Author Note & Disclaimer: This is just a quick Half-Life fanfiction that I decided to throw together alongside of the 'Grand Theft Mario' project. Note that it does have alot of aspects from the new Half-Life 2 game that hasn't even come out yet, but you're a clever little person, and you'll figure it out sooner or later. Note that I do not own Half-Life or any aspect of it, unless it's unique and made up by yours truly. Valve/Sierra owns just about everything else.
Black Mesa was little more than a memory now. It was like one of those tragic memories that you just wanted to forget, like the death of your brand new puppy, or your parents telling you you couldn't achieve your dreams, because they couldn't control their spending habits. No matter how much I wanted to get rid of those memories, they just wouldn't leave me alone. And now here I am, smack dab in the middle of some alien invasion. How is it that I went from being some highly-trained scientist, to a man in a hazard suit, decked out with every gun and doo-dad known to man? What about all those scientists and guards? There were so many casualties that day from the resonance cascade alone that there couldn't have been many.
Even so, I had to step bravely into that teleporter. Everyone thus far had risked their lives for me because they knew I had a greater purpose in life. That their lives weren't nearly as important as mine, and that I could 'save the world'. I'm not sure what came over me those days, but in a few days I, be it either skill or an absolute stroke of luck, brought new meaning to the word 'Army of One'. You see those movies, like Rambo, where this one guy takes on a whole bunch of guys that're equally or even more heavily armed than him. I lived that. And now, here I am.
"It's time to choosssse.. Mr. Freeman." The familiar voice of my boss and soon-to-be-employer rang through my ears. He seemed to have some sort of speech impediment that made him talk like a human snake, or maybe it was some kind of message from that same other-worldly person that had gotten me here so safely. Slowly, knowing I had no other choice, I moved past the G-Man, staring at the orange, green and white portal that i'd stepped through so many times to go short distances in Black Mesa. Where would this mysterious portal take me?
"An excellent choiccccce, Mr. Freeman.."
Indeed. I leapt out the open door of the cable car, my body turning into all those indiscernable atoms, travelling at the speed of light to my destination, and re-appearing as if nothing had ever happened. It didn't hurt. Or maybe it was just the hazard suit I wore. The G-Man was nice enough to let me keep it. Something told me that i'd probably need it. It had gotten me this far. The darkness of the room around me slowly became illuminated, giving me the impression that I was in a dream. Stain-glass depicted the forms of humans, some I recognized, and a few that I didn't. One of them was me. Infact, every other one was me. I recognized another person. Eli. I had worked for him when he was at the top of his field. Wether or not he survived was beyond me, but by the looks of the stained glass windows infront of me, it was a safe bet.
The darkness continued on, and it was then I realized that I was knee deep in water. Normally i'd be alarmed, and immediately keep on the lookout for anything that could give me trouble in water, but it was eerily calm, which should have alerted me even more. Even so, in this.. 'dream world'.. all I could do was press onward into the darkness.
When I awoke, I gave a groan. The light that filtered in from the windows stung the eyes, and I quickly rose a hand to block it. The gruff sound of a mans voice near me alerted me to his presence, and the fact that I was riding on some sort of transportation.
"Oh. You look like Hell. You must have been found, too, huh? Put on this train, too?" The man shook his head slowly, offering a bottle of water. I felt him shove it haphazardly between my hands, and, realizing my thirst as I realized what was in the bottle, I rose it to my lips and took a drink. At this point, there were alot of things on my mind. Was what I imagined before real, or was it some kind of dream?
It was then I got a good look at the man as I handed back the water. He wore clothes with a large 17 on his back. If he wore the correct padding, I could've easily mistaken him for a football player. He looked as though he hadn't slept much recently, and what little he did, must have contained alot of disturbing dreams. I didn't dare speak to him, though, unsure of myself around this new stranger. "I see. The silent type, huh? That's just fine. We're about to pull into the station. What's up with your clothes, though? They'll be all over you like white on rice."
What? I looked down at my hazard suit. It was the same orange and black suit that i'd been wearing since the start of this fiasco. I didn't feel clean.. my hair was greasy, and I could've done well with a shave myself, but my body didn't seem unclean. Maybe the hazard suit cleaned its wearer if worn for prolonged periods? I didn't feel anything like that, and so, when I found a safe shower, promised myself to take one.
The train slowly screeched to a stop, and I finally stood up for the first time since I could remember. It felt nice to sit, actually.. but it was obvious I had to move. Legs shakily replied, and I used the nearby seats to stand up. By the looks of the seats, they probably weren't all that comfortable. Waiting outside the train as me, and a few others from different cars got off, was a small troupe of heavily armed guards. They didn't look human, though they had humanoid forms. One might mistaken them for humans, but it was hard to tell. They spoke english, but it was hard to understand.
"Move along, humans!" The word 'human' rolled off their tongue as if it were venom and needed to quickly be spat out. I obliged, knowing that I was no match for their guns. My hazard suit had no armor, and I was only armed with a crowbar, which I kept hidden away in the small compartments that I had used to hide my weapons in during my first fiasco back in Black Mesa. I passed more and more guards as I made my way towards the security check-point. "Stay in line!" Another alien shouted, shoving one of the more frightened-looking humans back into the line. A fence with barbed wire on the top prevented anyone from getting by, and I wasn't about to have any ideas.
Slowly, one by one, an alien-looking scanner scanned the humans one-by-one. I stepped forward into the small area, the fence closing behind me as it had with all the others. The scanner began to look me up and down, and for a minute, I felt that strange sense of danger. I was right. A loud buzzer rang out, and the normally green light atop the scanner turned a bright red. Red meant danger. And I was right in the middle of the place where I probably shouldn't have been. I considered my options, but none of the armed guards around me seemed to worry about the scanner. A door nearby opened, offering another similarly dressed and armed alien.
"Come with me, human." Again, with the venomous voice. I had no choice but to follow him. Anything had to be better than staying under the bright red light of the scanner. I adjusted my glasses, again, just realizing that I even had them on.. and slowly followed the alien through the door.
End Chapter 1.