All was set in motion. Several minutes before the experiment began. As I walked down the elongated halls of the facility that I had worked at for years, several thoughts danced in my head. What kind of discoveries could be made from such an experiment? Would it even be safe? I had been meaning to ask how such a specimen had been acquired in the first place, but my work had keep me busy with more pressing matters…

Indeed, while I had been concerned with the running of the Anti-Mass Spectrometer, the actual significance of such a test escaped me.But, what did it matter? I had done my job well up to this point. All the remained was the actual test. As I stood there I realized that the facility was still waiting for one slacker. And after some time, the man in question finally arrived, those unmistakable glasses and that hazard suit made me sure of it. As he glanced at me, I simply said one word with a tone of impatience. "Freeman."

But as the final moments ticked down, I heard the mumblings of the other fellow scientists within the observation room. Such sentences such as "The administrator has said to boost the Spectrometer's power up to 110%", and something about "disabling safety features"…such words unnerved me. Such a device was never meant to handle the power capacity at which we were attempting to use it. But, I knew there was no turning back now. Freeman had started up the machine. As the Spectrometer reached high energy levels I stared at it. I felt unsafe. While I tended to be overly cautious, something about this flexibility in standard procedure worried me immensely. The sample known as GG-3883 was being pushed in by Freeman, and I waited to see the results.

And then it happened. The Spectrometer went haywire. The facility's emergency lights were going off. I knew it. We had pushed way too far!

Rays of energy shot out of the machine, destroying wires and walls everywhere. "SHUT IT DOWN!" I yelled. But as Johnson, the main scientist shouted back, "It's not working!" I had an immediate sense of urgency, almost as if someone had warned me: Get out of there. NOW!

It was only seconds before I went past the glass of the observation room, to behind the nearby metallic walls in the next room, when a one of the haywire energy beams shot straight through the observation glass, breaking it, and exploded into the room where I had just left. My ears were not only pierced by the sound of the explosion, but the screams of the multiple scientists who must have felt the horrendous pain of their bodies being vaporized. It had brought me to tears. I was terrified about what may happen to this facility, to the rest of the Black Mesa team, and to me.

My only idea would be to head to the trams and hope they're still operable. So I headed back towards the main hallway when I noticed the terrible images surrounding my way. A dead scientist had had his head crushed in by a shelf that had been knocked over by the blast. The number of battered organs and body parts that were scattered around the facility had made me sick. I would never be able to get these thoughts out of my head for as long as I lived.

I managed to reach the plasma study chambers when I noticed Doctors Isaac Kleiner and Eli Vance in the corner. When I asked them why they were still here, Kleiner responded for the both of them: "I'm afraid we're waiting for someone of upmost importance…" I decided I had no time to ask more questions. Why they were foolish enough to stay behind was their business. I continued on my way, but was stopped by the horrific events that lay ahead.

A strange portal had briefly appeared out of thin air and with it a disturbing alien creature, the likes of which I had never before seen. It had four simple appendages with which to walk, and brownish in appearance. But what had startled me was how the underside of this strange alien had a multitude of disgusting teeth. But I had no time to contemplate how dangerous such a creature could be, because suddenly it jumped at me, with an ear-piercing shriek. EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE.

I had barely managed to escape its attack, when suddenly another sight terrified me. A scientist walked down from the other side of the hallway, except…he was no longer human. One of these crab-like aliens had latched onto his head and apparently taken control of his body. The entire middle of the scientist's body had been ripped open by the alien; where there were once ribs was now a gaping hole in the chest where teeth from the alien now poked out of. More screams emanated from the crab-scientists. What made it worse was that I could still hear the voice of the scientist, although in a deeper, more zombified tone. His cries for help shook me more than anything else.

"O̴̷̧͔̩̘̔͗ͥ̌͐̍Ḩ̩̣̪̹̼̱͕ͬ̃ͭ̾ͧ͘͡ ̡͇̟̰̄̋͗̕G̖̳͈̳͓̺͖ͩ͋ͪ̈́̚O̡̧̦̖̳͇̅̑ͯ̈́ͧ͗ͭͧD̸̵̲͙̰̲͍ͤ̂ͪ͢.͓̦̥̪̤ͧ̈́ͩ̎ͮ̈͌ͥͅ.̶͎̟̣̳ͤͪ̋̊̚̕ͅ.̢̺͕̙͉̙̬̻̭͐H̲͌̎̄̽͐͗E͉͍̍͗ͫ͒ͩ̿̇̈͛͠L̯͚̦̥̟ͣ̈́ͪ̕P̴̸̭͍̰̺͖͛ͪ̑ͅ ̵̼̜̲͙̹̞̬̟̃͊ͦ̿M̬̑̈́͑͑E̴̝̮͓͍̒ͨͭͭ̍̇ͦ́͟,ͥ͐ͪ͆̉ͩ̍̏ͨ͏̭̳̙͚͍̝ ̗̘̘̥̃̓͗̎͟͜H̥̬͇͕̥͇̲̲͔͒̈́̓̊̔͟Ȇ̮̞͕̻̭͇̲̻̾͛ͥ̿͆ͨ̓̿͟L̵̰̗̦ͦ͋̊́ͅP̡̰͉̪͎̯̬̻ͦ̋ ̟͇͉̓͞M͍̬͕͚͔̝̜̜͕̈͞E̼̖̗̩̠̳̱͋ͩͩ̃̓ͅ!̥̲̬͍̠͕͓̺ͫ̑̕͞"

The crab behind me, the scientist in front. I was trapped. This was it. I could never have imagined that such a terrible accident would have created these monstrosities. How many more people could possibly be infected? Starved for options, I only had one choice: scream for help. But I didn't even have that. A short attempt came out as I yelled, "HEEE-", before the crab had made a bounce and attached itself to my cranium.

I could feel every single tooth lodge itself straight into my brain. I began to lose all my senses. It was taking direct control of me. My body was being destroyed by this thing, and I could do nothing about it. All I had left in me was one more sentence…

"AAAAAAAAAH…H̦̩͓̝͆ͨ̀ͭ͗̈͑̒E̴͉̖̼̣̼̙̦̱ͥ̔̒̿̔͒͑͟L̛̺͙̳̲̞͚͌̅ͦ͑P̸͇ͧ̓ ̵̈̌̔̔̾̍̃̅̂͏̳̞͕͍̟͞M̥͈͈̠̪͎̠̋̔́E̢̛͉̖͓̓̆͐ͫ́̋!̬͓̐ͧͦ̇̋̀͘!̧͉̯̟̹͈̬̪̐̽̃͊̂ͣ!̹̘̜̫̭̹ͧ̋ͩͥͤ"

I wrote this story last Halloween. Hope you guys liked it!