The Red Zone - Story

This story is set in the Half Life 2 Universe, so keep that in mind so you don't get confused.</i>



The Red Zone



Chapter 1



“This is it,” Joe said, as they stood around a table with a few bags of supplies spread across it, “this is all we have left, it’s only enough for one more week. We’ve stripped all the buildings clean within a two-hundred and fifty mile radius, there’s nothing left, we have to move on.”

“Can’t we just expand our search parameters?” protested Zero.

“No, the OTA patrols are getting closer by the month, sooner or later they’ll find us if we stay here.”

“Well, where could we possibly go?” Fred asked, not seeing any other place to possibly go.

“Through the red zone.” Joe replied, his voice stern and not a trace of a joke. The few that attended the meeting gasped and mumbled to themselves. The red zone was the area in which the Necrotics had over-run, they’d marked it down on the map as a no-go zone. Anyone that dared venture there for supplies hadn’t returned, and for that reason everyone assumed it must have been a gold mine for food and water. “Are you out of your damn mind?” hissed Bolt, as he stepped forward.

“I know what you’re thinking, but it’s our only shot. I don’t see any other place we could go.”

Fred folded his arms, and seriously considered the possibility for a moment. “Well,” he said, “maybe Joe’s right. The red zone has to be filled to the brim with shit for us to scavenge, food, water, metal, wood, vehicles and ammunition, I’d bet any money the place has all that stuff.” He stopped, and looked around the room, the others were definitely considering it, some even nodding. Bolt, Francis, Zero and Joe, all looking to each other for confirmation. “All right, I’m in, but we’d have to go in armed to the teeth.” Francis added.

“That’s a given.” Fred replied.

“Fuck it, we aint got no other option, I’m in.” Bolt said.

“You guys would probably die without me so, yeah, I’m in.” Zero decided.

“Well, it’s settled then, we go through the red zone.” announced Joe.



Fred cleared his throat, “Well, I better go tell the grou-” Fred was interrupted by Davis, who’d been quietly listening from the door. “We can’t just, ‘go through’ it. We’ll need some sort of recon mission first, see what we’ll really be up against.” The group stared at him, completely amazed to how they hadn’t seen him. He was a small build, quite thin and could fit between some small gaps. After all, they call him Scout for a reason. “Scout, you shouldn’t be here, a lot of things we say here could sound stupid and idiotic out of context.” Bolt blurted out, as if completely dismissing his idea.

“I’ve been listening from the start, I understand what’s going on. It’d be stupid if someone didn’t Scout the area out though.”

“I have to agree,” Francis started, “we don’t know how many of them are out there, we’d need a team of maybe two or three people, to watch each others backs.” Bolt sighed, he clearly still held a grudge against Davis for what had happened. Back in City 18, where they’d all been resistance fighters, Davis had shot a man in the leg, after he refused to take the oath. This man was James, he was the brother of a respected resistance member, Rob Johnston. A few weeks later, his leg deteriorated massively, and it cost him his life. At that time, everyone hated Davis, some contemplated killing him, but in the end, most forgave him, the past was the past. Except Bolt, he’d had a whole load of arguments with him, even a few fights. “He’s right, Bolt.” Fred said, not wanting to argue against their leader, but felt it was necessary . “It’d be stupid to not have a recon mission.”

“But, now for the big question, who would go?” Zero added, his eyes slyly creeping towards Davis. After a few seconds, everyone was looking at him, “Fuck.”

“I’ll go with him,” Fred said.

“No,” Bolt protested, “We need you here, you’re good with the people. Francis?” Francis looked to Bolt, his eyes narrowed and eyebrows frowning. “Am I no use to you here? Couldn’t you take another one of Davis’ men?”

“Francis, you‘re an ex-CIA agent,. he’ll need someone like you to get yourselves out of a sticky situation.” He looked to the ground, considering the option.

“All right, I’ll do it. But on one condition,” he said.

“Aye?” Fred asked.

“You get me a damn drink when I get back.” he said, smiling slightly.

“Deal.” Bolt said, extending his arm for a hand shake, which Francis accepted willingly.

“I’ve just finished fixing up the buggy,” Zero said, “pretty much with duck tape and gum but, it’ll get you there and back.”

“Thanks.” Davis said, nodding slightly.

“We can set off straight away then, right?” Francis asked.

“Yeah, head down to the armoury, take what you need then meet us back in the garage.” Bolt said.



Davis and Francis then walked out of the door, “Davis. It’s going to be rough out there, you know that right?”

