Chapter 1
"Oh God, dad… no… don't leave me…" Alyx Vance cradled the head of the so suddenly deceased Eli Vance. DOG stood behind her, looking like he too was upset, quite strange for a robot. Gordon's vision faded in and out, and he pleaded with himself, no, do not black out, you can't! The scientist tried to rise, but that only made it worse. Gordon collapsed down to the ground, the blackness consuming him completely.
…
Gordon Freeman found himself in a room no bigger than an ordinary closet. It was a closet that had been picked clean, but a closet none the less. A wooden door in front of him provided a way out of said room, and Gordon quickly opened it, stepping into a bedroom that was much too clean. It looked completely untouched, which was unusual because all of the rooms he'd seen during his time in City 17 had been nowhere near this nice.
Where in the hell am I? Where the hell is Alyx? Gordon wondered. The scientist saw things in that room he hadn't seen since before the Black Mesa Incident. Magazines, books, and even a few DVD's and music albums, all neatly arranged on top of the night stand beside the neatly made bed. It was like someone had left this room expecting to return, but had never made it back. Gordon took a step forward, the wooden floor creaking under his weight. He exited that room and went into a narrow hallway.
Gordon heard a loud thump, and his hand instantly went to the .357 magnum revolver attached to his hip. He pulled it out of its holster, the handle of the gun comforting him somewhat. Up ahead of him, the hallway made a ninety degree right hand turn, and Gordon crept forward silently. A sort of unintelligible grumbling sounded from around the corner, not the usual pleas of the head crab zombie, but more akin to a young child only just discovering their voice. Gordon peeked around the corner, and saw a man kneeling on the ground before him, stretching out like a dog.
Gordon placed a gloved hand on the man's left shoulder, and he stood up immediately, brushing Gordon's hand off.
"Arghinyouhaa!" The man whirled around, his eyes glowing yellow.
Gordon stepped backward, raised his magnum and fired. The man didn't have a head after that. If something was wrong before, it was even worse now. Gordon bent down to examine what was left of the body in front of him. It had abnormally pale skin, and even had elongated nails, although they were nowhere near the size of a head crab zombies.
Gordon wasn't sure what was going on here, or even where 'here' was. He knew one thing though. He wasn't in City 17 anymore. What he did needed to do, was that he had to find someone, someone who could tell him just what the hell was going on.
(A/N: Changed from the original version to make this a post Episode 2 story, for reasons that'll show themselves later. Hope anyone that's reading likes it.
