Gordon pressed the button on the elevator. The doors shut and he began his upward journey towards the surface. Checking his ammunition, he was confidant that he would be able to survive whatever was above him. Gordon heard the elevator ping and the doors opened up. As he stepped out, he saw a scientist being pulled up into the rafters above.

            Gordon's mind immediately began to develop the "If I had been quicker..." scenario, but he quickly shook it out. 'I can't develop a guilt complex. That won't help anybody.' Looking around Gordon saw an employee lounge to his right. Realizing that it was a logical place to head if there was any trouble, he tried to open the doors.

            'Damn. Locked.' Inside, Gordon heard footsteps and the sound of something breaking through the ceiling. Peering through the grating on the door, he managed to catch a glimpse of someone being pulled up. Trying the doors again and reaching the same results as before, Gordon turned around to find a way forward.

            Further down the hall, Gordon saw a small group of headcrabs moving towards him. 'Not more of these things.' He got his Glock ready but before he could open fire, an exposed wire sent out a bolt of electricity, frying the nearest crab. "Shit!" Gordon took a step back as the cycle repeated itself. The crabs continued, oblivious to the danger.

            Each one got zapped by an arc of electricity, acting like an intense heat source blowing the headcrabs apart. After the final one was dead, Gordon cautiously moved forward. When he was within one foot of the wire, a bolt destroyed a section of the floor tiling in front of him. With the direct path ahead blocked, he had to find a different way.

            Looking around, Gordon saw a small ventilation shaft covering at his feet. Taking out his crowbar, he pried the cover off and managed to work himself into the shaft. 'Boy is it cramped in here.' Gordon thought. 'I've barely got enough room to move.' The shaft split off to his right and left. He took the right path since it lead to where the lounge was.

            The shaft was dark and Gordon's body blocked most of the light. He activated his suit's flashlight, the area around the inverted y lighting up, sending forth a steady beam. Using his arms and legs, Gordon wormed his way through the shaft. After a few minutes of crawling, he found the shaft cover to the lounge.

            Gordon managed to punch it out, and he exited the shaft above a pair of vending machines. Swinging his legs around, he jumped off of the machines, turned off the flashlight, and scanned the room. The first thing that caught Gordon's eye was the extended tongue of a barnacle. 'I hate these things.' Taking out his Glock, he aimed up at the body of the creature and fired.

            *POW POW POW POW* After four shots, the creature retracted its tongue and regurgitated its last meal. "UUUHHHH!!!!" The sound of someone moaning at the gunshots brought Gordon's attention to the other end of the room. He ran over to a man he recognized as Dr. Niles, the man who showed him around on his arrival to Black Mesa.

            "Doctor! I'm glad to see that I'm not the only scientist who is still alive." Dr. Niles looked relieved as Gordon stepped from the shadows. "Gordon. If I had known it was you, I would've let you in. Everyone's heading for the surface, but they're crazy, not to stay put. Someone's bound to come by and rescue us." "Yeah, well just in case, I'm going to get help. But your idea is good, so just stay here."

            Gordon saw the door leading to the power controls. Opening it up, he pulled the lever and shut off the power for that are. As he was leaving, he was ambushed by another barnacle that was promptly dispatched. 'Those things are pretty easy to kill.' Gordon opened the lock and entered the hall again.

            Gordon jogged down the hall, not even pausing when he reached the formerly live wire. The door at the other end was jammed shut, so he shattered the window next to it, his suit protecting him from the glass. Gordon saw a window to his right, smashed and bloody. He couldn't see any signs of blood on this side, so he assumed that the person was alright.

            Walking forward, Gordon saw that the room on the other side of the window was full of water. A ceiling light dangled from above, the distance between it and the water small enough to create a bridge of electricity making the water dangerous. 'I should find another way.' To Gordon's left were a set of doors and a hallway leading further down.

