A/N: So, I'm having trouble deciding what to do with the next chapter. I wrote one with Gordon and Claire hanging out with the rebels. I wanted to show how the rebels felt like one big family, but I'm not sure if that would fit in with the rest of the story. I think i'm going to stick with my current idea, but I'm not 100% sure. Enjoy!

They had been driving for about fifteen minutes. Or was it twenty? Thirty? What difference did it make. Claire had lost count. She wasn't used to the calm. No one shooting at them. No zombies on their tail. She glanced at Gordon, who also looked slightly bored as they drove along.

Claire stared ahead, not really seeing what she was looking at, lost in her own thoughts. They went full speed through yet another dark tunnel. She peered at the road ahead. Something didn't look right…

"Gordon!!" she screamed.

She could see that the road dropped off abruptly, almost not visible from their position because of the angle of the road. Gordon slammed on the brakes, and yanked the steering wheel to the left, trying desperately to stop before they careened off the road. The wheels squealed in protest, and the engine stuttered. Claire clung to whatever she could get a handhold on.

As they neared the cliff, the buggy slowed, skidding along the pavement, Claire's side of the car facing the cliff. The front right wheel edged over the cliff, but the rest of it stopped before the entire thing fell over. Claire let out a breath that she hadn't known she was holding. Gordon put a hand over one of hers. She glanced down and realized how she looked.

One of her hands was clinging to her leather seat, and the other white-knuckled hand was gripping a support pole on the structure of the buggy. Her feet were pressed straight in front of her. Her entire body was trembling with adrenaline. She forced her left hand away from the seat, crescent shaped holes remaining where her fingernails had dug into the leather. She then let go of the pole, and relaxed her legs. Gordon ran a hand over his face, and unbuckled himself. Claire also released her straps and exited out of Gordon's side after him. She limped to the side of the road and sat on a boulder, and put her head in her hands, trying to stop herself from shaking.

She glanced up and saw Gordon taking out the anti-grav gun. He fired it and spun the buggy around. Claire glanced to her left, and saw a semi-steep hill that led off the road and onto the beach..

"We can use that path." she called to him, nodding towards it. He nodded, and climbed into the drivers seat. Claire got up and sat in her seat, and grabbed the gun again.

They drove down the hill and onto the sand. As they passed between two large boulders, antlions began burrowing out of the sand and coming towards them. Claire grinned.

She aimed the gun and fired, a beam of energy bursting out and killing the antlion. This was going to be fun.

She shot five more, and as they climbed up another hill, they saw a house. There was a thumper out front to keep the antlions away. A single Combine soldier came out of the house and fired at them, but Claire quickly silenced him. They didn't bother stopping, and continued down another path back onto the beach.

Claire continued shooting any antlions they saw. As they drove along, she saw a huge wrecked ship half-buried in the sand. When was the last time she had been on a boat? She couldn't remember. Then again, there were a lot of the things she couldn't remember the last time she did. Like eat at a restaurant, take a shower, have a peaceful nights sleep…

She pushed the thoughts away. Focusing on the negative would do nothing for her. She continued shooting. They passed another house, but again didn't stop. They just wanted to get the heck outta there. Another abode came into view, this time with Combine soldiers out in front of it. Gordon gunned it, and hit one soldier who didn't get out of the way fast enough. Claire shot anther one.

They drove for anther few seconds before they saw some docks, now suspended above the beach instead of water. They glanced up and saw a person standing on one, who immediately turned and ran towards some houses. They went up another hill and pulled into a spacious courtyard which all the houses faced.

"Gordon Freeman!" one man called out.

"You guys know you have Combine just down the road?" Claire said.

"Yeah, we're expecting gunships at any moment. Quick, get inside the basement. Colonel Cubbage will be glad to see you made it."

As they exited the vehicle, Claire tentatively put weight on the leg she had injured. It felt fine. They followed the rebel into the basement of the nearest building. The man Claire took to be Cubbage was apparently in the middle of a briefing to a few rebels that were gathered around him, along with a vortagaunt.

"…this steerable rocket launcher, is our best bet for taking down a gunship." Claire noted his heavy but unusual British accent, and the and the fact that he was holding a chunky RPG in his arms. He took notice of them. "Ah, hello! I'll be right with you. Now, where was I..? Ah, yes. Using the laser guide, you can steer the rocket past the gunship's defenses, and prevent it from shooting down your rocket. This will only anger it at first, but, if you can survive long enough to make several direct hits, you'll be rewarded with a prize worthy of any mantle piece."

