Realistic or Modern Silent Hill: Brotherhood

[CaptainSully]

The sun shone bright against the metallic silver paintwork of the minibus, the glare resistant glass allowing its occupants to gaze out into the world without the need to squint. At the front of the bus with the driver was Doctor Elizabeth Spiers. Her fiery red hair and deep, blue eyes complemented the paleness of her soft skin. She had arranged the trip so that the other passengers would have the opportunity to try and get away from the problems they were seeing her from. In reality the fresh air and nature of their destination was all part of giving them an environment that would help her to draw forth the deep seated issues within them all.

“Alright everyone,” she said gently, “We are going to be stopping in a second, Frank needs to top up the fuel to make sure we have enough to get there. Feel free to get off and stretch your legs, get a bite to eat or whatever. Just be back in ten minutes.”

Frank wore a shirt and tie but looked considerably out of place for it. His grease addled skin, thinning hair and portly stature certainly pertained to a certain type of person. That being said, he had been nothing but courteous to his passengers. It wasn’t long before Frank was turning off the road and into a fairly modern looking gas station. They hadn’t seen much beyond a few farmsteads and the picturesque scenery lining the roads.

Coming to a stop Rob reached out to the door handle and slid it open. The Welshman hopped out and stretched his limbs out wide, his bones creaking slightly as he did. His red flannel shirt was unbuttoned to reveal a band t-shirt for his current favourite band. A pair of dark, grey jeans were capped off with a pair of tan boots, a pretty generic look but still a far cry from the suits he would usually be found wearing.

He made his way straight towards the toilet around the side, not saying a word to anyone else, such was his desperation. His walk soon became an awkward jog and within a moment he was standing in front of the porcelain receptacle he had been so desperate for. The lighting of the bathroom was poor, especially given the rest of the station looked modern. The tiles were caked in grime and the urinal he was stood before had a large chuck of porcelain missing from the upper corner. He let out a deep sigh of relief as he felt his bladder empty completely, turning to the nearby sink to wash his hands after zipping himself up..

“13:00?!” he said out loud to himself as he caught a glimpse of his watch, “is that it? Been on this bus for hours”

He ran his hands beneath the dryer before his eyes caught sight of a flickering light beneath the door of a nearby closet. He paid it no mind at first but the intensity of the light began to grow. It grew brighter, flashed faster before it felt as if the entire room was illuminated by the small gap between the door and the floor. The silence of the hand dryer stopping brought an end to the bright light as it seemed to slowly recede back into the crack of space. For a moment Rob stood silent, his mind racing to work out what had happened.

“Electrics must be shit…” he said under his breath. He rubbed his hands together before re-emerging into the daylight outside. He looked back at the bus as the others began to emerge, some walking around talking while others heading inside the gas station, presumably to get some snacks.

 

[Specialist]

Vitals: 100%
Mood: Indifferent
Interacting with: N/A, Open to Interaction​

"Mhm." the man grunted out as he rose to his feet, nodding curtly at the labcoat as he made his way gently past the others and stepped off the bus to the convenience store. The only thing he did was pick out a large bag of trail mix, a bar of dark chocolate and a Red Bull. Briefly turning the can over to examine the label, he couldn't help but scoff. The thing was loaded with sugars and caffeine, but comparatively more than the Russian NRG's he always carried on him. He sighed, making his way up to the counter. 'It'll have to do.' The transaction went smoothly- apart from the cashier briefly glancing at his open wallet to notice his Military I.D apart from his tags secured around his neck. Cheerily and bashfully thanking him for his service, Joel nodded and forced a smile. "Always welcome, Ma'am." He kept his eyes down after that, taking the plastic bag provided to him and leaving the store. Once out of eye contact, his expression soured lightly as he reflected on that statement. To him that was a service served long ago; nothing compared to what he witnessed in Tarkov. Even then, it didn't feel like a service- more like a chore. Sent into someone else's country to fix a mess made by elderly manchildren in suits and ties- on two separate occasions no less. He hoped to God that this little group therapy trip could flesh out the root of what troubled him- otherwise he was going to drink himself into a stupor by the time he returned back home- and probably end everything with a bullet while he was there.

