Half-life: Invasion

Hour 6: Fleeing

The calm was short-lived, as the earth-shaking roar of a giant alien reverberated in their ears. A giant, black-scaled monster with a single, glowing red eye strode toward them, unleashing torrents of flaming plasma from its arm-like appendages onto nearby marines.

"What the hell is that thing!?" A marine cried out, opening fire, the bullets bouncing off of it.

Icarus took this as a sign and sprinted past the other marines. The smart ones followed behind.

He jumped over dividers, the monster following close behind.

He ran into an alley, the gargantuan beast's footsteps thunderous. A large hoard of zombies came around the corner, making wailing cries and gurgles.

He was trapped. The giant alien's footsteps lingering closer.

He crouched into a crawlspace under a building, the beast walking to the opening and firing plasma, melting the end of the ventilation shaft shut. The molten metal's red glow was the only thing lighting up the duct.

The torso of an undead civilian crawled towards him, letting out a low gurgle. Icarus fired his rifle into it. He crawled past it and climbed up into a residential building.

He had come up into a living room. The television was still on, giving off static. A family sat on the couch, reduced to skeletons.

There was the sound of flesh tearing and bone crunching behind the couch. Icarus reloaded his rifle and snuck behind it. It was a two-legged alien with tentacles on its face picking off of a dead zombie. It turned around and spat a green glowing fluid at him. Icarus barely managed to dodge it, the liquid bubbling and dissolving the wall behind him.

Icarus fired his rifle into the alien, the carnivore eventually collapsing after roaring at him.

He climbed up the stairs.

"Any station, any station! This is Hotel Lima! We are being swarmed by mantas! We need air support now! Are there any air assets available?" His radio crackled.

"This is goose 6! What's your 20?"

"Lambda Base, near the refuge camp!"

An osprey flew overhead.

"We're on our way! What the hell is that-!"

Icarus heard the screech of a manta, followed by the sound of it's beam and a sickly green flash.

"Goose 6, do you read! Come in Goose 6!" The operator who requested backup shouted.