            He tried the doors first, finding them locked. 'That way's out.' Gordon looked down the other hallway to see the way blocked by stacks of boxes. Sighing, he took the crowbar back out and set to work smashing the boxes. Ten minutes and one headcrab later, the floor was littered with wood boards.

            Gordon worked his shoulder around in its socket for a minute. 'My arm's starting to get sore. I'm going to have to take a rest sooner or later.' He walked down the hall and saw something that made his eyes light up. Lying in an open box rested a shotgun with a box of ammo next to it. 'YES!'

            Gordon put the crowbar away and lifted the shotgun up, examining it. 'Franchie S.P.A.S. 12. The rear part of it folds up, and it looks like someone put four shells in it.' His HUD showed that it held eight of them. He spotted a button above a second trigger. 'This thing can fire two at once!' Gordon dumped the box of shells into the slot in his suit so that it absorbed them.

            As he was taking the shells out of the foldable stock and putting them in his suit, Gordon heard a noise to his left. A security guard stood behind a locked gate, unaware of the zombie that was coming out of the room behind him. "LOOK OUT!" The guard whipped around, his hand immediately going to his gun.

            The guard brought his Glock up to his eye and aimed at what was the creature's head. *POW POW POW POW POW POW* The zombie shook in place before collapsing. Gordon let out a breath of relief. "Whoa, that was close." The guard said. He walked over to the latch and opened the door.

            The door caught the zombie's body and pushed it into the wall. The grating virtually destroyed the body. 'Eeewwww.' Gordon thought was he walked over. The guard made his own comment. "WHAT is that smell?" "I'm guessing what's left of that." Gordon took the shells that were in the crate that the guard was standing next to, then investigated the back room.

            Gordon saw that it was cramped back here, this place meant to be but a temporary shelter. More importantly however, he spotted another box of shells, as well as a clip for his handgun. 'This is great! I've got tons of ammo now!' Gordon heard the shattering of metal above him and turned around just in time to be hit by a headcrab.

            "AAAHHH!" Gordon knocked the thing away with his gun. "TAKE THIS!" He aimed his shotgun down at the headcrab. *BLAM* He felt his arms jerk back slightly, the recoil less than he expected. The headcrab's body was gone, the ten gauge shell utterly destroyed it. Gordon remembered that a shotgun didn't reload itself and had to be pumped. *SHUNK-CHUNK*

            He took out a single shell and inserted it into the tube. After using a nearby medical kit's resources to heal what little damage the headcrab did, Gordon walked back outside. "Sir." The guard said as he walked by. He nodded and walked away. After Gordon had walked back to the junction, he saw a closet to his right that he had missed.

            'Damn, locked.' He thought as he tried to open the door. Shards of wood flew from the door as a zombie tried to impale Gordon who backed up just in time. He could hear the zombie walk around in the small area, taking out its frustration on whatever it could. Gordon stood there, ready for the zombie when it came out.

            After destroying a metal rack, the zombie attacked the door again, destroying it with two swipes. Gordon grinned as he aimed the S.P.A.S. at the thing's head. "See ya." *BLAM* But to his surprise, the zombie was still alive. 'Shit.' *SHUNK-CHUNK BLAM SHUNK-CHUNK* Finally, it fell down dead.

            "Whew." Gordon took a quick look in the closet and took the two clips lying on the shelf. 'The only place left to go is in that room.' Walking to it, he looked through the broken window again. He spotted a headcrab sitting on a table on the other side of the room. Gordon took out his pistol, and killed it. *POW POW* The force of the 9mm bullets flipped it over on its back.

            Gordon climbed through the window onto a table that was conveniently on the other side. Jumping from table to table, he reached the light switch and turned the lights off. With the electrical current gone, Gordon jumped in the water and turned on his flashlight. Using his crowbar, he opened up the nearby ventilation shaft. As soon as he climbed in, he was attacked by a headcrab.

