Half-Life: Rewritten Consequences
Chapter One:
"Facing the Consequences", or "What Has To Be Done"
(Author's Notes: This is the first fanfiction I've ever written and is meant as an unofficial continuation/tribute to the original Full-Life Consequences. As such, some characters may [obviously] have their dialogue changed or characteristics altered. This-)
"I believe it is… in my best interest to halt this further exposition. My employers have a keen interest in this proposition and have, well… let's just say they have removed certain 'restrictions' under these unorthodox circumstances. Your 'notes' are no longer needed, Dear Author. I shall...take over from here."
The G-Man adjusted his necktie, and turned to look directly at John Freeman, who appeared to be in a near catatonic state. His body was frozen in place, aside from his head and darting eyes. Freeman looked around the empty, black void he was situated in. He tried to move his arms, then his legs to no avail. When he spotted G-Man staring at him, Freeman almost screamed. Luckily, Freeman kept his composure and thought of what to say to this mysterious, well-dressed person.
"Where the hell am I? What is this place?! Who are you?!"
The G-Man remained silent as he suddenly smiled at Freeman. Freeman became pissed in response. What little movement remained in his limbs caused them to violently shake with anger. Freeman's face also scrunched up as he angrily shouted at the suited figure.
"Where's Henry? What did you do with him?!"
The G-Man kept his smile and silence as he watched Freeman struggle for words.
"ANSWER ME!"
The G-Man decided now was the time to interfere.
"All of your...questions will be answered soon enough, Mister Freeman. You may be wondering as to who and what exactly I am. That is not exactly important at this particular moment in time. What is… important is that you are destined to, as I recall, 'rewrite the mistakes your dear Father has made.'"
John Freeman looked confused.
"What…? What are you talking about?"
"You'll see soon enough, Mister Freeman."
As the G-Man says this, the void around them begins to violently shake, as if inside the Earth's crumbling crust itself. Freeman begins to panic as the void starts to glow a bright white. The G-Man then crumples his hand into a fist, which radiates an electric energy. The G-Man then presses his electric hand into Freeman, causing him to be electrocuted and scream. Freeman then disappears in a bright flash of white. The flash fades, now with only the G-Man present inside the void.
"Let us see if the 'Savior of...Humans' is promising to our benefactors. Oh, yes, I have one last message to share… for those who choose to witness this peculiar phenomena.
Prepare for unforeseen consequences."
The world suddenly flashes a bright white as everything around the G-Man begins to crumble and fall apart…
...John Freeman shot up from his surreal nightmare. He took a few breaths before he fully calmed down. He slowly looked around his cubicle. The rings of telephones and rhythmic tapping of keyboards echoed inside the office. Everyone was working on their usual assignments; some in charge of the Citadel's propaganda, some working on the mundane budget reports. Everything was exactly as it was when Freeman first left for his grand adventure. What was that weird dream? Who was that mysterious man, and what did he want with Freeman's son? Before he could comprehend what the hell the bizarre dream was, Freeman suddenly heard an email being sent. He checked on his computer and, sure enough, there was an email sent to his account. Must be the boss assigning something again. Freeman groaned as he checked it out for himself. Much to his surprise, it was from Gordon Freeman, his brother! John found this odd, as Gordon was recently helping the Resistance. What was he doing emailing his brother at a time like this? He read further along the message.
"Hey, John! I know I don't normally send you emails during important events, but we recently got attacked by the 'aliens' and the Combine. I'm currently trapped in Ravenholm, the one our dad used to tell about. I kinda need your help."
With that, John immediately shut down his computer and ran to the elevator. One of his co-workers stopped him to ask where exactly he was going.
"I need to help my brother."
"Gordon? Isn't he helping out with the Resistance?"
"He was, but now he's trapped in Ravenholm, and I need to rescue him."
"RAVENHOLM?! WOAH!"
