"Let me get this straight. The whole world has gone to hell because of aliens?"
As the group walked through the ruined wasteland, the strange woman had explained it all. Dean couldn't believe what he'd heard. Sure, the hunter had killed numerous demons, vampires, shape-shifters, you name it! But… Aliens? Now, come on, that was a little too much. There had to be a better explanation than that. Maybe some hysteria caused by War or the other horsemen was making people believe that aliens were the problem? He just couldn't bring himself to believe that aliens, of all things, had taken over the planet.
"If that's how you want to put it, then, yes. I'm not sure how else you want me to word it." The woman who wore a headband now gave Dean a hesitant smile.
She was also looking pretty doubtful, however, her doubt probably stemmed from different reasons than his. Maybe she was telling the truth. Hell, she was probably wondering why he was so doubtful of her claims. Maybe this was how it felt to be a victim of an angry spirit or a monster, not believing a single thing the hunters say when reaching out to help. That was kind of ironic.
"So, little stubby green men took over the planet and slow-danced with everyone?"
Dean asked jokingly, his question in reference to a previous case he had dealt with.
Ah, the simple times when he and Sam thought Gabriel was an actual trickster. Good, good times. Dean could not help but yearn a little for those old days.
Alyx snickered, "Believe me, I wish that all they wanted to do was waltz."
The female's tone grew more somber after her remark.
"The Combine isn't just some gang of alien invaders, I'm afraid… They're much more than that. A multidimensional empire, they've had Earth on lockdown for…"
Her sentence trailed off as she looked down to the ground, hesitating for a moment.
"…As long as I can remember, actually."
Alyx let out a sigh, shaking her head in dismay. That quiet space-man guy… Gordon, was it? The guy was also looking pretty bummed about the whole topic. It seemed to be a kind of 'hush-hush' kind of thing. A touchy subject, per se.
Funny how Dean had known a guy named Gordon before. Gordon… Walker, something or other. God damn, did he hate that guy's guts. Both him and his brother did, in fact. This guy didn't appear to have anything in common with that Gordon he had known in the past. He was… kind of strange, actually.
A nervous, unsettled look was present upon this Gordon's face as he awkwardly attempted to console the woman. It was reasonably clear that the two were very close to each other. Probably lovers or something corny like that. Not that their relationship was any of Dean's business, either way.
Before Dean could respond to the statement, Alyx began to speak again.
"Well, anyways…" She changed the subject, "Dean, right? Where are you from?"
Dean hesitated. That was always kind of a hard question to answer. He didn't have a place to call home. Both him and his brother traveled from town to town, city to city, place to place. They always slept in half-assed motels, varying in quality and prices. Most , if not all of them were half-assed, of course. Even though the hunters' hometown was Lawrence, Kansas, it didn't seem as if there was a place for either Dean or his brother, Sam, to live. Unless the Impala counted as a home. Speaking of which, what even happened to her? It was a crime to go this long without that sweet, sweet vehicle. If his car was damaged with all of the wreckage, he swore to god that would be the last damn straw.
After a moment's hesitation, Dean responded to the question with improvisation.
"I'm from little bit of everywhere."
It was already too late to think of a cleaver ruse. He had already spoken his first name, regrettably. At least these people didn't have a clue who he was. Neither of them were acting like they were going to kill him within recognition, so perhaps he was safe for the time being.
"Sounds like a reasonable answer. I just can't believe that we found someone out here! I guess Kleiner's hunches weren't so implausible after all!"
The woman was looking awfully content with herself as she commented on finding him. Was it really that hard to find someone who was still well and alive? Why was she smiling and making light over the fact that everyone here had died? Maybe that was only the tradition of people in this screwed up place? Dean was curious of his new surroundings, yet, at the same time, highly skeptical about everything.
"Speaking of which…" Dean lowered his voice, leaning sideways in Alyx's direction, "Your friend over there, is he okay?"
Dean motioned to Gordon, who was still giving him the silent treatment. The man wore a pensive, frustrated expression on his face as he walked alongside the others. Not a single word came out of his mouth in the whole half-hour that Dean had been there; not even a single cough or mumble. Either that guy had some kind of problem with communication, or he was just being a dick for the sheer purpose of being a dick.
"Who, Gordon?" Alyx inquired, glancing at Dean before exchanging glances with Gordon. She wore a confused expression for a few short seconds before repeating the question to her companion.
"You're doing alright, aren't you, Gordon?"
Gordon responded with a faltering nod. Yeah, that was a pretty obvious lie; there was most likely something wrong with him.
It didn't take long for Alyx to catch on and realize what Dean was really asking. The woman chuckled, then returning her gaze to the hunter.
"He's just quiet." Alyx explained, her voice lowering to a soft whisper. "We've both been through a lot in the past few days."
