The four had made it to the end of the bridge and had finally boarded the helicopter. The four started cheering as they realized they were finally out of the infected army's grasp. The group had been lead by a large forty-eight year-old, dark-skinned man who was known to the others as "Coach", who was a High School Gym Teacher before the apocalypse started and was still wearing a shirt from the school. Among the others was a twenty-eight year old woman, who used to work in the news, with a pink dépêche mode shirt and dark skin by the name of Rochelle. The other two were Caucasian, one of them, a twenty-three year-old by the name of Ellis, having been a mechanic before the infection spread, also possessing a charming southern accent. The last one was a thirty-five year old who went by the name of Nick. Before the infection had spread around, he had been a con man.
They were in some sort of cargo hold section of the chopper as the pilot seemed to be a bit paranoid of the possibility that the survivors may have been carrying the infection. They had found an intercom device that allowed them to speak with the pilot. Rochelle had asked where they were headed, and the pilot had simply said "Michigan" Michigan? Coach thought. "How long's that gonna take?." He asked. The pilot responded, "Probably a few hours. It should be a smooth flight."
A few hours of small conversation later, Nick had gotten tired of waiting. He asked the pilot how much time was left, but the pilot did not respond. The last thing they heard was the word "TANK!" Before a loud thud resounded throughout the chopper and it was sent hurtling towards the ground.
The survivors awoke a few hours later in the cargo hold of the chopper. They were slightly bruised but they had had enough injuries before to have been in possession of pretty durable bodies. Coach pried open the door and looked outside. They appeared to be in the middle of some sort of wheat field. "Where the hell is this?" Nick asked. Ellis replied, "I suppose it's Michigan." They crawled out of the wreckage one by one to see that a large chunk of earth had been taken from the field, and saw in the helicopter wreckage that a tank infected had been crushed by the chopper. "The pilot... He didn't have to go like that." Rochelle said in a melancholy tone.
Nick looked around the field and saw a small shack around fifty feet from the wreckage. He motioned at it so the other survivors would notice it and said, "Look!" The group of four started their journey towards the shack, but found no door on the side they were facing. They heard a clanging noise and then the sound of a slamming door, and Ellis peeked around the corner towards the source of the noise. He saw a woman with a white tank top and an orange jumpsuit tied around her waist. She looked around the environment she was in, completely stunned. Ellis whispered to the other survivors, "There's another person!" They all looked at her from behind the small shack. Then, something unexplainable happened. They heard the clanging noise again, and then a scorched-up box flew out of the door, which then slammed itself shut. The survivors were all confused about what that meant, and the woman turned around to face the box. The woman's smile widened as she hugged the box and sighed softly. She opened her eyes and saw the four strangers staring back at her.
Chell's mouth was wide open as she stared at the four people standing in front of her. She blinked and rubbed her eyes, thinking that maybe they were an illusion. "R-Real.. People." She said as she looked upon them in awe.
Rochelle looked at the woman quizzically and she thought she understood the situation. This woman had obviously been through a lot with the zombie apocalypse and had not seen "real people" in a long while. She helped the woman get on her feet and asked her, "What's your name, sweetie?"
Chell, eyes still widened from the shock of this encounter, simply responded "Chell". Coach told her the names of all of the survivors, and shook her hand, saying, "And you can call me Coach." He paused as he handed her a spare pistol. "Welcome aboard, Chell." She looked at the foreign object, and picked up the portal gun from the ground near the companion cube. Coach stared at it, asking, "What is that thing? Is that supposed to be a gun?" Chell shook her head no. "Well… Not really. I guess it's useless out in the real world." Coach asked her what she meant. Chell pointed the portal gun at the shack door, and shot a blue portal onto the door. Coach looked at the blue oval, slightly amazed by it. "What's this?" He asked. Chell sat on the companion cube and shot an orange portal onto the wall near the door.
Coach looked through the blue portal in amazement, the other survivors crowding around him as well. Ellis reached through the blue portal and saw that his arm appeared out of the orange one. Chell was slightly amused by their amazement, as she had grown bored of the portal gun's effects after being stuck with it for so long. She recalled the awe that she felt the first time she had picked up the portal gun, the excitement she experienced as she flew through a portal for the first time.
Ellis had traveled through the portal completely and chuckled slightly. The other survivors followed. Nick said, "I find it hard to believe… Is this real?" He scoffed. Chell nodded. She didn't know why, but Nick annoyed her slightly.
A group of twenty or so common infected started running towards them from the distant trees and they were shortening their distance rapidly. Chell asked Coach, "What are those things?" And Coach responded, "Zombies!" as he started shooting them with his shotgun.
Chell's heart nearly stopped. All those times that GLaDOS had told her, "Things have changed since you last left the building" And all of those warning signs of the apocalypse… No, it couldn't be true. And yet, the proof was there. Seemingly mindless, undead... things running towards them.
Chell aimed her pistol shakily at the incoming group of infected and missed three times, but the fourth shot had killed one as they were getting closer. Rochelle, Ellis, Coach, and Nick all had their primary weapons, their guns tearing the group of infected apart. Chell fell to her knees, coming to terms with the reality of what had happened to the world. Coach looked at her and said, "This is what we gotta do, baby girl. It's either you fight or die here." Tears started running down Chell's face. She had fought for her life over and over against GLaDOS. She thought she would have finally been freed from fighting. Everything that she had done… All that she had risked… for this? Ellis looked down at her and gave her a slight smile. "Cmon now, it ain't all that bad. Let's just find somewhere safe to hide, alright?" She didn't know why, but Ellis's voice had calmed her down a bit. She grabbed his hand and stood up.
She asked if they could take along the companion cube, and Coach shook his head. "Now how are you gonna carry that thing around?" She looked at him, then picked up the portal gun and pointed it at the cube, which then began to lift off of the ground. She explained, "The portal gun.. it can lift objects that aren't too heavy." She said. The companion cube had always been surprisingly light and was able to be carried with the portal gun with ease.
Coach asked her why the cube was so important to her. Chell looked to the ground and said, "We've been through a lot together…"
Coach squinted his eyes in confusion for a bit, but then just shrugged and said, "Alright then, let's go." As they started walking towards the distant trees, Chell wiped the last of her tears and followed closely behind.
I will not fall victim to this world.