A/N: This is a short story written in the heat of the moment.
Disclaimer: I do not own Halo, Halo 2, Halo 3, Halo Reach, or Halo Wars, or any characters in said games. All those belong to Bungie, Microsoft, GearBox, and 343 Industries.
No Hope at All
There were nine of us at first, but that changed quickly. They came out of nowhere, taking one or two at a time. They hid in the corners, waiting, watching. Anywhere there were shadows they would be, ready to kill wit out warning. They got Jenkins first, of course. Have you ever noticed anyone named Jenkins dies?
At first we thought they were separate attacks, but then they started making coordinated assaults. Our CO said they weren't able to think, that idiot. It was clear they could. Can a non-sentient being fake and attack from the front then creep up behind you to kill or take a few good men before it gets a shotgun round to the chest. It all happened so fast. If you were lucky they would just kill you, but if you weren't, like Jenkins, they would take you away and… well nobody knows what they do to you.
My name is Johnny Hendrikson, UNSC Marine. I'm just one of those grunts who do what their told and get the job done. Tim Jones is our demolitions man, and Charlie Rutherford is our sniper, while Bobby Mendez was our Sargent.
We thought they were the Flood at first, but then it became obvious. It was worse. Worse than the flood, you may say, how is that possible. Well they aren't these shriveled, semi-decomposed mutants. They look almost human. They were smart too, not mindless creatures. They could ambush you at the next corner. They are stronger than the Flood and they didn't go down easily. It took an 8-gauge shotgun round to kill them, and even more for the bigger ones.
The mission was to go in and rescue some scientists, now it was to survive. Why the scientists were here, we don't know. All we know about them is their dead now; I shot two of them myself. These …things managed to get in their so-called safe room and infected them. We called for gunship support but the only ship in the system was the one we came in on a light frigate, and with all the support moved to the front lines to combat the Covenant, there was none left for a simple in, out op. The Face of Danger did decide to send down a pelican to get us out, though we had to get clear of the compound because the Infection was the worst there. We were right in the middle of it, this was gonna be a long day.
"Hey Johnny, when I get out of here I'm going to the DFAC and eat a pizza and a burger with some fries" said Tim.
"Yeah, well it was Mendez's decision to dump the MREs" I replied.
"Good thing to, dang I hate those things" said Charlie.
"I hear you bro" Tim answered.
"Put a lid on it maggots" shouted Mendez.
"Yeah, sure" muttered Charlie.
"What's that marine, you got a problem" said Mendez.
"No sir" Charlie answered.
Mendez whirled around and was about to punch Charlie in the face when it struck. Quick as lighting an Infect jumped out of nowhere and stabbed Mendez with a spear like appendage on its left arm. We tried to stop it but were too late. Mendez started convulsing and then a black liquid started pouring out of his chest. I looked down and saw his fingers were fusing together and lengthening. He was changing into one of them. Tim shot the Infection and it fell over dead, but Mendez was still very much alive. I reached down pulled out my sidearm and shot him in the head. He was dead.
"Well better him than me" remarked Charlie.
"Well who's in charge now" I asked.
They both pointed at me.
"Alright then, let's get our butts in gear and get the heck out of here" I said.
We ran and ran, never seeming to stop except to peak around corners and at one point see if the radio worked. Unfortunately it didn't. After nearly a half-hour of running we stumbled into the open where we could see the pelican waiting for us. Its landing struts seemed like welcoming arms. Until we noticed a nuclear bomb strapped to the deck, ticking away the seconds, it was currently at fifteen seconds.
"Tim hurry and disarm it" I ordered.
"On it" he replied running full out to the pelican, which was about fifteen yards away.
After about five seconds of waiting he turned.
"To late Boss" he said.
I heard a loud beep and then there was nothing.
At an ONI base in the middle of nowhere two scientists were standing side by side.
"So how did the test go" one asked.
"Very well, the Infection has achieved it highest mutation yet, it has become sentient" said the other.
"Good, good, soon it we will apply their ability to communicate telepathically, and use it to control them" said the first.
"Yes, and then humanity will have an army of unstoppable creatures" said the second.
"When the next phase is ready I will apply for another attachment of marines, to test their combat ability" added the first.
"I will work on the regeneration properties" said the second.
"Good, when we meet again it will be complete" relied the first.
The first scientist then proceeded to leave the station on a pelican, heading towards a ONI prowler. Once he boarded the prowler the second scientist took a remote out of his pocket and hit a button. The prowler exploded into a million pieces.
"I'm sorry my friend but you knew too much, goodbye" said the second scientist.
"Crystal, pull up all files about project No Hope at All" he said.
"They are here sir" said the AI.
"Good, delete them all" he answered.
"Done sir" Crystal replied.
"Erase all data pertaining to project No Hope at All from your memory" said the scientist.
"Done sir" replied the AI.
The scientist reached into his pocket and pulled out a memory unit and inserted it into the console. Inside was a virus which would kill the AI.
"I know what I have to do" said Crystal
As the AI uploaded the virus her hologram faded in and out of existence. After the virus finished its work the AI was effectively dead.
The scientist then pulled a sidearm from his coat pocket and before shooting himself in the head said "This project was never meant to cause harm but now I'm afraid we went too far, to many lives lost in the name of science". He then pulled the trigger and fell over dead.