Continuing the story.

[Derek]

I started writing a novel-style story where Episode 2 ends. It isn't at all speculation as to what I think will happen. I just started writing it. It's not done, and I wasn't going to let anyone read it. However, I thought some feedback would be nice. It's 11 pages long so far, and if anyone wants to read it I'll start posting. Let me know.

Here's the deal on the story.
It's unedited. It's romantic and actiony. It's written by a 16 year old who's got a B in English (A+ in Trig though!). If you don't like it too bad. I just decided to write this for fun, and I never though I'd let anyone read it.
And remember, it's never gonna be done. I'll keep writing until Episode 3 comes out. Then I'll pick up there.

Question for smart people: Why do forums change everything into question marks?

 

[cyk]

I'd say post it in the Fan Fiction forum, but no one reads it, so just post it here.

 

[Derek]

Alright, I'll start moving words. A Warning.
MASSIVE FREAKING SPOILERS!!! Don't read unless you finished HL2: Ep. 2

 

[Teta_Bonita]

Hell, why not? It certainly couldn't hurt.

Also, welcome to HL2.net. It's safer here. Don't drink the water.

 

[Derek]

The story, she begins.

This takes place after Half-Life 2 Episode 2. If you haven?t played this through, it will RUIN THE ENDING. So if you?re a fan of the series and aren?t done, read no further (come back later).
* * *
?Come on Alyx, it isn?t safe here.? I urge her on. It hasn?t hit me that Eli is gone. It definitely hit Alyx. She?s been sobbing uncontrollably over her father for almost 10 minutes. ?Alyx we need to get back to the base before more advisors show up.? I put my arm around her shoulder and help her to her feet. She staggers along and looks at me with tear-filled globes.
?He?s, he can?t be, he?s all I had, he? Daddy?.?
?Alyx it?s not all bad. I?m still here. So is Barney, Dr. Kleiner, and the Resistance has a chance now. 2 minutes ago we were celebrating. Come on? With Alyx still shaking and noticeably sobbing, I guide her back into the Resistance?s stronghold. I take her down to her father?s room and lie her down on the couch. Seeing she needs to be alone, I get her some tea and take your leave. Walking down the hall to tell Kleiner, I run into my best friend.
?Gordon! What are you still doing here? Where?s Eli? Why don?t you answer!??
I don?t remember hitting Magnusson in the eye, but I do remember seeing him later looking badly bruised and yelling at his lackeys much less. I?m sure he?ll be back to normal soon.
I find some empty quarters (as directed by a resistance guard), get out of the HEV suit, and sleep for the first time in days. In a dreamless trance, I sense only one thing: Alyx. I remember everything I?ve ever known about her. The way she smiles, the way she laughs, how she flirts nonchalantly with me and only me, how her father was killed at the hands of a brutal menace and I was powerless to help. I wake up and look at my watch. 02:16. Early. I went to bed around noon yesterday. 14 hours was enough. Being a scientist, I was use to no sleep for days.
Ting Ting. ?Hmmm?? Ting Ting Ting. ?Come in.?
I hear a voice: ?The door is locked.? I fall out of bed, figure my boxers are fine, and answer the door. Wishing I?d come more decent, Alyx is embarrassed to see me like this. Clearly though, that?s the last thing on her mind. ?I got some sleep, but I keep having nightmares. The base is safe; the Combine lost their record of where we are because of the rocket thing. Unanticipated side effect.?
?I assume you didn?t wake me up to tell me that?? I inquire.
?Let?s take a walk.? So I throw on some pants and a tee shirt, and go out of my room. Alyx and I walk the corridors in silence, and come to a decontamination room. Standing there, I realize she isn?t wearing her hoodie. She claims she was too hot, but it can?t be 50 degrees in the tunnels, and outside isn?t much better. Still, we walk the roads around White Forest. Suddenly she opens up. She tells me everything she can think of, how she stole from her dad?s jacket when she was 16, how she spent her life underground and in labs, how she wished this whole Combine thing were over. Most of all, she wanted her father back. But she seemed much better than yesterday, composed and stable. She looked at me when she was completely done, expecting some sort of response.
Trying to fumble over some words, realizing there were none, I hug her close. Although she didn?t expect it, she embraces me. She needs a friend, and I?m the closest person she has now. Some words come to mind. ?You need to do what your father wanted. Carry on his wishes.? She searches for something.
?You mean have kids?? she asks puzzled.
?No no no! Well maybe. But I meant destroy the Borealis, continue the resistance against the Combine!? She wraps her arm around me and rests her head on my chest.
?You?re right. But at this hour?? The sun was beginning to come up and I realized it was 3 hours ago we left the complex. ?We should get back.? We quickly pace back to the tunnels. She seems glad to have talked, incredibly happy to have gotten to get these things out. We enter the decontamination room. As the scanners start moving, the system jams. ?No! We?ll be stuck here for hours!? She?s right. Short of ripping the door off there?s nothing I can do to get us out of there. She alerts Dr. Kleiner and sits against the wall next to me. We await the arrival of the tech crews to open the doors. Thinking the morning is completely shot, Alyx lies her head on my stomach and closes her eyes. ?Let?s get some sleep.? Realizing once again your incredible drowsiness, I fall asleep in the embrace of Alyx Vance, my companion enjoys the warmth.


