Disclaimer: I don't own Half-Life.
Aftermath
Chapter Ten: Under the Radar
Sturgess elbowed the door open, revealing the workshop beyond. Crouched on the other side of a car in front of them, a rebel worked on the chassis, sparks flying from the blowtorch and the flame reflecting off the metal visor that covered his face. A metal door at the left end of the garage was presumably the exit, though it was closed. Gordon could just see the road ahead through a metal gate beside the larger garage door, however.
A continual thumping noise pounded outside, and Gordon could hear the moan of zombies, muffled by the walls.
"You weren't kidding," Alyx chuckled, casting her eyes around the garage with her fingers slipped into her pockets. She looked back to Gordon, impressed. "We'll be back on the road in no time."
A troubled frown creased Sturgess already fairly creasy face. "Well, that could be a problem. You hear that auto-gun going off out there?"
Gordon nodded in silent understanding. Auto-gun. That would be the thumping noise then. He and Alyx moved over to the gate while Sturgess continued.
"We normally run supplies out to the White Forest base, but a few days ago the Combine cut off access."
Hand on her chin, Alyx peered through thoughtfully. There wasn't enough room for both of them at the gate, so Gordon crouched and knelt in front of her to get a better look. A metal fence ran along the right-hand side of the road, obscuring Gordon's view of what was beyond. He could make out something flashing on the other side, accompanying each metallic thump of whatever the auto-gun was firing. The roof of a distant warehouse was just visible over the top of the fence, and he could make out a turning in the road that would probably lead straight to it. That was, presumably, how they had cut off access.
Alyx 'hmm'ed above him, and Gordon twitched when he felt her fingers scratch the top of his head. He looked up, simultaneously curious and confused. She looked down at him innocently, as if it were a perfectly ordinary way of getting somebody's attention. "What do you think, Gordon? Maybe while I'm getting the car fixed up you can see about clearing up that roadblock."
"Uh-" he stopped himself when his voice jumped like an overactive teenager's. He got to his feet, adjusting his glasses in what he realised was quickly becoming a nervous gesture. "I suppose."
Sturgess' throaty growl interrupted Gordon's contemplations on the thoughts and actions of Alyx Vance. "All the fresh zombies coming out of City 17 have kept them pinned down, but it's just a matter of time until the troops start pushing this way." Pulse rifle still resting on his shoulder, the ageing rebel looked him up and down, almost disparagingly. "If you think you're up to it… we'll let you out there."
"Oh, he's always up for it," Alyx cut in entirely too quickly. Seeing the surprised eyebrows that shot up on Gordon's face, she looked back to him with a sweet smile. "Right, Gordon?"
He opened his mouth, narrowed eyes looking from the incomprehensible expressions on both Alyx's and Sturgess' faces. Well, incomprehensible to him, anyway. Barney or Eli would probably be able to catch what was going on straight away. As it was, Gordon Freeman, 27 year old with a PhD in theoretical physics, just knew that something odd and unspoken was happening between Alyx and their new rebel friend, and for some reason, he was caught in the middle of it.
Finally, his eyes resting on Alyx in a vain attempt to understand the situation, Gordon replied slowly and hesitantly. "…yes…?"
Alyx nodded, satisfied, and looked to Sturgess almost challengingly. "There you go. Gordon'll have it fixed in no time."
"Okay, then." Sturgess fixed his gaze on Gordon, all business again. "We've got a trap door up here where I can let you over to the other side. That way you'll get to see the gun before it sees you."
He led the way up a flight of metal stairs on the right-hand side of the room, taking them to a platform overlooking the garage. Gordon looked unsurely at Alyx, who nodded up the stairs.
"Go get 'em, slugger."
An incredulous frown slowly creased his forehead, his eyes wide as he considered the possibility that Alyx had suddenly gone insane. Blinking the thought away, he followed Sturgess up the stairs in the hope that maybe Alyx would be normal again when he returned.
Sturgess took him through a door at the end of the small platform, facing in the direction of the road. Stepping through, Gordon saw a hole in the ground leading into what looked like an office space below. He stood beside it with Sturgess, looking down and then over at the rebel.
The elder man smiled. "Good luck taking out that auto-gun!" he said, his tone holding a smattering of sarcasm. He slapped Gordon on the back and knocking him forward so he tumbled down through the hole.
He landed in a heap in the office below, and looked back up through the hole in surprise, irritation, and, most of all, sheer confusion. The rebel was already gone, however, and Gordon heard the door above close as he left. Sighing, Gordon slowly got to his feet and stretched his back, relishing the sensation. It was a small room, the green door on his right closed and barricaded up with wooden planks. A window beside it looked to be the way forward, and Gordon slipped out the crowbar, ready to get smashing.
A muffled voice from the garage distracted Gordon, and he recognised it as Sturgess.
"So, uh… is that your boyfriend?"
Gordon's brain became a flat-line as he listened intently for Alyx's response. Suddenly, the window shattered, showering glass over him and across the office. He brought down his protective arms to see a zombine reaching through for him, thrashing its arm about angrily.
