easy to find and assemble the large upper arm and forearm pieces, the hands of the mannequin were another story, being scattered about the coffin in small pieces no larger than a knuckle. Heather was inside the coffin on her hands and knees, feeling for any spare pieces.

“We got it all?” Travis asked.

“Feels like it,” Heather said, crawling out of the grave and picking up her shovel. The two of them jogged to the nearest gravestone.

“Bad news for Alchemilla,” Joseph said. “Cybil, James, and Douglas just found the mannequin’s head. Brookhaven is now two-for-two and pulling ahead in this contest. Alchemilla, you have to hustle.”

“You can do it!” Mary cheered. “Go Alchemilla!”

“Go Brookhaven!” Maria said, drowning out Mary’s cheers.

“Alchemilla!”

“Brookhaven!”

“ALCHEMILLA!”

“BROOKHAVEN!”

“Will you both be quiet!” Dr. Kaufmann snapped. “We’re trying to figure out this riddle. Please.”

“Once again,” Joseph said, “Everyone from Alchemilla is digging and Brookhaven’s still working on their riddles. Two totally different approaches to this challenge on display here. Alchemilla is wasting a lot of energy with bad digs and Brookhaven is wasting a lot of time running around solving puzzles. But so far the results favor Brookhaven’s approach.”

“Come on, Eddie!” Alex said. His pace had slowed, but he still dug relentlessly. “Million dollars!”

“Stop… saying… that,” Eddie wheezed.

“Alex is a machine,” Joseph said. “If this were just a physical competition, he’d have this in the bag.”

“This one,” Dr. Kaufmann said, pointing at a gravestone. “I’m sure of it.”

“You sure?” Eileen said. “It doesn’t look like it’s saying anything.”

“It’s a reference to a Poe’s Cask of Amontillado,” Dr. Kaufmann said. “Now dig!”

Eileen, Dr. Kaufmann, and Walter set their shovels into the dirt and began tearing chunks out of the earth.

“Fatigue is starting to set in,” Joseph said. “All teams are slowing down. This dirt is wet and heavy and there is a lot of it.”

Henry plunged his shovel into the earth and was rewarded with a thunk as it struck a coffin.

“I… I hope we’re right,” Harry panted.

“Yeah… yeah,” Henry said. The two of them started clearing dirt away from the coffin. It took a few minutes, but they finally cleared enough away to be able to open the lid.

“Harry and Henry are opening a coffin,” Joseph said. “They’re right! The legs of their mannequin have been found. We’re tied, two and two.”

“Oh, yes,” Harry said, pulling a leg and a foot out of the coffin. Like with the hands, there was no section that extended beyond a joint. As such, the thigh and calf sections were quite large, but there were many tiny toe sections scattered inside the coffin. Henry dove in and began pulling them out, careful not to miss any.

“Brookhaven’s got a hit.” Joseph announced. “Walter is prying off the lid and… they’re right again! The legs have been found. Three for three and Brookhaven retakes the lead. One more to go and they can start assembling their mannequin.”

“Damn it,” Travis muttered.

“Keep… keep going,” Heather said, shoveling. “I got a good feeling… about this one.”

Heather’s shovel struck wood. She and Travis worked to uncover their coffin and pry off the lid.

“Yes!” Heather cheered, as the coffin contained the mannequin’s head. There were only two pieces, the skull and jawbone, which Heather removed and handed to Travis. Travis ran to the wheelchair and set the two pieces down. The four people on the assembly team could only watch. They could not begin to work on their part of the task. Nevertheless, Dahlia quietly told the other four how she thought the pieces would fit together.

“We are tied, three and three,” Joseph said. “Alex and Eddie are both nearing their coffin, but so are Cybil, James, and Douglas. This could be the game right here. If one team is wrong and the other is right, it’d mean a nearly insurmountable lead for the team that guessed correctly. If both are right, it’s going to be a neck-and-neck race between the two assembly teams.”

