Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was a normal day, another client had march his way into Blitz’s office to form a contract. Loona didn’t know what to think of the labcoat wearing demon as he asked her with great urgency if they were the assassins he heard about. The hellhound sighed and pointed to the office. She was wondering what the muffled voices were talking about. The dude sounded panicked. Loona kicked her feet onto the desk and stared at her phone.

“Can you stop doing that, it’s unsanitary!” A small Imp yelled at her.

“Fatty, I’m the only one who uses this desk, I can put my feet on it if I want.”

“I’m not fat!” He exclaimed.

Suddenly the door to Blitz’s office swung open. Their muffled conversation was now readily heard as they stepped out.

“Alright we’ll handle that lickly splittly…” Blitz said, patting the client’s back.

“It’s lickety Split, Blitz” Loona called.

The taller Imp rolled his eyes.

“Yeah yeah yeah… Anyway M&M Doctor ‘I forgot his name already’ here wants us to kill his old boss.”

“Ah so a simple revenge kill eh?” The smaller imp said.

“The way he says, anything but, Moxxie. He’s been talking about world domination plots, a disaster waiting to happen… talking like a Loonie.”

The hellhound piped in.

“STOP CALLING ME THAT BLITZ!”
“Not you Loonie, the crazy loonie.”

She huffed and sat back down, now annoyed he keeps saying it.

“I’m not crazy, you have to k- get rid of him before something very bad happens.”

Moxxie called for his wife, Millie so she could hear the upcoming debrief when it happens. The Imp lady was curious what the labcoated man was talking about.

“Uh… What’s your boss’s name?”

“Breen, Doctor Wallace Breen… he has big plans and… I don’t know but something bad is coming.”

Millie was perplexed but otherwise excited for the mission.

“And where is this Bren?” Blitz asked.

“Breen. Two E’s sir.” Moxxie quietly corrected.

The scientist answered quickly.

“A facility in Black Mesa New Mexico. I don’t know exactly where, you just have to find him.”

Soon after that, Blitz dismissed the demon away to brief his crew. All thought the man was dillusional, or as most people would, painting his foe, or his boss, in as much of a bad light as possible. Nevertheless, they had to do what he says, he paid handsomely after all. Blitz held the wad of dollars in his hand and waved it around.

“First ever dude to pay before a killing, and says will pay again once the job ios done.”

“Don’t waste it on horse figurines again… Sir. I’d like to have water in the office this month.”

Blitz used the wad of money to bonk Moxxie with it. Before scolding him.

“I do what I want with it.”

Before the two could get into a hissy fight Millie interjected.

“Guys, shouldn’t we be talking about the mission?”

“OH RIGHT! LOOoooOOnie!!!”

“The fuck you want?” She dejected.

“Want to go with us today?”

She thought, as much as he embarrasses her when around him she could use the time out. And, beats having to answer the phone if someone calls. She nodded.

“Sure, why not. Someone better make sure fatty gets his steps in.”

“HEY!”

Loona couldn’t help but smile as the imp shouted. She joined their circle so she could be told what was going on.

“So, we go to this research base, kill the bad guy, leave get paid right?” Blitz laid out a straight forward plan.

“Shouldn’t we have a strategy? Like, split up to cover more ground. Or…”

“Oh get your pants unknotted Moxxie. This place can’t be that big.”

“It’ll be over before you know it, Mox” His wife assured him.

Blitz loaded his pocket with his gun and ammo. The other two obtained and loaded their weapons. All the while Loona just sat on her phone until they were ready to go.

“Alrighty, Loonie-Toonie you know what to do!”

The hellhound grumbled, before opening the book. Suddenly she remembered something.

“Disguises you guys…”

“Ah, don’t worry, we’ll be in and out before they know it!” Blitz claimed.

“Alright… suit yourself, I’m going to disguise myself at least.” Loona said.

She transformed into her human form right there. She grabbed the book again and read the portal spell.

“Now let’s go kiss some ass!” Blitz cheered.

“Ugh… he’s still getting it wrong…” Moxxie sighed.

The four jumped through the portal and onto the sandy ground on the other side…

Chapter Text

Blitz felt his feet thump against the ground, a cloud of reddish dust puffed around them. Moxxie and Millie followed suit causing more dust to puff out. Blitz wafted the dust away from his face.
“Loonie where are you?”

“Right here…” She answered.

She stepped through the portal and it closed behind her. Blitz gazed around him, his jaw hung open.

“What are you gaping abo- Woah…”

Their eyes darted from place to place, trams hanging from over head rails passing through the rugged desert. Hundreds of lab coated men and women walking about. Among them were blue dressed people with armor vests. Another tram passed by, a muffled computer voice sounded within. Onboard, a suited man with a briefcase adjusted his tie. Across the way, a road led up to a security booth and a cargo truck was waiting for clearance to get through. On the opposite road, a SUV with sirens blaring raced by. Blitz could barely make out the words as the car streaked by.

‘Black Mesa Security’.

Just as fast as the SUV appeared it disappeared around a corner it’s siren fading out. Their gaze shot up to balcony connected to large steel building. Several scientists, guards and what appeared to be office workers gossiped.

“Did you hear Jeremy spilled coffee on his computer again?” One said.

“Clumsy oath.” The other commented.
So much was going on Blitz couldn’t wrap his head around it. He turned into another conversation.

“The facility’s computer system is on the fritz again…”

“When isn’t it on the fritz!?”

Suddenly a helicopter thundered above, the three Imps and hellhound all watched it as it roared above the mountain tops and out of sight. The scientist paid no mind to the chopper, still gossiping away. Blitz finally got a look at a tiny sign in the distance.

‘Area 7 Recreational Facilities.’

“Woah…” finally slipped his mouth.

“In and out… pfft, so much for that.”

“Oh shut it Moxxie, we’ll still just find the guy, kill em and get out. Just… gonna be longer than I thought.”

“Yeah… We just got to find him first…”

“This place must be fucking huge.” Loona added.

“Yeah… Loonie… maybe it isn’t a good idea you’re here…” Blitz began.

Loona brow furled.

“Oh why’s that?” She asked coldly.

Blitz gulped deeply, he hated being stern with Loona. But as her father he had the authority… or at least he thought…

“Well… this place seems preeeetty big so…”

“AND?!?”

Blitz tapped his fingers together nervously, sputtering on his words.

“Y-You might get…. Um… lost?” He stuttered.

“Lost? LOST!? What the fuck do you think I am; a toddler!?”

The young adult growled and gritted her teeth, that even in her human form was till menacing.

“Loonie as your father...”

“YOU AREN’T MY FUCKING DAD!” She yelled out.

Blitz felt nearly every single eye landed on them. The gossiping stopped and a scientist even started absent minded poured coffee on his shirt. All stared in complete silence.

“You aren’t my dad, you just picked me up and treated me like a damn baby… I’m 18 Blitz!”

Blitz felt his heart ache, his leg muscles almost faltering. Loona saw tears form in his eyes, but keeping her composure she turn her heel.

“I’m gonna… go get a drink in there’s a bar around here.”

And she walked towards the main building. The gossiping resumed but Blitz’s world was still silent. He watched her walk away and his arm started reaching out to her. She sighed silently but kept walking, letting her punk demeanor win.

Blitz was forced back to reality when a scientist bumped into him.

“GAH! Hey watch it fuckwad!” He shouted.

The scientist dropped his papers and panicked.

“OH I’M TERRIBLY SORRY UM…”

The young male scientist stared at him, curiously. Blitz raised his brow at him, then realized.

‘Oh shit… no disguises…”

The scientist perked up suddenly.

“AH! You must be the clowns for the birthday party.”

Blitz taken aback almost retorted but a arm stopped him. Moxxie walked forward before Blitz could speak up.