* * *
The feeling of cold metal against my shirt startles me. When I realize where I am, I regret waking with such a start. Alyx energetically hops up and smiles. ?Looks like they fixed the doors!? she remarks. For the first time I notice the hallway there instead of a steel blast door.
?Sweet. What time is it?? I ask.
?Feels like mid-afternoon. Probably took the techs a while to fix the problem. I?m shocked they didn?t wake us.? Knowing resistance techs, they didn?t show a lot of care when it came to mundane maintenance. They wanted to be creating things, engineering. Working on something that wasn?t their brainchild was a waste of their precious time. According to them, of course.
?Let?s go get some breakfast. I?m starving.?
?The Vortigaunts probably are making lunch for everyone; we?ll have to bug them to make breakfast.? She claims.
?But for the noble Gordon Freeman, scrambled eggs and toast aren?t too much to ask??
She giggles. ?Well when you put it that way, they?re gonna have a feast ready!? We calmly stroll down to the lift that will take us down 3 stories to the kitchen. The facility here is purely functional. Metal floors, ceilings, and walls blanket the whole place, except the infirmary and the kitchen. A lot of circuitry was exposed for the various systems. It would take too much time covering them up and would only make them harder to repair, which they all inevitably did. The air was a warmer 75 now, but the metal itself never got warm.
We round a corner and reach the life. It?s older fashioned, a gate composed of a linked metal grid. The groan of metal above us is a minor source of concern as we descend. I glance at Alyx as she sneezes. ?I think I got a cold from sleeping on the metal.? Which I find funny, she was barely on the metal. I however was pressed against it.
The lift settles at the kitchen and we step off. I look around and see Vorts busy at work everywhere chopping and boiling and slicing. ?Ah! The Alyx Vance, and the Freeman? Lunch will be finished shortly.?
Alyx corrects ?Actually, we were hoping for a special request.? She fills in the Vortigaunt on what about we wanted while I wonder off to the eating area. It?s conjoined directly with the area, and it?s the center of activity for those off duty (which usually isn?t that many). Small groups of people talk quietly, and the noise lowers considerably when I enter the room. A lone man sits in the corner, looking frustrated at a disassembled submachine gun. I walk over to him.
?What?s the problem buddy?? He looks up startled.
?Oh hi. It?s nothing really.?
?Come on? It?s not a staring contest with the barrel is it?? I haven?t made an actual joke in a long time. I make a mental note of my better mood.
?He, no. I can?t seem to get the bolt clean and the gun keeps jamming because of it.? I pickup the bolt of his smg, a modified MP7A3, and examine the bolt. It?s grimy, over oiled, and badly scratched all over it.
?Okay, first clean off all the oil you possibly can. Then use a toothbrush or toothpick to scrub of pick respectively the crap out from this area here.? I gesture towards the firing pin and forward end of the bolt. ?When that?s over and done with, give it a tiny bit of oil and use a towel to take all of it off. The oil will still be there, but only in a thin coating.? He looks ecstatic.
?Thanks. I?ve been trying to get it out using my fingernails, and it just doesn?t work.? I see his black fingernails and believe him.
?See ya.? I turn around and nearly plow through Alyx, who is carrying two trays filled with an assortment of pancakes, eggs, toast, grapes, and various other breakfast foods. Turning my attention to her, I ask ?How the hell can we have food like this and no decent heating??
She responds. ?Ask the Vorts in the kitchen. They produce all this stuff from somewhere in the building, but I?ve never seen it. They?ve got a pretty good business here though. Not a lot of competition.? We sit across from each other at a lone table by the wall.
?So how are you holding up?? I ask her.
