I was woken by the noise of wooden boards splitting. Before I was even fully awake, I was suddenly grabbed by something and rolled over. I was face-to-face with something I had never seen before, or I would be if it had a face. This was not one of those aliens from Black Mesa. This was something new, and I had a feeling was going to be much worse.

It looked like something between a snake and a giant slug. I could not see any eyes, just a mask over where their mouth might have been. It wore what looked like armor, but instead of legs it had a long tail that slithered behind it.

"GET UP!" It yelled, in a voice that sounded like it was being spoken over a crude radio. It seemed to be speaking through a communication device of some kind. I was yanked out of bed and shoved through the now-broken door.

Outside, I could see that a lot had changed. Three shipping crates had been placed into the parking lot. A tall metal leg came down right in front of me. I looked up to see that it belonged to a towering weapon. I could not tell if it was a machine or a living creature, or some twisted hybrid, but it stood on three legs, with a large canon under its "head."

There were a mix of creatures present. More of the slug/snake beings I'd encountered, but there were others who were taller, with mismatched arms.

My captor exited my room and pushed me forward, just in time for one of the taller ones to approach.

"I found this one inside. Take her to processing."

With its larger arm, the taller creature grabbed me by the shoulder and pulled me towards one of the shipping containers.

"MAYA!"

I was able to look to my left to see Otis being dragged away. "MAYA!" He yelled, before being shoved into one of the containers.

I was shoved into a different one. The door slammed behind me. It was pitch black, but I could hear something—breathing, panic, fear. There were other people in here.

"Is someone here?"

I was immediately met with someone shushing me. At that moment, I heard a loud banging on the door. "NO TALKING" A muffled voice said from outside.

I had no idea what was going on. What did I miss?

I took a seat in the corner.

"Maya," a voice whispered. It seemed to be coming from next to me.

"Maya, it's me, Kleiner."

I suddenly heard the noise of machinery. Something slammed into the top of the crate. Then I felt myself being knocked forward as we were apparently lifted.

"Kleiner, what's going on?"

"I'm afraid I don't have a clear answer for you," Kleiner replied. "It seems that the portal storms have attracted attention from… elsewhere."

The two of us sat in there in silence, waiting for an unknown future. We had no idea where we were going, or what was going to happen when we arrived. At one point, the door suddenly opened, letting in a wave of blinding light. By that point we were in the dark so long my eyes hurt. I could just barely make out some figure stepping in, and grabbed Kleiner.

"Hey, what is this? What are you doing?"

I stood up, in what was undoubtedly a vain attempt to save him. I staggered forward, unable to see much more than a blur, only to feel myself shoved back against the wall. Kleiner was dragged out, and the door slammed shut once more. I was alone, despite the crowd.

I heard something bang against the ceiling before the noise of engines started up again.

"Where are we going?" I muttered.

"No idea," another person whispered from nearby. I couldn't see them, but another voice was a small comfort.

"What happened?"

"You mean… you don't know?"

"I don't know. I was woken this morning by some… alien… thing breaking down the door and dragging me in here."

"They've taken over," another passenger said. "We tried to fight back but they wiped us out."

"Who?"

"They call themselves the Combine."

"Showed up out of nowhere. Only took seven hours before an unconditional surrender."

"They've been breaking up every group they can find. Families, friends, co-workers."

"They probably see it as a way of breaking us," another person said.

So that was it. All of sudden we were now under the control of an alien superpower. This… Combine… and there was nothing we could do. At least, that's how it felt at the time. Hopeless, cold. And here we were stuck in shipping containers with no idea where we were going.

Time seemed meaningless in that crate, before the door finally swung open. "EVERYBODY OUT!" A voice shouted from outside. I stood up, the bright sunlight hurting my eyes. I stumbled forward, through the door, and felt myself shoved forward.

As my eyes adjusted, I started to notice that we were standing in the middle of an abandoned factory. The Combine had us lined up, single file, against a large metal door. One of the large soldiers with the mismatched arms stood at the door. Every few minutes I would hear a cold voice yell "NEXT." The door would open, and the person at the front of the line was instructed to enter.

"What are they doing?" The prisoner behind me asked.

"I don't know," I replied. "But I don't like i-"

"SILENCE!"

One of the snake/slug creatures approached me and slammed a baton over my back, knocking me to the ground. I felt several more swings before it finally relented.

"GET UP!" It yelled. I stood, stepping back into the line.

"BACK OF THE LINE!" The soldier yelled. I reluctantly complied.

When I finally got to the front, the guard stopped me with a simple "hold it." I stood for a few minutes, trying to keep calm. I didn't know what was on the other side of that door, but if I wasn't going to get out alive, I might as well die with dignity.

The door opened, the guard yelled "MOVE IT!"

I stepped through the door, wondering what fate awaited me. I felt myself being shoved in again.