FicWad

JOSEPH: HOST
Previously, on Survivor:

Twenty castaways were stranded in the demonic town of Silent Hill. They were divided into two cults, Alchemilla and Brookhaven, and sent to live in two different hospitals on opposite ends of town, with minimal supplies and a meager ration of food.

Brookhaven started the game with a bang. Under the leadership of Dr. Kaufmann, the cult won their first immunity challenge, explored the hospital, and cleared the planks off the windows, allowing light to reach the halls of the hospital. But an offhand sexist remark put doubt into the minds of many of the cult members as to whether or not Dr. Kaufmann was truly the leader they wanted. Furthermore, Brookhaven has been dealing with a wildcard, Walter, whose violent actions and unpredictable lone wolf style have cleared the area of monsters but—unbeknownst to the rest of the cult—also earned him the hidden immunity idol.

Meanwhile, Alchemilla is a cult divided against itself. Many of the castaways there have preexisting relationships—and preexisting animosities. After losing the first immunity challenge, Harry petitioned for the removal of Dahlia, whom he considered the cult’s greatest threat. Dahlia petitioned for the removal of Alex, who had formed a bond with Travis that could prove dangerous later in the game. But in a close six-four decision, the cult decided to remove their loudest and most obnoxious member, Eddie, making him the first person sent to the Water Prison.

Nineteen people are left. Who will be voted off next?

WATER PRISON
NIGHT 3

Eddie huffed and wheezed his way up the long hill to the cylindrical tower known as the Water Prison. He’d pulled his buff off his face and let it hang around his neck. Through the darkness and the fog, Toluca Lake was barely visible behind him. A florescent light hummed above the front door of the prison, guiding Eddie onward. He reached the door and bent over, his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath. He noticed a clipboard hooked onto the front door with a piece of paper on it. He took the clipboard and read it slowly.

“Welcome to the Water Prison,” Eddie said. “You will remain here alone, separated from the rest of the survivors blah blah blah same supplies and rations as the others, but you must take care of everything yourself blah blah blah when another person is voted out of the game, the two of you will square off in a challenge, the winner stays at the prison and the loser is eliminated blah blah blah at some point the last person left at the prison will be allowed to reenter the game and continue their pursuit of blah friggin blah. I already know all this!”

He tossed the clipboard into a nearby bush.

“How many times are they gonna tell me the rules?” Eddie asked. “I ain’t stupid. I don’t need to be told twice.”

He tried to open the door, but it was locked.

“The hell?” he said. He turned the knob the other way, but it still wouldn’t budge. He lowered his shoulder into it. The metal door barely even shook. It was then that Eddie noticed a small table next to the door with a box on top. Eddie opened the box and found a revolver, a hammer, a bag of beef jerky, and a key.

“Aw hell, more friggin beef jerky?” Eddie said. “I thought I was done with that crap.”

He put the supplies in his pockets and tucked the revolver and the hammer into his belt. He put the key into the door. It slid in easily and unlocked the door. Inside it was fairly dark, but not as dark as Eddie had been accustomed to over the past three days. A few dull florescent lights flickered along the wall near the ceiling, providing Eddie with enough light to see.

True to its name, the Water Prison was damp, musty, moldy, and had trenches on either side of the floor where a steady stream of water flowed. Large slugs the size of Eddie’s arm crawled on the walls, occasionally dropping off and hitting the floor with a wet slap. Eddie ignored the slugs and continued into the prison.

He soon found himself in a circular hallway. The floor grating to his left sloped downward, the floor grating to his right went up, forming a long spiral. Eddie chose to go down, but soon found his path cut off by a locked door. He tried to use his key on it, but it wouldn’t fit into the hole. He complained loudly and headed back up the incline.

Still tired from climbing the long hill to the prison, Eddie opened the first door he came upon. It led into another circular hallway, but the floor was level and made of stone. On the inside wall of the hallway were a number of metal doors. Eddie tried the first one he found and discovered it to be locked. He tried the next and found the same thing. He continued along the hallway, testing each door with the same result.

He was nearly halfway around the circular hall when he found a strange creature in the hall in front of him. It was hairy, like an ape and had long, thin arms and no legs. It stood on one hand while the other was held loosely across its chest. Most notable was the monster’s two heads, side-by-side, both of which looked like sleeping infants. The monster was perfectly still.

Eddie yanked his revolver out of his waistband and unloaded all six of his bullets into the creature. With a weak moan, it fell face first on the ground. Eddie finished the job with his hammer, repeatedly striking the creature across both of its heads.

Eddie looked at his revolver. He opened the cylinder and examined the six empty chambers of the revolver. He tossed the gun aside.

“Friggin pistol,” he said. “What good are ya if ya don’t have any bullets?”

