Foreword:
I have always been a fan of zombie survival and alternate reality sci-fi worlds, games, moves, books and…fan fictions. And thus I wanted to write a story of my own, inside a universe that I like, with fictional characters blended in with the original story line without distorting the line of events. But I didn't just want to add fictional characters. I have written fan-fics before of…other nature, and I wanted to do something new and interesting with this one.
Instead of making fictional characters, I want to use myself and people that I know in real life as characters in this fiction. This is hardly something new or breath-taking or original but if correctly handled, it will be a very realistic and interesting story. But I won't stop at that, as this will be a collaborated fiction, made by me and a friend of mine; we will both work on the story as far as plot and development goes, though I will be the one typing in all the text.
Why do it like this? As much as I have some experience in making characters unique and distinguishable I can never be as original as a real person, thus my friend will assume his role in the story, will react as he would in a real situation, would say things that he would in a real life situation, and so forth. I hope that we will be able to deliver an interesting story of us, The Resistance, Gordon Freeman and all the other fractions and characters of the Half Life Universe as we struggle towards the liberation of Earth…
Chapter 1: Haptic
The rain was battering the empty street of the city and I was leaning against the wall, looking at the grey scenery. Somehow the presence of rain or sun did not affect my mood at all anymore. Whether the world would be bathed in light or not made no difference when grey was the only colour that still existed. Everything was equally lifeless, deprived of sense, charm and purpose. Ever since that dreadful incident five years ago, the world went to hell…several times over. Our freedom: gone, our lives before the Combine: irrelevant, our knowledge: useless. It didn't matter if you were an engineer, a medic, an artist, an actor, a major in languages or a doctor in theoretical physics… though, as the rumours go, the last is apparently a good start as the fabled Gordon Freeman, from across the Atlantic Ocean, managed to fight his way against the Xen invaders and the former US forces.
Unfortunately for us, in Europe, distance was irrelevant in the long run, as the Portal Storm that raged after the Black Mesa incident ravaged the entire planet. Vortigaunts, headcrabs, antlions, barnacles… as well as some other, more rare and "exotic" creatures came through, followed by the Combine. When that happened, my friend, Aposiopesis, and I were in Germany, sightseeing Berlin. Needless to say we still were there. This had…some pros and some cons, of course. The pros being that we were alive in one of the C-cities of the Combine, that we had some "food", as much as that was an overstatement, and that we were protected from the headcrabs, antlions and other Xen and non Xen life forms that would have us for lunch. Of course "protection" was mostly a figure of speech nowadays. The cons being that we didn't know German and that we had food to eat, clothes to wear and had protection from the headcrabs, antlions and other Xen and non Xen life forms that would have us for lunch.
Aposiopesis and I had this habit of being sarcastic about everything…if nothing else it made our lives that much more bearable and relatively more enjoyable and bearable… Added some flavour, a sense of being human still.
"Akhem…" He cleared his throat and I turned my head away from the window. "Necril, as much as I'd hate to interrupt your line of thoughts…we should go to the food dispenser soon…" He said with calm and even voice, as always.
I scoffed in response and pushed my glasses up my nose.
"I've always believed in magic." I paused briefly as I rubbed my head. "For example I magically am no longer hungry now!"
"Yes, I can imagine. At any rate, I suggest that as soon as the rain stops, or at least diminishes, we should go to the rations."
"Sure…" I looked through the window again. The rain had no signs of easing down its onslaught. On the brighter side of things, if it didn't stop, we could have a shower! A cold one, but a shower none the less. Since there was practically no economy any more and no cars in mass usage…the rain was as clear and clean as it gets. Even if it wasn't it was still better than the water from the tap…for drinking anyway.
A bit later we went to the old town hall and were queued behind the other survivors as the CPs were walking calmly about and gave us "the stare". Their radio chatter was the loudest thing to break the silence, but it was so distorted that I couldn't even tell what language they were talking in. Some of the other people in the queue were mumbling among each other and I could catch and understand some words but…not enough to completely comprehend what they were saying. As much as we were forced to live in Berlin, now known as C43, we did have some communication with the locals and it was inevitable not to learn some German.
Eventually our turn came for the supplies from the vending machine and we took our bags with food, and other basic supplies, before heading back through the mizzle to the apartment block where we lived. Despite our relatively warm, blue, standardized clothes it was cold as autumn was rolling in. The few trees that weren't cut down yet, were sleeping and had lost their foliage. This coupled very well with the slowly crumbling façades of the once nice buildings. Some of those were traditional at that.