"Oh, for-" Gordon irritably brought up the pulse rifle and blasted the headcrab from its shoulders. Several more zombies accompanying it were given the same treatment. Once more in relative silence, Gordon perked up his ears, but heard nothing from the garage by way of conversation.
Damn it. Although, at least that explained Alyx's odd behaviour. Sturgess was interested, Alyx wasn't, and needed to convince the rebel of that fact. By… scratching Gordon's head. And calling him slugger.
This really didn't make sense.
He sighed and clambered through the window and into the clearing beyond. It was an entrance into a field of shipping containers, though the pathway that would have taken anyone forward was now swamped in toxic waste, judging by the furious crackling of the suit's Geiger counter. Straight ahead wasn't his destination, however. Instead, there was an office on the right overlooking the area, though it was one floor up. An old parked pickup truck beneath the office allowed a way forward, however.
Sprinting past the zombies that were emerging from the toxic river, he mounted the trailer section of the pickup truck and quickly clambered up on top of the cab. He smashed through the thin glass with the butt of the pulse rifle, clearing a big enough gap for him to crawl through. It was another abandoned office, a swivelling chair strewn across the floor amid a slew of papers and cardboard boxes. A door ahead of him lead outside, metal steps plunging down into another lake of toxic sludge.
There was an island of solid ground just off to the right, a stack of two containers blocking his view of what he assumed was the road beyond. Gordon vaulted off the stairs, landing at speed and having to roll to compensate. Once again on his feet, Gordon started edging his way towards the corner of the container, peeking his head around.
It was indeed the road he had spied with Alyx. He could see the road leading up to the warehouse just across the road and a little to the left. Thinking it over in his head, Gordon estimated that the repair garage was off to the right, which would give Alyx and Sturgess a view of him when he crossed the road. Four thick beams of light shone out from where Gordon assumed the warehouse was, looking like searchlights. Gordon assumed that being seen by them was not a good idea, and so crouched down as he made his way around the container and onto the road.
Moving forward as fast as he could manage with his back stooped forward, he moved toward a gap in the fence that ran along the road. Glancing to his right, he saw that no-one was watching his progress from the garage. Just as well, he supposed. He usually fell awkwardly through these situations anyway, which was embarrassing enough without an audience.
He had to get down onto his belly as he reached the hole in the fence, crawling into some of the thickest mud he had ever come across. It squelched and sucked against his arms and legs as he crawled, though he could feel solid ground beneath. The cars that were strewn across the clearing in a complex maze led Gordon to the assumption that this was once the parking lot for the warehouse he was heading for.
A zombie abruptly stood up on the other side of a white car he was crawling past, and Gordon rolled onto his back, rifle up in panic. One of the searchlight whizzed over to the zombie, and with a flash of light and a pounding noise that shook through the ground, the zombie blasted clear in half, the torso sailing across the car and over Gordon's head. It hit the muddy ground beside him with a splat, though the mud did nothing to hinder the flames consuming it.
Gordon continued crawling, moving around overturned cars and barrels and even moving througha van to avoid the auto-gun's fire. It took him about ten minutes to navigate his way to the side of the warehouse and out of sight of the auto-gun. It was a wide alleyway, a pickup truck parked on the left-hand side, presumably for loading purposes. Wandering around to the back of the warehouse, he saw a zombine slamming its fists against the back door, as eager as he was to get inside.
He took aim with the pulse rifle, but then hesitated. Smiling, he altered his target and pointed the rifle at the lock on the door. With one shot, he shorted out the Combine lock, and the zombine smashed through, storming inside. Combine radios sprang to life inside, cursing and shouting warnings to the others. Machinegun fire erupted, and he heard the tell-tale beep of a grenade.
The 'SHIT!" that emerged from inside was so loud it was as if all the soldiers had said it at once. An explosion made the ground shudder a little, and smoke sifted out through the open doorway. Still cautious, Gordon moved to the corner of the doorway and poked his head inside. Three soldiers were dead, the fourth headless and presumably belonging to the zombine, judging by the black charring across its' body.
He slowly moved inside, wary of the open doorway on his immediate right that led into a storage room. A soldier whirled around to meet him from inside the doorway, MP7 at the ready. Gordon charged at him, swinging the butt of the pulse rifle in an uppercut and cracking the breathing apparatus of the soldier's helmet. The blow sent the soldier stumbling back, and Gordon blasted through him with the pulse rifle.
After satisfying himself that the rest of the warehouse was abandoned, Gordon moved over to some machinery on the wall ahead. A collection of cables were strung together and led up to a device pointing out through a slit in the metal wall. Following the cables from the device and to the left, he found what he assumed was a Combine power generator. It was a black metal box, about a head taller than him. Thin black metal slats were layered on top of each other on the top section, preventing a look inside the device. A red button beside them solved that problem, and they slid up helpfully.
Gordon peered down into the machine, not having a clue where to start. Looking around the warehouse, he let out a quiet 'ah' when he spotted a green metal crate of grenades tucked away in a corner. He took one over to the generator, pulled the ring, and delicately dropped it inside before running for the door. The bang of the grenade was muffled slightly by the building. Perking his head up to listen, he found that it had had the desired effect; the auto-gun had stopped firing.