“Yeah, of course I do; but don’t worry, I’m fast, I’ll be able to take some pictures and get the hell out of there as fast as possible.” They walked down the stairs of the building, they’d taken control of an old hotel, and had been using it for the past three months. Currently, there was twenty three people here, some were combat ready, but the others were either old, sick, or had strong religious beliefs that prevented them from taking arms against the Combine. Down another flight of stairs, then along the corridor. At the end stood a heavy metal door that was constantly guarded by a guy called Rhys, only himself and Bolt knew the pass-code to the armoury. “Rhys, open up. We’re going on a recon mission.” Francis sternly said.

“Recon mission, where to?” Francis and Davis exchanged looks,

“The red zone.” Francis finally said. “I’m sure you’re aware of the fact we’ve been running low on supplies, so, we’re going to go over there, see what’s what.” Rhys shook his head,

“You guys are nuts, y’know that?” he said, as he turned and entered the pass-code.

3-1-8-0-5 Francis had carefully watched him enter the code many times, and only this time had he finally pieced together the code. Why he wanted the code, he had no idea, he had no intention of ransacking it in the middle of the night. But something very peculiar told him that for some reason, some time soon he was going to need it.



The door flung open inwards, revealing an almost full armoury. Gun racks littered with Spas-12s and tables filled with ammunition, there was even two AR2s from when they’d fought off an OTA patrol, it cost them five good men though, and the very sight of the guns made some people turn away. “Take what you need.” Rhys said, as he stood aside allowing them to enter. Francis headed straight for a small safe, his safe. He entered the combination key, and opened the door. What lay inside was a small, modified USP; it‘s clip was extended and the commonly silver frame was replaced by a black metal. Davis went for a standard USP, it was lightweight, and pretty common, so it was the perfect choice to him. He put a few magazines into a bag he had tied around his waist, then turned to Francis, who had put on one of the MPF Kevlars they’d gotten from the City. His USP was holstered on his right side, and a baseball bat was tied to his back. “You realise we’re not taking on the entire red-zone by ourselves, right?” Davis said laughing a little. Francis gave him a return smile, then looked to the door. Davis nodded, and they both headed out, “Good luck, guys, you’re gonna need it.” Rhys said, as he closed the door behind them.



Down another flight of stairs and they were at the garage, it’s the underground car park really, but Zero and Fred had turned it into one huge workshop. Car parts lay around everywhere, with stripped down cars shoved in the corner. There was a few guys here, working on trucks and vans, their blow torches emitting a bright blue light. Davis looked around, and quickly spotted Bolt and the others. He tapped Francis in his chest with the back of his hand, then pointed to them. “They’re over there.” he said, as he started walking. They were all stood around the buggy that Zero had been fixing up, it’s thin red frame and large, rusty engine looked like they’d taken it straight out of a scrap yard. Bolt turned, hearing their approach. “Ah, I see you’ve completely stripped the armoury, Francis.” he said, then looked to Davis’ USP. “Conserve your ammo, Davis.” he said, clearly just trying to get at him. Davis shook his head,

“Don’t worry, I’ll save one for you.” Francis quickly stood between them, to stop things escalating any further, “So, this is what we’ll be taking?” Zero wiped his hands on a blackened cloth and stepped forward. “Yeah, haven’t turned on the engine yet. Want to do it?”

“Sure.” he said, and took the key from Zero. He shoved it the ignition, and twisted, it stalled, not a very promising start. He tried it again, same thing, then once more, it started. The engine was loud and rattled around in it’s position. Francis leaned back, and turned to Davis. “Sounds like we will be taking on the whole red-zone after all.” he said, his voice trying to be louder than the engine. Davis chuckled,

“Mind if I drive?”

“Go ahead, just don’t kill us.” Francis said, his face in a full grin now.

“Right-o then.” Davis said, as he walked around the side of the buggy, and hopped in. Francis sat in the passenger seat, and the buggy tilted to one side. Bolt then brought a small, hand-held radio to his mouth, “This is Bolt, open the garage gates, Joe.” Joe was sat up in the control room where they’d held their meeting. The entire building was controlled from that room, it took Joe and Zero weeks to set up.

A large shutter opened up in the middle of the north wall, “Good luck.” Bolt said, as he stepped away from the vehicle. Davis and Francis nodded, before they pulled away in the buggy.



Chapter 2



The streets were relatively clear, people had cleaned them to make way for the vehicles and to get spare parts for the workshop. They drove further, and the further they got the messier the streets looked. Davis swerved to avoid tipped bins and other debris left lying around. “How many people have we already sent there?” Davis asked, as he looked onwards down the street.

“I don’t know.”

“Exactly, what if we don’t come back? Will we be simple memories in the back of their minds?”

“No. Because we’re coming back, you can count on that.”