Smiling lightly at the Doctor to re-confirm his arrival, he sat down at his previous seat, closest right window three rows down, and transferred his goods to his backpack in an unnaturally fluid manner. Muscle memory worked in strange ways, even if there was no reason for him to do so. Glancing at his watch, he blinked as his eyes were unable to betray his emotion of surprise. One in the afternoon? He vaguely recalled boarding the bus at at least 10:00 AM. Maybe his memory really was fading on him. He was getting to be an 'old bastard' after all. He stared out the window at the others who'd arrived; trying to gauge their intentions, and why they'd come. As far as he could tell this was no ordinary therapy exercise, and it seemed like this Doctor took a peculiar interest in severe traumatic cases. For now unless directly spoken to, he didn't mind closing his eyes and relaxing for a while.

 

[Israel]

Elisha "Eli" Zohar​

During the bus ride, Elisha decided to distract himself with a book. Figuring it was probably better than annoying his fellow patients or Doctor Spiers. When the bus had come to a complete stop, Elisha no longer had his nose buried in the book. He didn’t rush to get off, but he was certainly tired of being on, what he would call, a “rust bucket.” As soon as he was off the bus, he began stretching out his limbs. After receiving the relief to his muscles, he began making his way over to the convenience store.

Robert, or as Elisha jovially referred to him as “the Brit” in his head, was making his way to the restroom. Don’t need to use the restroom. Elisha wasn’t sure when they would make it to the town, but he didn’t feel like he particularly had to use the facilities yet. He watched… What was his name again? It was on the tip of Elisha’s tongue. J… Jay? No. John? No… Joel! His thoughts finally recollected the lost name. Perhaps he was more tired than he thought.

Maybe I should get a coffee. Elisha yawned. He probably should’ve tried sleeping on the bus, but he had found his book far more interesting than the idea of sleep. He made his way over to the fountain drink area. His eyes landed on one of the coffee machines. A sign taped on it said Out of Order. “Darn.” He muttered to himself, noticing the only one working was the decaffeinated coffee. Does anyone truly drink decaf? He thought for a second before making his way over to the refrigerated display that had the energy drink options. He had seen Joel grab a Red Bull before he checked out and wondered if it was any good. His sister used to drink an energy drink in the morning called XL while Elisha stuck to black coffee. She would often tease Elisha about having adopted his father’s taste for bitter things. The Red Bull can kind of resembled the XL can, so he wondered if it had a similar taste. He decided not to dawdle for long and grabbed one for himself. He then made his way over to the checkout.

Elisha noticed that the woman had watched him since the moment he walked into the store. He knew that based on his appearance, she probably perceived him as being more likely to be a shoplifter. Instead of feeling bitter about the situation, Elisha was more than happy to kill someone with kindness. “Hi, how are you?” He smiled as he approached the counter and placed the single item on it. The woman was probably a little shocked by his friendliness, but she also returned the greeting and asked him if he found everything he was looking for. The checkout process was rather uneventful and he made his way outside of the store as soon as he finished paying.

The young man began making his way back over to the bus, but decided he wanted to stay outside for as long as possible before stepping back into the Rust Bucket. The Israeli’s gaze seemed to be staring off into the distance, not looking at anything in particular. His gray-colored eyes were something that fascinated quite a few people. While some perceived his gaze as rather innocent and somewhat absentminded, others found it to be slightly off-putting.

 

[Ghoulina]

Twila Folley

✰ Interaction: Specialist / Joel
✯ Mention: CaptainSully / Robert + Israel / Elisha
★ Mood: Trying to relax, calming down.

Farms and fields glided lazily by through a lonely window on the somber bus, weaving its way to the uncertain promised lands ahead. It was difficult for Twila to know how to feel as they drifted away from the urban surroundings she was used to. She had been staring out the window watching barns and old houses pass by, cracked paint, potato fields and wandering cows- jersey herd, she was sure. She pulled her dark oversized denim jacket around herself snugly and rested her head against her seat, breathing slowly, slowly. This seemed so familiar, like drives out to the Passamoquoddy reservation to visit her grandparents when she was little. They would look out the window and count cars and play I Spy, watch for hawks circling and share sandwiches to the tune of old jangling country music playing on cassette tape. Golden days, endless sun shining down on sleepy kids tired from the excitement of finally going somewhere. Children running from the farmhouse before dawn with no shoes, creeping giggling bandits carrying their pillowcases to fill with blueberries from the neighbors field before breakfast. It's tender and warm, a memory that flits around in her mind like a butterfly just freed from its chrysalis.

