Number 234

[Dag]

The adventures of Number 234. Hope you like it.

Number 234 sat among the others of his kind.
Dark.
Cold.
It always was, but then, that’s the way the Combine wanted it. But not 234. Nor any others around him, by the sound of it. With the constant screeching and scraping, 234 never found it comfortable to rest.
Long.
Cold.
234 had been in there, that combine fortress, for to long. 234 wanted out. But how? He would get no help from his bretheren. Only if it helped them, and 234 wasn’t interested in their benefit. But how to get out?
Hungry.
Freedom.
He was always hungry. Not for the regular food he was fed by the Combine. You can’t live off of Xenian Bulbis forever. And it never filled up that hole in 234. He wanted more, he wanted to attain the higest of his potential. But for that, he needed living prey.
Light.
234 was being taken out. This was 234’s chance. Chance for what?
Escape.
Food.
Ah, that’s right. Living prey. A crackly voice filled his “hearing”
“Take samples 233, 234, and 235 to the loading center…Yeah, activity in that region is up, and I guess they need to put it down. Hehe.”
Warmth.
234 had been taken out of his cell. The sudden change in tempature shocked him. Enough time for the arms go come and grab him. He tried to move his claws. They met with nothing. He worked his mouth. Still, nothing.
Hungry.
This continued for some time, this tormenting state of being unable to grasp anything. But then…
CLUNK!
234 had been thrown rudely into another cell, only this one was cylindrical, and very tight. Moving forward, 234 discovered another. 235 seemed startled at this sudden change of cells. Moving backward, he encountered 233. 233 was not at all pleased with the close contact. With its longer legs, 233 lashed out at 234. The Long-legs always were bigger.
BAM!
CRACK!
234 heard a whistling sound, after the cell seemed suddenly to be thrown violently forward. It was flying through the air. This sudden change startled 233, 234, and 235. Now, they could not contain themselves, and clawed and bit at each other, trying to escape.
WHAM!
The cell ground to a halt.
Find a way out!
That was 234’s goal. Suddenly, 233 toppled out backward behind him. 234 was not far behind. 234 fell to the ground, and lay stunned.
Warmth.
Light.
234 waddled toward the nearest dark spot, and lingered there. It was too light. He must find a better place. But that could be done later. After all, 234 smelled an abundance of life. An abundance of prey.

 

[Dag]

Second Chapter.

I haven't been told whether its been a good story or not, so I'll just go ahead and post the second chapter. Hope you like, because this is not just any ordinary headcrab venture...

Chap. 2
Obtaining the Host

Warm.
Hungry.
Number 234 had resided under some floor boards during the past few hours. 234 knew something important had to be happening. The people upstairs were in an utter state of panic. 234 could practically feel the fear.
Find prey!
It would all come in time. But to leave now would be folly. 234 knew there were to many of them up above. Trying to take prey now would surely get 234 killed. He would wait.

-2 hours Later
Dark.
Hunger.
Hunger!
234’s time had come. 234 could feel the movement up above had drastically stopped. But 234 felt the presence of someone else up above, sleeping. Now was the time.
Ascend.
Feed.
234 crawled up between the floor boards. It was dark where 234 was. Slowly, 234 crept along the tile floor, so as not to awaken the prey. It was within sight! There it sat upon its chair, a vaguely humanoid shape, or so it looked to 234’s primitive eyes.
Hunger!
Feed! Feed!
It was to much for 234. Powering his long spindly legs, 234 rocketed onto a table just infront of the chair. The human must have heard the sound, and woken up, but to no avail.
WHAP!
234 slammed into the Humans face. Faster than 234 could comprehend, his teeth grappled with his prey’s head. Tubes pushed through the skull, to gain control of the brain. One single spine shot to the base of the spinal cord. “AHHH!” 234 could hear his prey screaming. It didn’t matter. 234 was accomplishing his goal. The victim writhed with spasms of pain, until at last, it stopped moving all together. 234 made sure it was the last time the victim could move at all.
Yes!
Yes!
234 reveled in his victory. He had achieved a host! Still far off from being able to completely control the host, 234 stayed in his position, slowly beginning the metamorphosis phase, giving him complete control of his victim. He was to become the most powerful of all creatures. Not just another worthless being such as 234’s fellow bretheren, 234 was above much of his other beings. No, 234 was to become, a “Howler”. And from there, 234 was to complete his most important goal of all.
Food.
Rest.
But that final act would come later. Now, 234 focused on the metamorphosis.