He continued down the hall, testing the doors. To his surprise, he found one that opened. Inside was a small bed with stained sheets. A couple of crude drawings were hung up on the walls. Eddie entered the room and closed the door behind him. Exhausted, he flopped down onto the bed and rolled over onto his side. He pulled the bag of beef jerky out of his pocket and ate the entire thing. He threw the empty bag underneath the bed.

“Worst night of my life,” he said. He was asleep moments later.

BROOKHAVEN CULT
NIGHT 3

“This wasn’t here before, was it?” Dr. Kaufmann said. He and the rest of the cult, including Walter, were at the end of the hallway on the second floor.

“It’s not on the map,” James said. He held the map up and shined a flashlight on it. “The hallway just ends here. Shouldn’t be anything after that.”

“Must be it, then,” Dr. Kaufmann said. “Be ready for anything.”

Those who were carrying weapons braced themselves in case there were monsters on the other side of the door. Dr. Kaufmann’s radio was silent, but they didn’t wholly trust it; it had a tendency to be fooled by closed doors and barricades. Dr. Kaufmann opened the door and entered into a long, rusty hallway, lit by a few scattered lights.

They continued down the hall, finding occasional dead ends and being forced to retrace their steps. Walter was the only one who knew where they were going, but he stayed to the back of the group and pretended to be just as lost as the others. At certain times, a metal fence would slam behind the group, not allowing them to retreat, forcing them deeper into the hallway.

After some time, the group came across a dead end. Near the wall was a small altar. An item wrapped in white cloth and tied with a black string rested on the altar.

“Think this is it?” Cybil asked. Dr. Kaufmann picked up the item and untied the knot. He unwrapped the cloth and found the Seal of Metatron inside.

“This is the idol?” Dr. Kaufmann asked.

“Must be,” Douglas said. “They told us that the idols would be wrapped up like that. Makes sense.”

“Well that was… easier than I thought,” Dr. Kaufmann said. “We have the idol.”

“Yay,” Maria said.

“We’ll keep it in the reception room,” Dr. Kaufmann said. “As we agreed, no one owns it. It belongs to the cult. We’ll use it against Alchemilla, not for ourselves. In fact, we won’t even take it to Cult Assembly. It stays here until we need it. Understood?”

Everyone nodded in agreement. Dr. Kaufmann looked at Vincent.

“Vincent,” Dr. Kaufmann said. “Why are you smiling?”

“Oh,” Vincent said, unable to wipe the grin off his face. “Just glad we have the idol that’s all. It makes the game so much more interesting. Wouldn’t you agree?”

“Eh, it just complicates things,” Dr. Kaufmann said. “Don’t go doing a victory dance yet. Alchemilla might have one of their own and they could use it against us too. The door swings both ways.”

Vincent shrugged.

“Let’s head back,” Dr. Kaufman said. “We found this quickly enough, so we can still get a decent night’s sleep if we get out of this damn maze.”

The group turned around to find that the hallway now led right back to the exit, instead of going back through the maze. Within a few seconds, the group was back on the second floor of the hospital, the mystery door behind them having disappeared without a trace.



VINCENT: BROOKHAVEN CULT
It seems we have a counterfeiter in our midst. I’ve seen the Seal of Metatron enough times to know what is and isn’t the Seal, and that useless rock currently sitting in the reception room is most certainly not the Seal of Metatron. It’s a fake. A phony. And not even a good one, at that. It looks like it was carved out of a stone taken from the lake and colored with crayon. But it was enough to fool the others, so who am I to criticize? The question is, who could have done this? I have a few suspects in mind; Walter being at the very top of the list. After all, I sincerely doubt that anyone moved the barricade, solved the clue, found the idol, and put everything back in its place all last night. Walter, however, has been prowling the hospital almost every night. I would be honestly shocked if he hadn’t already stumbled upon the disappearing door. But what am I going to do next? Hmm. So many possibilities.

I think I’m finally getting into this game.


ALCHEMILLA CULT
DAY 4

“Who voted for me?” Alex asked. It was early in the morning, and few of the others were awake yet. He and Travis were in the operating room, the room that served as the bedroom for the two of them.

“I’ve been thinking about that,” Travis said. “What worries me most is that everyone who didn’t vote Eddie, voted for you and no one else.”

“So?”

“So that means that they all were in it together. If there had been one vote you, one vote me, two votes for other people, then at least we’d know that people were just voting for who they felt like voting for. No real planning involved. But they all voted you, which means they got together, your name came up, and they picked you over Eddie.”

Alex flopped down into his bed. “Aw, hell. You’re right. I didn’t even think of that.”

“Yeah. Things aren’t as simple as we thought.”

“So who could it have been? As far as we know, nobody was really getting together behind our backs.”

“As far as we know…” Travis said. “And they didn’t need to all get together at once. They could have broken off into pairs and talked about it.”

“Right…”
“It wasn’t you, me, or Henry, that much I’m sure about,” Travis said.

