They stalked into the room arguing.
"I'm sick of your shit, Jimmie! I don't care what your vortigaunt lover says some messiah like figure is not just going to drop out of the fuckin' time stream to save us! We're dead Jimmie. The whole planet's screwed and you need to take a deep breath and smell the shit we're in."
David had always been a sceptic. He'd said that we'd never meet aliens, earth was isolated and nothing would ever invent faster-than-light travel.
I remember the look on his face when the news reporter announced to the bar that creatures from another world were appearing in the streets.
If the situation hadn't been so terrifying, I would have laughed at the look on his face.
Jimmie's face went crimson; he desperately gagged trying to think up a comeback.
"Well… I don't say anything about you and… and the doormat!"
He has never been that sharp. And all his comebacks featured sex so no one even bothered looking their direction.
"And anyway, the Vorts have never been wrong, if they say this Freeman guy is coming to save us, I believe them."
Elena turned to look at the two.
"No one said we didn't, Jimmie, David's just tired is all." She gave David a warning look, telling him to back off using nothing but an arched eyebrow. I had once thought I loved Elena. She is what I would look for, but nothing happened. I never plucked up the courage to let something happen. And now it's out the question, she's always busy no time for talk, and eventually, I stopped.
I seem to distance myself from people more these days. You don't feel sad if you don't care about the person who died. Sometimes I wonder if I ever cared, it seems inhuman but I don't think anyone's human any more. We have to become more than human if we want to win. That's what the black scientist said on the broadcast. I believe different. We need to be less, animals with only the killing instinct left. You don't care if others die as long as the combine do.
"Stop arguing." I told them. "We need to stick together. The combine want us gunning for each other over them. It saves their ammo." Elena silently thanked me for helping. I looked out the window. The view was as bleak as the day before, storm clouds rolling in on our hideaway. The combine had rode past the house twice last week and still haven't thought to search it. Or so I thought. Our day had started off normally enough with Jimmie and David's regular argument but there was an ominous feeling in the air. No one else felt it, but I guess I must be special that way.
I got off my armchair and headed to the kitchen, Danielle was in there helping out the Vort cook whatever crap we'd caught in the traps earlier.
"We greet the human Cray," the Vortigaunt said without turning.
"Hello to you too" I replied turning to Danielle, "What did we find" she winced apologetically, something she seemed to have been trained to do at every given moment.
"I don't know if head crab's edible…" she started but I stopped as I'd gotten the picture.
"Doesn't matter. Look, I have this feeling-"
"Something bad's going to happen?" she completed. Now that she said it, it did sound clichéd but I couldn't help that.
"The Cray may have a premonition it is true, hunches that he shares often culminate into reality." The Vortigaunt said to my defence. I thanked him for trying, but left the room.
There wasn't much to do inside so I left by the back door.
The house opened almost directly onto the beach, luckily there was enough space for us to keep away from antlions and relax.
I usually came out here to think, I had a lot on my mind usually.
Like how the Combine was sucking our planet dry.
Like how humanity had tumbled from it's point on the food chain to land in the prey section.
Like how I didn't care if others lived or died.
I often wondered at my lack of empathy, two months ago we lost a friend to head crabs, all I could do was roll my eyes as the others sobbed their eyes out and buried him. I refrained from telling them it was a waste of time, as I doubt I could survive on my own.
It started to rain, hard and heavy. But I didn't head inside, not yet. I could feel the water pounding my head but took no notice; the rain never bothered me I saw it as a cleanser, helping me relax. I mused on my callousness for a while and headed out to the front of the building. It was lucky I did or I would not have survived the day.
Off in the distance I saw lights. The sounds of an apc reached me through the lashing storm. And there they were.
Combine. Twenty or so, marching towards the house, ignorant of the rain assailing them.
I knew that no one would believe me if I warned them, so all I could do was get ready.
I entered the lobby, passed the living room without making a sound.
I climbed the stairs to the top floor and looked around.
We didn't have much in the way of supplies, and probably needed to leave the area soon but I like the place. I knew no one would listen to me; they never did so I set about preparing myself. Walking into the bathroom, I checked the Combine rifle we had found last month and was satisfied to see it had some shells, something we hadn't checked for before.
Slinging that over my back, I took a pistol from the table, feeling the cold metal on my palm. So much had changed since my days as a normal person. Several years ago I didn't even know how to hold a gun correctly and now we all use them as easily as we breathe. The Combine have changed so much with their arrival. A new breed of humans has developed.
Sadly, this distraction stopped me from ducking the first round fired and I felt it tear through my calf like so much wet paper.
I sunk to the ground, keeping away from the window as the screams started. Downstairs David was yelling for medical support as he clutched what was left of Jimmie trying to pull his stomach back together (I found the corpses later) and Elena was firing round after round from her rifle, her battle cry reaching a deafening crescendo.
I took, action, blind firing the pistol out the window I scrabbled around for a grenade.
My fingers closed around a metal cylinder and I flung the live grenade at the platoon of soldiers with a grunt of air.
The explosion rang out with a harmony of flat lining soldiers and the rending of bodies to close to the blast centre.
Reloading, I tumbled to the stairwell and let loose on the Combine soldier who had his rifle to Elena's head.
She looked at me, grim, tear streaked and ready to die. I ran over, sliding behind a table as cover and looked at her. It was bad. She'd lost a leg to the Combine rifle's energy ball and the bleeding wouldn't stop. Her eyes wandered over to the medical supplies in the cabinet. I followed her gaze.
"Please" was all she could manage but I knew she couldn't be saved.
"Sorry. I did love you. Once." She deserved to know before I ended it.
I lost focus about then. I don't remember taking David's revolver, or killing ten soldiers single handedly. I came to afterwards. That I do remember.
Sometimes I regret my lack of feeling, but when I found Danielle and the Vort, I was glad I didn't care for them. If I did, I would have thrown up.
There was nothing left for me at this place. It was time to move on. Ever since I have been steadily losing my emotion, I would be shocked but I think it started the day the cascade was reported. I had nowhere to go but that didn't stop me leaving.
It was going to be a long walk.