 

[Darkwolf]

pretty, interesting. nice style of writing. so go on its really good so far

 

[Jandor]

I didn't get that is was a headcrab at first .

 

[Angry Lawyer]

That's actually really well written. Although, you should replace some of the instances of 234 with "she" or something similar. Can't remember the term for it.

-Angry Lawyer

 

[Dag]

I would. Only, I don't know if headcrabs can be he's or she's. :cheese: 3rd chapters on its way, and in chap. 3, you'll learn a little bit about what the combine are using 234 for.

 

[Dag]

Chapter Three

So it doesn't totally suck. Sorry if Chapter 3 seems bland. Chapter 4 is where all the fun stuff starts.

Chap. 3

3 Hours Later-
Thump…Thump…Thump.
Hmm?
234 bounded off the ceiling of his building, and deftly landed on the street. Something was wrong.
Thump…Thump…Thump.
The street was empty. Maybe that was the distant noises fault. Maybe it was 234’s fault. Since he had gained full control of his host, he had made a meal of 2 people. One wore strange blue garments, like 234’s prey wore, or rather, had worn. 234’s new body no longer had clothes. Come to think of it, it no longer had skin anymore. 234’s new body was long and lanky, made up of only muscle attached to bone. He was now a full howler zombie.
Noise…
Meet others.
Meet others now.
234 let off an unearthly howl, to warn the others. He stopped, slunk to the shadows, and waited. “Hoooowwwooo!!” That was one of the others! He must join them now. 234 took off at a bounding run, first scaling the 6 story building in front of him, then jumping from roof top to roof top.
Thump…Thump…Thump.
Noise?
What noise?
What noise was that? 234 could vaguely remember hearing sounds like that from the citadel. But those memories were gone. Now, 234 had more important things to do.
“Hhrrrriiieee!!”
Another howl? What were they so excited about? 234 wanted to know. Not knowing could get him killed. Minutes later, 234 bounded into an abandoned courtyard. There were bretheren of every type! The bigger, black ones. The weak ones. And of course, the fast ones like himself. The only kind 234 and his fast bretheren feared were the Big black ones. The multitude of hosts and bretheren was astonishing. The whole courtyard was cramed to the brim with death and decay.
Peace.
Rest.
Yes, that’s what 234 wanted. But rest had to wait. More important things were about to be set into motion.

-Citadel: Biological Xenian Weaponry control room-
“Sir, numbers 200 through 245 are in set position.” Said the garbled voice of a combine stalker. Stalkers always operated the weapons console. Why waste soldiers doing it, when the slaves were ready and available?
“Good. Initiate Nero-Stimulation.” Came the next voice. This voice was the voice of a Combine Elite. The white clad figure stood close and watched the stalkers every move over its shoulder.
Should he succeed, the Elite would be an Administrator. Should he fail, he would be locked in Ravenholm. He had a pretty clear view of what he wanted.
“Nero-Stimulation complete, Sir. What should I do next?”
“Send signals 200 through 245. I think this test should prove all we want to know.”

 

[Dag]

Chapter 4

Hope you like. Sorry if this chapter is a little bland, but I'm pulling double shifts at work, so thats affecting my writing right now, but I will be back on regular schedual in a few days, but I wanted to get the little stuff out of the way, so we can finally see what 234's big goal is, and why he is so important to the combine...

