H λ L F - L I F E: Bishop's War✔️

CHλPTER 16: Security Issues

                                                                 PλRT THREE
                                              –A SHλDOW OVER BLACK MESA–

Today, Eric decided, was worse than yesterday.

Although he'd gotten laid today, and the sleep had been nice, and he was among his allies, he was just feeling crappier. Maybe it was because, as he crawled on his hands and knees, his lower back aching fiercely, through the ventilation ducts of Black Mesa, he had the growing suspicion that things were only going to get worse. And not at a gradual pace, but really fast. He didn't know why he had this growing sense of doom coursing through his veins like poison, only that he did. And so far, Eric's intuition had been pretty spot on since this whole cataclysm had descended on him with all the fury of an archangel.

Not perfect, but definitely at least a C or maybe even B average.

So what did that mean? He kept turning it over in his mind again and again as he grunted and sweated through the ducts, the others doing the same behind him in a ragged line. What could he do? That was the question that he kept coming back to. He had two choices. Well, technically, he supposed, he had many choices, but ultimately they all boiled down to just two. The first choice was to keep going the course and meet up with these scientists and hear them out. The second choice was to say 'screw it' and go his own way.

The only problem with that was not only would he probably be going his own way alone, significantly reducing his chances of survival, but he had no idea where to go or how to freaking escape Black Mesa intact. Which also reduced his chances of survival. If it came to that, he wasn't prepared to throw in the towel. Honestly, he'd keep going no matter what, because he knew he didn't have it in him to just quit.

Or, well, he believed that.

So staying the course was his only choice right now, realistically speaking. His mind fumbled as he heard a distant gunshot and he looked up ahead of him. The exit grate was a lot closer now, within about three meters.

"We're almost out," he said.

"Freaking finally," Maria muttered angrily.

He crawled the last bit of distance, closing the gap, and peered through the fine mesh grille of the vent covering. He was staring down at a hallway that extended out of sight to the left and right. There was blood on the wall ahead of him, and he could just make out a corpse on the floor. He listened closely, and thought he heard something thumping quickly around somewhere out there. Otherwise, it seemed clear.

"Okay, I'm going," he said.

Eric pushed the grille off with some effort and winced as it banged to the floor. He waited to see if anything or anyone would come running, but nothing did. Carefully, he poked his head out, looked left, then right. The corridor ended in a closed pair of doors to the left, and opened up into what looked like a mess area to the right. He dropped down and was still trying to figure out which way to go as the others came out of the vent behind him when he heard a faint shout and a gunshot. Well, apparently the decision had been made for them.

"Heading right," he said, raising his assault rifle.

"Got your six," Maria replied, coming after him.

They moved through the open doorway and into the mess hall beyond. It was, like its namesake, a terrible mess. There was a lot of blood, and over a dozen corpses, almost all of them wearing white labcoats, and he heard Vanessa make a low, sick sound as she entered the room. He knew how she felt. He remembered coming into the bloody wasteland that was his security HQ yesterday and finding all that slaughter.