Gordon climbed up the two flights of stairs. Above he could see a glass panel, behind it the turret that he had deactivated earlier. After easily dispatching a zombie, with a little help from a nearby explosive crate, he ran into a pair of the shockers that were heading down the corridor. *BL-BLAM SHUNK-CHUNK* Gordon cut down one of the shockers and the other one fled. He quickly ran it down and killed it. He reloaded his S.P.A.S. as he walked through a nearby door. After loading in the last shell, he looked up and spotted a security guarding standing near a medstation.

            Gordon recognized him. "Marc, you're still alive!" The guard's name was Marc Laidlaw. They had played a few poker games together with a few other scientists and guards. "Gordon, what the hell are you doing down here? Get top side! I hear troops are coming in to rescue us!"

"I just found out and I'm on my way now. I thought you were dead for sure."

"Nope, I'm still hanging in there. I've had to kill a few of those bullsquids and crabs though."

"A bullsquid? What's a bullsquid?"

"One of those things that shoots acid at you." Gordon nodded, he could never forget those.

"Marc, how about you and I pool our bullets to escape?"

"Sounds great to me. There's a makeshift infirmary up ahead. I'm sure that they'll appreciate some help."

            Gordon grinned holding up his shotgun. "We're all the help they'll ever need." The two friends walked over to the infirmary and were met with the horrible sight of a pair of zombies feasting on the bodies of the remaining scientists. "GOOD GOD!" Marc yelled out as he unholstered his Glock. Gordon wasn't all that pleased either. Rushing ahead, Marc started shooting bullets at the zombies. *POW POW POW* "Open fire Gordon! Open fire!" Just then the ceiling above them collapsed as a group of three headcrabs fell down.

            "Marc, run for cover!" Marc glanced behind him to see Gordon pull the pin on a grenade. Dropping his pistol, he ran back up the stairs, down the hallway, and down a ramp. A few seconds later he heard an explosion. *BBBOOOOOMMM* 'Damn, where the hell did Gordon get grenades?' Walking down the ramp, wiping dust off of his HEV suit, came Gordon. "Where did you get those?!?" "Back near Sector C. Found them behind a locked door." They were interrupted by a crashing sound to their right. Quickly looking, Gordon and Marc saw a bullsquid standing behind a bunch of barrels.

            Without a word, Gordon pushed Marc down and called up his shotgun. The bullsquid spat a glob of saliva at them, missing Gordon by a mile, Marc's head by inches. Gordon ran up to the monster and shot it at point-blank range. *BLAM SHUNK-CHUNK* The creature jumped up into the air the same as the last time he killed one. When it hit the ground, it spun around on its two legs, knocking Gordon off his feet. *BEEP BEEP BEEP* "Warning, major lacerations detected." His HEV suit's voice said.

            He was laying on the ground stunned and the bullsquid, sensing that its prey was injured, walked up to finish the kill. Gordon's vision cleared just in time to see the monster looming over him. All of a sudden the barrel of the S.P.A.S. was sticking down the throat of the bullsquid. "EAT THIS!!!" He squeezed the trigger. *BLAM* The buckshot of the ten gauge shell tore up the creature's internal organs and ripped a hole out its back. Without a sound, the thing fell limp. Gordon pulled his shotgun out of the bullsquid's mouth and wiped it clean of its blood.

            Throughout all of this Marc just stared, his jaw almost touching the ground. When Gordon got up and reloaded his shotgun, Marc found the ability to speak and move again. "What the hell was that!?!" He said as he picked himself off the ground. "What was what?"

"When you last went through the hazard course a few days ago, you came back exhausted. Now you didn't even break a sweat."

"Oh yeah. Heh, it's funny how some people change under different circumstances. Now where's the quickest way up?"

"Well, there is that door near the infirmary, but we can't get through."

"Why not?"

"The last person to go through there locked the door behind him and that was before we got there. About half an hour ago a small group of people went through the freezer to try and find another way around. We haven't heard from them since they left."

Gordon formulated a plan in his head. "Okay, we'll try that route. With what I've got we should be able to take care of anything we come across."