"I'm not raising thieves." her father’s voice hissed. She clutched the armrest and gripped it tightly, a sharp inhale of air filling her lungs. The butterfly was pulled into darkness by masculine hands shaking with rage. That summer, she told the other kids she had fallen down from the hayloft in the barn, and after that she would blame a fall on a slippery dock at Lake Lewy. The story of a childhood illustrated with the palette of countless bruises, dead purple, sick green, muted black and blue kissed by a lingering yellow. A hundred lies, what a clumsy child they would say, she must be born like that. She swallowed hard, recalling Dr. Spiers' breathing exercises- breathe slow, slow. It would pass, her brain just liked to pull the rug out from under her randomly when she saw things that made her remember, even if it was a good memory, it could become something entirely different in an instant. Thankfully, Dr. Spiers gave her something else to listen to, they were stopping to refuel and not a moment too soon. She unzipped her black duffel bag and rooted around for her wallet before getting up and anxiously eyeing the other riders, making sure nobody would be directly behind her.

“Thanks doc, I won’t wander far.” she uttered quietly as she rushed past and off the bus. As soon as her worn out combat boots hit the pavement she barreled into the gas station, on the hunt to find something to give her a hit of dopamine that wasn’t booze or cigarettes. Robert, who seemed like a very suave gentleman from somewhere in the UK (she couldn't distinguish dialects at all) had bolted off the bus, likely heading for the bathroom. She grimaced at the thought, sure, she had been to prison but she did have standards- and you never knew what kind of horrors you might find in a gas station bathroom in the middle of nowhere. Pressing on, she entered the building. Were gas stations really different from each other in all of America? Fluorescent lights and completely ignorable music, rows of soda and energy drinks, a slowly rotating hot dog machine- hot dog? It would do. Like her, they were somewhat delicious at first but often regrettable later and a little bit trashy. Ketchup, mustard, napkin, can of cherry coke and up to the register. The cashier was helping one of the other riders, or travelers- patients? Twila wasn’t sure to call their group, but the cashier thanked the man for his service. Licking a spot of ketchup off the back of her hand, she stared intensely at the back of his head, recalling his name: Joel. A military man, huh?

Another one was there, a younger man named Eli. Twila recalled his striking grey eyes, she had always wanted some other color- any other color than the near black she had been gifted along with her entire family. When he finished, she cleared her throat and clunked her can of soda down. Gazing at the glossy glass counter top displaying a rainbow of scratchers underneath, she wondered what had brought the three there. She dug her hand into the deep pocket of her denim jacket, searching for her wallet and doing her best to avoid eye contact and conversation. Did they all have the same kinds of issues? Or was it all a farce, and some cruel social experiment? Groping around stupidly, she began to think she left her wallet on the bus, but she was sure she had grabbed it-

HHHHsssssSSS....

She froze, not even daring to take a breath. It was a hiss, not like a snake, not like a cat spitting at an intruder, not like air squeezing out of a balloon. What was it? She thought maybe she knew, but she didn’t want to. In fact, she didn’t want to think about anything at all at that moment. A pendulum unfurled inside of her ribcage and began to sway back and forth, bolting her to the ground.

Hic… hssss… sputter....

“Ma’am?” the cashier inquired, a friendly female voice.

“What… what did you say?” Twila blurted out, her eyes darting back to the waiting clerk.

“I asked if you wanted any chocolate bars, they’re buy one get one free when you get a hot dog.”

“Oh… Y-yeah, sure.” Twila continued, her hand having found her wallet finally.

