Warning: This chapter will contain some light horror elements and relatively detailed Flood descriptions. I know most of you have probably already seen the Flood but it's just a little warning. Also, thanks for 65 reviews! Excuse me while I go do my happy dance:D
Disclaimer: Ahem, I own nothing, other than the beloved Halo games I bought.
"You don't just give up. You don't just let things happen. You make a stand. You say 'no'. You have the guts to do what's right when everyone runs away!"
Rose Tyler, Doctor Who
He was running, away from Cortana, away from the Pelican that had dropped him in this forsaken marsh. He was running towards Keyes, towards the unknown, where the last transmission had come in from Keyes and his team. His breath was steady and controlled, his feet moving steadily across the musty smelling mud. Internally, as he ran, he cursed himself for leaving his AI behind. Though Chief rarely to admitted it, she was helpful sometimes, and her calm voice kept him focused and steady. He had no time to get lost in his thoughts though, he had a goal and that was supposed to be his sole focus now, not his AI. His comm crackled to life.
"The last transmission from the Captain's dropship was from this area. That was twelve hours ago." The stern voice of Pilot Carol Rawley, ordered in Chief's ear, the comm shorting out and making it difficult to hear her words.
Chief tapped the side of his helmet, annoyed, trying it in vain to get the comm clear again. It didn't work. Chief sighed and set back to navigating the foul swamp. Suddenly the distant sound of a transmission coming from his right echoed through the twisted trees. He stopped and moved cautiously towards it.
"Dropship Victor 933-" Static covered the words that came from a crashed dropship. It was empty of any signs of life, but no bodies were anywhere to be found. Chief shook off the eery chill that ran its icy cold fingers up his spine and moved forward to grab some ammo from the dropped guns on the spongy dirt. The transmission came to life again, this time closer and seeming to come from behind Chief.
"Pillar of Autumn, we need assistance- we are under att- Please- I will set this transmission to repeat at- regular intervals. This is a new hostile!" The desperate voice yelled from the comm that lay on the ground, static interrupting the voice numerous times. "Keyes has been captured by the hostiles, we can't seem to kill them! No, no, no, no…" The static completely covered the voice and it began to repeat itself. Chief backed away, his every nerve on edge and his body tense and stiffer that a board. The Spartan crept slowly away from the ship, following the trail of freshly turned up soil and footprints.
He quickly finished a small group of Grunts and Kig-yar and headed towards a fallen Covenant Spirit. Several shadowy figures ran along the cliffside to his right, their shape strange and twisted, barely humanoid. Chief quickly steeled himself and gripped his gun tighter, keeping a very close eye on his radar. A couple friendly units showed up a few kilometers away on his radar, and he immediately perked up, but the units disappeared as quickly as they had appeared. Not a trace left.
The air smelled of death and decay, no sun shining through the spindly branches of the drooping, dead trees and the grey sky. Despite the chilling silence, there was no bodies to show a massacre or a fight.
Now he really wished he had brought Cortana along.
The distant fire a Assault Rifle cracked through the thick, stagnant air. Chief ran towards it as fast as he could, his long legs moving gracefully over the rough terrain. Another group of Grunts and Kig-yar fleeing from an A-shaped structure, they brushed by him, too terrified by wherever they were fleeing from to stop and attack Chief.
That was the part that actually sent a spike of fear into his heart. The Covenant never just ran by a UNSC soldier, and especially not a Spartan like Chief.
Maybe a group of Marines were driving the Grunts away? He hurried to the entrance of the building, silently wishing that friendly, alive units were inside. Nothing was there, nothing at all. A lift rose from the shaft in the back of the small entrance, as if it was waiting for him. He stood on it, not moving an inch as it lowered him into the black depths of the building. It dropped him off gently into a series of corridors and empty rooms, all filled with dead, stinking bodies. Both Covenant and man alike.
A strange off yellow substance dripped off the ceiling and onto Chief's boot, the smell like rotting flesh. The Covenant bodies were positioned as if they had defended themselves against something. Something horrible by the looks of the bodies. He took a quiet breath and steps into the next room, the endless labyrinth of rooms and hallways leading him in no direction at all. He finally entered a larger room with scorch marks decorating the dull grey walls. One of the windows shattered without warning, making Chief whip around towards the sound. A lone Marine sat, half propped up by the cold wall, a pistol aimed towards Chief's head. The Spartan gave a relieved sigh and moved closer, holding his hands up to show peace.
"I am John 117 of UNSC. Please-" He was cut off by the Marine shooting wildly at him, the bullet narrowly missing his helmet. Chief immediately stopped, suspiciously staring at nervous man.
