Escape from Black Mesa

Chapter 8: Reunion

"How did you escape the aliens?" asked John in utter amazement.

"After I shut the door on you, I quickly hopped over one of the railings and dove into a very conveniently placed laundry chute. I slid down the chute until I realized that it wasn't a laundry chute and rather a garbage chute. I landed on a conveyor belt that was carrying the garbage to an incineration pit. I quickly jumped off to a balcony with a door on the right and entered the service tunnels. When I exited the service tunnels, I found myself in the old underground rail line. I ran into another survivor as I made my way through, and he told me that I needed to tell Gordon Freeman about some satellite delivery rocket that needed to be launched. When Freeman arrived I told him and he just nodded back, with no response."

"What did the scientist say the rocket was for?" asked John.

"He told me that the Lambda team could close the portal with it but those aliens are still coming so I guess it didn't work. Anyway I continued through the rail system until I reached another service elevator that brought me here. So, what have you been doing?" he asked.

John explained to him about getting to the surface, being captured by the military, escaping with Nina, eluding the tentacles and how they got Nina, his fight with the Alien Grunts and the Gargantua.

"Well your last twenty-four hours have been far more dangerous than mine!" Louis laughed.

"So what do you think we should do from here?" asked John.

"You ask too many questions, you know that? The plan okay, I was thinking that we can rest here for awhile and regain our strength. Stock up on ammo and supplies then head for the airfield, it's only a few miles away now. You can see it from outside; c'mon I'll show you," he said. John and Louis passed by a Dunkin' Donuts, a Tony's Pizza, a Tesla's Tacos, and a Cary's Caffa on the way to the outside sitting area. John noticed that both main doors were barricaded with boxes, crates, tables, and chairs with a pair of either security guards or scientists with weapons guarding them.

As they stepped outside John could immediately see the airfield. It was bristling with military activity. He could see helicopters patrolling the area with tanks, troops, and supply crates being unloaded from huge C-5 Galaxy transports. Suddenly there was a loud explosion and bits of rock tumbled down from the cliffside. One of the security guards ran up beside them.

"Sir the east entrance had taken a hit and the aliens are commencing another attack".

"Damn," swore Louis. "That's the second one this hour. C'mon John let's go" he beckoned. Louis loaded his shotgun and John switched off the safety on his MP5. As they approached scientists were heading towards the makeshift med bay carrying wounded personnel on stretchers. When they reached the barricade, the men there were barely hanging on.

"We held off the first wave but we can see them massing for a second one. We just barely survived sir. We need help".

"I can provide that," said a scientist and he produced an M249 Squad Automatic Weapon, essentially a portable machine gun.

"Excellent!" exclaimed the security guard and he rushed to set it up.

Soon the ground began shaking as the aliens charged in one final attack. John and Louis took cover behind an overturned table.

Louis peeked over and gave the order. "Open fire!" he yelled. John, Louis, the security guard and two scientists armed with M16s stood up and fired point blank into the first wave of slaves. The brown aliens were blown backwards by the force of the SAW as it spewed out rounds at an unprecedented speed. John took out two slaves and an alien grunt with precise bursts from his gun. He was getting better at shooting things now. The alien grunts had one enormous weakness; their armour didn't protect some areas of their bodies and shots there were instantly fatal. The alien bodies were now littered all across the area. The defenders cheered as the last of the aliens died but stopped abruptly as a Gargantua came into view.

"John is that the Gargantua you were talking about?" Louis asked nervously.

"Yes it is Louis," replied John. "Run!" he screamed to the others.

The others tried to run but the Garg was too fast and enveloped all three of them in a wall of flames. John prayed for a miracle and he got one. At that exact moment explosions from the HECUs heavy artillery blasted the Garg to bits. Louis laughed and hit John on the back.

"We survived! Yeah!" he shouted as he danced down the hall back to the supply area. The pair ate a quick meal and gulped down some nice, hot caffa. Afterwards they loaded their pockets and two backpacks with food and ammo. One of the scientists escorted them to a large blast door. He pressed the button and it slowly opened.

"This passage should take you straight under the airport. Here, I've indicated the direction you should go in red marker. Once you get to the airfield you should try to sneak onto a transport plane," he suggested.

"Thanks," said John.

The scientist hit the button and the door began to close. John took a deep breath and prepared to head out.

"Good luck," said the scientist as the door closed behind them.