Disclaimer: I don't own Half-Life.
Welcome to City 17
Chapter Thirteen: "Follow Freeman!"
The doors opened up into a slightly less bleak corridor, helped immeasurably by the windows at the end allowing the sunlight to stream through, albeit filtered by filth and grime on the surface. There was a doorway at the far end where a rebel waited for him, his goatee beard a suspicious approximation of Gordon's.
"Doctor Freeman! Barney said you were on the way."
His ears perked up at hearing a familiar name. "Where is he?"
"We got split up by snipers. He's pinned down in a warehouse up ahead. He was going for a cache of grenades, but I doubt he can get to them now."
He let out a thoughtful 'Mmm', wandering past the rebel and into the room beyond. Another window gave a view of a street that stretched out into the distance. The buildings themselves presented enough stairwells and outcropping walls that he would be able to use as cover.
"Which building?"
"Far left, just before the Combine gate. The door should be open from when Barney and I went in."
He nodded. Sounded reasonable enough. As reasonable as being shot at by snipers could be.
"Are you coming?" Gordon asked, apprehensive.
"With snipers out there? Hell, no. Sorry doc, but one person has more chance of going unnoticed than two, you know what I mean?"
Trying to hide how pleased he was by this behind a neutral expression, Gordon just nodded. He went to the door, stopped, took a breath, and stormed through, charging for an old car that had been left askew in the street. No gunfire so far.
Lying on his front, Gordon surveyed the street from the beneath the vehicle. Further up the street, diagonally across from him was a stairwell going underground to the entrance of a building. Like that sitcom about a bar Barney had shown him.
He hoped his friend wasn't dead.
He charged again, sprinting madly and trying to accommodate for the Gravity Gun bouncing against the back of his thighs. This time a bullet shot out, hitting the wall behind where his head would have been a moment earlier had he not dived for cover. Gordon looked at the hole, and glanced up the street.
Part of the wall quite a bit up the street from him jutted out like a chimney. It was almost parallel to the open door that would take him up to Barney.
With a shrug that only he would ever know about, Gordon started running, putting his arm up in front of his head. Hopefully the HEV suit would absorb most of the impact. Although he had his doubts about how much more it could take; he had taken a lot of punishment back at the generator.
Those depressing thoughts were wiped from his mind as the bullet hit him in the belly, tossing him backwards and rolling along the road, kicking up a surprising amount of dust as he went. The pain was ludicrous, reminding him of the bullets from a gunship.
Trying his best to blank it out, Gordon rolled over and to his feet, doing a strange mix of a sprint and a stumble to his new piece of cover. Once he was there he pressed his back to the wall, gasping for breath and relief from the pain. The HEV suit was dealing with it quite cheerfully, which made him feel a little better.
Gordon looked at the doorway opposite, unable to see much of anything inside. Just shadows and murky blue light coming from somewhere inside. It always seemed to be murky light with him. Gordon wanted once, just once, to have some bright, clear indoor lighting.
He waited for the pain to subside just a little before dashing out and then back again. The sniper fired, and then Gordon ran, the two events almost simultaneous. He leapt once he was close enough, skidding and rolling into the darkened building. Another gunshot rang out, far too late.
He activated the flashlight to better see what was ahead of him. An empty warehouse, just as promised. Some doors on the far side of the room probably led to a stairwell. Gordon went through and walked up, becoming more and more wary of enemy fire as the walls seemed to disappear, making way for the open air.
Eventually he reached the top, although he was fairly certain it wasn't always that way when the building was complete. Opening the doors and stepping through the now fairly obsolete doorway, Gordon took in the obstacle course ahead of him.
The entire top of the building had been stripped away, leaving only the bare skeleton. Debris from whatever had struck the building lay all across the floor in front of him, providing plenty of cover. Peeking around the open door that swung next him, Gordon could see buildings covering his left and straight ahead of him. Blackened windows galore for snipers to hide in.
Gordon cautiously got down to his hands and feet, crawling along the floor and moving to what remained of the wall. It provided a rim of sorts that ran to the other side of the building, and hopefully would keep him safe. As he went, he saw zombies and headcrabs laying dead on the other side of the room, blood plastered to the wall from where the snipers had used them as target practice.
He reached the halfway point and saw a doorway leading up to the skeletal floor above. Directly in the line of sniper fire. Also in their line of sight was a green crate with a grenade label plastered on the front.
That would be the grenade cache.
"Over here!"
The voice made him duck his head, and he looked around rather frantically.
"Up, Gordon, up!"
Looking skywards, he saw Barney, squatting on a ledge looking down at him.
"I can't move, these snipers got me pinned down!"
A gunshot rang out to punctuate the point, chipping away at the decaying chunk of wall Barney was clumped behind.
"Gordon, take out these snipers, would ya?"
Gordon blinked. "Uh, right. Take out snipers, sure. Easy."
"Gordon? Grenades?"
The condescending tone prickled Gordon a little bit, and he scowled. "Where am I supposed to throw them, Barney?"
"Look for the blue lasers."
He took a moment to think about it. After Ravenholm, he had spotted blue lasers coming from snipers in bridges above him. He hadn't seen them while he was running for the building, but on the other hand, he wasn't really concentrating on finding them.
"Oh. Blue lasers, right…"
Barney's sigh just spurred him on, although he struggled to see how he would reach the grenade cache without being shot. A lot.
His foot clanked against a toppled metal filing cabinet. Gordon shoved it away irritably before looking back to the green box with a spark in his eye. He swung the Gravity Gun around and pulled the cabinet to him, then turned to face the snipers. Well, most of them, anyway. He couldn't be sure if he was covering himself from all of them.
The bullets yanked the cabinet from the Gravity Gun's grip, and it took some fancy controlling of the device to grab it before he was too exposed. Eventually he was backed up to the cache, and he grabbed as many as he could tuck under one arm, which ended up being about four.
"Are there more than four?"
"More than f- how the hell should I know, Gordon? I've got cramp in my legs, I've been hiding here for so long! Just throw a few grenades, that'll flush 'em out!"
Gordon moved back to the other side of the room and peered over the rim. He spotted one of the blue lasers in a window and ducked back down again. It was only then that Gordon remembered he had a terrible throwing arm, and even with the best luck in the world he wouldn't be able to reach the other side of the street.
Once more, the Gravity Gun made him smile. He placed it in front of the Gravity Gun, pulled the pin, and then spun around, standing at the same time. Gordon fired it directly into the window before hiding back down again. It took only a few seconds for it to explode.
Finding the others wasn't difficult, just time consuming. Once he found the lasers, he had to hide and gradually crawl to a spot the sniper wasn't concentrating on so he could fire the grenade unmolested.
As it turned out, there were three. Two on his side of the building, and a third behind Barney. Gordon didn't mention this fact when Barney came down the stairs, looking more than a little weary.
"All right, thanks Gordon," he breathed. That said, he smiled. "Good to see ya, by the way."
"You too."
"How's it goin'?"
"Oh, you know, the usual for me. Killing soldiers, fighting aliens. Calling women 'bitch', apparently."
Barney grinned, seemingly uncontrollably. "You heard about that, huh?"
"Yes," he said quietly. "Thank you for that."
A friendly clap on the arm was the only response he got before Barney nodded to the open wall behind Gordon. "Let's clear out of here."
Barney ran to a ledge on the other side of the building and promptly hopped over it, giving Gordon a terrifying jolt as he pursued. Reaching the ledge, he found Barney stood pretty much just in front of him, standing on the wreckage of the building, spilling out of the floors beneath them like an overstuffed closet.
He followed him down to the street below, which stretched off to the right and was blocked on the left by a Combine barrier. Barney went to the control booth beside the barrier and began tapping away on the keyboard.
"Let me get this gate. My Civil Protection status still gives me clearance."
Gordon nodded and looked up and down the street.
"Did you hear a cat just now?"
Turning back, Gordon saw Barney scanning the area, particularly the floor.
"What?"
"A cat. Y'know, whiskers, claws… meow?"
"Uh, no. No cat."
Looking thoroughly unconvinced, Barney cast an unsure look around the street before returning to the console.