“Right.” Davis said, sighing. Francis pulled a map from the small glove box Zero had installed on the dashboard, and held it up. “Take a right here, then it’s down at the bottom of this road.” They could clearly see the large wooden blockade from here that Fred had put up to mark the red zone, the closer they got, the stronger the stench became. The night was close now, it was already getting dark. “We should probably camp out here for the night, I’d rather not go in there when it’s dark.” Davis said, as he slowed down the Buggy to a halt outside the fence. “No, this is a recon mission, the darker the better.”

“But-”

“No buts, we’re going in, now.” Davis once again sighed,

“Fine, just, be quiet.” he said. They both carefully got out of the buggy after Davis turned off the engine. Francis pushed open the light wooden door in the far right of the barricade, and peeked inside. “How is it?” Davis asked.

“Looks clear.” he said, as he opened it fully, and crept inside behind a small concrete barrier. Davis cautiously followed him, not making any sound with his footsteps. Davis tripped over, and crawled backwards as he seen a Necrotic across the street, “Shit!” he hissed quietly, “I thought you said it was clear?”

“I said it ‘looked’ clear.”

“Well, make sure it fucking IS clear next time!”

“Yes, boss.” Francis said sarcastically. “Fuck, we’ve got more contacts. Far left.” More Necrotics came from the left T-Junction way. “Let’s get inside, before they see us, now.” Francis said, as he stood up to try and open the door to the house to their right. Locked, he stood back, and put his hands on the handle, then slammed his shoulder against it with all his force, then again, and the door flew open. “Get in now!” he exclaimed. Davis darted in, remaining low. Francis then shut the door, and scanned the room before adjusting the curtains to look out the window.



“How many?” Davis asked.

“Ten, maybe more.” he said, pulling away.

“Fuck. Do you think they seen us?”

“No, but- What’s that?” Francis said, hearing the creaking of floorboards upstairs. He unsung the baseball bat from his back, and looked to Davis. “Stay behind me.” he said in a hushed voice. They crept up the stairs, the carpet was old and worn, but dusty, no one had been up here in a while. They crept across the landing, to a door the appeared to be a bedroom. Francis pushed down on the handle, then slowly pushed it open. A Necrotic stood at the other side of the room, and appeared to be looking out of the window. The small pale head-crab sat on his head, it’s legs driven deep into the mans back and chest. Dried blood covered his holey shirt, his hands were fleshless and had elongated fingers that appeared to be claws. Francis turned to Davis, and brought a finger to his lips. He crept forward, his baseball bat at the ready. Once he was a few feet away, he swung the bat at the head-crab with incredible precision, blood splattered and the body fell to the ground, dead. Francis let his arms drop, the target was dead. He checked the body for movement, it remained still, he turned to Davis who had his hand on his pistol holster. “It’s dead.” Francis said, he turned, then looked out of the window. “The Necrotics have dispersed now, we can go out.”

“Right.” Davis said, as he pulled the camera out of his bag. They walked back downstairs, and Francis headed towards the fridge. He opened it, there was no power, and most of the food was mouldy. But there was a few cans of hot dogs, peaches and tomatoes. He handed a few to Davis, who shoved them in his bag. Davis stepped forward, and took a few pictures of the food in the fridge. “We should find a pharmacy, or a food store.”

“Yeah,” Francis said as he opened the door and peeked outside. “left or right?”

“What?” Davis asked.

“Do we go left at the junction, or right?”

“Oh, right?”

“Right it is then.” Francis pushed open the door, then, hugging the wall, crept down the street, followed by Davis. They turned the corner, “See any?” Davis asked.

“There’s a few over there, outside that shop. It looks like a Pharmacy. Yeah, it’s a Pharmacy.”

“Great. How’re we going to get in there now? Think there’s a back door?” Davis asked. “Francis?”



He turned, and Francis held a small rock in his hand. He then throw it across the street, bouncing off of a bin. The Necrotics heard the noise, and waddled towards the bins like dogs running to a whistle. It was pitch black now, and the only light they had came from a few dimly lit street lights that must have their own generators. Davis took a picture of the lights as the Necrotics stumbled past. “Let’s move.” Davis said, as he began creeping forwards. They reached the Pharmacy, but the door was locked. “Here, let me deal with this.” Davis said, as he pulled a small metal pin from his bag. He carefully slotted it into the lock, and twisted it around a little. “You know what you’re doing there?” Francis asked, as he kept an eye on the Necrotics down the street. “Yeah, of course I do-” the lock made a clicking noise and Davis stood up, “See, easy.” he pushed the glass door open, only to trigger an alarm. The high pitched sirens could surely be heard from a few streets away, they needed to turn it off, and fast. “Fuck!” Francis exclaimed, “Get in now!” They both rushed inside, slamming the door behind them.



This story isn't finished, just wanted some CC on what I already have.</div>