AN: Welcome back, readers! Or if this is your first time, welcome to my stories! This is an alternate sequel to my story "Love As a Construct." I highly recommend you read that first before starting this one. Otherwise, you might be confused. I originally wrote my story "Smiles" as a sequel, but when I finished with that story, I didn't want to be done writing about Doug. This is kind of like an alternate universe in which Doug decides to leave Aperture without the aid of Amelia and her friends (from my story "Smiles"). By the way, you don't have to have read my story "Smiles." It just might make a little more sense.

Sorry to keep you waiting. Read on, loyal readers.

(P.S. If you skipped this Author's Note, you might be a little bit confused about who Nora or Annie are.)

Doug got very lonely without Nora. He searched for her as thoroughly as he could, but he couldn't find her. The Companion Cube tried to comfort him, but it didn't help him knowing that its voice was only in his mind. Even his silent friend Annie couldn't ease his anxiety. They just weren't as real as Nora.

Panic followed the loneliness. He started drawing on the walls a lot more. He drew pictures of Nora constantly, hoping that she would happen to see them as she wandered around the facility. He desperately wanted her to know that he was concerned and looking for her.

"How could I have not run into her by now?" he wondered. "It's been at least a year since we were separated. I've been on the move since then. The odds of us not running into each other are very low. I don't understand this. Something must have happened to her. Oh god. What if GLaDOS did something to her? What if she destroyed her? Oh god, no! She did seem absolutely sick of personality cores when we ran away from her! She's probably crushing them all! Nora could already be dead! No! No no no no no!"

"Doug, calm down," the Companion Cube said. "Nora is still alive. She's a fighter, right? She won't give up until she can see you again."

"Do you really think so?" Doug asked. "I wish I could at least call out to her. I wish I could openly search for her, but I'm severely limited as long as GLaDOS is active." He sighed. "I feel so powerless. So weak and pathetic. I…I think I need help."

"How do you mean?"

"I mean I might need to seek outside help."

"I think that's a good idea."

The thought of leaving the facility started to make Doug anxious, but the Cube was able to convince him that it was the right thing to do. He reluctantly had to agree since he was making no progress on his own.

There was a room that he had been avoiding for quite some time. It was a small office with a gap in a corner of the ceiling. The gap in the wall was a good size, but dirt was packed into it. Doug's heart beat faster as he stared at the soft-looking dirt. It seemed like it would be a good deal of work to dig through to the surface. But he couldn't just walk out the front door. GLaDOS would surely catch him before he could even make it to the lobby.

"I'm still unsure about this," he said to the Companion Cube as they stood in the hall.

"Relax," the Cube said. "She doesn't keep a close watch on the administration offices. You'll be fine."

"GLaDOS isn't what's bothering me right now."

"I understand why you're afraid, Doug," the Cube said. "Really, I do. After being trapped indoors for so long, you're afraid of the open space."

"It's not so much that as the thought of interacting with humans again. It has to have been at least a decade since I last spoke to another human."

"Well then, you're past due for some human conversation, aren't you? Now come on. Use me to climb up to that hole."

Doug sighed and picked up the Cube. He carried it over to a table and used it as a step to reach the hole. He hesitated, though. His hands were starting to tremble.

"Doug," the Cube said. "You'll be just fine."

"What if I need you?" Doug asked, looking down at his friend.

"You'll find me."

"How?"

"Just shut up and get to the surface."

Doug started to move the dirt away with his hands. It was soft and kind of damp as if it had just rained recently. The mud fell onto the Companion Cube, and Doug apologized almost every time it happened. He dug upwards until he could see the sky. It was cold and gray, but it still made a spark in his heart. Then, as if he was afraid that the sky would suddenly disappear, he attempted to pull himself up through the nickel-sized hole. He pulled himself up, kicking his legs underneath him as they ascended from the Cube.

His head soon emerged from the mud and he dragged himself out onto wet grass. There was a light sprinkle coming from the overcast sky. Doug didn't mind this. The feeling of raindrops hitting his skin startled him a little, but he still didn't mind it. Despite his last experience with rain…But he wasn't hallucinating now. He felt pretty alright this time.

"Good luck, Doug!" the Companion Cube called out from the hole.

Doug looked around himself. He was at the far east side of Aperture where a vast wheat field started a few yards past the fence ahead of him. To the south and west was a heavily wooded area. To the north ran the road that Aperture employees would use to get to work. Doug didn't want to take the road. It would leave him no cover and he really didn't feel like running into any people just yet. The forest had too many creatures living in the trees that might attack him. He decided that his best route to help would be through the wheat field.

He approached the chain-link fence and slipped his fingers through the diamond-shaped gaps. He looked up at the barbed-wire at the top of the fence. How was he going to get through this?

"Come on, Doug," he encouraged himself. "You can think this through. You have to. Nora is counting on you. Now there's no way I'm getting over the fence. I don't feel like tangling myself up in that barbed-wire. There isn't enough room to crawl under. Could I break through the gate? No, wait. The gates are triple-locked. Damn it! I can't already be stuck! Nora could be in danger and I'm stuck at my first obstacle! How pathetic! After everything I've been through and all the things I had to do to survive so far! And I'm stuck at a fence! Screw it! I'll just dig a goddamn hole!"

He dropped down to his knees and began to frantically dig out the mud at the bottom of the fence. His face was splattered with mud and his fingers hurt, but he pressed on. He felt like an animal as he clawed away the earth with his fingernails. When there was just enough room for his shoulders to fit through, he dragged himself under the fence on his belly. The jagged bottom raked his back, but he managed to get through to the other side.

Once he was all the way through, he stood up and looked at his hands. They were red and filthy. They ached and his back stung. But he didn't worry about this. What worried him was the open field ahead of him. It seemed so much more real now that he was on the other side. He was truly outside with a whole world before him.

He took a deep breath. "Just put one foot in front of the other," he told himself. But as he started off on his journey, the rain slowly started to pick up.