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chell

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Outside the bugs might still be screaming. It's hard to say. The humans operating the floodlights came forward to grab Chell and Adrian as soon as they saw them- well, to grab Chell. Shephard almost got shot, because when the antlions are swarming and the bullets are flying, a gas mask looks an awful lot like a Combine full face helmet.

Someone saw what they were about to shoot in time, though, so Shephard avoided that fate. They're inside now, being led through the narrow corridors of some sort of concealed base. 'Led' is the operative word, as Shephard is still trying to recover from having floodlights turned on while using his mask's night vision functionality.

"So," says the human closest to Chell, a dark-skinned woman with her shotgun slung over her shoulders. "What's your story, anyway?"

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"I spent enough time on watch tonight," says Shephard firmly. "Never pass up an opportunity to sleep."

Tim nods. "All right. We'll see you in the morning, then. Natalie?"

Another woman steps forward and nods to Chell and Adrian. "Come on. There's a few available beds in the bunk area towards the back."

"Thank you," Chell says, turning to follow her. "And this should give you a chance to recover from those lights, right, Adrian?"

"Sure hope so," says Shephard. "My head's still spinning some."

"Sorry about that," says Natalie as she leads the way. "It tends to throw the bugs off guard. The only starlight scopes these days tend to be built into Combine helmets, anyway, so..."

"I'm sure it will. Sleep is good like that." She won't go into the specifics. "So, how long have you all been in this... facility?"

"A few years now. Some of us longer than others," says Natalie. "A lot of us were holed up in this or that part of the countryside, hiding and surviving as best we could. Tim and a couple of the other senior rebels managed to find each other and start scouring the countryside, and brought people back here whenever they could."

"That's... longer than I've been awake," Chell muses under her breath. It's still so weird, to wake up to this world that's nothing like what she knew, either in Aperture, or before then. Gordon got a crash course in the center of it all. Chell still feels like an outsider.

Nathalie chuckles quietly. "Some days it feels even longer than that," she says. "Okay. Common dorm is that green door up ahead. Unless you two need anything else, I need to go take my shift on guard duty."

"No, thank you very much," Chell says softly. "Have a good shift."

When she's gone, Chell whispers, "Well, we found others. What do you think of this all?"

"The commander's an asshole, but he's an asshole who knows his shit," says Adrian. "I was watchin' his face. Man's a poker player and he holds his cards damn close to his vest. I say we stick with these folks and see what happens next."

Chell nods. "It's a roof over our heads and resources to pool, at least."

She's managing her agoraphobia very well, really. But she still likes having solid walls around her, and is trailing her fingers along the wall behind her unconsciously.

Edited 2008-11-23 04:53 (UTC)

"Better'n nothin'," Adrian agrees. "We can talk it over more in the morning. Right now I just wanna crash."

"You deserve it." She pauses, looking down at the ground briefly. "Thank you for saving my life, tonight. You could have left me behind, and you didn't."

"I don't think I'd be able t'look at my reflection in the mirror again if I ran out on you," Adrian says. "I mean, if we ever found a mirror again. You know what I mean..."

"Yes, I understand... I haven't seen a mirror... so long. But still. It means quite a bit to me."

This is not the time to ask if there's a Mr. Chell somewhere, so Adrian doesn't. He just nods. "You're welcome," he says. "Just doin' my duty."

Chell smiles a little. "It's... you're a good person, Adrian."

"I try-"

He can't get more than that out before the giant yawn hits him; apparently the adrenaline's gone. "Damn," he says when he's done. "Sorry, Chell. Let's head on in there."

Too bad the door leads to somewhere else entirely.

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