            Gordon immediately backed out to get some room. Taking out the shotgun, he proceeded to blast the crab. *BLAM SHUNK-CHUNK* He climbed back in, and killed two more headcrabs. *BLAM SHUNK-CHUNK BLAM SHUNK-CHUNK* Gordon waited another second before crawling onward. After a minute, he heard a fan whirling close by. Looking around a corner, he saw that part of the shaft had broken open.

            'I'd better be careful, or I'll lose my head.' Gordon went forward, always looking for another monster. *SPLURCH* He looked up to see the remains of a headcrab fly off of the fan. Another crab fell down only to meet the same fate as the first one. Laughing, Gordon went on. He didn't have too much further to crawl before he fell through the ceiling.

            "OOFFF!" Gordon landed on his chest, knocking the wind out of him. After resting a moment, he got back up and looked around. 'Huh, figures.' He was on the other side of the doors that he couldn't open before. Walking over, Gordon undid the lock and pushed them open. Shaking his head, he walked down the other end of the hallway.

            After Gordon had only walked about twelve feet, the ceiling ahead of him collapsed and a trio of headcrabs came with it. Switching to his Glock, they were quickly dispatched. *POW POW POW POW POW POW POW POW* 'I'm getting quite good at killing.' Gordon thought, with slight reservations. He tried the door at the other end to find it locked as well. Looking around, he saw a ladder extend from above the ceiling to just below it.

            Gordon walked over, jumped, and tried to grab onto it. 'Damn, it's just out of my reach.' He looked around for anything that he could use and immediately spotted the two metal boxes. The smaller box Gordon could just pickup, but he could barely move the larger box. Looking up, he climbed onto the boxes and up the ladder.

            Ducking, Gordon moved into the crawl space and popped out the shaft cover to his left. He poked his head through and spotted a headcrab in front of him. He pulled his head back up, turned around, and backed down into the space below him. Gordon immediately shot the headcrab. *POW POW POW POW CLICK* He ejected the empty magazine and replaced it.

            Gordon heard the sound of someone screaming behind him. Whirling around, he spotted a fellow scientist running from a headcrab. *WHEOOO* Gordon heard one of Black Mesa's automated turret's come to life. 'It's a good thing that they're still working.' *DATDATDATDATDATDATDATDATDAT* He watched in horror as the turret fired upon the scientist who only had enough time to scream once before dying.

            Gordon punched the vent wall in frustration. 'Damn! The defenses are screwed up as well!' *DATDATDATDATDAT* He watched as the weapon killed the headcrab before going into standby mode. *BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP* Gordon looked through the shaft to look for any possible cover from the turret. Sure enough, to his right was a metal crate.

            Gordon kicked off the cover and made a dash for the protection of the crate. *WHEEEE DATDATDATDAT* The turret locked onto him and started firing off its ammo. The bullets hit the space where Gordon had been a mere moment ago, ricocheting of the floor. He made it to the protection of the metal crate, the bullets having no effect.

            Gordon looked to the hall to his right. Without a thought, he made a dash for it, only to be forced back when he felt a bullet come right through a wooden crate and hit his arm. "AUUGHHH! GOD DAMMIT!" Gordon leaned back onto the metal crate. Still clutching at his arm, he craned his neck around the corner, risking his life to see if there was anyway to disable the out of control turret.

            'Shit, I won't be able to reach the shut off switch.' Gordon thought. He began to look through his weapons categories for something to use. 'Crowbar, yeah right. Pistol, can't touch it. Shotgun, too far away.' It finally hit Gordon. 'Duh, my grenades. I forgot all about them.' Putting his pistol away, he took out a single grenade.

            Gordon saw a doorway in front of him. 'No choice. If I stay, the explosion will kill me.' Pain forgotten, he turned around and quickly looked above him. His mind clear, Gordon pulled the pin on the grenade, tossed it at the turret, and made for the doorway like a bat out of hell. *WHEEE DATDATDATDATDAT*

            Gordon ignored the pain his arm gave from moving it, running faster than he thought he could. He reached the doorway and leaped behind the wall to his right. *BOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMM* Gordon felt the shockwave hit his body, sending him flying against the opposite wall. It was too much for him to take. He passed out.