The decaying leaves were now littering the ground, along with quite a lot of cans of freely dispensed water, old newspapers, flyers and propaganda posters. Everything was miserable and degrading faster than one would believe possible for an inhabited settlement.
"I really hate it how everything is so…unmaintained." Aposiopesis said and I looked at him, driven away from my thoughts. Only eerie silence followed his words. I sighed and averted my eyes to the nearest building, which was sealed off with planks, nailed to the chained doors and to the windows of the first floor.
"What does it matter?" I asked, more myself rather than as a reply.
"Well I don't know…I suppose that if we at least bothered to keep this city clean, it would look as dreadful as it does."
"I suppose…but then again do you think that anyone would be bothered with doing that? I mean, most apartments are dirtier than the street." I replied puffed.
"Yes, you are right. They don't have rain to wash the floor every so often."
I scoffed with mirth.
"Good point."
"I think that we shouldn't just…drop our old habits just because we are enslaved and unable to reproduce and because we are being poisoned through the water supplies…"
"That sounds convincing as hell." I replied and looked towards one of the allies that we were passing by. I caught a glimpse of a small group of people who were sneaking out of the city through the sewers. "People seem very keen on taking away their own lives nowadays."
"As if the Combine need help with that. Even so, what do you mean?" We turned around our corner and one of the scanners flew above our heads, beeping monotonously as always.
"There was a small bunch of Resistance heading in the sewers in that alley behind us."
"Oh. That." He seemed completely unmoved as usual. One of his many characteristics was that he only expressed emotions when he actually felt them…unlike most people that I knew before and after the surrender, and this made him seem a bit deprived of emotions to people who didn't know him. On the other side, seeing people trying to flee was nothing new for us.
Aposiopesis pushed the front door of the complex open and it screeched. We walked inside and started climbing the stairs to the eighth floor. The damp air was sticky and there was the smell of mold and urine in the air.
"I suppose that a life outside might not be as bad as we assume." He said suddenly with low voice. I refrained from commenting before walking in our apartment, replaying to that as soon as the door closed behind me.
"Are you telling me that you want to escape?" I asked, not hiding my surprise.
"Want…is a strong word, but I would really rather manage myself instead of being "managed" by the Combine, they being the loving things that they are."
"Honestly… I would rather tackle headcrabs and zombies than having to deal with this mundane life."
"So this leaves just one question then!" He said with faked excitement as he turned around to face me. I didn't say anything awaiting the answer of the indirect question. "We need to have something to eat. And find the Resistance. And get out of C43 unnoticed. And survive the winter. And have a place to be…"
"Yes, yes. I get it." I bashed dismissively with my hand and placed the bag of rations on the table. "If there were books still…I suppose that we would be able to learn how to grow basic things…like tomatoes and potatoes and stuff like that and live in a house in the Alps or somewhere in the middle of nowhere, far from Combine and just…I don't know, deal with our own issues, not with the issues of these aliens."
"Yes, and the sun will shine and smile and pink and fluffy unicorns will be dancing on rainbows every day." Aposiopesis opened his bag and spilled its contents on the old round table.
"I won't mind." I shrugged and laughed.
"Neither would I but this is as likely as the Combine falling because of the Resistance."
"I thought that we were talking about impossible things." I replied quickly and my friend scoffed with a smirk.
"Optimist."
"It's something…." I shrugged my shoulders.
"Apparently five years of no internet has not driven away the memes from your mind."
"I see that we are returning to the sphere of impossible things…" My voice drifted away as I walked into the other room.
It was the bedroom, which had two beds and a wardrobe. Nothing more. Before the Combine this was a pretty good place to be but currently everything decorative was taken away. Paintings, carpets, any items which had no "meaningful" purpose, computers, radios…There was only an old TV set left, that we never used, which had nothing on. We didn't quite understand why they left the TV of all things.
I opened the wardrobe and looked at the basked of dirty clothes. It seemed like I would have to do the laundry. I picked up the old, broken basket and walked back to the living room-kitchen, mused in my own thoughts. The one thing that I really and most honestly missed was music…And by luck or just because I was creative enough, I had managed to save small electronic devices and a headset, which were now neatly tugged under a lose plank under my bed. But, even so, they were just gathering dust there.
