What is up, my friends? I know! Another new story! Because my previous track record with finishing stories is so perfect! Well, too bad! HA HA HAAAA! AH HAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA! …Achem. Anyway, here's my new story.

O

Prologue

Apartments. Street level.

Zoey's POV

Zoey shot a quick look down the hallway. Nothing. Just a pile of dead bodies. Perfect. Swinging her pistols to the front, Zoey crept down the hallway, keeping an eye on the doors on either side. Any number of infected could be in them, just waiting to tear her apart. Thank god for bullets. Seeing no immediate danger, she called back to her partners, Bill, Francis and Louis.

"All clear you guys!"

"About time! Could ya take any longer, Zoe?"

"Quiet, Francis. You want all the infected hearin' us for miles?"
"Aw, stow it, Bill." Listening to her friends bickering, Zoey couldn't help but laugh. Here they were, in the middle of the human apocalypse, endless swarms of flesh craving monsters waiting to rip them apart, no hope of survival, and they were bickering like it was any other day. She didn't know what she would do without them. Die, probably. Then, out of the corner of her eye, movement!

"Hold up, guys. I see something." Peering into the room, she saw it again. A suit, clean, pristine, moving away from her. Walking too calmly, too focused to be an infected.

"Guys, I found a survivor! I'm going to get him!"

"Wait, what?" Ignoring her friend's protests, she ran around the corner, guns ahead of her. For a split second, she saw a face. A smile and a wave, then an immense pressure blinded her. It felt as if she was in a vise, crushing her from every angle, even pressing out from the inside. There was a pop, and with a scream, she was falling into nothingness.

"Wait, Zoey? Where'd you go?"

O

Black Mesa East. Combine attack.

Gordon's POV

"Gordon, I can't leave my father! You'll have to go through Ravenholm!" Wait, what was that? Through the rubble, in the dust, was that a face? Right behind Alyx! The Gman? What is he doing here?"Dog, help Gordon get out of here!"

And she was gone. Running through the dust, right past the Gman, rubble falling around her, gunshots firing, Combine dying. I had no choice. I turned back down the tunnel, Dog running ahead of me, whooping every once and a while. I jogged after him until we reached the huge steel gate to Ravenholm, which Dog effortlessly lifted. Ducking under it, I turned in time to see Dog drop it, with him on the opposite side. Wordlessly I nodded, knowing it was his duty to protect Alyx. I began walking down the tunnel, using my new Gravity Gun to blast stacked furniture and steel crates out of the way. Move over, crowbar. I might have a new favorite.

Continuing through the passage, I couldn't help but think there was a reason for all of these "Do not pass" signs, and barricades at every doorway. No way for me to go back though, so I keep going. Reaching a flooded part of the passage, I stopped, considering. My Geiger Counter wasn't ticking, so I assumed it was safe.

Reaching a gated ladder, I smashed the lock over it, letting the gate swing free. As it stopped I heard the now-dreaded squeal of a headcrab attacking. Jumping back, crowbar held high, I looked around, trying to find my stalker. A splash, a low moan, then silence. Looking down, I see the dead body of the headcrab floating in the shallow water. I must have tried to jump to me, but gravity worked too well today. Under it, beneath those boards, a body. Prying them up, I see it clearly. Obviously a headcrab zombie, but I've never seen one like this. Brown, naked, skin gone, long legs, what is this? I shook off the confusion, and proceeded to climb. Reaching the top, I paused, panting a bit. No wonder the headcrab died from this height. Straightening, I walked through the run-down, rotting hallway to an opening to a grisly courtyard. Half of a body hung from a tree, the lower half nowhere to be seen. Stepping out, I hear a clunk. I was standing on a sign reading Ravenholm. Now I wonder where I could be?

Half grinning at my terrible attempt at humor, I took two steps and froze. A loud pop invaded my ears, followed closely by faint thunder and a high-pitched scream. I turned my head in time to see a body fall into some bushes with a 'whump' noise, then begin to moan. What is going on?

O

Dun dun DUUUUUN! The begging has begun! What has happened to our heroines? If you can't guess, I will beat you with a tube sock.

So. Love it? Hate it? Wish for more? Wish it had never been spawned? Feedback people, feedback!