With a quick sigh of satisfaction, Gordon nodded to himself and moved back out to the road that had been previously inaccessible to him. The back of his neck still tingled in anticipation of being shot, however, and he had to look over his shoulder at the warehouse several times to comfort himself that he wasn't going to get shot. He eventually wound up walking backwards down the road, suspicious eyes on the thin slit on the front of the warehouse.
"Hey, Gordon!"
He jumped on the spot, whirling to see Alyx stood on the main road. "Uh, yeah?"
"Car's ready. Come on back and we'll get going!"
Nodding absentmindedly, Gordon cast one last look at the warehouse before lightly jogging back to the garage. When Alyx saw his approach, she moved back to the car and slipped inside. The car was good as new, facing the now open exit of the garage. Sturgess was waiting for him at the side of the car, and nodded his approval at Gordon as he entered the garage.
Gordon's eye was drawn to the collection of ammunition and weapons on a table beside the mechanic who was still working on the car behind theirs. Making his way around, Gordon saw a box of rounds for the revolver, and started loading up.
"Thanks for getting rid of that auto-gun," a voice said, and Gordon looked around before settling on the mechanic.
"Oh, uh… no problem." He continued loading the revolver, and paused, feeling he should say something more. "So, are you staying here, or…"
The mechanic flicked off the blowtorch and turned to face him, though he didn't bring up his protective mask. "Hey, don't worry about us. See this car? We're fixing it up and getting the hell out of here. Drivin' to Hawaii! Beaches, babes and waves." He peered over Gordon's shoulder at Sturgess, and lowered his voice. "Tell you what, if you ever get sick of this rebel crap, you know who to talk to."
Sighing, Gordon clicked the revolver shut. "Bit late now."
Loading done, Gordon stealthily picked up the entire box and moved back around to the car. He handed the pulse rifle and the box of bullets to Alyx, which she pocketed in one of the many tiny satchels on her belt. As he started the car, Alyx smiled, looking over her shoulder at the mechanic and then at Sturgess.
"Thanks again, you guys!"
Sturgess cut off the mechanic, waving his hand modestly. "No need to thank me."
Finding himself getting a little irritated with the rebel, Gordon slammed his foot down, and they launched out onto the road. The path took them around to the right and through a towering corridor of shipping containers. Zombies passed by in the distance, and Alyx brought up the pulse rifle now and again before finally deciding it wasn't worth it. They eventually rejoined an actual road, and Gordon gratefully mounted it, skidding left and heading for a tunnel in the mountainside opposite.
He glanced over at Alyx as they approached the tunnel, who was staring forward distractedly.
"You okay?" he asked, one hand on the wheel and the other on the gears.
"Hm?" She smiled. "Oh, yeah. Fine."
"Because…" he stopped himself but then saw that Alyx was now waiting for him to finish. He sighed as they entered the tunnel, and he had to shout to be heard over the roar of the engine reverberating around them. "…you were different. Around Sturgess, I mean."
They emerged from the tunnel, and the road slowly leaned over to the left as Gordon drove them up a fairly easy incline. Alyx still wasn't speaking, and Gordon felt very awkward. Suddenly, more words were spilling from him, though he was mentally willing himself to just stop.
"And I wondered if that was because he did anything or said anything that you didn't like or maybe he wasn't being, uh…" his throat dry, he swallowed. "…gentlemanly."
One of the most amused smiles Gordon had ever seen spread across Alyx's face, her eyebrows significantly higher than normal. "'Gentlemanly'?"
"Well… yeah."
After staring at him for a few moments more, Alyx's mouth suddenly became an 'oh' of understanding. She put a hand to her mouth, laughing hysterically.
Very confused by this point, Gordon alternated between glancing at the road and Alyx's shaking form. "What?"
She wordlessly waved her hand around, before finally wiping at her eyes with both hands. "I'm sorry, I just… you thought that Sturgess was…" She laughed again, but got control of herself much quicker this time. "And… with me?"
Eyes wide, Gordon just offered a helpless shrug.
Sighing, Alyx looked up at him like a parent educating a child. "Gordon… Sturgess wasn't interested in me."
He frowned. "Really?"
"No."
"But… then why…"
"Gordon. Sturgess isn't interested in anyone like me." She nodded cautiously, trying to guide him to some conclusion that still escaped him. "Anyone… like me."
The frown still thick on his forehead, Gordon shook his head again before it clicked, and his eyes bulged. He felt his face become horrifically hot. "Oh. You mean-"
"Yeah."
"Not-"
"No."
"So he was-"
"Yup."
"With me?"
"Oh yeah."
Very embarrassed indeed, Gordon scratched at the tight material around his neck. "Ah. Well, that's… honestly never happened before."
"You're cute when you're flustered," she laughed.
And that was two things Gordon didn't know how to take, so he just concentrated on the road. He drove them around a right turn that took them past an old gas station on the left and between two houses on either side. The road moved down a hill before doing U-turn off to the right, taking them around another horseshoe shaped turning around a courtyard in front of what looked like a small hotel.
