Chapter 15
Linda wandered around the infernal hospital, not knowing what exactly she was going to find there. The ground floor had many rooms, but which could give her at least one clue, she had no idea, so the best option would be to check them all, starting from the first door on the left from the main entrance. It was located behind the reception desk, so Linda had to lift the partition to get to the door. But it appeared to be firmly locked and the lock itself was obviously broken. Linda wasn't sure whether she should be happy about it or not, but at least one room was out of the searching line. But what if there could be something that contained valuable information? In any case, if other rooms are empty, the locked doors could maybe be broken with some heavy tool, if one could be found. Linda admitted to herself that she had no wish to wander around this demonic world and look for trouble, but not like she had plenty of options. She might stay in this world forever, but the time doesn't wait. She had to achieve the goal that she came here for.
The first floor had nothing of particular interest, but when Linda entered the doctor's office, something caught her attention. Although everything looked like pure hell, the rooms were still recognizable. And in this particular room there were still two sofas, a small table for journals between them, a few bookshelves, and a desk with a typewriter on it. All in all, it seemed that this room was meant for taking a break, doctors could have a cup of coffee here. But not all of this caught Linda's attention. On the right from the door she saw a large clipboard with some filthy and tattered papers stuck to it. But one of them stood out among the rest. Although the paper was smeared with blood in some places and the note was so old that the text was barely readable, but still Linda could make out the following lines:
"I forbid going to the basement without authorization. Any of the medical personnel that attempts to get there without permission, will be fired without explanation.
Dr. Kaufmann"
Linda could only wonder who this Dr. Kaufmann was, but one thing was clear – if he forbade anyone from going to the basement, it means he was definitely hiding something there. And that's where she was going to go right now.
Holding her handgun ready, she searched the nearby doors. The next to the doctor's office was the kitchen, then the principal's office, and the last door before the elevator lead to the basement. But before going down, she decided that checking the mentioned rooms wouldn't do any harm. Besides, she didn't forget for a second that James advised to do your best to save the ammo and find something to use as a melee weapon against the weaker enemies. Kitchen would be the best place to start searching.
Linda opened the door, trying to do it as quietly as possible and from what she saw there her eyes widened, half from horror and half from amazement. Generally it looked as rusted, filthy, and bloody as the rest of the hospital, but the middle of the kitchen was occupied by something that looked a large rusted cage, but the most terrifying was that it looked bottomless with a blazing fire instead of the bottom. And inside the cage there was something that seemed to be hanging in the air and covered with a dirty sheet. Linda presumed that it could probably be a dead body, but she couldn't break through the metal wires to get to it, and she totally lacked the wish to check it out. The general picture was horrible, a corpse covered with a sheet, literally grilling above the fire.
Trying her best not to look at this bizarre construction, Linda started searching around the kitchen. There were a few dirty frying pans, but that was not a good option for a weapon. Well, if she couldn't find anything better, she would have to use a pan. At least it's better than nothing. But when she opened a small door under the sink, Linda couldn't hold back the smile. There was a rusty steel pipe, obviously lying there for a rather long time. The woman pulled it out of its place, hoping it would help her to defend herself if necessary. The pipe was heavy, but not as heavy for a female to carry it without problems. The only thing that matters is the damage it could make.
Linda put the handgun into the pocket of her jacket and slowly left the kitchen, holding the pipe in both hands. The next room on her way was the principal's office. It looked not better than the kitchen, as the walls were, in fact, "decorated" with bodies wrapped in bandages, two on each side, plus they were locked behind metal bars. They looked like mummies stuck in narrow cages. But except for that, there was nothing of particular interest, so Linda couldn't wait to leave this room, the faster, the better. She nearly allowed herself to return to the doctor's office, as comparing to the kitchen and principal's office, this room could be called luxurious. At least there were no grilling corpses or mummies on the walls.
But the most important and dangerous location was ahead; the basement. Linda hesitated about taking the flashlight out of her backpack. While on the first floor it was still relatively bright, it didn't mean that in the basement the light would be the same. Anyhow, the world she was in at this moment was swallowed by darkness, so flashlight would be useful. On the other hand, Linda felt also afraid that thus she could attract the unnecessary attention to herself, but wandering in this place without light would be disastrous. So she took the backpack off her shoulders, putting the pipe on the floor, and pulled out a small flashlight that illuminated the distance of a meter or two in front of her. Linda stuck it into the breast pocket of her jacket, put the backpack on and picked up the pipe. It was time to go down into the basement and face whatever awaited her there.
Opening the door to the basement, Linda was mentally glad that she made the right decision about using the flashlight. The stairwell, if the light is switched off, was absolutely dark, pitch black, if you could call it like that. It wasn't a long descent that ended in another door that led to the basement itself. It was nearly as dark as the stairwell, but the contours of the surroundings were visible. Linda entered the basement and turned right at once, illuminating her way with a flashlight. At first it seemed silent here, but very soon she realized that the silence was just one big, frightful illusion. Right at that moment a peculiar sound broke the silence, and Linda could clearly hear it behind her back. It meant that she wasn't alone in the basement. Somebody or something was following her. Judging by the sound, it reminded her of footsteps, but they weren't similar to the footsteps of a normal human being. They sounded kinda… halting. That was the best way to describe the sound Linda heard.
