Chapter 2
Shane awoke to a loud explosion and much rumbling from all around him. "wha...where am I?..." Shane groaned as he tried to move. But he couldn't Shane was restrained by something, or someone. He opened his eyes but could see nothing but darkness. Another explosion, "HELP SOMEONE GET ME OUT OF HERE!!!!" he screamed as he started to panic. "relax your going to be okay!" an unknown voice called, Shane heard scratching and bangs as small bits of light crept into his confined prison. The pod unsealed he now heard gunshots and screams of desperation as a tall dark skinned man attempted to pry open the metal bindings around his body with a crowbar. Shane examined his surroundings, three people including the man attempting to free him, a woman of middle age and a younger boy about 18 or 19, all were armed and firing around corners desperately at the an enemy unknown to Shane As the man finished freeing Shane the man shouted "COMEON ITS NOT SAFE HERE ILL EXPLAIN MORE IN A BIT!!" while Shane struggled to regain his composure the man handed Shane a 9mm pistol and several clips to go with it and beckoned him to follow.
As the newly formed chalk of every day people turned soldiers ran down the street to safety (or at least thats what Shane hoped) they heard the loud noise of battle going on all around. Caught in the daze of the city he knew now a ruined battlefield Shane failed to notice what his companions had already begun to run from. "STRIDER!!!!" the woman shouted Shane turned his head now to see a gigantic yellow-brownish monster with three legs with razor sharp spikes on the bottom and what appeared to be a giant cannon strapped to its bug like head. As the creature turned its head it roared with a loud sound that was a mix of grinding machines and a dieing seal. Shane stood in awe of the creature as it lowered itself down its gun began to glow sucking in energy one of his new companions,the teenage boy jumped in grabbed him and threw him to the side just as the strider shot its massive energy beam right next to them the boy flew threw the air and hit a wall crashing down with a thud. The woman made a move to run to him but the tall dark man stopped him "HES GONE WE HAVE TO KEEP MOVEING!!" with that the trio left their young teenage companion behind and ran into the nearby open apartment.
As they got inside they walked down a pathway to a dead end, or so it appeared. The man opened a nearby electrical box and hit a combination of buttons in a pattern and the wall slid aside. "oh my...god." said Shane as the wall slid apart revealing an entire underground bunker filled with other people of all ages sizes and races crowded together in a small area. The three walked inside and the tall man beckoned Shane to sit next to him on a couch in the corner as the woman walked away to mourn the death of the teen. "My name is Zach, I apologize for not properly introducing myself before but... you understand, right?" "Yeah" replied Shane "but I have a couple of questions...first of all how long since this all started." Zach scratched his head "oh well at least a few months now I'd say." "MONTHS!?!" Shane screamed as he thought back to just a phew hours ago when he was on his boat... "Yes months but its hard to tell since the damned combine cut off most of our access to power." "hmmm" Shane said as he suddenly realized they were all going by candlelight. "what the hell is going on second of all who are these attackers what is that giant tower and how was I in that...that thing for months!" Zach looked around as he absorbed all Shane's questions. "Well first off these people we are fighting ar'nt people, they're aliens called the combine from another dimension, The soldiers we were fighting are synthesized using human DNA and they're technology, all the other things: the strider's gunships etc. are also synthetic versions of other races they have conquered." Shane leaned back and rubbed his head taking in the new knowledge hardly believing what he was hearing. "Secondly, that giant tower you spoke of was the citadel, its the combines base of operations that was sent threw their portal, it houses all their troops supplies technology basically everything they need." a child walked up to them with a tray that had water and bread on it,Shane hadn't realized how hungry he was and eagerly gobbled it down and drank the water. Zach munched the bread slowly "And finally, you were in a pod inside of a combine human storage facility, we ar'nt sure what they do to you in their but they keep captured rebellious humans inside of them and then perform odd experiments on them, you don't remember the past few months because you were in hibernation." Zach finished his piece of bread and drank his water and said to him "This must be hard for you to accept but...the earth no longer belongs to us and it will never be the same ever again, now rest up we have a lot of work for you to do.
A man about Shane's age walked up to him "Hi! My name is Justin, so you new here?" he said with a smile. "Yeah...they just saved me from one of them pod things" Shane replied "My names Shane , Shane King by the way." he added "Nice to meet you Shane" Justin said as they shook hands "Here ill take you to an open bunk you can use, poor chap kicked the bucket out on a mission" Justin said with a frown as he lead Shane to a bed near the back Shane cringed at the thought that the man who's bed he was taking was the young boy who saved his life. "Holler if you need anything!" Justin said with a wave as he walked off. "Yeah...i will thanks." said Shane as he laid down on the bed contemplating his new life and prepared himself for the hardships of the next day.