"Damn thing haunts me…" he muttered, before a green light blinked on atop the gate, and the doors roared open.
With a nod of his head, Barney led the way, which Gordon found quite refreshing after having an entire squad looking to him for answers. Looking to him… and all of them dead. And now Alyx was with them. Who knew what was happening to her right now?
He followed Barney through a doorway and into the cramped lobby of an apartment building.
"Watch the headhumpers, Gordon!"
"The-"
Gunfire interrupted him, and he dove to the ground, watching a headcrab explode in a cloud of green blood, the remains flopping to the floor beside him.
"Gotta be more careful, Gordon."
Feeling like an amateur, Gordon nodded, unable to catch his breath. He needed to stop thinking about what had happened. Get over it, push forward.
"Yeah. Yeah, you're right…" he murmured, pushing himself to his feet and yanking the crowbar from his side. "Let's go."
Barney smiled as they started walking. "You still got that, huh?"
Gordon did a little swing with the crowbar. "I like it. Doesn't run out of ammunition."
"Yeah, well, don't go losin' it. I held onto that for twenty years."
The thought of Barney being twenty years older than him blocked out any response he might have had.
Barney watched him carefully, head tilting to the side. "You okay, Gordon?"
"Fine," he said a little too quickly, his pace quickening as they came to a doorway leading into a grassy courtyard between buildings. Barney grabbed his arm and yanked him back, pointing to some doors opposite.
A red light flashed, coming from a black device attached to the door handle. As Gordon watched, the flashing became quicker, accompanied by a beep each time. Finally, the light and the beep were almost continuous.
Then the doors exploded off their hinges, and five soldiers burst through.
Barney opened fire, ducking behind the other side of the doorway. Frustrated as he watched his friend amid all the violence, Gordon jammed the crowbar away. He risked a quick glance out into the courtyard and spotted a Hopper.
He grabbed the Gravity Gun and yanked the Hopper to him, drawing a cautious look from Barney. Gordon fired it into the soldiers, hitting the second one from the right. Soldiers on either side of him were flung in opposite directions while the soldier himself was blown apart.
Barney whooped and laughed, and Gordon looked at him. He was laughing at this? Like it was fun? Gordon could admit that he had the occasional grim humour moment, but this… Barney looked like he was out for a day at the park.
The two remaining soldiers scrambled to their feet and re-opened fire. Hidden away from the gunfire, Barney winked at Gordon from the other side of the doorway.
"Any other tricks?"
Gordon shrugged. "I'm all out."
More gunfire erupted, and at first Gordon thought that more soldiers were joining the fight. But then, just as quickly, the shooting stopped.
All he got from Barney was a shrug, so Gordon inched his way towards the edge of the doorway.
"Anyone here?" a gruff voice sounded out.
It was a rebel. Three rebels, to be exact. A greying man with a thin beard who looked about a decade older than Barney, a small girl with sandy hair barely contained by her wool hat, and a young medic built like a tank and with about as much personality in his features.
Barney emerged before Gordon did, smiling. "Hey, Doberman. Good to see ya."
The older man returned the smile. "Barney. We were told you were pinned down by snipers…"
He spotted Gordon as he finished the sentence, the words dying in his throat. Doberman and the girl glanced at Barney, who just nodded with a satisfied smile. They promptly rushed over to him, Doberman with his hand thrust out in front of him.
"Gordon Freeman. It's an honour to meet you in person."
"Right, um… you too," Gordon said, his whole body rippling from the vigorous handshake before he finally managed to wrest his hand free.
The girl was grinning inanely. "Did you know my mom?"
"I'm…" he glanced to Barney before looking back to the girl. "I'm sorry?"
"My mom. She was at Black Mesa. She said she met you."
"Oh. What's her name?"
"Diane Carver? I'm Amanda, by the way." Her hand jabbed out and hit him in the chest. The look on her face made it seem as if she had just accidentally shot him.
"Oh God, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do that-"
"That's okay, really-"
"But you're Gordon Freeman, and I just hit you in the chest-"
"It's fine, it's-"
Doberman finally had mercy on him and put a steadying hand on Amanda's shoulder. "Don't worry, Amanda. I don't think your hand hurt him. He's got that fancy suit to protect him."
This elicited a snort from tank-medic, but it seemed as if Gordon was the only one who noticed.
She nodded, blinked, and then asked Gordon again. "So did you know my mom?"
Gordon was a bit taken aback. He had met some disturbed people over the past few days of his life, but this was the first crazy person who was supposed to be on his side. He thought about some of the faces from Black Mesa. He thought of Father Grigori. Then he looked at Amanda's mousey features, big eyes blinking up at him innocently.
Actually, Amanda was remarkably sane.
"Um… Diane Carver, you said?"
"Uh-huh."
"I, uh… don't think…" he looked to Barney unsurely, who shook his head as quickly and discreetly as he could, eyes wide.
Gordon whipped his head back to Amanda. "Yes, Diane, of course. She was great."
The tremendous grin that broke over Amanda's face confirmed he had made the right choice. "I knew it! She told me every night that she knew you, that you worked together. She said you were coming back to save us, she said so!"
"Well…" he forced his arms out to either side of him. "…here I am."
She let out a little squeal of delight, looking up to Doberman for support. He just smiled kindly and nodded.
Barney walked over to him, (finally) breaking up the introductions. He hooked a thumb over his shoulder, pointing to tank-medic. "That's Chuck."
Chuck grunted and nodded. Gordon did the same, minus the grunt.
"Okay, introductions over, let's get on with it. I'm guessin' you guys have got a route?"
Doberman nodded. "It's a bad route, but we've got one."
For whatever reason, this elicited a smirk from Barney. "Not inspirin' me with confidence here, Doberman."
He spoke exclusively to Gordon next, everyone else seemingly up to speed on what was to come.
"There's an old building up ahead, a bank or museum or somethin' like that. Whatever the hell it used to be, now it's a Nexus for Overwatch in City 17. It's the main source of pain for this part of town, thanks to a huge suppression device that's rainin' down hell from the roof of that place. Now before we move on to the big push, it's our job to get in there and shut that thing down however we can. Got it?"
Gordon walked to the one of the Combine bodies and picked up his pulse rifle. He had been distracted before. He had allowed himself to get sidetracked, to linger on what had happened to Tess and Greg and Simon and Dave and Alyx and all the others.
Everyone else was suffering losses. Every minute of every day, as long as this went on, as long as the Combine remained. But the survivors got over it. They moved on. Just as they'd been doing for the past twenty years.
He nodded, resolute. "Got it."
Barney smiled. "Now that's the Gordon Freeman I've been talking about for the last twenty years."
Doberman led the way through the corridors of the building, stepping over the dead Combine soldiers left by Doberman's squad. They passed a few fallen rebels in solemn silence.
They eventually ascended up some stairs leading to a corridor, large windows revealing an expansive courtyard area in front of them. Four grassy areas were separated by a crossroads of footpaths. A decoration, something nice to look at for the visitors going to the… bank, museum… as Barney implied, it was difficult to tell. It was certainly grandiose.
Crouching down beneath the window, Barney peered over the top, gesturing with a nod of his head for Gordon to join him.
"There it is; the Overwatch Nexus."
Flying troop transports dropped off a disheartening amount of soldiers. They split off like fireworks, heading for the nearby buildings and bunkers dotted around the place.
"Looks like they're mobilising big time," he murmured distractedly before talking to Gordon again. "You can sorta see the gate from here, I'll show you when we get to street level. We'll have to get in that building to open the gate. Even then, the suppression device will, uh…" he paused, then shrugged with a smile, "…suppress anyone coming through unless we shut it down."
Gordon nodded his understanding, and Barney looked to the new squad. "Okay, everybody, take five before we move out."
Amanda was sat on the stairs, distracted talking to Doberman while Chuck stood beside them, checking his rifle.
Barney seemed to notice where he was looking, and nudged him in the elbow. "Thanks for Amanda, by the way."
"Yeah, well… not sure why she'd want her mother to be in Black Mesa."
