Sector 28 hadn't been addressed as Michigan in a long time. An old truck, labelled "Michigan Food Bank Co", chugged along an old, dirt road, on course for the checkpoint ahead. Its occupants, three muscular men and their driver, clad in civilian blue overalls as per Combine code, prepared their ID. Moments later the truck was pulled aside at the checkpoint for inspection. Two Metro-cops examined the ID of each man and the empty boxes in storage. Their radios clicked after each sentence; their every word monitored by their superiors. Everything checked out as per usual and the truck was clear to pass. What the officers had failed to notice was the middle-aged woman, clutching on to the outer-roof of the truck as it drove back into the city ahead.
City 28 hadn't originally held a train station. Ramirez guessed it was just one of the many benefits the Combine had brought with them. He was also due to be deported to India on the day the Combine first attacked. So another benefit was that he got to stay in America for free. Of course, he knew what the Combine were doing was horrendous, but what could he do? Might as well accept their fate and make the most of it. Ramirez grabbed his suitcase and stepped off the train, shielding his eyes from the flashing cameras above. Combine occupation in City 28 was fairly low, so it wasn't too hard for the gentleman to find his way into a side-street without being beaten. He hoped find a blind-spot to rest in before returning to his apartment block. He was due his raid today. Crap.
A large truck screeched around a corner. Ramirez froze in panic. He had heard of random selections taking citizens on the street to the tower. Was this one of them?
As the truck clunked to a halt, a woman leaped from the roof and ran off into the alleyways. A moment of silence. Seconds later the rear doors burst open and Ramirez found himself encircled by three muscular men in black riot gear, grabbing him by the arm, barking orders at each other, and throwing him into the back. Silence filled the truck until the engine sparked into action and Ramirez experienced the most unpleasant trip of his life.
"Sorry for the raucous introduction," one of the men spoke as the rear doors swung open again, "But we needed someone out of there, fast."
"W-What do you mean?" inquired the startled occupant, unsure if this was a kidnapping or a rescue.
"It's probably easier if one of the Docs explain. C'mon pal, up ya come." The figure offered out his hand towards Ramirez, pulling him up.
Outside the truck, a dimly lit room buzzed with activity. The other two men that had assisted in Ramirez's capture were unloading rifles and several other people in white lab coats waddled around, investigating statistics on printed paper and readings on monitors. They all seemed rather old, balding and only one did not have white hair. Instead, it was grey. A Greek symbol was spray-painted on some of the walls and newspaper clippings hung from notice boards. Ramirez instantly recognised it as a laboratory and despite how rundown the place was, he couldn't help but be amazed at the resources at hand.
"What do you do here?"
On of the scientists turned to face him. He wore glasses on his nose and spoke with a vague German accent.
"Ah, out new runner has arrived! Thank you, Parker."
"Welcome, boss," replied the man who had assisted Ramirez.
"Now, do forgive me, good sir, but I find it best we don't get to know each other on a first-name basis. It often leads to too much of an attachment..."
"Doctor Schmitt!" called a female scientist at a screen a few metres away. The man responded.
"Just a minute, Dorothy!" He turned back around to Ramirez. "Ah. That didn't last too long. Oh well, my new friend. You have no need to identify yourself. We here will only address you as 'the runner'. Understood?"
There was a rather awkward silence throughout the room.
"N-No...What is this?"
"Allow me to explain," began Schmitt, rather proudly. "This is what remains of Black Mesa. Well, as far as we are aware. The lovely fellows who brought you here were members of the HECU, a military organization who...erm...decided to..." the doctor paused for thought. "'intervene' when things went out of hand in our labs...You follow?"
"Not at all. You're all insane." The Indian man felt his head aching. He had no clue as to what all of this was. Why did it exist, how did it exist? "You aren't part of the Combine, are you?"
"Oh heavens, no! We are very much the opposite. We intend to halt the Combine in their tracks! You see, we have reason to believe that the Combine are looking for a location known as Aperture Laboratories; our 'peers', not that out-and-out rivalry matters anymore."
Another scientist began to speak; a tall, black southern-American man.
"Aperture were working on portal technology. Remind you of anything?" He pointed to a newspaper clipping, containing a picture of the portal that the Combine had used to get to Earth.
"They want portal technology?" inquired Ramirez. "But...why?"
"We haven't a clue," continued Schmitt, sipping from a mug with a Black Mesa logo on the side, "But what we do have is a contact. Somebody who knows the location of Aperture, living outside the City boundaries. We have taken it upon ourselves to protect her by setting up a radio jammer nearby her location to ensure the Combine never find it. Every now and then it requires maintenance, so we send a runner to go and check on it."