She emerged from the gas station shortly after, soda shoved in one pocket and a cheap plastic bag full of chocolate bars in the other. She began eating her hot dog immediately, eager to feel something, anything nice at all. That was nothing, she told herself, just her mind pulling the rug out again. As she entered the bus, she saw that Frank was no longer there and had begun to refuel. She placed a Milky Way bar on his seat and smiled. “Hah, cause you’re outta this world.” she muttered to herself, chuckling at the idiotic sentiment before cruising much more calmly to her seat near the back of the bus. Before she got there, she looked over and could see that Joel had returned too. She slowed, watching him for a moment as he packed his things away like a well oiled machine in what looked like a very serious backpack.

Munching away, she slid into the seat closest to him but on the other side of the aisle and quietly studied him for a moment, not yet sure if she should try to make contact. Dr. Spiers was trying to inspire her to be more friendly and open, but Twila didn’t have a great relationship with uniformed folk with guns. “Hey, aren’t you going to eat anything?” she questioned, having seen him purchase some kind of snack. Tilting her head, she looked a little closer at his backpack. “And do you always come this prepared for ‘relaxing health retreats’?” she remarked casually, cracking a smile.

 

[Specialist]

Vitals: 100%
Mood: Surprised > Curious
Interacting with: Ghoulina ​

Joel's torso twitched from the sound of the voice, clearly startled out of routine. Muscle memory immediately triggered for him; gauging the distance to a target as he nearly threw himself back and reached for his rightmost pants pocket with a quick-draw style 'WHRAP!' Except, there wasn't a pistol secured to his beltstrap. Eyes widened for a split second, he blinked, relaxed his hands and let out a deep breath as he closed his eyes, before angling his head up to open them and address the woman who spoke as he relaxed his body to contort back into position as the 'threat' was no longer there. He was irritated slightly, but he couldn't blame a curious nature from someone analyzing him like that. "Ehum.. It's uh.... no. I uh.. didn't realize this was a 'health retreat'." His deep, gravelly Southern drawl faintly boomed inside the hollowed, elongated compartment of the bus. He looked directly up at her; a weathered, battle-worn face of a man in his forties with piercing hazel eyes, tapered warm black hair and a salt and pepper beard analyzed her back as he addressed the woman's second question. "Not hungry at the moment. I'll probably eat somethin' down the road- I've gone longer without anyway."

'God-damn, I'm bad with small talk.' his mental voice chastised him as he blinked. Maybe he was tired- he certainly wasn't used to such vivid scenery being projected at him after the months of dreary Russian countryside. "Apologies 'fore the.. the tick. Nervous habit." 'Really- nervous habit?' Joel blinked, and forced a light smile. He didn't feel like talking at the moment, but if he was going to be traveling with these folks for some time, he might as well start with being approached instead of waiting for the introductory circle to occur again. "...There somethin' I can do for you, Miss?" He stared at her, his voice sounding more worried at her response considering he just drew an invisible gun on her for asking something so casual.

 

[D1.Live]

Roland Boone​

Mood: Optimistic
Mentions/Interactions: Israel (Eli)

Peacefully laying down with his eyes closed Roland is listening to an audiobook of "Home Before Dark" by Riley Sager using his mind to paint out the words being spoken. He's in a peaceful state of mind and is on the edge of drifting to sleep. When the words from the book start sounding faded and echo like they're becoming farther he decided to accept the sleep. He started slowly drifting as his mind became darker and darker.......he then found himself in complete silence and his mind started travelling throughout his recent events. He relived his second to last fight which put him in the top 10 ranks of his fighting league. He remembers the pressure that he felt from it and the pure adrenaline rushing through his veins as the fight was going on. He remembers the combo his opponent put up and how he read it like a book....straight, hook, overhand or at least he thought it was a overhand he hit him with uppercut and made him drop before he can finish the last punch. He's in the bright lights sitting on the rail of the ring looking into the bright lights feeling warm, a little dizzy, but surely happy then those white lights started flashing not quickly but every second that passed it would flash once. It disorientated him but he didn't think of it as anything at first until the light started flashing red and he was looking at a cold white concrete wall and the cheers of the crowd was replaced by wild yells and curses of prison inmates and officers fighting. He was in the middle of a prison riot he look down and to his surroundings when he realized he was standing over a man bleeding from his face profusely and one of his eyeballs was falling out of his socket and he was moaning and groaning lightly on the ground whispering " It hurts....it hurts so bad....please" he felt a gut wrenching feeling in his stomach and jumped up the moment the bus stopped looked around groggily.