Inspecting his pulse rifle, Barney shrugged. "Hope helps people get by. Maybe the stories were for Amanda's benefit, or maybe her mom told them to make herself feel better. She wasn't the only one."
"That reminds me," Gordon said, taking his eyes off the trio on the stairs, "'I'm Gordon Freeman, bitch'?"
After a moment frozen, Barney grinned. "You heard that one, huh?"
"Yeah, I heard that one. When have I ever said 'bitch'?"
"That's what makes it funny, Gordon. And I was the guy with the crowbar for twenty years, I could tell them anythin' I wanted about Black Mesa. Be glad it was just that."
"What about my motorcycle riding back-flipping brother?"
"Hey, don't look at me, I've got no idea where that one came from." An unforgivably goofy grin spread across his face. "It is a good one though. You should listen to it sometime."
They were silent for a few moments while Barney finished up doing… something efficient and complicated with his gun.
"You heard from Alyx? Last I heard she was settin' off to meet ya."
Gordon froze, wondering why it hadn't occurred to him that Barney wouldn't know about Alyx. Hell, he was probably the only one who did know.
"Uh… Alyx, was…" He throat went dry, and he swallowed. "The Combine took her."
"Took her?" Barney stopped, his panic replace by a troubled frown. "Not killed?"
"No, I… don't think so, I couldn't see properly. It looked like they hit her over the head, and then…"
"And then?"
"And then… I left."
He was expecting an outburst there, an insulting, derisive, angry scolding, calling him a coward, a wimp, a self-serving… something or other, Gordon was never very good with insults.
But instead, Barney just slumped back against the wall, eyes glassy and staring off into space. Then he blinked and jumped back to life, shifting to his feet.
"We've gotta get to her. I figured Eli was safe because of his brain and who he is to the Resistance, but Alyx…"
He didn't bother finishing the sentence, instead tilting his head to the others. "Okay people, we're movin' out. And remember, stealth. If we can make it even halfway to that place without settin' off any alarms we'll be better off."
Gordon got to his feet, struggling to keep up with Barney as he led the way down the corridor and through the doors. They went down some stairs, heading for street level.
"Barney, what's going to happen to Alyx?"
"We're gonna find her and rescue her, Gordon. Doesn't matter what those bastards are planning to do."
"Which is what?"
"Gordon-"
"Barney. What is going to happen to Alyx?"
They had reached the bottom of the steps, standing at street level. Blocking off the entire road on the left was another Combine gate, except without any convenient control booth to get it open.
Barney stared at him for the longest time before nodding at the metal structure. "There's that gate I was telling you about. We'll have to come back here after we get it open. If we get it open."
A frustrated breath escaped him, but Gordon pushed back any further attempts to talk until later. If Barney didn't want to talk about it, Gordon probably didn't want to know.
Barney led the way, taking one step out into the street.
Alarms sounded, and Barney's head dropped with a sigh.
"So much for stealth," he muttered, before following it up with a much louder and clearer, "We've been spotted people, let's move, move, move!"
And off they went, running as quickly as the debris around them would allow. On the roof of the building, Gordon could see a thick beam of white light blasting up into the grey clouds. A pool of light faded into existence around them, coming from above.
"Move your asses, people!" Barney screamed, his voice drowning against the thunder coming down on them.
Gordon ran, as did the others. A boom shook the ground, and Gordon allowed a glance over his shoulder to see a sizeable crater in the ground where they once were, the wrecked car he had passed literally torn in half. Probably best not to get caught by the suppression device, then.
Their route took them into a bunker just down the road. It would have been a twenty second sprint if not for the sporadic blasts coming from the suppression device. Gordon managed to stay ahead of the attacks though, either hanging back until the blast had gone off or leaping for dear life as the impact hit just behind him.
Chuck seemed to be the one with the most experience with these things, keeping everyone organised and safe as they leapt from cover to cover. He seemed to do so with barely a word, which Gordon found quite admirable. He couldn't imagine going through these events and saying nothing; he'd probably go a little insane.
This thought wasn't dissuaded by Chuck's reaction to the Combine soldiers sent to delay their advance across the courtyard. The man roared like a man possessed, using minimal cover and charging like a rhino towards them as he fired almost continuously. The fact that they were still outdoors and under the close eye of the suppression device didn't seem to bother him. In fact, it just seemed to make him angrier.
They rested when they reached a halfway point of sorts, what looked like an armoury. Gordon had never seen so many weapons in one place. Except, perhaps, when he was preparing to jump to Xen from the Lambda Core. There had been a lot of guns there.
Gordon watched Chuck carefully as he browsed through the weapons like a casual shopper, checking different weapons for heft and sight. After picking up a belt of grenades and wrapping it across his chest, Gordon moved up next to Barney, who had taken his hands out of his gloves and was flexing them with an unusual level of concentration.
"I haven't seen my hands two days, Gordon. That's how long I've been runnin' around this place."
"That's a… long time," he replied, not really listening. "Is Chuck all right?"
Barney shook his head, eyes still on his hands. "A man gets sweaty hands after two days…"
"Barney."
"Huh?"
"Chuck."
"Yeah?"
"Is he okay?"
"Is he-? Oh, he's fine," Barney said, waving a hand before reluctantly thrusting it back into the creaking glove.
"He just seems-"
"Gordon. He's fine." He picked up another pulse rifle from a rack on the wall beside him looked it over. "As fine as you can be in this place, anyway… okay people, let's keep on movin'."
The armoury was just opposite the grand staircase that would have been the main entrance to the building. A horde of soldiers spilling out made them reconsider this option, however, and Gordon ended up using half of his grenades clearing the herd enough for Chuck to finish the rest with his usual finesse.
Moving quickly, Doberman led them around the back to an alleyway blocked off by a force field. They stopped at it, Barney staring up at it in annoyance and Doberman in panic. Amanda and Chuck were covering them from behind.
"This wasn't here before," Doberman said quickly. "I mean, I didn't see it from our recon position."
"Things change," Barney muttered, then looking to Gordon. "Any ideas?"
Up to that point, Gordon had been on lookout like Chuck and Amanda. He did a double-take when he realised Barney was talking to him.
"Me?"
"Yeah, you, Gordon."
"I don't know. How would I know?"
"Gordon," Barney said, "you broke into Nova Prospekt. Everyone else who tried that is dead. You escaped Black Mesa. There are about half a dozen people on the planet who managed that. This?"
He waved a hand at the force field buzzing patiently in their way.
"This is a piece of cake. Chocolate cake, with frosting. And I know how much you like frosting."
Gordon took a breath, looking the force-field up and down, and checking on the other side for anything he could use. He spotted what he needed, tucked his rifle under his arm, and brought the Gravity Gun around. Just before he started, he looked at Barney.
"Does chocolate even exist anymore?"
A heavy sigh escaped the ex-security guard. "The last bit of chocolate I saw was a cake that Eli kept in the freezer for Alyx's twenty-first. Combine took the rest."
He pressed the trigger on the Gravity Gun, and pulled the power cable on the other side from its' socket. The force field sputtered and flickered away, and the others piled on through.
"Even Snickers?"
Barney smiled and patted him on the shoulder. "Just one more reason to kick Breen's ass, Gordon."
Once inside, Gordon was struck by how big the place was. Of course, the front of the building had been huge, but this was a maze within a maze. Navigating through the corridors, they eventually came to an expansive lobby which looked more akin to a mansion than any kind of museum or bank. Stairs straight on from the main entrance led up and off to the left and right, leading to rooms and corridors on either side.
There was another corridor, flat and long and just past the bottom of the stairs. A force field blocked the way.
Something groaned overhead, metallic and angry. Barney's gaze travelled up as a shadow passed over the dirty windows overlooking the stairs.
"Uh-oh. Dropships. They'll be headin' for the roof."
Gordon moved to the force field and tried his best to see inside, looking for another power cable or terminal he could abuse with the Gravity Gun. Nothing seemed apparent. He looked back to Barney and shook his head.
"Okay," Barney announced, rifle resting on his shoulder. "If we want to get through that shield we'll have to take down the generator. There should be another one for the suppressor on the roof. Gordon and I will take that one. You three find the generator for the force fields."