"Yeah, except this time they screwed it up," interrupted a bulky man unloading his rifle.
"Get lost, Chaz!" The southerner snapped, fed up and almost enraged. "If it weren't for the HECU then maybe we would have had a chance to stop the resonance cascade. None of this would have happened!"
"Please, gentlemen, allow us to forget our past hate for each other. There are more important matters to deal with!" Schmitt separated the two men and sent them on their separate ways. "It is true, however..." he confessed with sorrow, "This time we weren't expecting it to need maintenance so today we sent a runner just to check on it. When it turned out that its core was damaged, our runner didn't have the resources to fix it. So now you are our back-up." Ramirez was passed several mechanical instruments, held together by rather make-shift struts. "I only tell the runner the location of the jammer. I shall tell you before you leave."
The Indian man was still baffled. He looked around at the activity in the lab. Everything was organised but it was clear that these people had a massive hate towards the Combine. If he got caught up in this he would never be able to return to his life again.
"What if I refuse?"
"You won't."
Ramirez sighed. He was right. If he did refuse, he would never live with himself knowing that he had turned down the chance to do something worthwhile for the first time in years.
"Where do we start?"
"You'll be needing this." Dorothy passed a large, glowing device to Ramirez. "It's a Gravity Gun, something Aperture were working on before the invasion. Our contact found the blueprints."
"Remember, speed is key." Schmitt advised. "Get in, get out, and we will return you to where we found you in no time. Piece of cake."
Parker stifled a laugh.
"Liar. The checkpoint's the hardest part. We've got to come up with a good excuse to get out each time. You'll be fine though. They never check the roof...usually."
Everybody was in position and the truck drove off into the distance, the orange sun glistening on its bodywork and Ramirez clasping onto the roof above.
The truck had passed through the checkpoint with ease and was nearing its destination. As it came to a halt, Chaz assisted Ramirez from the roof.
"We'll be waiting here for you. Schmitt's given you everything you need to know."
With that, Ramirez walked off into the corn fields and towards his destination.
Only a few minutes later, he heard shouting from behind him. It was Chaz, running as fast as his legs could carry him.
"Runner! Something's happened! We don't know how but they..."
A gunshot rang out across the plains as a bullet cracked through Chaz's skull. He dropped forwards, planting his face into the dirt below. Ramirez knew he had to get the heck out of there immediately. He ran, thinking about the consequences this would have. If the Combine caught him, what would they do to him? A Combine dropship roared overhead, causing Ramirez to jump down to the ground. Before he could get up, he could see a Combine soldier standing over him. He reached for the Gravity Gun, unsure if it was even useful in this situation.
Just in time, one of the HECU guards jumped out from the corn, wrestling the soldier to the ground. Several muffled splutters came from the soldier and soon the battle was over. The guard offered out his hand to Ramirez but at that moment.
BAM!
Another gunshot rang out, the bullet splicing through the guards spine. This time, the runner could see the shooter as he stepped into view. It was Parker.
"Now the fun can begin."
"What the hell are you doing?" Ramirez panted, on the ground.
"Oh come on, isn't that obvious now? I'm working with the Combine. I have been for a long time."
"I've only just got here...you expect me to know what that means?"
"They offered me freedom," began the armed man, starting to walk towards to the runner on the floor.
"You know they won't deliver..."
"But I have nothing to loose, so why not? For years I've been trying to find that radio jammer but Schmitt only speaks of its location to the runners. I've given up. You will tell me where it is!"
Ramirez coughed out dirt from his mouth.
"I...only just got involved..."
"I don't care. The Combine already have an agent planted with the contact, but the jammer is blocking its transmissions back to them. If it is deactivated, the Combine will get all the information they want about Aperture and that will be the end of it. They may even leave Earth if it's all they want..."
"You know just as well as me that it isn't all they want. If it was, why would they drain the water? Put up the suppression field? They want us dead...We're just playing for time." He paused. "Just as I am right now!" And at that second Ramirez drew up the Gravity Gun, using it to drag the rifle from Parker's hands. Quickly, he placed the weapon in his own hands and shot at Parker, making him drop to the floor like a ragdoll. It took a second for it to click that he had just killed a man. He panicked, clicking on his radio to get help from the Lab. Static crackled from the speaker. "Hello? Doctor Schmitt?"
Muffled gunfire also came from the radio. A woman's voice spoke.
"This is Dorothy- Schmitt is dead! The Combine...they found us..."
Screams were ringing out inside the building and a second later Dorothy stopped speaking. The radio went dead.
Combine patrols were hunting the fields. More dropships were flying overhead. The sun was setting over the horizon. Ramirez knew he didn't have a chance. He aimed the rifle at his head and pulled the trigger.
No more.