“You sure about Henry?” Alex asked. “Remember, Dahlia pulled him aside a few hours before the Assembly. She could have convinced him to switch votes.”

“No, Henry wanted Eddie gone as much as us, if not more. I don’t think anything Dahlia could have possibly said would have changed his mind.”

“Maybe Harry was right,” Alex said. “Maybe Dahlia is some kind of evil mastermind. She could have gone from person to person, pitching the ‘take out Alex’ idea to everyone who’d listen. Maybe she got four fish to take the bait. That would explain a lot, actually.”

“Or maybe the four people who voted against us were the same four people we left behind on day one,” Travis said. “Harry, Dahlia, Angela, and Eddie.”

“I… don’t know about that one,” Alex said. He sat up in bed. “Harry gave a pretty impassioned speech the other day about the need to get rid of Dahlia. I don’t see why he’d target someone he was in an alliance with.”

“I’m just saying that there’s a lot we don’t know,” Travis said. “I’m gonna talk to people. See if I can’t dig anything up. We both should probably start with that.”

“Right.”

“Don’t make any assumptions yet. Anyone could be guilty.”



ALEX: ALCHEMILLA CULT
Last night was too close. I knew Eddie would go after either me or Travis, but I didn’t expect anyone else to take his side. What does that say about this group? I mean, I bust my ass out around here and try to be friendly and helpful, and I almost get voted off. Eddie sleeps all damn day, whines and complains, never helps out, and we couldn’t even all agree to take him out. Since when is it a bad thing to be a good guy? Should I whine and bitch and moan more often? Would that make me more popular around here?



“You voted not for Alex,” Dahlia said. She and Mary were in their shared bedroom. “Why not?”

“How do you figure?” Mary asked. “Maybe I voted for Alex and someone else didn’t.”

“We are both too clever for such games, child,” Dahlia said. “You will not deflect my question so easily.”

“If you’re so clever, then I shouldn’t need to answer that question at all.” Mary stood up and made for the door. Dahlia stopped her with a gentle hand on Mary’s elbow.

“You fail to see the danger you face—that we all face—should Travis and Alex continue to lord over this cult.”

“Lord over?” Mary said. “Since when? They’ve been friendly and helpful, everything that Eddie wasn’t. We’re a stronger group because of last night’s vote, and I stand by my decision.”

“Do not mistake their shrewdness for kindness. With gentle words, they guide the course of this cult’s decisions,” Dahlia said, “And the minds of the weak shine favorable light upon their brows. Sainted sons, they will be, if none stand against them. Loved by all, they will strike us down without mercy, and be praised for their decisions. You will heed my words now, or rue them later.”

“Dahlia, you seem like a nice person,” Mary said, “But you’re a little weird.”

Mary opened the door and stepped into the hallway. She went to the ICU where the rest of the cult was already gathering. Travis and Alex were dividing up the day’s rations and the others were talking lightly and keeping an eye on the food, making sure everyone got a fair share.

“You sleep well, Henry?” Mary asked.

“Even with the nightmares,” Henry said, “Best night of sleep since I’ve been here. I pushed Eddie’s old bed next to mine and just streeeeetched. I feel great.”

“Good to hear,” Mary said. She turned to look at Travis just in time to catch him staring at her. Travis looked away and focused on the jerky again.



MARY: ALCHEMILLA CULT
I don’t regret my decision to vote for Eddie, but I do know that I have to live with the consequences of my choice. I have to believe that Alex and Travis won’t see me as a burden or a threat in the next Assembly. But with four votes against Alex, they have every right to be suspicious of me, and anyone else who isn’t as strong as they are. I need to exonerate myself, and quickly, or else Dahlia’s words will become prophecy.



CULT CHALLENGE
DAY 4


The ten members of Brookhaven Cult stood on a blue mat in the parking lot of the Woodside Apartment Complex. Joseph was also there. He was next to a large table. It was clear that something was on the table, but a large black cloth was laid over it, making it impossible to see what was under it.

Walking single file, the remaining nine members of Alchemilla Cult approached the parking lot. The perimeter fence squeaked as Travis opened it.

“Brookhaven,” Joseph said. “Take your first look at the new Alchemilla Cult. Eddie, voted out at the last Cult Assembly.”

This news came as no surprise to the members of Brookhaven. Several of them nodded. The nine members of Alchemilla gathered on a red mat near Brookhaven Cult and turned to face Joseph.

“Ready for your next challenge?” Joseph asked. The two cults agreed emphatically.



JOSEPH: HOST
For this challenge, three cult members will take turns running back and forth down a hallway, one at a time, on the third floor of the Woodside Apartments, putting cans of juice into a garbage chute. Inside the chute a large garbage bag is stuck and exactly fifty juice cans will dislodge it and send it into an outdoor dumpster. There, three other cult members must take the bag and carry it inside, up to the second floor, through a fire escape, across a perilous gap, and to the first floor of the Blue Creek Apartments. They will deliver the bag to the last three cult members, who will open it and dig through all the contents to find three coins, which will then be used to solve a puzzle. First cult to complete the puzzle wins reward.