“Uh, Yes sir for the lucky birthday… person. We just don’t quite know where to go…”

“Oh, that would be Level 3 Dormitories, little girls birthday. Daughter of one of my colleagues.”

Moxxie wanted to ask more questions; his curiosity of the facility was piqued. He wanted to ask why was the base so big, how many people worked here, what all did they research. He shook those questions from his mind, he had a mission and had to stick to it.

“Would a Doctor Breen happen to be there?”

The scientist cupped his chin.

“Um… possibly. He may say hello, leave gift or two and get back to work. He's a very busy man you know.”

Moxxie couldn’t believe how well this was working, nor Blitz. He stood aside dumbfounded how Moxxie is pulling this off. Moxxie almost broke character he was so proud of himself. He kept his composure and continue to play along.

“We’re still new to the… area… could you…?”

The scientist looked at his wrist watch.

“Heh. I guess I could, I got to pick something up from my dorm anyways. I’ll lead you there.”

Moxxie helped the scientist pick up his papers, which he thanked him for. The scientist then turn around.

“Follow me, we’ll take the transit system.”

As the group began top follow Blitz caught up to Moxxie. He slapped him on the back.

“Damn Moxxie, you are smarter than you look.” He teased before jumping ahead.

“Aw thank you sir… wait… what’s that supposed to mean?”

As they followed the scientist up the stairs to the tram station, Loona entered a recreation hall. It wide, large space with two pool tables in the center, a bar and kitchen space toward the back, several computers, an old timey jukebox, soda and snack machines, dart boards, all of it stuffed into one spacious room. Loona felt some eyes gaze up at her, then back down to what they were doing. She saw a guard smoking a cigar at the bar. She sat down a few seats from him. Seeing it must be okay to smoke, Loona grabbed a cigarette out of her bag and fumbled with the lighter. She flicked the flint a few times but no spark. She was about to throw her lighter when another lighter flick sounded. She turned to see the guard, still looking down, with an outstretched arm with a lit lighter in it. She gazed at the man, scruffy ungroomed facial hair stained his face, but she couldn’t see his eyes, his helmet hung too low on his head. She put her cigarette to the flame and took a puff. She sighed and smoke billowed out of her nostrils.

“Thanks.” She said.

“You know your not supposed to smoke in here.” The guard said in a raspy voice.

Loona scoffed.

“Then why are you?”

The guard leaned back finally. He took a deep puff.

“Because I don’t give a shit.”

“Then I don’t either.”

The guard chuckled and leaned forward with his elbows on the bar.

“So… guess you’re an employee’s daughter or something?”

She took am moment to think of an answer. She simply puffed her cigarette and answered ‘yes’.

“Bet you think this place sucks huh…?”

Loona fumbled for an answer. The guard chuckled again.

“No need to flatter me… trust me it does suck… but… pays good.”

“Yeah…”

A cook from the kitchen walked by, stopped and stepped back to face the guard. He looked at him with bewilderment.

“How have they not fired you yet?”

“Because…” He took a drag. “The boys upstairs barely do their job either.”

“Aren’t you supposed to be on report duty today?” The cook asked.

“Locked out of my PC, can’t do shit until techie boys fix it.”

The cook simply turned away, briskly walking into the kitchen. Loona felt a connection to this guy. Same demeanor, same attitude. She thought this guard would be a cool guy to hang around while the other three run amok in the base. They’ll just find her when their done. She can just sit here and talk all she wanted.

Blitz impatiently tapped his foot, waiting for a tram to arrive. He sighed in relief as the rail car rounded the corner.

“A train is approaching the station platform, please stay behind the yellow line until the train has come to complete stop.”

The dark grey monorail tram came to a stop in front of them.

“Please mind the gap when boarding the train.”

The group stepped aboard the train. Moxxie and Millie sat down next to each other, the scientist grabbed a handle, and Blitz stared out the window. The door closed and the train jolted forward.

“Uhg… Not exactly a smooth ride ain’t it?”

The scientist shrugged.

“When you ride it every day you tend to ignore it.”

“Welcome to the Black Mesa Transit System, this automated train is here for the security and convenience of the Black Mesa Research Facility personnel.” A computerized voice announced.

The train took a turn and Blitz nearly rolled over, catching himself before he would take a tumble. The Recreational Facility suddenly vanished behind a rock as the tram passed through a narrow corridor.

“The time is: 8:48 AM. Current topside temperature is: 89 degrees with a high of 107 degrees. The Black Mesa Compound is kept at a comfortable 72 degrees at all times.”

The tram exited the narrow passageway and across a huge viaduct that stretched across a huge canyon.

“We’ll be taking this train to the central transit hub. There, we will board the red line to Level 3 Dormitories.” The scientist suddenly said.

“Huh…” Blitz said, still facing the window. Meanwhile the couple were pointing at the sights and flirting with each other. Blitz decided to make small talk to pass the time.

“So… what made you come to this labyrinth?”

The scientist grinned, seemingly liking the nod to how big the base was.

“I always was fascinated by how the world around me worked. So, In my adult years dedicated my life to science.”

There was an awkward pause. More dessert passed by the window and the train reached the other end of the viaduct. The overhead track swapped to a under track. The tram jolted slightly as it transferred between the rails. The train rumbled along the rail for a bit before the lights flickered, the train slowed down before speeding up again.

“Oh no…” The scientist grumbled.

“What was that?” Millie asked.

“It’s Sector C, using Eighty Percent of the facility’s power grid to stare at a shiny rock for 10 minutes.”

The three just gazed at him. Not fully sure what he was talking about.

“They always push their equipment too hard, doing who the hell knows what.”

The train took a wide turn before a large round door came into view. The scientist faced ahead.

“Ah, the security checkpoint. Just a quick check before we go underground.”

Blitz looked at him, worried. The scientist caught on.

“Oh, don’t worry, I’ll give you clearance.”

The train stopped just in front of the door. To the left of the train was a small security building with wide windows gazing into the train. Two guards walked to the window and peered at them.

“Who are these three dwarfs?”

“These are clowns for the birthday party in Level 3 Dormitories.”

“Huh, Eli must’ve got that bonus he was talking about. Guess Alyx gets a special birthday this year.”

The guard checked something on his computer before giving the group a nod.

“Alright, we’ll line you through. Have a nice day.”

The guard clicked a button on the console in front of him and the door began to hiss. The upper and lower half of the door began to separate when the lights flickered again. The door slammed shut with a loud bang. Blitz felt the train shake lightly. The lights flickered back on just as sudden as they went off.

“Ah damnit. We’ve been having problems all day.”

“Mike, intercom is still on.”

“Shit. Sorry, hang on we’ll try this again.”

The guard once again clicked a button, and the door began to open. The hydraulic pistons pulling the door open with a loud whirring. The door fully opened and the rail extended out and connected with a zap and a click.

“There we go, have a nice day guys… or at least try to.”

The intercom disconnected and the train started forward once more. Beyond the threshold of the door was a downward grade. Just as the train passed the door the lights flickered again, and the train shook again. Blitz looked just in time to see the huge door slam shut and the train ground to a halt. The shaking seemed to get worse. A loud beep tone suddenly rang out.

“Warning- Energy Fluctuation detected in: Sector C, Anomalous Materials.”

The shaking grew more violent, dust from the piping above was shaking loose and falling down in puffs. The lights flickered more wildly. Blitz turned to face Moxxie, who had balled himself up in the seat and began to panic. It got even worse…

A ear piercing siren rang out, and red lights began to blink. Blitz spun around to see the lights ahead of the train explode. The scientist yelled and fell back.

“Warning- anomalous energy field detected in sectors, C and D.” The computer voice called out.

