Welcome To the Real World
[Author's Note: Here's the first chapter of my first (technically second) posted story. It's a follow-up of my last story, starting off directly after the monologues. Originally the whole story was one long story, not several chapters, but I decided to put the first two "chapters" up as one story, and now I'm proceeding from there. So, I hope it ends up good. Review please, tell me thoughts, rate it, comment, whatever. I'll upload every day, once or twice, but sometimes my internet dies on me so I might not for a couple of days. Thanks and enjoy!]
[P.S. If there are any words missing an N, my apologies, I've gone through these to fix any missing N's, but I might have missed some.]
Chell – It's been several days since I was out of Aperture. Every few miles apart I would find an abandoned barn or an old house falling apart. Everything I came across was torn apart, covered in plants, and reminded me of the facility. For one night I had to sleep in a broken down farmhouse. The building was a two story house, but the stairs had collapsed seemingly a long time ago. Instead of wasting time and energy trying to get up there, where a bed most likely lay, I just slept on the couch. It sagged inwards under my weight and a cloud of dust blew up when I sat down. It wasn't like the stasis beds in Aperture, but it was a place for me to rest.
I lay on the couch for hours, nightmares and memories forbidding me to sleep. Tossing and turning on the couch, followed by eventual pacing around the room, led to just lying on the couch, staring at my Companion Cube. It sat in front of me, glowing dimly in the night, allowing dust to collect on the top already. It whirred soothingly to me, as if humming me a lullaby. My eye lids began to droop at some point, and my mind slowly started to wander off. I closed my eyes and let myself drift into sleep for the first time in a very long time.
Upon my second day of walking aimlessly around with my Companion Cube, I came across a city. I carried the cube along, growing used to the weight, and walked towards the city. From afar it looked like a nice place. But the closer I got, the worse it looked. The buildings were missing windows and walls; one was missing a whole top level. The road was uneven and in desperate need of new pavement. Weeds infested the sidewalks and snaked up along building walls. A car lay in the middle of the road, rusted and falling apart. What happened up here? It looked like nobody's lived here for decades, but why?
I walked through the streets, looking this way and that for some sign of life. Nothing but rubble came up, at first, but later I was accompanied by crows. Strange to see so many of them like this; the most I've seen together would be two, maybe three. But this had to be at least seven or eight. I watched them in curiosity as they flew around, disappearing and reappearing from around corners of buildings. At one point they all separated, all flying their own ways. One stayed nearby, sitting on a wire that hung by tall poles above the streets. Struck by my curious nature, I set my friend down and followed the bird when it flew off around a corner. I was entertained, walking after the crow, wondering where it would take me, but once I turned the corner my blood ran cold.
Lying ahead of me was a dead body. Instinctively I covered my mouth and nose by both of my hands, holding what air I had gasped in. The body was leaning against a building, nearly fully discomposed. I watched in silent shock as the crow flew to it and sat on its leg, pecking at the bones. Immediately, I turned around and headed back for my Companion Cube, now fully aware of how many bodies, now almost completely skeletons, lay in the road or buildings or cars. Each step grew quicker and more anxious. I had to get out of this place. Once I got the cube in my arms again, I quickly found my way out of the metropolitan graveyard. I didn't go back to the wheat field, but instead I went down the road. If there's one city, and a road, there's bound to be another city, hopefully next time more lively. So much for a nice place to stay.
The walk was just as silent as the city, aside from the coo of the box. My thoughts were haunted by the decaying citizens, and the mystery behind them. It was strange how everyone was dead. Why? What caused it? Naturally, I accused GLaDOS and her horrific testing. Maybe she was secretly running a state wide test on every living creature outside; maybe the whole world, though that would be highly unlikely…Would it? I shook my head and pushed those concerns into the back of my mind. I didn't need to be thinking of that place anymore, especially now that I was out in the real world, rather than that unreal, robotic nightmare.
I walked along the road for the longest time. Seriously, I didn't stop to rest until I was awoken by a loud crash in the sky. I was walking in a haze, hardly aware of where I was going or even that I was still walking. Sometime in the night, my mind started to wander off on its own, allowing me to get lost in my past and memories. What brought me out of the sleepwalking haze was a cold, wet sensation all over my body. Automatically I panicked, thinking it was some type of repulsion gel or conversion gel, and that it was extremely dangerous. Several of seconds of racing thoughts and panicky, desperate attempts to escape the gel had passed before I was actually back into the present. Once I composed myself, I looked around and realized that the 'gel' I was covered in was actually rain. Finally calm again, and honestly a little embarrassed, I looked around for some shelter. Nearby was a small wooden house. It wasn't a safe looking place, but it had a roof and walls, and that's all that mattered.
Moments upon entering the house, I regretted it. The one roomed building smelled of a dead animal. The moment I went inside, I covered my mouth and nose, and gagged. I suppressed another feeling of compete nausea and took small steps further inside. It was all dark inside; I couldn't see a thing, and I tripped over something, falling on top of a body. Instantly I held myself up and threw up. I lay kneeling there as I wretched, hating myself for being so stupid as to enter the house. Once I was sure I had nothing left to puke up, I shot up and dashed out to the street, falling down next to my Companion Cube. It glowed softly in the rain and hummed peacefully to me. Quickly my mind stopped swirling from the rush of panic and shock of the day…or days. Honestly, I had lost track of how long it's been since I left the city. It felt like a day, but it could have been two days, maybe three. However long it has been, all I knew was that I was starving, cold, wet, and tired. The only thing I could help was my exhaustion. So, with that, I allowed my eyes to close and let the gentle hum of my friend put me to sleep.
[So there's the first chapter for you. I hope it turns out better than I'm expecting. Please, review away. I could use all the criticism I can get. Remember, reviews are just as loved as our loyal Companion Cube!]