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Week Eight by Super Chocolate Bear

Something nudged his leg, and Doctor Isaac Kleiner awoke with a jolt, whipping his head forward. A loud snort escaped him as he was wrenched from whatever blissful rest he had been allowed to have by fate. It had been a doctor that had awoken him, but a somewhat different kind than the ones he was used to. He doubted the man that now frantically hurled himself down the corridor had a PhD in Theoretical Physics from MIT.

Although, right now, Kleiner wished to God he had chosen to be a healer instead of a thinker. Maybe then he could have avoided the horror that he had just witnessed.

Curled up in his arms, Alyx Vance shifted in her sleep before settling down again. Kleiner resisted the temptation to run a finger across her cheek; it had taken so very long to get her to calm down, and even longer to get her to close her eyes and rest. He could see her being trouble when she was older.

And he may be the one who would have to deal with it. The possibility that Eli may not survive through the day had occurred to Kleiner more than a few times.

There had been so much blood…

"Izzy! The wall!"

Kleiner wasn't used to this much running. His slight frame had never really required much maintenance, and he ate so little when he was working that it was a wonder he didn't waste away sometimes. Only Eli or Gordon with a well placed cup of coffee and a sandwich seemed to stand between him and death by malnourishment.

The sole of his shoe flopped about incessantly as he ran, lab coat long since lost to that 'Vortigaunt'. It was fortunate that whatever was controlling them ceased to be shortly after, because Kleiner doubted they would be living to run away from this bullsquid if it had not occurred. Of course, the 'Vortigaunts' that they had met were gone now. Eli had been wary of entering a hub of human activity like Los Angeles with a team of aliens for fear of the reaction it would bring.

Kleiner saw the regret in Eli's eyes the moment they had entered the city and come across the beast that was now mercilessly pursuing them through the aqueduct. Clouds brewed overhead as they ran, foretelling not only portal storms but the horrific incident that was to come.

He reached the wall and looked up. It was a good few feet above him. Breathless and wheezing, Kleiner looked to Eli as he came hurtling around the tributary bend, bullsquid a sizeable distance away. Still, close enough to get the blood rushing in Kleiner's veins again.

Looking up, he sprang as high into the air as he could, grasping desperately for the ledge. It was no use. Whatever contact his fingertips made, his thin, gentle hands were in no condition to pull his own weight up.

And then he had something wrapped around his legs, boosting him up. Kleiner looked down as Eli pushed him, his face a quickly deepening red as he struggled with the weight. The bullsquid was horrifically close now. Kleiner pulled on the ledge as hard as he could, his hands now easily reaching over the top.

With a final tug, he managed to pull himself over, rolling until he was lying on his back beside the ledge.

"Izzy!"

Kleiner rolled over frantically, and watched as a blue, blanketed bundle was tossed in his face. He wrapped his arms around it in a panic, knowing full well what it was and how valuable it was.

The wailing face of little Alyx poked out, screaming at the world and the horror of it all. Kleiner couldn't agree more. Kleiner delicately put her down as far away from the ledge as he dared before returning to Eli's aide.

He thrust out a spindly arm, aware of how weak the gesture seemed but not caring because the bullsquid was so close. "Eli! Grab on!"

His friend leapt up for the proffered limb, latching on easily. Kleiner pulled, and Eli scrabbled his legs against the wall, trying to get some traction.

And then, looking into Eli's eyes, Kleiner watched his friend scream as he had never heard him scream before. That deep, gentle voice… to hear it pushed to such extremes, to hear it cracking and struggling in that way…

The disgusting, crunching tug of war ended with Eli toppling down on top of Kleiner. They landed beside Alyx, still crying her heart out, poor child. Kleiner felt something damp on his trouser leg. Looking down, he saw the blood that gushed from Eli's leg. Or rather, from where Eli's leg had once been.

A shadow cast itself over them. The man knelt down, and Kleiner recognised him. Gordon?

"Dr Kleiner?"

That wasn't Gordon's voice.

"Dr Kleiner?"

He snorted himself awake again. Alarmed, he looked down to the baby sleeping in his arms. Still asleep, thank God. Tired and haggard, Kleiner brought his weary head up to look at the equally sleep-deprived doctor.

"Yes?"

"I'm Dr Marks."

"How is he?"

Marks ran a hand through his thick, long hair. To see such a young man so distressed was disturbing to Kleiner. "He's… fine. We managed to stop the bleeding, and we're going to have to cauterise the wound. But with a little luck and a lot of rest, he should recover."

He glanced to the double doors he had seen Eli disappear through so long ago. "May I see him?"

"Not yet. He's under a lot of sedation right now, as you can imagine."

Kleiner sighed. "No. Not really."

The young doctor nodded, understanding. "You're welcome to wait here. I'd tell you to go to a hotel, but every place I know of is bursting at the seams since that first storm."

He offered a smile which he hoped was indifferent but probably came across as sad. "I'm afraid I don't have the money, in any case. How long will it be before he can leave?"

"I'm not sure," Marks sighed, hands in lab coat pockets in a gesture so very similar to Dr Breen. It made Kleiner angry in a very irrational way. "We're getting people in every few minutes with dismembered limbs and mauled friends…" He rubbed tired eyes. "It's…"

"It's like nothing you've seen before," Kleiner offered quietly, nodding.

Slowly, the young man in front of him returned the gesture in agreement. His eyes flickered to the baby in Kleiner's arms. "Is-"

"Oh my God!"

The female cry brought both of their attention to the glass doors at the front of the ER. A high pitched whine filled the air as a familiar blue glow pulsated through the streets.

Then the wall of energy came, kicking up dust and cars as it hurtled towards them. Kleiner got on the floor and pushed himself beneath the plastic chairs. Marks was still entranced by the approaching storm as Kleiner curled up, with Alyx completely contained beneath him.

Glass shattered and people screamed as the energy burst through the glass doors. The energy fizzled and tickled as it passed through him. Alyx awoke with a cry, and Kleiner clutched her tighter.

"There, there. It will be all right. You'll see. Everything will be just fine. Ssh."

The lights flickered and went out.

The ceiling collapsed. Dust and plaster went everywhere.

And then all was dark.

(A/N: Hey, so, with BlindAcquiescence's permission I'm re-releasing this fic, and adding all the chapters we had written so very long ago. I thought it'd be a shame to leave them sitting on my hard drive, so here they are.

So yeah, on to the story. There was a serious Cloverfield angle to this short that was one of the reasons I really wanted to do this story in the first place. And incidentally, God bless the Half-Life writers for leaving events so vague. It gives us fans so much more lee-way when writing this kind of story. I've heard so many different iterations of how Eli lost his leg, but the one that cropped up the most was the bullsquid one, so I went with that.

Reviews/comments for either me or BlindAcquiescence are welcome!)