“Would you like to know what you’re playing for?” Joseph asked. The two cults clapped and cheered. “I’m sure you’re already sick of beef jerky, so we’ve prepared a feast for you.”
Right on cue, the black cloth covering the table was blown away by a sudden breeze, revealing a fancy spread of different foods on silver platters.

“The winning cult gets to dine on this,” Joseph said, “Roast beef, chicken, fish, baked potatoes, fruits and vegetables, cake, pie, wine, and juice for those of you not old enough to drink yet.”

“Oh my god…” Mary said, looking at all the food. Other people in both cults echoed this sentiment with moans and gasps. Several cult members exchanged smiles and eager glances with each other.

“Worth playing for?” Joseph asked.

The answer was a unanimous “Yes!”

“All right,” Joseph said. “Brookhaven, you have one extra cult member. Choose one person to sit this one out. Remember, the same person cannot sit out two challenges in a row, so whoever sits out now must participate in the next immunity challenge.”

The members of Brookhaven glanced at each other.

“I’ll sit this one out,” Maria said, raising her hand.

“Maria, sitting out for Brookhaven,” Joseph said. “Come stand over here. The rest of you, I’ll give you a moment to strategize and then we’ll begin.”



“Okay, here we go,” Joseph said. “Running the cans for Alchemilla we have Heather, Harry, and Angela. For Brookhaven we have Cybil, Eileen, and Elle. Survivors ready…”

There was a long, straight hallway down one side of the complex. At either end were the starting points for the two cults. In the exact middle between the starting points were two different but identical laundry rooms, each containing a garbage chute. Piled at both of the starting lines were dozens and dozens of cans of cold juice, forming condensation on their surfaces. Cybil stood with her hands close to her pile of juice and Heather did the same. Harry and Angela stood behind Heather, and Eileen and Elle stood behind Cybil.

“… Go!” Joseph said. Both Heather and Cybil began loading cans into their arms.

“You can take as many as you like,” Joseph said, “But if you drop any between here and the laundry rooms then you must return to the start and try again. And you have to carry the juice in your arms, you can’t stuff any in your pockets or in your shirt. Also, each of the three people must make at least one trip to the laundry room.”

Heather grabbed eight cans and formed her arms into a basket, struggling to run as she tried to keep a grip on the cans. Cybil grabbed ten cans and did much the same thing, finding it difficult to maintain her grip.

“These cans are slippery,” Joseph said. “And it’s hard to move quickly and keep a grip on them.”

Both of the girls arrived at their respective laundry rooms within seconds of each other, with Cybil trailing slightly. They unloaded their cans into the garbage chute and sprinted back to the starting lines. No longer burdened by their juice cans, the two girls made quick time down the hallway.

“Once the first person gets back, the second person can go,” Joseph said.

Heather arrived back first. When she crossed the line, Harry began loading cans into his arms. Cybil returned and Eileen began picking up cans. When he got eight of them, Harry began running down the hall. Eileen didn’t start until she had ten.

“Just like last challenge, we’ve got two different strategies,” Joseph said. “Alchemilla is spreading the task out, making the number of cans roughly equal for all three people, and therefor easier. But Brookhaven is going for a bit more high risk, high reward with ten cans—”

He was interrupted by a thump as Eileen dropped one of her cans. She swore under her breath.

“Eileen has to go back,” Joseph said, “Big opportunity here for Alchemilla.”

Harry arrived at the laundry room and began unloading his cans as Eileen returned to the start and picked up more cans.

“Should I take ten again?” she asked, while picking up cans.

“Yes, yes, stick with the plan,” Cybil said. “We can’t play it safe now.”

Eileen loaded up ten cans and headed back to the laundry room, noticeably more cautious than last time. Harry arrived back at the start line and Angela began picking up cans, being far too careful with her load.

“It’s okay, Angela,” Harry said, “Just keep going.”

Eileen arrived at the laundry room without incident, unloaded her ten cans, and raced back down the hall. Angela finally got her eight cans together and began awkwardly running down the hall.

“She runs like a wounded gazelle,” Harry said.

Eileen arrived back at the start line, prompting Elle to begin piling cans into her arms. Like the other two before her, she picked up ten and then headed off.

“Barring further incidents,” Joseph said, “Brookhaven won’t need to send Elle twice to get all fifty cans. But this strategy has already slowed them down once, lending credence to Alchemilla’s less risky plan.”

Angela arrived at the laundry room and delicately unloaded the juice cans. She’d only just finished and was turning to leave when Elle arrived at the adjacent laundry room and began dumping her cans down the chute. Elle sprinted back, while Angela jogged back. Running seemed like a foreign concept to Angela, and her legs and arms pumped and flailed in a peculiar exaggeration of the typical running movement. Elle arrived at the starting line and Cybil began loading ten cans of juice into her arms.