"I'll go do the laundry." I announced calmly with no focus in my voice as I made my way to the front door or the apartment.
"Don't mix up the clothes! I would hate if I wore the same clothes as you do." Aposiopesis said as he was opening my package of rations. I just laughed and took the stairs to the laundry room at the ground floor of the building. From what I could gather this was a former dormitory or…just a building which had a laundry room. I can't say that I cared much. As much as we tried not to lose ourselves in this oppression it was a bit hard…
I put our blue uniforms and other pieces of clothing that we had in one of the few working machines, closed it, added some detergent, which I had no clear idea why the Combine distributed, then pushed the button and sat in front of the machine. Truth be told, the Combine did give us things like soap and every once in a blue moon new clothes. Blue of course. Speaking of which, we learned the hard way that we had to stay at the side of the washing machine as one time, someone picked up our clothes and we had a hard time explaining to the CPs that we needed new clothes.
I waited patiently as my stomach grumbled. Some other people came in every once in a while and put their clothes in the other working machines. Some of the locals gave me a judging look but I honestly didn't care any more. I couldn't help but to notice how tattered their clothes were, how poorly maintained they seemed, unshaved or unwashed. I could only imagine how weird I looked, being without beard and with relatively clean clothes.
Everyone nowadays was weary and suspected everyone of everything. I couldn't blame them really. Reporting suspicious activity or suspicious citizens was awarded with better food and clothes. As these fast five years passed, it wasn't hard to see how our neighbours became fewer and fewer. Some fled, some were deported, some were just never seen or heard of since. Aposiopesis and I were called in once too and the CPs ransacked our apartment but since they didn't find anything, they let us go…for good or for bad. This was a good reason to flee, though, for sure.
In almost an hour the machine clicked ready, breaking my line of thoughts, and I looked at it. Getting up, I took the wet clothes and put them in the basket, heading back up. As I walked in the apartment the smell of warm food hit my nostrils. I can't say that it smelled delicious, but it was food. And it was warm.
"Oh, what are we having?" I asked, clearly aware of what we were going to eat.
"Well…" My friend said and sighed, as he looked at the steaming pot on the old cooker. "Normally, we would have sludge, like yesterday. Or the day before yesterday. Or any other day for the last five years… But today is a special day! Today we will have sludge!"
"Oh! My favourite!" I said with faked excitement and went to the small terrace to hang the clothes.
As soon as I was done with that I joined him at the table and we ate in silence. We rarely spoke in general as we didn't need to most of the times. From one side, there was little to talk about, apart from the Combine, the decaying city or the slow death of our civilization. On another side we understood each other without any problem as quite a long time before the Seven Hour War, we did realize that we were something like twin brothers separated at birth…more or less.
"So…the Resistance you say, eh?" He asked as he let the spoon slide lazily in the last bites of sludge.
"A sudden change of heart after all this time?"
"Hardly a sudden change. I was just waiting to "have enough of it" first."
"So, that last bite of sludge was it?" I asked as I went on eating, finishing my own extravagant meal.
"You can say that." He stretched his reply and tapped on the plate.
"As much as I am all for that, I must say that just before winter…is not the best time to be heroic alone in the wild."
"Under normal conditions I would agree, but as things are, conditions are not normal and if we just put it all off for later…we will keep doing that every time."
I paused for a moment. He was right, of course. I was one to know this from first hand.
"So, when are we rolling out the tanks with rocket launchers and remote control helicopters?" He rubbed his hands.
"Soon."
"Oh, my favourite time!" He rubbed his hands. "I can't wait to get started!"
I sighed and puffed.
"Well, we need to get to some resistance dudes who…are part of the Resistance and they need to know English. Also we need to remain unspotted by the Combine."
"It makes jungling with Sona sound like the most ingenious plan even, doesn't it?" He said with a grin and finished his meal.
"Talk about inside jokes."
"Hey, it's not like there's anyone around here to not understand it." He replied waving his hand.
"True enough." I paused for a moment. "But on the bright side, if we leave, we will have new things to think about and do."
"I will have to check my schedule then." He got up and took the dirty plates before heading to the sink.
"I can understand why. Anyway, enough sarcasm, let's just think how to do it." I said. "I know some locations where the Resistance seems to gather up every now and then. We just need to go there, unnoticed at best, and contact them."
