36. Relapse
The Hunters assigned to District 3 were nearing Coral District, the last area in the northwest. The purification of Siho District, once a bustling downtown sector, had ended faster than expected, and headquarters had decided to use the momentum to finish clearing all of District 3 in one sweep. Hunters from every forward outpost had been called in and assembled.
As they reached the edge of Coral District, faint tank tracks ran along the road ahead. The city looked as though a great battle had once raged there. Buildings had been shattered, and dirt paths showed through broken asphalt. The Hunters advanced while escorting the armored unit. Aside from the rumbling engines of the armored vehicles, the city was utterly silent. Blue weeds and moss had grown between the paving stones. It was as though a city abandoned by people had returned to the wild.
When the Hunters pushed deeper into Coral District, they found an armored vehicle belonging to the autonomous force—one they had assumed had long been wiped out. Though rusted from long neglect, it bore no visible signs of damage. One of the soldiers in the lead armored unit climbed down from his machine and stepped onto the vehicle. He heaved open the heavy metal hatch, but the driver's compartment inside was empty. He climbed in and tried the ignition. A motor whirred to life, and with a low growl, the armored vehicle began to move.
"We'll begin from here."
At the order of Mushaiger, commander of the 3rd Company of the armored unit, the Hunters split into teams and began searching the surrounding buildings. Here and there on the ground lay the corpses of Madmen, dried out as though they had been left there for a very long time. There were rifles as well, presumably once used by members of the autonomous force. The Hunters who found them were delighted, as though they had stumbled upon fine loot with hardly any effort, and gleefully pointed their newly acquired weapons into empty buildings. Those who found nothing pushed deeper into alleyways, hoping there might be something more interesting hidden in some forgotten corner.
"Hey, Upham. Look at this."
One Hunter beckoned his comrade over and pointed to a radio sitting on a desk. It was an old broadcast radio, stained with age. He flicked the power switch on and off repeatedly, but it made no sound, as though the battery had long since died. He wandered into another room, searching for something else of interest. A computer with no power. A thick book buried in dust. A wall calendar still showing a date from months ago. A mug with leftover coffee hardened inside it. Nothing seemed unusual. It was as if time itself had simply stopped there.
"Lewis, hurry up. This place is done."
A Hunter who had already exited the building shouted through the window. He pointed to the right, as if indicating their next search site. Lewis set down the book in his hand and stepped out of the house. As he walked away from the doorway, he caught sight of something slipping past like a shadow in an alley he had been certain was empty. He turned back, his eyes narrowing. Then, as if drawn by something unseen, he began following in the direction the shadow had vanished.
***
After chasing the unidentified thing for about twenty minutes, he found himself staring at a massive stadium. Around it were lined up countless tanks, combat machines, and supply trucks in neat rows. His face lit up with astonishment, as though he had discovered unimaginable treasure. Filled with excitement, he wandered among the machines, unable to close his mouth.
"Upham, you hear me?"
He called into his satellite communicator.
"Yeah. Where the hell did you go?"
"Heh heh. Me? I'm looking at paradise."
"Paradise? What are you talking about?"
"Take a look at this."
Lewis sent over several photos through the device.
"What the hell is this?"
"I think it's equipment from the autonomous army that came here before. A lot of it looks brand-new, like it was never even unwrapped."
"No way. Just stay there, you bastard."
Lewis didn't bother answering. He was already poking around a container that looked like a supply depot. He tore one open and found it stacked with rifle parts and ammunition. Letting out a shout of delight, he grabbed a rifle and sprayed a burst into the empty air.
***
Later, Lewis sat atop a combat machine, listening to music. Once the thrill of the treasure hunt began to fade, boredom quickly set in. A thought crossed his mind: if all this equipment had been left behind, where had the soldiers gone? From what he had heard from one of the armored troopers, the first unit had been annihilated here fighting the Madmen. But judging from how clean and intact the equipment looked, it seemed more likely that they had fled before they ever managed to fight. As he sat there lost in thought, he noticed a black cat in the distance, staring at him from inside the stadium. Only then did he realize he had completely forgotten about the mysterious thing that had led him here. Climbing down from the combat machine, he started walking after the cat.