“Good job, Angela,” Harry said as she crossed the line. Heather loaded up nine cans and departed, almost at the same time as Cybil, once again. The two arrived at their laundry rooms, unloaded their cans, and headed back, all within seconds of each other. They crossed their lines and Harry and Eileen began stocking up on cans.

“Just take your time, Eileen,” Elle said. “It looks like we’re tied, but we’re technically ahead of them. Just take your time.”

Eileen loaded up ten cans and Harry picked up nine. The two ran down the hall towards their laundry rooms, with Eileen taking a much slower pace to ensure that she didn’t drop anything. Harry arrived at his laundry room and unloaded his cans. One of the cans lodged in Eileen’s elbow began to slip, so she twisted and contorted her shoulder to get it into a better position. As soon as she did, then the other cans began to slip as well. Knowing she couldn’t hold on much longer, Eileen doubled her pace and nearly crashed into the garbage chute in her laundry room. Pulling up one knee as extra support, she guided her cans into the garbage chute, without dropping any of them.

“Brookhaven has all fifty cans!” Joseph said. The garbage bag in their chute dislodged and fell to the first floor, into a garbage pile located outside the complex. “Walter, James, and Dr. Kaufmann are there to bring the bag to the final part of the task.”

The bag was far heavier than any of the three men had anticipated. Walter tried to shoulder much of the burden on his own, but found that he couldn’t. Dr. Kaufmann arranged the three men into a triangle and had them lift and move the bag in that manner. None of them could take full steps, instead shuffling along as they made their way to the front door.

Harry crossed the line and Angela began awkwardly loading cans into her arms.

“You got this,” Heather said. “No worries.”

Angela got eight cans and jogged jerkily down the hall to the laundry room. She dumped her cans down the chute.

“Alchemilla has their cans!” Joseph said. “But Brookhaven has quite a lead on them.”

The three men for Brookhaven had already made it inside and were beginning to ascend the stairs. Their triangle formation, however, was too wide to fit up the steps. Dr. Kaufman rearranged them so that Walter was in front and he and James were on the bottom, with the bag between them.

Alex, Henry, and Travis were carrying the bag for Alchemilla. Alex bent over and carried the front of the bag on the back of his shoulders, using his arms to steady the bag. Henry and Travis supported the back of the bag and followed as Alex set a relatively quick pace.

“The hell’s in this bag?” Alex said through clenched teeth.

“You okay, man?” Travis asked.

“I’m good,” Alex said.

The three men for Brookhaven had reached the top of their stairs. They repositioned themselves into their triangle formation and shuffled their way down the hall towards the fire escape door. Meanwhile, the three men in Alchemilla were making up a lot of ground and were almost halfway up the stairs.

“Alchemilla has a good formation going on,” Joseph said. “But Alex is taking a lot of the weight on himself.”

The three men from Brookhaven arrived at the end of the hall. There were two doors to choose from.

“For the purpose of this game,” Joseph said, “A second, identical fire escape has been added. It doesn’t matter which one you choose, but both have a three foot gap between this complex and the next, with nothing between you and a nasty fall.”

Walter freed one hand and opened the door. As Joseph had said, there was a wide gap between Woodside and Blue Creek Apartments, with nothing to stand on or support the survivors between.

Walter backed up as close to the edge as he could and dangled one foot off the edge into empty space. He extended the foot further and further back until it made contact with the ledge on the other side.

“How are we gonna do this?” James asked. He grunted as he adjusted his grip.
“Walter’s just going to have to—” Dr. Kaufmann said.

Without warning, Walter hopped his other foot backward to the far edge. Both his feet were on the Blue Creek side of the gap, and his body was angled over the gap. If Dr. Kaufmann and James had dropped the bag, it was likely that Walter would have fallen face first down the divide. Walter leaned back and helped pull the bag across the gap.

“Warn us before you do something crazy like that!” Dr. Kaufmann said, panting.
“My bad,” Walter said.

Alex, Travis, and Henry arrived at the second fire escape. Alex opened the door. Since Alex was facing forward, instead of backwards like Walter was, it was much easier for him to simply step over the gap, taking the bag with him. In seconds, Alchemilla had crossed the gap, while Dr. Kaufmann was still adjusting and rearranging the group so that he and James could get over.

“And Alchemilla retakes the lead!” Joseph said. “It’s only a quick trip down the stairs from here to the last room. Brookhaven needs to hurry up and figure out this gap, as Alchemilla is just plowing through this part of the task.”

Dr. Kaufmann and James both stepped one foot over the gap, then they moved the bag a little forward, then they both took their second step. As he crossed the gap, James lost his balance. He dropped his portion of the bag and clung to the inside of the doorway, narrowly avoiding a fall. Without James, Dr. Kaufmann and Walter couldn’t keep their grip on the bag and it fell to the floor with a heavy thud.

