Chapter 6: "We Don't go to Ravenholm..."

Take note that while in the previous chapter nothing could harm you, now everything is trying to kill you. Or rather eat your brains.

Step out into the courtyard 1 and walk to the opposite side where there is the lower half of a torso hanging from a tree. Turn to your left, and you’ll see a zombie appear out of the darkness. If it’s far enough away when you see it, lob one of the explosive barrels next to you at it; otherwise, shoot it. If you toss a barrel at it when it’s too close, you’ll be seriously injured. There’s only one way to go at this point. Use your crowbar, gravity gun, or an explosive barrel to break down the wood blocking the entrance, but if you do the latter, stand back to avoid injury.

Inside, you’ll find saw blades on one side of the wall and gas canisters on the other; also, a table is blocking the path you need to follow. Pull it away with the gravity gun and stand in the doorway. In front of you and to the left, you’ll see two zombies sitting on the floor, but they don’t appear to be alive. Don’t let this fool you; they do this all the time and most times are alive. Pause a moment and a zombie will exit the door on the right. You can use a blade to slice him in half with your gravity gun (pick it up with secondary fire, and shoot it with primary). No matter where you hit the zombie, it’ll be sliced in half, dead, but sometimes the headcrab will still survive. After it dies, the other two will stand up. My suggestion is to use gas canisters to your left to kill them, but saw blades will work just as well (again, stand back when using a canister). Go right into the hallway where the first zombie came out of and another will be waiting for you. Toss a blade at it (you can carry them with you) and approach cautiously. On your left is a hallway with barrels, canisters, a few zombies, and some head crabs. Use your pistol to shoot the far barrel then quickly retreat into the previous room while everything explodes. Now you can carry on.

Follow the path out. On the left will be an engine running with a rusted propeller blade attached, spinning wildly 2. Don’t touch it while it’s moving or you’ll be sliced in half. Instead, wait for the zombies to come down the steps and get cut down like trees. When they’re dead, hold down crouch and move under the propeller, being super careful not to let go of the crouch button. Push your "use” key by the lever to switch off the engine. When the propeller stops, you’re free to stand without worrying about becoming "torso boy.” Climb the stairs, and push the pallet out of your way. There’s another propeller trap in here, but the room appears otherwise empty. Don’t let that fool you: three zombies are hiding in a dark corner to your left. If you want, walk back there to make them come out, then run under the trap and turn it on. Either way, bust down the wood covering your exit and leave.

Ahead of you will be three explosive barrels and a zombie. Kill the zombie, but try not to shoot the barrels: it will hurt severely. On the left next to those barrels, however, you’ll see another zombie lying against a fourth barrel. That one you can shoot, and I suggest you do. Continue on where the zombie you plugged was standing then enter the room with caution. Now there are three zombies, some head crabs, a trap, and explosive barrels 3. Those barrels spell bad news for you. Take cover and shoot them before the zombies throw them at you; if they hit the propeller they’ll explode, which will severely hurt you. After that’s taken care of, hide under the propeller trap until everything else is dead then turn it off and exit.

Hang two lefts and you’ll see a big patch of debris on fire as well as a burning zombie coming towards you 4. As you approach it, a man with a rifle will burst out of the roof above, standing on a platform. He’ll shoot the zombie as well a few that round the corner and a burning headcrab. At this point, you don’t find out who he is, but that’s not important at the moment. Head near the fire; on the left next to a pillar you’ll see a big gas container with a valve (as well as a health kit). Turn the valve with your "use” key then turn around. A zombie should be right behind you at this point. Blast him then enter the building behind where the fire used to be. Inside, will be a bunch of zombies on a level above you. Toss the canisters, barrels, and blades at them. Once they’re all dead, approach the doorway on your right. Before doing anything, use your pistol to shoot the barrels at the top of the steps; that will kill the headcrabs that are sitting there. Use the gravity gun to pull the furniture out of your way and ascend the first flight of stairs. Turn around and shoot the barrel at the top of the next set; it will kill a zombie hiding up there. Go left at the top and you’ll see a zombie lying next to a busted couch. Shoot it then if you want, or save it for later. Either way, push the armoire out of your way and blast the zombie lying on the floor. In the room on the right, hidden by furniture, are two poison headcrabs. This are extremely dangerous, though cannot kill you. If bitten, you become poisoned, and your health drops to one, leaving you vulnerable until your suit administers the antidote and brings your health back to its previous state. Kill them both and hit the level on the right next to the window. If you didn’t kill the zombie by the couch earlier, it will probably be right behind you at this point so kill it and go back the way you came. But instead of going down the steps, go to the left onto the catwalk. Look down and you’ll see a poison headcrab. Kill it then descend the stairs. Go up the metal stairs that that headcrab was on and climb the closest generator. At the top will be a grate. Break it or pull it away with the gravity gun and climb in. Follow the vent to the end and move the next grate. Drop down onto some supplies then drop again, and you’ll be where you were before (where the big fire was).

