Chapter 14 – Disorientation
The group was speechless. So many answers were provided to them in the last hour. The Portal device that Chell held in her hand had proved to be extremely useful and world-changing. Gordon had wanted to ask more questions, but another problem arose.
A loud explosion was heard outside of the ship. Gordon and Alyx ran outside the door to the control room to see what the problem was. The ice wall they had created to keep the iced antlions away had a hole in it. Gordon could see Combine soldiers through the ice and knew that they were breaking through the wall. Gordon ran back to the room.
"We gotta get out of here, NOW!" he said. The group did not argue anything having to do with that. They quickly gathered up their things and Alyx ran over to Mossman to help her up. Gordon and Adrian picked up their SMGs and Chell readied her Portal gun.
"I'm ready too." said Mossman. Her whole body was being supported by Alyx because she could not feel the left side of it.
"Are you sure Judith?" Gordon asked.
"I'm right handed. I can still fire a gun." She said as she pulled a 9mm pistol out of her right pocket. Alyx helped her cock it and she pulled out her own gun.
"Let's go!" Adrian announced. And not a moment too soon. As soon as the group exited onto the deck of the ship, another explosion was heard that was coupled with the yelling of the muffled voices of the Combine soldiers. They swarmed the ice cavern. Gordon counted about 30 soldiers, 15 of them being Overwatch Elites. They had their work cut out for them. They began to fire. Adrian counted about 4 that he got down. Gordon shot down 6, three of them Elites. Alyx and Mossman together got down only 3 soldiers. Chell was the all-star of the bunch. She fired indiscriminately at the soldiers. The Portal gun dispatched about 13 soldiers to the void that the canceling portals sent them to. The group of rebels kept firing at the attacking soldier. They shot at what they saw, and soon they realized that there were more than just 30 soldiers. They kept piling in from the tunnel. When Alyx ran out of magazine clips, she realized what needed to be done.
"There are way too many of them! We need to get out of here!" she yelled "Chell, we need your help over here."
"I realize that that I can help, but if I open a portal with the Combine here we risk them using it and taking the Portal gun." Chell replied. Gordon formulated a plan quickly.
"We need to destroy the ship!" he said. "If the ship is destroyed, the Combine will most likely believe that the project was destroyed as well." The group agreed with the plan and figured out their roles in it. When all their guns ran out of ammo, they were to run to the boiler room. Once there, Gordon and Adrian were to toss a few grenades there. This hopefully would cause a large enough explosion to destroy the ship and kill some of the Combine. Before the explosion, Chell would open a portal leading to the White Forest base for the group to travel through. They were all clear on the plan and just about a minute after they finished discussing it, both Gordon and Adrian's gun's clicked empty.
They all bolted for the stairs at the stern of the ship that led to the boiler room. Chell lead the group and they quickly ran down the stairs. The Combine were still recovering from the assault and were minutes behind. When the group reached the boiler room, they enacted the plan.
"Open the Portal!" Gordon yelled. He and Adrian took all the grenades they had and pulled all the pins before throwing them towards the main boilers. Meanwhile, Alyx helped Chell locate White Forest on the hologram map from the portal gun. After the portal was opened a hole was suddenly blown through the ceiling. A Combine hunter stood on the deck of the ship looking at the group through the hole. They wasted no time as the Hunter lashed out with its sharp claws several times. They all jumped through the portal that had opened on the wall. They all fell through the portal and reemerged in the control room of White Forest. The grenades detonated and engulfed the Hunter in a fiery blaze just before Chell closed the portal so no one would be hurt. Gordon looked around. Dr. Kliener, Magnusson, and Barney stood in the control room staring at the group that had fallen through the portal that had manifested on the wall. Two Vortigaunts ran into the room, Lo-gen and Rezlan. They had arrived there after the battle with the Striders.
"Dr. Mossman!" Kliener yelled. Gordon, Adrian, Alyx, and Chell looked over at Dr. Mossman who still lay on the ground. They noticed two holes on the back of her jacket. The same holes that appeared on Alyx's jacket after the Hunter attacked her now had appeared on Mossman's back. The Hunter had connected with one attack. Gordon turned Mossman around and held her in his arms on the floor.
"Gordon…" she said.
"It's okay Judith. Everything's gonna be fine. We'll get Lo-Gen and Rezlan to help you." he said.
"No, Gordon…My time has come…" she replied. "I will join Eli…in the next life." Alyx had informed her of Eli's death while they were on the Borealis.
"No, Judith, you'll be okay." replied Alyx. "The Vortigaunts can save you."
"No." she said. "I have lived…a full life. Now is my time…" With that, she took her last breath, and so ended the life of Dr. Judith Mossman. Alyx leaned on Gordon with tears running down her face. Gordon sat speechless next to Mossman, comforting Alyx. Judith was buried next to Eli Vance deep in the White Forest the next morning.