Alyx tapped his arm and pointed to the building. "Pull over, Gordon."
He did so a couple of feet before the entrance of the building, which was in an outdoor terrace just beside the road. Alyx hopped out of the car speedily, striding around the back of the car and into the building. Gordon switched off the car and stepped out. Eyes scanning the area, he stretched over the drivers seat to collect the pulse rifle and the Gravity Gun. No point in getting careless.
Walking back up the road to see around the front of the building, he saw a sign swinging from a metal post that read 'White Forest Inn'. He followed Alyx inside into the house, coming into a hallway. He heard noises coming from the floor above, and walked up a stairway on his right. The old wood creaked under his boots, vaguely eerie in the silence. The landing at the top went back to the left, giving Gordon a view of the hallway below as he walked along, hand sliding along the guardrail.
"Seems deserted," Alyx called out from ahead, her voice ringing slightly as it reverberated down the hallway to him.
Moving through a doorway at the end of the balcony, Gordon came out into a large, bare room, windows overlooking the courtyard. He could see pale rectangles of wooden flooring where furniture had once been. A hallway off to the left went between a series of doors, each one of which Alyx was checking a little too quickly. She opened a door on the left and gasped.
"Oh, thank God." She ducked her head back around the door to address him. "Gordon, could you wait downstairs?"
Without even waiting for the reply, she slammed the door. After a few moments of speechlessness, Gordon shrugged and walked past, heading towards a stairway at the end of the hallway. It moved down to the left, taking him to a living room. A fireplace sat in the centre of the wall, windows on either side of the stone chimney looking out to the empty courtyard. A corridor on the left led back to the entrance of the building, where Gordon could see the car patiently waiting for them. He slowly walked back to it, and stopped at a framed picture on the wall of the hallway.
It was a family. Mother, father and son, smiling a little stiffly for the portrait. It was black and white, reminding Gordon of the photo Eli had shown him of himself with Azian and Alyx. He heard Alyx's footsteps trudging down the stairs, and she came to join him beside the photo.
"What'd you find?" Gordon asked, eyes still on the portrait.
"Uh…" Alyx cleared her throat, and mumbled, "bathroom."
Oh. Well. That didn't make him feel any more awkward than he already did. To be honest, it was something that hadn't really occurred to him over the past few days. The HEV suit made such concerns pretty obsolete. While he didn't know the specifics (and had stopped Dr Kleiner with a loud 'NO' when he had tried to explain it back at Black Mesa), he knew that the nano-machines used by the HEV suit did something to the digestive tract that turned it into more of a… recycling tract.
Alyx pointed a thumb upstairs. "Um, do you need to-"
"Oh, uh, no. The suit, it, uh…" Gordon decided that there were some things Alyx Vance just never needed to know. "No, I don't."
They were both silent for a moment, and Alyx's gaze drifted over to the family portrait.
"This place must have been nice, once," she said quietly. "I wonder how long it's been since anyone stayed here."
He shrugged. "They got the furniture out, so… they had plenty of warning, I suppose."
"Yeah…" she looked up and down the hallway. "I've always wondered what it would be like."
Gordon gave her a curious look. "What? Furniture?"
"No," she scolded with a laugh. "This," she said simply, waving a finger about in the air. "Y'know, a normal house with a… normal family. I've always been moving between base camps and bunkers and…" She wrapped her arms around herself, as if she were cold. "…other places I'd rather not talk about. And as for family… well, the closest thing I've had to a mom is Dr Kleiner."
The very statement was so ludicrous he couldn't even bring himself to laugh, only managing a huge cocked eyebrow.
She laughed, though it was incredibly weak. The vague smile vanished as she looked again at the family portrait, and Gordon was all too aware of which part she was staring at. "I always wonder if she was like me…"
"Your mother frightened me," he blurted out very quickly and loudly. Alyx needed to hear something, and it was the only thing he could think of to do with her mother.
Her face caught in that terrifying gap between crying and laughing, Alyx fixed her eyes on him. "What?"
"She, uh… she was very, uh… forceful."
"She was?"
He nodded quickly, staring at the portrait and only occasionally glancing at her. "Well, Eli was my supervisor, and she was his wife, and then she would start giving me advice about, uh, things, and then she'd organise these… other things for me, and they were always awkward and then she'd ask about what happened, and it would never be good, and-"
"Wait, what things?"
Pausing a moment, Gordon hung his head, running his tongue around his mouth as he calculated the 'embarrassment to making Alyx feel better' ratio.
It didn't take long to work out.
"Dating. She would… organise blind dates."
She laughed. And laughed. And laughed. Gordon just nodded, eyes closed, letting her get in any insults she wanted. At least she didn't find out about the ponytail.
"That's…" she laughed yet more. "That's… amazing." The laugh faded away into a sigh. "Hey, uh… thanks."
Opening his eyes, he looked over at her questioningly. "That's it?"
"Yeah," she said, smiling fondly at him. "Really, Gordon. Thanks. Dad always wears these rose-tinted glasses with my mom, so it's… nice to hear about her from someone else who knew her."
He shrugged. "Any opportunity to embarrass myself and make you feel better…"
Grinning, she put a hand on his arm. "If I can ever return the favour, just ask."
