In the eyes of an assassin
Harold
Pilato slammed his pale fist on the stupid candy machine. "Give me my damn
snickers." He says with annoyance for
the machine. " Having trouble there, Pilato?" Harold's researcher assistant,
Don Reeves said chuckling at Harold's problems. " Why don't they fix that darn
candy machine?" "Harold calm down, you
know you shouldn't put your money into that, it has been broken since last
year." Says Don. Harold sits down at
the small round table in the lounge which don was already sitting there,
drinking a cup of dark rich coffee. "
Everything is bad down here in this hell hole. We are some hundred feet below
the earth's crust and working off minimal stuff for a big complex like this. So
cheer up, what in till what we show to the world when we are done with our
work." Don explains. " I guess you are right, after we are done then we can
leave Black Mesa and set up are own facility.
Just thing what wonders we can being to the world if we prefect
teleportation." Harold says. " I heard that they are testing that supply that
they got from that boarder world out today." "Yes, I heard about that too. They
said its fail safe, and have gotten the reactor up and running." The overhead lights flicking and strobes
beams of light down on the two scientist. The light goes out and the two men
are left alone in the dark.
Harold
rises from his chair in a one complete stoke, " see, another power failure,
damn this place." " Now, now it's probably just the experiment that is going on
right now that is eating up all the electricity." A lime colored sphere of plasma energy forms and grows in front
of the frighten scientist's eyes. A
brown monster appears smoking from the strange sphere of energy. Its three arms
moved in a manner much like a man's. Harold spotted some around its neck, a
green collar of some sort. The creature looked around and saw Don off behind
the chairs of the table. The air crackles and dances with electricity as the
strange creature charges the energy in its hands. It bucks its head back and
lets the two bolts of electrical energy fly into Don's chest. Harold can't see
what really happen; he only heard the moan and the body hit the fall. Harold
not even caring about the alien being next to him looks over at Don. Smoke
trails raised from the gapping hole in his chest. The ring of flesh around the
wound was charred and dark red.
Thoughts filled Harold's mind, thoughts of disbelief, and unrealism. Harold wake from the overwhelming thoughts
and runs up the stairs and out of the employ lounge. Harold stumbled out into
the brightly lit hallway, colliding with the silver wall. Harold picked himself
up and made his way down the hall. Screams and shouts come from an office just
up ahead. Harold walks slowly by the glass window that looked out into the
hallway. The glass scatters outward and
a black scientist lands in front of Harold. " Oh, thank god, another human
being." Blood trickles down his lower lip as he talked. " What happen, what is
this all about?" Asks Harold. " All I now is that during the test a gate way
open up letting the aliens from xen enter our world as they please. We never
meant this to happen, and now we are all going to die." The young scientist
coughs and throws up dark blood almost black and dies on the floor.
Loud
gunshots erupt from the side office; Harold peers in from the broken window. A
highly trained security guard fired his Remington M-1100 shotgun into the face
of the alien slave. It collapses to the ground with a noisy thud. The security
guard gives Harold a look over and walks over to him. " Hello, so do you know
anything about this mess?" " No, I am as clueless as you, John. The only thing
I know is that these creatures are of an alien species." "Well, doc it looks like we are not going to
make it out of here. I only have three more shells plus the four that are
already chambered in the shotgun." " we
need to get to the surface and get out of here, before it gets worse." Harold
says demandingly. " It's going to be
hard but we can make it up there if we try." Says the security guard. The two leave the office and make their way
out into the hallway. A sealed steel door stood in their way, " I hope the
security systems weren't damaged then we may not get out of here." The security
guard laid his hand on the palm reader. The light above the machine goes from
red to green, the door opens up with a grinding sound as it slides off to the
side. A creature of human proportions, wearing with a white lab coat covered in
blood, and brown slacks. But its head was round like a melon with two little
arms coming from the bottom of it. Its
arms looked like it tree limbs, twisted and gnarled, its fingers were long thin
claws enveloped in red blood. John
pushes Harold back and unloads two shots into the zombie's chest. Yellowish
green blood hits the sidewalls with a wet smack. Harold bent down and looked
over the dead alien. He scanned over the lab coat and spotted the nametag that
all the personnel wore. He picked it up in his fingers and read the name. " Pat
Stanfered." Harold said. It was no one that he know, but it was a scientist.
Harold turned and looked over at the security guard. " Was it some one you
know?" "No, but it's a scientist. But
it is deformed, how can that be?" Harold says. " What the hell is going on
here, are they taking slaves or something?" The two walk down towards the
elevator at the end of the hallway. John pushes the button and the elevator
doors creep open. " Lets go."
The
elevator doors close and its beings its upward ascent. The doors open and the two scared people are
greeting by other security guard. " What the hell are you two doing down here,
the troops that have been sent to save us should be landing by now. Get up the
surface and they will pull you out of this mess." Screams the security guard. "
Oh thank god, we are going to live through this mess." Harold says with much
relief. Harold and john begin to run down the long stretch of hallway. They
stop at a pair of doors blocking their way. Harold could hear something in the
other hallway. Harold could hear some type of gunfire, and screams. The doors
open up and three grunts battled a small pack of dog like aliens. John helps out the marines, blasting one of
the hound dogs in the back. The battled died down and the two remaining grunts
turned to them. " It looks like you two are pretty strong, if you survived this
long." The grunt said, his voice muffled from the gas mask he wore. " Why the
hell are you talking to them, just kill them already." The other grunt yelled
out as he aimed his assault rifle up. John lifted his shotgun up and blasted
the closest one in the chest; the grunt's padded armor tore apart in big
chucks. He fall off over and died, the other grunt open fire, sending bullets
streaming down the hall. Harold runs back through the doors as the bullets hit
john, he screamed for help, but Harold left him behind. The grunt stopped
firing and reloads his weapon. Harold closes the doors behind him and tries to
found some place to hide. Harold could hear the man slam his shoulder into the
door trying to get at the good doctor. Harold searched for the other barney,
but he had disappeared. The grunt being
to fire at the door, bullets dented the strong metal, but did nothing more.