Chap. 4

City 17-
234 stiffened. He could no longer control his actions, and went into a state of Paralyses.
What’s happening?
What?
Then, feeling came back. His brethren stood stunned for moments. So, they couldn’t understand what had happened either. But this state would not last long.
BAM!
What?
The door on the either side of the court flew open. The brethren standing closest were slaughtered. But 234 felt no sympathy. Right then, two humans barreled into the courtyard. But stood shocked at their bad-luck of walking into this particular one.
With a deathly howl, 234 and his brethren leapt forward. In a blinding hail of slashing claws, the wave of headcrabs descended upon the poor rebels. They didn’t have time to get off a shot.
Food!
Get the Food!
But 234 was to late. Already, most of the bodies had been devoured, and he was not even halfway there yet. 234 abandoned his fruitless attempts, and instead set off for the bigger goal. He had to find the her.
Find Her.
Now.
Go.
234 took off up the side of the building, and upon reaching the top of the building, 234 leapt off in the direction of the woods, some 20 miles away. Building after building flashed by below. The buildings were beginning to get smaller. 234 kept his course, until finally, he came to a giant wall, some 50 feet high.
Predators.
On the wall.
Avoid them.
234 knew he had to breech the wall to reach her. But how? 234 had seen the Combine at work, long ago in the citadel. The strange rods they had could decimate him before making it to the wall. So how was he to make it out? 234 pondered this question, and decided that he would wait until night.

4 hours Later-
It was now night. The predators had left the wall. 234 presumed they had gone to assist the others of their kind he had seen in the city. 234 remembered the constant thumping in there.
The wall.
The wall.
234 decided now. With a deathly howl, 234 leapt from his hiding place, pushed off of the building he was on, and cleared the wall with a single bound. But now 234 had to come down.
Thump!
Wham!
234 hit the ground and rolled. 234 heard shots pinging of the ground around him.
Escape!
Run!
234 took off into the forest. Plunk! 234 felt a hot pain in his leg. It stopped working.
Keep going!
234 could heal it later. Now, he must get away. 234, using his one good leg, lept for the trees, and finding his “hands” to meet one, he proceeded to swing from one branch to the other.
“God Damn! It’s a Howler!”
“Let it go! Keep you watch, if Freeman comes this way, and we get caught off guard, I’m going to make sure you don’t have a pleasant time in hell!”
It was the synthetic voices of the Combine. No matter, now 234 was safe to continue his journey. 234 bounded for hours through the trees, always heading for the strange scent, that was so inviting. Presently, he neared a lake.
She is close.
Head toward her.
234 stumbled upon the lake, and splashed into. Before he could submerse himself anymore, 234 jumped out. Looking around, 234 could make out a stop to the strange terrain of earth, and saw new terrain. But this new terrain brought back memories.

…234 crawled among the Xen wildlife, looking for crystals. 234 escpecially liked the purple ones. But 234 did not wish to stray to far from her. There were Bullsquids about, after all…

Now 234 remembered. Now he knew what this vegetation was. Ventruing forth into it, 234 again heard a deathly wail.
She is close…
There.
234 had done it…
I have found her. 234 though, as she lumbered into view…

 

[D.L]

thats really good keeo it coming

 

[Darkwolf]

wheres it gone???
MORE!!!!!!!

 

[Dag]

I'll be gone from the 2nd to the 18th of January, I might get chapter 5 out before then. But when I get back, I'll post a hell of a chapter for the delay.

 

[Bloodlustian]

What is that it, No!!! i need to know more.*Sobs*

 

[Dag]

Alright, I'm back. Sorry for the delay. I was out in Colirado and California, and touring the coast and what not. While doing this, I came to the conclusion that California would be a perfect setting to this "novel". Chap. 5 should awnser some questions, but not all. Like what do the combine have in store for 234. What is 234's goal? Who is, She? I've also decided to bring back some old faces who were, more or less, forgotten in HL2. Read on to find out, and tell me what you think.