After one last lingering look at the portrait, Alyx moved past him and down the corridor, heading for the car. He followed, and she sat in silence while he put the Gravity Gun on the back of his seat and slipped inside. Gordon started the car, and stared forward, hands on the wheel.
"I'm still 27."
Looking a little concerned for his sanity, Alyx looked over at him. "What?"
"I mean-" he stopped to cough, forcing himself to stare into her intimidating blank eyes. "At Black Mesa, there was a slow teleport, like at Nova Prospekt but more powerful, and you know, I thought it'd be good to know… I mean, that I'm not forty, or… um… I don't know, uh…" He sighed, scratching the side of his head irritably. "Forget I said anything."
He put his hand on the gear-stick and struggled to shift it for the first time since getting in the car. He slammed it into first out of frustration, and sent the car roaring forward. A force field abruptly appeared in front of them, generated by two innocuous black posts on the corners of the White Forest Inn and the house opposite. The bumper crashed headlong into the force field, bouncing upwards and stalling the car. They both lurched forward in their seats, slamming their hands down on the dashboard to stop themselves.
They looked back down the road, attracted by the alarm sounding around them.
"It's a trap!" she cried.
Gordon slammed the car into reverse and got halfway up the road only to screech to a halt when four soldiers emerged from the other side of the courtyard, followed by a single Elite and a galloping Hunter.
Alyx was already running around the car, and whirled around to toss him the pulse rifle. "Gordon, come on, get inside!"
He leapt to his feet and grabbed the rifle, looking back to car and reluctant to leave it. A bullet thudded against the wall behind him, and Gordon ducked down, blasting two of the incoming soldiers through the neck and heads. The rest closely followed behind, and Gordon charged into the building.
Alyx had taken refuge at the far end of the hallway, past the family portrait. Gordon charged up the stairs immediately on his right, rushing up and around to behind the landing. He realised with a frustrated groan that he had left the Gravity Gun in the car.
The other two soldiers charged in, rifles aimed up at him. Alyx caught them by surprise, taking out one of the soldiers with deadly accuracy. His companion backed up, alarmed. Gordon lined himself up with the retreating soldier and vaulted over the guardrail, landing in a crouch before him and blasting through him.
A previously hidden Elite swung around from the corner of the entrance, a white armoured elbow hitting him in the throat. Gordon stumbled back, clutching at his neck as the Elite swung his leg around, kicking his rifle away. The Elite brought his rifle up, only for gunfire from Alyx to hit him in the knee. Letting out only the slightest of grunts to indicate his pain, the Elite's balance faltered for just a moment. Gordon grabbed onto the soldier's rifle, only for the Elite to recover faster than expected and push him back into the wall behind him. Struggling for the rifle, Gordon saw one of the Hunters take up a position at the entrance, waiting patiently for its chance to kill him.
Alyx appeared behind the Elite, and positioned herself between the Hunter and their struggling forms. She fired on the Hunter, hitting it just beside the eyes. Snarling at the sudden pain, it lowered its head, preparing to charge. Gordon held steadfast to the rifle and the Elite, who had, predictably, remained completely focused on him. The Hunter thundered towards them with head down. Alyx whirled on the spot, grabbing Gordon by the thick collar of the HEV suit and pulling him back. Gordon abruptly released the rifle and let himself fall with her. The Elite gave him a surprised look that only lasted a moment before the Hunter crushed him into the wall.
The pulse rifle tumbled through the air, and Alyx dove for it, sliding along the wooden floor and grabbing onto it before it had even settled on the ground. The Hunter struggled as it pulled itself from the dent it had made in the crumbling wall. Whirling around with pulse rifle drawn at the emerging Hunter, Alyx pressed the secondary fire button. The ball of energy shot out just as the Hunter freed itself, and the creature wailed in agony as it was consumed by burning white energy.
Gordon looked at the spot the Hunter had occupied before his surprised gaze travelled down to Alyx. Looking equally shocked at how quickly everything had just happened, Alyx eventually managed to jump to her feet.
"Listen," she said, putting up a hand with her head tipped up to the air. Gordon could just barely hear the automated female Combine voice. "They're talking about us. They're still after the data packet," she said breathlessly. "Let's get moving before they send more."
Gordon leapt to his feet. They ran to the car together, Gordon practically bouncing into the seat while Alyx moved to one of the black posts emitting the force field, hacking device in hand. Sparks flew from the device and the black posts while Gordon started the car and shifted it into gear. He saw the blue wall flicker for a moment before disappearing altogether, and Alyx leapt up onto the front of the car, sliding in through the front and twisting around to sit in the seat.
"Let's hope there's no more Combine between here and White Forest," she said, hands gripping the pulse rifle on her lap.
Gordon revved the engine, and they were off again, hurtling down the hill in front of them. The road swerved back and forth as it moved down the hill, though a metal ramp had been left beside the first U-turn, managing to overlook the entire hill. Shrugging, Gordon lined up the car with the ramp as they reached the turning and punched the turbo.