Gina Cross, former member of the Black Mesa Science Team and survivor of the Black Mesa Incident, fell out of her chair. She quickly gets up and expresses her concern to John.
"John, that place is dangerous. It is overrun with zombies that can tear you apart in two. You can not go there."
John shyly looked to the side. He had been told about the place ever since he and Gordon were children. He was reminded of how his father barely made it out of the then overrun City 17 and helped make Ravenholm a safe haven for the survivors, only for it to be infested with zombie monstrosities. Gina set her chair back up and sat down in it.
"Besides, I'm sure that Gordon can handle himself. He has that girl, washername?"
"Alyx?"
"See? With her, Ravenholm'll be a breeze."
Suddenly, Colette Green, a friend of Cross, held up her phone from her cubicle. Green had a concerned look on her face as she told the recently received news.
"Uh, guys, I just got word from Alyx. Gordon's gone into Ravenholm. Er, alone, she says."
Everyone turns to look at Green in shock. That was John's cue to go help his brother. He ran for the elevator and pressed the button. As the elevator slowly lowered, Cross walked to John to give him his Resistance outfit. John took it, and smiled at Cross. Cross smiled and gave a thumbs-up.
"Good luck, John."
As John got to the top of the building, he changed into his outfit and got onto his motorcycle.
"It's time for me to live up to my family name. It's time-"
John remembered the dream with the well-dressed man and the haunting phrase he said.
"It's time to face Full Life Consequences."
He drove off the building and did a sick backflip. He landed with a hard thud, thankfully not breaking the motorcycle and his entire skeleton. He drove through the barren city as speedy as he could. Suddenly, a small alarm blared behind him. John groaned. It was the Combine Task Force. And he was so close to Ravenholm, too. He pulled over and waited as one of the Combine Soldiers trudged to his motorcycle.
"License and registration."
John pulled out his Citadel Citizen License as well as his Totally Not Fake Driver's License. The Soldier inspected the items with due scepticism. As the Soldier asked John where exactly he was going, a headcrab suddenly attacked the soldier. John watched in horror as the headcrab possessed the now zombified soldier. The soldier was now running toward John with the intent to kill.
"Sorry, officer, you just reached your expiration date."
John rammed the Combine Zombie with his motorcycle and drove by the entrance of Ravenholm. The sign for the now abandoned site was smeared with blood, presumably from one of the survivors. The blood was arranged to form a warning to those who dared wish to enter.
"ALL HOPE IS LOST HERE."
John got off his motorcycle and stepped into the desolate wasteland. Buildings that were once filled with people were now covered with vines, foliage, and almost to the point of breaking down. The grass had grown up to John's knees, trees sprouted everywhere. It was nature's battleground, thought John. Suddenly, he heard a horrific scream coming from inside Ravenholm. He recognized it as his brother and delved further into the desolate area. After many houses, deactivated traps, and hordes of zombies, he saw Gordon battling what appeared to be a giant Zombie. Upon a second glance, however, this Zombie appeared to be a mutated abomination. Its arms were large and swollen, seemingly bursting with muscle. Its face, if you can even call it that, was open twice as wide as a normal human's. Its mouth was stretched to the side, revealing a large set of sharpened teeth. Its eyelids were open wide, but the eyes were missing, leaving a hollow space. Its body was disgustingly covered in veins and twisted flesh. It had no legs, instead using its long veins as a means of movement. The thing was grabbing Gordon with his "hand," which were multiple human hands fused into one mass. Gordon was trying desperately to break free. Alas, the monster's grip was much tighter than his. John looked for anything to help get Gordon out of this messy situation. He spotted a shotgun on the ground and picked it up. Just before the monstrosity could devour Gordon, John shouted at it.
"Hey, ugly! Over here!"
The creature turned and was immediately blasted in the face with the newly acquired shotgun. The thing roared in pain, its shriek echoing throughout. John raced to Gordon's side and helped him up.
"Hey, y'all right?"
Gordon, due to him being mute, calmly signed to John.