Chap. 5

234 sat in his tree.
Warm
High
234 sat in the giant trees, admist his splendor. The last 4 hours had treated him kindly. 234 had arrived at the forest to find her. She had greeted him, and, during the last four hours, had chosen him to become the successor. The successor!
Yes
Warm
For now, they were gathering. Others. Other brethren, who would also join her. He could hear their moans. They gathered in the valley below him.
Hhhreeee!!
Brethren of every kind had come from nearby settlements. Those big and black. Those whom 234 spat upon, came by the thousands. Those bretheren were not big or strong like the black ones, nor agile and bounding, like 234. But they came. By the thousands, some with hosts, many with out. The ground below 234 became a versatile sea of parasitic triumph. All were heeding her call.
She comes
Listen
She lumbered into view. She stuck out among the other bretheren. For she alone was a giant of her kind, towering over any of 234’s bretheren, or their hosts for that matter. She was the all knowing, the all supreme. She spoke to 234 with ghastly wails, and it was then that 234 knew what to do.
Go
Now!
234 clambored to the top of his tree, towering maybe 200 feet into the air. Upon reaching its pinnacle, 234 stopped, and screamed. 234’s call was awnsered by the others upon the ground. Louder and louder they became.
Again!
Louder!
The din of his bretheren were creating was deafening! Louder, Louder! Then, all fell silent as she wailed. Then all was silent. 234 waited. She wailed again, and then they were on the move. All of his bretheren lurched, lunged, or shuffled forward through the forest.
Tonight.
Tonight we take control.

Sequoia National Park
2:30 A.M.-
Four figures sat around the fire. The scene would seem pristine, had it not been for the fact that these men had weapons laying at their side, and they were all dressed in tattered clothes, which seemed to be a testament to the hard fighting they all had been through.
And of course, to the odd, two legged animal named “Bob Johnson” which sat tethered to the nearby tree. To many, “Bob Johnson” had come to be known as a Bullsquid.
“I don’t like it” Said the first man. “I don’t like it at all.”
“Its better than being back at L.A., or should I say, City 21?” Awnsered another man. “I’d rather be roughing it out here than locked up within those damning walls the Combine set up.”
“Yes, Otis, but things have been going strangly. I studied these creatures a long time before that damnable ‘resonance cascade’, and I can tell you, the wild life out here is acting peculiar. A headcrab would never usually pass up a victim. It was heading somewhere, but why? And where?”
“I don’t give a damn where it’s headed, as long as its away from here. Hey, but did you hear-“
His yelling was cut off when Bob Johnson suddenly got up, and howled out into the forest.
”What is it boy?!” Cried Otis.
Then, out of nowhere, a howl eminated from across the hills. All the men were silent. Then, two more, then, more. In a minute, they could hear thousands of calls, all coming from over the hills. The men were becoming histarical.
“What was that?!” Screamed one of the men.
“That ain’t good, that ain’t good!”
But the first man stood up. His name, was Doctor Rosenberg. He was drenched in sweat. He could no longer hear anything from over the hills but silence. Then, came one long, low, piercing howl. It sounded much like that of a wail.
“Dear god…” stammered Rosenberg. “Its…Its…It’s a Gonarch…”

 

[FCBob]

very good 5th chapter. You setting it in seqouia national park was friggin awesome. It's very cool to think that in the half life universe it's inhabited by a gonarch. keep it coming, and this time... no delay please.

 

[Bob_Marley]

nice work man, keep it up. And it's good to see Otis back.

 

[Dag]

Sorry for the wait, but this damn hurricane has everyone riled up, and I have to be evacuating in a day or so, so this chapter may seem rushed. But Chap. 5 should introduce you to the Resistance, tell you how well it's set up, and foreshadow later events. Hope you guys like. :E


