A piercing shaft of white sunlight overwhelmed Chell's vision as she approached the exit - a light of intensity that the mimicries of natural light at Aperture could never come close to. Taking trembling, uncertain steps towards an idea that for the last few years seemed almost impossible, she emerged outdoors. Her eyes took longer than what seemed normal to adjust - probably from years of little exposure to real sunlight. When they cleared up, she stared at the scenery in awe.
Before her was a wheat field. The gold-colored plants stretched to the horizon, and the sky was clear blue aside from towering clouds in the distance. The air felt different here. It was warm and moving, contrasting with the sterile, cool air that had been kept at a consistent temperature. A light wind brushed at strands of her hair.
This peaceful moment only lasted a few seconds before being interrupted, as a loud noise erupted from the doorway.
Half expecting that her release had been an exceptionally cruel trick, Chell abruptly turned to see her Companion Cube collide with the ground. It was slightly charred, but still in good condition. She smiled - for all of the disdain GLaDOS expressed for Chell being quick to euthanize it, the flames had been nearly harmless to the cube.
She continued to walk to the wheat, and scooped up a clump of dry soil. She pressed the dirt in her palm with her fingers. When was the last time she had touched something so raw and organic? She couldn't even put a number to the years.
Heading back to retrieve her cube, she was suddenly struck by the concept that actually picking up the thing looked rather difficult. Using the Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device had become instinctual, and having to use her hands to grasp the cube looked unnatural. Not having the ASHPD firmly secured to her arm was almost like missing a limb. Nevertheless, Chell was determined to give her best shot at carrying the cube.
Hoisting it up, she began her journey. It took about thirty seconds for her to figure out that this wasn't going to work. The cube was just too big, and it wasn't called a "Weighted Companion Cube" without a reason.
She tried tumbling it through the wheat, which proved to be another remarkably inefficient method of travel. Chell sadly admitted defeat and placed it on the ground. She would come back for her beloved cube, she told herself. Once she found a nearby civilization, she could bring a rope with her, or possibly even store it in a vehicle. That sparked another train of thought - were there even any other humans nearby?
The automated voice seemed to imply that some sort of apocalyptic event had occurred while she was in stasis. Maybe it was just making its approximation based on the state of the facility, she reasoned. After all, no one had anticipated that GLaDOS would flood the facility with neurotoxin and take control of Aperture Science Laboratories. The fact that absolutely no one had been maintaining the facility was probably the indicator the systems were using. That they had even created automated messages in the case of an apocalypse was bizarre to begin with, when Chell thought about it. It was probably just another oddity of Aperture; from what she had picked up, Cave Johnson seemed to have been responsible for stranger protocols. It wouldn't surprise her if the man's rather extreme enthusiasm compelled him to create preparations ensuring that in a scenario where most humans were dead, his cherished science could still continue.
After reasoning out her initial surge of panic that civilization as she knew it may have collapsed in the number of years she was in stasis, Chell reassured herself that it wasn't very likely. Humanity was probably the same as ever. She studied the horizon, looking for any indication of buildings but seeing nothing but endless wheat. It doesn't matter how many miles I have to walk, she thought. Whether civilization's still standing or not, I'm going to find other people. And with the same sense of determination that compelled her through countless tests, she took a deep breath and continued to walk forward.
Even the doubt lingering in the back of her mind couldn't hinder the sense of elation that she was free. The sun warmed her skin, which had been made pale with light deprivation from years spent underground. The air practically hummed with life. When an insect landed on her leg, she gently brushed it onto her hand and marveled at its delicate structure and the iridescence of its exoskeleton.
About two hours later, the wheat faded to grass, and she began to encounter shrubs and a few trees scattered throughout the landscape. When Chell spotted a stream, she immediately went running towards it. The intensity of her thirst hadn't even registered until she heard a discernible sound of trickling water. She promptly started drinking huge handfuls of water, deadly bacteria be damned. Chell estimated that the last time she drank water instead of receiving liquids via a tube must have been at least twenty years ago, and this was well worth the risk. Despite the high temperature, the stream was bitingly and invigoratingly cold.
Chell realized that she was fortunate to find the stream relatively quickly in her journey; if it had taken even a day or two longer, she easily could have wound up facing the effects of dehydration. While hugely relieved that GLaDOS had actually set her free, couldn't she have at least seen fit to toss her a water bottle before she departed? Not to mention some sunscreen. Judging by the sunlight's ceaseless glare, she estimated that she was going to have one hell of a painful sunburn if this continued much longer. Chell decided that for her own safety, she should probably follow the stream so that she could at least have a reliable water source nearby.
