Half-Life Urban Resistance

''Hello Hellhole.''

Those 2 words couldn't stop ringing inside my mind. It had been too long to remember what the date was. The echoes and screams from the 7-hour War still haunted me to this very day. Civil protection units led me to a nearly empty train on its way to god knows where. There were only 3 people on the train, all-wearing that blue citizen jumpsuit. As the train moved out of the station, I sat down and looked out the window to see the ravaged City 17 and its citadel towering above all else. I turned towards one of the citizens and asked him if he knew where this train was taking us. He replied quietly, ''Ravenholme.''

One of the others on the train looked up at us and quietly chuckled, ''the combine can't keep track of all of us with the resistance working in City 17, so instead, they move us to Ravenholme.''

So that's where we're headed.

''Bah! Ravenholme ain't that bad. Combine rarely come out there. The only issue is we can't leave the town'' said a dirty worker.

I sat down quietly and waited until arrival.

A little while later, I could see the town just over the horizon. It was a still and quiet little town just on the outskirts of City 17. Upon arrival, the first person I saw was a gruff-looking preacher on a stand, constantly talking about the salvation of the human race. As I passed by him, he gave me a look and smiled ''Hello brother, welcome to Ravenholme. I am Father Grigori. If you need anything from me, I'll be at the town's church.''

As I walked away, he shouted ''May the light guide you to your salvation, brother!''

I followed the 3 people from the train hoping to gain directions of some sort. I ran up to one of the people I met on the train. ''Um, hello sir, do you by chance know where I will be staying?''

''My name's Larry, not sir. But yeah, all the rest of us are heading to the apartments right now,'' he groaned.

Once inside the apartment, I put down the few belongings I had and sat down on the bed. It took me a while, but eventually I got to sleep. Not to my surprise, I was woken up early. I opened my eyes, but paused.

There is something heavy on my chest.

I looked down and stood perfectly still. Right there, hardly moving, was a head crab on my chest, facing directly at me. I looked to my left and saw Larry holding a pickaxe. He was slowly creeping towards me, holding a finger to his mouth to silence me.

With a single swing, the axe flung the head crab off me and smashed it against the wall… dead.

"Get up" Larry said quietly.

''What's going on-"

''No time to explain.''

''Look, we are in this one together, so I need to know your name."

''George'' I replied quietly.

"Okay George, do you have a weapon?"

I walked towards Larry more anxious this time ''Tell me what's going on, Larry!"

He sighed and looked up at me. "The combine are shelling us with head crab canisters. I'm pretty sure they did it to avoid a resistance from forming here."

He turned towards the door and started to leave "Where are you going!"

"To the church to arm myself and get out of here."

"I thought we were in this together!"

He turned around and smiled. "Did I ever say I was leaving you?"

Once out on the streets, my eyes widened with terror. The streets were filled with bodies, some dead, others being converted into… well, zombies. I knew about head crabs and their habits, but I sure as hell didn't know they make people zombies!

The streets themselves looked like something out of a horror movie. It was quiet, except for the groans of the zombies. The buildings were abandoned and dark.

I started to wonder how long I was asleep.

We slipped away into an alley and hid behind some trashcans. Ahead of us blocking our path was a prodding zombie. I looked at Larry, but before I knew it, he was on his feet striking wildly at the walking corpse. He stepped backwards, splattered with drops of blood, and raised the axe above his head for a final blow. It fell to the ground motionless. We advanced around the corner. I could see the top of the church just up ahead. I paused and turned towards Larry

"What if the church was overrun?''

"Then we find the weapon stash and get the hell outa the city."

"Wait you never told me about a weapon stash."

"What? Did you think the combine could strangle the human race by the neck so easily? The resistance is everywhere. In fact, I'm thinking about joining."

Suddenly, a bloodcurdling scream filled the air as a zombie leaped off the roof and landed right in front of us. It wasn't like the ones we saw before. It was smaller and had its flesh hanging off. And its ability to leap startled me a lot! The mangled corpse lunged and clawed me across the chest, drawing blood. I yelped and stumbled backwards. It quickly turned towards Larry and pinned him to the ground. There was a bang and my ears rung loudly. I slowly got up to see the zombie lying on the ground with a chunk of its head missing. On the rooftops was the preacher who laughed somewhat insanely. "Watch yourselves, brothers. There is no rest in Ravenholme!"

While still laughing, he disappeared into a building. I walked over to Larry to see that his injuries were worse than mine. I decided to tear a part off my jacket and tightly wrap it around his wound.

I picked up Larry and put him over my shoulder. It wasn't too long until we reached the church. I placed Larry down carefully on a bed where a doctor could give him proper medical attention. Sometime later, when Larry was awake, he got up immediately and walked upstairs. He came back down holding a revolver, a 9mm pistol and a shotgun. He gave me the revolver and the pistol and kept the shotgun for himself. The second I picked up the pistol, I felt somewhat powerful. It had been a long time since I held a firearm. Being a veteran from the 7-Hour War, I knew just how to use it, too. As we approached the exit of the church, Larry quietly said, "Conserve as much ammo as possible."

I picked up an old fire axe just before we left. Almost instantly upon departure, we were greeted by 2 zombies, which we proceeded to bash into a bloody pulp. It wasn't long before we found a mining shaft that could get us out of there. I tied a rope around a metal pole and threw the other end down the shaft. Larry and I climbed down carefully. When we reached the bottom, suddenly the mine filled with hundreds of hissing sounds. From small holes and shacks poured out hordes of head crabs. "Run!"

Larry darted off and vaulted over the fence. I turned around and ran after him. Up ahead, I could see light. We were almost out of there! It looked like we were gong to be going along the railroad tracks. To our surprise, when we got out, a bullet flying straight over our heads greeted us. Larry cursed and jumped behind a dumpster with me. "Sniper on the service bridge. Looks like the combine are locking down Ravenholme more than we thought. Distract him for me!"

I nervously looked at Larry, then turned around and took a deep breath. I ran out of cover towards the back of a train. The sniper fired and hit the ground near my feet. There was a second shot and I heard a muffled groan, followed by radio static.

"Scratch one sniper!" Larry yelled.

I quietly laughed and got out from behind cover.

"We need to get somewhere safe but that's way too dangerous on foot."

Larry looked around the railroad and smiled when he noticed a disabled subway train.

"You can't be serious."

We climbed on board and Larry pulled the brake lever. The train started to move forward slowly.

" How are we moving without power?"

"We are on a downward slope, Larry, which means this ride won't last forever."

Larry and I cringed at the sound of the train screeching around a turn. We were startled by the sound of gunshots. Larry and I fell to the floor and covered our heads as a barrage of bullets penetrated through the top of the car. I got up and went to the controls as Larry shot franticly out of a broken window.

" Ugh. George, we have a problem"

Before I could even ask what that problem was, a combine APC pulled up next to the train. Its door slid open and a metro cop jumped onto our train. Larry drew his shotgun, but the combine slammed him to the ground. Another one jumped on, and I fired once with my revolver, blowing him off the car. Pinned to the ground, Larry grabbed his shotgun with one hand and fired. The shot blew a hole in the combine's chest, knocking him to the ground. Two more combine jumped on, but this time, one fired his submachine gun. Larry rolled to the side. I lunged at one with my ax and wounded him. Larry finished both of them off with his shotgun.

Up ahead was a narrow tunnel. The APC started to brake, and smoke burst out from its wheels. We entered the dark quiet tunnel and towards the end of the tunnel, we noticed an orange circle with the lambda in it.

He smiled and quietly said, "We're here."