Suddenly green pustules of energy emerged all around them. Zapping in and out of existence quickly. Blitz heart raced, his blood pumping faster than it has ever before. The scientist was clenching his heart and gasping, but Blitz was too stunned to move.

“Attention- Security report to Sector C immediately.”

Blitz saw a security door open and the two guards from the checkpoint ran down a suspended catwalk adjacent to the train. A pipe above the catwalk broke away and Blitz watched in horror as it crushed the two guards and collapsed the catwalk below it, sending both bent metal and bodies down the dark pit below the train. Millie was holding her husband tight, curled around him and refusing to look out the window. But, Blitz eyes were glued outside, gazing at the unfathomable chaos around him. Several metal debris fell from the ceiling, some of the hanging lights fell from the sockets. The announcement system all the while kept spewing out warnings that Blitz couldn’t even try to make out among all the noise. A large piece of metal piping suddenly crashed against the roof of the train. Blitz heard something break and the train suddenly lurched, now tilted to the right. Blitz felt a force pull him back… no… something was moving.

Blitz turned his gaze outside to see the diagonal walls beginning to fly by. The train was now crooked, flying out of control down the grade. He grabbed onto a handle, the closest one he could find. The sound of screaming metal pierced Blitz’s ears, the inside of the train was lit up by the shower of sparks as metal grinded against metal as the train barreled downhill.

“OOOOHHH SHIIIIIIT!” He screamed.

The other two in the back screamed as well, holding one another in a tight hug.

Blitz stared into the distance, the bottom of the downward grade… and beyond it a sharp curve. Blitz closed his eyes, the veins on his hands straining as he held the handle tight. The upon reaching the bottom of the hill broke away from the track from the rear. The rear of the train facing down the pit below, with Moxxie and Millie pressed against the window. Finally, the tram entered the curve and the moment it did, Blitz felt weightless. The world slowed around him, his two terrified employees grasping each other mid-air. The scientist, Blitz had forgotten all about him. The scientist was limp and flailed as his uncontrolled body swung about. Blitz closed his eyes, he let out a soft breath.

“This is how we die…”

Blitz drew in a final breath and the train slammed into the side wall of the tunnel, bending like a can as it scrapped across the curved wall. In that very second, Blitz was out. His consciousness snuffed, like a midnight candle.

Before the chaos of an unforeseen event occurred, back above ground, Loona and her new found friend talked about how hard life can be. Something she never really talked about, but felt comfortable with someone who seemed to understand. The guard had bought her a burger meal as her stomach growled during the conversation. She took a decent bite out of it.

“Thanks again man, didn’t realize I forgot breakfast this morning.”

“Heh, early lunch never hurt eh?”

Loona leaned across the bar to take a sip of her drink when the lights flickered. She paused and looked around, confused. Everyone seemed to have the same irritated reaction.

“Damn those Sector C bastards…” The guard mumbled before lighting another cigar.

“What do you mean?” Loona asked.

“Oh… A bunch of braindead lunatics who decide it’s a great idea to shoot lasers at exotic rocks… And drain the damn grid while doing it.”

He took a irritated puff from his cigar. Loona didn’t want to pry anymore, seems like these set of scientists are disliked. She continued to sip her drink. The cook was hunched over, resetting the clock on the oven. Loona turned around to see a unvested guard and a office worker playing a game of pool. The guard cracked the ball and right as he did the lights flickered once more. The cue ball missed and office worker laughed.

“Damnit! Can’t play in this shit!” He shouted before tossing the pool cue aside.

“I just reset that!” The cook exclaimed throwing his hands in the air. He hunched back over to reset the clock again.

“Shall we continue after Sector C is done with their experiment?” The office worker asked.

“Yeah... that way it’ll be fair.” The unvested guard picked up his cue and went to go sit down.

Loona turned her stool back around, and picked up her burger, now she was just trying to keep herself occupied. A light shaking suddenly began, to which a few people inside the rec hall gasped.

“The hell?” The guard sitting next to Loona mumbled.

“Warning- Energy Fluctuation detected in: Sector C, Anomalous Materials.” The announcement system suddenly called.

Loona felt uneasy, and the guard’s reaction told her that this was not a normal occurrence. She couldn’t take another bite if she tried, her stomach had knotted up. She felt great dread and she didn’t quite know why. The lights flickering again didn’t help at all, and with it the shaking grew more noticeable. Stuff hung on the wall began to fall. The dart board crashed against the floor, sending whatever darts where in it sliding across the floor. Loona yelped as she felt her drink hit her leg, and splattered onto the floor. In her confused, shocked state she failed to see the shaking inched it off the bar counter. The shaking grew worse, ceiling tiles fell, an entire fluorescent light bulb detached and shattered on the floor. The Guard stood up quickly, shoving over the bar stool. He was just as confused. The fire alarm began to ring, and soon after the computer voice echoed through the room.

“Warning- anomalous energy field detected in sectors, C and D.”
Loona spun around to see green puffs of strange energy emerge and then vanish. The shaking was almost unbearable. Suddenly a loud explosion flashed from the kitchen and Loona was knocked from her seat. The next moment she saw the cook burst from the kitchen door. He was screaming in terror, running through the rec hall… on fire. He ran until he tumbled out the door, Loona saw him fall to the ground and roll.

Panicked, several scientist began to flee out the front door. The guard next to Loona peered into the now flaming kitchen. He locked eyes with a large tank, the fire spewing out of a nearby gas pipe growing ever so closer to it. He grabbed Loona by the arm, and she yelped.

“KID! WE GOTTA GO!”

“What!!??”

The guard didn’t quite repeat himself. He just yanked at her arm and began to pull her toward the exit.

“COME ON!”

Loona just let him led her, they raced out the door, her poor mind not having anytime to wrap around what was happening. She felt the hot desert air against her skin, the dust cloud of the people running ahead of them getting in her face. She wanted to look back, but knew if she did she would fall. Whatever got the normally carefree guard so worked up must be really something. She wondered what it was, she had no time to figure it out, nor see what it was.

Loona quickly got her answer as she felt the world behind her get brighter and the heat pressed against her back. The thunderous boom that followed launched her up and over. She felt herself flip, before landing on her back, as she did so she cracked the back of her head against the ground. As the world around grew darker and brighter at the same time, she drew a breath as something dark and heavy covered her face. Soon she slipped, in darkness as a bright fireball whooshed over her.

Chapter Text

Heartbeats, that’s all Blitz can hear. Were the heartbeats his, he didn’t know. He just simply heard them. He couldn’t see. With each heartbeat his head pounded. His body ached, but he couldn’t move. He didn’t know where he was, how he got there, or even if… who was he with again? He couldn’t remember. He tried to move once more, a sharp pain shot up his spine. His back was against something hard. He felt it when his back slammed onto whatever it was. He tried to pry open his eyes and for a split second saw nothing but red. He winced and his eyes closed. He heard sounds, but he couldn’t make them out. One sounded worried, another chanting something in rhythm. He felt a new sensation, something was pounding on his chest repeatedly, but he couldn’t figure out why. He started to make out stuff being said, others at least were alive around him.

“1…2…3…” Said a voice. “Damn it.”

He started to form memories, where he was who he was with…

Moxxie… Millie… Loona.

Suddenly, he huge jolt shot through his body, despite the massive amount of pain keeping him virtually pinned to the floor he shoved himself up. He gasped for air as if he hadn’t been breathing all his life. His eyes shot open and her finally took in the gazes. The horrified, bloody gazes. Moxxie nearly fell back in surprise.

“Blitz!” He called. “Oh crumbs we thought you were a goner!”

Blitz looked at him, Millie by his side, both bruised, bloody and exhausted, but alive. Blitz grasped himself for a second, feeling himself over, he was alive. He couldn’t say anything, his throat was dry, and raspy. He turned his head.

Devastation.

Ruin.