            Gordon slowly opened his eyes, wondering at first if he was still alive. The fresh pain from his arm wound confirmed that. "Ahhh shit, how long has it been?" Head pounding, he climbed to his feet and looked around. Gordon was in a storage room, in front of him a S.P.A.S. was laying in an open crate along with a box of shells. Stumbling over, he took the box and emptied the shotgun of its shells.

            Gordon took out his own shotgun and reloaded it, remembering the zombie from before. He walked out of the room and looked at the destruction that he had caused. The room was in utter shambles, the walls barely holding together. Gordon was stunned at the state the room was in. "Holy shit." He let out a breath that felt like he had been holding forever. Calmly, he walked down the hall to his left.

            As soon as Gordon rounded the corner, he spotted a group of headcrabs standing in his way. Although he was still somewhat dazed from the explosion, he aimed his shotgun and fired. *BLAM SHUNK-CHUNK BLAM SHUNK-CHUNK BLAM SHUNK-CHUNK* A headcrab that had been sitting on top of a nearby crate leaped at Gordon. *SCRE BLAM SHUNK-CHUNK* There wasn't anything left to hit the floor. He aimed the S.P.A.S. at the last crab and squeezed the trigger. *BLAM SHUNK-CHUNK*

            The smoking shell casing hit the floor and the room was silent once again. Gordon breathed slowly and started reloading the gun. Looking around to see if there was any other threat, he walked onward. While he was climbing a flight of nearby stairs, Gordon heard the sound of a weapon being fired. *POW POW POW POW POW* Urging his aching legs faster, he reached the top of the stairs and saw another security guard shooting at a small group of headcrabs.

            The guard shot the last crab dead when Gordon walked up to him. "Hey, do mind helping me out? I'm not in the best traveling condition." The guard saw that he wasn't kidding. "Yeah, we might stand a better chance if we team up." He nodded. "Thanks." With Gordon in the lead, he and the security guard walked down the small hallway.

            After a few moments, the ceiling above Gordon collapsed and two headcrabs attacked them. *POW BLAM POW SHUNK-CHUNK POW* His HEV suits' voice sounded an alarm. "Warning, blood loss detected." Gordon ignored the computer and pressed on. "UUUHHHHH!" He heard someone moan to his right. Quickly looking, he saw, through a window, a scientist run over and turn off the lights in the room.

            Gordon and the guard continued down the hall and a few moments later, ran into more aliens. He recognized them as more of the creatures that he killed a while ago. *POW POW POW* The guard opened fire on the only visible creature. Gordon aimed the shotgun at its head and squeezed the trigger. *BLAM* Against his expectations, he didn't kill the thing. He did however, wound it bad enough for it to run away. *KKRAACC*

            The sound of another of the creatures building up a charge brought Gordon's attention to his left. He immediately saw it, aimed at its head, and fired. *CLICK* His eyes widened in horror as Gordon remembered that he forgot to pump it. *SHUNK-CHUNK* It was too little, to late however. The creature released its charge and he was hit.

            Gordon fell to the ground in agony, the electricity causing him to spasm. He could see the monster running over to his body. 'This is it. I'm going to die.' He shut his eyes and waited for the end. *POW POW POW POW POW POW POW POW POW POW* Gordon opened his eyes and saw the thing fall down, bullet holes marking its body. He forced himself to get up and drive on.

            He picked up his S.P.A.S. from where he had dropped it. *POW POW POW* Gordon heard the guard kill the creature that he had shot before. The guard reloaded his Glock and looked at one of the things. "Huh, that'll look nice in my trophy room." Gordon didn't have any comment on that. As he reloaded his shotgun, he remembered that scientist from before.

