My eyes opened as my HUD flickered to life as I took in my surroundings, I gazed across the familiar landscape. There was a forest around me and when I looked up I saw the ground slope upward and make a ring. How did I get here there is no way that I would willingly come back to a Halo Ring. I checked the top right corner of my HUD seeing if I had any weapons, seeing as there was empty space where I had nothing. I also did a check on my Mjolnir Mark VI armor seeing it come back green I also checked visually. I made sure there were no holes in the black bodysuit, my eyes also finding the familiar 117 stenciled onto the chest piece. Mendez always says to not always trust machines but your mind but that seemed so long ago now.

I clicked my comms to see if anything would answer but only static came back. "Ahhhh" I heard a scream in the distance acting on pure instinct I ran towards the sound. The dense forest slowed me down a bit but I managed to weave through the trees. I spotted a clearing up ahead I spotted a seemingly a dull greenish gray mass ahead of me. As I approached the clearing I seeming melted into the shadows deciding to look at the situation before I just rush in. I spotted blood or at least a red substance on the ground in front of me deciding to look past that I continued looking. My eyes landed on a spent shell casing littering the floor something must have gone wrong here.

I looked all over the clearing making sure it was clear from whatever had managed to capture some humans. I walked towards the red substance on the ground and felt it seeing if it was dried or not. The substance stained my glove meaning that it had to have happened recently. I then proceeded to the shell casing on the floor, quickly counting there was only 14 casing in the one spot. I knelt down the pick one up and inspected the spent casing seeing it was a 7.62mm. 7.62 is the standard round for MA5B standard assault rifle, odd they haven't been used in the field in years. They got decommissioned after the Humans won the Human-Covenant War because they were getting too old. There was nothing else in the small clearing no trace of anything ever being here other than blood and some casings.

I was now confused about how something like this was possible when a red dot blinked behind me on my motion tracker. I spun around scanning the foliage behind me for anything that could be a threat. I only saw two red flowers or what I at least I think are flowers ignoring them I slowly crept up to the bushes where my motion tracker blinked. I picked up a rock seeing it as my only option if there was a threat somewhere in the bushes. With my augmented strength, I should be able to win a fight with a rock worst case I can run. A thousand possibilities rushed through my head as of what could be waiting me. Some things were worse then I could possibly imagine like the covenant was back or a… No, I am not going there, they could not have survived.

There could be only one explanation for what this mass was, something that still appears in my nightmares to this day the Flood. Facing the Flood on the Halo rings and the Ark while trying to find Cortana was a bad experience for me. The Gravemind was even worse what he said to me that day will forever haunt me. Even 6 years after the war those experiences will probably never go away. If only I wasn't separated from the rest of the Spartans it would have been easier to deal with the halo rings. Spartans were trained since the age of six to be the best soldiers the UNSC have ever seen. We truly were the best soldiers entering the fight against the Covenant at the age of 14. The Spartans slowly got killed off during the war slowly just leaving me and what was left of the Blue team.

I slowly got better with the help of Kelly-087, I slowly grew to love her more than I already did. She stayed by me when I first retired to get used to the civilian life which was more difficult than I want to admit. In deep thought, I didn't hear the heavy footfalls behind me and I felt a sharp pain lace up my back. I guess the years of being a civilian really softened me up, getting lost in my train of thought was an amateur move. I ignored the pain that was spreading throughout my back and turned around. There was a singular flood infection form and it was wearing green Mjolnir armor. It was the old mark V armor that was really outdated there was a helmet with a shattered visor, a single arm with some of the armor attachments still on and the bottom half was pretty much destroyed. The chest piece was sticking out and on the front, there were three numbers engraved. I silently gasped when I saw those three numbers -087- the numbers I hoped so desperately not to see.

The creature lunged and I quickly rolled away not wanting to see the face of the creature that is now behind me I ran. I ran and ran and ran as far and as fast as I could to try and get rid of what was Kelly. The thing followed me keeping pace with me as I ran through the forest dodging trees and boulders. I was starting to breath heavy old age really is getting to me huh I thought bitterly. I saw a clearing in the trees ahead and decided that I would stop there and take down this threat. As I was nearing I spotted more flood mass and some black objects that I could not see yet. I ran in full speed making sure that there weren't any flood from nearby except the one that was behind me. Come to think of it I don't see Kell- the combat from anywhere. I heard another rustle in the bushes and not wanting to fall into the same trap twice I grab a rock about the size of my hand and threw it. With my increased strength that would probably kill a human being but with the Mjolnir and thane flood being the most annoyingly tough things it probably just scratched it.

