Disclaimer: Sadly I own nothing of the Half-Life franchise. That belongs to Valve. Any original characters belong to me.
A/N: Alright, I'm starting to get familiar with the format of this site. Also, the Seven Hour War will be featured in later chapters, after I "set up" the story. So without further a due, let's continue…
July 1st, 2012 10:30a.m.
San Diego, California
We drove East down the freeway towards Yuma. Traffic was scarce. It was your typical Sunday. We sat in silence for most of the ride, with the occasional cough or sniffle. I switched lanes and took the overpass that led towards Yuma.
"So how much longer is this going to take?" Geoff asked.
I looked at Mitch.
"Oh!... Uh… about another hour I think." He said.
I took the exit from the freeway onto your cliché deserted desert road when the gas light flickered to life with a ding.
"Ah shit. I forgot to get gas in San Diego… Whatever. There's a gas station up here I think."
We drove for another ten minutes before I saw that gas station. I pulled in and drove up next to the pump.
"Mitch, will you just fill it up? I have to go in and pay." I asked.
"Sure thing man." He said as he got out of the car.
I walked over to the building and opened the door. It was small… very small… and dark.
"Hello?" I said.
Nothing…
It was weird. It was like something straight out one of those horror movies where the lone guy walks into the abandoned, run down store. I was half-expecting something to jump out at me. I pulled the Beretta from my waistband and started walking up and down the isles, making sure it was clear. The last spot I checked was the counter. No one was there. The entire store was empty. I activated the gas pump, grabbed a bag of Doritos and some water, and left the store.
"That's weird." I said "The store's abandoned."
"Huh." Mitch replied, seemingly uninterested.
"Hey, where's Geoff?" I asked.
Mitch pointed towards the road, and I saw Geoff standing there scoping the desert, hand on his brow to shield his eyes from the sun.
"I'll be right back." I said to Mitch.
I walked behind the gas station and looked around. Nothing much. An old rusted tool shed, some old tires, a few cinder blocks, an old toolbox, and a couple chairs. I walked over to the tool shed and looked at the door. A padlock held it securely shut. I looked around and finally found a screwdriver in the toolbox. As I began to jimmy the padlock open, a man comes running, screaming from behind the tool shed.
It stood like a man, but it had a large creature on its head, its stomach was torn open, ribcage showing, and it had large claws for hands.
"What the fuck!!!" I said and stumbled backwards
Unfortunately there was a cinder block in my way and I tripped and fell to the ground with a thud. The thing raised one of its claws, moaned a loud terrible moan, and was about to rip me apart when three loud gunshots rang out.
It happened in a split second: Three gunshots, the creatures head exploded, and it fell to the ground. I looked up to see Geoff standing there with the Glock at his side.
"What the fuck was that!?" He screamed.
"I have no fucking clue." I screamed back.
It was then that Mitch came running around the corner, his Sig drawn.
"What happened?" He said.
"Fuck if I know!" I said and pointed to the dead 'Zombie' on the ground.
"What the hell is that thing?" He asked.
"How the fuck should I know? I was trying to see what was in that shed," I said as I pointed to the tool shed. "And it just ran up on me from nowhere!"
I got up, brushed myself off, and went back to the Hummer.
"Let's get the hell out of here." I said.
I was just about to start the car when a military convoy flew by. Two Humvees, Two Jeeps, One huge semi truck with a flatbed trailer carrying military hardware, another semi with a regular trailer, two more Jeeps, and two more Humvees. They were going fast enough to leave a huge dust trail, which I was surprised we hadn't seen earlier.
"Hurry up guys, I wanna follow them." I said.
I put the car in gear and floored it to catch up. We followed them for another twenty minutes when the lead Hummers slammed on their brakes and swerved off the road. The rest of the convoy soon did the same thing.
As the last truck pulled off the road, I saw Yuma. It was devastating. Buildings were on fire, some completely gone. Smoke was rising in great black plumes above the city. Cars were lining the streets, abandoned, some were running. There were bodies, lots of bodies, in the streets. More of those Zombies, and some other things I'd never seen before were running amuck in the streets. Marines were running in squads on the streets, shooting at the unearthly creatures.
I pulled off the road next to the Military convoy and looked at the guys. Their faces were that of utter shock. Geoff couldn't stop staring at the city - Nor could Mitch. We got out and began walking towards the soldiers, when a huge explosion rocked the ground. It was insane. The noise from the blast was deafening. We looked back to see what had happened, and to our surprise, a building had exploded.
After my ears stopped ringing, I ran up to a soldier who was unpacking some communications gear to ask what was going on.
"Corporal Michael Slater, sir." I said saluting him, and showing him my ID.
Highly informal, but I felt it was necessary .
"At ease, Corporal. Why aren't you in uniform?" He said.
"I'm not part of this platoon, sir. Do you mind explaining what is going on?" I said.
"Corporal, you need to leave. Get back in your car and turn around." He said to me.
"What the hell is going on?" I asked
"Corporal, I said you need to leave. Get back in your car, turn around, and get as fucking far away from here as you can." He practically screamed at me.
"Listen, Capitan Evans," I said with a pause as I looked at the name on his uniform. "We have a friend trapped in that city, and we're not leaving without him. I'm sure you, a fellow Marine, can respect that. Now, you can either brief us on what is going on, or not. Either way we're going into that city." I said as I violently shoved a finger in the direction of Yuma.
"Listen Corporal, with all due respect, you're friend is probably dead by now. However I can see you're not going to back down, so here's the situation. At least as much as I can officially tell you. There was an incident in the New Mexican desert a few hours ago. That containment of that incident has failed, and it has now spread to other parts of the Midwest. I can't tell you what is in that city for the simple reason that I don't know myself, but what I can tell you is those Marines you see running around down there are on orders to shoot ANY living thing on site. Apart from other Marines of course; and since you're not in uniform, they won't distinguish you from a civilian. If you are serious about going into that city, then you need to stay out of sight, or you will be shot dead." He said.
"Listen, I'm not really supposed to do this," He said, looking around. "But since you are a Marine, I feel obligated."
He ran into the large semi-truck and came back out with a large, elongated box. The entire time, he was nervously looking around.
He walked past me and towards my Humvee, where he opened the back hatch, laid the case down, and opened it.
"M14 DMR; Designated Marksman's Rifle." He said, assembling all the pieces. "Do you know how to use one of these Corporal?" He asked.
Ironically, I happened to be in Scout Sniper training with the Marines.
"Yes, the M14 DMR, shoots a 7.62, effective up to a mile." I said as I took the rifle from him, locked the bolt open, slammed a magazine in the receiver, and slammed the bolt forward, with a smack.
He pulled out a small cylinder, as well as a medium sized box.
"This is the suppressor. I trust you know how to attach it." He said pointing to the cylinder.
"This is one hundred rounds of ammo. Ten magazines. Should be plenty." He said.
"This is greatly appreciated, Capitan." I said.
"No problem," He replied. "Just keep low and out of sight."
He did an about face and ran back to his communications gear. I swiftly disassembled the rifle, put everything back in the case, closed the hatch, and got in the drivers seat.
"Did you guys catch our conversation before he gave me the rifle?" I asked
"Yeah" Mitch replied.
"Good, then I trust I don't need to repeat anything." I said as I started the truck, put it into gear, and drove off towards the city.
A/N: That's all for now. There will definitely be more to come. Sorry for the long wait, I got insanely busy with school. As always, constructive criticism is highly welcomed.