Fear paralyzed Linda's whole body, she couldn't help but start trembling. She was afraid to turn around and see what was behind her, but at the same time she understood well that if she doesn't overcome her own fear and face whatever was following her, these could be the last moments of her life. So she swallowed hard and turned around, holding the pipe ready for the fight. But what she saw in the ray of her flashlight made her blood turn cold. There, a few meters away from her, two hideous humanoid creatures were coming right at her. Both were clearly female and when they came a few steps closer to Linda, she could take a better look at them. The zombie-like females had ghostly-pale skin, had black hair of cheek length and were dressed in filthy knee-length hospital robes that sometime might have been white. In addition, they had white gloves on their hands and wore small caps on their heads. It was hard to see their faces, as they kept looking down while walking. To Linda, these beings looked very much like nurses. And considering that she was in a hospital, the appearance of such creatures is no surprise. But the scariest feature of these diabolical nurses was their movement. Their gait was indeed halting, and their body movements made Linda think that every step they make causes unbearable pain to them, but she couldn't be sure of that. To know it for sure, you have to be in the skin of these monsters.
Now Linda had to make a choice – to run or to fight. At first she mulled about the first option, about running away the same way she came here. But soon enough she realized the impossibility of this choice, as the demonic nurses were now standing right at the spot where the exit was, blocking the way. Plus, both of them were armed with steel pipes of the same type as the one in Linda's hands. So there was only one option left – fight.
Linda stood in a combat position, holding one end of the pipe firmly. One of the nurses, after standing still for a few moments, finally began to approach her. Linda felt her arms trembling, but she had to do it if she wanted to live another day. Taking a deep breath, she made a few steps towards the nurse. Needless would it be to say that these were the hardest steps she had ever made in her life. The zombie-like nurse came closer and closer, and even if these creatures seemed slow, Linda knew that it might be deceptive and she had to react fast. And right when the nurse lifted her pipe, aiming for the blow, Linda moved faster and slammed the enemy with her own pipe, hitting the shoulder. The monster seemed stunned, and that was a good moment for another attack, which Linda certainly used in her favour. She aimed for the creature's head this time and tried to hit with all her might. The woman delivered blow after blow until the nurse finally collapsed on the floor, twitching in her last movements. To be safe, Linda hit her on the head a few times with her foot, and the nurse finally stopped moving.
Linda was panting heavily, but this was not the end yet. Minus one enemy is good, but she still had to deal with the second nurse. Now the combat tactics were more or less clear, but she had to be careful in any case. Linda decided that maybe it would be better to hit her enemy on the legs, so the creature would fall on the floor and it would be easier to finish it. So she made a few steps back and then ran at the nurse, swinging the pipe in the process and aiming at the legs. At first she pushed the nurse with her body and only then delivered the planned blow. The hideous nurse definitely didn't expect anything of this kind and, just like Linda thought, fell on the floor. Linda held the foe with her foot, not allowing it to get up, and with several swings of the pipe she finally managed to crash the creature's skull. It stopped moving right then, not even twitching before death like its "sister".
"Jesus… What the hell are these things?" Linda whispered to herself, trying to catch her breath. She was glad though that she could defeat them successfully. These particular enemies didn't seem to be very strong, but it didn't mean that it would always be that easy. These were only the first monsters on her way, and if she encounters any other creature, it might as well be twice as strong as the nurses.
It was the first time when Linda had to fight in her life. And she certainly could never imagine that her first fight would be with inhuman beings. If she manages to get out of this cursed town alive, this would be the first thing to remember about Silent Hill.
Now, why did these nurses appear here, in the basement? Linda expected to stumble on some monster already at the reception, but no one was in her way until she stepped into the basement. Plus, in the note she saw in doctor's office, Dr. Kaufmann strictly forbade anyone from any attempts to get here. So could the appearance of the demonic nurses be a hint that something really important is hidden in the basement?
Linda decided not to waste time and started checking the doors, starting from the first one on the left. The exit was the closest to the elevator, so generally the basement plan was similar to the first floor. The next door had a warning about high voltage danger on it and the room contained some kind of a generator inside. The second room had some piping system in it and nothing else of particular interest. But the door on the opposite side was the entrance into a long corridor that led to some secret door. When Linda opened it, at first sight she wasn't very much surprised. It looked like a hidden hospital ward with a bed in the middle and a catheter on the left. It might be the room where they kept a patient that might have especially dangerous disease or something of that kind. On the right side she saw what appeared to be a wooden nightstand with a single portrait on it. Linda came closer to examine it, and as soon as she took the portrait in her hand, her mouth went agape and eyes widened in shock. She could mutter only one word.
"Alessa…"