Hearing he only got 10 minutes he got up quickly and headed out to stretch. He sat outside stretching for about 5 min then decided to get something from the gas station and walked in right around the same time Joel had excited. He wanted to greet him and chat but knowing Joel he probably wasn't in the mood for it much so he only nodded his head when walking by. The store had some pretty decent options on what to get as in a rural area like this he expected to by only the very basic of basic snacks. He then decided to get something to snack on now and later and grabbed some Plain ruffles, a bag of jerky, a bottle of smart water and a banana. He decided that was going to be his snack time for later and set it on a counter nearby where he can still se it and grabbed a cup of noodles he passed by earlier. Picking it up and taking it back to his stash he looked over at the cashier and waved her down. "Hey is there a microwave I can use in here" he said softly at her she nodded her head and said "I'll prepare it for you no worries" he smiled warmly at her and walked over to purchase everything and wait for his noodles which took longer than he expected. When receiving his noodles he had realized 10 min had gone by and he had to be back on the bus. He sped walked over to the bus but stopped when he saw Eli just waiting outside of the bus and called to him "Eli man we bout to get left behind lets go" he passes by him and nudges him with his bag of snacks. "Can't zone out like that you'll miss something important plus this trip may seem a little quirky but it might be fun" he says while headed towards the bus. He knows Eli or Elisha not well but enough in the army he moved around a lot and Eli's unit was one of the squads he probably stayed the longest with going on two missions with them which was rather probably on more of the boring side of his military time. Though he and Eli talked it was mainly just about what the mission was, what were gonna eat after this, and when do you think something interesting is gonna happen. He actually knew Joel through military time too and gained much respect for him when serving in his unit as he was a good guy and a better solider but seeing him here rather caught him off guard as Joel was on the older side but he seemed still pretty well in shape to fight and makes him wondered what happened.

code by ditto (head empty go bonk)



​

 

[CaptainSully]

Returning to the bus, Rob strolled back to his seat, spotting a sleeping Cora at the back. Her head gently rested against the window as she slept soundly. She looked incredibly peaceful and he didn’t have the heart to wake her from her slumber. Instead he just plonked himself down into his seat and drew his wallet from his pocket. He raised his eyes to look at those returning to the bus before carefully opening the wallet to reveal a folder sheet of paper. He removed it, feeling his heart begin to race as the unfolded the seemingly normal piece of paper. He cast his eyes over the words and with each one came a tightening sensation in his stomach.

Dear Rob

I can’t wait to see you again, it will be great to catch up. I’ll see you when you get to Silent Hill.

Your friend,

Brian

The chill that rushed over him the first time he read the note was unlike anything he had ever experienced before. Finding it slid beneath the door of his apartment, he put it down to someone in the group playing a horrible practical joke. It was when he realised it was Brian’s own handwriting that he felt true horror. His friend had died, he was cremated and his ashes spread across his favourite mountain trail...wasn’t it?

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Frank’s voice calling out.

“Alright, i’m off to pay. Everyone get back on the bus.” His words were short and sharp and clearly not a request.

Over the next couple of minutes everyone returned to the bus and soon enough they were back on their way, their next stop would be the town itself.

Rob settled back into watching the scenery pass by, but found himself singing along to the songs coming across the minibus speakers. Regardless of Rob’s opinion of Frank, the man had a great taste of music. With each passing song the smile on Rob’s face grew and grew. It all culminated in a rapturous performance of Radio Ga Ga by Queen. He lost himself in the moment and forgot about all the others on the bus. In truth he didn’t care whether they appreciated it or not, he just felt it in the moment.

From the front of the bus the sound of clapping came from Doctor Spiers.

“Well, look at you being able to sing. You’ve kept that quiet.” The doctor laughed. “How about we all do a sing a long?”

Those words caused Rob to sink deep into his seat, breaking eye contact with the doctor.

“Oh come on...i’m sure we will all enjoy it! Does everyone think so?” she said addressing the group.

