λ Pauls Half-Life Part One
By Joel Summers
Resonance Cascade
Paul an incedent survivor, describes the Black Mesa Incident as he experienced it.
Black Mesa…it was a big metal floor. A warehouse, would be the best way to describe it. Though instead of boxes or crates. There were computers, big hunks of technology, flashing lights, and scientist, all wering the H.E.V (Hazardous Enviroment) Suit. Most of them were Orange, though mine, for some reason, that I still do not know why to this day, was a creepy maroon color. By the color of my suit, you can guess I am not Freeman. My name is Paul, and my legacy is not as nearly as cool as Freemans. Its still pretty cool though… We all know of his patened orange suit, though in reality many people wore that damn thing. Thank god I'm not freeman. I've heard of some of the shit he had to go through; I couldn't do that.
There was a computer systems failure, it screwed up the artificial enviroment and experimental toxin controls, that was why we had to wear the H.E.V suits, some nasty chemicals were being realeased. I remember, every few hours, we would be "decontaminated" via chemical shower. That really slowed things down. "Work would be postponed for our saftey." That's what they said. If we had to take chemical showers, then what was the point of the fucking H.E.V. suit? Besides, that suit gives you rashes in places you would not believe, and Chemical Showers hurt!
Anyways. I was not at the exact location of the Resonance Cascade. I was close by, but, not exactaly there. I was with a group of technicians, using my PHD in theoretical physics for what, fixing a damn computer program. I'm sure that's what Freeman said to himself multiple times. I was actually there to explain some of the technologys to the technicians. I basically told them what that "big green glowing crystal thingy"(in there own words) did. It funneled data through a prisim of light. That machine was actually one of mankinds first look into "the portal and worm hole manipulation theory"
I remember sitting down, chuging a mug of coffee, and thinking to myself how tired I was. I soon would become a whole lot more exaushted. After my fifth Chemical Shower, there was an undescribable feeling in the air. The feeling sat there, hovering in above us for a few minutes, then a terible sound belowed out of one of the rooms nearbye. It took us all by surprise. I stoped what I was doing and looked around. Many people were doing the same. Then the same sound belowed fourth, only louder. There was a static feel to the air when things began to shake. Then an almost green electricity flooded us for a slight moment. Things began falling apart. Then I blacked out.
I started to come back, I don't know when. There was a book shelf on top of me. That is what enevitably saved my life. I was in to much pain to get up, so I looked around. There was a strange alien sitting infront of me. He… it was at a distance so it did not notice. I think he would have saw me if it worn't for the shelf hiding me. I sat there observing it. The creature was hunched over top one of my dead co-workers. I was not sure what it was doing exactly, but I was to scared to think about that anyway. I stared at the creature, trying to make it out. My eyesight was blurry and out of focus, I was dizzy and disorentated. I think it was a bullsquid. What ever happened to thoose nasty things anyway? I sat there. Slowly regaining my senses. The bullsquid eventually left. When he did, I promted myself to get up, and find out what was going on. I got up and looked around. I saw a lot of people. I noticed my one co-worker, a good friend of mine, with a strange creature were her head used to be. At the time. This scared the shit out of me. Now, I think were all used to zombies and thoose nasty headcrabs.Thats a sad thought really, being used to death. I later realized what that bullsquid was doing, it was killing all the zombies and headcrabs. I looked around the room, almost everything was destroyed. Everyone in there was dead, either from major lacerations, or had become a zombie. Or that's what I thought. When I was "interpreting" the damage, I heard a scream that would haunt me forever. Theres something about your "First Zombie" that sticks with you. Maybe because my first, was my girl. I could not recognize her face, but I new it was her. The bullsquid had missed one, she was lying in the corner all by her lonesome. It's lonesome… After all theese years, I still tend to think about who they were, and how they became so unlucky. Poor bastards… She came after me, throwing anything that got in her way towards me. Luckily I was able to avoid that heavy machinery. Suddenly, the sound of a shotgun echoed throughout the room, then she was headless.
I knew she was not human anymore. I knew, but I fell to my knees and cryed anyways. Why her, why not me I thought to myself. Another co-worker, Henry, saved me. He saw me crying, and heartlessly told me to get up. "There may be more coming he prompted."