            Marc brushed himself off and picked up a bunch of grenades sitting on a nearby ammo crate while Gordon picked up the shotgun shells lying around. Marc hung the grenades off of his belt and tossed one of the remaining ones to Gordon. *BEEWWSHHZZZ BEWSSHHHZZ* The sound of two aliens teleporting in brought Gordon into 'combat mode'. The two shockers started building up their attack. Marc took cover behind a barrel while Gordon hid behind a crate. *KRAC KRAC* The bolts of green electricity harmlessly flew past them and hit the wall.

            Gordon waited for one of the shockers to walk into his line of sight. He didn't long to wait. *BL-BLAM SHUNK-CHUNK* The first creature hit the ground like a sack of potatoes. Its companion however, stayed but. 'Stubborn bastard, aren't ya?' Gordon turned around and quickly jumped up from his crouch. The other alien spotted at once and began to charge its attack. It wasn't given the opportunity to finish. *BL-BLAM SHUNK-CHUNK* It gurgled in slight surprise, and then quickly died.

            Marc got up from his hiding place and Gordon reloaded the S.P.A.S. "Jesus Christ Gordon! You really HAVE changed!" Gordon ignored him and simply motioned for him to follow. When they got back to center room, Marc was in shock. The only remains of the people and zombies were the blood stains on the floor and walls. Swallowing hard, Marc went to unholster his piece when he felt it missing. "What the-?" Gordon turned to him. "What's wrong?"

            Marc slapped himself in the head. "Ah, dammit. When you told me to run I dropped my pistol."

"Well, where is it then?"

"Uhhh, there, there, over there." He began pointing in random directions. "Let me do the fighting then." Gordon replied, shaking his head. Using his crowbar to tear down the boarded up doorway, Gordon took point with his shotgun. "Marc, didn't you hear any screaming coming from the other scientists?"

"Yeah, but it was only for a few seconds."

"Why didn't you see what was going on then?!"

"A few of the people that came by were pretty banged up and I thought they were the ones screaming because the docs had to fix a broken bone or something."

            Gordon didn't say anything after that. 'It makes sense. After all, it WAS an infirmary.' They rounded the corner and spotted two zombies tearing a pair of dead scientists apart. Gordon quickly dispatched them. "Here's the entrance to the freezer." Marc pulled down the lever and they both entered. The door quickly slammed shut behind them. The sound was close enough to a gun shot to cause Gordon and Marc to turn around. "Man, that's becoming a bad habit." Marc took off his helmet and ran his hand through his blond hair. "AAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!"

            Gordon ran towards the source of the scream, unconsciously reloading his weapon. A scientist, frightened out of his mind, nearly ran straight into him. Gordon saw what the man was running from. *BL-BLAM SHUNK-CHUNK BL-BLAM SHUNK-CHUNK* Marc ran in just in time to see a bullsquid give its death rattle. Gordon looked to where his coworker ran from. "Well, we found out what happened to that team that went looking for another way out." Lying inside were the remains of another scientist and security guard. Both of them had some of their limbs torn off and bones removed. Marc ran into a corner and threw up.

            Gordon, on the other hand, walked up and took what he could. He drained a battery of its power and was about to take the pistol when he remembered that Marc had lost his. He walked over to where Marc was currently wiping his mouth of bile. He looked up at Gordon and saw him stick out the pistol. "Take it. You'll need it. The other guy doesn't anymore." Reluctantly, Marc grabbed it and checked it out. He pulled back the slide and saw an unspent 9mm round pop out. 'At least he went down fighting.'

            Loading a fresh clip, Marc went back to check up on the scientist while Gordon scouted around. Nearby a small pile of crates were torn apart as a bullsquid started spitting at a bunch of headcrabs. He watched from the shadows, laughing to himself. 'These things have really terrible aim.' The smirk left Gordon's face. 'I should be one to talk. Without the HUD, I probably couldn't hit anything either.' Eventually the bullsquid killed the headcrabs and started walking over to feed upon the remains. Moving in a crouch to keep his suit in 'stealth mode', he snuck up behind the bullsquid, aimed, and fired. *BL-BLAM SHUNK-CHUNK*

            The monster was caught off guard and instantly died. Standing up, Gordon reloaded the S.P.A.S. and looked around for any other immediate threat. Although he didn't spot anything that would attack, he did see a lever on the nearby. With a shrug, Gordon flipped it up, not having a clue as to what it did. Above him a cart started moving along its track. 'At least nothing exploded.' Moving his head in a circle, cracking his neck in several places, he searched the freezer. Beyond a few headcrabs that were quickly disposed of, the freezer was empty.