"Look out below!" Alyx cried, her smile wide. The car mounted the ramp and shot into the air. "WOO-HOO!"
They dove down at a steeper angle than Gordon would have liked, and he leant back in his chair, wincing as he prepared for the impact. He noticed about a dozen or so wooden crates had been left on the road below, and the front bumper collided with those first, managing to tilt the car back enough that they weren't just crushed vertically into the ground. The back of the car bounced wildly as the wheels slammed against the ground, and both Gordon and Alyx were rocked back and forth madly before they settled.
As Gordon straightened out the car and took them around one last bend going around to the left, he noticed Alyx still laughing like she had just been on one of the greatest rollercoasters of her life. As they headed down a long road through a towering canyon, Gordon couldn't help but smile too.
The joyous mood faded when the low hum of a dropship hovered overhead, their collective gazes travelling up as a shadow loomed over them. A dormant Strider hung from the bottom of the dropship, legs held together as though tied. It didn't seem to be heading for them, however, instead going straight over them and towards something over the right wall, out of their sight. It was promptly greeted by the sound of soaring rockets. Explosions blasted out from over the cliff on their right, followed by an almighty metallic crash that continued to echo for a minute or so.
They slowly turned their heads to look at each other, each of them as worried as the other.
Alyx took an unsure breath. "That… didn't sound good."
Still troubled, Gordon nevertheless continued down the road, taking them through a tunnel at the end of the road. Emerging into the open, Gordon was struck by the thick display of trees on the grassy slope on their right, blocked off from them by a metal barrier. Peering through the trees, Gordon spotted a river at the bottom of the slope. The road ahead had suffered an avalanche from the rocky terrain on the left. A gap in the metal barrier in the right led through a narrow path through the trees and down to the shallow river. Gordon slowed and turned, taking the car down the uneven terrain and into the river.
On the left, Gordon could see a metal barricade lodged in the middle of the river. It was a wide metal gate, attached by cables to heavy winches at the top of two tall posts on either side of it. Stone steps on the left-hand side of the gate led up to a platform that would take them over to the other side. The other side of the gate was wedged up beside a ridge that was too tall for them to climb, at least not easily.
"Over there! I see an antenna," Alyx said suddenly, pointing off to the right. Bringing the car to a stop, Gordon followed her finger, spotting a complicated antenna array on the horizon, silhouetted by the grey clouds behind it. With a relief in her voice he hadn't heard in some time, Alyx smiled at him. "I think that's White Forest."
Blowing out a grateful breath of his own, Gordon nodded to the closed gate in front of him. "In that case…"
She saw the gate, and nodded her understanding. Shrugging, she lifted herself out of the car. "Well, we're close enough to make it the rest of the way on foot if we have to."
Groaning at the effort that would involve, Gordon switched off the car and stood up, stretching his back before slinging the Gravity Gun over his shoulders and joining Alyx as she walked to the steps. She handed him the pulse rifle before heading over first. Gordon followed, fruitlessly scanning for any controls for the gate. He hopped down to the other side and looked for Alyx. Eyes wide, he rushed after her quickly when he saw her heading for a very large object blocking the river ahead of them.
"Woah," she marvelled, moving over to the fallen creature, "a dropship."
Gordon joined her, eyes warily on the still creature. "That must have been the crash we heard," he mused, not sure if there was any point in aiming the pulse rifle at it.
Alyx nodded. "White Forest sentries are doing their job."
The dropship suddenly jolted with a metallic grunt, and they both stumbled back.
"What the hell?" Alyx whispered, pulling her pistol out in a largely futile gesture.
Back arching, the dropship was lifted into the air, balancing on the head of a growling Strider.
Her mouth dropped open. "A strider!"
They were both backing up now, running for the barricade while aiming their fairly useless weapons at the towering monster. It looked a little dizzy, stumbling about as it tossed the dropship off its head, leaving it to splash into the river behind it.
Gordon whirled around in a panic, looking for any kind of escape route. There were no steps to take them back over the barricade, and it was too high to climb. The ridge on the other side of the river was out, and the cliff-side on the left towered above them to a dizzying degree. Not even the mechanical hooting noise that blared out from above distracted Gordon from trying to find something, anything that could help them.
He frowned. Hooting noise?
Looking over at Alyx, he found that she had noticed it too, her eyes locked on a thick tree trunk that sprouted over the edge of the cliff above. The Strider focused on the tree trunk, weapon aimed at…
"Wait," Alyx gasped. "That sounds like…"
A familiar robotic shaped leapt onto the tree trunk, and Gordon grinned along with Alyx, both of them calling out his name.
"Dog!"
The Strider was nowhere as happy to see him, and charged its customary laser blast. Light and sound blurred towards the glowing blue tip of its main weapon, and Dog leapt from the tree trunk and straight at the Strider as it fired. Dust and wood splinters burst out behind the robot as he sailed through the air towards the alien creature. Thick metal fingers clamped onto the front of the Strider's head, and the creature swung about wildly, trying to dislodge him.
With one final swing of its head, the Strider tossed Dog away and through a tree on the ridge on the other side of the river.
Hands held out helplessly, Alyx brought them to her mouth. "Oh, no!"