Claire wanted this gun now. She grinned at her thoughts. No sane person would trust her with a rocket launcher.

"Now, who's going to be the lucky one to carry it into combat?" Cubbage turned towards them. "Ah yes, Gordon Freeman! Couldn't have asked for a finer volunteer!"

Gordon glanced at her, as if to ask permission. She waved her hand forward. He took the rocket launcher, and held it against his shoulder in the ready position to get a feel for it. With a small click, a red laser appeared from it's nose.

"Colonel Odessa Cubbage, at your service!" he said, giving a slight bow.

Suddenly, alarms began to blare, making Claire jump. From outside, she heard someone yell, "Gunship!!"

"Damn." Cubbage muttered. "Let me just send a warning to lighthouse point. Then I'll come right out and lend a hand! Go on! Teach that gunship a lesson it will never forget!"

Gordon and Claire took off upstairs until they reached the second floor of the house. The roof was missing, leaving it open, but providing some cover. Perfect for sniping the gunship. Claire noticed three rockets in one the corner. Gordon stood at the edge of the wall, and Claire stood behind him, and handed him a rocket. He loaded it in, aimed, and shot.

The rocket hit the gunship, making it careen to one side. It turned and fired at them, the bullets making hundreds of thudding sounds as they hit the other side of the wall. Claire handed him another rocket. Gordon shot, but missed. She handed him the last rocket. It hit, but it still didn't seem to have any effect on the gunship.

"I'm going to get more ammo. Wait here." she said, but Gordon grabbed her wrist. "I'll be fine, don't worry. I saw some in the old barn when we pulled in. I'll run fast." he released her wrist, but still looked worried.

Claire bolted down the stairs and back down into the basement. Cubbage was still apparently trying to contact the other rebels. She peered around the corner. The gunship was still firing at Gordon. She took a deep breath. The barn was on the other side of the courtyard. She'd have to be fast.

She sprinted up the slight hill and raced across, running as fast as she could. The gunship seemed to realize that Gordon wasn't going to shoot at it for the moment, and turned instead on Claire. The ground around her coughed up dust as bullets hit it, missing her by mere inches. Just as she was sure she was going to get shot, she burst into the barn, sliding to a stop. Just as she had seen earlier, there were five rockets piled in a corner. She snatched them up, then bolted back out of the barn. The bullets continued to rain down around her. They were getting closer, and Claire was sure she wasn't going to make it back into the house…

She dove, and slid across the dirt floor of the basement. The gunship made an angry noise as she escaped unscathed once again. Not stopping to think about how close she had been to death, she got up, and shot up the two flights of stairs back to the roof. She slammed into the wall behind Gordon and shoved a rocket into his hands. The gunship had apparently forgotten about them for the moment and had taken to firing at the other rebels.

Gordon had to shoot the gunship three more times before it had any visible effect. Smoke finally began to pour from the engine, and one more rocket took it down for good. As it plummeted to the earth, a few small explosions sounded before the grand finale blew it to pieces, which landed in various places around the rebel camp.

Cheers and applause sounded as the rebels emerged from their hiding places. Claire and Gordon looked over at each other, Claire still breathing heavily from her run and Gordon still tense from the fight, and smiled. They thumped down the stairs into the basement again. Cubbage was still bent over his radio.

"Well. That's that." he said, turning to them. "Sorry I couldn't be of more help. The silence at that outpost leads me to believe that it has come under Combine control. You're welcome to stay here until you're rested."

"Thanks." Claire nodded once. "You guys don't happen to have a working sink, do you?"

"First floor bathroom."

Claire left Gordon and went upstairs. She entered the small, rundown bathroom, closed and locked the door, and looked in the cracked mirror. Her eyes widened.

Her face was covered in antlion and zombie blood, along with dust and God knew what else. Underneath the grime she could see that she had dark circles under her eyes from lack of sleep, and her cheekbones stood out, her poor diet evident. She took off her gloves, and ransacked the bathroom until she found an old washcloth in a forgotten corner of a cabinet. She got to work scrubbing her face. After all the grime was gone from her face, she ran her hair under the sink until it too was free of gore, then fluffed it until it was mostly dry. Claire went downstairs to rejoin Gordon and the other rebels.