HALF LIFE: FULL LIFE CONSEQUENCES [REWRITTEN!]

CHAPTER THREE: A HERO'S BEGINNING

Sometime, in the far, far, not that far future. A decade and a half or so later from the present, the world had, for a lack of better words, gone to complete shit. After the man destined to save humankind had so unceremoniously disappeared when the world had needed him most, the aliens invading Earth had issued a full takeover.

Among the newfangled species on the planet were The Combines. Strange, apparently humanoid and violent creatures clad in soft yet sturdy grey armor and pale masks that accentuated their freakish glowing eyes. They were the main ringleaders of the world's destruction, and they were on the winning side of a one-sided battle.

One victim of The Combine's tyranny who dreamt of nothing but revolting whenever he could was teenage Henry Freeman. He had heard the stories of his father being the one the prophecies were about, until he was zapped from history without explanation. Just gone one day, leaving the world he lived on to rot.

Henry hated The Combines, but he resented his father almost as much for leaving him and Earth behind.

At least my father wasn't a fascist. The young brunette boy reasoned as he walked down the Combine littered street, his mother Winslow Freeman in close stride.

"Mom?" He began, not taking his green gaze off of the young woman three of the invaders were currently assaulting.

"Yes, honey?" His mother replied, looking away as to save her eyes the ache of young bloodshed.

"Why are The Combines beating up that girl? What did she do wrong?" Henry added, his voice a mesh between fear, sorrow and unbridled rage. "She hasn't done anything wrong, dear. They're Combines. We're humans. It's merely in their nature to destroy humanity." The woman explained wistfully.

Henry, having inherited his dad's very obvious hero complex, didn't like the sound of that one bit.

Henry, also having inherited his dad's inability to hold his tongue for more than a few seconds said "Hey, Combines! Stop beating her up you- you...evil guys!" Nailed It! His mother hushed him in warning as the aliens let go of the woman and turned their eyes, and guns, to the remaining Freemans.

"Be quiet, kid. Before we shut you up for good." One of them hissed, aiming its laser gun directly at the boy's face. The other two followed suit. Henry began to sweat profusely, though he kept looking at danger head-on. Literally.

"Combines, please don't! He's so young. He doesn't know what he's talking about, please, just don't shoot!" Henry's mother pleaded right as the small army switched targets.

Needless to say, triggers had been fired that day, and Mrs Freeman crumpled to the ground, clutching her midsection where she had been shot. The Combines laughed and grinned as Henry cried out. One even remarked that she had been a 'foolish human girl' between giggles.

The teenager crouched down and grabbed his dying mother's hand as it shook. He didn't dare let go, even as the blood from her wound began to drip onto them both. "Henry John-Winslow Freeman..." She croaked her son's full name as blood bubbled in her throat. "You need to...get out of here...as fast as you can." Her breath was audibly running out.

"A-alright. I will, Mom. I'll avenge you too, I swear. They won't get away with this. They can't get away with this." Henry promised grimly and his mother smiled feebly in response.

"Oh...you sound just like your father."

Her eyes glazed over and she went limp, her corpse still wearing a bittersweet smile. In a fit of grieving rage, the boy grabbed the nearest rock and chucked it, not at all expecting it to hit one of the evil soldiers and knock it dead upon impact. He stood back up in disbelief, gazing back down at the twitching grey body in front of him.