Gordon tried desperately to see over the ridge, but couldn't find any sign of Dog. The Strider meanwhile, was bent very low down, heaving its head forward and expelling dark brown sludge from its underbelly - almost like it was vomiting.
Finally, Dog flipped to his feet, the upper part of his body visible to Gordon. The Strider spotted him, too, and let out a loud, digitised growl, stamping over to Dog even as the robot ran forward to meet him. It brought up a powerful leg and stamped it down towards Dog, who easily rolled out of the way, going between the Strider's legs and popping out the other side. Still dizzy, the Strider stumbled forward, head colliding with the cliff-face on the opposite side.
"Oh my God," Alyx said almost to herself.
With a frustrated snarl, the Strider stomped around on the spot to face Dog again. It tried again to stab down through him, only for Dog to twist out of the way. The robot backed up a couple of steps and balled his fists together, slamming them into the leg and sending the Strider stumbling off the ridge and into the river again. The larger monster let out a surprised yelp as it tumbled forward, head bowed and shaking from whatever ailment had afflicted it.
Dog backed up to the cliff-side and charged forward, leaping from the ridge and slamming into the back of the Strider's head. He held steadfast as the impact drove the Strider headfirst into the cliff-face opposite, cracking the surface and sending rocks tumbling down. The Strider stumbled back and up onto the ridge as Dog mounted it, latching on to one of the plates towards the front of its head. He pounded down on it with a mighty fist over and over again before clamping his fingers beneath the plate. With one almighty tug, Dog tore the plate off and tossed it away like a Frisbee.
"Way to go, boy!"
Still not finished, Dog plunged his hand down into the black mess beneath the plate, and pulled something out, snapping a cord at the bottom of it and throwing it through the air. It landed with a light splash in front of him, and Gordon noted with a wrinkled nose that it was a brain. With a wail louder than any Gordon had heard from a Strider, pinkish red liquid spewed from the hole Dog had created, and he and Alyx rushed aside to let it splatter against the rocky floor they had been stood on. The Strider stumbled back a few steps, teetering dangerously.
"Uh-oh," Gordon mumbled.
Alyx backed up to the barricade, grabbing onto his arm to get him to move with her. "Get clear!"
The Strider finally tumbled forward, throwing Dog loose and onto the ground on the other side of the river.
"Oh, no! Dog!" Alyx cried, running over and skidding to a halt beside the fallen robot. Dog was lying on his back, single red eye closed as Gordon approached. A deep fear clenched at Gordon's chest as he watched Alyx running her hand down his faceplates. "Wake up, Dog… please."
Peering around her, Gordon saw Dog's hand twitch. He smiled as Dog opened his eyes, blinking up at Alyx.
"You're all right!" Alyx exclaimed, her smile wide as she threw her arms around the robot. He returned the gesture without hesitation. After releasing the robot from her grasp, Alyx shook her head at him. "You had me worried there."
Dog bent his legs up in the air before slipping to his feet, looking happily between Alyx and Gordon as if to say there was nothing to worry about.
Unconvinced, Alyx looked over the various hinges and gears that made up Dog's limbs. "Everything working all right?"
Beeping happily, Dog nodded.
"Good."
"You all right down there?"
Alarmed by the sudden, loud voice, Gordon looked up to the top of the cliff-face. Two rebels were looking down at them from above, their faces slightly obscured by the smoke coming from the burnt tree trunk.
"We're fine!" Alyx replied, waving her hand. Gordon did the same, just because he felt he should.
"Is Dog okay?"
Looking over at the robot, Alyx grinned when Dog jiggled his body about in what Gordon realised was the robot's equivalent of a dog wagging its tail.
"Better now!" she said simply.
"We've been waiting for you! Just follow the stream, then head up the other side!" He pointed a finger to the horizon, in the direction of the antenna. "White Forest is right there! You can't miss it!"
Alyx nodded and waved another hand of confirmation. "All right, thanks!" She looked back to him, nodding to the gate. "Come on, Gordon, get the car and we'll challenge Dog to a race."
He cocked an eyebrow. "Race?"
"Yeah, it'll be fun." She looked up at him, smiling. "Dog's way too cocky, needs to be taken down a peg or two."
"Uh… right."
Grateful to be so close to their goal but also wary that positive thinking always got him into trouble, Gordon walked back to the barricade. Dog lumbered alongside, stopping at the white metal gate for only a moment before slipping his thick metal fingers beneath and lifting it above his head effortlessly.
"Thanks," Gordon said, and Dog beeped casually. He walked through the river and to the car while Dog and Alyx waited, his legs kicking up water as he went. Boots slick on the pedals, Gordon had to concentrate to keep them from slipping off as he started the car and got it into gear. He slowly moved the growling car beneath the bridge and over to where Alyx was waiting beside the river.
She clambered over the front of the car and got into her seat. Nodding to Gordon, she turned to watch Dog walk alongside as they drove slowly up to the dropship that still blocked their path.
"Looks like we need your help again," Alyx said to Dog, her tone content as though this were the routine she was used to. "Would you mind?"
