1 – The Shed in the Field
"Are we almost there?" Dr. Anabelle Chapman asked through her headset before turning her eyes back to the field passing by underneath them.
The helicopter pilot replied. "Yes ma'am, we've entered the general area, so let me know if you see something that looks important."
She fell into silence, looking past the dirty glass of the window with a Black Mesa soldier next to her, Cpt. Rodney Smithfield.
"Haven't we already been searching? How did we narrow it down?" Asked the pilot.
"Satellite imagery." Anabelle responded sheepishly. "Then a simple triangulation."
"What?"
"We saw an anomaly on the moon, analyzed its trajectory, and narrowed it down to somewhere in this area."
"Oh, why didn't you say so?"
The Mi-17 banked across the landscape, and its blades chopped harder into the air. Dr. Anabelle shifted uncomfortably in her seat. Below, there was the grey light of an overcast day reflecting back for her to see. As they leveled out, however, it became apparent he was not finished with questions. Turning to her from the cockpit, he politely asked,
"What are we going to do when we find it, ma'am?"
"Investigate, and try to make contact."
"But what if they're hostile at this point?"
Dr. Anabelle could not find a suitable reply. Receiving no reply, the pilot let the issue drop.
When she gazed out onto the field once more, she saw a small black structure in a small clearing in the distance.
"There's a small building out there, I think."
The aircraft banked steeply.
"With all due respect, ma'am, I said anything that looks important." Both laughed before he continued. "I didn't see that…odd that there doesn't seem to be any other house around."
"Let's go see." She suggested, to which he concurred.
In a few moments, the helicopter had slowed and descended to the area. Only a small, dilapidated shack stood in the clearing. Cpt. Smithfield observed it with a critical eye, having become disheartened.
"It's just a little shed." He said as Dr. Anabelle peered over his shoulder, having gotten up and moved to the cockpit. "Not really very dramatic for a showman like Johnson."
"But what's it doing out here?" She asked, "It's…strange. It might be something."
Anabelle looked at the small building. It appeared to be little more than what the pilot had described; a simple shed. The wood was of dark color, and it appeared to have been exposed to the elements for some time; it was surprising that the structure still stood after everything that had happened since the Black Mesa incident, and the invasion of the Combine.
However, there was still something about it that made her feel that it was indeed something out of the ordinary. Smithfield accompanied her, both of them experiencing the same sickly, sinking feeling as they drew closer.