Steve the Headcrab
Chapter 5
Ah, I'm finally home... And everything's just like I remember it. The light breeze bringing in a salty smell, the distant sound of waves, the feel of sand beneath-
Wait, sand?
Steve opened his eyes to see that he was not in fact on his home planet of Xen, but on a beach. Turning around, he saw the emotionless visage of Gordon Freeman, which disappeared in a flash of light. Steve continued staring at the spot where Gordon once stood, slowly processing what just happened. He recounted the day's events, trying to find out what went wrong.
Okay, waiting until the teleporter was completed: check. Confirming it's safe: check. Rerouting the teleporter to Xen: che-
Steve looked at the ground as he finally realized his mistake. He was so frustrated at being trapped in that storage room (plus the little scuffle with Barney) that he forgot the most important step of his plan. Instead of being back on Xen, he'd almost certainly doomed himself, stranded miles away from any sort of civilization. He felt compelled to scream to the heavens, since that's what one does in these situations, but... nothing. Dejected, depressed, and in dismay, he could only utter a simple-
"God. Damn it."
Steve slowly walked along the beach, with only the occasional birds to keep him company. The sounds of the sea would normally be calming to some, but to him, it was just a reminder of his failure. It even felt like the seagulls were laughing at him, though Steve doubted they had such intelligence. He wasn't sure how long he had been walking, and his feet were killing him. Well, he was kind of sure how long he'd been walking, since the sun was just now beginning to set. He saw nowhere that could be used for shelter, so he had no choice but to keep going.
He suddenly froze, however, when he heard rumbling beneath him. Before he could get away, the sand around him erupted as several creatures emerged from underground. After the sand cleared, he saw what looked to be several giant insects. They had four legs, no eyes and three sharp teeth. Steve was nearly paralyzed with fear, but knew he was a good enough jumper to get away from them.
"Hey, look over there!" Steve yelled, pointing away from himself, hoping the creatures would fall for his simple trick. "Oh wait... no eyes. Crap!" Steve jumped on top of one and leaped away, beginning his escape. "See you never, stupid bugs!" he taunted, looking behind him as he kept leaping towards freedom. His heart nearly skipped a beat as he saw some of them jump after him, and they were catching up quickly. Even worse, some of them sprouted wings from their bodies and began flying towards him. The soreness of his legs was getting to him, but he tried to ignore the pain as the adrenaline flowed through his body. His escape was soon halted as two of the insects landed in front of him, and he heard the sound of the buzzing wings behind him getting closer. As they surrounded him once again, Steve closed his eyes and awaited the inevitable.
No, I can't die here, Steve thought. I waited so long for the chance to go home, and I'm not giving up yet! ...but I can't get away from these things. What do I do? As if giving him an answer, Steve heard what sounded like a weapon firing along with the screeching of the insects. He slowly opened his eyes, fully expecting to see an image of the afterlife, but was surprised to see not only the same beach, but the corpses of the insects around him. He felt examined himself for wounds, but found that he was perfectly fine. Steve breathed a sigh of relief now that the crisis was over, but flinched as he heard more rumbling. But this was... different. Looking towards the sound, he saw what looked like three long legs. He moved his gaze upward to see something towering above him. Its body was oddly shaped and attached to it was... a gun? Steve continued staring at it. Did it save him? Or was it about to finish him off? It felt like several minutes passed as he stared death in the face, until-
"hey there little dude. you okay down there?"
Steve did a double take. This intimidating deadly being just called him "little dude." He didn't see that one coming.
"oh whoops hold on a sec. cant hear you from all the way up here. lemme fix that real quick," the being said as it lowered itself all the way down to the ground, its legs folding to make it more compact. "all righty where were we. so you got a name or do headcrabs not talk?"
"Um... I'm Steve." There was no way he would be able to hold up a normal conversation with this thing. It was... too casual for a giant death machine. "Who... what are you? What were those bugs? Where are we anyways? Wh-"
"whoa man slow down thats like way too many questions. im a strider you can tell by my long legs. this guy definitely didnt skip leg day am i right? and those gross bugs are antlions. or they used to be i guess."
"That is... a lot to take in all at once," Steve replied. "Look, I got lost here from a teleporter incident, and I need to get anywhere but here, fast." He nervously looked around, keeping a lookout for more of those "Antlion" things.
"hey i got an idea. hop on up steve-meister," the Strider said, lowering its head even more so it rested on the sand. "i dont really know where im going either so lets be lost together. strength in numbers and all that jazz."
This was it. This was Steve's ticket out of here... wherever "here" was, at least. He was still a bit confused about this Strider, but it was either it or the Antlions. He leaped up on top of the Strider's head, and it slowly raised back up to its full height.
"okay lets get rolling. or moving i guess- WAIT lets get striding! actually that sounded kinda lame never mind. anyways were going now so hang on tight bro."
Even though Steve was safe now, he still had a heavy heart. He screwed up his best chance at getting home, and it was difficult to think of a good backup plan. Where else would he find another teleporter? As the Strider began walking into the sunset, Steve had a bad feeling that his problems were just beginning.
We have finally arrived at my area of zero writing experience: *Compelling original dialog.* Oh noooooooooooooooooooooo