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Hell or High Water Chapter 32

Deviation Actions

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The fletchettes tore at Chell's jacket, exposing white fluffy stuffing but thankfully burrowing themselves in a crate behind her instead of in her flesh. She dove behind an ice-crested metal box as the thing roared and charged, launching past her and slamming into the wall. On all fours, she scrambled back to the air vent, only to be rocked to the side of it when the fletchettes exploded.

The Hunter roared again, stomping right behind her, and she quickly buried herself into the vent. She crawled in for a distance before turning around, slowly edging back as the Hunter howled and paced. Peeking from the vent's opening, she saw its thick blue legs tiptoe about as it tried to crouch down far enough to shoot its fletchettes into the vent.

She backed up, trying to stay quiet, hoping it would think she'd left and stalk off elsewhere. She hadn't gotten too good of a look at it, but it looked too much like a Strider for her tastes. It gave her stomach icy spikes unrelated to her surroundings.

But where was Wheatley? Her mind switched between anger and concern. She wished the Hunter would shut up from its groans and growls so she could listen for him.

The damn thing suddenly struck the wall beside her, denting the vent and nearly squishing her. She managed to worm forward out of the way, but now she was nearly in its line of sight. Now she couldn't crawl back through the vents, and the only other option was to face the predator in front of her.

The Hunter gave a loud roar. Something in its electronically-warbled voice hinted at triumph, and Chell shivered in the tunnel. It had her trapped.

Suddenly, chaos erupted into the room. Gunfire, explosions, the smashing of wood and ice, the crunching of metal. The Hunter gave a pained shriek, its footsteps pounding like Chell's heart in her ears, and then there was a long, sad wail and a crash.

Then silence.

"Chell! Oi, where are ya, mate?!"

Chell nearly blasted out of the vent, spotting Wheatley and nearly tackling him in a hug so forceful that he was almost knocked backwards. He could only blink nervously at her and awkwardly pat her back.

"Ah! Oh.. oh, you're awright. Thank God."

She squealed and clung to him as if unable to let go. Which was partially correct: his outer paneling had taken the brunt of some explosions, and her coat had melted to the burned spots. She had to pull away gently in order to prevent excessive damage to her coat.

He was in bad shape. No longer white, he had scorch marks all along his body, and one of the guns on his arm was crunched shut. Chell gaped at him – what had he been doing for an hour?

He glanced over at his crushed arm then back at her, looking nervous. "Uh... got bored."

Naturally. She rolled her eyes and scoffed.

"No, but wait! I know how t'kill these little buggers now! Hah, don't even worry 'bout anythin'! I got it all handled!"

Chell smiled at him and nodded. Seeing him was a relief, and it gave her a feeling of warmth despite the freezing chill. She patted his arm, directing him toward the old chassis. He gave a sharp whistle at the sight of the old thing.

"Ain't much to look at, eh? Erm, but, how're we gonna get all 'a that into the portal? Plus, it's halfway 'cross the ship."

Chell slipped off her mitten to point better, gasping as the bitter cold hit her hand. She traced out a square on the chassis, then mimed taking out the parts.

"Oh, I get it. Carve her like... like a pumpkin, right?"

Chell winced. That wasn't exactly the visual she needed. But Wheatley went to work and quickly wrenched the top panel off, exposing a massive display of wires, lights, and circuitboards. It was a mess of old technology, covered in dust even before it had been teleported. She didn't even know where to begin.

"Motherboard's the big'n," Rick said helpfully.

Chell blinked, crouching down a bit and pointing the light of her portal device at the chassis. They all looked like the "big'n". Growling with frustration, she looked around the room among the broken debris and found a hefty metal box with a chrome clutch and a handle. She had Wheatley pry it open, dumping the contents, which looked like a first-aid kit, onto the floor.

Removing her other mitten, she carefully pried the circuitboards away from each other and set them gently inside the case. She was vaguely aware that touching them might fry them; older technology was more sensitive like that. Still, she had to take that chance, and she didn't exactly have the proper extraction equipment.

After the case was full, she slipped her gloves back on and shut up the case, taking the portal device in one hand and carrying the case under the other. It was then that she noticed that the portal she'd shot earlier had disappeared. In alarm, she looked at the portal device in her hand, maneuvering her fingers within it. Oh – that button. Doug said it dissipated portals. She must've accidentally pressed it during the Hunter's attack.

Grinding her teeth, she huffed before heading toward the door. Wheatley started.

"Oh, is that it? We're not gonna take her head?"

Chell looked down at the domed monitor. It stared back at her almost piteously, and in her mind, Chell pictured a pained expression on the blank screen as if begging to be picked up. That was so unlike GLaDOS that it was almost sickening. The dome looked like a nun's habit, for goodness' sake!

Chell shook her head vehemently, resisting the urge to crush the stupid-looking monitor, and pushed Wheatley toward the door. As far as she was concerned, she was doing GLaDOS a favor. Plus, she was more than ready to get off of this ship, especially if it was going to blow. She reminded herself that Wheatley didn't know that part yet, not that it was important as long as they got to the other side of the ship in time.

As Wheatley led her through what seemed like endless dark hall after endless dark hall, Chell finally consulted her map. She quickly realized that they were not headed toward the outside entrance and tapped furiously on her portal device for Rick's attention.