?I?m doing okay. Not great, but I?ll live.? She smiles. ?I never thought you and my dad were that close. Until I saw you two together, I thought you were really just coworkers, no real relationship to speak of. When I was young, he was the only person I had a real relationship with.? She seems lost.
?Well let?s eat.? I think it best to avert her thoughts from her father. As I?m shoving a heaping pile of eggs into my mouth, Barney walks into the mess. I wave to him. ?Hey Barney!?
He makes his way over. ?Hey you two. How?s it going??
Alyx responds. ?I?m just really glad I have Gordon here. He really listens to me. Doesn?t talk much, but he listens.?
?That?s all you really need sometimes. Hey Gordon, you?re pretty good with weapons aren?t you? A bunch of guys brought in a stockpile of old army M16s they found. Some are in pretty bad condition.?
?I?ll take a look at them and see what we can use.? I look over to Alyx. ?Didn?t you say you wanted to show me something??
?Oh right! I completely forgot.? She grabs a radio off her belt. ?Dog, when you get a chance come down to the mess hall.?
?Dog has something to show me?? I?m puzzled.
?No, but I can?t show it to you without him.? Barney sits down with us. We try to keep our conversation lighthearted, staying away from anything that could link to Eli. In the course of the conversation, Dog comes off the lift. He looks different. He immediately runs over to Alyx and shows his affection.
?Ok Dog? she starts, ?Show Gordon you?re new toy.? Dog extends his left arm. You see a barrel sticking out, and a rather large magazine under his forearm. ?I installed a weapon he should find useful. It?s one of our few Barrett .50 cals. With his new targeting system, Dog should be able to take out targets past a mile with relative ease.?
?Wow. That?s?crazy. Nice.? That?s really impressive, considering I can?t hit anything past about 600 meters. ?Barney, since you?re here, what plans did you have for attacking the Combine??
Barney tells us the general strategy to defeat the Combine. A small resistance inside each city will gather support from the local population and begin attacking from the inside, while at the same time a larger resistance force attacks from the outside of the city. Splitting the Combine?s forces should work pretty well.
?Still, we need somebody to spearhead the first insurrection in a major city. We?re gonna start with City 14, which is pretty close by.? Alyx and I look at each other with a glance that says ?Let?s do it.? So from that point on, we led the first operation to take down another Combine controlled city. The hardest part was finding a way to smuggle in weapons to the center of the city. We eventually found it would be easier to steal weapons from the Combine with an inside man.
Alyx and I needed to get to City 14. We were going to leave at dawn, and we hoped to be there by nightfall. We could then slip in through the sewer system and make our way to the resistance safehouse. That?s where it would all start. Alyx and I were sitting on a couch in her father?s room, going over the final details.
?The Vortigaunts installed the turret on our car right?? I asked.
?Yep.?
?Dog is set to go?? We decided it would be better to have him with us in case anything went wrong. He was going to leave a few hours after us and would lead the assault outside the city.
?Yep.?
?Anything we?re forgetting??
?You have your HEV suit ready?? Alyx reminded me.
?It?s all charged up, I just need to slip into it.?
?Well there?s only one more thing we can do on the eve of a battle like this.? A thousand different ideas enter my mind. ?Rest.? Damn. I was hoping for something much more involved.
?If you insist.? I lay down on my side on the couch, and Alyx lays down against me, her back to my front.
?What if this thing doesn?t work?? she is visibly nervous. ?What if this plan fails??
?It can?t fail. You?re forgetting one key thing.?
?What?s that??
?I?m Gordon Freeman. Nobody thwarts the Freeman.?
?Yeah right. I completely forgot.? And Alyx was out like a light. I found it easy to fall asleep, but difficult to stay asleep with Alyx in my arms.
* * *