            Gordon walked back to the entrance and rejoined Marc and the other scientist. "Gordon, I'm afraid I've got some bad news." Marc said as soon as Gordon walked into his sight.

"What's wrong?"

"There's no other way out of this freezer. And worse, the door handle is broken on this side. There's no other way to open it. We're trapped in here."

"Ahem."

"Oh yeah, this is Ian."

"Hi, I'm Gordon."

"You work in the Anomalous Materials lab right?"

"Yeah. Or at least I did until the accident."

"What the hell were you people working on down there?"

"We were testing out a new sample that was, unfortunately, extremely unstable. As soon as I pushed it into the analysis port, I inadvertently created a resonance cascade."

"Which is ...?"

"All of this." Ian nodded his head. Gordon looked around the room. 'There has to be another way out of here.' Near the top shelf he spotted a ventilation shaft covering.

"What about the airducts?"

"What are you talking about?" Asked Ian.

"The freezer system. Could we use its airducts to find a way out?" Gordon pointed to the vent. Looking up, Ian and Marc agreed that it's worth a shot. Climbing up a nearby ladder, the trio crawled to the vent. Gordon, in the lead, pried off the cover, followed closely by Marc and Ian. Crawling on the top shelves of the racks of meat, Gordon cleared the way of vent covers and a single headcrab. To soon however, they reached an impasse. "Great, now how are we going to get from here to there?" Ian asked sarcastically. Gordon stuck his head out to look around and nearly had it taken off by the passing crate mover.

            "Hold on, I may have an idea." He waited until the crate passed by again and jumped on it before it could pass. "Son of a bitch." Marc said with a laugh. Gordon sat on the mover, waiting it to return to the other side of the room. 'I wonder what's in these crates?' Using his crowbar to remove the lid of them, he was rewarded with three fully charged batteries. 'Alright, armor's at forty.' Kicking the crates to the floor below, Gordon looked up just in time to see the approaching shaft.

            Timing it just right, he pulled himself in. Turning on his flashlight, he explored in a little bit to make sure nothing would pop out at him. After a few minutes, Ian and Marc were safely across. "I do not ever want to do something like that again!" Ian complained as they crawled through the vents. "Well you may have to if you want to survive this. Who knows, maybe the military's going to run into problems and won't be able to get down here on their own." Marc replied.

"Then I'll just find a nice hole to hide in until they do."

"Are you out of you're mind?!? What about the aliens, hm?"

"As long as I stay with one of you security guards I'll be safe."

"WILL YOU TWO SHUT THE HELL UP!?!?!?!?!" Ian and Marc were taken back by Gordon's sudden out burst. "This situation is bad enough without me having to listen to you two argue on what to do!" With a snort, he continued worming his way through the vents. "Gordon really HAS changed." Marc said to himself. "You... you knew him before this?" "Just a little. We played poker a few times together." They stayed there in silence as they watched Gordon crawl further away. With a start, they quickly caught up with him.

            They eventually came upon a small opening large enough for them to stand up in. "My poor back. I'm going to need to see a chiropractor when I get out of here. I'm just too old for all this running around." Ian pushed his hands on his back, popping it in several places. "Gordon, what are those ropes hanging everywhere?" Marc asked, pointing to them. "Those aren't ropes Marc." "Then what are they?" Gordon walked up to one and looked up. "Just as I thought. It's a barnacle."

"A what?"

"That's what I call them. These 'ropes' are really their tongue. When something walks by, they grab him and pull him up to their mouth. It's got a lot of sharp teeth in there. Watch." *BLAM SHUNK-CHUNK* Gordon stepped out of the way just in time to avoid getting hit by a stream of blood. Ian's face turned pale as he watched the creature die. Marc stepped over to where Gordon was and looked up. "Eh, now I know you mean."

"There are a few more around here. You take some while I get the rest?"

"Sure, why not?" *POW POW BLAM POW SHUNK POW CHUNK BLAM POW POW POW SHUNK-CHUNK POW*

"Got 'em all. How about you Marc?"