"I'll-I'll blow your brains out! I will not become one of you!" The clearly insane soldier screamed shrilly, his voice barely human. The man broke down into terrified sobs, his body shaking as tears streamed down his bloody, dirty face.
Chief mentally swore, Cortana would know how to comfort the traumatized soldier. Chief knew nothing of empathizing, or comfort or hope. It was something UNSC had "overlooked" in his training. The seven-foot Spartan moved slowly forward, crouching down to a low squat next to the sobbing Marine. he distantly noticed that the man was covered in blood and yellow powder. Strange.
"Look…" Chief paused, searching for the right words. "Its alright, I am not one of…them."
The Marine shifted away, his eyes wild and almost animalistic, and Chief realized it. The man had been scared to madness.
He pursed his lips slightly and came up with a new plan. He reached up, causing the man to shriek and move father away, and undid the clasps to his helmet slowly, his thick fingers stumbling over the tiny locks. It slid off and Chief took a deep breath of the fresh air, giving a strained smile at the mad soldier. A hot breeze ruffled his cropped, brown hair and for a second, Chief enjoyed he freedom from his helmet. It had been too long since he had taken it off.
"I'm human. See?" Why did he feel like he was lying in telling the man he was human?
The Marine reached forward tentatively and touched Chief's pale forehead, Chief tensed at the touch of the man's icy fingers. More tears trickled down the Marine's cheeks, this time out of pure joy and relief.
"Save me, please," The soldier whispered roughly, his green eyes glittering with fragile hope and trust.
Chief managed a more real smile, "Lets go then." He lowered the helmet back on and slowly helped the soldier up. The Marine shakily reloaded his pistol and limped quickly after Chief who moved ahead into the next room. A single rifle laid on the ground, as if it was pointing towards the entrance of a room filled with ominous Forerunner glyphs. Chief entered carefully, making sure the Marine was keeping up. Chief approached a door on the other end of the glyphs room and cautiously opened the door, a dead body of a Marine falling into his arms. The body's eyes were bulging open, dry blood caking his mouth and eyes. Chief winced and gently set the body down on the ground, the rescued soldier behind him whimpering softly behind him.
Bodies, blood, and guns littered the blood soaked floor. A lone helmet lay in the center of the mess, the name JENKINS stamped boldly across it in black letters.
Chief picked up the helmet in his massive hands, turning it over and inspecting it carefully. The helmet recorder was still there and fully intact. He teased it from its spot in the base of the helmet and inserted it into the back of his own helmet, exactly where Cortana had been. The recording started to play.
Open record view (25.56L)
Pvt Jenkins, Wallace A
Flip music started to play, blasting from the recording and into Chief's ears making him wince.
"Why do we have to listen to this old stuff, Sarge?" Asked a younger, more sarcastic voice.
A rough voice barked back, Johnson's voice. "Watch your mouth son. This 'stuff' is history, it should remind you grunts of what we're fighting for."
The younger Marine gave a bitter laugh, "Hey…if the Covenant want to wipe out this bit of history, that's fine by me!"
Another Marine piped up from farther away, his Scottish burr making his words hard to hear. "Yeah… better tha' us."
"You ask em' real nice next time you see them, Bishop. I'm sure they'll be happy to oblige." Johnson sighed, dropping an item on the ground with a clatter.
FFW
PLAY
"Stupid mud." Johnson grumbled as Chief interpreted that the group was walking in a swamp. "Jenkins, wait for the Captain and his squad and get your sorry butt inside that building."
"Yes sir!" Jenkins replied briskly, the squishy sounds of mud sucking at the men's boots.
"All right, lets move!" Johnson barked and the team moved forward into the building.
FFW
PLAY
"What the…" Johnson trailed off, apparently stating at something grisly. "The whole chest has been ripped open!"
The sound of boots shuffling to see what Johnson was seeing filled Chief's ears.
"Weird? I mean look at it," The second man moved forward to get a better look, "something scrambled its insides."
Johnson grunted, "Looks like a Covenant patrol. Elite units, all KIA."
Then Keyes voice interjected, "Real pretty. Friend of yours?" He asked sarcastically.
"Nah, we just met." Jonson laughed, the team moving away again.
FFW
PLAY
"I've got a bad feel in' about this, Sarge," The Scottish Marine said nervously.
"Boy, you have a bad feeling about everything." Johnson replied, walking into the room. His comm crackled to life, loud enough for the team to hear.