 

[Derek]

* * *
My HEV suit isn’t exactly easy to slip on. It took me about 10 minutes to get all the individual parts on, and another 5 for it to run down all the systems that were working and not working. Despite being bright orange, it was incredibly useful hardware. It let me survive high radiation levels, high or low heat, low oxygen, or bullet filled environments. I gathered my weapons on the bed. Deciding I couldn’t take everything, I brought only the essentials. I had a .357 magnum for a sidearm, an MP7 for close range work, a Spas-12 shotgun for zombie work, and an M16a4 fitted with an ACOG type sight (from Barney’s stockpile, which had a few good weapons). I felt prepared for anything, except maybe taking down striders. But Alyx said she’d had an RPG put on the car (just in the back) so if we needed it we’d have it.
I started walking to the car and ran into Dr. Kleiner. “Gordon! I’m so glad I caught you. I wanted to give you thing before you left.” He hands you a glove, only a left one. You put it on and it feels heavy and difficult to move. “It’s a new gravity gun. Just squeeze your hand to activate it, and it works just like the old one.” Handy. “And one last thing. Be careful Gordon.”
At the garage, Alyx is securing our ride. We’re taking the car we came in on, with a few modifications. On the back is an ammo crate of RPGs, and an RPG tube sits right above it. There’s a machine gun in the passenger seat, which I assume Alyx will commandeer to keep minor threats away. A Vortigaunt gives our ride a jump start.
“Looks good. We ready to go?” Alyx looks up from her work. She looks ready. She’s got her automatic pistol at her side, along with her utility belt. She’s wearing her usual outfit with the Black Mesa hoodie. She’s also carrying a large combat knife (it looks like a K-Bar) on her left side.
“What’s the knife for?” I ask her.
“What isn’t it for? I can’t believe I ever went without one.” She has a point, a simple knife can be incredibly useful. Alyx hops into the passenger seat and demands, “Get in and let’s get the hell out of here.”
“You seem eager.”
“I’m tired of sitting around here. I want to go out and do something.” So I get in the driver seat and we take off.
It’s still early, and the sun is behind us. Alyx pulls out a map and lays it out in front of her. “Alright, we can connect with a highway in about three clicks, from there it’s a straight shot, assuming we don’t run into any Combine. If we do we’ll have to take some side roads, which around here can get pretty messy.”
“I want to stay on the main road as much as possible, but at the first sign of resistance we’re abandoning that. Do we need to make any stops along the way?”
Alyx thinks for a moment. “Not really. Can we pull over, I have to got to the bathroom.”
I look over to her thinking we just left, and see her big grin. I knew this was going to be an interesting ride. I remind her, “Just keep an eye out for Combine and we’ll be alright. Any idea of what to do for the next 14 hours of non stop driving?”
Alyx looks over at you. “Not really. This car doesn’t have a radio. You wanna sing?”
“Alyx, I barely ever talk. Do you really expect me to sing?”
“You can listen to me sing. Did Kleiner give you the new gravity gun?”
“Yeah. This thing looks awesome.”
Alyx looks over at it. If you weren’t looking for it, it would just look like a glove. “That thing is amazing; I got to use it once. It’s completely intuitive, works just like you’d thing it would. And it’s not heavy like the original. You probably want to keep your arm straight if you punt objects though; it’s got a massive kick.” I’d believe it. One advantage of having a really heavy gun is that it absorbs some of the recoil. This thing weighs less than a pound.
“Is that it?” I see an exit to our left.
“That’s it. Get on it and hang right.”
“M’kay.” We take the exit at about 90 mph, and don’t slow down. I settle in for what I think will be a long and arduous drive. Then Alyx pipes up again.
“So do you think we should have kids?” Loaded question. Fortunately she continues, “Now that the suppression field is down we can. Not to mention we’ve been through a lot together, and I really like you. There’s really no such thing as marriage anymore. What do you think?” I think for about a full minute.
“Let’s wait until after we start an insurrection. Then we’ll talk.”
* * *
“So why exactly didn’t we go after the Borealis and Dr. Mossman again?” I really didn’t know. That’s where we were going when Eli died, we should have picked up there.
“Because” Alyx says in a drawled out tone like it’s obvious “Mossman is a cutthroat bitch.”
“That’s it?”
“I had a discussion with Barney. He said that because of what happened...” She pauses, remembering. “He said we should undertake something different and he’d send a strike team to find Mossman. He actually has a few ex-special forces that know what they’re doing.”