"Yes, I'm fine. Not sure about that thing, though. Whatever it is."
Gordon looked at John's shotgun with delight.
"A shotgun. Nice."
Gordon pulled out his Gravity Gun and pulled a buzzsaw toward him. He signed to John.
"Ready to take this guy on?"
John reloaded his shotgun with a smirk.
"Hell yeah. Let's rock and roll."
The brothers were relentless: John fired his shotgun into the monster's chest, which made it stagger. Gordon launched the buzzsaw at full speed toward the abomination's face, which struck with a hard blow in between its jaw. The monster roared and lunged at John. John dodged the attack and fired another round into its shoulder. A black substance gushed from the wound, which leaked onto the ground with a sizzling sound. Gordon climbed on top of the beast and punched the buzzsaw through the side, spewing much of the same substance onto Gordon. The thing swung its gigantic arm and knocked Gordon to the ground. John gasped.
"Gordon!"
Before the creature could deliver the final blow, a glowing red dot appeared on the thing's chest. Soon, a beeping sound could be heard coming from it. The monster looked at it with a confused demeanor before the device inside it suddenly activated. The monster was blown to shreds. Whatever was left of its head was now a bleeding hunk of flesh. Gordon slowly got up and dusted himself off, now drenched in the odd substance. He signed to John, asking if the whole "exploding thing" was his idea.
"Uhh, sorry, bro, wasn't me. But, you got to admit, that was kinda cool."
Gordon sighed.
"Yes, I have to agree. It was pretty cool. But, who in their right mind-?"
"BY THE BLESSED LORD ABOVE, IF IT ISN'T GORDON FREEMAN!"
A mysterious, balding figure suddenly jumped off a nearby roof in front of Gordon in a three-point landing. The man brushed himself off and laughed. Gordon signed to the man, now with tears in his eyes.
"Father Grigori?"
Grigori laughed triumphantly as he hugged Gordon in his tight grip.
"SO YOU DO REMEMBER, OLD FREEMAN!"
Gordon hugged Grigori back, with his eyes now filled with tears. John titled his head, perplexed.
"You know this guy?"
Grigori stopped hugging Gordon to let him wipe the tears from his eyes. Gordon signed to John, now with most of the tears already left his face.
"John, this is Father Grigori, he's one of the few survivors of Ravenholm. I met him after me and Alyx got separated. He saved my head from becoming zombie chow. Apparently, he knew our dad and even worked with him during the Combine Invasion. My dad would tell stories of how he barely made it out alive, rescuing the brave souls that stepped foot inside-"
Gordon suddenly blushed.
"Sorry, went on a bit of a ramble. Point is, I thought I would never see him again after he was bombarded with a horde of those zombies. Luckily-"
Grigori interrupted Gorden with a triumphant statement.
"I BLASTED THOSE MONSTERS BACK TO THE DEPTHS OF HELL!"
Grigori shook John's hand rapidly.
"YOU MUST BE JOHNATHAN FREEMAN. GORDON HERE TOLD ME SO MUCH ABOUT SOMEONE LIKE YOURSELF."
"Well, uh, nice to meet you, too."
The three of them laughed together. They all quieted down and John then asked how exactly Grigori blew the thing up.
'THAT? OH, THAT WAS A LITTLE THING I LIKE TO CALL…"
Grigori pulled a grenade pin from his pants pocket.
" 'A HOLY MIRACLE.' "
John stared in awe.
"Woah."
Gordon cut the moment short by signing where the nearest exit was.
"FOLLOW ME, I SHALL GUIDE YOU TO FREEDOM."
Eventually, after a long and treacherous journey through the outskirts of Ravenholm, they arrived at what appeared to be an abandoned mine.
"HERE WE ARE. YOUR ONE-WAY TICKET TO SALVATION."
They waved goodbye to Father Grigori as they stepped foot into the mine. John took one last look back as they finally headed out of the wretched place.
To Be Continued...