Half-life: Resonance

Chapter 2: Military Command

Subject: Dagfinn, Icarus

Status: Employed

Occupation: Black Mesa Security

Wanted: Needed for Questioning

Once up the stairwell, they were in an office complex. They heard gunshots in the distance.

Some scientists ran toward three marines.

"Finally, rescued at last!" One of them cried.

The soldiers opened fire, killing the lot of them.

Icarus sprinted towards the marines, cocking his shotgun.

"Squad! We've got hostiles!" One of them shouted.

Icarus fired into them, killing two.

The last of the group turned to face him, firing his SMG at Icarus.

"Take this you bastard!" The marine shouted.

He hit Icarus in the knee.

Icarus fired again into the last one, grunting.

He limped to Rin and Thaddeus.

"Come on, let's get going." He said, a bit out of breath.

Thaddeus looked at his wound.

"I'm medically trained, I can help you with that." Thaddeus said.

He applied a bandage to the wound and a splint over the knee.

"That should do for now."

They proceeded through the area.

Icarus picked up the submachine gun, handing it to Rin.

"Wh-what am I supposed to do with this, Icarus?" He said, concerned.

"Shoot to kill. Don't forget to reload. I don't know whether or not I'm going to be around through this whole mess."

They spotted a security office and went over to it.

Icarus used his keycard on the door, the security door sliding open to reveal a two-legged monster with tentacles coming off of its face picking at a dead security guard. It turned and growled at Icarus, spitting something at him, which he managed to barely evade.

The wall behind him began to sizzle, slowly melting.

He fired his shotgun into it, the beast collapsing.

They'd come across an armory.

Icarus picked up six grenades and a revolver from a shelf. He took three speed loaders from a desk.

They left the room.

"Attention: All Security Personnel report topside for immediate questioning." The PA system announced.

The air grew still. Icarus heard quick, quiet footsteps. The cold air smelt of blood and gunpowder. He heard the skittering of the cockroaches under his feet. Suddenly, the calm was broken by a thud. He darted his eyes to Thaddeus, who now had the point of a knife blade sticking through his face. Thaddeus slumped over.

"Shit!" Icarus shouted.

He unslung his shotgun, swerving to the left and right, looking for what killed Thaddeus.

A shadowy figure appeared from the hazy air, only the three red eyes of night-vision goggles glowing.

Icarus fired both of his barrels, the figure bursting into large chunks of flesh.

He turned on his flashlight, looking for more. Rin had fled to the armory.

'Typical of the science team, run and hide when any threat is around.' He thought to himself.

He saw another figure appear in the armory. He took out his revolver, aiming, then firing straight into its head through the links of the chain-link reinforced window, shattering the glass.

He holstered it, unslinging the shotgun.

"Any more of you? Who wants some!?" He shouted without thinking, anger filling his voice, but the unnoticed yet overtaking undertone of dread piercing the dead, stale air.

He cocked his weapon, seeing another shadowy figure emerge.

He fired his shotgun, hitting the figure in the gut, making it double over. He walked to it, kicking it onto the ground and stomping on its head.

He went and got Rin.

"Come on, let's get going." Icarus said without emotion.

They continued down the way. A large blast door was shut, behind it, humans shouting with gunfire and the roaring of a beast he couldn't describe. He smelt burning flesh, gunpowder, and the sickeningly sweet smell of blood and raw meat.

Reluctant, he opened the maintenance door just as the human voices and gunshots stopped.

A gargantuan beast ran towards them, a red-eyed, bipedal beast with a gaping maw. He grabbed Rin and sprinted, the monster smashing through the blast door, chasing after them. Icarus ran to a ventilation shaft, kicking it in and crawling through with Rin behind.