My motion tracker flared showing 3 dots circling around me meaning I was surrounded and the only way out was fighting. I watched the motion tracker and the woods around me making sure that I would not be surprised by a attack. The dots just kept getting closer now 10 meters away, just at the edge of the clearing I was now in. I checked my motion tracker again but nothing moved which was weird. They just disappeared off of the motion tracker, that is impossible to do with any known camouflage. Another rustle to my right then left and then in front of me confirming there was only three. That still didn't help it is going to take pretty much everything to get out of whatever I am in.

Three figures jumped out of the bushes at almost the same time meaning there was a hive mind controlling these flood. I really hope that the Gravemind in not back that was the worse time I have had ever period. I looked at these figures and the flood who had stolen kelly's armor, I cannot think that something else happened. They were also dressed in Mjolnir similarly to the flood with the stolen armor. I glanced at the stenciled parts of the chest pieces and to my horror, I saw a 058 and a 04 with the first part unreadable. That meant that they had also gotten to what I assume was Fred and Linda, the other part of my family. I grew up with all of the Spartan IIs and I knew the alive and dead one all by heart.

The three figures lunged at me and I had barely any time to dodge as they flew at me and tried to tackle me. I quickly got back up and tried to roll away from what was probably another lunge towards me. I wasn't quick enough and one of the infection forms clipped one of my legs making me unbalanced. I fell, I really tried not to know that if I fell and quit moving I was probably dead meat. I rolled over just to see what was about to happen when an infection form flew in from above. It landed claw first right into my lower abdomen piercing into at least something in the digestive system. I knew I was not going to get out of this situation I was slowly bleeding out. The Flood-Spartan hybrid mix thing then pulled out it claw from my abdomen making it hurt and bleed ten times more. Then another flood form came over me as if it was studying my armor or something. It then drew it not claw arm back and threw a punch right into the faceplate of my visor shattering it on impact. It then drew it disgusting face closer to my now shattered visor, as I was losing consciousness from blood loss and said in a familiar accent "Wake up John!"

I awoke slowly as if I was just unconscious and in a sense, I kinda was, just in what I now knew was a dream. I slowly opened my eyelids to see a little bit of light eating away the darkness around the room. The lamp on the bedside table was on not fully as if not to blind me but still on. "Are you ok?" asked a voice behind me "maybe I don't really know anymore," I said back. I turned over, looking straight into the blue eyes of Kelly-087 or at just Kelly the 087 was dropped when she retired. She was worried to some degree from the slight line that forms when her brows crease, to be honest I worried about me too.

"Another dream?" she asked, it wasn't the first time this has happened to me in these 6 years. When I was in the military I always had something to do, now that I am a civilian there is not as much to busy myself with. "Yes," I answered back there was no point in lying to Kelly about this stuff. I looked over at the Chrono on the bedside table and checked the time 3:00. It was still too early to wake up and do something so I just laid in bed trying to clear my mind of the dream I had just woke up from. I heard a sigh come from the other side of the bed and curiously looked over. "Come here you won't get any sleep like that" Kelly said, without responding I just scooted over to where she is laying. "It was about the Flood again" she didn't even have to ask I knew what she was thinking just from the look on her face. "The Spartans were C-combat Forms" I explained further, my voice breaking briefly from the memories.

Knowing I needed comfort Kelly scooted even closer and wrapped her arms around me saying nothing, just staring in each other's eyes. "None of us were turned into Combat forms," Kelly said confirming my thoughts and comforting me at the same time. "Let's talk about this in the morning lets just go back to bed I kinda wanted to sleep in a bit today ." I chuckled a little from her straightforwardness and determination at going back to sleep. I wrapped her into my arms and soon found a comfortable position. We were pretty much spooning as I gently kissed the back of Kelly's head. It was still hard to fall asleep as the nightmare still haunted me but the gentle breathing of Kelly in my arms helped me get sleepy. My eyelids were feeling really heavy as I slowly closed my eyes and fell into a peaceful dreamless sleep.

AN: Hello Everyone

That is my first Halo fic I have posted reviews with constructive criticism would be nice. I would like to know if I should keep

this a one-shot or continue with other chapter? if this stays a one-shot then I would do a complexly different story on halo and

I would also like ideas for said story.

Thanks