"They're all dead. And I found some stuff for you as well." Marc tossed Gordon a box of shells and a HEV battery. "Thanks a lot."

"Gordon, Marc, I've found the way out." Ian called from above their heads. "Good, hang on a sec, we'll be right there." The three men were crawling on their bellies once again, though for not as long as before. Light filtered though a vent covering up ahead, so he turned the flashlight off. Gordon knocked the cover off, only to see a security guard's death gasp at the feet of one of his superiors. "Sir, I can't take much more of this..." He then expired.

            'Ah, dammit.' Gordon thought. "AAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!" Jumping out of the vent, he looked to his left and saw another scientist run through a nearby door. The zombie he was running from followed, hot on his heels. *BL-BLAM SHUNK-CHUNK* The attached headcrab was blown off and the headless corpse fell to the ground. He heard Marc and Ian hit the ground behind him. "Where the hell is the military?" Ian asked as he looked around. "Hey, don't count on the cavalry finding us down here, head to the surface!" The newly encountered security replied.

"How do get to there from here?"

"Elevators are out of order -"

"That's just perfect! We're trapped down here now."

"- but we can still climb."

"Hey Marc, check this out." Gordon called to his friend. "What is it?" Gordon simply motion to the room beyond the door. "DAMMIT! We went through that freezer all for nothing!"

"Not necessarily. If we didn't, then Ian would be dead right now."

"I suppose you're right. Listen, Gordon, I'm just going to wait down here and keep this area secure. With these grenades, I'd have a pretty good chance. And if worse comes to worse and I'm about to be killed, I'll just pull a pin and take some those alien bastards out with me."

"Alright. What about Ian?"

"He's already made his choice clear. See you later." Gordon shook his friend's hand, both knowing that this was probably the last time they ever saw each other.

"Good luck Marc."

"Good luck to the both of us." Nodding, Gordon jogged off. After climbing up two flights and rounding a corner, the elevator shaft was straight ahead of him. All of a sudden, one of his fellow scientists's jumped through a window, rolling as he hit the floor. "Ah, you have one the new HEV suits. That'll be most useful." He said as he ran by Gordon. "Uhhh, why?" *CRASH* He turned around to see a zombie fall through a walkway up above him and another one break through a brick wall.

            'Man, these things are strong!' Running right up to them, he aimed his shotgun and fired. *BL-BLAM SHUNK-CHUNK BL-BLAM SHUNK-CHUNK* Gordon caught the last one as it raised its arms to attack. Its momentum, added by the double shotgun blast, sent it down the nearby elevator shaft. Ahead he could see a ladder leading upward. Realizing that it was the only way forward, Gordon walked back to the hallway entrance and prepped himself for his second life-threatening jump. 'How I wish I had a long jump module.'

            Having his suit absorb the S.P.A.S, he cleared his mind and raced forward. The adrenaline raised his speed, adding to the rush. He was at the edge. He leapt. For a split second, Gordon thought that he would fall, but then his hands firmly grasped the rungs. He pulled himself up, the adrenaline giving him strength that he didn't know he had. Physical Education was never his forte in M.I.T, as his main strength was his mind.

            Gordon couldn't help but smile at that thought. 'A whole lot of good that PhD does me now.' He remembered that the collage's jocks (if they could be called that) used to tease him about not having the brawn to match his brains. 'I'd like to see just one of them try and do what I'm doing right now.' Climbing the ladder and walking along the narrow maintenance holds, Gordon made his way to the elevator trapped above him. "I... I can't hold on, much longer."

            He looked up to see another one of his coworkers dangling on a ladder that was fixated on the elevator. "Hold on Just a little bit longer, I'm coming to help!" He called out. Gordon went faster, alas not fast enough. The scientist lost his grip and feel to the bottom of the shaft. "AAAAHHHHHHH-" He bowed his head. 'That does it. If I have any say in this matter, no one else is going to die. I will get those Marines down here and get us the hell out.'

            Gordon soon reached the top landing. Directly ahead of him was the ladder that lead to freedom. Jumping to it without a second thought, he climbed on top of the elevator, popped off the vent cover, and dropped in. Turning on his flashlight, he saw the elevator door was still intact. Gordon took out his shotgun and pressed the open door button.