Dean nodded his head slightly when hearing the explanation. Yeah, that was definitely something he could relate to; going through a lot of stressful bullcrap. Lucifer breaking out of hell, or… Being let out of hell, more like it. Michael was still continuously being a douchebag about the whole "vessel" nonsense. Then there was Sam, who, unfortunately, still wanted demon blood. Sure, he may not have openly announced it with a big neon sign, but it was pretty evident that his brother was having some kind of huge demonic hangover.
…Not to mention that Dean was now stuck in some overcooked city with a mute guy, an overly optimistic lady, and her pet robot visible-hellhound… thing.
"I can understand that." Dean responded, deep in thought about everything that had happened in his own life.
Moments of silence passed as the group continued to walk. Not long ago, Alyx had mentioned leaving the City. Seeing as these people actually knew the way out, he had decided to join them; at least until he could find his way out of this bizarre location. If anyone could help him out of here, it was probably going to be the people who spent their entire lives in this place.
The silence was abruptly interrupted by a distant howling sound; a distress call, ringing throughout the atmosphere. One dissimilar to any hollering he had heard before; a low, bellowing whimper that sounded inhuman. It lasted for seconds, or, at least, resonated through the air smoothly with echoing persistence.
It was pure instinct for Dean to briskly reach into the pocket of his leather jacket and pull out a knife, gun, or any weapon of the sort. He had not even consciously thought of it before he reached into his jacket. Of course, that attempt to find a heroic weapon was completely in vain. Well, this might suck.
Feeling a little bit helpless, he looked over to Alyx, who was quick to pull out a pistol. The mechanical 'dog' also drew closer to the group; specifically Alyx. The woman's traveling companion now held a SPAS-12, which the fellow somehow had by his side this whole time. Pulling shotguns and pistols out of nowhere, alright.
Hold on a second.
These people… Were they also… hunters?
Dean finally spoke up,
"What the hell was that?"
Without hesitation, Alyx gave a hasty answer, "Zombies! Something, or… Someone must have riled them all up… I wonder what's going on."
Zombies… Ah, memories began rushing to Dean's head at the mention of zombies. Memories of an apocalyptic world that the older Winchester had gotten a glimpse of, thanks to those dickhead angels. Oh, he could only hope that Sam was okay in this shiftiest of an apocalypse.
"Zombies? You mean, like…" the Winchester struggled over his words, "You mean, like, Croatoan virus zombies?"
Alyx paused for a few short seconds, afterward shaking her head in confusion. She didn't seem to have a clue what he was talking about.
"Oh, these zombies aren't infected by any virus." responded the woman, "Parasites, however… That's a different story."
Dean didn't quite understand what she meant by that, as it sounded like a double negative to him. He was no scientist, though.
Alyx began to speak again as she gave a quick glance in the direction of the eerie bellowing noise, "I say we check this out, it's got to be good. 'Have any guns on you, Dean?"
…
"Uh…" Dean awkwardly muttered; this was definitely the most emasculating situation ever.
"Not… Not exactly, no."
Alyx gave a look at Gordon. Again with the exchanging glances. What, did they really expect him to have a gun after waking up in god know's where?
"It's no big deal. Gordon, DØG, and I got your back, right guys?" Alyx grinned at her teammates, Gordon giving another nod in return.
Really strange how that guy could go from nervous weirdo to Mr. serious all of the sudden.
By the woman's side was none other but the giant, scary-as-hell dog thing. If that hunk of scraps could pick up Dean and take him on a kidnapping joyride, what would it do tho zombies? That was a pretty terrifying concept on its own. Not implying that he would ever mention being afraid. Nope, who could blame the guy for being afraid of Godzilla's lapdog?
Alyx commanded firmly, "Let's get moving, then."
The three (assumably) hunters took off in the direction of the calling as it intensified. To be fair, however, the newcomer wasn't quite enthusiastic about being the powerless newcomer in the whole situation. It made things kind of awkward; yet, he was driven by curiosity to see what these apparent 'zombies' looked like. This had better been good.
Sprinting pace slowing down, the group came to a stopping point. It was very clear that the indistinguishable sobbing noises were originating from this area; or, rather, the area close by. The way Alyx had reacted earlier when hearing those sounds, already jumping to conclusions… Who were the ones crying here anyways, the zombies?
"This is where the pity party's coming from, huh?" Dean asked in an attempt to make light of the situation.
"I believe so. How much you want to bet they just got stirred up by a stray raccon?" Alyx responded, also adding some comic relief.
Her somber expression faded back within seconds, however, as something began running towards her direction.
At first glance, he could have sworn it was an officer or a soldier of some sort. Some big-deal military man of some sort, however… As the officer drew closer, there was definitely something off about the guy.
…Mother of God, what was that thing on his head?