Walk around the ash pile to encounter a boarded up door. Stand back: a zombie tears down the boards, and he and his buddy try to slash your eyes out. Blast both and step in to pick up two health kits on the table. There’s also a caged zombie. Turn on the gas tank then hit the igniter and watch it burn. Exit and head right. There will be an alley on fire 5. Turn off the gas and wait for the fire to die. Proceed down the alley and pause; four zombies will wake up and try to eat you (one of them has no legs so be careful it doesn’t crawl up your pants). Run back down the alley, turn the gas on, but don’t ignite it yet. Wait for at least one zombie to enter the alley before hitting the sparker. They will all follow and light on fire. Stand back, though; they may live long enough to attack you after they exit the alley. With the zombies dead, turn off the gas and wait for the fire to die down before proceeding.

On the left at the end of the alley you’ll see a fence with a ladder. This fence was previously electrified so if you hit the level in the room upstairs, the power will be off (if you forgot, go back and do it). Climb the ladders to the top and leap to the adjacent building. Proceed ahead and the man you saw before will appear 6, shooting a fast headcrab about to latch onto your skull. He warns you to be more vigilant then disappears. In front of you and slightly below is a wooden path. Hit "F6” for a quick save, and then leap onto it. Follow it left and into the building. Be careful not to fall down the hole yet. There is a zombie and four headcrabs down there, but on your level are several gas canisters. Launch these at the enemies below you with your gravity gun, and then finish off those who defy death any way you please. Break the boards blocking your path, and head around the corner.

You’ll now be facing a new kind of trap: there’s a lever mechanism and a car attached to a steel cable 7. Hit the lever to raise the car; when the six zombies start to crowd under it, hit the lever again to drop the car on top of the zombies. Take note, however, that sometimes the zombies make it past the car alive and that the car raises again on its own. Kill the zombies and head into the open. There’s another car trap ahead. Hit the switch, jump onto it, and then jump into the darkened area to your left (there will be a lambda symbol near it). In the back left corner behind the big machine are some supplies 8. Gather these and exit by walking up the steel girder the forms a little ramp (this is near where you entered). There are zombies on the other side of the car trap, but you shouldn’t have to bother with them. Set off the trap again so the car is on the ground and once more jump onto it. Ride it all the way to the top where there is a wooden platform leading to a window. Now you learn who the man with the rifle is. He introduces himself as Father Grigori; he was the priest in Ravenholm and is now saving his parishioners’ souls by killing them (they’ve all turned into zombies). This job has loosened a few screws in the father’s head, and he’s occasionally prone to bouts of hysterical laughter. Enter the building through the window and go through the doors on your left.

After the load, you’ll open the second door. Three explosive barrels and a fast headcrab greet you. DO NOT SHOOT THE BARRELS! They will kill you due to the close proximity. Instead, shoot the headcrab before it has a chance to reach you. Go up the stairs in front of you and enter the door to your right. In the corner is a zombie lying next to an armoire. Shoot the gas canisters lying next to him or simply pop a cap in his ass. Father Grigori is in the building across the street, shooting zombies that you’ll see walking past the windows. Go to the second window (the one further from you), break the glass, and step onto the ledge. If Grigori hasn’t killed all the zombies, kill them, then divert your attention to the ledge across the road where two poison headcrabs are crawling along. There are two cinder blocks there too; you can lob these at the headcrabs with your gravity gun to kill them, so long as they haven’t spotted you yet. Don’t drop to the ground just yet. Go to the end of the ledge on your left and shoot an explosive barrel down there 9; it will start a small chain reaction. Go back to the window, face across the street, and look downward: there will be a grate with a barrel behind it 10. Shoot the barrel. Next, go to the other end of the ledge and start the next chain reaction by shooting one or two explosive barrels down there. Make sure everything is dead, then return to where you were and the fire should be dead. Drop to the ground and enter the little tunnel where that grate was. There are supplies here.

