Wednesday, 7:08 A.M.- Near Boulder, Colorado
Joe Rainey leaned back in his lounge chair in his small farmhouse and folded his copy of The Denver Post to the sports section. He could hear his wife, Martha, washing the dishes from that morning's breakfast, and the small TV she had in there. It was tuned to channel 13, and instead of the usual morning talk show his wife loved to watch, it was a newsbreak.
"We're interrupting this broadcast to bring you an important newsbreak," the announcer said.
"Aw, heck," Martha said to the TV. Joe's wife never swore, and resorting to mild substitutes for swears meant she was exasperated. "It's never really important, you know. They always say it is, but it never is."
A hubbub of thumps came from the hallway. His eight-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, was running from her room to the front door. "I'm going outside to play, Dad!" she called. Joe simply grunted.
"Our country, it seems," began the news anchor, "has been fighting a war on its own soil for the last day. A force witnesses have reported to be alien has conquered all of New Mexico yesterday. Unable to control the invasion, the government gave the ok to nuke the state."
Joe raised an eyebrow, and flipped through the pages of his paper once again. The newspaper didn't have anything about an "invasion" in it. Of course, newspapers were always a day late in picking up stories.
"…The invasion has apparently been contained," the reporter was saying, "But casualties are high and the cost of damage done is astronomical. If you have any relatives in the state, officials welcome you to contact them to see if your relative is one of the survivors. They urge you not to call if you're asking about friends or acquaintances, as their phones will already be busy with callers."
"Hey! Look, daddy! A turtle!" Elizabeth cried from outside. Joe put his paper down and frowned. A turtle?
"Those who call about friends or acquaintances…"
"Ew! It's an ugly turtle! It's all gray and red…"
"…will be fined considerably. Officials want to…"
"…Hey, another turtle! It's ugly, too. C'mere, daddy! Look at this!"
"…be able to help those with actual relatives among the survivors."
Joe got up from his chair. How could there be two turtles outside? His farm was miles from any habitat he thought turtles might possibly live in, and he was sure…
Outside, Elizabeth began to scream.
Half-Life: Breakthrough