Harold heard him stop and then reload once again; this was the time Harold was
going to strike. He unlocked the door and rushed through it, Harold saw the
grunt and the grunt saw him. Harold pushed him over, making the grunt drop the
fresh magazine clip he was holding in his hand. Harold spotted the dead body of
john and the shotgun that he still held in his hands. As the grunt was trying
to get back up and get to his clip Harold grabbed the shotgun. Harold turned
around in one quick motion, and pulled back the heavy trigger of the Remington.
The blast went high and hit the man in his unmasked face. Blood flew through
the air and hit Harold in the face. He felt the sudden warmness of the blood
running down his pale face. Harold had never killed anything in his life or
even fired a gun. The sudden rush of
guilt and scariness entered Harold's body. He felt the urged to throw up;
Harold dropped the gun and went over to the corner. The vomit hits the ground
with a wet liquid sound, splashing and forming to a small pool. Harold wiped off
his mouth and got back up, the feeling of guilty had left him and he felt like
he could kill again.
Harold picked up the shotgun again and
walked down the stairs on the other end of the hallway stepping over the dead
bodies that were scattered around it. Harold walked out the greenish blue door
and went into the next hallway. Rows of glass lined the wall; two offices lay
to the sides, filled with desks and bookshelves. A head crap leaped out from a
broken windowpane, it landed in front of Harold's brown loafers. Harold aimed
down the shotgun, and pulled the trigger feeling the anger flowing through his
vines. The top of the small head crap caves in. Harold steps over the dead
alien and walks down to the end of the hall.
Harold
steps out into the lobby of the complex that he worked in. it was empty except
a lone desk that stood in the back of it. Harold looked up to the arched
ceiling, lined with glass. The sound of the glass broken filled the still air.
Harold could see the tan heliplane hovering over the ceiling, ropes hit the
ground and two grunts slide down. Bullets hit the ground, breaking tiles under
Harold's feet. He dives behind the desk; the bullets rattle the wood as they
tear through it. Harold rose up and shot the last two shells that were in the
shotgun and ducked back down. The shots scatter and hit one of the grunts in
the arm, he yells out in pain and runs off into another hallway. The other
grunt walks over ready to kill to Harold. The grunt walks over to the open side
of the desk and aims his gun down. Harold uses the shotgun as a bat, and hits
the grunt in the head. The marine stumbles back form the unsuspected blow and
lets off a couple of shots into the air. Harold grabs the M4A1 assault rifle
out of the grunt's hands; Harold turns it around and unloads the rest of the
clip into the stomach and chest of the grunt. Harold with a new sense of
strength looks over the dead body, he searches around the marine's gear belt.
He founds another magazine of the rifle, and a couple of 40mm grenades, he
pockets the two. The other grunt came out from the hallway, which he was hiding
in. Fire spits from the nozzle of Harold's gun, not evening knowing it. The
grunt stumbles back from the force of the bullets, each hit to his chest his
body rears back. A sinister smile cracks across Harold's winked face, he felt
good for a 46 year old. New blood pump through him, and he once again felt
young. Harold held the gun loose, not tightening up his grip on it. Harold went down the dark hallway, the one
where the grunt was hiding. He walks through the glass doors and walks out in
to the bright light of the sun. Harold scans around the area; nothing was on
the road that leads to the anomouls materials lab.
Harold walked down the hot black asphalt,
dead alien bodies laid scattered across the black top.
A
large sealed tunnel laid in Harold's way; he pushed the keys and the doors
opened slowly. Harold stepped into the dark tunnel not seeing any sign of
danger. Harold's eyes opened wide as he
saw the five dead bodies of the grunts lying there. The smell was strong, and
smelled mostly like cooper. Harold couldn't believe it five tough marines dead
it didn't make sense. What could have done this, what has the power to take
down five grunts with out leaving any blood trails? Pictures of the creature run through his head, something large
and with a tough exoskeleton. Harold steps with cautious just in case the alien
was still lurking around. Harold glances over some of the bodies of the grunts;
they all had strange small puncture wounds, about the size of quarter. " These
look like bullet holes. No scientist or security guard could do this type of
damage. It seems that there was not
just one of these things, but many and maybe not things, but humans." More
thoughts raced around in his head, bouncing back and forth from truth and
fiction. A shot rang out and echoed louder in the tunnel, Harold fall on to his
stomach wrapping his hand around his side. He pulled his hand up to his face
and saw the bright red blood covering his hand. Harold final realized a sniper
had shot him. Harold know that he had to get up, but the searing pain slowed
him down. Harold pushed himself off the ground, a bullet connected with the
ground as he got to his feet. He made it out of the tunnel and reached one of
the many doors that lead into the anomouls materials lab.
The
hallway was dark; no power was running through the lights. John stumbles
around, dragging the assault rifle behind him. Harold disoriented looked behind
him, and saw two glowing red eyes, moving from side to side. They were not
behind him, but up and to the right of him, like some one was walking across
one of the water pipes that run parallel with the walls. The eyes watched him, watched his every
move. Harold saw one of them disappear as something was placed in front of it.
A blast of fire erupted from the barrel of the gun, and in that flash Harold
saw his killer. A man rough 6'2, holding a rifle of some kind in his hands.
Fully dressed in black no part of his body showing any sign of who he is. Harold screamed, screamed because he could
do anything in his power to stop the bullet hitting its target. Harold screamed
again, screamed because he was going to die in a hell like black mesa.