"And what are we going to say? Ichliebedich?"
"Oh, come on now. I graduated graphic design. I know how to present complex ideas through simple images." I paused for a moment and interrupted him as he opened his mouth. "And no, I won't make a poster for this."
"Oh, I was actually picturing you doing an interpretive dance."
"I was thinking of holograms but then again…"
The next few days the weather remained dark and gloomy. It didn't rain much but it did feel very oppressing and dampened everyone's already crushed mood. Every once in a while we went out for a casual stroll around the alleged sites and we did in fact notice that there were some "suspicious people" hanging there. So now, it was up to me with coming up with a simple and easy way of dealing with the communication issues. I really hated myself for not paying attention in school during German classes…but then again, for some reason far-eastern languages, like Japanese and Korean, were a tonne easier for me than German.
One of those mornings we decided to make "the move" and meet up with those Resistance dudes. It was not going to be easy and it sure as hell was going to be dangerous. If any of the CPs noticed us going around in streets for no reasons… we would have a hard time explaining ourselves.
We casually walked along the mostly empty boulevard and took a turn down one of the smaller and completely empty streets. I was looking around without seeming too suspicious, without turning my head around for no apparent reason. We both kept our heads low as to try and avoid any chance of someone seeing our faces.
We took another turn a bit later and stopped by the side of an old dumpster, which was filled with long decayed trash. To our luck there was a person, dressed in the same blue civvies, just like as us, looking as terrified as one could be in a situation like this. We stood there, not quite sure what to say and what to do. Aposiopesis was the first to speak.
"We are looking for the…"
"Resistance?" The German man asked with a slight accent. "Well, you found it. Are you looking for a way out?" We were surprised that he spoke English. That was definitely going to make it easier. What's more he didn't seem like a guy to spend too much time with chit-chatter. He seemed more like a "man of action".
"Not quite." I replied. "More like, becoming part of the whole thing."
The other suppressed his laughter and just smirked.
"If you escape you become part of the Resistance whether you like it or not. The Combine don't quite care if you carry a gun who you are if you are caught somewhere where you shouldn't be. They will shoot you anyway. But we shouldn't speak here. I'm waiting for a small group, after they come, you follow me." He spoke fast and with a note of fierce determination.
"Isn't it a bit dangerous doing this in daylight?" I asked and turned my head towards the street. "I mean, during the night there are patrols and all but you can see and hear them before they see you…"
"No." He replied sharply, interrupting me. "The sewers are always dark and we need light in there to move people. Also, there is no Overwatch down there. In the night it's as dark as it gets down there. Plus, you don't want to be cornered by the rats living there if the light stops."
He had a point. I couldn't deny that. Whatever he meant by "the light". The rats that I had seen on the surface were quite formidable and those down below would be even bigger. I had no idea what they were feeding on but I felt compelled to believe the man. And it made me worried.
Ok, more worried than before.
I knew that rats wouldn't be the end of me…and that rats were hardly the most dangerous thing down there, but then again… there weren't many things in the world that wouldn't kill you.
We waited in relative silence for the group in question. I looked around, at the change of scenery. Of course, that would be a figure of speech as hardly anything looked different. But for a mind, so used to seeing the same thing through the window and going the same way through a ruining city, this part of C43 looked more interesting than one would assume.
Eventually the awaited group arrived and the German man leaded us towards the inner parts of the complex, of which this alley was a part of. I couldn't help the feeling of eerie dread that hanged in the air. I looked at Aposiopesis, who seemed focused on his thoughts and then looked about once more. By the looks of it this entire complex was abandoned. It was stunning how such a big city was left with what felt like a couple of thousand people at best. It could only make one wonder how many people were still alive, how many cities actually still existed and why on earth did the Overwatch actually look after the populace.
The small group consisted of three girls and a guy, all quite pale and worried. As if it wasn't suspicious that we were seven people in a group, four of which had suitcases, they kept looking around worriedly and kept pressing their small bags and suitcases closer to their bodies.
There was some moaning coming from one of the nearby buildings and it just made the group even more nervous. I glanced to the frame, from which the moaning seemed to come from, and saw a silhouette of a zombie inside, mindlessly moaning and walking around. It was no new or strange scene but it was disturbing none the less. My personal experience with those zombies had lead me to believe that the person trapped inside was still able to feel, was still conscious…just not in control of his body. And those moans…were more like pleads for help and yells of pain, which managed to bypass the headcrab's control. All the more disgusting and worrying.
