Chapter 28 – Call It

They arrived at the White Forest missile base several hours later. It was a flurry of activity as soldiers appeared to be preparing for an attack. Upon arriving, Grey Team was directed into the former control building for the missile silos, which the Resistance had converted back into a military installation. Aside from the still-functioning missile controls, there was a lab for the scientists, extensive barracks, a mess hall, and even a field hospital. After reporting in at the front gate, Daria and company found their way to the sick bay, where she was given an X-ray.

"Yep," the medic began, holding the print up to the light. "Two fractured ribs on your right side, the fifth and sixth. Both in two places."

Reclining on a hospital bed, but still fully dressed in her Resistance clothing, Daria asked: "What can you do about them?"

"I can give you medication for the pain, but the only real treatment in a non-life threatening case is to not do anything strenuous until it heals."

Daria shook her head. "I don't want the pain meds. There's other soldiers who are going to need it more than me."

A voice came over the base's PA system, calling for all team leaders to report to the administrative offices.

"I need to go," Daria said, attempting to push herself out of bed. The medic's hand stopped her.

"I'm afraid not. You've already walked several miles over rough terrain. I'm not comfortable with you getting out of bed until I can run a few more tests."

Daria sighed and laid back down. "Jane? Can you take my place?"

"No, I'm not leaving you."

She began to protest, but Jane had a look in her eyes that said she wasn't going to win this argument.

"Watts?"

Watts considered protesting on the basis that he was the lowest ranked member of the team, but after looking between the two women he realized that doing so would risk a painful death.

"Okay. See you in a bit, Daria."

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Watts returned an hour later, finding Jane sitting on the bed with Daria.

"So what was the briefing for?" Daria asked.

"Well, first thing's first, Gordon Freeman and Alyx Vance are here, along with pretty much every higher-up in the Resistance. Kleiner, Eli Vance, some stuffy guy named Magnusson."

Daria rolled her eyes. Magnusson was a scientist, just like the rest of the Resistance leadership. Unfortunately, he was also the most uptight person to ever walk the face of the Earth. He had no interest in fighting, which was understandable, but he strongly and vocally felt that scientific matters should take priority over the military forces of the Resistance.

"So why are they all here?" she asked.

"Apparently during the original Black Mesa incident they managed to launch an array of satellites that were used to shut down local portal activity. It's the reason the portal storms stopped in the first place, and it's why the Combine can't teleport locally . Now they've made a new satellite that is somehow better at blocking portal formation, which could not only shut down that massive portal over the city right now, but possibly stop the Combine from sending in reinforcements from their homeworld."

"And?" Daria asked, sensing that bad news was about to follow.

"And there's a huge Combine force on the way here to stop us from launching it."

"I need to get out of here," she said, ignoring the pain in her chest as she pushed herself up.

"No you don't. I volunteered us to protect the medical station, I didn't want to force you and Jane to argue over whether or not she could leave you behind."

Sitting beside Daria, Jane mouthed a thank you to Watts when she was sure Daria wasn't looking. A brief glance told her that he'd gotten the message.

Great, Daria thought. Now I'm useless. Probably for the better, I seem to keep getting people killed when I'm in command lately.

The PA speaker came to life with a frantic voice.

"Warning: intruders in the base. All teams prepare to engage."

"I'm not sitting in this bed while people are dying outside," Daria said. "Give me my gun. I don't care if we're just defending this room, I want to be up front."

Jane nodded and grabbed Daria's guns off the bedside table, waiting for her friend to stand up before handing them off. After much grimacing, Daria managed to put the straps over her shoulders and followed her two subordinates to the medical station's entrance.

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They could hear the gunfire echoing through the concrete hallways, but after fifteen minutes, Grey Team had yet to see an enemy.

Currently, Jane and Watts were pushing footlockers and desks into the hallway to use as cover, while Daria stood by the door, watching over the proceedings with anxiety.

"Damnit, I don't want to just sit here," she commented angrily. "It feels like we're avoiding the fight."

"Daria," Jane replied, "stop fretting over it. No one out there would have run into a battle in your condition. I promise if they come by here you can give them all the hell you want."

There was a burst of gunfire that sounded much closer than before. The Combine were advancing toward Grey Team's position.

Daria tried to kneel behind an overturned desk, but found it too painful. Instead, she remained standing, using the doorway to the medical station for cover. Jane and Watts, still fully mobile, knelt between separate stacks of footlockers just in front of her, on opposite sides of the hallway. The layout was meant to cover them from behind in case the Combine managed to flank the team.

There was another burst of fire around the corner, followed by a dead Resistance member falling into view. Several seconds of silence followed before they could hear the pounding feet of the advancing Combine soldiers. As the first rounded the corner, he was put down by a burst of fire from each of the three soldiers.

The quick kill resulted in several more seconds of silence as the remaining Combine thought about how to proceed. Eventually, a grenade flew around the corner, bouncing off the wall and heading straight between Jane and Watts. Daria followed its arc to the ground, until it suddenly stopped – in Watts' hand. The soldier allowed the weight of the grenade to push his hand back before slinging it forward, back toward the point that it had impacted the wall. The opposing trajectory caused the explosive canister to bounce back around the corner, where it detonated before the Combine soldiers could react.

More silence, which stretched into minutes as Grey Team waited for the next move. Eventually, a squad of friendly soldiers ran past and around the corner, confirming there were no more enemies. The trio finally all breathed out at once, remaining quiet until Watts finally broke the silence.

"Did I actually just do that?" he asked, not quite believing he'd been stupid enough to grab a live grenade.

"It doesn't count unless you call it," Jane and Daria answered together.