Whistle Stop

[smelltheashes]

Thirty seconds ago White Forest was being destroyed with unthinkable thunder and fire from the skies.

That was then.

WHOMP!

This is now. And it has gone very, very quiet.

Comments

[smelltheashes]

The passage narrows in places, widens in others, and snakes up and down as the group slowly files in. Eventually they come to a much narrower passage- but this one is lit with proper electrical lights, the cables running along channels carved into the walls. "Stairs here," says Kate. "Town starts down at the bottom."

She moves extra slowly, glancing over her shoulder regularly to make nobody trips or loses their footing on the cool, damp stone, or on the metal stairs that take over from them as the tunnel walls suddenly disappear. (Unlike Black Mesa, these stairs have handrails. On both sides.) The metal stairs snake their way down into a wide, high-ceilinged cavern of brown and black stone. There are houses here, plenty of them- small, to be true, but livable. Most of them look as if they were built in a hurry and modified to last afterwards.

"Not what I'd call my ideal standard of livin'," says Kate, "but it sure beats getting noticed by Combine, or eaten by some of the things in the forest."

[vance_prime]

It's bigger and more built-up than Alyx was expecting, but still going to be very, very crowded.

Given the alternative, she'll take it.

"It's wonderful. Thank you again, Mrs. Shephard."

[smelltheashes]

"You're welcome," says Kate. "Now, let's see 'bout getting you somewheres to sit down, okay? It's about time you kids got to take a breather."

People are starting to poke their heads out of houses or emerge from passageways to have a look at the newcomers, and lanterns and flashlights come with them, peeling back more of the darkness. Dan waves a good many of them off; there is, after all, only so much room to walk in down here. "You want to stop in'n catch your breath a little, you're welcome to it," he says, stopping at a red door with geometric patterns and musical notes painted on it. "This one's mine. Momma, where's Lisa?"

"Workin' on the extension tunnel same as when you left," Kate replies. "You plan on goin' out there?"

"Once I make sure Ms. Vance here's set up and doin' all right, sure."

[vance_prime]

Alyx shakes her head. "I should be making sure everyone else is settled first."

She is still ostensibly in charge here. Right?

[smelltheashes]

"Whatever you say," says Dan. "Need me to go round up anybody to help you?"

[vance_prime]

"Yeah, go see where Barney and Judith are, could you?" asks Alyx.

[smelltheashes]

"Will do," Dan promises, and starts making his way back into the crowd with his lantern held high.

Kate, however, steps over to Alyx's side. "I don't mean to leave you alone just now," she says, "but if you plan on seein' your people settled in before you sit down, there's some folks here you're gonna want to have helping. You sure you don't need anything else before I go?"

She's had five children of her own. She's all too aware of how hard that can be on a body.

[vance_prime]

"I'm fine," says Alyx firmly. God dammit I'm not completely useless let me HANDLE THIS.

[smelltheashes]

"All righty. I'll be back in a bit," says Kate, and heads off into the nestled mass of houses.

It's going to be a mighty noisy cave for a while.

[vance_prime]

Alyx takes a deep breath. Right. Time to go be a leader for a while. Leader of a ragtag, terrified group of refugees with no idea where to go from here.

What fun.