At almost the exact same time, Alex and Eddie and the three from Brookhaven reached their respective coffins. They all worked desperately to uncover enough to be able to open them. Alex and Eddie cleared theirs first. Alex wedged his shovel between the coffin and its lid and, with a massive grunt, tore open the coffin.

“Alex and Eddie are…” Joseph said. “Incorrect! Their coffin is empty once again.”

“Damn it!” Alex said. “Thought I… had that one!”

“I can’t…” Eddie said. “I can’t… I can’t do another one.” He tossed his shovel to the side and sat down. Sweat soaked his shirt and his hat. He was wheezing terribly. Alex ignored him and pulled himself out of the grave. His arms were shaking and his shirt was completely drenched in sweat. He jogged to the next grave and began reading it.

Meanwhile, Douglas was prying off the lid to their coffin.

“This could be it,” Joseph said. “… And Brookhaven is right yet again! The arms of the mannequin have been found. That’s all four coffins. As soon as they bring all the pieces to the mat, the others can begin assembling them.

“Unfortunate,” Claudia said.

Mary would not be put off so easily. She clapped her hands and said, “C’mon Alchemilla! We’re still in this!”

Harry and Henry were the next closest team to their coffin, but they were only halfway down. Even if they were right, Brookhaven still had a massive lead.

Dr. Kaufmann, Eileen, and Walter were looking at the other gravestones when they heard that Douglas had uncovered the final coffin. The three immediately dropped their shovels and ran to provide assistance.

“Just toss the pieces up and we’ll run them over to the mat,” Dr. Kaufmann said. The six worked together, with three in the grave handing pieces up, while the other three ran back and forth to deliver them. Joseph paid close attention to the number of pieces being placed on the mat. Eileen ran over with the last pieces, two finger joints that Douglas had found tucked in the corner of the coffin.

“Is that it?” Eileen asked.

Joseph looked over the pieces. “All the pieces are here. Assembly team, you can start!”

Lisa, Elle, and Maria jumped on the larger pieces and began fitting them together. Vincent, meanwhile, began sorting through the small joint pieces, separating the finger and toe joints and putting them together.

“Brookhaven’s making quick work of this puzzle,” Joseph said. “Alchemilla needs a miracle at this point.”

Brookhaven’s mannequin had its arms and legs and its head all together when Harry and Henry began prying open the lid of their coffin.

“Alchemilla needs this to be right to still have a chance at this,” Joseph said. “And they are! Alchemilla has found the last coffin and can begin assembly once all the pieces are collected.

Repeating Brookhaven’s strategy, the other diggers for Alchemilla rushed over to the grave to help get the pieces out and over to the mat. Soon, all the pieces were collected and Dahlia began issuing orders as to how the mannequin should be put together.

For Brookhaven, Vincent finished both hands and feet and attached them to the mannequin. The four from Brookhaven picked up the completed mannequin and seated it in the nearby wheelchair.

“Are we good?” Elle asked.

Joseph looked at their mannequin. “The mannequin is complete! Brookhaven wins immunity and reward!”

The members of Brookhaven cheered and embraced. The diggers were filthy and sweaty but no one seemed to care. On Alchemilla’s side, Alex and Travis swore under their breath. Heather looked on, silently.

“Come claim your immunity,” Joseph said, motioning with his head to the pillar with the Flauros on it. “And also your reward.”

Dr. Kaufmann picked up the Flauros and James grabbed the handle of the toolkit. Still excited and laughing, the ten members of Brookhaven cult left the graveyard and headed west, back towards their camp.

“Alchemilla,” Joseph said. “I’ve got nothing for you. Head back to camp. I’ll see you at Cult Assembly.”



ALEX: ALCHEMILLA CULT
I blame myself. I knew Eddie would be dead weight in the task. That’s why I teamed up with him; I knew I’d be able to pick up his slack. But I underestimated the riddles. I haven’t read Shakespeare since high school. How am I supposed to figure out a reference to Twelfth Night? Maybe if I’d just spent a few more minutes reading the riddles, thinking things through...


Damn it. We really should have had that one.