            'We should go and help him.' Gordon motioned for the guard to follow him. Walking down the hall, they kept their eyes open for any sign of aliens. Gordon heard some gurgling to his left, just around the corner. He motioned for the guard to stop and be quiet. The guard didn't respond but instead just got his gun ready. Gordon put his back to wall, waiting for another sound.

            He didn't have to wait to long, as the creature continued to gurgle. He whirled around the corner, using the heel of his foot as a pivot. Gordon thumbed the button for the second barrel as he came face to face with the monster. *BL-BLAM SHUNK-CHUNK* The shotgun kicked up slightly from the force of two shells being fired, but it was worth it.

            The monster's head had been taken clean off, and it collapsed in a heap on the floor. *CRASH* Gordon looked to his right to see another one standing over a shattered window. It started building up electricity for its attack, but he was too quick for it. He whirled back around the corner as it fired, the electricity harmlessly hitting the wall.

            Gordon nodded to the guard, an unspoken message traveling between them. He switched the S.P.A.S. back to single shot and kneeled on the ground as the guard aimed at where the creature was going to show. Gordon's guess was correct as the monster came through the doorway. *BLAM POW POW POW SHUNK POW CHUNK*

            The alien didn't know what hit him. It flipped on its back, letting out a death gargle. "Yeah, bring it on!" The guard shouted at their victory. Gordon smiled, feeling like he hadn't done that in a million years. As he was reloading his shotgun however, he got a big surprise. *POW POW* Gordon looked up to see another one standing in another doorway further down the hall.

            The guard continued firing, the creature standing there in a sort of surprised way. Gordon took advantage of that, using it to get close enough to do serious damage. *BLAM SHUNK-CHUNK* It collapsed on the ground, blood pouring out of the numerous holes in its body. They reloaded their weapons and continued.

            Gordon was the first to see another monster in the hall. Using the same strategy as before, he lured it out to where he and the security guard would ambush it. Once again, Gordon wasn't disappointed. *POW POW BLAM POW SHUNK POW CHUNK POW POW* The creature fell forward and sprawled on the floor.

            Gordon cautiously looked through the doorway, relieved when he didn't spot any moving threats. 'That barnacle will be easily taken out.' He walked up to it, pointed his shotgun at its body, and squeezed the trigger. *BLAM SHUNK-CHUNK* Gordon watched as hit dry heaved, throwing up little more than bile. He walked into the room and looked around.

            Gordon ran over to the window on the other side of the room and turned on the lights. Turning around, he spotted a large medkit lying on the table, immediately draining it of what little resources it had. "Are you okay? Most people are heading to the surface for help." Gordon asked the scientist standing behind him. "I'm not so sure if I want to go to the surface. What if the world finds out what we were doing do here?"

            Gordon didn't have an answer for that. "Well, I'm not sure. But we need to stay alive, so come with us." The scientist could see his wisdom in that. "Fine, you won't even know I'm here." Gordon nodded and walked off with the scientist and security guard following him. They walked through the halls a little carelessly, confidant that they had cleared out all of the aliens.

            As soon as they stepped into the employee lounge, the group was ambush by a few headcrabs. *POW POW BLAM SHUNK-CHUNK* "AAAHHHHHH!!!!" While Gordon and the guard killed the crabs, the scientist ran away. *POW POW POW* Gordon ran off to find his fellow scientist. He didn't have to look too far, as the scientist was simply hiding in the nearby office.

            As they rejoined the security guard, Gordon spotted a maintenance sign. "Hey, hold on a sec. I'm going to check that out." Standing on a couch, he pulled off the cover in the ceiling and climbed up the ladder he found. When Gordon reached the top, he immediately grabbed the shotgun ammo he found up there. *WHHEEEEEE* The sound of a turret starting up got his attention.

