"Come on! Section 7 is this way! Hurry!" Taylor shouted to Tyler as he sprinted ahead. Though his helmet was on, the fear and excitement in his eyes was unmistakable. The two Spartans turned the corner and ran right into two brutes, guarding Section 7.
There was a four second pause, then one of the brutes shouted, "Kill them!" The one holding the spiker opened fire and two spikes pierced into Taylor's leg as they jumped into cover.
"It's alright, it didn't pierce the shields," Taylor shouted out, poking his head out of the corner and opening fire. The second brute responded with his brute shot, a powerful Covenant grenade launcher. The grenades exploded against the walls and the floor.
"Keep them busy! I have a plan!" Tyler shouted, taking out a laser drill and opening a hole in the ceiling. He jumped up and pulled himself through. After that, he activated the heat vision feature on his HUD and moved through the wires and other odd mechanical parts. The two brutes were shown, still firing at Taylor from cover. Tyler drilled another hole in the ceiling and held the metal before it dropped. He then carefully lowered himself down and took out his combat knife.
The spiker brute turned and saw him, but it was too late. The Field Major jumped onto the brute shot brute's back and sliced open it's neck. The other brute went to help, but Taylor ran forward and leaped on it's back and snapped it's spine.
"Nicely down Captain," Tyler said, laughing a little.
"Likewise, sir. Now, if you excuse me, I have an appointment," Taylor replied, entering the section of the prison block.
"Hold up," Tyler stopped him, "Whatever happens...you make the call on the laser."
"Thanks," was Taylor's quiet reply.
He entered the section and stared into each of the cells. They were filled with the corpses of personnel and marines. He stepped past cell eleven and then stopped at the end of twelve. He swallowed and looked into cell thirteen. Dr. Harris was propped up against the wall...coughing.
Taylor quickly deactivated the shield door and ran in. "Anastasia! Are you okay?" he cried out. She looked up and he saw blood, lots of blood. She had a deadly spiker wound on her stomach. Not even bio-foam could help that, she had lost way too much blood.
"No. No. No, please. You're going to be okay. You're going to be okay, you hear me?" Taylor said, taking off his helmet and moving closer to Dr. Harris.
"I knew you'd come," she said, smiling weakly.
"Listen, I'm gonna get you out of here. Alive," Taylor said, taking Anastasia in his arms.
"No, you're not," she coughed up some blood and then spoke again, "Sorry...I won't...be able to...take you...up on that...champagne."
"This is all my fault. I shouldn't have let you out of my sight. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," Taylor said, tears streaming down his face.
"It's...okay...I...just wish we could...have spent...more time together," she gasped out.
"Me too," Taylor replied, giving a weak smile. He leaned in closer and kissed her, his tears running from his face onto hers. He felt her body go limp in his arms and more tears poured out. He sobbed over her corpse, occasionally letting out an angry scream, then gently placed her on the floor. He wiped his tears and then put his helmet back on and opened up a communication link with Titan.
"This is Captain Savoie...blow these motherfuckers out of the air. Now."