Doberman gave a little salute, and Amanda just nodded. They headed up the stairs and off to the right. Chuck stayed behind for a moment to hand Barney a vial of green liquid, much the same as Gordon had seen Cara using. He did his best to ignore the twang in his chest when he thought of her face.
Ignoring Gordon for the most part, Chuck thundered off after Doberman and Amanda. There was another groan from above, this one shaking the building.
"Man, Overwatch owns the roof." Barney sighed, suddenly looking about five times as tired as he did before. "And that's where we're headed."
"Story of my life."
Barney smiled, then looked up to the balcony above Gordon's head. "The generator we're after is this way. They're not gonna be too happy with us once we shut it down, so get ready for a fight."
As they ascended the stairs, Gordon noticed Barney watching him curiously. When the scientist gave him a questioning eyebrow, he just nudged him in the elbow.
"I've never seen you fight before. I mean, except for that time Magnusson came at you with a spoon for what you did to his casserole."
"Yes, please remind me of more embarrassing times at Black Mesa."
"I'm just curious, is all. It's gonna be weird seeing you shooting and running and fighting, y'know?"
Gordon couldn't help but agree. "Yeah. I know."
The generator room itself wasn't guarded, which seemed to worry Barney instead of relieve him. It was pretty bare, all dull greys and cool blues. Inert Hoppers lay on shelves on the far wall. There was only once entrance. In the centre of the room stood a Combine power core just like the one Gordon's squad had died defending. He assumed it was disposed of in the same way. Gordon brought the Gravity Gun around and aimed it at the pulsating, whirling ball of light.
He paused for a moment. "You might want to duck."
Barney looked confused for a moment, but then noted the power core. "Good call," he said, tipping over a metal table and crouching down behind it.
Gordon fired and followed suit, huddling down with Barney as it bounced around over their heads. It finally exploded with a shower of sparks and a fairly lingering bang, his ears ringing from the noise.
Wasting no time, Barney was on his feet in an instant. "Okay, done. Let's-"
Alarms sounded, and a previously unseen metal door clanged into the place in the doorway. Barney ran his hands over its surface in a fairly pointless gesture. After a quick pause, he put his ear to the metal.
"I can hear soldiers."
"What are they doing?"
Barney went to the table and moved it across the room so it was in the corner. "They're gettin' ready to come in."
His gaze bounced back and forth from Barney to the door a few times. "W- ah."
"Yeah."
"We'll be pretty vulnerable."
"Yeah."
"How vulnerable?"
"Gordon, if there were some ducks sat right there in a barrel the middle of the room, they'd have a better chance than us."
"That's pretty-" his words died in the throat when he looked at the Hoppers.
"Barney, those ducks…"
"Yeah?"
"They wouldn't have Hoppers, would they?"
The ex-security guard looked at him like he was a little crazy before he followed Gordon's eye line and grinned.
Barney slapped him on the arm. "If this is how you fight, I like it," he said, excitedly moving to the shelves and grabbing a Hopper.
It only took them a few minutes to put the six Hoppers in the places they would do the most damage. Gordon kept the sixth Hopper with him behind the table so he would be able to fire it at any soldiers who managed to make it through. Once done, they crouched next to each other, peering over the edge, intent eyes on the door.
"Remember when we thought Black Mesa was as bad as it could get?" Barney asked wistfully.
"Those were the days," Gordon sighed.
A Combine radio squawked from outside, and there was a long, painful pause as they waited for something to happen. Nothing.
"Can I ask you a question?"
Gordon glanced in his direction, but didn't look at him. "Okay."
"How did you get out of Black Mesa?"
Gordon didn't reply right away, thinking about his words very carefully. No-one so far knew anything about Him, or how He fit into any of these events. He had almost caved to Eli back at Black Mesa East, but something had held him back. Fear, maybe. Whether that was fear of Him or fear of realising that no-one would be able to help him, Gordon didn't know. He just knew that he wasn't going to tell anyone about the Man in the suit just yet. Not until he found out more for himself.
"I went through a portal."
"Oh. Ditto."
Gordon looked at him curiously. "Really?"
"Yeah. Met a bunch of scientists who had worked on the prototype."
"Who?"
"Rosenberg, Simmons and Bennett. You know them?"
"Not personally."
"Yeah, well, they got the prototype workin', and off we went." He found some imaginary stain on his rifle to rub. "I, uh… saw you."
"At… Black Mesa?"
"Yeah. I jumped through the portal, but I think the military blew it up as I went through. I ended up bouncin' all over the place, mostly just a bunch of deserted alien stuff. But then I was in a storage closet, and… there you were, bein' dragged by some soldiers talkin' about gettin' rid of your body. But before I could do anythin' I was in a parking lot with Rosenberg and the others."
He was silent for a moment.
"I almost went back in for ya, but they convinced me not to." He continued to stare at the door. "Spent a lot of nights thinkin' I shouldn't have listened to 'em."
A little unsettled seeing his friend like this, he put a supportive hand on his shoulder. "If you had, you'd be dead."
Barney took a sobering breath. "Yeah… and it looks like you got out okay, so… everyone gets a happy ending."
Another Combine radio conversation crackled outside.
"Well," Barney mumbled, "kinda happy."
Nothing came of the Combine mutterings, though Gordon didn't allow himself the opportunity to relax.
"What happened to them?"
"Huh?"
"Rosenberg and the others."
"Uh…" Barney still wasn't looking at him, instead focusing on some dirt on his knee. "Rosenberg's okay. He's helpin' out where he can, y'know. Big brains are useful nowadays."
"What about Simmons and Bennett?"
"Simmons, uh… died. During the first portal storms."
Gordon was tempted to ask what a portal storm was, but settled for a quiet, "I'm sorry."
Barney shrugged. "Shit happens."
"And… Bennett?"
The ex-security guard didn't reply, instead raising himself up to look at a Hopper close to the door. "Is that Hopper armed?"
"Barney. What happened to Bennett?"
After staring ahead blankly for a few moments, Barney sighed and went to checking his rifle once more.
"Do you know what Stalkers are, Gordon?"
For a moment Gordon considered a dry retort, but knew it wasn't the right time for it. Barney was talking about something specific, something to do with the Combine. He settled for shaking his head.
Barney nodded. "Good."
Gordon decided not to press the matter any further. He wished that Alyx were there so he could ask, maybe get some support and a little patient tutoring on the little things of this world that he knew nothing about. He wished that Alyx were there so that she would be there and not in some Combine stronghold having something done to her that was so horrible Barney didn't even want to talk about it.
"Where've you been, Gordon?"
He blinked, not sure if Barney had spoken. When he looked over, though, he saw that Barney was staring right at him.
"Hm?"
"Where've you been?"
"Uh… what do you mean?"
"I mean…" Barney visibly pushed something down, something frustrated and angry and probably loud. "…these past twenty years. Last I hear you kill some huge, end-of-the-world monster, then… nothin'. Nothin' for twenty years. And then bam. You're here. Looking exactly the same as you did at Black Mesa. And Gordon, those were some long years, buddy. I've…"
His eyes went glassy, and suddenly Barney looked fragile, in an unsettling way that Gordon has never seen before, as if he might collapse at any moment.
"…I've done some bad stuff, Gordon. Stuff that I had to do, and I knew that, but… still doesn't stop it from makin' a mark. And we'd been told that you were comin' back, that you'd make it right again, so we held out. We held out for twenty years waitin' for you."
"Who told you I was coming back?"
"The Vorts. The Freeman this, the Freeman that… it gave us hope, y'know? Everyone thought you'd have this big plan, that you'd been gettin' ready in hidin' all this time…"
"Barney, I-"
"I mean, that would make it all worth it, y'know? That would mean that all the stuff I did… that we all had to do…it wasn't for nothin'. But, instead you're just… here. And you don't seem to know about anythin' around here. So tell me, Gordon. Please. Tell me where the hell you've been."
His throat felt dry, and he swallowed loudly. Eli had been encouraging, Kleiner barely acknowledged he was ever gone, and Alyx didn't seem to care. But Barney… he felt betrayed. Angry. And he wasn't going to let it go.