“That makes a little more sense. I know you don’t like her, but that’s a little over the top.”
“We just decided it would be better if you and I worked on taking back the planet, instead of this one special circumstance.”
I’d thought about this for some time. “You know, after we retake the planet, we’re gonna have to fight the Combine in space. They’re not from our world, and some day one of will run into the other. We need to be ready. Once we win this ground war, we’ll need to make a fleet of warships with incredibly weapons, just to keep them off the surface. Either way, our chances aren’t good long term.”
Alyx had a brighter side. “We can do only what is before us. If that isn’t good enough, so be it. Anyway, can we talk about something more-”
“Hold on!” We went from 110 to 0 mph in about 5 seconds.
“What the hell Gordon?”
“Look.” Down the highway about half a mile I could see movement. It would have to be big to see it from here; we were on very flat land.
“Oh. Strider?”
“I don’t want to stick around and find out. We can’t be seen if our plan is going to work.”
Alyx really is stubborn. “No. We’re taking this thing down, whatever it is. I’ll grab the RPG, you take the car and hide it.” She hops out and grabs the tube and an armful of rockets. I drive the car back a few hundred meters below a bridge. Here we go.
* * *
Alyx finds a spot where the road bends. She settles behind an outcropping of rocks on the outside, I lay low in a ditch below and across from Alyx. I make preparation on the radio. “Don’t fire until I give you a signal. 2 clicks. Until then maintain radio silence. Got it?” She spies me from her hiding place and gives me a thumbs-up. I see her load an RPG into the tube and settle in with her back against the rocks. Then we wait. Our friend turns out to be a Strider (a mechanical beast on 3 legs and about 40 feet tall). However, he is only the first. I realize that this column of troops is much larger than we thought. I have my M16 ready to go, my finger on the trigger of the M203 under-barrel grenade launcher. After 3 striders pass us, I see the real enemy.
The Advisor is a telepathic flying creature that hibernates in a tall movable vehicle that’s shielded against most attacks. It looks top heavy. As it round the curve, I give Alyx 2 clicks on the radio. I hear an RPG launch and see the Advisor’s vehicle tip towards me. I back up quickly but still lying prone, and the top lands about 6 inches from my face with an ear-shattering clang. I see the doors fly open and instantly I fear for my life. The Advisor psychically picks up Alyx and starts moving towards her. I see her drop the RPG and I know I’m her only shot. Bringing my weapon to bear, I launch a 40mm grenade into the Advisor’s back. Alyx falls immediately, so I know I broke it’s concentration at least. Then the Advisor falls with a gaping hole in its back, and I know I killed it. Although very powerful, they rely on their psychic prowess, not physical strength, to kill their foes. Even then, their guards usually do the killing for them. Speaking of guards…
When the Advisor falls, rounds begin chipping away at my cover. The Combine soldiers escorting the Advisor are not well trained and most of their shots are wide. I start picking them off one at a time with 3-round bursts from my M16. I hear rockets firing and Alyx doing her part, but I don’t see it. When the troops are mopped up, I realize what Alyx is working on. 4 striders are still standing with about 9 Hunter guards. Hunters, being a nuisance, are strong 3-legged machines that move quickly and gracefully, to assist striders and Combine forces. I reload my grenade launcher and feel the burn of the shell from my last round. I fire the round right in between 3 hunters, crippling 1 and blowing apart 2. I use carefully placed bursts to silence the rest hopping around Strider’s legs. I hear a crash of twisted metal on metal behind me.
I turn to see the source of the crunch. One strider is on top of another, both lying on their sides. Alyx fires another rocket into the front of the lower one, and they’re both down for good. Alyx and I both hit the last strider once with our explosive options, and it collapses. After it hits the ground, the area is so quiet that I can hear the leaves rustling in the background. I look over to my companion. “Not bad.”
She gives a massive grin, showing off her pearly whites. “You’re telling me. Did you see what I did with those two close together Striders?”
“Not really, but what I did see impressed me.” Alyx meets me in the center of the street and we start back to our car. While I reload my weapon she continues.
“I hit the left one’s leg and it fell into the right one. I think the force of one landing on the other knocked em out, but I put another rocket in them to be sure.”
“Awesome. I’ve never been able to hit their legs, they’re too tiny.” Strider’s legs are incredibly long and thin.

