HL3

By: John Anthony

Authors note: I hope you enjoy this reworked version of Chapter 1. It's a bit longer with some extra information I thought should be revealed this early in the story. Chapter 2, entitled "In Your Safe Keeping", is coming along very well. Thank you for your comments thus far.

Chapter 1: Reunions

"Sorry to have kept you waiting, Mr. Freeman," a familiar voice rang out, the Gman. To Gordon, it seemed as if only a second had passed since he had seen the Gman walk into that white abyss. Yet Gordon felt refreshed, and the hunger that had pained him earlier was now gone.

"So many offers," the Gman continued. "It took me quite a while to find one to suit your….capabilities. You did well in City 17, Mr. Freeman. Your efforts there will not go unrewarded…I assure you. They cannot wait any longer, it is time."

Gordon's vision slowly became clear. He was sitting in the back seat of a car, a taxicab it seemed. Gordon looked out the window. By looking at the buildings, Gordon guessed he was back in America, if there was still such a place. The city seemed war weary; it looked as if all the buildings had taken damage at one time or another. Pictures of London at the end of World War Two came to mind. How long had it been? Gordon didn't have a clue.

"Here we are, bub," the cab driver said, pulling up to the curb. "483 Laidlaw Street. That'll be seventeen even." Gordon reached into his pocket, noticing his civilian clothes for the first time. Surprisingly, Gordon found the exact amount in his pocket.

As the cab driver turned around in his seat to accept the money, he recoiled in shock. "Sorry, sir. My eyes must be going. It seemed as if you much older when you got in." The driver then accepted the money before leaving Gordon in front of 483 Laidlaw, one of the many squished together houses along the four lane street.

Not knowing what to expect, Gordon went up the small flight of stairs to the door and rang the bell. There was a brief pause before Gordon heard the door being unlocked. As the door opened Gordon saw a familiar face, at least a decade older since the last time Gordon had seen him: Barney Calhoun.

"Jesus," Barney whispered, the cane slipping from his fingers. Gordon lunged forward and caught his friend before Barney could fall.

"Thanks," Barney replied, picking up his cane. "Christ, what the hell happened to you, Gordon? Man, seeing you now…I can't help but believe that those preachers are right. Well, come on in. I've wanted to give you something for a long time now."

---

Gordon took a long drag from the beer as Barney sat across from him at the kitchen table. The alcohol was homebrewed; Gordon figured that any Budweiser brewery on earth was destroyed.

Barney's apartment was a cramped ordeal. Like everything else Gordon had seen, the apartment seemed ill for the lack of a better word. Dirty dished were stacked in the sink while the floors were in need of a good scrubbing. There was a pregnant pause before Barney began to speak.

"Gordon, I don't where you've been or why you've come back. We do the need the help, though. There aren't that many young people left to fight this war." Barney slowly got up and went to the window, staring out onto his small vegetable garden. "Our treaty with the Combine is worthless. They've got all the time in the world….just waiting for us to die off. Won't be long now I guess."

Gordon saw Barney slouch his head, his hands gripping the counter. "Damn, Gordon," he began, his voice soft. "I forgot about Alyx. We found her after the citadel fell, unharmed. I couldn't believe it at the time. She said you had stopped Breen and then…just disappeared. Anyway, she continued to fight for the resistance until she was captured outside City 1. Six months later, when the treaty was signed, she was returned in a prisoner exchange. They had begun to…" Barney stopped mid-sentence, beginning to weep. "Whatever you do, go see her. She's at a hospice with others in her…condition. Room 314. Walk five blocks down the street. Tall beige building, can't miss it."

Gordon got up and shook his friend's hand. "Don't get in any trouble, Gordon. I can't save you ass anymore." Barney sighed, a small smile on his lips. Gordon turned and left the apartment, hoping that Barney would stay safe for what was to come, whatever that may be.

---

Just as Barney described, the hospice wasn't hard to miss. The short walk was uneventful, no scanners, no combine. For a moment, Gordon could immerse himself in this delusional normality. A few civilians passed him on the way, adults in their mid forties; no one was young anymore.

The building seemed to be in a little better shape than the others on the block. It looked newer as well, making Gordon wonder why a new hospice would have been built instead of a hospital or an apartment building. As Gordon walked into the lobby, he noticed a nurse sitting behind a reception desk. The place had an unmistakable feel as somewhere people came to die.

The nurse on duty slightly gazed at Gordon as he approached the elevator banks but did not say anything, returning to her ragged paperback. As the elevator ascended, Gordon could think of only one thing: what had happened to Alyx to make Barney react so badly, a war injury probably. Gordon took a deep breath as the elevators doors opening, making sure his reaction was kept at a minimal.