He sighed. "I don't know."
"What?"
"I don't know. One moment, it was twenty minutes ago, the next… I was on that train heading for City 17."
The lines around Barney's eyes tensed for a few moments, and then suddenly disappeared. "Like what happened to you and Alyx."
"I, uh… what?"
"You and Alyx, at Nova Prospekt. I talked to her when she dropped off Kleiner at the safe house, while you were in the city. She said that you were in Nova Prospekt, in the teleporter, and then suddenly it was a week later. It's the same thing, right? Just… instead of a week, it's twenty years."
Never mind the fact that a man in a suit put him in the portal and appeared to him in visions, or the fact that he was wearing his HEV suit when he went into the portal, but had City 17 civvies wrapped around him when he came out.
Gordon nodded. "Yeah. Same thing."
"Well damn," Barney said, smiling. "That was some pretty smart shit, comin' from me. But Jesus, Gordon. How confused you must have been, huh? Why didn't you just say something, ask some questions- oh, you're you, never mind."
Though he was ready to retort, Gordon was interrupted by a beep. Just one. Then two more. Then three.
"Get ready," Barney grunted, sliding down behind the table.
Gordon did the same as the beeps became faster and faster, eventually becoming one continuous tone.
Then the door blew. Soldiers spilled in through the smoke. Hoppers jumped in the air, setting off one another, the force of the blasts pushing the table back on them. There was a lot of smoke. Barney tapped him on the shoulder and nodded towards the door.
Gordon repeated the gesture before grabbing the final Hopper with the Gravity Gun. Three more soldiers tried to come through the door, and Gordon fired it, blasting them all away.
Moving together towards the doorway, Gordon and Barney stumbled over all the bodies as they reached the corridor. Gunfire came at them from the left. On the right, the corridor led to a metal wall. No help there.
Gordon jumped to the other side of the corridor, taking cover behind a pillar. The soldiers had set themselves at the end of the corridor, where it joined the balcony overlooking the grand lobby. There were only three, but he was sure that number would increase soon. There was gunfire coming from behind the soldiers as well, and one of them was facing the other way, presumably firing on Doberman and the others down below.
He looked at Barney, who was smirking away.
"Just like old times, eh Gordon?" he shouted, his voice nearly drowned out by the gunfire.
A bullet exploded against the pillar, showering dust and debris over Gordon and making the side of his face sting.
"When did we ever do this?" he cried, to which Barney just laughed and opened fire.
Blinking the pain away, Gordon yanked out two grenades and pulled the pins. He threw them both down the corridor, and heard the Combine voices panic and order a withdrawal. Gordon got ready, and waited for the explosion before charging up the corridor.
One of the soldiers had been too slow and was blown over railing of the balcony. The other two had managed to avoid the blast and were waiting around the corner, moving out in front and clearly not expecting him to be there. He smashed the butt of the rifle through the mask of one and charged headlong into another, pushing him into the guardrail.
Gordon backed up and shot a hole through his head. The other soldier had recovered from the blow and took aim, only to be taken out by Barney.
After a grateful nod, they both ducked down, taking cover from the Combine soldiers below. Through the bars of the guardrail, Gordon could see Doberman and Amanda crouched behind one piece of rubble next to the stairs, and Chuck behind a pillar beside the door.
Huh. Gordon didn't think Chuck took cover. Looking down, he saw the squad of four soldiers that were stood almost beneath them. Two were firing up at them, the others concentrating on Doberman's squad.
"Okay," Barney said, a little breathlessly, "I think if we move slowly we can-"
Gordon backed up the corridor and charged towards the guardrail, leaping off even as Barney cried out.
"Jesus, Gordon-"
One foot on the rail, Gordon pushed off and plummeted straight down, landing on one of the soldiers firing up. He crumpled beneath him, and Gordon threw himself to the left, tumbling onto the next soldier as he fell. Gordon turned it into an awkward roll and ended up face to face with the recovering soldier, who he shot point blank.
Barney fired from above, taking out one of the other two, while a well placed shot from Doberman sent blood bursting out of the second soldier's chest.
Silence descended, only punctuated by the occasional explosion from outside. Looking over to the dark corridor that would take them forward, Gordon saw that the force field was inactive. Mission accomplished. Well, this mini-mission, anyway. There were probably tons of mini-missions left before he got to the finish line.
Barney was by his side faster than Gordon had expected. "Jesus, Gordon, what the hell was that?"
He shrugged. "I needed to get downstairs."
"But… what about… and the…" he looked at him like he was insane. "Is that how you survived in Black Mesa?"
"Uh, no," Gordon said, picking up some more grenades from the fallen soldiers. "In Black Mesa that would have been by accident."
He was expecting more exasperated, amazed observations from Barney, but instead, something strange passed over his friend.
He looked sad. And Gordon knew why.
"You've got pretty good at this, huh?"
Gordon nodded. "I've had to."
A resigned smile emerged on Barney's face. "I know the feeling."
Barney seemed ready to move on, when he double-glanced at something on the floor. Or at someone. A Combine soldier, a bullet through his head.
"EF73..." he muttered, then looked up, eyes darting between each of them. "Who killed him?"
After an unsure look at the squad, Gordon put a hand up.
Barney nodded, slowly and surely, staring off into the distance. He got to his feet and put a hand on Gordon's shoulder.
"Good job."
And then, suddenly, everything changed.
"Okay, people, to the roof!"
With that, Barney charged off down the corridor, Gordon and the others following on without question.
Was this going to be his life from now on? Even when he was with friends, he ended up fighting and killing. When would he go back to being a scientist, when his biggest concern was what he was going to have for lunch?
Toasted ham and cheese sandwich. Every time.
They turned a corner and hurtled up some stairs before coming to a small room with a huge terminal on the wall. A large metal door loomed behind them, which Barney opened with a quick tap of his fingers across the keyboard.
"I'm gonna stay here and keep these gates open long enough to make a difference," he said, eyes on the screen. "Go on up and connect the Skybridge; we need to let reinforcements come from every possible direction. If any more citizens come through, I'll send 'em up to find ya."
They all nodded, and the squad went up. Gordon stopped at the doorway, and turned back to Barney.
"See you when I see you, Barney."
Barney gave the smallest of salutes. "See you when I see you, Gordon."
Gordon smiled, and then left his friend behind.
There was a lot of noise outside, more than he had been expecting. Rockets whizzed through the air, spiralling like insane birds before exploding against… something, Gordon couldn't see from his current position. Moving to the edge of the roof, Gordon could see over the courtyard, and what the rest of the squad were gawking at.
Craters that looked like they had been left by meteorites littered the courtyard. The building Gordon and Barney had come from was in ruins, and rebels took cover there, firing rockets from relative safety. And their targets were easier to see, too. Striders, something Gordon had only seen from a distance from his time in City 17 thus far.
It was war. Gordon had known it was the moment he had stepped out of Kleiner's lab with Dog, but still… he hadn't seen this level of sustained violence since… well, since Black Mesa. But at Black Mesa he had just been trying to survive the war zone, navigate his way through it.
Here, in City 17… he was a part of it.
A gunship roared overhead.
"We need to get down to street level," Doberman said, pointing a finger at Gordon. "You need to get to the horse."
He ran off, leaving Gordon confused and chasing after him. "There's a horse? You mean like Dog?"
The roof was a maze of air conditioners blocking their view as they entered, making it difficult to navigate. A Combine gate blocking their way gave a small clue, however. At first it looked like they were going to have to find another way around, but as soon as Doberman's curious hand touched it, the door sprang to life.
They scrambled back and took cover, except for Chuck who seemed to have a death wish and charged straight into the crowd. Gordon didn't see anything, he just heard screams and gunfire. What the hell was he doing? He was a medic, he shouldn't be putting himself in the line of fire this much.
Gordon rounded the corner and joined the fight, quickly followed by Doberman and Amanda. Chuck had done a lot of the work, but even his psychotic energy struggled to keep a dozen or so soldiers at bay. The element of surprise had been on their side, however, and before long the soldiers were down. The rest of the roof was clear, and Gordon could see the suppression device, now inert without the generator giving it power.
