Hello, everyone! I'm back with another oneshot, this one a bit less humorous than the last, but I think you'll enjoy it and/or be haunted by the idea. Let's begin...

Gordon was fed up with headcrabs. With zombies. To hell with Ravenholm, to hell with all the pain. As Gordon limped out of the Ravenholm mines, he reflected on what had made him go to Ravenholm anyway. Rocks. A pile of measly rocks, pieces of sediment. They had fallen between him and Alyx, and there was no time for DOG to move them aside. Because the Combine had invaded Black Mesa East. So really, the Combine were to blame. Or was it Breen, who had surrendered the Earth... or was it his parents, who caused him to exist? Or their parents?

This is ridiculous, Gordon thought. He was given some time to breathe in the fresh air outside the mine, and he started thinking about questions that had no answer. He decided to push on.

He saw a crowd of Combine on the train tracks outside the mine. They were searching around, looking for something. Gordon hid behind a crate.

A minute later, a blue laser shone out of one of the windows in a walkway over the tracks. The laser settled on one of the Combine. A second later, a bullet flew out of the window and killed the soldier. Whatever was in that window had a sniper rifle. It was too dark in the walkway to see what it was. By now, the soldiers scattered. They took cover and began firing into the window. Another shot was taken by the person in the window. Another scream, flatline. After a minute, all the soldiers were dead and they had failed to kill the thing in the window, because the laser was still sweeping the area.

Whatever shoots the Combine is my friend, Gordon thought. He came out of cover. Instantly, the laser settled on him. Gordon dove out of the way, back behind his crate. Which was made of wood. He needed cover made of metal.

That's no rebel! He said to himself.

The only reliable cover was a dumpster dangerously close to the window. Maybe the sniper had grenades.

Grenades! That was the answer! All he had to do was throw one right into the window. He plucked one off of his belt and pulled the safety ring out. He held it for a second and then hurled it, hoping that it would blow up as soon as it went into the window. His timing was immaculate. The grenade sailed into the window and exploded instantly. The walkway exploded, pieces of wood flying in all directions.

But what Gordon couldn't believe was the zombie that flew out of the walkway. Had a zombie been wielding the rifle? He approached the corpse carefully, Magnum pointed at it. If the zombie was this smart, the headcrab was this smart.

Upon examination, he found the headcrab attached to the zombie looked different from the three other species he had seen before. It was covered in fur. Short, wiry fur. There was no portion of it which was not covered in fur except the "hump hole", as Barney put it. Was this headcrab an intelligent one? Could it operate weapons?

Gordon heard a shriek. A zombie was stumbling toward him, the fur headcrab attached to it. It pointed a pistol at Gordon and started firing. Gordon sighed. What would come next? A zombie that could open doors?

Behind him, he heard a door open and then slam shut.