“Come on, James,” Dr. Kaufmann said. “We’re falling behind.” James apologized and helped pick up the bag. The three got back into a triangle formation and lifted the bag again. Alex was already descending the stairs, cautiously but quickly.

“Alchemilla is already at the bottom of their stairs and Brookhaven is still near the gap,” Joseph said. The three men from Brookhaven shuffled over to the stairs, rearranged their formation again, and then continued down.

“Alchemilla has delivered their bag!” Joseph said, “Dahlia, Claudia, and Mary can open it and begin searching for their coins to solve their riddle.”

Claudia found the opening for the bag and tore it open, revealing what was inside that was so heavy: massive quantities of concrete powder mix.

“That… that explains it,” Alex said. He sat down on the floor with a grunt and tried to catch his breath. His face was red; he was sweating and shaking.

“Take it easy, man,” Travis said.

The three women dumped the bag onto its side and began sifting through the mix in order to find their three coins. Dahlia found the first one right away, a bronze coin that was resting right on top of the pile. Mary and Claudia continued digging through to find the other two coins.

A few seconds later, Dr. Kaufmann, James, and Walter arrived at the room. They dropped the bag onto the floor.

“Brookhaven is here,” Joseph said. “They can start working on their puzzle now.”

“Damn,” Dr. Kaufmann said, massaging his arms and back. “Ugh. I should have… been on the puzzle instead.”

He and James sat down on the floor. Walter, however, seemed unaffected. He crossed his arms and watched the others with a silent gaze. Vincent, Douglas, and Lisa tore open their bag and dumped the concrete onto the floor and began sifting through it.

“Alchemilla has their second coin,” Joseph said. “One more to go.”

Vincent was using his hands like shovels, digging up the gray dust in double handfuls as he tried to reach the bottom.

“Douglas found a coin,” Joseph said. “It’s two to one in favor of Alchemilla now.”

Claudia reached into the pile and pulled her hand out, triumphantly showing the third and final coin between her fingers.

“Alchemilla has all three coins and can start on their riddle,” Joseph said. The three girls dashed over to a cabinet pushed against the wall. On the cabinet were five coin-sized indentations in a horizontal row, as well as a gold placard with the riddle written on it. The three girls were quickly skimming the puzzle aloud to themselves.

“Brookhaven has its second coin,” Joseph said. “One more for them.”

They continued to dig through the dust, but couldn’t find the last coin. Meanwhile, Dahlia posited a solution. She arranged the three coins in different slots and pushed a button at the top of the cabinet. The button buzzed and showed a red light.

“Dahlia thought she had it,” Joseph said, “But something wasn’t right.”

Mary reread the clue. She swapped the places of the bronze coin and the gold coin and pushed the button. It buzzed again and showed red.

“No again for Alchemilla.” Joseph said. “And Brookhaven’s still digging, trying to find that last coin.”

“Where is it?” Vincent said.

“Are you standing on it?” Douglas asked.

Vincent stood up and shook the dust off his clothes. He looked around under his feet and saw nothing.

Meanwhile, Dahlia reread the clue. “Oh, how foolish of me,” she muttered. She moved one coin into the adjacent slot and pushed the button again. This time it dinged and glowed green.

“Alchemilla wins reward!” Joseph said. Mary jumped for joy and hugged Dahlia and Claudia, who both seemed a bit surprised by the sudden display of affection. Moments later, the rest of Alchemilla cult burst into the room and started rejoicing together.

“Alchemilla,” Joseph said, “Go claim your reward.”

The nine cult members, laughing and giving each other high fives, left the room and made their way to the table out in front of the apartment complex. The rest of the Brookhaven cult shuffled into the room silently.

“Brookhaven, I have nothing for you,” Joseph said. “Go back to your camp.”

Dejected, the ten members of the cult left the room and headed back to their hospital.

“Well, at least it wasn’t an immunity challenge,” Eileen said.

“Still,” Dr. Kaufmann said. “There’s no reason we should have lost.”

BROOKHAVEN CULT
DAY 4



EILEEN: BROOKHAVEN CULT
The loss was a bit demoralizing, sure. But—and I know this doesn’t seem to make sense—it was the best kind of loss we could possibly have. It wasn’t an immunity challenge, so no one is getting voted off because of it, and it wasn’t really anyone single person’s fault we lost, so nobody can really blame anyone for it. I’d prefer we didn’t lose, obviously, but if we’re gonna take a hit, that’s the best time for it to happen. And maybe we can learn from this and be better when it counts: the next immunity challenge.




The ten members of Brookhaven Cult trudged back into the hospital. They were about to split up and go their separate ways when a voice from the back of the group stopped them.

“You know what?” Douglas said. The others turned and looked at him. “I’m starving. And I’m damn sick of beef jerky all the time. I really wanted to win that one.”