A very large, crab-like thing was latched onto the officer's cranium, eating away at the poor dude's life. Whimpering and muffled voices could be heard coming from underneath the parasitic lump on the cop's head; what sounded like raspy radio commands and various unintelligible orders. Oh, and the stench. Jesus Christ, the STENCH of that thing!
Appalled and bewildered, Dean pointed towards the thing, about to ask what it even was before getting interrupted altogether.
"Zombine! Get back, he's pulling out a grenade!"
Alyx's harsh voice brought attention to the creature's busy, clawed indexes as it reached for its blood-soaked belt. Surely enough, it was pulling out a grenade. The small explosive glowed a bright, unnoticeable crimson color as the zombified officer held the grenade in the air, right above its head.
Holy shit.
Dean scattered back, tripping over a pile of broken concrete that lay on the lifeless ground below him.
Great job, Dean. Only forty-five minutes into this new world and you're already making a complete idiot of yourself. Plus, you might die. So, that's another wonderful thing to count on.
Bang.
Repetitive gunshots were heard as the zombie officer's head was blown clean off, along with the parasite on top of it. The body fell limp, toppling to the ground as the grenade rolled down, opposite to the survivors' direction.
"Take cover!"
As crazy as the woman sounded when they had met only moments ago, she was now sounding similar to some kind of commander. Of course, it was only plain logic to take cover. Dean immediately thew his hands over his head as he took cover behind more emancipated concrete.
An explosion was heard, echoing throughout the land around it. Zombie parts scattered, and oh boy, did it smell terrible.
When he was sure the coast was clear and no more explosions were going to happen, the hunter took a peak at the world around him, sitting up from his spot.
However, what the hunter saw when he looked up was no zombie, but none other than Alyx's solicitous face, smiling down at him.
"Are you alright down there?" The woman held out her hand, raising an eyebrow in amusement.
Scratching his head, Dean let out a sigh of both relief and alarm. A strange mix of emotions, if any.
"Yep… I'm doing just peachy." the Winchester retorted sardonically as he was helped up from the ashen floor.
More gunshots could be heard as Dean stood up from his hiding place, and as he watched, the others were just casually mowing down zombies. All types of zombies, too, not just officer ones. 'Regular guy' kind of zombies, zombies with missing limbs, slow zombies, fast zombies… Yet, all of the grotesque creatures had one thing in common; each one of them wore the same parasite upon their face, as if it were controlling their bodies involuntarily. Possessing them, like demons would possess any poor sucker who was unfortunate enough to get in their way.
Minutes passed by, though, they honestly felt like endless hours in Dean's eyes; zombies got taken down by the buck, one, two, three, four, five… How many of those goddamn things were around there? Things had quickly escalated into some kind of cheesy horror movie; however, this time, it was actually kind of horrible. He was unarmed, and everything reeked like a combination of ass and feet.
Furthermore, it was kind of really strange how the creatures were all swarming in a certain area, however. In the distance, yards away, there was a larger group of zombies. They were all, just… Crowding around something, or, as Alyx had stated earlier, someone?
It didn't take long for the other two to notice the crowd, either. When Gordon took notice of the group, he gave his partner a tap on the shoulder to get her attention.
"Yes, Gordon? What is…"
Her sentence fell short as she fixed her gaze on the group of fleshy mutants. All three of them now saw what Dean had been wordlessly staring at.
A good dozen zombies were packed around someone who was tenaciously fighting them all off.
Dean wasn't at all expecting to see who he was seeing, either. Standing there, in the flesh, was none other than his younger brother, and he was tearing those zombies a new one.
Before the older brother could call out and catch his attention, DØG went parading towards the group.
"Be careful, DØG!" Alyx exclaimed as the artificial canine went dashing towards the horde of parasitic corpses, "There's someone alive over there!"
DØG did not look back in response to her orders; it wasn't apparent if he was even listening or not.
Oh, if that cheeky hellhound of a robot even so much as touches a hair Sam's head…
"Sam…!"
Without even realizing it, Dean had cried out for his sibling. The older Winchester couldn't help but worry about him. Sam was his little brother, his hunting sidekick, and the older brother had swore on his life that he'd do whatever means necessary to protect him! Sure, he may not have trusted Sam very much after the demon blood incident, but… If Sam were to get hurt…
Thoughts were interrupted and went blank as corpses literally flew up in the air. DØG practically dropkicked the horde of zombies, scattering the horrifyingly disfigured corpses everywhere. Much like a farm dog clearing away a flock of unruly sheep, the monstrous android cleared away all evidence of a horde even being there.
Dean could easily hear Alyx cheering on her pet robot, along with the continuous sounds of guns firing. All of the sounds went into a blurred haze of unprecedented noise. None of those sounds were important to him, however. He had his own mindset and focus right now. Sam was alive. His little brother was not dead, nor was he hiding; he hadn't left or quit or given up. Sam was alive, and that was all that mattered.