The stadium entrance was sealed shut, its shutters pulled down tight. Though it was broad daylight outside, the passageways inside were pitch-black, with no lights on. He flicked open a lighter and swept its glow back and forth toward where the cat had run.
"Come here. That's right."
He whistled softly and followed it farther and farther down the corridor. Bit by bit, unease crept into him. His breathing grew shallow. He moved the lighter more nervously now. The shops lining the corridor looked as though they had been looted long ago, their shelves stripped bare. The passage was cleaner than he would have expected, almost as if someone had already swept it. After walking far from the entrance he had come through, he saw light growing brighter ahead, as though another entrance lay in that direction.
Clang.
The sound of a can falling somewhere broke the silence. He flinched in fear and immediately swung his rifle toward the source of the noise. The black cat he had been chasing vanished up a staircase to the second floor. His breathing quickened. It felt as though a Madman might suddenly come shrieking out of nowhere at any moment. He hesitated, wondering if he should stop pursuing it, but something in him resisted the thought of turning back now. He decided he would follow a little farther—at least until Upham radioed that he had arrived.
***
He kept climbing the stairs until he reached the top floor, the third. Light was spilling out from somewhere inside, as though one of the stadium access routes stood open. The black cat appeared once again, slipped into the stadium, and disappeared. Lewis worried that the inside might be packed with Madmen, but his curiosity overpowered him, and he stepped toward the light one cautious step at a time.
When he entered the stadium, the brilliance of the light made him squint. As his eyes adjusted, what came into view was an enormous field of grass covered with countless military tents. They looked as though they had been set up by the autonomous army, and from that high vantage point, the sight of them spread across the field was magnificent. Lewis found himself thinking that even the invincible armies of ancient Rome, had they encamped in the Teutoburg Forest, could not have looked this grand. The stadium alone must not have offered enough room, because blankets, sleeping bags, canteens, and all sorts of belongings were strewn even across the spectator stands. He descended into the stadium, glancing all around him as though he had stepped into another world.
***
By the time Upham arrived at the stadium, following the location Lewis had sent him, the sun was already beginning to tilt westward in the late afternoon. His eyes widened at the sight of the countless armored vehicles and supply containers. Without hesitation, he headed inside.
He was standing there marveling at the rows of tents when a voice echoed suddenly over the speakers.
"Welcome! Agent Upham, who has journeyed all the way from the south!"
Lewis's voice boomed through the stadium's sound system. Looking around to figure out where it was coming from, Upham soon spotted Lewis on the central stage, grinning at him with exaggerated amusement.
"Jesus. This place is heaven."
Upham climbed onto the stage and shouted up at him. Lewis sat there with his legs propped on a table, sipping a can of beer he had found somewhere, looking for all the world like the commander of the place.
"Tastes good?"
"Sweet as heaven."
Upham snatched an unopened can from the table, popped the tab, and drank it down in one go.
"How'd you find this place?"
"I told you I've got a guardian angel. I merely followed the path she showed me."
"Ha! Sure you did."
Upham stood on the center stage, surveying the view.
"So this is what it feels like to stand on a stage. Not bad."
"Why don't you sing us something, then?"
Lewis gestured toward a microphone stand set up at one side of the stage. Upham immediately grabbed the microphone and switched it on. Then he began singing one of his old favorites, Queen's "Radio Ga Ga." His voice grew louder as he gave himself over to the mood. He swayed, then began bouncing around, striking poses like an imitation of Freddie Mercury. His singing rang out through the speakers scattered all around the stadium.
Lewis laughed so hard at Upham's ridiculous antics that he clutched his stomach. Then, as though inspiration had struck, he headed down to the control room. He figured there had to be some kind of Bluetooth connection tied to his satellite device hidden somewhere in the sound system, and that he could use it to pipe in backing music for Upham, who was now putting on a full performance. He pressed button after button, thinking he had found the connection control, but the machine refused to respond in any meaningful way.
Then something caught his eye: a red button labeled Alarm.
It looked like the kind of thing meant for emergencies, but he pressed it boldly, assuming it couldn't be anything serious. A moment later, a familiar siren began to wail from somewhere far away.
Upham, still dancing on the stage, stopped what he was doing and began looking around at the noise echoing from every direction.