Keeping a brisk pace along the flowing water, she heard the sound of birds chirping. Swiveling her head towards it, she caught sight of a few sparrows flitting past, their wings catching the sunlight. At this point, it was proving difficult to believe that humanity had really been eradicated. Everything appeared not just how she remembered it, but even better than what she could recall from memory. Maybe it was simply the exhilaration of being released after years of being trapped in a mostly sterile facility, but the world seemed extraordinarily brilliant and alive.
Though her conviction that there were other humans remained, the feeling of optimism was somewhat dampened when the massive clouds on the horizon revealed themselves to be rainclouds as they approached. The sky deepened to slate grey, and a soft, warm wind hissed in the grass. Large droplets speckled Chell's clothing and skin and soon escalated into a downpour, soaking her within minutes and reverberating against the dirt. She couldn't resist bringing some of it to her lips to taste the rainwater.
A low resonance of thunder echoed above, and the abrupt scent of ozone sent her rushing towards a growth of trees. She had learned to associate the smell with the electrical discharge of damaged machinery, which could be potentially lethal. Outside Aperture, she probably just looked paranoid. It was definitely a habit she would have to break out of.
The thunderstorm lasted for a few hours, and in that time, Chell still hadn't seen the slightest hint of human life. She chalked it up to Aperture's weird compulsion to set up their laboratories in a secretive place in the middle of nowhere. Well, they had done a fine job. The last time she had seen any kind of building had been when she emerged from the deteriorating, unassuming shack that served as a concealed entrance to the facility, and judging by the forest she was walking through, it was going to be a while before she found any others.
As night approached, Chell begin to feel disoriented, and her head was already clouded with fatigue. After so many hours of testing with the assistance of adrenal vapor to keep her constantly alert, she was now starting to feel the effects of something close to jet lag.
While Chell was intent on getting as far away from Aperture as possible before it became an absolute necessity to sleep, she had to admit that the darkness was making it hard to see, and accidentally running into trees was the last thing she wanted at the moment. She begrudgingly glanced around for a place on the ground, settling down on a patch against a pine tree that was relatively untouched by the rain and scraping away small rocks and pinecones. Though feeling uneasy about sleeping in the middle of a forest, she fell asleep within several minutes of resting her head on the ground.
Chell awoke to the sound of a squirrel scornfully chattering not far above her. The pine tree that she picked to rest under must have been where its drey was located. Opening her eyes, she saw that the forest was already dappled with morning sunlight. Well, the squirrel hadn't been the worst wake-up call ever. It was vastly preferable to waking up in a Relaxation Chamber again. Stretching her limbs, she became aware of a dull ache in her muscles - probably in equal parts from the hours of testing and from sleeping on the rough terrain.
As hunger started to claw at her stomach, Chell started to seriously consider how she was going to obtain food. She had absolutely no weaponry, and even if she was somehow successful at hunting, she wasn't certain she could actually kill a bird or small mammal if it came to it. As fortune had it, she eventually came across a hackberry tree. Small purple fruit dotted its branches. She vaguely recalled someone mentioning to her that the berries were edible - maybe one of her parents? - but couldn't remember anyone actually eating them. Giving a shrug, Chell popped one into her mouth anyway.
While she couldn't say that the berry tasted bad - vaguely raisiny with a hint of sweetness - it wasn't terribly appetizing, either. If not for the fact that it was the only food source she had seen for miles, she wouldn't have touched another one. As that wasn't the case, Chell continued wolfing them down until the hunger subsided and her fingertips were stained reddish-purple.
It was late afternoon when she stumbled upon it. She had been walking through a clearing in the forest when the ground abruptly seemed to change – instead of her long-fall boots sinking slightly into the earth, there was a distinct firmness underneath her feet. Peering downwards, it didn't look any different from the ground she had been stepping on just a moment ago. But when she brushed away the covering of dead leaves and thin layer of dirt, Chell found what looked like-
Concrete?
Taking some paces forward, the concrete ended, but the hard ground continued when she walked horizontally. Just as she had suspected - a road, buried under over roughly two to four decades worth of leaf debris.
Her heart sank. This was definitely evidence that an apocalyptic event had indeed occurred. On the other hand, maybe there was another explanation - the road might have been deemed too old and not worth maintaining, or perhaps it had been abandoned when a faster, more direct road was implemented elsewhere. Maybe it had even been solely a road to Aperture Science Laboratories, and for obvious reasons had not been in use for a very long time. Whatever the case, Chell followed the road with a feeling of anticipation in her chest.