Without a noise of acknowledgment or protest, Dog lumbered over to the dropship and hopped up onto the ridge on the right. Grabbing onto the tail end of the creature, Dog tugged it aside, pulling again and again until it was out of their way. Job done, he happily leapt back down from the ridge and landed beside them, splashing water on their laps.
"Okay, Dog…" she said slyly, glancing at Gordon out of the corner of her eye. His fingers were wrapped around the handbrake, ready for the word. He was smiling inanely, and couldn't for the life of him think why. Races weren't exactly his forte, particularly not when cars were involved. And yet, at the present moment, he couldn't help but think about how much fun this all was.
"Race you to the base!" Alyx said quickly, slapping Gordon's waiting hand as Dog whirled around on the spot and started galloping upstream. "Step on it, Gordon!"
He did so, at first following Dog as he leapt out of the river and up onto a grassy verge on the right. It led up a path that seemed pretty self-explanatory, curving up to the left before going to the right and presumably straight to White Forest itself. Once he knew the way, Gordon smirked and really put his foot down. They came up beside Dog, who looked surprised to see them as they turned to the left.
They stayed like this for some time, each one alternating in and out of the lead. Once they skid around the right turn and Gordon saw the watchtower beside the metal gates of White Forest, he punched the turbo. With a powerful roar that transformed Gordon's smirk into a full grin, the car shot away from Dog, racing to the front gates of the base before Gordon slammed a foot on the brakes, turning the car and coming in for a skidding halt at the wooden bollards that had been erected in front of the gate.
"Here they come!" the soldier in the watchtower called out. "It's Alyx and Gordon Freeman!"
"Here it is! We made it!" Alyx cheered, putting a hand on his wrist.
Letting out a relived breath, Gordon switched off the car and slowly swivelled his legs around, allowing himself to relax for a moment. He heard Dog's heavy footsteps stomp over.
"Better luck next time, slowpoke," Alyx laughed, and Gordon looked up to see Dog shaking his head in shame.
Though he knew it was childish, Gordon couldn't help but smile. That was first time he had won much of anything sport related. Even his running was more of a solo act; he very rarely took part in actual races. So to win at this, in a car with a roaring engine and a hot girl in the passenger seat? That was pretty special.
As Gordon got to his feet and scooped up the Gravity Gun, Alyx shouted up to the rebel in the watchtower.
"Let us in!"
Smiling, he cupped a hand over his mouth at a rebel on the other side of the gates beneath him, on the ground floor. "Yo, let them through!"
The rebel pressed a button on the control panel beside the gates, and they slid open easily.
"Thanks," Alyx said, suddenly sounding as tired as she probably was.
"We had a feeling you were close when we saw Dog take off like that," the rebel shouted, grinning inanely.
She laughed, looking back at the robot happily. "I was never so glad to see him, believe me."
Gordon looked back over the landscape stretching out before him. The Citadel portal was tiny now. He felt like he could reach out and crush it in his hand. He blew out a disbelieving laugh, shaking his head at the concept that they had travelled so far in such a short amount of time.
"Hard to believe, huh?" Alyx sighed, coming up beside him.
"Yeah…" he said quietly.
"Uh…" Hands in her pockets, she looked down at her boots before directing her gaze at the horizon again. "What you said before. At the house."
Horror built in him, and Gordon shook his head vehemently. "Oh, forget it. It wasn't relevant, I don't even know why I-"
"It is good to know."
He froze, eyes on the twisting portal in the distance. "Oh." He took a breath, feeling like he should say something more. Nothing seemed relevant, so he settled for a mumbled and slightly pleased, "Good."
Alyx took a deep breath. "Well, Gordon… we made it." He looked over at her, and saw she was staring right at him, a gentle smile making his shoulders relax just that little bit more. "White Forest. Safe at last."
Dog was already trudging past them, heading through the gate.
Alyx nodded in the robot's direction. "Come on, let's get inside."
Nothing sounded better to Gordon right now. He turned away from the grey-skied vista and followed Dog through the gates and to the left, towards a grey complex that probably stretched out much further than Gordon could even contemplate. Areas around him were fenced off, where he could see rebels guarding doorways. All of them stared at the pair of them as they approached the base, of course.
"Hello, Dr Freeman," a random voice said, and Gordon turned in time to see one of two rebels running past him and toward the gate, nodding at him in acknowledgement. Walking backwards, he waved an unsure hand back, though the rebel in question wasn't looking at him anymore.
As they reached a door leading into room that resembled an airlock, a voice boomed out from above.
"Well, Gordon Freeman! And about time, too."
He looked up to see a cheery rebel standing on the roof of the building, rocket launcher propped over his shoulder as he waved to Gordon. Remembering just how awkward all this 'One Free Man' stuff was, Gordon waved a tired hand.
And here he was, walking into a based full of them. Hopefully Alyx would protect him.
(A/N: Hey, everybody, thanks for the reviews. I'll have to ask for some patience as far as the next chapter is concerned; it's a doozy, content wise. A lot of stuff to get in there. Anyway, yeah, hope you're enjoying the story, and please review!
And Merry Christmas!
Next Chapter: Our Mutual Fiend)