Urban Flight

[a_mere_child]

"Careful, Lamarr! These lamps are quite hot! Ahem... is this on? Yes? Very well, I... I am not much of a public speaker, but I'll... I'll do my best. Fellow citizens... residents of City 17 and environs... by which I mean sentient residents, of course, human and otherwise, although I believe there is little need to explain recent developments to

Comments

[smelltheashes]

"Hey, over here!" a Resistance member in civilian clothing calls from the side of the street, waving Gordon and Alyx over in a manner rather reminiscent (to Gordon, at least) of a Jack Russel Terrier.

[a_mere_child]

He's got Alyx's attention at least. "What are you still doing here?" she says as she approaches. "Everyone should clear out of the city!"

[acts_of_gord]

Gordon merely casts a glance in the man's direction before silently following Alyx. There's too many rooftop variations here where Overwatch could be hiding. Alyx can do the talking; he'll keep an eye out in the meantime.

[smelltheashes]

The man drops his gun at Alyx and Gordon's approach, glancing around nervously before dropping his head and his voice--it's like a smack in the face, and he nods as if to say, we know, but...

"The Combine's not making it easy." Then he raises his head, finding it easier to look in Gordon's direction than Alyx's. "We're trying to get enough people together to force our way through to the train station. People are meeting up at a safehouse nearby." He looks back at Alyx, anxiously shuffling his feet.

[a_mere_child]

"Can you take us there?"

[acts_of_gord]

"You have two more," Gordon murmurs. "We're coming with you."

Because, really, what else is there to say?

[smelltheashes]

"You bet. Let's go." The man nods, and inclines his head toward the door. "This way." He turns to lead the two through a series of alleys until they arrive near a grassy yard. The man takes a second, and then jumps through a gap in the fencing to the ground below, running to the stairs. He waits for the other two to follow before continuing to a steel door lit by a bare fluorescent bulb.

"Hey!" the man calls tersely. "It's me--open the door."

A panel in the door opens up, revealing a woman's face. "What's the password?"

The man grumbles, and points at her impatiently. "I'm not even going to tell you to shut. up."

The woman sighs and nods. "Come on in." The panel closes, and the door swings open. The man walks through the door, and gestures them through.

[smelltheashes]

The contrast between the echoes of the Combine Overwatch commands echoing throughout the city, and the warm voice of Dr. Kleiner on the small TV in the room is noticeable, even if Gordon and Alyx have been hearing the broadcasts for the past few hours non-stop.

"...is the complete removal of the Combine's reproductive suppression field. Previously, certain protein chains important to the process of embryonic development were selectively prevented from forming..."

Two rebels stand near the TV, talking quietly to each other, and the one that directed them here takes a seat as soon as they're in. Another more reclusive rebel stands in the corner, watching.

"Hey," calls the man over by the TV, "you're... Kleiner's daughter, right?"

[a_mere_child]

Alyx rolls her eyes. "Uh, no. My dad's Odessa Cubbage."

Moron.

[acts_of_gord]

Gordon listened to the start of Kleiner's broadcast the first time he heard it, and promptly stopped listening. This was largely because not getting shot, bitten, impaled, or exploded was a higher priority than hearing his longtime mentor and quasi-father-figure deliver what amounted to a pre-flight emergency procedure speech at the time. But now-

"-no longer the case. For those so inclined, now would be an excellent time for procreation. Which is to say, in layman's terms, you should give serious consideration to doing your part for the revival of the species."

Kleiner didn't say that. He did not say that.

Except that he totally did.

[a_mere_child]

.

.

.

.

.

.

"Uh... is Dr. Kleiner really telling everyone to... 'get busy'??"

[acts_of_gord]

Gordon's come a long way in terms of battling his habit of not talking if by talking he might embarrass himself, but honestly, can you blame him for backsliding right now? He just nods mutely and starts looking for a way out of the room- or at least, some indicator of where they're supposed to go next.

[a_mere_child]

There's a door next to the TV which leads to a flight of stairs going up. Better than nothing, right?

At the third landing or so, Alyx starts quietly giggling to herself.

[acts_of_gord]

"... should I ask?"

[a_mere_child]

"It just hit me," she says between giggles. "Back there? You and I were probably the only ones in the room who have actually had sex."

[acts_of_gord]

... she's right. Given the ages of those people they just left, they must have grown up under the suppression field's influence.

Gordon doesn't say anything, but he's got an interesting little grin tugging at his features as he turns to the next flight of stairs.