Chapter 14
Marcus slid into the small cell, his feet lifting up as he entered. He spun and waited for the 'reported' Overwatch assault. The loud footfalls of half a dozen soldiers came through the slim linear halls, armed with ar2, searching for him.
Gordon and Alex stepped out from cells, above the troops and opened fire with their weapons. Marcus came out next his weapon barking as he dropped three Overwatch soldiers in a matter of seconds.
The four entry ways into the halls, framed by iron bars exploded outwards. Three dozen more Overwatch soldiers rushed in and behind them the doors were replaced by a blue force field.
The walls growled and the two Synth bodyguards that had guarded Breen stomped through the field, firing their plasma weapons at Marcus, taking large chunks of concrete out of the wall. Over twenty more Overwatch Prison guards rushed through the force field, their shotguns recoiling after every shot.
Scores of Prison guards charged through into the cell block. Commander Arkel, leader of the 053 company walked into the block, a Usp in his ruined hand.
Arkel was a mess of disfigured implants, flesh, bone and combat armor. He was equipped with a large M1 Garand, scavenged from an old WW2 museum, A satchel was strapped onto his side, full to the brim with frag grenades and the Synth chemical grenades that had killed the breacher leader.
Both of his eyes glowed a blood red, and his ears were enlarged with black hearing implants, to enhance the commander's hearing sense in combat zones, and to be able to siphon out sounds that he didn't want to hear and raise sounds he did want to hear.
"053 Company destroy these fools" Commanded Arkel who thumbed bullets into the Garands chamber before taking aim. He sighted Marcus and was about to fire when the Rebel threw himself behind a wall, dodging the shot.
Arkel jerked the bolt action pin back and took aim again, the loud clang of the bullet casing bouncing off the ground. He barked in rage "Squad 001 flank Anti-citizen 2 from above on the left cell block". He, quickly drew a frag grenade and handed it to the squad leader who took it and ran up a flight of secluded stone stairs to the second level of cells.
Squad 001 grouped around a small ledge, at the end of the broken stone walkway. The squad leader plucked the grenades pin off and chucked it near Marcus's feet and the cell he was in, landing feet away from the actual cell.
"Exterminate these rebels!" Arkel bellowed as from behind his back, on a utility belt he drew a Black steel Karambit, 3.5 centimeter long knife. He slung his M1 over his shoulder with the leather gun strap and attempted to launch himself into the room of Marcus.
"Teleport them back to the Citadel, I would like to brief them on a mission, Marcus and the other two will be able to leave, yes. But I have a contact that will transport Eli and herself to me" Breen spoke through Arkel's speaker unit.
Arkel obeyed his leader's commands and in a bright lance of blue energy, all Combine forces were gone with the exception of the dead and wounded.
Marcus stepped out of the cell, a new scar across his face down through his groin area. His armor was destroyed and his desert eagle broken apart when the grenade had exploded by his feet.
He squinted his eyes, searching for Alex and Gordon through the hundreds of corpses and injured combine overwatch. He mumbled to himself "Arkel, you sonofabitch, once I catch you you'll be more of a corpse than you already are".
Gordon emerged, his hands bent at the elbows and carrying a seriously wounded Alyx. Marcus could see from a distance that at least four grenades had exploded near her and the shrapnel had sliced through several major organs.
"Marcus help…. Me" Alyx rasped, coughing up a large amount of blood before being set down in the cell Marcus was in.
"She got hit pretty hard" Gordon's scratchy voice answered, staring in the shocked Marcus's face. "Four grenades, a whole clip into her leg and thigh".
"An entire clip?" Marcus asked dropping his bag and rummaging through it with both hands. "I've got it under control Gordon. Go and watch the front gate and maybe set up some of those old Overwatch turrets".
Gordon nodded and saluted before trudging off through the endless corpses of Combine.
Marcus went quickly to work, a scalpel and a pair of tweezers in his hands. He gave Alyx a dose of anti-pain drugs and stuck a rag in between her teeth so if she screamed in pain it wouldn't attract attention.
He knelt down and began scooping out the bullets with the tweezers. He painstakingly stopped every few seconds to make sure he wasn't going to damage Alyx's internal organs anymore than they were already.
He coughed away from the open wounds and then started to work again, taking another clean rag and wiping up blood. He dumped the small compartment of medical supplies in his bag out and snatched up some gauze bandages.
He frowned, placing a hand to a chunk of large shrapnel, lodged into her thigh and slicing around 2.5 inches into her body. He was going to need a real doctor and real medical supplies if he was to treat her completely.
"Alyx, can you walk? I can't remove the shrapnel in fear of an infection in this old prison" Marcus asked, a small smirk forming on his lips as the Rebel sat upwards, unsteady and wobbling.
"Not really, Can you take me to see Gordon?" Alyx asked clutching at the wrapped wounds, her fingernails feeling the gauze.
"Sure can" Marcus replied, stuffing his supplies back into his bag and slinging the bag over his shoulders by the straps. He bent down and lifted Alyx up effortlessly, carrying her on his shoulders and back, like an old war movie.
They reached Gordon a few minutes later, Alyx reaching out for him and his HEV suit. Gordon spun hearing them approach from behind. He grinned and holstered his weapon.
"She alright Marc?" Gordon asked, using Marcus' nickname, one of them anyways. "I can carry her". Gordon took Alyx from Marcus' shoulder and hefted her up with one hand, the other placed down near his Glock.
"Let's keep moving, before those Combine lunatics regroup and attack again" Marcus said, wiping off his hands on his civies. "We need to reach the teleporter room".
"Agreed" Gordon said. Marcus, Alyx and Gordon stalked through the halls of the prison, navigating through the maze of rooms and pathways,
Once they reached the exterior of the teleporter room, they spotted someone suspicious jabbing her fingers on a Combine control terminal. Mossman was talking to the one and only through the computer.
She was about to click off the computer when Marcus opened the door into the room with a boot. He raised his 74 and grinned, his finger itching for a good squeeze of the trigger.
"Traitor, working with Breen!" Alyx's limp voice yelled, spotting Mossman when Gordon walked into the room.
"No! Not at all!" Mossman retaliated with her hands raised next to her head. "Oh my god! What happened to you all? Especially you Alyx?".
"Get in the teleportation room, enter the codes to Kleiner's room" Gordon said, shocking Mossman with his voice. "Now!".
They all entered the room with a thump, the iron door closing behind them. Marcus looked up, watching Eli, Sarah, Riley, Marcia and Amy's pods swinging down to the floor. They all dropped to the floor, their pod doors opening.
"Marcus!" Sarah yelled, running into his open arms with Riley trailing her a grin on her face. They both embraced him and Mossman smiled before typing in the Citadel's teleportation codes.
Eli and Mossman were gone in a flash, the teleported zooming upwards in a bright flash of light. It landed again and Alyx checked the codes, and screamed out in rage, her voice cracking in pain.
They had gone to the citadel. She quickly typed in Kleiner's office codes and lead everyone into the teleporter. It zoomed upwards with everyone inside, before sending them into Kleiner's lab, the entire compound of Nova Prospekt exploded afterwards.