“Don’t start blaming anyone,” Dr. Kaufmann said. “We’re all a bit guilty for that loss.”

“I wasn’t going to blame anyone,” Douglas said. “I was just going to say that I’m heading out to look for food. If no one wants to go with, fine. I’ll go alone. But I’m not going to go to bed hungry tonight if I can help it.”

“Honestly, Douglas,” Dr. Kaufmann said. “What do you expect to find out there? This whole city is nothing but rot and decay and disease. That includes the food. We’re better off sticking with the beef jerky, instead of risking our necks with monsters and dubious food sources.”

“Maybe. Maybe not. I’m going out either way,” Douglas said. “I’ll go alone if I have to.”

“I’ll go,” Eileen said. She stepped next to him. “I’m sick of beef jerky too.”

“I’ll come,” James said.

“Well, if James is going,” Maria said. “Then I’ll go too.”

“‘If James is going?’” James repeated. Maria didn’t reply.

Vincent looked at his hands. They were gray and cracking from the concrete mix he’d been digging through. “If you go near the lake, then I’ll come,” he said. “The only running water here is in the toilets, and I’m not washing my hands in a toilet. I’m not James, after all.”

“I never washed my hands in a toilet,” James said. “Oh… the toilet joke again. It’s still not funny.”

“Ha, I beg to differ,” Vincent said.

“I should wash my hands too,” Lisa said. Her hands, like Vincent’s, were covered in concrete mix. “This probably isn’t good for my skin.”

“I’m staying,” Dr. Kaufmann said. “I damn near killed myself with that bag, and I’m not going to go running around town fighting monsters for no good reason.”

Douglas shrugged. “Fine. No one has to go if they don’t want.”

“Anyone else coming along?” Eileen asked.

Walter stepped forward. He had his steel pipe clutched in his hands.

“You’re just going to wear yourself out, Walter,” Dr. Kaufmann said.

“I doubt it,” Walter said.

“Cybil?” Douglas asked. “How about you?”

She shook her head. “Not this time. But here.” She handed Douglas the cult’s pistol. “Be safe out there, okay?”

“Right.” Douglas put the pistol into one of the large pockets in his trench coat. He and the others turned back around and left the hospital. When the doors closed behind them, Dr. Kaufmann looked at Cybil.

“Strange,” he said. “I was sure you’d go.”

“Just tired, that’s all,” Cybil said. “I wouldn’t be much help.”



CYBIL: BROOKHAVEN CULT
Something has been bothering me about Dr. Kaufmann. He’s always seemed to know more than he lets on, even back when I first came to Silent Hill. He doesn’t seem to be like the rest of the town’s weirdo residents, but he knows more about the town and its history than anyone else I’ve met. And his actions are sometimes… peculiar. I can’t really put my finger on it yet, but I feel like I should keep an eye on him for now.




“Can we go to the lake first?” Lisa asked. “I think the stuff on my hands is starting to harden.”

“Sure,” Douglas said. “What’s the quickest way to the lakefront?”

“Rosewater Park,” James said. “It’s only a couple blocks away.”

“You seem to know this part of town pretty well,” Douglas said.

“Yeah. Just this part though,” James said. “My wife Mary and I used to come here all the time. Especially the park. We loved it there.”

“Don’t get him started about his wife,” Maria said. “He’ll go on forever.”

Vincent furrowed his brow. “Isn’t there a Mary in Alchemilla Cult?” he asked.

“Yeah, she’s my wife,” James said.

Vincent smirked. “Interesting,” he said. “Quite interesting. So the two of you signed up together? That’s adorable.”

“She loves the show,” James said. “Been trying to get on for as long as I can remember. As soon—”

“Don’t you think that’s enough about her?” Maria said. “After all, you said she was in Alchemilla now. She’s the enemy, right?”

“Well… no,” James said. “She’s not my enemy.”

Maria turned to Vincent. “And how did you know there was a Mary in Alchemilla?” she asked him.

“During our little introductions back at the start of the show,” he said. “I only remembered because I recall thinking it somewhat odd that there was both a Mary and a Maria on the show.”

“Why is that odd?”

“They’re similar names, that’s all.”

“Okay,” Douglas said, stopping at an intersection. “Rosewater Park is… that way, right?” He pointed to the right. James nodded. “No sense in all six of us going over there. You think we’ll be okay if we split up?”

“The park’s pretty quiet,” James said. “Even the monsters seem to stay away. And we can check the bowling alley. Eddie once found a pizza in there, so we might get lucky.”

“Eddie…” Eileen said. “Isn’t he the one that Alchemilla just voted off?”

“Yeah,” James said. “Kind of a shame.”

“You seem to know a lot of people in Alchemilla,” Vincent said.

“I didn’t know Eddie that well,” James said. “Only met him a couple times.”

