Chapter 2

Crafting and traveling

"Ok, cool! Wait, I need to call you something don't I?" Wheatley asked him stupidly.

The cow blinked.

"Alright, um… Melvin? Ah, no, you don't look like a Mel... erm… I know! Wheatley Senior!" He paused for dramatic effect but then he realized how stupid that sounded and sighed, "You're right, that's dumb… I know! George! Yeah… George! George the magical cow! Brilliant! Ok, let's get started!" he rubbed his bare hands together and placed them down on the block of crafting wood like he was a general of an army, looking down at a map of the battlefield. He glanced at the now named cow, George, "What do I do?"

The cow leisurely walked to the pile of wooden planks and placed two of them on the bench.

"OK… um…"

Suddenly when the two blocks collide they formed four sticks.

Before Wheatley could scream again the cow placed three planks above two sticks which then formed a pick axe. The cow was soon busy making other tools as the human core watched it, fascinated.

When he was done he remarked, "You are a very smart cow!"

It mooed happily as if he knew it itself.

Then he examined the tools (which were the following: A pickaxe, shovel, hoe, axe, and sword) and memorized how to make them if necessary.

"… Uh, question." He said as he picked up the wooden sword, "When do I need to use this? Is it an oversized toothpick or something? Ah, Nevermind… So, uh…" he picked up the pickaxe, "… I guess I mine with this don't I…" He suggested quickly. He had no idea how he knew about the tool when he's been underground in a facility all his life. Then a thought accrued to him, "Wait… How am I supposed to carry of all this stuff?"

The cow rubbed his head against his waist.

"Wh-whoa… h-h-h-hey! Wha-what are you—?" He looked down at what he thought the animal was supposedly pointing at, which was a belt, "… Ooooohh… ok then… could've just said something… Don't give me that look."

He put the shovel, hoe, axe and sword into the selected slots and smiled broadly, "Well! This isn't so bad!"

The cow who was behind him shaking it head sadly. It knew that this place was a horrible place to be and if Wheatley wasn't careful… he'll be died before the sun sets.

"Alright! So… I guess I have to find a cave to go mining in I suppose… Let's seeeee…. Um." He made a slow circle of the surrounding area, "ok… forest… ocean with little tree islands… plains… Kay, forest sounds good."

Before he could take a step George made scoffing moo at him.

"I-I'm sorry?" He looked at it, confusedly.

The cow gestured its head to the huge tree that Wheatley once took shade in.

"… You want me to cut it down with the axe? Why do I need more wood? Just in case? Well alright, you're the professional, I presume!" He waltzed over to the tree and began chopping it.

Soon enough while he was chopping away his axe broke in the middle of the process so he quickly made a new wooden one and continued. When he was finally done he sighed, contempt. While he walked he took a glance at the tree as the leaves dissolved into no existence. He shuddered as he muttered witchcraft nonsense.

As he took a right turn and up ahead he saw more cows, "EY! Your brethren, George! Uh… he's on the tree…"

Wheatley stared up at one of the cows walking on the tree's leaves.

"…. How did you even get up there…?"

The cow looked at him curiously, then gazed back up and glimpsed around, forgetting he was there.

"… How sweet of him, that cheeky son of a—."

"Mooo…"

"Sorry."

He sighed and kept moving through the forest. As another cow glanced at him he gave it a cheerful greeting and trotted along. Stepping up to a block he saw out of the corner of his eyes something white.

When he got the chance to turn around he the white blob hop onto a tree leaf and onto the top like it was a mountain goat.

"… Blimey… so that's how that get up there…"

He turned and began to walk on. Seeing a tree in his way he simply went around it.

"… How odd a snowy area… hm… I don't think it'll be that smart to go over there," He suggested as he turned left. Continuing to walk on his journey he saw that ahead of him was a beach coming into view. The human core frowned as he began to doubt that he'll ever find a cave.

He continued walking along the coast, dragging his axe along the sand.

Seeing no sign of rock he turned left again towards the forest. Suddenly he jumped as he heard the sound of a bark nearby. A wolf came out of one of the trees and barked excitedly at him.

"Oh, hey there little fella!" Wheatley cooed out as he knelt down to pet the wolf, "You're an adorable wolfie! Yes, you are! Yes you are!"

It started to lick his face.

"Aw! Ok, ok… calm down! I-I said calm down!" the jolly wolf jumped up on him a few times and barked happily.

At this the human core started to get angry. Growling in fury he shoved the wolf away and quickly got up before it could leap onto him again.

Without thinking he did the most dangerous thing he ever done, he pulled out his sword and swung it at the wolf. Luckily it scratched his nose. Either way the wolf soon got furious. It's eyes turned fire red and it's fur bristled. Just then a few more just like him came out and charged at him.

Out of pure terror he screamed and ran for his life, dropping the sword. Trying to think while being chased he leaped into the water and as fast as he could he swam to the little tree islands. It turned out that that wasn't a wise choice, because the islands were more than a mile away from him. Looking back he glimpsed at the wolves gaining on him. He knew soon enough he would be out of breath. Shaking with anxiety he swam faster to the shore line nearby.

Once he finally reached it he ran a beeline to the woods, which, again, was another really bad idea. He circled a tree and almost fell into a pond if he wasn't resilient. Then he saw them: A pack of wolves looking right at him from a clearing very close to him. They saw their leader's red angry eyes and soon their eyes turn and fur did the same as before.

Rapidly he leaped over to pond and landed not perfectly on the other side. Stumbling he ran uphill to the top. Just then there was his dream. He saw a cave. Recklessly and out and sheer glee and sprinted towards the gapping cave with the wolves galloping behind them.

"OH GOD, OH GOD, OH GOD! THEY ARE WORSE THAN BIRDS! WAY WORSE THAN BIRDS!"

Before his mind could process what just happened he landed on the ground and twisted an ankle. Crying out in pain he stumbled and looked up to see that he dropped down from an eight block jump. He shuddered at the pain which then faded when he heard the sound of barking. Getting up as painlessly as he could, he limped off to a tunnel when he heard whining and yelping behind him from the wolves falling from that small cliff.

Breathless he dashed through the tunnel until it split into a fork. Thinking fast he whirled left and hurdle into another tunnel. After a while he heard the barking and growling grow faint and soon they were gone. He came to a dead end and stopped. Shivering he plummeted to the cold stone floor, "Oh God… why the bloody world was sent here to this hell hole…? I know I've sinned badly but is this really necessary? GLaDOS…"

He stopped and sat up as he took in a few more unsteady breathes, "If this is you're doing… you're doing a damn well job of trying to bloody murder me…"

He pulled his wet sandy hair back and tried to clean his glasses, "… ok why the hell do I have glasses…? Oh, I don't even care anymore!"

He put his glasses back on and sighed, "George… where are you when I need you?"

Again he shuddered as he tried to fight faint.

"I hate my life… just shut me off from this nightmare…" he exhaled his last breath and fell into deep sleep.

…. But before he fainted he thought he heard a sound of a moo.