Now that you’re on the ground, go to the end of the road where there will be a ladder on your right (you can’t miss it) 11. Climb it. At the top there are two places to go. On the left is an attic that has a fast headcrab and supplies 12. Collect these then go back out onto the platform. Take the route into the other building where half a zombie is waiting for you. Shoot it and enter the door to your left. Here you will find a few health kits and dead zombies on tables. Grab something big and heavy with your gravity gun (there is one saw blade and a few big, metal hooks) and slowly go down the stairs. Zombies will start coming towards you: start lobbing stuff at them to kill them so you don’t waste ammo. However, a paint can will not harm a zombie 13; it will just piss him off because you painted him white. With them all dead, go down the steps and follow the hallway around. After the load, go into the small room in front of you and collect your supplies. Exit and go left, following the alley around.

Here you will encounter a new, deadly enemy: the fast zombie. You’ll hear a few screaming, and then one will charge at you 14. Blast it as quickly as you can. Go left, pop the headcrab that’s ignoring you, and enter the building. Continue on through the laundry room through the door and into the hallway. Cardboard boxes are strewn here and a zombie is lying on the floor opposite them. Shoot it, go through the door on the left, and shoot the zombie coming down the stairs to your left. Ascend the stairs. On your right is a room boarded off with a zombie on the other side. Stand back because it will tear down the boards and potentially tear off your head. Shoot it, but don’t enter the room. It’s empty save for two headcrabs that you don’t have to kill. Turn around and open the door. Supplies and two zombies are in here. To your right is another room with health kits; collect these after owning the zombies there. Exit the way you came in and climb the stairs. At the top are two headcrabs (one in front of you and one behind, this one usually doesn’t notice you right away); unless you have Superman’s reflexes, you probably won’t be able to kill them both without getting bitten. Don’t worry about that. Open the door and go onto the roof. Follow it around to the left, collecting ammunition and health. You’ll see Father Grigori shooting fast zombies with a Spas-12 shotgun. He beckons you over and tosses you the shotty before picking up his Annabelle .357 caliber rifle. Pay close attention to his advice: "Aim for the head.” Two zombies start climbing the building opposite you. Shoot them before they can attack you.

There will now be a brief moment of calm. Gaze to your right and you’ll see a water tower with no top 15. Save then leap towards it, making sure to land in the water. Climb out and up the next ladder. Gather the supplies there, open the door, enter the room, shut the door behind you, run to the left corner, and push the button that will activate the world’s slowest elevator. Be on your toes: at this point several fast zombies crash through the skylight 16. After killing them all, collect the supplies and take the elevator down. At the bottom, you’ll encounter a poison zombie. These things are very hard to kill and are better pitchers than Randy Johnson, except that they’ll throw poison headcrabs at you. Kill the zombie and climb up the wooden plank that’s resting on top of a car 17. Go over the fence and head right. In the room ahead will be supplies and a headcrab on the left 18. Collect what you need and go back out. Now comes the hard part.

