Cheating Death

Sickening cracks filled the air as a slack body hit the bottom.

Chell pulled herself up; every single muscle in her body was bruised and aching but luckily, nothing seemed to be broken. Reaching down with limp arms, she carefully picked up Wheatley and examined him.

"Are you okay?" He asked her, concerned. "Thanks for holding me by the way, that probably saved my life, coming to think about - Wait! Cara-Mia!"

Chell whirled around, her grey eyes scanning the dark ground. Almost instantly, she spotted her sister laying motionless on the ground. Carefully setting Wheatley down, she kneeled beside Cara-Mia and tapped her on the shoulder.

Nothing.

Swallowing, Chell slapped her gently round the cheeks, searching hopefully for a reaction.

Still, nothing.

Chell gripped at her wrist, desperate for a pulse.

Nothing.

Chell blinked back tears as she shook her sister by the shoulders, but nothing happened, no response came.

She sat back, staring hopelessly at Cara-Mia's body. It couldn't be happening. Not after everything they'd been through. She hadn't even been able to tell her that they were sisters.

"Is- is she okay?" Wheatley mumbled quietly. Chell shook her head.

Standing up, she picked up a stone and looked at it pitifully. She'd lost someone again. Nothing ever went right. Anger filled her and she hurled the stone away from her. She listened as it clattered to the floor.

"Hey, um, so," Wheatley began uncomfortably. "What exactly is wrong with her- what I mean to say is... Is she alive?"

Chell shook her head again, sinking to the floor.

"I- I could try to help," Wheatley offered feebly. Chell ignored him as she tried to stop the tears from falling down her face. "I have this shock system we could use."

Chell turned and glared at him. Could he not shut up for one second?

"I- I'm sorry," Wheatley added, taken aback by her expression. "I was only trying to help."

Chell's glare softened as she watched his optic lower to the ground submissively. Poor Wheatley... She reached across and pulled him into a hug, her shoulders shaking as she sobbed silently.

"It's okay," Wheatley comforted pathetically. "Um... There is something I can do, as discussed earlier. So don't worry! I can still fix it."

Chell looked trustingly into Wheatley's optic and placed him on top of Cara-Mia's body.

"Okay, you might want to stand back a bit," Wheatley warned. "Just a precaution. It is actually quite dangerous."

Chell stepped back, her eyes shining with hope.

"Here we go..."

ZZZTT.

Cara-Mia's body jerked upwards as electricity jolted through her, but fell back to the floor limply. Chell rushed over to her sister, and put her head to her chest, searching for a heart beat.

Silence.

Chell waited desperately, but no no avail. And then-

Thump.

A sigh of relief escaped her lips and she sat up, waiting expectantly.

"What's going on? Did it work?" Wheatley asked. Chell nodded and tucked him cozily under her arm.

Air filled Cara-Mia's lungs and she coughed violently, struggling to sit up. Her watering eyes flickered open and she gave a groan of pain as she tried to move her limbs.

"Hey! Yes, it did work! I did it! I actually saved someone's life!" Wheatley cried, ecstatic.

"Thank you, so much," Cara-Mia reached for her two friends and hugged them both speechlessly.

Chell smiled, holding out a hand for her sister. Helping her up, they took in their surroundings. They were in a damp, stony corridor. A rickety staircase led upwards on one side, but a large pile of rocks and rubble blocked off the passage; the only way was down.

Wheatley turned on his flashlight, grumbling quietly to himself; "Why didn't I think of that before?"

He lit up the dark passage that lay ahead. Water dropped from stalactites on the rough cieling, hitting the flooded floor with loud splashes. The end of the rocky tunnel was swallowed up by darkness even Wheatley's bright flashlight couldn't light up.

Chell wandered cautiously down the passage, her footsteps echoing as her long fall boots hit the stony floor.

Wheatley's flashlight slowly revealed a small vault door at the end of the corridor, not unlike one Chell had seen before. Where had she seen that?

It gave a loud groan and a screech as she turned the rusty wheel on the door carefully.

Struggling to push it open, she was surprised at how heavy and thick the door was. She'd thought that before too... But where?

Her train of thoughts were cut off as Wheatley's flashlight illuminated the room behind. Chell cringed back in fear as she saw familiar, bright-white panels shining back at her behind thick layers of grime, hanging from the walls loosely.

She was back at Aperture.