Chell stopped running after a while when she noticed another warehouse. Opening the door cautiously, she peeked inside. Not as much blood as the other, hell, barely any at all. She stepped inside, and saw no things or creatures. So far so good.

She closed the door and started to explore her new surroundings. Bedroom with bed but no mattress, broken dresser, giant hole in floor, broken window. Bathroom; toilet, bathtub on it's side, have a bloody man stashed behind it, no sink. Kitchen; radiator slammed into a wall, no fridge, broken cupboards, giant hole in ceiling. Attic; old wooden room with blood where apparently blood has to be, even with no bodies around, and ammo. She put the ammo on her strap and walked back down to the kitchen and started to go through the broken cupboards.

Nothing in this one, dead creature in this one, something that looked medical in another, and finally, stale crackers in the last one. She tried to look for the expiration date, then realized she didn't know what year it was, let alone the date.

Better than nothing, she thought, and she opened the box, when she heard a click from behind her.

"Don't move."

Chell stiffened, and listened to the man's voice.

"Slowly take off that strap. Slowly."

She carefully took off her strap and placed it on the broken counter.

"Place that gun-thing there too, then turn around slowly with your hands in the air. Slowly."

She took off the ASHPD and placed it gently next to the strap, placed her hands in the air, and turned to meet the man.

The man appeared to be the same age as her, but then she realized that she's been in stasis for who knows how long, so she was probably the elder.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" the man demanded, his green eyes squinting.

She could only stare at him and wonder what he was going to do.

"Answer me!"

She stared at him again, trying to explain with her eyes that she couldn't speak.

Luckily, the man seemed to notice them, and slowly aimed his gun down at the floor.

"You one of us?" He asked.

Seeing this as her best bet, she nodded.

"Where's your armband?" He gestured to the bandanna on his arm, with the same logo as the one on the door she opened not two hours ago.

She shook her head.

"You don't have one?"

She nodded. Slowly.

Eventually, the gun was placed back in the holster. "Well, can you talk?"

She shook her head again.

"Did the Combine...?" trailed off, shuddering at the thought of the Combine reaching in her throat, and...

She cocked her head in an confused fashion.

"Huh? Oh, I got it!" He yelled, then smacked his hand over his mouth.

"Whoops. Here, follow me."

He led her to a wall, and when the man tilted a picture next to it, it opened to reveal steps. He went down them, and Chell followed him down into the dark basement.

The man reached for a switch, and the lights flickered on. This room had no blood on it whatsoever, which shocked Chell.

"Name's Dylan, by the way." he said. "What's...Oh yeah. Right. Follow me. Quietly."

She obeyed and followed him into an office-looking room. Dylan reached into a drawer and pulled out a notepad and pen, and handed it to Chell.

Chell took the notepad, and after a moment of thinking, she scribbled on it, and handed it to Dylan.

"Your name's Chell?"

She nodded.

"That's a nice name. Chell. Very nice. Tell me, what brought you here?"

He handed the notepad back to the orange-suited woman, who closed her eyes in a moment, that started writing like mad. Dylan waited, leaning from one foot to the other, studying his hands, popped his knuckles, stretched, and checked his gun before he received the notepad again.

He read it, then read it again, unaware that he was taking more time than Chell did writing it. Chell watched him patiently.

"So, a computer, GLaDOS, used you as a test subject?"

A nod.

"You don't know what's going on up here?"

A shake.

"Well, I guess it's time for my story." Dylan stated, trusting the silent woman.


Chell listened to every detail the man told her. She couldn't believe it. The entire planet had been taken over in less than a day! And to have so many people die at one time, it was unbelievable. After the story, she slowly nodded her head, showing she understood.

"Well, welcome to Earth." Dylan joked. "Is this the kind of freedom you were hoping for?"

Chell shook her head.

"Well, would you be willing to help fight to get your freedom?

She nodded.

"Well then, welcome to the Resistance, Chelley!" he said, and handed her an armband, which she eagerly put on.

"Now, this is war, so you can't be afraid to kill. Kill anything that tries to attack you without hesitation. Got it?"

Chell gave a hesitant nod.

"Don't hesitate. Not at all. No hesitation whatsoever. Got it?"

Chell nodded faster this time.

"That's the spirit. Now, I hear that Gordon Freeman-the best resistance fighter we have-is in White Forest. We'll go meet him there, got it?"

She nodded her approval.

"Gordon can't speak either, so I'm sure you'll get along fine." Dylan joked.

Chell smiled at him.

They headed upstairs, and Chell put back on her strap and Portal Gun.

"Is that the Portal Gun?"

She nodded.

"Cool. I can't wait to see it in action."

She smiled, then gestured to the creature in the cupboard.

"Huh? Oh, I see. That's called a Headcrab. Headcrab, got it?"

She nodded.

"Those things make zombies."

Chell remembered the bloody man she had killed. He was a zombie.

"Got it?"

She nodded again.

"There's a good kind of alien, too. They're called Vortigaunts. I show you when we see one so you won't shoot at it. These Vorts are really good allies. They are."

She smiled and nodded.

"All right. We're leaving now. Got it?"

She nodded and followed him out the door.


Alyx had woken up and started packing her things. EMP tool, gun, and a few snacks. She felt like she was missing something, something that was very important.

She walked out the door and saw Gordon listening to a soldier yelling at one of his students.

"Gordon!" she called out.

Gordon looked around and saw Alyx out of her room. He gave her a rare smile and walked over to her.

"Gordon, I...well, thank you, I guess. I heard that you brought me to my room.

Gordon gave a slow nod.

"Thank you."

Gordon reached into his own bag, and pulled out a picture and gave it to Alyx. Alyx stared at it, realizing that this was the thing she forgot. She felt tears come to her eyes, and wiped them away, looking at this photo that meant so much to her. She looked up at Gordon and hugged him, before pulling away awkwardly.

"Thanks again, Gordon. For everything."

"Attention! The funeral service is happening RIGHT NOW, people. Get over here!" a voice on the intercom demanded.

Alyx gave a little laugh and followed Gordon to the gravesite of her father.

As the body was lowered into the ground, Alyx felt that they should have made him a coffin. She then thought back at the time when her father said that he wanted grandkids. Alyx blushed, then realized that that happened only a few hours ago. It was so fast.

She thought back to all the times she had with her father. Reuniting with him after Black Mesa, Clutching to him as they hid from the aliens taking over the world, Eli giving her DOG, working together with Kleiner to start the Resistance, meeting Gordon...

She started to cry a little bit again, and Gordon noticed this. He placed his hand on her shoulder, before awkwardly placing it back down. Alyx grabbed his arm and clung to it, crying into his shoulder.

Everyone watched this, and all thought the same thing. Eli's biggest two wishes were going to come true. The world will be saved, and it looked like Eli was going to get some grandkids in the future.


"You can't come in, we're evacuating the place. Dr. Eli Vance just got killed by an Advisor." The man told Dylan.

"Dear God, and Advisor came? Oh Lord! Poor Dr. Vance. Didn't he have a kid?"

"Yeah, Alyx. She's okay, Gordon's looking after her."

"Wait, Gordon's friend is Vance's daughter?"

"Yes, Dylan. Now I suggest we get moving, this place is gonna blow in five minutes. I'll take you to the other Resistance members, and you can help us find a new location for our new labs."

"Okay. Hear that Chell? We're gonna join the Resistance members. Quickly."

Chell gave an eager nod.