Enter the next alleyway and go left, but keep alert 19. As you near the propeller trap in the middle section, there will be an alley on your left with a poison zombie in it 20. Kill that and tend to the two zombies who sneaked up behind you. Don’t bother with the trap: after the engine revs up, the propeller flies off. Head down an alley with two barrels at the end then follow the path upstairs 21. Pull the lever with your "use” key then go back down 22. Past the trap on the right is a grassy area 23. Climb the concrete squares and kill the poison zombie down there. Jump across to the ledge and climb the ladder. At this point a fast zombie will show up. Don’t kill it with the explosive barrel on the roof opposite you: it will severely hurt you and disperse the supplies there clear across the map. Continue right to the adjacent roofs, and then follow the path around to the supplies. Back to where you were is a wooden path with barrels on it. Toss them to the ground and, if you want, use them to kill the zombies that are down there. If you let them live, make sure to watch out for flying poison headcrabs. Take the wooden ledge to the end and leap to the thing in front of you (no clue what to call it, but it’s what you moved by hitting that lever). Jump to the next roof, collect the supplies, and follow the path. Lots of fast zombies appear and start attacking you, but Father Grigori also shows up to help. Apparently, you’ve gone the wrong way and have to head back (don’t worry; this is where you were supposed to go). With the zombies dead, save and jump across to the catwalk, being sure to jump over the railing 24. Move immediately to your right because the catwalk will collapse under your weight.

Now that you’re inside the building, select the gravity gun and grab a saw blade. There are numerous zombies in the next room, including one that’s missing its legs 25. Kill them all and any headcrabs that survived. In the next area, there is a stairwell down. Take the gas canisters lying around and toss them down the stairs with the gravity gun; this will kill several zombies down there. Descend. If you need supplies, head left, going down more steps. At the end is a door to where you were before. If you didn’t collect all the supplies here before you should have some left. Otherwise go back and head right. Climb the ladder, but be careful because there are three headcrabs up there. You have almost no chance of avoiding being bitten at least once. Exit the door 26 and go left. Cross to the next roof and wait for the two fast zombies to leap at you 27. A well-placed double-tap from your shotty at each will dispense with both of them nicely. Select your grenades and toss them down the roof; a poison zombie is down there 28; make sure to keep alert for flying poison headcrabs. With it dead, go left and drop between the two buildings (this won’t hurt you). Turn around and enter the courtyard where the poison zombie was lurking. Go up the stairs 29, when you reach the catwalk at the top, stop and turn around. A fast zombie will be racing towards you. Blast it and continue on in your previous direction. Go through the door, climb the stairs, collect the supplies, and ascend the ladder. At the top will be more shotgun shells and health kits. Unless absolutely necessary, don’t collect these just yet. Walk near the yellow lever to get Father Grigori’s attention 30. He’ll activate a generator that will send a cart to you to bring you to safety. This, however, takes a while and in the meantime fast zombies will start climbing the pipes on either side of the roof. Start shooting them, but the cart should arrive before they’re all dead. Quickly grab the remaining supplies, get in the cart, and push "use” while facing the lever to release the handbrake 31. You’ll now be transported to a temporary safe haven.

Exit the cart and collect the supplies on the table next to where Father Grigori is standing 32. Listen to him talk then follow him through the woods. He’ll eventually lead you to "safety,” but there are lots of zombies in your way. After you climb over the first fence, two fast zombies start running over the ridge above you and more come from in front 33. Help Father Grigori kill them, but saving your own butt is more important since Father Grigori cannot die. With the fast zombies dead, follow him over the next fence. Regular zombies appear. Kill them and keep following the priest 34. At one point you’ll reach a raised area with a few graves under it and will see some explosive barrels. Don’t shoot these; let Father Grigori do it because he times it properly to kill the zombies 35. Wait with him for the fire to die down, keeping an eye to your left to make sure zombies don’t sneak up on you. Follow him to the next set of graves, killing zombies on the way. Around the next bend are a mausoleum and a fence. In the darkened left corner lurks a poison zombie. Help Father Grigori kill it, and he’ll let you out of Ravenholm by lifting the gate for you. Crawl under it, grab the health kits, and go through the door.