A few hours later, and something other than the constant variations of green and brown caught her eye. Turning her head to the side of the road and peering between the thick tangle of branches, it looked like white paint. Chell's breath quickened - without taking a second glance, she went running towards it, almost losing her footing on a knotted root in her apprehension.
It was a house, and accelerating towards it, she noticed that the white paint was peeling - but no, it was still technically standing. Maybe the person who lived in it just didn't care to maintain it. Leaping onto the porch, Chell pounded at the door until her knuckles stung, desperately hoping that someone would open it. She tried the door handle, but it was firmly locked. With a sense of panic flooding her system, she sprinted down the road.
There was another house about a quarter mile from the first one. It had the same look of deterioration about it as the first. This one's door, however, was left slightly agape. Hesitatingly tiptoeing towards the entrance, Chell's pulse raced. In a few seconds, she would most likely know whether society still existed. The door was slowly cajoled open with a loud creak.
Inside, chunks of ceiling were missing from the frame, lighting up the hall with weak streams of clouded light. Furniture lie toppled on the floor. One of the bone-white walls was streaked with rust from rainwater. Vines and shrubs grew in the cracks of the structure, extending upwards to catch the light that trickled down.
Chell leaned on a wall.
No. This wasn't supposed to happen. This isn't fair.
Far from the blissful sensation of freedom she had experienced when she stood in the sunlit wheat field, Chell felt trapped again. Every second of testing had been completed with the unyielding belief that if she could just escape, what she would find outside would make it all worth it. And during that entire time, the only thing she was fighting for was a ruined, empty world.
Resisting the temptation to break down in tears, Chell forced herself to move forward and investigate the house. She could still try to figure out what happened to the human population - it was quite possible that there were still many people left. For all she knew, the apocalypse event could have been localized, and most of civilization was still intact. Like Chernobyl, she thought. Some sort of nuclear incident could have occurred - maybe even because of GLaDOS's massacre of all the Aperture scientists - and forced everyone to vacate the area immediately.
Despondently wandering around the relatively stable-looking parts of the house, there was not a lot of information to be gained. No newspapers with bold headlines like "Aliens Invade Michigan!" No notes explaining where the owners had gone. Not even a human body. It was as if they had simply disappeared. Nearly everything had been abandoned - Chell estimated that whoever lived here had been in a hurry to get out. All of the furniture was more or less in its original place, and the rooms were still furnished with threadbare tablecloths, paintings, and a still-intact television.
After stepping up a staircase with utmost caution, she entered what appeared to be a bedroom. The blankets were rumpled and covered in dust, reminding her unpleasantly of how her own bed had looked when she woke up from stasis.
There was still no indication of what had happened, but when she peered into the dusty contents of a drawer, she did find something that had been oddly absent from the rest of the house: family photographs. They must have taken all the ones that were in sight when they left, Chell realized. Gingerly brushing off thin layers of grime from the photos, she studied them with a twinge of sorrow. A woman laughing. A group of relatives posing together in someone's backyard. A young girl beaming as she cradled a pet chicken in her arms.
What happened to these people?
Whatever had cut their lives short in such a way made Chell feel mournful and a little angry - if things had just gone right, she might have been greeted by them when she ran up to their house. They might have helped her, and given her a warm place to stay until she got the whole rejoining society thing figured out. Instead she was ransacking what was left of their belongings and wondering if they were dead.
Placing the photos back in the drawer and gently closing it, she moved on and tried to find anything that might actually be of use to her. She could only contemplate the relics of people who were long gone for so much time when she had her own survival to attend to.
Just as she had expected, most of the clothes had gone absent from the closets. However, she did find a box full of folded women's clothing. Most of what was preserved inside consisted of sundresses and blouses, which were obviously not the best choices at the moment. Chell did, however, find a white t-shirt and a pair of jeans that were frayed at the ends. It was a relief to be able to discard the well-worn orange jumpsuit in exchange for clothing that wasn't singed by lasers, bloodstained, and containing traces of gels that were allegedly not fond of the human skeleton. The jeans and shirt were slightly stiff, but fit her well enough.
Upon further inspection, she also found a pair of sneakers, which she switched with the long fall boots. Though she was extremely competent with the unusual boots, Chell admitted that the strange angle at which her feet were held in them was probably unhealthy in the long term. Still, the long fall boots had proven too useful to not bring with her. Not to mention that they were an expensive piece of Aperture equipment - she imagined that GLaDOS would have some harsh words to say at the idea of just leaving them behind in some random, disintegrating house.