Chap. 5

Somewhere in Sequoia National Park.
Rosenberg ran up the steep slope, along with Otis, Eric, and Mike. Eric and Mike had been two former fugitives on the run from the Combine, before they escaped out into Sequoia.
Thump. Thump.
“Run! Faster!” screamed Rosenberg. He had seen them with his own eye. Like a roiling sea, the headcrabs and their hosts had come over the opposite hill, moving in one giant mass towards their outpost. They had fled the outpost to camp upon first sight of those creatures.
A frenzied group consisnting of the disgruntled Doctor Rosenberg, Otis, Mike, and Eric skidded to a stop at a high, recent built concrete fence, topped by barbed wire.
“Let us in! C’mon!” Yelled Otis. He had seen monsters before, but never in that great of quantity.
The gate swung open. Inside, it resembeled that of an Army base at war. A Machine gun emplacement sat upon the nearest giant tree. A building that had been a hotel now served as this areas Rebel HQ. And it’s parking lot and surrounding areas served as garages for the various tanks, APC’s, Trucks, jeeps, sports cars, and whatever else was brought in by the constant flow of incoming rebels.
Vortigaunts ran too and fro with human counterparts, working on complex machinery littered throughout the complex. Bullsquid were leashed to trees and poles, each minding it’s own business, or tending to the Xenofauna that had begun to spring up out of the ground. One Vortigaunt ran up to the bedraggled group.
“Hurry, we don’t have much time!” Cried Rosenberg.
“Yes” Replied the Vortigaunt. “If it is about the massing of said ‘headcrabs’, we have already taken notice. We are setting up defenses as we speak. Though I have little doubt that our mighty rebel army will succeed in defeating this monstrous horde, it troubles me as to why creatures usually so solitary and ill-minded have come together, and even more disturbing is that we have no idea as to what they are doing at all.”
“Disturbing, yes…” replied Rosenberg. “Did you also happen to see that there was a Gonarch among them?”
“A gonarch…?” Replied the Vortigaunt, looking surprised? Or as surprised as Vortiguants could look.
“Yeah, we heard one o’ dem things cryin out before we high tailed it back here!” Replied Otis.
The Vortigaunt regained his composure. “We shall inform General Grant immediately!”
That’s about the time the bullsquids went crazy, screaming and shouting lonesome cries.
“Uh, to late for that guys, we have some company!” Cried out one of the gunners in a giant Sequoia overlooking the Concrete and Barbwire wall, as he opened fire with his .50 Caliber Machine gun, and received the piercing howl of a howler Zombie in return.

234 had followed the human scent back to this forticade. But he was blocked by a high rising wall. He had led her followers her, just as she had commanded. One of the brethren, a slow mover, had walked him and his host into the clearing between and been mowed down by those weapons the humans used. Maybe if 234 could gain possession of one…
Stop Them!
Back Up!
Back Up!
234 screeched into the night, howling at the others to stay back, away from the mysterious weapons. The brethren lumbered back, away from the wall, and began to spread out into the woods. Thousands upon thousands of Zombies stalked into the forest, followed by many more headcrabs. They disappeared into the night, to take their spots for the mornings…festivities.
Meanwhile, 234 climbed up a towering tree, and tried to glimpse the wall and its inner workings. 234 was trying to learn what these, humans, were doing, before the mornings festivities. You see, during 234’s brief escapade with her, 234 had become smarter, he was learning. He had been chosen by her to head this massing, and it would be 234 who followed her.
Yes
When it becomes light
She shall come
We shall begin…
234 was also gaining a peculiar trait. He was getting bigger, and growing armour…

Somewhere in LA.
Combine Citadel 21- Biological Xenian weaponry room.
The two figures were lit by the monotonous glow of the blue computer screen. In the top most floor, The Combine elite, who commanded, and the Stalker, who ranProject 234.
“Are you tracking him?” Said the figure watching over the others shoulder.
“Yes, sir.” Answered the one behind the computer.
“How are the vital signs?”
”Excellent, sir. 234 has gained a host.”
“And what of neurological impulses?”
”For the project, sir, I would have to say it’s off the charts, and proceeding better than expected.”
”Excellent! We shall begin phase 2 as soon as-“
His words were cut short when the computer screen shifted to the image of that which resembled a large worm. The combine advisor to Earth. The message he gave to them shocked them both to the core. Minutes later, another Combine Elite opened the door, and solemly stepped in.
“Did you hear?” Said the combine officer.
“Yes.” Replied the first officer. “With Citadel 17 down, and the resistance growing, we have no other choice but to bring in heavy synths, and destroy this pathetic race. And I guess it was also inevitable, but…The advisor is coming to Earth…”