He was surrounded by it. The once, state of the art, massive, facility is now in ruin. A complete mess. He watched overhead lights dangle from the sockets, some even detaching and falling into the pit were the tram track was suspended. He turned around, following the track with his eyes, and the bent, torn piece of track on the curve.

“The train we were in… it crashed when… I don’t know what happened.”

“JEEZ LOUISE HE’S AWAKE!” A voice with a thick southern accent exclaimed.

Blitz turned to see a tall man in overalls and a high-vis jacket standing with water bottles in hand.

“Not gonna lie, when I dun left his heart wasn’t beatin’.” The man said.

Moxxie nodded.

“We thought we lost you, boss.” Millie finally managed to choke out.

Moxxie rubbed her back quickly.

“Sorry, when she.. we thought you passed away she been crying.”

The man in overalls chimed in.

“Well none of that now, look at ‘em. ‘live as can be!”

The man reached a water bottle to Blitz. He grasped it and chugged it.

“Name’s Jamie by the way, maintenance worker in the transit tunnels… or… ‘least I used to be.”

Blitz finished the water and gasped again. He groaned and coughed.

“Ah… fuck… I needed that… thank you.”

Blitz went to stand up, but gasped and collapsed back down.

“Oh none of that now” Jamie said. “Let Jamie check you out.”

Blitz wanted to protest, but looking around him. He’s got no other options. He slumped back down.

“Just don’t get too handsy.”

Jamie felt his ribs, they were intact, he felt his back, bruised, but all together.

“Sorry about that, I was focused on getting ya heart beatin’ again. Didn’t think to check for injuries the first time.”

Jamie sat down near the trio, taking in a deep breath.

“Well… three for four is pretty good to me. I’m tired.”

Blitz had to think for a moment. Who the hell was the fourth one…?

“I’m afraid our scientist friend got the worst of it.” Moxxie pointed ahead.

Blitz gazed further down the tunnel to see the mangled, bent to hell tram car. It was rolled onto it’s side. It had a long trail of scratches, skids and cracks leading up to it. Just peeking out from beneath it was a pair of legs and dress shoes. Blitz usually hated humans, found them dumb and obnoxious, but these ones were helpful. He felt… he didn’t know how to describe it. He saw blood, guts and worse all the time in his line of work. Why was one guy crushed under a train making him feel so…

“Do you know what happened?”

“Well as for the crash, yeah… but as for what caused it no idea… Can’t get a hold of anyone in this damn place. Not a single soul will pick up a damn radio…”

“How’d did we crash sir, everything seemed fine right before…” Moxxie asked Jamie.

“I was sittin’ down dere in my office and stuff started shaking, so I step outside and I just hear this god awful screechin’. Turns out, y’all were barreling down the slope like a bat outta hell. Hit that there turn too fast and… well… of ya went.”

“Y’all stayed inside the tram but as for your researcher friend, he appeared to have been partially ejected when yins hit the wall. That’s how he ended up under there.” He finished, pointing at the crushed scientist beneath the twisted remains of the tram.

Jamie slapped his thighs and stood up with a groan.

“Alright, speaking of my office, let’s all head there, yea? You got everyone here, right?”

Blitz took a moment to think. There was Millie… Moxxie… the scientist is dead… who else was there…?

“MY BABY!!!” Blitz screamed.
“WHAT!?” Jamie panicked. “YOU HAD A YOUNGIN’ ON THERE!?”

Moxxie quickly defused the situation.

“No, no he means his… well yes his daughter, but she wasn’t on the tram.”

Jamie sighed, somewhat, but not completely.

“She’s alone, scared, hurt… maybe even…”

“Blitz, it’s okay we’ll find her.” Millie tried to calm him.

“Yeah, I’ll help y’all…” Jamie said. “But… uh… where is she… exactly…”

Moxxie sighed.

“Above ground… somewhere…”

“Oohh… shit… the door…”
Blitz peered at him.

“What door?”

“That big circular door y’all went through to enter the tunnel… Security was ordered to close as many doors as they could… including that one… it’s locked and locked tight.”

Jamie pondered for a moment.

“Well, how ‘bout this, we head back to my office, y’all rest up and I’ll see if I can gets the radio workin’.”

Blitz nodded. Moxxie and Millie helped him up and they followed the tall maintenance worker to his office down the tunnel. Blitz laced his arms together and quivered for a moment.

“Please let my baby be okay… oh please be okay Loonie…” He whispered to himself.

Above ground, the dust was barely able to settle. The ground was soft, somewhat at least to Loona’s back. She heard the sounds of panicked voices storming about, a roar of vehicles engines racing by before a crashing into something. There was a strange heat on her face, but she didn’t know where.

“Hey. Hey kid.” A raspy voice called. “Kid, wake up.”

“Ugh… fuck… my head…” Loona groaned. “What the…”

She looked around, the building behind her was partially destroyed and on fire. Flames were shooting out of the roof with black smoke billowing into the sky. She turned to her side and saw tire marks leading up to a wrecked security jeep. The source of that sound earlier. She turned to the voice. The middle aged grumpy guard she was in the rec hall with just a few minutes ago was standing there. His uniform was singed and tattered.

“Ah, kid. Awake I see…” He looked around. “Welcome to hell…” he joked.

Loona gazed around them.

Ruin.

Absolute Ruin.

The recreation hall wasn’t the only thing damaged or destroyed. An office building in the distance had a huge hole in the side of it, with smoke rising out of it. The hole was oddly aircraft shaped.

The wrecked jeep’s hazards were still on, and the ringing of the door bell was still going. When the guard took notice of her looking at it he piped up.

“I don’t know what the fuck a happened, or what’s going on… but a guy with… I don’t know… looked like a raw turkey on his head crashed that jeep and stumbled off, groaning and shit.”

“Fuck…”

She then trailed down the road some more and there was the security guard with something fleshy covering his head. He was motionless and had several bullet holes in his back.

“He took a swing at a scientist, and when he kept doing it after I told him to fuck off I had to shoot him.”

“What ever stuck onto his head ain’t natural…”

The guard helped Loona up and she gasped when she saw her hand. She was no longer disguised. She yanked her hand back, hoping he didn’t see.

“What?” I’ve seen weirder shit in the past few minutes, you becoming all hairy and shit isn’t that bad compared to what I’ve seen.”

Suddenly, rapid footsteps approached them. It was another guard, who was shaken, but mostly uninjured.

“The radios are all out, I can’t reach anyone!”

Suddenly, a green burst of energy zapped at a guard tower in the distance, the lights inside exploded, breaking the windows as well. The guard just sighed.

“And the shithole still breaking around us isn’t helping.”

The other younger guard pointed suddenly.

“Look!”

Loona turned around to see a large tower in the distance, motionless, and not lit up.

“I’ll be damned… The Central Coms Tower ain’t on…”

Loona’s head tilted in confusion.

“The what now?”

The old guard stuck his radio out, using the antenna as a pointer.

“That is the base’s central communication center. We have our own radio, telephone, and internet system here… mainly to keep prying eyes out…”

“Took make a long speech short, if we get that tower back online, we can get some help out here…”

“You can camp out with the other survivors kid, me and Tim will…”

Loona butted in.

“I’m coming with.” She quickly rebutted.

“Alright then…”

The guard reached to his holster and pulled out a pistol. He placed it firmly in Loona’s hand.

“It’s got 8 shots, one’s in the chamber.”

Loona gazed upon the weapon closely. She had nowhere to holster it, but still accepted it anyway.

“Nice. Thank-“

Before she could finish her sentence something screeched and leapt up at the guard. It was small, and fleshy. But Loona couldn’t make out anything else. She raised her newly acquired pistol and fired at it. The bullet struck the creature and it went spinning away and landed with a splat. Now motionless, Loona saw the creature had four legs and a gaping mouth for a belly.