“Let’s go, James,” Maria said. She grabbed him by the arm and pulled him to the bowling alley. Eileen and Walter followed after them.

“You idiot, James,” Maria whispered to him.

“What? What’d I do?” he whispered back.



MARIA: BROOKHAVEN CULT
James is proving to be more trouble than he’s worth. I’ve had a gameplan for a while now. I was going to stick with James, and then at the merge, we’d form an alliance with as many of his former acquaintances in Alchemilla as we could. But that only works if James can keep his stupid mouth shut! If they think he has alliances on the other side, then the two of us will never make it to the merge to begin with! I knew he was a bit slow, but this is just crazy! Doesn’t he have any idea how to play this game?




James, Eileen, Walter, and Maria arrived at the bowling alley.

“You said Eddie found a pizza here,” Eileen said. “Any idea where he got it?”

“No,” James said. “But it looked fresh, and it was in a delivery box. Maybe he had it delivered?”

Eileen and Maria looked at him.

“Oh, right,” James said. “Never mind.”

“Let’s just look around,” Maria said. They walked down a short hallway to a pair of double-doors. The doors opened with a moan, revealing the main bowling area, complete with a handful of lanes. Pins were set up at the end of each lane, and there were several racks near the back of the room loaded with bowling balls of different weights and colors. There was also a window opening into the concession area. Next to the window was a door. They opened it and stepped inside.

The concession area was completely barren. There was a rotisserie in the corner where hotdogs could be cooked, but it was empty and dusty. The popcorn machine, refrigerator, and candy shelves were in similar condition. There were no cans or boxes in the pantries either. Disappointed, the four headed back outside, just in time to run into the others.

“Any luck?” Douglas asked.

“Completely empty,” Eileen said. Across the street was a gas station, where the group went next. The station was little more than a couple of fuel pumps and a shack, the latter of which contained nothing but several empty cartons of cigarettes and a monster that Walter promptly bludgeoned to death.

“Not that I’m complaining,” Maria said, “But didn’t there used to be a lot more monsters around town? I’ve hardly seen any since the game started, and the streets used to be flooded with the things.”

“Maybe Walter killed them all.” Eileen said.

Walter didn’t reply.

Together, the seven of them searched Heaven’s Night—which was already unlocked and thus didn’t need Maria’s key—and the inn a block down the road. They found no food in either, not even old or rotting food. Everything was empty, as if the town had been robbed recently.

“How are we supposed to scavenge for food,” Maria said, “If there’s no food to scavenge?”

“There’s still the other side of town that we haven’t checked,” Vincent said. “There are restaurants there that we could try.”

“Better head back,” Douglas said. He sighed. “It’s gonna be dark soon.”

“It was worth a shot,” Eileen said.

BROOKHAVEN CULT
NIGHT 4

That night, an hour and a half after everyone had gone to sleep, Vincent calmly opened his bedroom door and proceeded down the hall towards the bathroom. Nonchalantly, he looked around, making sure no one was in the hall with him. He approached the bathroom door and knocked lightly on the door.

“Anyone in there?” he whispered. “If not, I’m coming in.”

He waited a moment. When he got no response, he turned around and headed for the door to the stairs. He pushed open the door as quietly as he could and closed it with care. He proceeded to the stairs and rushed down them as quickly as he dared in the near total dark. He went all the way down the first floor and ducked into the reception room, where the team’s idol lay on a table. Vincent picked it up and stepped back into the hallway. He entered the nearest office, opened a window, and tossed the idol out into the bushes. He closed the window and headed back upstairs.

Again, he opened the doorway to the third floor hall as carefully as he could. He passed the bathroom again and gently knocked. Once more, there was no response. He walked the full length of the hall, making sure that no one was watching in the dark, before returning to his bedroom and going to sleep.



VINCENT: BROOKHAVEN CULT
I’ve been considering my options all day, and I’ve come to the conclusion that this situation: Walter possessing the real idol while everyone else has a fake, is the worst possible situation for me. I cannot tell the truth about the idol, because that draws suspicion to me, how I know so much about the idol, why I didn’t speak up sooner, et cetera. I can’t keep quiet either, because if we proceed into the merge with a strategy built around a fake idol, then Alchemilla will crush us.

I doubt that Walter could be blackmailed into giving me the idol, or bribed, or coerced in any way. I doubt even direct torture could get him to give it up. Nor can I steal the idol; that’s against the rules. So that leaves one option. The only way to wrest the idol from Walter’s grip is to force him to play it. After it’s out, it goes back into circulation and can be discovered once again, hopefully by myself or someone weaker willed than Walter. Someone I can control.

There are a lot of if’s and but’s and maybe’s about my plan, but as I said before, the current situation couldn’t be any worse. Any change, I feel, would be for the better. Now it is simply up to my acting skills to ensure that the most favorable outcome for me occurs. I can hardly wait.