At the far side of the roof, Gordon could see the retracted Skybridge that Barney had been talking about that would take them to the next building. They were across with minimal fuss, a squad of rebels coming over to meet them and take over guard duties on the roof. As he was ushered across the bridge by Doberman, Gordon watched them move to the ledge and open fire on the Striders and soldiers that littered the courtyard below.
The stairs were in varying states of health, but they managed to hop, skip and jump their way down to ground floor, where they were greeted by a rebel hefting a sizeable rocket launcher. His far too young face was aglow.
"Dr. Freeman! Since you shut off the Suppressor and opened the gate, we can really move people through now. The Combine is going to feel the squeeze! We dropped a crate of rockets across the plaza. If you can make it there you can take down the Striders."
Doberman moved in-between them. "No can do. We're escorting Freeman to the horse, right away."
The boy seemed to understand, and nodded. "Okay. We'll do our best to cover you."
They moved on, Gordon's question about the horse ignored yet again. It was a hazardous run back to the gate, with even Chuck seeming reluctant to take on a Strider head-to-head. Rockets shot overhead, sometimes so close his hair blew in the wind. But most of them wound up on target, although the Striders managed to take a lot of punishment.
The gate led them past a now dead Combine blockade to stairs going down into an underground tunnel. They emerged through a collapsing door into a blocked road tunnel, cars littering the place. The left was blocked, collapsed in on itself. To the right, the tunnel opened out into more of City 17. Everything was curiously quiet.
Then the left side of the tunnel exploded, and a Strider clambered through, knees high above its' head as it tried to navigate its' way through the cramped quarters.
Doberman gave him a forceful shove, though he didn't need any encouragement. "Move, move, move!"
He saw the effects of the Strider's blast coming. The sensation of light being pulled away, that odd screeching noise…
A car exploded up into the air beside them, crashing down again as they exited the tunnel and ran into the dilapidated remains of a building on the left. The Strider clambered out of the tunnel, and the street didn't seem an option. So up it was.
The stairs were out, completely destroyed in whatever attack had befallen the building. Gordon managed to find a section of collapsed floor from the level above that created a ramp.
"Over here," he said, though hopefully not loud enough to draw the Strider's attention.
It was.
The Strider crouched down and cried out. Raising its' weapon, it began firing bullets, sounding like a piece of machinery in a factory. One hit Amanda dead centre, not even giving her the chance to scream before blood exploded out of her back, the force of the bullet flinging her across the room and against the wall.
"Keep moving, keep moving," Doberman breathed, although it sounded more like a mantra to himself than commands to Gordon.
Chuck was unmoved by the death, and Gordon wondered, not for the first time, if all was right with his mind.
On the second floor, they managed to huddle beneath a diagonally fallen pillar, and the Strider lost them. Disinterested, it began to wander around the building, presumably keeping an… well, Gordon didn't know if it had an eye, but if it did, it was probably keeping it out for them.
The pillar reached tantalisingly close to a hole in the roof, and Gordon slid around and started climbing. He froze when he heard something ticking. Not regularly, like a clock, but more like…
Turning, he came face to face with one of the Combine's floating cameras. Scanners, Alyx had called them. This one was armoured, so it probably couldn't be dispatched with a simple swing of the crowbar. It clicked, and a blinding flash of light dazzled Gordon. He blinked the stars away as he heard the Strider roar. Its' footsteps moved closer.
"Move, Freeman!" Doberman hissed.
The stars faded, and his vision cleared in time to see the Strider crouching down to see look directly at him.
"All right," Gordon replied irritably, scrambling up to the next floor. The others followed. The Strider blasting away almost blindly, they managed to reach a doorway that took them out of sight of beast and into a dim corridor. The only other door inside was blocked off by wooden planks.
Gordon and Chuck cleared them out of the way while Doberman leaned against the wall, eyes closed and face towards the ceiling.
"Were they close?" Gordon asked quietly, yanking off a piece of wood that had become stuck to the crowbar.
Chuck grunted. "Don't think so. Doesn't help to see someone killed like that, no matter how well you know them."
The piece of wood jumped off the crowbar, and Gordon tossed it away. "I suppose not."
After clearing the wood, they continued their journey to the horse, hopping from one building to the next and eventually emerging into an open wound of a building. Rebels and Combine soldiers popped in and out of every ledge, out of every chunk of debris big enough to hide a person.
Striders blasted away at the buildings, demolishing walls, floors, anything to give the soldiers a clearer shot at their enemies. The soldiers seemed to take an instant liking to him, which was irritating, though understandable. Breen had probably offered some sort of special commendation for the one who managed to either kill him or bring him in. The way they were coming at him seemed to indicate more of the former than the latter, however.
As they reached street level their pace quickened, becoming an almost constant sprint from one location to the other. Strider legs threatened to impale them as they darted across the street, always praying when they reached the other side that the Strider hadn't seen them.
They ducked down the ramp of an underground parking garage to avoid being impaled by a Strider's legs. Peering through, Doberman seemed to think it safe, and nodded for them to follow him.
The parking lot went off to the left before arching back to the right and presumably to the exit ramp, Gordon's view of which was blocked by a wall. Thick pillars and abandoned cars made it difficult to see much of anything up ahead, except for the fact that something was on fire around the corner. Orange light from the flame flickered across the ceiling and walls, providing them with at least some light as they pressed on further into the darkness.
Gordon spotted something. A flash of blue.
He put an arm in front of Chuck, who promptly hissed at the much further ahead Doberman to stop. He was stood in an odd clearing on their right, completely bereft of cars.
Gordon crouched down behind a red car and peered over. There again. Something luminescent blue was moving quickly over there. He looked to Chuck, who nodded his confirmation, and was about to call out to Doberman when he heard something else. Gordon heard it too.
A beeping.
And it was getting faster.
"Where is it?" he said quickly, and Chuck just shrugged, checking frantically under cars.
Doberman was looking at them like they were insane, and started to walk over. Then he froze, and looked down.
Both Gordon and Chuck stopped, and looked at the spot beneath Doberman's feet. A red flashing light, almost continuous now.
Gordon took a step forward, arm outstretched. The floor exploded beneath Doberman, and Chuck yanked Gordon to the floor, the heat and noise flowing over them and pushing the cars into them.
Combine radios chattered through the ringing in Gordon's ears, and he slammed a hand down on car closest, using it to pull himself up. A bullet ricocheted next to his head, and he dropped again, scooping up the rifle he had dropped in the explosion.
He tossed a grenade over, and held on to the livid Chuck long enough for it to go off before he let him off the proverbial leash.
Gordon followed, being relatively professional and smooth compared to Chuck's bloody, almost spasming rampage. How this guy wasn't dead yet was beyond Gordon. Maybe the soldiers didn't expect their enemy to be quite so… in their face all the time. The man just didn't let up. Not that Gordon could blame him, under the circumstances.
The grenade had cleared out two of the soldiers, and between them, Chuck and Gordon managed to dispatch the remaining five without too much trouble. Chuck led the way out of the parking garage, and Gordon couldn't help but note the bloody mess coming out of his side.
"Are you-"
"It's fine."
"You're bleeding."
The much larger man whirled on his heel, jabbing a finger at the red cross on his arm. "See this? Medic. You got one of these? No? Then let me decide what's okay and what's not."
After a pause to confirm that what he said had sunk in, Chuck turned and started walking.
"Nothing I could do anyway," he muttered, so quietly that Gordon wasn't sure if he was meant to hear it.
Moving on through the streets and following breathless directions to the horse (whatever the hell that was, nobody answered him when he asked) they eventually clambered through the remains of another building that took them up to what was now the roof. It clearly wasn't always so, judging by the window frames and the state of the walls. It looked like some giant had taken a bite directly off the top. The building was tall enough that they could look down on a Strider, however.
The room was pretty much clear, just a chunk of rock on the left of where the stairs had brought them out. It looked like it could have been an attic at some point. A crate of rockets was stashed behind the debris. Four of so rebels darted in and out of the windows, firing on Combine soldiers that had taken up camp in the buildings surrounding it.