“Holy… shit… helluva shot kid…” The guard said, his voice showing a hint of impressed. “Just watch for cross-fire next time, yeah Saw that son of bitch zoom at the speed of sound in front of my eyes.”

“Right… sorry.”

The two guards and Loona looked down at the creature.

“What is it?”

“Don’t know… but it went for my head… think I’ll call it… Head Humper.”

The other guard look at his superior with an unamused expression. He pointed at the creature.

“It looks like a crab and seems to attach to the head… Headcrab.”

The old guard shrugged.

“Eh. You can call it Headcrab, I’ll call it a Head Humper.”

The two went back and forth for a while.
“I won’t be able to take it seriously…

“Just shoot in the same direction if you hear me yell Head Humper.”

“Please call it something else.”

“I tried to Hump my head, It’s a head humper.”

Meanwhile, Loona looked towards the radio tower in the distance, then to a partially destroyed building. A small thing moving caught her eye. Another little fleshy crab was in the window. She drew her gun and yelled

“HEAD HUMPER!”

She promptly dispatched the creature and it tumbled back further into the building.

“HA! HEAD HUMPER IT IS!” The old guard laughed.

The other guard looked at his gun.

“The more I hang out with you, the more I want to use this on myself…”

Loona finally turned to the two, her gun grasped in both hands.

“Guys, come on, the faster we get to that tower, the sooner rescue comes…” She said, talking sense into the two.

“She’s right, Tim.”

“Shit…” Loona mumbled. “Blitz…”

The old guard turned to her.

“Huh?”

“My… um…” She paused for moment, unsure what to say…

“friend… is underground…”

The old guard nodded.

“I’m sure they are good. If they are a fighter like you, they’ll make it. But, let’s get rescue on the way first, then we can head below and round up people for evac.”

Loona liked that plan. She nodded and checked her magazine.

“Let’s go.”

As they started on their way down the road, the raspy guard proclaimed.

“Oh if you need more bullets, grab some off the guy with the head humper.”

The other guard mumbled to himself, but Loona couldn’t make it out. She chuckled, something she didn’t think she’d do after all that has happened. She continued forward, with a sense of duty and a hope that her father was safe.

Chapter Text

Blitz took a sip of a black coffee he was given. The trio were taken to Jamie’s office. A small corner of the transit tunnel nestled a small office area. The man wearing overalls was tinkering with a radio, trying every frequency he could. Blitz’s anxiety only grew each time static came over. The light in a small dusty office would dim and flicker every so often. Blitz didn’t know if it was an after effect of the incident or it was always like this. He looked to his side, Millie had fallen asleep on Moxxie’s shoulders. Blitz felt a tinge in his heart, but his moment of loathing was interrupted.

“Things a hunk a junk!” Jamie exclaimed.

The man threw his hands in defeat.

“That’s every possible frequency in this place.”

Blitz sighed, disappointed, worried. Moxxie decided to ring up a conversation.

“There’s at least three office spaces here, where are the other workers?”

Jamie scratched his head.

“Eh… one guy got called to check a tram switch down the line, and the other… who knows.”

“Oh.”

Suddenly a series of thumping sounds resonated from behind a shut door. Then, something began banging on the door, trying to get it open.

“Oh, the bunks are in there, maybe someone is in there.” Jamie said.

He opened the door and it swung open violently, knocking him to the floor. What appeared to be a half-decayed corpse with a fleshy mass on it’s head stumbled out. It groaned, then growled before taking steps towards the trio. Millie, jump-scared by the slamming door awoke to see the creature.

“OH SHIT!” She screamed.

She hadn’t brought any weapons with her, initially thinking this would be an in-and-out contract. She locked eyes with next best thing. Leaping from her husbands arms she grabbed a pipe wrench and thrust it into the creature’s head. This caused the rotten corpse to tumble back, but it still groaned. Blitz reach into his coat and pulled out is flintlock. Closing one eye to aim he ended the creature’s miserable existence with one accurate shot to the head. It tumbled down into a heap with a fleshy thud. Jamie straddled backwards, frightened.

Blitz finally took a moment to realize just what had happened. This was some sort of zombie. Something he’d only thought he’d see on cheesy horror movies, or a TV show that was once really good, then became really bad and got multiple games and spin-offs.

“H-holy shit…” Jamie muttered.

“The hell is on it’s head?”

Blitz regained his senses and finally put his gun away.

“This wasn’t here before right?” Blitz asked.

“No… no…” Jamie answered.

Moxxie gasped, coming to a realization.

“Sir… call it a theory, but I think this and the whole place going to shit is connected.”

“I don’t know Mox, maybe this is like… Fuck I don’t know…”

“It looks other-worldly… at least the fleshy bit on top does.” Millie added.

“What if the incident was a quantum event that linked an alien world to Earth…”

Blitz almost laughed, but given the situation, didn’t.

“Now your just blabbering nonsense Moxxie.”

All the while Jamie sat in the corner, silent. Millie took notice.

“Um… Jimmy? Are you?”

He gasped and panted, being pulled from whatever was going on in his mind.

“Y-yeah… Just I don’t think we’re safe in here…”

“You got that right…” Moxxie quietly agreed.

Without saying a word, Jamie knelt by corpse and rolled it over. It to had over-alls on and a stitched on name-tag covered in blood.

“Corbin…” He whispered. “Ya lazy fool.”

Witnessing it, and realizing that the walking corpse used to be a man, Blitz became internally horrified of the implications. Even he, without Moxxie being a smart-ass to him about it, realized that whatever attached to the man’s head must’ve turned him into what he is now.

Jamie slouched back and shuttered, most likely coming to the same revelation.

“This is… unreal.” He muttered.

“Did you know him?”

“Y-yeah, he musta been sleeping when things went to hell”

“We need to go. If there was one there will be more.” Moxxie pleaded.

“Right. There’s a security station down the tunnel a bit. It’s a bit of a hike, but there’ll be weapons waitin inside.”

“There’s one also on the top of the tunnel… but…” Blitz stopped as the mental images plagued his mind.

“Pipe collapsed on the walkway…” Moxxie finished for him.

Jamie stood up, followed by the others. Millie took the pipe wrench in her hand. It proved useful in this encounter, she’ll use it again if need be. The party left the office and continued down the tunnel. Blitz could feel the stillness, the dust settling on the ground. The silence became more eerie as Blitz saw several corpses, some security some maintenance workers. One such corpse was impaled by a pipe, that seemed to dislodged from the tunnel ceiling. The pipe pinned the body to the catwalk.

“A survivor!” Moxxie exclaimed.

Further ahead a man in a dirty labcoat was kneel above another corpse. Blitz thought they were mourning who ever they were over. Millie called out to the man, she got no response at first.

“Hey! We’re here to help you!” Millie called out once more.
The labcoated man stood up and raised his head. The trio jumped back a bit, frightened. They realized very quickly that the man was also very bloody and had a fleshy blob on his head as well. It carried the corpse with it as it stood up, once it noticed the party it simply dropped it, and waddled towards them. Blitz took out his gun, only for it to click. He loudly cursed at himself for his failure to reload. Millie being the melee expert took it upon herself to handle the zombified scientist. She ran towards it and the zombie took a hefty swung, she dropped down and dodged the attack and slide under the creature to be behind it. With a swing of her own Millie struck the creature in the head, once, twice and then a third and final blow cracked the skull and sent the corpse to the ground.

“Easy as pie.” She said, hoisting the wrench on her shoulder.

“Yeah… I need a better gun. The Flock is cool and all but… I don’t want to be a one shot wonder.” Blitz said.

Moxxie groaned and face-palmed. Blitz did not know quite why. All the while, Jamie watched the three in silence.

