Of Dreams and Headcrabs
In case you were here before, this story was formerly titled Following Gordon. I changed the name since, well, I decided it didn't really fit and sounded too much like the title of another story, by another author titled Follow Freeman! I also changed the ending of this section slightly to make it fit better with what I'm now doing with the story.
I apologize for the mess, but I wrote the first chapter before I realized that choose-your-own-adventure stories weren't allowed. As such, I'm trying to figure out what to do. Granted, I should have decided this before posting…but it's too late now. Well, I have now decided. This story will basically be the second plotline I had planned from the choose-your-own-adventure story, set sometime during Half-life 2. Since I don't like to write long chapters, I suppose you could consider this story a bunch of connected drabbles.
Chapter 1: Of Dreams and Crowbars
Gordon Freeman rarely remembered his dreams and for the longest time, until the solution to the physics equation he was having trouble with came to him in a dream, he thought that he didn't dream. Perhaps, most of his dreams were ordinary, so he forgot them when he woke up. Or perhaps, he was so busy when he woke up that he didn't have time to remember them. In any case, most of the time Gordon didn't think about his dreams.
But this dream was different.
In this dream, he was at his college, the one he went to before he got hired at Black Mesa. He was in the lab, despite the fact that he actually spent very little time in a lab. Some one was talking to him, but he couldn't tell who. Their words were vague; he couldn't understand what was being said. He looked around for the speaker, and then knew that even though this was his college laboratory, he was in Black Mesa. An alarm sounded, and the people around him, whom Gordon hadn't even noticed until they started moving, headed towards the far door. He placed his hand on the shoulder of the nearest person to ask them what was happening and they turned to face him and…
He was in a city. Seattle to be exact, his hometown. But it wasn't the Seattle of his memory. It was broken, buildings were starting to fall down, and trash was everywhere. Rusty cars lined the streets, missing wheels and doors. Behind him, he knew would be the Space Needle, but if he turned to look he knew something else would be there. Something that didn't belong. He wanted to look, but at the same time feared what he might see.
Looking up, he noticed a very large box. It was made of wood, but looked sturdy and out of place in the desolate street. It was then he realized that he was holding a crowbar. He took a step towards the box and stopped when he saw the figure standing on the box. It was a pale man, wearing an immaculate suit holding a suitcase.
"Open the box, Missster Free..man. I think you will…like…what is inssside," he said.
The sight of the man filled with Gordon with rage, he wanted to smash his face in. He raised his crowbar, and suddenly the man was Barney.
"Hey, whatcha waiting for? I want to see what's inside. Open it."
"But I might hit you," Gordon replied.
Barney smiled and jumped off, transforming into a small dog. He ran off around a corner.
"Barney, wait, don't go. You won't be able to see what is in the box," Gordon called out.
He wanted to wait for Barney to come back, but he felt the crowbar grow heavy in his hands and he knew that if he waited much longer he wouldn't be able to lift the crowbar enough to hit the box. It was so heavy, but he managed to lift it enough to gently tap the crate. At the touch of the crowbar, the crate collapsed, displaying the contents inside, his HEV suit.
He didn't puzzle over why his suit was in the box. He couldn't explain it, but it made sense. And Gordon knew he had to touch it to put it on or something bad would happen. He hesitated, looking his suit over. Then he reached out and touched it.