Now to find the other thing she badly needed - food. She wandered into the garage and promptly began rummaging around in search of it, hoping that they had actually left some behind. To her relief, there were a few cans hidden behind some cooking supplies on the bottom shelf of a pantry. The first one was labelled "condensed milk". That was out of the question - she couldn't imagine that its expiration date had been very long. The next one was labelled "pineapple". It was well worth a shot. Chell stabbed the top of the can with a knife she found in the kitchen. As soon as she pierced the metal, an overpowering, sickly-sweet smell filled the air. She gagged and moved the can to the other side of the garage.
Well, there went her faith in canned food longevity.
She tried opening canned corn, canned tomato paste, and canned water chestnuts, all emitting their own unique smell of decay. None of them came even close to smelling edible, and they all shortly joined the can of pineapple in its corner. She did, however, find something that she hadn't been immediately looking for - a bag of white rice. The bag was still sealed, and the rice still looked like rice. It wasn't quite as good as pineapple, but it was food.
Chell managed to collect bottled water, a cooking pot, some dry pieces of wood, and a box of matches. Boiling the rice over a small fire, she waited until droplets of hot water hissed at the sides of the pot and rivulets of steam fogged the air. Taking a bite of rice with a spoon, it was obvious that her method of cooking was less than ideal. The rice was watery and had an almost glue-like consistency. It hardly felt fair considering how much time she put into making it. Still, she wasn't one to reject perfectly edible food.
As she ate the rice, her mind drifted back to the situation she had found herself in. What would have happened if she had returned to find society the same as ever?
Chell didn't have a very good memory of her life before Aperture. She was certain that if she somehow stumbled upon her hometown or old house, she would recognize it - but when she honestly made an attempt to remember it, nothing came but a blur of cobbled-together memories and bits of information. No names, no faces. Not even her own surname. She once caught a glimpse of a file with her name on it, but much to her frustration, the last name was labelled as [REDACTED]. It was as if GLaDOS had very purposefully censored all the traces of Chell's previous life.
She imagined a circumstance in which she would have found people living in this house. They probably would have let her stay with them for a little while, but in all likelihood would have contacted the police or something for help. What were the other options when a mute, exhausted, and slightly malnourished woman comes knocking on your door from the middle of the woods with no explanation? And then - Chell furrowed her brow. What would even happen after that? Aside from her name, she had no identity. Would they really make it that easy to reintegrate into society?
Theoretically, she could have told them the truth - that she had been kept in cryostasis for the last few decades in Aperture. The clothing she had been wearing certainly would have been sufficient evidence. Given her name, they could have figured out that she was one of the people who had gone missing from the questionable testing that went on. Maybe they could have even found a few surviving relatives of hers.
But that would most certainly warrant investigation of Aperture Science Laboratories. Something about that thought alone made Chell's stomach twist in an uncomfortable way. While it was true that she didn't want the government to stumble upon Aperture technology - particularly the more questionable experiments - there was something else to it.
In a weird way, she felt almost… protective.
It didn't make any sense. After all the things Chell had been put through in that place, she should want nothing more than to burn it down. She should feel furious even thinking about Aperture - she knew that's how she felt when she first started testing.
Though she was certainly relieved to have escaped, she couldn't bring herself to feel overwhelmingly resentful. Thinking back, Chell had become a much stronger person during the time she spent at Aperture. She had reached expertise in handling situations where her life was at stake, learned how to think for herself, how to take fate into her hands and win. There was a strange sort of nostalgia about the place.
There was another odd component to the feeling, too; Chell did not like the idea of anyone getting a hold of GLaDOS.
She didn't quite know what to make of that. On one hand, GLaDOS not only put her through hell for a significant portion of her life, but also attempted to murder her numerous times. On the other, Chell had witnessed something different about GLaDOS when they united in the ruins of Old Aperture. She didn't entirely understand what GLaDOS's connection was with Caroline - was she based on Caroline? Or was she her uploaded consciousness, warped when it was placed in a robotic frame? Either way, some part of her was essentially human. And while Chell certainly didn't forgive her, she did feel sorry for her.
I can't linger on what happened there forever, Chell reflected. I'm allowed to move on with my life. And at the moment, that meant going to sleep. Curling up next to the fireplace, she gradually drifted off.
This is the first fanfic I've ever written. Hopefully it's comprehensible.