The group continued on their way, Millie slightly upset she got dirty from beating a zombie to death. They finally got to the security office, but only found it locked with no one inside. Blitz stared at the glass.

“Damn… bullet proof… Can’t break in.”

“Perhaps we can find an officer to let us in.” Moxxie chimed in.

“Yeah, sure let’s just find a guard to ask them kindly to let us in.” Blitz retorted. “Oh wait! They are all DEAD.”

“Blitz, sir, now is not a time for you sassy atitude.”

“OH YEAH!” Blitz got into Moxxie’s face who shoved him back.

The suited Imp smashed his back into the retinal scanner. It sparked, clicked and promptly exploded in a shower of sparks before the door slid open.

“Oh shit… I mean… meant to do that, that was all me.” Blitz said proudly

Moxxie just rolled his eyes and followed him into the office. They pried open a gun case and looked inside. Several handguns and a shotgun donned the case. Moxxie grabbed the shotgun and looked it over. Blitz and Millie grabbed a handgun each and slide a magazine into the gun. Jamie sat on the chair and took a deep breath.

“Alright, where to next?” Blitz questioned

“Sir, look here.” Moxxie unrolled a poster paper and saw it was a map of the transit system.

“Nice, Moxxie. Do any of these lead above ground?”

“I don’t know… but they all connect to ‘Central Transit Hub’.”

The group jumped when a radio began to emit static on it’s own. The static was loud at first but then softened, and became more and more faint. Suddenly a voice came over, bit by bit.

“This is…. Sector…. Materials…” The broken sentence came through.

Jamie jumped from his seat and raced over to the radio. His heart racing, he was shocked, but very relieved. He dialed the radio in, trying to get a better signal.

“This is Sector C, Anomalous Materials we have suffered heavy losses. Is anyone there?”

“Yes, Yes, this is Jamie from Transit Authority, I hear you!”

“Huh… I guess Transit Authority is better than nothing. We have many injured, countless dead and… well the whole place has gone to shit.”

“I’m afraid we were hit too…”

“Wait… It’s not just us…?” The voice on the other end sounded frightened.

“No, the whole facility is breaking apart… creatures running around…”

The other voice muttered something.

“Oh god… it’s worse than we thought.” was all Jamie could make out.

“Oh, I’m not alone I have three others who seem to be very proficient in weapons.”

“Good, we’ll need them. I’ll gather whatever personnel I can and will wait for you in the Sector C security office.

“Alrighty, Jamie out.”

“Officer Jackson out.”

Blitz gleamed, finding some relief that the disaster just didn’t wipe out everyone. And if there were several survivors scattered about, Blitz hoped Loona would be one of them.

“We gather survivors from Sector C and then make a break for the surface, by then someone from outside ought to be coming in.”

Blitz nodded, althrough he wanted to be on the surface now, he knew Loona could be anywhere. There could be a small chance she ended up in that sector.

“Damn… never thought I’d play a good guy.” He joked.

“I like it. Maybe they’ll think us as heroes.” Millie added in.

Blitz gazed up at Jamie.

“Alright, bucko we’ll head there gather some people and skedaddle.”

Jamie smiled. Something he didn’t do since the first zombie encounter. It seems finding others alive lightened the mood for him. Moxxie suddenly chimed in.

“We’ll have a long walk…”

“Not really… That map doesn’t show the other thing that connects the facility…”

Blitz raised an eyebrow quizzically.

“And that would be?”

“The canals.”

Taking a few steps back, above ground a different trio were making their way down the road. It was quiet, Loona thought, too quiet. The torn apart landscape and billowing smoke from several building painted a surreal site. It was like a war-torn city, only nearly completely silent. The silence was defeaning to Loona. She wished for something to happen. And then promptly she got her wish. A small group of bloodied walking corpses were waddling about aimlessly. Upon noticing her and the two guards they groaned and began stumbling at them.

“More things with headhumpers!” The older guard called out.

The three raised their firearms and spilled rounds into the approaching undead. After several shots they fell down, but the fleshy crab like creature detached from the heads and they jumped at them. When one missed and landed behind her, Loona stomped on it with a meaty crunch. The other two crabs were shot before getting too close.

“Jesus Hank, I can’t take much more of this.”

Loona turned to the older guard.

“Hank huh… it fits.”

“Oh right, never spilled my name. But neither have you…”

Loona playfully rolled her eyes at the obvious hint.

“Loona. Odd name, but it’s mine.”

“But it is yours… and that’s what makes it unique.”

Hank turned to face a very tall tower in the distance. It was not too far away however.

“We got a little more to go before we get to Central Coms.”

“Right. The sooner we get help the better” Loona repeated her mantra from earlier.

The three of them marched forward, keeping a steady pace. They found the Central Communication Center to be fenced and locked shut. Hank tried to solve the problem by shooting the lock. Only for the bullet to deflect off and hit an adjacent wall. Hank was then berated by the other guard for trying. They needed a way in. The lock was pretty sturdy. Loona was stumped herself until she spotted a red barrel.

“What’s that?”

“Oil drum, why?” Hank answered.

Loona raided her brow and grinned.

“You thinkin’ what I’m thinkin?”

Hank looked once more at the barrel and then at the gate.
“Loona, I like the way you think.”

After rolling the drum in front of the gate, the two were ignoring the younger guard’s rant.

“Guys this is… damage to company property for one. And two, if you shoot it, it ain’t gonna ex-”

Loona popped a shot at the barrel and it erupted into a ball of flame, the blast breaking open the gate. The gate opened with such force it broke off the hinges. Loona raised her weapon triumphantly.

“Damn I’m good.”

“Alright, Loona… I decree you badass of the day.” Hank high-fived her.

“Fuck you guys.”

“Love you too Tim.”

They entered the Coms center and Hank scanned his eyes in a retinal scanner along the door. The security door slid open and they stepped inside. Hank opened a fuse box to see it smokey and several fuses blown. He called for Loona to toss him a few fuses and replaced them quickly. Tim flipped a breaker switched and the control room returned to life. The computers inside booting up themselves.

“How’s the tower looking?” Hank asked Loona.

“It’s lit up, I assume the red blinking light is good?”

“Yeah, so planes don’t crash into the tower at night.”

Hank sat himself infront of computer monitor. He logged on and brought up the communications monitor. A loud beep startled Loona as the screen turned red.

“Aw fuck what now!?” Hank cursed.

“Error- Transponder Offline.” displayed on the screen.

“Loona, check the little drum bits on the top of the tower.”

Loona leaned outside and saw something that was definitely out of place, quite literally.
“Hank, somethings dangling by the wire off the tower.”

“Well found our problem.” Hank said. “One of us will have to climb up and place it back in it’s socket.”

Loona gazed up at the tower. It seemed to have gotten a lot taller now that she looks at it.

“So who’s it gonna be?” She asked.

“Well, I’m going to get the systems all checked out down here…”

Tim quickly started making his way outside. Loona sighed in relief as she thought he’d volunteer to go up.

“And I’ll guard for more creepy crawlies out here.”

Loona gulped. Something the older guard took notice of.

“You’re young and spry, can’t be that hard.”

“I-I’m”

“What are ya, scared?” Hanked teased with a raised brow.

Loona quickly rebutted,

“What no!”

Hank turned back to the screen, and grinned so she couldn’t see.

“Alright then, climb the tower.”

“FINE! Then I will!” She exclaimed and stomped out of the control room.

Hank just grinned.

“Works every time.”