I just losted someone I held dear, and he told me to get up. I know, I know, I was not the only one who lost loved ones. Still. When I finally lifted myself up, he asked if anyone else survived. I told him no. He handed me pistol. I looked at it, confused. "Just aim, and pull the trigger" he said. "Trust me, when you come face to face with death, your aim greatly improves." He squeezed out a morbid laugh. It was not funny. I asked him what happened, and what thoose thing were. "Aliens." he responded. "There aliens, aliens from the world Xen." this statement shook me. I never thought that thoose things, no matter how un-earthly the were, were actually aliens. I stared at the ground, trying to gain my senses, I still havn't recovered them to this day. "There calling it a Resonance Cascade." Henry said. I looked at him, shooked up and confused. "We managed to tear the space time continuum. Opening a portal between our world…" There was a long pause. "and theres." I told him I knew what a resonance cascade was, I just never thought it to be an possible achievment, at least in my life time. I asked him if we would receive any help. Henry looked down, and said with a gloomy disoray: "We can only hope."
Help did not arrive. Infact just the opposite did. The government sent out a group called the Hazardous Enviroment Combat Unit (H.E.V.C.U.) to kill all aliens and Black mesa workers as a part of a government cover up. Fuck. That's the solution to everything. Our government enconters a problem, just shoot it in the head. The combine see something they don't like, lets send a strider to blow it up. We really are not that different, them and us. We, booth use violence to gain control of any situation. We could have got so much farther if we seeked peace, insteed of trying to cover it up. Don't get me wrong. Violence is sometimes nescasary, but only when seeking peace. They weren't seeking peace, they were seeking control.
We'd managed to find our way near the surface without to much trouble. We encountered a few zombies and headcrabs, nothing major. Just three more stories and we'd be out.
We were on the stairs. Without Warning, the H.E.V.C.U. swamped us, if we fought them we'd be killed right then and there. They came from the top and bottom of the stairs, almost at random. They took us into custody, kuffed us, and brought us to a room filled with other soilders and mesa workers. They put us in a straight line, made us face the wall, and wait. The waiting was the worst part, knowing death was coming at any moment. Death by firing squad. Pleasant. "Aim!" ordered one of the H.E.V.C.U. squad leaders. I was waiting to here the final order, it never came. Then, there were some screams, some shots, some more screams. I turned around, and saw them. A group of Bullsquids charging and attacking the soilders… and us. I wasn't hesitant to run. I sprinted out of that room. Running around random corners, looking for safety. There were two on my tail. Little fucks… almost as bad as the combine. I turned another corner. There was a room across a ledge. A room with a window. I don't know what I was thinking, but I did something I don't think I could, or would ever do again. Knowing that with no more energy, and no where else to go, I did the impossible. I jumped across the ledge, head first, hands kuffed, into the window, it shattered as I hit the wall in the small room. It was a security control center. The first bullsquid jumped towards me, I thought I was a goner. He flew through the air with speed and prejudice like I'd never seen. I store at it, face to face. Human to bullsquid. Life to Death. The bullsquid flew towards me, a large hunk of glass stuck out of the window and cut the bullsquid's side deeply. He hit the wall and let out a bizzare squel before dying. The second bullsquid also lunged towards me, this time hiting the door instead of the window, and plunged towards it's death.
I sat in that room for a good while. Resting, regaining my strenth, and healing my wounds. The glass had cut me bad. A large chunk of glass was stuck in my left leg. After a few moments I decided to get a move on it. I looked around for anything that could help. Jackpot I thought to myself. There was a button to call the elevator down. It was a handicap elevator, and required special permission to us. I considered myself plenty handicap at that moment. When the elevator opened, a body fell out, scared the hell out of me. Poor guy. I clicked the button for the main entrence. The elevator reached the entrence. I looked around, cautious, knowing that I was unable to fight. I got up the courage, and screamed: Hello? Anyone there? I was responded by the battle cry of zombies. The elevator door closed. Followed by pounding on the door. Close one. I clicked the button for the roof top with my nose. And prayed that it would not be the same up there. It wasn't. There were the sounds of war surronding me. Soilders and vorts, zombies and bullsquids. All doing there thing. I looked around me. It was a war zone outside. I looked for a clear area, free from the violence. There was. I climbed onto a firewalk and got of the roof top. Luckily the war was on the side were the firewalk wasn't. I started walking randomly, looking for a building, a road, anything. After hours of walking in the schorcing heat of New Mexico, I came across a road. I followed it. Walking for another hour or two before falling to my knees in pain and exaughstion. Morfing can numb pyhsical pain, not mental. I saw someone then. A man, in a grey suit, holding a black breif case. I screamed for help at the top of my lungs. He did not even egnolage me. Asshole… what was a man in a suit doing in the desert anyway? I watched him walk away. He seemed to just… fade into the desert. Must have been a halucination… I got up a again, after a while, and started walking once more. I don't know how long it took to before I reached the gas station. A man came out of the station looked at me and asked: "What the hell happened to you?" I laughed, began to talk. Then passed out.
To be continued…