To it as simply as possible, the rebel's face does this:

O___O

"....okay then!" he finally manages. "No wonder you didn't want to do that underground..."

The other side is open, at least for the moment. The Combine are mostly busy inside the buildings in the area. Which is fine with the rebel, because as they push along and stay out of sight a scrawny twentysomething woman with a lambda on her arm darts out of an alley. "Aloysius! Am I ever glad to see you- we've got sniper sign!"

"Huh boy," says Aloysius, glancing over at his two companions. "How bad?"

"A good five or six of them, all strung out along one block- it's the dormitory complex on Linden. Alexi's pinned down on the other side of the street."

"Guess they figured they'd better not leave anything to chance. Linden Street's the most direct route to the Citadel from here," says Aloysius.