Loona found herself at the base of the communications tower. Now staring straight up it, she felt it grow even taller. It seemed to pierce through the sky. However, wanting to prove Hank wrong she opened the grate protecting the ladder and started up it. She felt her hands get instantly sweaty. But she kept stepping up the rungs. She kept her head facing up and repeated the line “don’t look down.” to herself as she climbed. She felt as if the air was getting thinner, but figured it was her head playing tricks on her. She felt confident as the dislodged transponder grew closer. However, she made a dire mistake, and in a split second looked down. Her grip locked tight and her feet could no longer move. The height and the ground far down below, made her face green. Her hands got even more sweaty, so much so she as loosing her grip.

“Oh fuck, I’m gonna barf.” She told herself.

The thought of the tower being restored, getting help, and finally trying to contact her father gave her enough confidence to keep going. She climbed further, and despite the ever growing unrest in her stomach, she made it to the transponder.

Then she realized, she’d have to let go with one hand to get the transponder back into it’s socket. She let go with her right hand, and held on with her left. She cupped the drum like device and attempted to insert it’s plug back in. She dropped it but caught it and herself when they both nearly fell. Her stomach lurched and she closed her eyes and took deep breaths. She raised the transponder once more and slid it into it’s socket. A small spark emitted out the plug and the transponder began to hum.

A voice echoed from below.

“HELL YEAH! GOOD JOB LOONA!” The voice of Hank boomed from below. “GET BACK DOWN HERE, WE’RE GONNA TURN ON THE TOWER!

Loona laughed lightly and began her way down the ladder. After a nauseous decent and found her feet on solid ground once again and vowed to herself never to climb a tower again. She was very relieved both to be off the tower, and to be getting help to the ravaged facility.

She stepped back into the control room. Hank gazing upon a now green lit screen.

“Transponder Online: Communication Network Ready.” Displayed on the screen.

“I’m upgrading your status to Badass of the Year.” Hank said.

Tim flipped another breaker switch and the whole tower began to hum steadily. Hank flipped on a radio to see if the efforts paid off. A garbled, yet intelligible voice came partially through.

“Sector…” Loud static interrupted the call. “Materials!”
“Alright, radios are working.”

“What was that?”

“A distress call finally coming through. Listen in while I try to get military frequency.”

Loona rested her head in her arms on the desk and listened the frantic call. It came over again, much more clearer. The restart of the tower worked.

“This is Sector C, Anomalous Materials we have suffered heavy losses. Is anyone there?”

“I’ll be damned, Sector C… wouldn’t be surprised if this is all their fault…” Hank groaned.

“Yes, Yes, this is Jamie from Transit Authority, I hear you!”

Loona phased out around this point, while Hank looked through a book of radio frequencies. She almost dozed off before a particular sentence graced her ears.

“Oh, I’m not alone I have three others who seem to be very proficient in weapons.”

Loona thought for a hot second. Three people, good with weapons…??

“Blitz!” She called out without thinking.

“Huh?” Tim peaked back inside from guarding the door. “

“Oh my… fa…. Friend.”

“Ah… they good with guns or something?”

“If it’s who I think it is, hell yeah.”

“More guns, more protection. Did they say where they are?” Hank butted in.

“No… shit…. And they signed off.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll find them and then get the hell out of here… with help from the army of course.” Hank assured. “Ah speaking of which…”

Hank turned the dial on the radio and pressed the button.

“Hello, this is The Black Mesa Research Facility, we have suffered a disaster of unknown type and are requesting assistance.”

“Hear you loud and clear Black Mesa, we are aware of the incident and are already enroute.”

Hank released the button.

“Damn mighty convenient.”

He pushed the button again to continue.

“Affirmative, when can we expect you?”

“We are arriving by ground and air. Expect heavy air traffic soon. Ground units should arrive after to aid in mass evacuation.”

“Alrighty, we’ll gather survivors to meet you. Out.”

“HECU Out.”

Loona smiled widely, and joined in a group high-five. She felt herself relax, and at ease. The military were going to help handle the creatures, and rescue the personnel. The logistics of how the IMP trio didn’t worry her, they’d figure out. Be it disguising as humans or stealing an army vehicle. They were going to be rescued, and things were finally looking up.

Chapter Text

The halls of the maintenance tunnels were dark, damp, and foreboding. The trio, more or less let Jamie lead the way, as he was the employee of the facility they were in. Blitz wrestled with his thoughts, Loona, why the hell he took this job, how the hell are they going to get back? He realized with a start, he had yet another reason to find Loona. She had the book with her. Blitz stopped in his tracks at the realization. The rest took notice.

“Uh Sir?” Moxxie asked quizzically.

“Loona has the book.”

Moxxie’s face contorted into a grimace. He was right, Loona had their only way out and here they are getting sidetracked following some random dude deeper into the facility when they should be going up. Jamie, who absentmindedly walked ahead, finally turned around to see that the three fallen behind.

“Rocks in your boots?” His accent thick and hearty.

“Uhm… James?”

“Jamie… yer close.”

“Right… Jamie we need to find uh… his daughter, but she’s on the surface… maybe we could…”

Jamie raised a hand, silencing the IMP.

“No can do, partner. We’re more underground than we are to the surface, and besides if we round up more from below ground, we can all meet our help together. I’m sure you daughter is perfectly fine… If she’s a fighter like you.”

Blitz lightly smiled. Loona was pretty strong for herself, so his confidence gained a little boost. Still, he, as her father was worried about her well being and hoped desperately to reunite with her soon.

“Promise, once we gather the Sector C folk, we’ll skedaddle to the surface.” Jamie said.

“Yeah, Loona might be up there, just waiting for us, perfectly safe.” Millie added.

Blitzo sighed, choosing to believe Millie. Yep, perfectly fine, safe, probably worried sick as he his with her. While entranced in his thoughts, there was a screech of sorts, and Blitz felt something land on his head. Startled, he grabbed whatever it was and threw it. He saw the fleshy, four legged squat creature as it landed with a thud against the concrete floor.

“The fuck!?” He cried out.

Millie, seeing the creature hiss at Blitzo, ran up with the pipe wrench she’s been carrying since a bit after the crash. She leapt up high, and in a swift downward swing, crushed the creature with a grotesque crunch. It let out a garble noise before it’s muscle tightened up and died.

“Fucking shit, thanks Millz.” Blitzo breathed out, still worked up.

Millie swung the pipe wrench up and onto her shoulder triumphantly, kicking the squashed creature over.

“I think this thing was tryna bite you Blitz.” She gasped lightly upon seeing the creature’s gaping maw that made up it’s entire underside.

A yellow pool of liquid started forming around the creature. Moxxie finally stepped over, albiet slowly and looking a little green.

“Ugh, I’m gonna be sick.” He groaned as the creature bled out before them.

Jamie looked on from where he stood, probably frozen in fear.

“Fuck me, that looks like the thing on Corbin’s head.” Jamie muttered.

They took another good look at it, and it indeed was. Before they could turn back around, Jamie raised his hand and pointed down an adjacent hallway from them.

“Fuck, more of em!” He yelled.

The three imps spun around, a whole group of the creatures where heading towards them. Moxxie raised his pistol, and fired at the leading one, it spiraled and spun towards the others. The rest of the creatures either went around their fallen comrade, or walked over it. Blitzo came into Moxxie’s point of view, wielding something he didn’t know he had.

“What the!?” Moxxie called. “Blitz!? What are you doing, where did you get that!?”

Blitzo ignored him, focused on the threat ahead of him. He pulled the racking slide of his suddenly acquired shotgun with a wide grin on his face.

“Alright, let’s see what daddy’s packing…” He whispered in a low voice to himself.

He fired a shot and several dozens of pellets sprayed one of the creatures, splattering it to the four winds, leaving behind only it’s legs which flopped over comically. He racked another shell, and managed to nail two more of the approaching fleshy arthropods in one shot. Millie, not wanting to miss out on the fun, grabbed her wrench and swung into the last one of the creatures, sending it careening into the wall with a splat. With the threat dealt with, Blitzo racked one more shot, then lowered his gun.

