Disclaimer: I do not own anything Halo. Not the people, the game play, the weapons or anything else. Alias and Raddigan are real players in this game, however their in-game names have been altered for privacy purposes.

This is the first of, I'm sure, many to come failures and successes...hopefully there will be more successes...

Alias' normally light steps were as heavy as her normally light breathing. She'd been running around this damn circle for what seemed like hours, narrowly avoiding the edges and tips of carefully wielded Energy Swords. Against the horde, she fought for her life as her teammate and leader, Raddigan, did the same. Every now and again they would spot each other across the map, but there was no time or opportunity to rendezvous and formulate a survival plan. The only time and energy they had was instantly spent on simply surviving without.

Raddigan was finally able to stop and catch his breath. There seemed to be a break in the onslaught of zombies that had been attacking him from the start of all this mess. It seemed that only him, Alias and an unknown Spartan were left uninfected. Every once in a while, Alias' grunts would sound in his ear as her mic picked it up and transmitted it to his receiving earpiece. It had been quiet for a while now, though, and he was beginning to worry.

"You still with me, Alias?" he asked.

He felt relief as her tired voice pushed its way into his head. "I'm here, sir," she replied. "Across from you."

Raddigan looked up and spotted her teal armor glinting from the balcony across from him. She was with two others and seemed to be safe, though he couldn't understand why her and one of the survivors were running in circles around each other while the second merely watched.

He sighed inwardly. "Alias, this is no time for bullshit," he commanded. "You and your friend need to cut out whatever game you're playing and focus. It's life or death here, kid."

Alias' reply was all but a whine. "I'm not playing any game, sir. This asshole won't leave me alone. He keeps running behind me…honestly, it's a little weird."

Raddigan watched the trio when a strange white gleam caught his eye. Using his helmet to get a zoomed in visual of the man who kept trying to stand at his teammates back, his relief quickly melted away into panic. He looked to the other man that was standing still. Both of them were wielding Energy Swords.

"Alias," he all but yelled. "You're dancing with infected! Get the fuck out of there!"

He watched in horror as Alias turned around to see for herself instead of simply following orders. "Wha-," the word didn't have time to leave her mouth before the zombie embedded his blade into her torso. His teammate fell to the ground, lifeless, but it wouldn't be long before she returned with twice the energy he had and began hunting him. There was no time to grieve over his lost comrade, so instead, Raddigan turned heal and bolted from the scene…