Instantly, a few red dots flew up on the yellow map. They were surprisingly far away. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, Snowcrash! Where the hell you goin'?"

Wheatley stopped, half-turning as it took him a moment to realize that he was the one being addressed. "Oh! I found somethin'! You're gonna love this!"

"Hey, no! We gotta get outta here! This place's gonna blow in a few!"

"Blow?" Wheatley's optic narrowed and danced nervously. "Wh-who? That Moss woman?"

"I guess the people she's with. We got a message sayin' t'beat feet."

Chell nodded in agreement. Wheatley's optic danced faster. "W-well, how long?"

"Er.. he was gonna try to buy time for us. Haven't heard a word from him since."

Wheatley thought for a second, his optic darting to and fro. "Okay, but just real quick. You've got to see this!"

They really didn't have a choice, since Wheatley had gotten them all turned around. Chell noticed that the path was cleared of any enemies, and some of the doors had been broken open. Dents along the walls also marked a path of destruction, and Chell was left to wonder exactly how 'bored' Wheatley got. However, she didn't see any slain Hunters or live ones for that matter, and she thanked her lucky stars for that.

Finally, they arrived at their destination: a door that looked like every other door in the ship. Chell looked up and down the hallway, puzzled, before glancing in. How Wheatley found this place again without a map was mind-blowing, but Chell had to assume that all things were possible.

She didn't need to light up the room to see what Wheatley wanted to show her. It was a large, glowing crystal, dull matte orange in color, and even standing at the doorway, Chell felt a strange wave of nausea cover her.

"Better not get close t'that, darlin'. S'prolly radioactive or somethin'."

Warped static burst from her portal device, followed by Doug's strained voice. "Chell, I hope you're getting out of there soon. I *bzzzsshhh* them, but they won't wait too long."

"We're just on the way out, Doc," Rick assured. "Soon's China Cabinet here gets done lookin' at gems."

"Gems?" There was a windy whip of hissing as Doug paused. "*kkkrrrkkkk* orange? Size of a basketball?"

"That's what we're lookin' at."

His voice turned frantic. "Chell's not by it, is she? Get her out of there, now!"

Wheatley ushered Chell down the hall. Her nausea gradually faded with every step she took.

"What is that thing, Doc?" Rick asked after Chell was safely away from it.

"I'm not sure. It's actually not in any of the logs, so it's nothing of ours. The Black Mesa members who are contacting me seem to know *shhshhhrrrrrkkkzzz*. Basically, it's why they're here."

"Good riddance, then," Rick snorted. "Jus' lookin' at that thing gives me the jim-jams."

They burst out of the hallways and climbed above deck in time to see two figures climbing up a ladder to a helicopter. She also noticed new additions to the deck: four large tanks rigged with circuitry. Bombs, Chell realized, her stomach dropping. Each beeped as the seconds passed, and even from a distance she saw that the timers had a very short delay.

They were halfway across the deck when Chell's case fell open, spilling computer components everywhere. She immediately stopped, falling on her hands and knees, sending the portal device skidding over the frozen deck, and she started grabbing for all the parts. Wheatley, realizing she was no longer behind him, skidded to a halt.

"Oi, what're you doing?"

He reclaimed the portal device carefully, making sure it hadn't been damaged, then tried to grab Chell by the hood and pull her up. She grunted as she slapped his hands away, twisting out of his grasp and reaching for more pieces.

She was not going to lose GLaDOS now. She had worked too hard for this.

"Hey!" called a young, female voice from a PA system in the chopper. "Get out of there! You only have two minutes before those things go off!"

No, not yet. There were only a few pieces – no, another over there – and another. She fought Wheatley back again. She could do this. She could.

"Chell, you've got to leave it! This place's about to blow up!"

Calling out in another frustrated grunt, she reached for another board. She wasn't going to leave them behind. Even if Doug thought he had another way of bringing GLaDOS back, she wanted to be sure. These parts. These were a guarantee. But a small voice in the back of her mind reminded her that it wouldn't be worth it if she didn't make it back to Aperture.

"Chell, come on!"

"I ain't gonna take sides," shouted Rick over the din of the wind, "but you better choose quick, sweetcakes! Take it or leave it!"

OKAY, GUYS, THIS IS WHERE YOU COME IN.

YOU GET TO DECIDE WHETHER CHELL KEEPS OR DESTROYS GLADOS'S PARTS.

PUT IT IN A COMMENT, MESSAGE ME, HIT ME UP ON TUMBLR, WHATEVER YOU WANNA DO, AND THE NEXT CHAPTER WILL HAVE THE RESULTS OF YOUR ACTIONS!

((For now, I'm not putting the past chapters in here. They will come in total at the end of the fic))
© 2012 - 2024 Jenovaii
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JadeAnnabelArt's avatar
Since Chell is super stubborn, she'd take the parts, and since Wheatley has to protect her-- Hey, the Borealis is Aperture Tech, and their gonna let Black Mesa blow it up? Who do they think they are? Wheatley! THROW THE BOMB! THROW IT FAR AWAY WITH YOUR SUPER STRENGTH! They wouldn't have a copter that close if they couldn't get far enough away in time!