“Now that’s more like it!” He cheered out loud. “Things were getting boring down here.”

Moxxie approached Blitzo still dumbfounded.

“Sir, where on earth did you get that, a-and where were you carrying it!?”

“Simple Mox, that security office back there had one in it, and I shoved it down my pants.”

Moxxie’s palm slapped against his face. “Why am I not surprised.”

Jamie seems to be staring at them in shock. He takes a breath and even tries to speak a few times. He finally gather’s his wits and speaks up.

“Y-You ain’t circus clowns are you?” He asked quizzically.

Moxxie turned to him and cringing a bit at being caught. He stuttered on his words a bit before finding something that doesn’t entirely reveal why they were really here.

“Well… we have a decent amount of combat experience, but no, not circus clowns.” Moxxie said softly.

Jamie simply nodded, seemingly either satisfied with the answer or not wanting to press more. He simply turned around, choosing to focus on more pressing matters.

“Let’s get ourselves to Sector C, then, them guys are waiting for us.” He began to walk towards a steel door.

The group read the faded text that labeled it, ‘Canals’.

“Because this place is so big, and houses so many, it has it’s own entire water system. These underground canals transport water from the lakes west of here, to well… here.” Jamie began speaking.

“These are interconnected with just about everything here, with this shortcut, we’ll be in Sector C in no time.”

Blizto walked up beside Jamie. “And the sooner we get the Sector C nerds out, the sooner we make it above ground.”

Jamie nodded and pushed open the door, the trio soon followed behind seeing a deep trench with greenish brown water flowing loudly through it.

“Ugh… I promise the water isn’t usually this gross looking.” Jamie nervously says while rubbing his neck.

“Yeah, I’ll uh… take your word for it.” Blitzo said.

Around them, more damaged infrastructure, the concrete walls had cracks running along them. The catwalks lining the upper levels were rusted, across the way, some even fallen down. The water below had various debris floating and bobbing around in it. They stepped onto the catwalk, it creaked lightly, but didn’t budge.

“Whatever happened must’ve hit here too…” Jamie said somberly. “I’m starting to think it hit everywhere.”

“Look, more of them… uhm…” Millie pointed down along the sides of the canal, a trio of those weird looking creatures waddled about. Suddenly a new creature, one with two legs sprinted towards them, it looked like a lizard of sorts. They watched it spin around rapidly and fling the smaller four legged ones away into the water. As it spun they saw that where it’s mouth should be was covered by tentacle like appendages.

“What the fuck do we call these things…” Moxxie began.

“Uhm… For the four legs, head crabs, because it looks… sort of… like a crab, and tried to bite Blitz’s head.” Millie answered. “As for two legs, there… uhm… got nothing.”

Millie pointed at the new creature, it turned to her and growled. It reeled back and spit a glowing green liquid up at them. The quickly shifted to the side out of it’s path and watched as it splattered on the wall behind where they were just standing two seconds ago. It sizzled before solidifying.

“Fuck a thing that spits acid, what kind of fucked up sci-fi bullshit is this!?” Blitzo yelled.

They hear it spit once more, several blobs of the glowing substance rapidly arcing through the air. Blitzo combat rolls right as Millie and Moxxie hide behind a crate. Blitzo fired a shell downward and explodes the acid spitter’s skull. It flops in a heap, with it’s legs spread out and yellow liquid pouring from it’s wound.

“Fuck me…” Blitzo sighed. “Alright, now that we have something that is a bit of a threat, this is a bit less fun.”

Taking a look across the way, Blitzo lowers his weapon.

“That looks like all of them…” He turns to Jamie. “Where to now?”

“Well, we need on that side to continue, but the problem is…”

The trio simultaneously looked at where Jamie was pointing, the path across looks very weak, on the verge of collapse even.

“Yeah… no way.” Moxxie said. “Even if we walk across it one at a time, it’ll still likely fall.”

Blitzo elbowed him with a shit eating grin.

“So you are admitting your fat?”

Moxxie shoves his arm away.

“Oh shut the fuck up…” He says in a unamused tone. “...sir.”

Jamie stepped between them.

“Ay, none of that now, got a mission. Our next way across is down and over, but…”

Millie looks over the railing and watches the water below them. It’s flowing very quickly, if they try to swim they’ll either get swept away, or pummeled by floating debris.

“The water…”

Jamie leans against the wall, seemingly deep in thought. Blitzo, thinking they reached a dead end wants to shout out, yell. He feels his blood boiling. It’s not fair, his… not so little girl is above ground and they are stuck down here. He takes in a deep breath, ready to unleash his rage.

“The gates.” Jamie suddenly says. “The emergency water gates.”

The trio turn to him as Jamie pushes against the wall to stand back up.

“The canals can be closed off by gates that seals off any water flow, mainly if maintenance has to get down into it.”

“If we close the gates, we can get across.” Moxxie says.

Jamie smiled, making finger guns towards Moxxie.

“This guy gets it.” He says. “There should be a pumping station on this side, and connected to it should be this section’s gate controls.”

Jamie turns around and opens a hatch in the catwalk behind him. A red painted ladder goes all the way down to the sides of the canal, which are lined by a concrete floor going parallel to it’s length.

“Down here we can get access to the pumping room through the pipework tunnels.” Jamie said. “If Garret told me correctly.”

Jamie began to climb down the ladder. Blitzo shoved the shotgun down his pant leg and awkwardly climbed down the ladder next, albeit stiff legged on one side. Millie and Moxxie joined next, just as Jamie set foot on the lower level. Blitzo jumped off the ladder soon after.

“Hey, if your putting that thing in your pants, do you have the safety on bud?” Jamie asked him. “The last thing you and I want is having that thing go off and blowing your pecker off to kingdom come.”

Blitzo cringed for a moment before reaching down his pant leg and shuffling around. He clicks something and brings his hand back to him.

“Now it is.”

“Yeah, imagine having to tell your daughter that, sir…” Moxxie veered as he made it to the bottom with them. “Sorry Loona, your father bled out after shooting his dick off.”

The comment earned a small snicker from Jamie, who quickly covered it up by clearing his throat.

“Alright, and through this short corridor and…”

His sentence was suddenly cut off and all the trio could here was gasping and choking. They turned to see Jamie being hoisted upwards by a rope of sorts. Moxxie quickly drew his pistol and trailed the long rope upwards, he saw a fleshy mass hanging to the catwalk they were just on. How did they not notice it before, Moxxie had no idea. He fired several rounds at it before it let Jamie go and he fell to the floor. The mass seemed to cough and then stretch downward as a strange liquid spilled out of it. Jamie managed to blindly roll upon landing and watched the substance splash next to him.

“Aw fuck!” He coughed. “Just keep getting more and more of these hellspawn!”

The trio shared awkward glances before quickly looking away as Jamie stood back up.

“Thanks, bud. I owe ya.” He said, rubbing his neck where the thing had him.

Without skipping a beat, Blitzo turned to Millie.

“Millz what are we calling this one.”

“Barnacle…”

Moxxie cut in.

“Because it clings to surfaces, like a barnacle.”

Blitzo scoffed at Moxxie.

“Yeah, no shit genius.”

After letting Jamie get his breath back, he got right back to his duty. He was filled with a sense of determination.

“Shit keeps getting worse with every passing minute. There might not be anyone to save if we take too long.” He says pushing past the trio towards a bulkhead door.

He grabs the wheel of the door and rotates it. He grunts as the wheel doesn’t budge at first, but he breaks its loose and spins it around. The door opened with a loud creak and beyond it a spiderweb of pipes. Pipes of various sizes, strewn all around. The sound of dripping water echoed through out the room.
“Hope you don’t mind getting wet.” Jamie said, before stepping foot in ankle deep water.