That's where I ended for now. I'll post more as I keep writing.

 

[dead-memory]

read first part put its late and I'm tired so ill read it later
but it seemed odd since its from Gordon's perspective, also it sounded ..well not like how it has been like with him sleeping and them talking about there feelings and shit. makes okay sense if it was like a romance novel for 80 yo women :s

 

[cyk]

Hrm.

I'm going to begin by saying: I just don't like Gordon-centered stories. It's very strange, having a silent protagonist talking. Thinking? Alright, I can sort of deal with that. And I know it's impossible to have a silent protagonist in a story like this, so I can't fault you too much for that.

At a quick glance, the one glaring thing is that you can't decide if it's in first or second person:

I started walking to the car and ran into Dr. Kleiner. “Gordon! I’m so glad I caught you. I wanted to give you thing before you left.” He hands you a glove, only a left one.

Better than yet another terrible story, though, this story definitely shines. Keep writing, it sounds nice. I'll have to look over it more thoroughly later.

 

[Derek]

Hrm.

I'm going to begin by saying: I just don't like Gordon-centered stories. It's very strange, having a silent protagonist talking. Thinking? Alright, I can sort of deal with that. And I know it's impossible to have a silent protagonist in a story like this, so I can't fault you too much for that.

At a quick glance, the one glaring thing is that you can't decide if it's in first or second person:


Better than yet another terrible story, though, this story definitely shines. Keep writing, it sounds nice. I'll have to look over it more thoroughly later.

Oh crap, I thought I got them all. I originally started writing in second person, then switched over when I realized it sounded like crap. Thanks.

 

[Derek]

read first part put its late and I'm tired so ill read it later
but it seemed odd since its from Gordon's perspective, also it sounded ..well not like how it has been like with him sleeping and them talking about there feelings and shit. makes okay sense if it was like a romance novel for 80 yo women :s

Between Alyx and Gordon there's a deep emotional connection. I wanted to expound on that. And I could have written some bullshit about how Gordon and Alyx ****ed and game over, but then there's no story. You have to make the story believable and full of feeling, or it's just more text in a random thread.