*About the story*

Hello there! Now, this story is based off the theory that Chell is the daughter of Cave Johnson and Caroline. Obviously, this theory hasn't been confirmed, so if you don't agree with it, then you've clicked the wrong story. And obviously I don't own Portal. Just putting that little disclaimer out there ;) Enjoy!

As soon as the shack door slammed shut, she grabbed companion cube and ran. Her legs pulsed with more energy than she ever had before. She had no idea where she was going to go, but she knew she had to get as far away from Aperture as she could. Even though GLaDOS may have let her go, nothing was stopping her from changing her mind and dragging her back down into the endless depths of the science facility. She looked over her shoulder for a brief second and saw the shack was now out of sight, but now the only thing she could see was the vast golden field, and the bright blue sky above her. Her legs continued to sprint away in freedom, and yet she felt as though she was still trapped.

The companion cube on her back swung back and forth with each stride. She wasn't sure as to why she took the cube; it didn't do anything except exist. However, a feeling of protection and company overwhelmed her when the cube was with her. In a sense, she also wished that she left the cube behind. If she kept it, it would constantly remind her of the hell she escaped, and it weighed her down, making running that much harder. She pushed the thought aside and focused on her escape. After what seemed like forever, the field ended next to a dirt path. She skidded to a halt and caught herself from falling backwards.

Next to the strip of dirt and gravel was a huge fence with barbed wire strung across the top and a nearby red sign warned with white words: "Warning! High Voltage! Death is almost certain if you touch the fence, so don't do it." The side-note of the bottom of the sign hinted that she was still in the proximity of the Aperture facility, which gave her a gut-awful feeling. What if she was still testing? What if she never left the facility? What if the scenery that surrounded her were just painted walls? She shook her head. Thoughts like that would drive her insane. She sighed heavily and looked around the fence. It she had a portal gun, she could get around the fence with ease, but it had been left behind in GLaDOS's lair. If there is a fence, there is usually a gate. She thought to herself.

She began her trek down the never-ending fence to look for a way out. Miles must have gone by, and she still couldn't find an exit of any kind. She turned around to walk the other way, but something caught the corner of her eye. Part of the fence was broken and left a small gap under it. She looked at the gap, it wasn't big enough for her to squeeze through, but the dirt underneath was soft and easy to dig through. She tossed companion cube over the fence and began digging under the fence. The soft dirt soon turned into rocks and pebbles, and it was beginning to take much longer to dig. After she removed a good amount of rocks from out from under the fence, she got down on her stomach and began crawling under it.

When she got to the other side, she got up, but she slipped on some loose pebbles and fell on the fence. She tensed up waiting for the electrocution, but nothing happened. She opened her eyes and touched the fence. It wasn't deadly at all, just a normal barbed-wire fence. She kicked the fence in anger because she could have climbed over with a few cuts instead of spending so much time digging and removing rocks. But, it was over now. She was on the other side of the fence, and for the first time, completely out of Aperture. She put companion cub back on her and began jogging away from the fence. About two miles out, she reached a straight road that didn't seem to go anywhere. Everything at this point seemed endless. The field, the fence, the sky, the road, everything seemed to go on forever.

Was there even anything here? She had been underground for who knows how long, and she knew nothing about what had become of the outside world. She shook her head again. No more thinking like that. Aperture seemed never-ending, but she escaped. It had ended. This road could be leading her to the end of her journey and the start of her life. She decided to head left and follow the road until she reached… well, whatever the road led to. Night was beginning to fall and the road was still going. At this point, her feet were aching, and there was nothing in sight, so she plopped down on the ground and leaned against companion cube. There was no telling how long she would be walking, and she hadn't slept in forever. It took a while to relax enough to even think about going unconscious in the middle of nowhere, but somehow, sleep overtook her and the outside world melted away.

Bright lights and rumbling sound is what she woke to. She squinted her eyes and put up a hand as a visor and saw that there was a truck next to her. A large middle-aged man emerged from the driver's seat and made his way over to her.

"Hello, miss? You alright?" He asked with a scruffy voice.

She made no response but looked at the man with wide eyes. It was almost unreal seeing another person after being drowned in robots, turrets, cores, and other mechanical beings. But this man, he was living, breathing, not robotic, and probably not bloodthirsty.

"Miss?" he asked again squatting down to her eye level. "You need a ride of somethin'? People usually aren't collapsed on the side of the road in these parts."

She looked at the truck and nodded. This man would probably be the only chance she had to make it anywhere, and this was the only car she had seen on the road, and the chances of another willing driver offering to give her a ride was very slim.

The man got up and held out a hand. "Alrighty then, let's go." She hesitantly took his hand and stood up. He looked over at the companion cube. "You can put that, erm… box in the back, you know what? I'll do it for you." He picked up the cube and put it inside, and then he got back into the car himself. She was still standing outside of the truck, however.

"Hey miss, you coming?"

She nodded and got in on the passenger side of the truck. The man pressed on the gas pedal and the truck rumbled away. After a few moments the man began talking again. "Oh, how rude of me, my name is Chris Scott, but you can just call me Scotty." He glanced over at her and the back to the road. "You got a name for yourself, miss?" he asked. She tensed a bit and looked around, she couldn't speak to him. She saw a pen and a receipt and jotted it down. The man looked at it. "Chell, huh?" he read pronouncing it "Shell" he smiled. "Well, nice to meet you sea-chell." Chell tilted her head for a moment at the nickname, but didn't bother with it. The man glanced at her again. "You got, um, a problem with speaking, sea-chell?" he asked. She stared at him for a moment, and then glanced away. He coughed and said quickly, "Sorry… if it's a touchy subject, I won't bring it up… just keep writing on that paper, it's fine." Chell shrugged and wrote down 'it's ok' on the paper. He nodded and then asked, "Do you want me to drop you off at your plac-"he stopped himself when he saw Chell shaking her head. "Oh… I suppose you don't have a place then… um… well, you can stay at my place until you, um, figure out where you're going. I have a guest room you can stay in." She nodded and he sighed. "Well, we should be there in a few hours, so feel free to nap or somethin'."

He didn't speak much the rest of the ride and turned on the country rock station on the radio to fill the silence. After a bit, Chell was nodding to sleep and just as she was about to go out, the man shook her shoulder. "Hey, we're here." He pointed at the town in front of him and smiled. "Welcome to Ratsburrow."

*Author's Note*

Well! There you go. Chapter 1. It's more of a prologue really. The next chapter will be up shortly! Please R&R if you enjoyed and even if you didn't, constructive criticism is always appreciated. I want this story to be enjoyable to *you* my reader's so if you have any suggestions, *please* go ahead and give them.