A gunship roared overhead, and opened fire. The rebels in the room could only duck while one, who possessed a rocket launcher, tried his best to take it down. He managed to get the rocket off, but a football sized bullet from a nearby Strider tore him in half, knocking him off the building. The rocket launcher fell to the ground.
Chuck ran for it, his legs wobbling beneath him as he stumbled along. Gordon tried to stop him, but could only watch as the hulking medic knelt, his face screwed up in agony, and lifted the rocket launcher onto his shoulder.
"Get to the horse!" Chuck shouted, his eyes not even on Gordon as he drove a hand into the ammo crate and yanked out a rocket. Before he had even placed the rocket inside, the Gunship had torn through him with gunfire, tossing him limply across the room and against the wall. The rocket launcher tumbled over the ledge.
Gordon ran to him. His eyes were glazed over, staring at nothing.
"Freeman, get to the horse!" another rebel cried out, firing sporadically out of the window. Two Striders thumped around the building, looking for an opening. The Gunship continued circling, doing much the same.
He hadn't even known Chuck. This insane, angry man who had sacrificed himself for… what? Gordon didn't know him. And he would never get the chance to. Amanda, Doberman, Chuck… maybe even Alyx, now. So many people he wouldn't get to truly know.
"To hell with the horse," he muttered, and leapt to his feet. He scooped up a rock and looked around for the Gunship and the closest Strider.
"Freeman, what the hell are you-" the woman was interrupted by more gunfire, and dropped to her knee.
"Get out of here!" she screamed. "Get to the horse!"
"Busy!" he shouted, finally spotting the Gunship. He strode out into the open, where the broken wall afforded him the least cover. Eyes flitting to the roaring beast up above, Gordon clambered up on a section of wall next to a Strider and tossed the rock.
The beast turned to face him, weapon tilting upwards.
"Come on, come on, recognise me…" he muttered. "I'm the Freeman, I'm Gordon Freeman…"
The Strider seemed ready to fire bullets, which wasn't what Gordon needed. He looked back at the Gunship, lining up to fire.
Gordon faced the Strider. "Come on!" he cried. "I'm Gordon Freeman, come on!"
That did it. The Strider began charging just as the Gunship opened fire, a trail of bullets leading across the floor and up to him. Gordon saw light bend, pulled towards the now glowing weapon. Gordon jumped to the side as it fired, lashing out and hitting the Gunship dead centre.
It roared and flailed in the air, peppered by small explosions before finally going out with a magnificent bang.
The other Strider had taken notice, and was thumping over to assist.
Gordon scrambled to his feet and ran to the opposite side of the roof. Touching the wall, he kicked off again and ran towards the Strider that had felled the gunship. He pushed himself off from the ledge, crowbar outstretched, managing to hook it on to the Strider's gun. Gordon held on for dear life as the Strider swung him this way and that, its roars deafening at this proximity.
Gordon pulled himself up, managing to swing his leg up on to the top of the beast's shell-like head. There were seams, like the shell of a turtle. He stabbed down with the crowbar, reminded of his final moments with the Nihilanth.
With a mighty rowing motion, Gordon managed to pry one of the patches of shell up only slightly. He pulled the pin of a grenade with his teeth and wedged it inside. Gordon scrambled to his feet and ran as best he could on top of the smooth head, jumping for the roof of the building.
He wasn't going to make it.
Then the grenade exploded, the blast giving him an extra push and sending him hurtling into the floor blow the roof, rolling and sliding until he hit the wall faster than he ever would have wanted. His ears were ringing, his body ached.
Looking up in a haze, he saw the Strider stumble on the spot before tumbling to the ground and through the legs of its approaching companion, sending both of them thundering to the ground with a tremendous quake.
Everything hurt, his vision was hazy, and his hearing wasn't doing too great, either.
"I'd like to take a moment to address you directly, Doctor Freeman."
Breen…
"Yes, I'm talking to you. The so-called 'One Free Man'."
The voice was almost ghostly, fading in and out of existence as he tried to find the strength to get up.
"I have a question for you; how could you have thrown it all away? It staggers the mind. A man of science with the ability to sway reactionary and fearful minds toward the truth. Choosing instead to embark on a path of ignorance and decay. Make no mistake, Doctor Freeman; this is not a scientific revolution you've sparked. This is death and finality. You have plunged humanity into freefall."
Explosions and gunfire in the distance. Someone was calling his name. Was Breen right?
"Even if you offered your surrender now, I cannot guarantee that our benefactors would accept it. At the moment I fear they have begun to look upon even me with suspicion. So much for serving as humanity's representative."
No, probably not. Gordon had heard that tone of voice before from Breen. He just sounded pissed that his boss didn't like him anymore.
"Help me win back their trust, Doctor Freeman. Surrender while you still can. Help ensure that humanity's trust in you is not misguided. Do what is right, Doctor Freeman. Serve mankind."
"Shut the hell up, please…"
"Sorry?"
Gordon frowned at the foreign voice, and blinked. The female rebel was crouched in front of him. Another medic, this one a short and skinny man about Barney's age was dabbing something against the side of his head. As he pulled the bandage away, Gordon noticed the blood there.
"The bleeding's stopped," the medic grunted. "That suit of yours does nice work."
"Freeman…" the woman said, the words seeming to catch in her throat, "that was amazing!"
"Uh-huh," he mumbled, listening more to the HEV suits status report than her. He would probably need to recharge soon; he wouldn't be able to take many more bullets in this state.
"But seriously, that was like… that was shit from Black Mesa style! Like when you tamed that Gargantua!"
"I did what to a what?" he mumbled, face screwing up as the woman spoke more. He threw up a hand when it looked like she was going to say more.
"Just…" he grunted and painfully shifted himself to his feet. "Where's the horse?"
Blinking, the woman smiled sheepishly.
"Oh, uh…" She nodded over Gordon's right shoulder. "Over there."
Looking through the window frame, he saw a bronze statue of a horse waiting for him. And it was at the base of the Citadel. Didn't Dr Kleiner say that was where Eli was?
"Okay," he said, trying his best not to sound ungrateful. "Thank you."
A man who looked far too old for the puppy dog look in his eyes came up to him, holding a pulse rifle like it was King Arthur's sword.
"Here's your rifle, Dr Freeman."
"That's… great, thanks."
As ever, Gordon Freeman moved on, walking the tightrope of metal girders that made up the frame of what was once the apartment building. He used a closed dumpster to cushion the fall as he leapt from the building to the street where the horse waited. As he walked into the street, he looked to the left and saw the same chasm he and Alyx had needed to cross. The same place he lost her.
Gordon blinked the thought away and headed for the Citadel. The horse was the centrepiece of a roundabout junction, roads heading off in four directions around it. Combine soldiers had taken up shop on the right-hand junction from Gordon, which he naturally didn't notice until he was out in the open.
He ducked behind the base of the horse statue, the bullets pounding uselessly into the concrete. The left-hand road was blocked by used cars. Or it seemed to be, at any rate. Something seemed to be coming from the other side, and it wasn't bothered by cars…
The vehicles exploded out onto the street, kicking up dust and sending spare parts everywhere. Gordon aimed his weapon, not sure what the hell to expect.
And then Dog emerged, and Gordon couldn't remember the last time his smile was so wide. After acknowledging his presence with a fond hoot, Dog turned to the soldiers and went on his way.
Gordon looked around the corner to see what kind of carnage Dog was unloading when he saw someone else coming out of the smoke, coughing and shouting.
"Here, boy. Dog! Come back here, Dog! Damn it all…"
Wafting dust out of his face, Barney looked up, and smiled.
"Gordon? Ya made it!"
He ran over and took cover behind the statue with him. As Barney spoke, Gordon noticed something over his shoulder. Something coming from where the soldiers had been based, where Dog was still busy.
Victor, striding towards him.
"Dog-"
Noticing that Gordon's attention wasn't on him, Barney turned and saw Victor now charging at them.
"Holy-" Barney turned his rifle on him too late, Victor swatting the gun out of his hands. The Combine monster promptly grabbed him by the collar and tossed him easily over his shoulder, sending him tumbling along the road until his back hit the wall of the building opposite.