 

[Ghoulina]

Twila Folley

✰ Interaction: Specialist / Joel
✯ Mention: CaptainSully / Robert
★ Mood: Embarrassed but giving it her best shot.

Mid chew, Twila froze as Joel moved suddenly, something she wasn’t expecting. When he seemed to grab something at his side, she clutched her bag of chocolate bars and inhaled sharply, eyes wide and panicked. She had seen that before, maybe not as tactfully done as Joel in that moment but it most definitely frightened her- but there was nothing in his hand. A moment passed and she continued to stare at him wordlessly, listening to him speak and relax back into his normal position in his seat. “Maybe this was a mistake.” she thought to herself before continuing to chew, mind racing, wondering what could have happened if he did have a real gun. Twila had suffered harm by the hands of many men, not just in her family home but also in the spike laden toxic minefield of her love life- she had reason not to be open and now it clawed at her back, chastising her for trying and ordering her to leave and stuff herself in the back corner and not come out.

Then he apologized, and the mental health angel on her shoulder whispered in her ear and told her to calm down and utilize “empathy” as Dr. Spiers called it. She had no idea what this man had been through, but very clearly it must be quite a lot to make him react like that. If she had learned much from group therapy from the years prior, everyone copes with hurt differently, and if everyone around her simply shut her out she would be dead right now. Twila was well aware her purpose wasn’t to provide any form of counselling, but in him she found something familiar, she wasn’t what, but she made the decision to do what she would have wanted someone else to do for her in the same situation. She smiled and swallowed down another portion of god knows what comprised hot dogs. “It’s cool, no harm done.” she said pleasantly before taking the last bite and realizing he had a bit of an accent she wasn’t used to- that along with his politeness was disarming, nobody had called her “Miss” since her school days.

“ Heh, ‘miss’ huh? My name’s Twila, nice to meet you. Take it easy, the place we’re going to is supposed to be really nice.” she relaxed back in her seat and crossed her long legs before cracking her can of pop open, wanting to make sure she remained casual to hopefully put him at ease. Taking a swig of the fizzy liquid, she realized that Robert was singing- and he was pretty good too! She registered quickly that he was singing along to the song coming from the speakers, a Queen song she liked. When Dr. Spiers suggested everyone sing along, she looked back at Joel with a bit of repugnance, as if she had tasted something unbearably sour. “For real?!” She leaned to the side and looked up the aisle at the doctor who made very direct and expectant eye contact with her. Oh god no, not therapy group singing! She was reminded of embarrassing freestyle drumming sessions, awkward social dances and cursed karaoke sessions with her AA group, but she had made eye contact, and she had also promised Dr. Spiers that she would try her very best- so she did. Awkwardly at first, she half sang and half murmured along to the song before finding the beat and melody. She by no means had a stunning voice, she had a naturally deeper voice and it was just a hint hoarse from drug damage, but she smiled at the doctor as she joined in, trying her best to mask her embarrassment.

 

[Specialist]

Vitals: 100%
Mood: Attempting to relax
Interacting with: Ghoulina Mentions: CaptainSully​

"...Joel. Joel Dawson." The man said, breifly and trying to shake off the sudden burst of adrenaline. He monitored the woman's reaction and noticed the gradual relaxation of her body langauge from the apology he issued. He knew he started her but something subtly nudged him that this woman must have been hurt in some way- a Phantom past that he most likely would never get to know. Seeing her relaxation making him at ease, he then tried to pronounce her name as his accent gave off a strange twang as he tried to sound her name out. "Tweela? Twhylah? Twilla? Twila, that right?" He shook his head and chuckled, again flashing a ghost of a smile. "Nice to meet you,Twi-"

The man cut himself off as he heard the sounds of faint singing in the front of the bus, followed by the staccato punctuation of applause as the Dr. Spires woman applauded the bus driver's signing abilities, then incentivized the rest of the group to join. Turning to meet Twila's gaze of apperant disgust, he cracked a softer, more genuine smile and shook his head at the absurdity of the situation. "If only I'da known this were a band, I would've brought my guitar." Joel scoffed as he simply took the time to people-watch, silently refusing the Doctor's request as he awaited a reply from his 'cross -the-seat' acquaintance.