            Looking around quickly, Gordon spotted the emergency shutoff switch. He flipped it to the off position and the turret promptly retreated back into the ceiling. 'At least I can still turn them off.' Gordon climbed back down the ladder and rejoined his other two partners, who had started a conversation. "Are you sure this is the right way out?" The guard asked. "Positively." The scientist responded.

            "Okay, let's go." Gordon told them as he hopped off the ladder. He took the lead, with the guard following closely. They rounded the corner and stumbled upon a pair of aliens. Gordon hit the floor and aimed at the closest one. *BL-BLAM SHUNK-CHUNK* The monster took it in the chest and went down. *POW POW POW* The guard was firing at the second alien when it started charging.

            *KKRRAAACCC* Gordon aimed his shotgun at it and fired at the last moment. *BLAM SHUNK-CHUNK* The alien was blown backwards, its blood splattering the wall behind it. Gordon got off the ground and was reloaded when he thought of something. 'I don't remember putting it on double. How did I just shoot two at once?' As soon as he thought he already knew the answer. 'It's becoming like second nature to me, killing. I wonder how long this will go on?'

            Slightly disturbed, Gordon noticed the soda machine he was standing next. Suddenly he felt VERY thirsty. Pressing the button, he picked up and opened the can and started drinking. The cool liquid splashed Gordon's parched throat, relieving the dryness. He noticed his health go up by one on the HUD, but he didn't care too much about that.

            'Aaahhhhh.' Gordon wiped off his mouth and continued on, almost walking right into the tongue of a barnacle. Cursing himself for being reckless, he got out the Glock and shot it to death. *POW POW POW POW CLICK* Gordon reloaded his clip and was walking up the stairs when he heard a voice.

            "I just over heard a secure access transmission. Soldiers have arrived and they're coming to rescue us. Of course, I have my doubts that we'll live long enough to greet them." A scientist who had been hiding behind a trash can told them. Gordon was relieved. "Great, now all I have to do is find them and then I can get out this hell hole."

            He turned to his two companions. "Stay here, you can help protect each other." They both nodded. "See you later." Switching to his shotgun, Gordon climbed up the stairs alone. When he had reached the top, he was ambushed by a pack of headcrabs. *SCREE* Three of them jumped him at once. Gordon managed to blast one of them with the S.P.A.S, but the other two hit him in the head.

            "Ughh..." He was knocked backward and fell down the stairs. *BEEP BEEP BEEP* Gordon's suit sounded an alarm. "Warning, vital signs dropping. Seek medical attention." He could barely hear his body crash at the base of the stairs or the sound of the guard shooting his gun. "Let me through, I'm a doctor!" The scientist who been hiding rushed over.

            Gordon felt himself being pushed on his back. "Here, let me help you that." The other scientist came over as well. He kneeled on the ground and looked over Gordon's wounds. 'I wonder how he's been able to stand this much pain? The HEV suit only injects morphine in the case of a major bone fracture.' Working with his colleague, they attended to his injuries.

            Gordon's mind drifted, he remembered his first day at MIT. Somehow, he managed to smile through the pain. He remembered how Dr. Kleiner had greeted him. "Good morning Mr. Freeman. I hope you're ready for a whole new world." Gordon didn't think that knowledge would've ever led to this type of thing.

            He shook the haze from his mind and opened his eyes. He looked up at the scientists who were working on him. Gordon tried to get up, but they restrained him. "Hold still, this won't hurt a bit." One of them said, as he injected Gordon. He felt a slight prick through the suit, but nothing more. "Thanks." He managed to spit out.

            Gordon picked himself off the floor. He spotted his shotgun lying on the ground next to him. Picking it up, he walked over to the medstation and drained it of its resources. Taking a deep breath, Gordon reloaded his shotgun and picked up right where he had left off.

Yeash, sorry about this chapter taking so long, I've been distracted. Thanks for all the great reviews though! One request however. Can anyone send me (e-mail) what it says on the inside of the Half-life box? I threw mine out a long time ago. Ciao!