In the next section is a big pit 36. Don’t fall down it. Push the explosive barrel and walk to the opposite side. You’ll have to follow the broken beams to safely drop from level to level. Some places will have beams bending downward, others just an opening. Use your judgment and slowly make your way down, saving often. At the last wooden beam, you’ll be slightly above a catwalk. Drop down onto it and collect health. Follow the catwalk left, jump across the gap, and enter the shack to get supplies 37. Go back out and go straight (you can follow the catwalk two ways, but you’ll be able to see which was the way you originally came from). In front of you the catwalk is busted, but a small piece stands ahead 38. Save, jump onto the railing, and leap to the other piece. Quickly turn and jump to the next section before the single section collapses under your weight. If you fall, quickly run to your right where you’ll see stairs up to the catwalk again. Don’t stop for anything because the headcrabs will get you (and there are a lot of them). Once at the top, shoot the barrel at the bottom of the steps to kill the headcrabs that are following you. You’ll see a fenced off cave to one side 39. Jump over to it and fall down. Kill the headcrabs and quickly round the corner, making sure to shoot the barrel there. This will kill two poison headcrabs. At the end of the tunnel is another pit 40. Across the pit are supplies and down below is water. To your left will be a wooden beam. Save your game, jump to the beam and immediately to the other side because when you land the mean will fall out from under your feet. Now that you got those supplies, fall down the pit into the water.

In the water, there is only one way to go. Swim until you see a wooden support and a barnacle tongue. Get some air and stick yourself to the tongue. If you’re facing the support, on your right will be supplies about halfway up. Use the gravity gun to collect these, and then shoot the barnacle before it eats you. You’ll fall down pretty far, but since you’re falling into water you won’t get hurt. Climb over the support and swim forward out of the water. Go left and activate the trap, a propeller trap on a small train car 41. When it start going up, sprint behind it until you run out of energy. Crawl into a corner and crouch down so you don’t get your head chopped off. This trap will continually go up and down the tunnel, but will kill all the zombies that pop out from corners. After you catch your breath, start running up again when the trap is near the bottom. This will give you more time to make it to the top. Past the wooden stop block are two zombies. Give them both a double-tap to the head from your shotty before heading to the light. Don’t worry, you’re not dead.

After the load, exit the tunnel and turn around. A poison headcrab is above you. Kill it, bust open the supply crate (it has shotguns), and climb up to the ledge where the headcrab was 42. There are supplies here. Drop back down and walk to the tracks. Turn right and stop at the first train car. A fast zombie will be charging towards you 43. Blast it then continue. Around the corner will be a bridge connecting two buildings over the tracks and some zombies on the ground. A blue beam will be tracing over the ground. That’s the laser on the end of a combine sniper rifle. Let the sniper kill the zombies while you stay out of sight under the bridge. Standing on the side where you can see the window the sniper is in (but out of his view) toss a grenade up there 44. If you miss, run like hell back the way you came. If you get it in, the sniper will be exploded. Resupply and continue the way you were going. Now it gets tricky so make sure to save.

There is another sniper ahead, but you can’t throw a grenade that far. Stick near the train cars, and go under the closest one, which has logs on it. Don’t proceed forward yet. The sniper will shoot an explosive barrel on top of the train car which will cause the logs to fall off. Depending on how it happens, the logs may fall under the car, which will crush you. So go under the left side of the train; at the end of the car will be a headcrab waiting for you. Squish it and dash to the next train car. There are supplies in it, but the roof is open so don’t go in there yet. Using the train as cover, lob a grenade into the sniper’s nest; now you can go collect the supplies inside.

Follow the tracks around several train cars. At one point, there will be two combine fighting zombies. Let them kill the zombies then you kill them. Be wary, though: a pulse rifle-toting combine will come charging up and over the flatbed car to your right. Kill him, collect his rifle, go into the next train car, and get more ammo. Continue forward; you’ll leave the tunnel and be out in the open. On the left is a busted van with health in it 45. Follow the tanker cars on their right side and pop the combine that appears at the end. Go around the train cars and back the way you came, just on the opposite side. You’ll now be in a fenced-in junk yard with busted cars. Two combine appear and will throw grenades at you. There are explosive barrels around so stay clear of them. Once you kill those combine, two more will come out of a doorway ahead of you. Kill them and enter the building 46. When you enter the next section, civilians will be in the middle of a firefight with the combine. Kill them quickly (the combine). Once dead, a civilian will take you further inside where you learn that Eli has been captured. You’ll have to take the dune buggy and cross the coast to get to Nova Prospekt to rescue him. Have fun with that. But first, collect all the supplies around the room and listen to the guy talk to Alyx and hear what she has to say to you.

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