As time passed, the person would eventually die and turn into those fast, mindless zombies with nothing but muscles, sinew and bones left from their bodies. Those were the worst… their howl was blood chilling and wasn't the best thing that you could hope to hear in the dead of night. On several occasions they made their way into the city, running rampart on the roofs, in the sewers or on the streets. This happened a few times and the Combine had their hands full with the zombies. A lot of people managed to break out during these periods, which I suppose was a good thing, but quite a lot met their end and entire buildings were sealed after each incident.
We reached an old apartment block, which was sealed from the inside, and walked towards one of the entrances. It was facing an old playground, now abandoned and rusted. There was a small pile of bodies near one of the edges and a rather unpleasant odour coming from them. I really couldn't quite understand how everything went to hell so fast.
The leader climbed the few steps to the front door, looked around and then pulled away the planks which barred the way. It was clear that they were just placed there for show, and we entered. The escorted seemed terrified by this place and one of the girls was shivering. The guide told them something in German and then we proceeded to the basement. The air was stale and dry. Our steps made dust rise and I had to supress some sneezes.
"Where does all this lead to?" I asked as I minded my steps, going around a dead headcrab.
"Out of the city, of course." The man replied. I felt compelled to say something deeply sarcastic, regarding him and flying through windows, but decided that now was not the time to dwell on small things.
"Where exactly?" I insisted. The man sighed. And stopped. He looked at us, clearly in a conflict with himself. A rather too obvious conflict in my opinion. "We aren't here to report you to the Combine." I said. "Do we look like people in need of anything but freedom?" I spread my hands away from my body. I really liked it that we did try to keep ourselves above the degrading levels of society. The man sighed.
"Okay then. I am Edmund. Just follow me and I will tell you as we make way to the first check point."
Aposiopesis and I nodded and tailed the German man and the group. We went to the sparsely lit basement and he took an old and dusty flashlight that was laying seemingly pointlessly on the ground. He was talking to the refugees in German and I could only make out a few words such as Combine, Overwatch, headcrabs, zombies, barnacles, danger, care, and food and check point. He opened one of the old compartments which was still packed with the goods of whoever used to own it before the Combine. An old bike, lots of jars, some broken, with syrup or fruits, some crates with goods and so on. Stuff that one'd expect to find in a basement.
The leader moved one of the crates in question and it unravelled a hole in the ground, from which we could see the sewers. He clicked the flashlight on and shined its light down the shallow hole. I must say that this made me excited and elated! Things were getting interesting at last, after five years of nothing! The drop was short one and there was a pile of musty mattresses at the bottom, just in case it seemed. The guy from the escorted group jumped first and as he landed a cloud of dust filled the air. The guy started coughing and some rats ran away in fear.
The girls followed and so did we. The guy was the last to come and we started walking forward in the light of the flashlight and from whatever made it through from above.
"Mind the barnacles." He warned and shined the light up along one thin ochre-brown line, which I hadn't noticed, all the way to the top, where a barnacle had latched to the concrete ceiling of the sewers. "This is no easy way out of the city but it's the only one that you have a chance to survive." He explained.
"I like the odds." Aposiopesis said.
"It works like this. There are stations along the route. When you reach them your escort will be taken by someone else and the one that has been with you so far, goes back. This way we don't risk being…oh what was the word… found as much? Yes… If you really want to join us after this is done instead of just getting out, you will need to learn a few things."
"We are not leaving. Not immediately anyway." I said a bit suddenly, remembering that as much as we didn't have much that we own, my electronics were still working and they just needed power.
"Ookay." He seemed a bit surprised by my sudden response. I should have handled it better. "At the end of this long trip you end up down along the river. From there on it is an entirely new route to one of the castles in the mountains, which serves as our stronghold. I haven't been there though."
"Castle. Nice." I replied. It seemed like a good idea. Those things were old, strong, modernized and quite secure.
Edmund went on talking and explaining little things like, few others know English, the Resistance forces after the first stations were permanently stationed there and were no longer "citizens". They were supplied with food and some other basic necessities and had a place to sleep. Some, though, lived in the city none the less, as they lived near the station and had no problem with heading in and out often. In my opinion this wasn't the best thing to do as the Combine could easily see the pattern of those few citizens moving in and out through the city and "vanishing" into the thin air.