Victor threw a fist at Gordon's head. He ducked and leapt off to the side, rolling into kneeling position and rifle brought up. He opened fire, tearing through Victor's belly. Not that he cared. He just grabbed the rifle and slammed his palm into Gordon's chest, throwing him across the street and next to Barney.
The soldier took aim with the rifle, charging the energy orb. Barney snatched up his rifle and did the same. The two cores flew into each other, deflecting off and bouncing harmlessly into the air. Barney didn't let up, unloading everything he had into Victor until the rifle was flung out of his hands.
Unarmed, Victor just stood for a moment, staring at them.
"Gordon?" Barney asked, eyes on Victor.
"Yeah?"
"You know this guy?"
"Sort of."
"How is he not dead?"
"Don't know."
"How did you get rid of him before?"
"Helicopter propeller to the chest, Ant-Lion mother, blew up Nova Prospekt with him inside…"
"And he's still alive?"
"Yeah."
"Shit."
"Yeah…"
Victor stamped down a foot on the ground, springing up the manhole cover that Gordon hadn't noticed was there until now.
He tossed it like a Frisbee, hitting Gordon in the chest and slamming him through the windows of the building behind him. A table broke his fall, cracking behind him as he rolled and slid across the floor, eventually coming to a slow stop. Groaning and readjusting his askew glasses, Gordon hefted himself into a sitting position and looked outside.
Barney slammed the butt of his rifle against the approaching Victor's face, which, to his credit, at least made him stop. Unfortunately for Barney, when Victor stopped, you were dead.
Victor grabbed Barney's neck and lifted him off the ground, and Gordon scrambled to his feet, sprinting and yanking the crowbar out as he went. Seeing him coming, Victor swung Barney around and tossed him into Gordon, knocking them both back down the street in an awkward heap.
"Oh. Ow," Barney moaned, and Gordon squinted, the sun in his eyes.
The light was suddenly blotted out by Victor standing above him, and he latched on to Gordon, vice like grip on his neck.
"Put him down," Barney grunted, heaving himself to his feet.
Victor just squeezed harder, and Gordon could do nothing except hold on to his arm. So much for the One Free Man.
"I said, put him down."
Still nothing. There wasn't even a sign that Victor had heard him speak. His vision was going dark. Was that good? It probably wasn't good. Where are you now, HEV suit? Haven't got any parameters for being choked to death by a Combine war machine, do you?
"Final warning, buddy. You put him down, or I'll kill you using two fingers."
That got both Victor and Gordon's attention. Barney had taken off his glove and was holding up his thumb and forefinger, eyebrows waggling menacingly.
"Don't push me. I'll do it."
If Victor could have laughed, he probably would have at that moment. He then resumed the choking.
"All right," Barney sighed, sticking the fingers in his mouth. An almighty whistle pierced Gordon's ears, quickly followed by the distant hoot of Dog.
And then, suddenly, Victor was gone, and Gordon had been dropped unceremoniously to the ground. Barney was by his side straight away.
"You okay?"
Gordon coughed, and nodded. "What about him?"
Victor sailed through the air over Barney's head, landing far behind Gordon.
The ex-security guard grinned. "I wouldn't worry about it."
Dog thundered past, and Gordon watched as Victor sprang to his feet. The soldier swung a fist at Dog, who caught the entire arm and snatched up both of his legs with the other hand. Lifting Victor about his head, Dog pulled in either direction, easily yanking him in half.
There was no blood, just bits of circuitry dropping to the ground around Dog's feet.
Barney helped Gordon to his feet, but he could already feel the HEV suit doing its' work. By the time they were standing over the torso, he felt strong enough to walk on his own.
The light in Victor's eyepiece was fading in and out, finally dying.
"Y…"
Gordon looked at Barney, frowning. Had he heard that? Was Victor speaking. Barney just shrugged.
"Don't look at me, he's your wrestlin' buddy."
"You… you…"
"Um…" Gordon cleared his throat. "Hello?"
"You… scientist…"
His eyebrows nearly shot up off his face when he heard that. "Do you… know me?"
"You scientist… shit."
Barney smiled. "Definitely knows ya, Gordon-"
An urgent hand in the air, Gordon shushed him vehemently. He swallowed.
"Who are you?"
"You scientist shit. You think… you can do my job better… better… better… better than me?"
The light died, and so did Victor. The world dropped from around Gordon. The person who said that, back at Black Mesa… how?
"How was he here? And like this? What…?"
"Gordon…" Barney was down beside him now. "Did you know this, uh… guy?"
He nodded, mutely. "Back at Black Mesa. We met… after the accident. After you saw me getting dragged off by those soldiers."
"What was he?"
"He… was a security guard."
"Geez… what was his name?"
Gordon was reluctant to say. There were enough coincidences here to last a lifetime, he didn't need Barney making it worse.
"Kaufman."
There was a breathless pause. "Kaufman."
Gordon nodded.
"The Kaufman."
He looked at Barney, disbelief etched in his face.
Then Barney grinned. "Nah, I'm just yankin' ya. But how freaky would that be, seriously?"
Words failed him, so Gordon just settled for shaking his head in disbelief. He stared down at the limp torso in front of him. What the hell had happened to his man? The last time Gordon had seen him, he was being blown up by a helicopter. It was possible he could have survived that, but what about everything else? The Xen aliens, the soldiers… the nuclear explosion, but God's sake?
Barney snapped his finger in front of his face, and Gordon blinked.
"Move on, Gordon. I know this is freakin' you out, but we got business to attend to."
Taking a moment, Gordon allowed himself a deep breath before nodding and getting to his feet. Barney nodded over his shoulder towards the Citadel wall, where Dog was thumping against its' unrelenting surface. Not even a dent.
"Dog came smashing through the Plaza, knockin' over walls, and… I think he's lookin' for Alyx. He seems to have it set in his… head… that she's in the Citadel. I figured Alyx wouldn't want him getting any deeper in trouble, but… hell, you try stopping him."
The pounding option not yielding any results, Dog dug his hands into the road and attempted to lift a section of the wall up. They looked like the 'teeth' Gordon had seen those Combine walls using across the city and in Nova Prospekt.
"Hey, Dog!" Barney ran over, looking concerned for the robots safety. "Not there, you can't get through that way!"
Dog heaved the strut above his head, leaving a sizeable hole in the ground.
"Oh. Well. I'll be damned," Barney muttered, walking over. He whistled as he peered in beside Gordon. It went down quite far, and even seemed to lead further inside. A way in to the Citadel. To Eli. And maybe, according to Dog's instincts, to Alyx.
Arms shaking a little from the effort, Dog looked over his shoulder at Gordon.
"I think he wants you to go through, Gordon," Barney said, slapping him on the back. "You'd better hurry."
A few days ago, Gordon would have asked 'why me?' or some sort of question along those lines. Something to justify why it was him, some random, lowly scientist who just happened to be wearing a hazard suit that had to take care of all the deadly business.
But now he just picked up a pulse rifle, nodded, and clambered on down through the hole in the ground. There was a ledge halfway that he slipped safely down to. He lowered himself further to the floor. The tunnel was misty, and what little light there was from above wasn't helping. But it was small, he could tell that much.
"Okay, Gordon," Barney shouted from above, unseen. "Good luck!"
All Gordon could see was Dog holding up the strut, and struggling with it at that. Best to keep it short.
"I know it'll be difficult, but try to have fun without me, please," he said, and Barney laughed.
"And if you see Dr Breen, tell him I said f-" Dog dropped the strut, "-you!"
Gordon smiled, flicked on the flashlight, and crouched down. Alone but determined, he started crawling. He could hear machinery.
He looked forward to delivering Barney's message in person.
(A/N: For those scratching their heads about Kaufman, he was a nutty security guard I wrote into 'The Black Mesa Incident' for the 'Questionable Ethics' and 'Surface Tension' chapters. There's a little bit more about him in the 'Sidelines' story by myself and BlindAcquiescence.
Anyway, don't stop the reviews now, everybody; we're nearly to the finish line!)