The siren was much louder than Lewis had expected, and it carried far beyond the stadium. It was deafening, but more than that, the endless wail reminded him of something out of Silent Hill. He hurriedly pressed the red button again, trying to stop it.
The siren did not stop.
"Lewis! What are you doing?"
Upham came running into the control room, shouting. Lewis, too startled even to look at him, stared blankly at the machine as if something had gone terribly wrong. The siren kept blaring. Upham shouted at him to shut it off, and Lewis shouted back that he was doing everything he could, but no matter what button he pressed, nothing worked. The sound only seemed to spread farther and farther, growing heavier and more oppressive, as though it were spilling beyond the stadium and out across the whole city.
***
The other scouting teams of District 3 were scattered far from the main force. The eerie, unidentifiable siren began to sound somewhere in the distance, and before long it had grown so loud that their ears rang.
"What the hell is that?"
The Hunters faltered, looking around uneasily as the siren echoed through the streets.
"Did the main force send that?"
"Like this? No way."
The Hunters began murmuring nervously among themselves, visibly shaken by the blaring sound.
"Should we withdraw?"
"Hold on. Main unit, come in. This is Squad Four. Some strange siren is sounding. Over."
One of them raised his radio and called to headquarters. But only static answered.
"Main unit, come in. This is Squad Four. A siren is sounding. Over."
"We should pull back. What if it's a withdrawal signal from the main unit?"
The man thought for a moment, then nodded. He motioned to the others nearby to fall back, and just as they began turning toward the central position—
"Wait! Over there!"
A sharp-eyed Hunter beside him spotted something shambling out from between two buildings. As it came close enough to identify, they immediately raised their guns and took firing positions. The Madman came staggering out of the alley, twisting and jerking as though it had just awakened at the sound of the siren. The Hunters jumped at its sudden appearance, but seeing that it was only one, they began glancing at each other, each waiting to see who would fire first. Then the squad leader, a man by the look of him, tightened his finger on the trigger.
Bang!
The Madman took the bullet in the head and dropped without resistance.
The man approached cautiously and stared down at the corpse. It was wearing a black protective suit.
"Hey. Inform the main unit. Tell them it looks like there are Madmen here."
He kept his eyes fixed on the body as he spoke to the man beside him. But there was no reply. Irritated that the other man hadn't responded at once, he snapped, "Hey. You hear me?" and turned toward him.
The man wasn't looking at him.
He was staring at something else, face drained white, body trembling.
The squad leader whipped his head around.
Before him was a sight beyond counting—an endless mass of Madmen, slowly advancing toward them.
***
While Lewis stood there in panic, Upham moved behind the machine and yanked out every wire he could find. The siren cut off immediately, vanishing as though it had never existed. Both men let out a breath of relief.
"You idiot. What kind of dumbass touches random controls without knowing what they do?"
"Damn, that scared the hell out of me. Ha ha."
Lewis scratched the back of his head sheepishly. Then the two of them turned to leave the control room.
Crackle. Crackle.
A voice came over Upham's radio, repeating the same message over and over.
"I repeat. All personnel return to the main unit immediately. Madmen sighted! Madmen sighted! All personnel return to central command immediately."
It sounded like Mushaiger's voice. They couldn't tell exactly what had happened, but the urgency in it was unmistakable.
"What? Madmen?"
Upham tilted his head, as though doubting his own ears. Realizing that the situation was turning serious, the two of them silently came to the same conclusion and hurried to grab their weapons.
"Did we do something wrong?"
"No way. At most, that siren should only have been heard inside the stadium."
"Then how does the timing line up like that?"
"Hell if I know. Let's just move."
They pushed through the flap of the tent and stepped outside the barracks. As they headed quickly toward the exit, a hideous cry echoed from the entrance. A moment later, Madmen burst through the darkness and charged at them. They opened fire at the rushing figures. But the number of Madmen quickly grew beyond what they could handle. Abandoning the entrance, they looked frantically around for another way out.
Then, from another access route they had thought was blocked, more Madmen came screaming toward them.
From every direction, Madmen in protective suits rushed at the two men.
Realizing they had been surrounded, the pair seemed to lose all will to fight. Their gun barrels sank.
And they could do nothing but stare blankly at the horde racing toward them.