The third floor reminded Gordon of his college dorm, identical doors spaced thirteen feet apart along a long hall. Gordon stepped up to room 314 and lightly knocked. After a second, he heard a figure walking towards the door.

Another nurse answered the door. "Oh, come in, sir. Mr. Calhoun called and said a friend of Ms. Vance would be coming over today. I didn't think you'd be over so soon. Though Ms. Vance receives many visitors, many arrive late. Just the nature of the world now." Gordon walked into what seemed to be a living room, sparsely used. "Ms. Vance just awoke from her nap; I'll go see if she's ready to have a visitor."

The nurse went though a door on the right, shutting it softly. He could hear the nurse talking in the other room while another person, obviously Alyx, responded in a raspy voice. Gordon noticed a few locally published newspapers on the table. The shoddy quality of the printing allowed Gordon to infer that the media was a sliver of its former self. He noticed the headline on the front page: 'Alyx Vance Speaks at Christmas Mass at The Church of the Saviors'. Just as Gordon was reaching for the newspaper to read the article, the nurse called out "Come in, sir." The bedroom door had been made slightly ajar.

Gordon slowly opened the door. He stood there stunned for a moment, seeing what had happened to Alyx. Though the sheets were pulled up to her neck, Gordon could tell that she was missing her right let at the knee and her left arm at the elbow. Her face was unnaturally pale and thin. Alyx's hair, once glossy and full, had thinned dramatically, allowing Gordon to clearly see her scalp through what was left.

As Gordon saw the pronounced scar on her neck, a memory from Nova Prospect flashed into his mind, a disfigured soldier on a metal table. Gordon sat in a chair next to the bed while the nurse took a seat across from him on the other side of the bed. To Gordon's side hung two IV bags, one saline, the other Gordon didn't recognize, bile colored liquid. On the bedroom's dresser sat the picture Gordon saw in Eli's lab of Alyx as a baby with her parents.

"Open your eyes, Alyx," the nurse asked, sweetly. Alyx eyes slowly fluttered open. Gordon softly smiled as her eyes met his. He anxiously waited for a response.

"Gordon," Alyx whispered. She placed a hand on his face, making sure he was real. "I knew you'd come back…I knew it." She gazed at him for another moment before turning to her nurse. "Rebecca, come close." The nurse leaned in to hear what Alyx had to say.

Rebecca gasped after a moment, having been told who Alyx's visitor was. She continued to listen. Gordon sat patiently, wondering what Alyx was saying.

"Alright," Rebecca said as Alyx finished. "Mr. Freeman," she continued, her voice wavering slightly. "I never thought I'd actually get to meet you. I had never believed the stories." Gordon looked back at Alyx. Alyx just smiled.

"Oh, Rebecca," Alyx began, tears forming in her eyes, "he did all those things I told you." There was a quiet pause before Alyx's face turned into a knowing sadness.

"You're not back because of me," Alyx began, her voice strained from more than her injuries. "You're here to help all of us. Rebecca, leave now with Gordon. Take him to see Dr. Mave. He'll know what to do." Gordon gave Alyx a questioning looking, wondering what she could be talking about.

"Go on," Alyx said, straining to talk loud enough. "I'll be okay. We need you more than ever, Gordon." Gordon nodded, standing up. They shared a silent goodbye before Gordon followed Rebecca out of the small apartment.

"Don't worry, Mr. Freeman," Rebecca assured as she locked the door, "another nurse will be along very soon to take care of Ms. Vance. She's being taken care of very well here, I assure you. Most of our residents opt out for a peaceful end to their lives rather than see the retrovirus transform their body completely. Surprisingly enough, when Ms. Vance came here, there was a large donation from an anonymous donor made on the condition that she be placed in the best of care. We've had Ms. Vance on gene therapy for some time yet it has only slowed the process I'm afraid. It'll only be a few more months until she loses her facial features for good."

Rebecca led Gordon to a different elevator than he had come up in. As Rebecca got in, she swiped a card over a metal plate and pressed for floors 1, 3, and 5. The elevator began to descend more rapidly than Gordon remembered it going up. It passed the first floor, continuing to go faster and faster.

After a few anxious moments, the doors opened, revealing a biological laboratory. Scientists in lab coats manned multiple stations, absorbed intently in their work. "Everyone!" Rebecca called out, stepping out of the elevator. Her voice was aquiver. "Gordon Freeman has returned!"

To be Continued….