We've got contacts sir, lot of em'! Their not Covenant though, they're just tearing through us….What the… No! No! Noooo!" The comm cut off, the man's horrific screams still ringing through the room. Other sounds had been the background, horrible screeching noises and unearthly shrieks. The hissing noise filling the comm.
"Mindaugh, get up there now! Find out what the hell is going on." Johnson ordered shakily.
"But-"
"No buts, just do." Johnson snapped.
The man scurried from the room, the hissing sound from the comm returning, but real and closer.
"Listen!" Jonson told the men in a harsh whisper. "Where's it coming from?"
The Scottish man moved slowly around. "I don't know…" Then the sound of a door crashing open end the horrific hissing filled room. Everything was chaos as the men scrambled to shoot whatever was in the room with them. The Scottish soldier screamed as something attacked him viciously. "Get it off! No! Please!" He shrieked.
"There's too many!" Johnson yelled hoarsely, the attackers moving all around them. "Jenkins!"
Unexpected Halt X (WND/INCAP/KIA?Ref .a4 3d. 3)
End Record
The screams of Jenkins filled Chief's ears. The unearthly pleas wouldn't stop, just the screaming and hissing. the sound of flesh tearing open and the moans of dying men…
Chief ripped the recorder out of his helmet, visibly shaken. He threw it to the ground and moved towards the door which had been open, but was now locked. The Marine he had rescued cowered in a corner.
"We will never survive. I'll never see my home, my family again… No, please!" The man whimpered, curling up into a ball and holding his head between his hands. Soft moans came up from his throat as he rocked slowly back and forth. Chief steadied himself and looked away from the mad soldier.
"Help me, and maybe you will see Earth again," Chief said shortly as he aimed his rifle at the door, waiting for the monstrosity to show itself. He could count his heartbeats.
One.
Two.
Three.
Fou-
The door burst open, dozens of small, tentacled creatures flooding the room. Bulbous brown sacs were attached to the top of their tentacles, which reached for the two men.
Chief shot quickly into the fray, the Marine standing up and helping. Bullets flew and took down many of the creatures, but more still poured in. Chief gestured for the Marine to follow him as he sprinted for the door, he slammed it shut as the soldier slipped out of the room, both men breathing heavily.
"Stay close or we're both dead," Chief ordered bluntly, reloading as taking off toward the lift that had taken him down here. A few of the monsters struggled to live, their mauled bodies twitching on the floor. Chief felt no pity for them, his boot grinding into their bodies viciously.
They arrived at the elevator shaft, Chief slamming the button, waiting impatiently for the lift to arrive. It fell down from the top of the shaft, slamming the ground with a boom, effectively slimming their chances for surviving. Chief growled and turned away, hurrying the Marine forward as he searched for another lift to get them out of there. He was almost missing the peaceful swamp, at least there was none of those…creatures out there. He spotted another lift, this time leading farther down, but it was their only chance. More of the beasts advanced swiftly, tentacles reaching for the men's flesh.
Chief ran onto the lift, hitting the blood caked button frantically as the lift shot down into the darkness. The Marine next to him close to having a full on heart attack, his panicked breathing loud in Chief's ears. It came to a halt on the bottom level, where two wounded Marines fought back against the overwhelming numbers of creatures. Chief sighed with relief and he and his Marine joined in the fight, quickly finishing off the rest of the monsters. The Spartan only managed a brief nod towards the Marines before the tiny band ran to the next elevator which was only a few meters away.
A low, guttural snarl came from behind them. A massive Sangheili stood behind them, but it was different. Its armor was gone, leaving bulbous, dull brown growths all over its body. It head was hanging by a mere tendril of rotting flesh, its energy sword covered in the dull brown growths and flesh, but still sharp. Several of the smaller creatures with the tentacles floated behind it, ready to pounce, and they did. Chaos erupted, the smaller creatures lunging for them while the infected Sangheili headed for Chief. It was bigger than normal Sangheili and had unnatural strength. It grappled with him, its stretched open mandibles centimeters away from Chief's throat. The Spartan drew his new knife and slammed it into its chest, it ignored the wound and roared, pushing Chief to the ground, ready to snap his spine.
"H-hey! Eat this!." The insane Marine yelled shakily. His shotgun exploded in a shower of bullets and blew the Sangheili's skull off from its shoulders, not blood, but yellow powder spilling from the wound. The creature twitched and fell down dead, a certain peace in its tiny, violet eyes.
"Thanks," Chief grunted as the Marine helped him up.
The soldier gave him a serious look, "Just get me home."
Chief met the soldier's gaze. "I promise I will get your back to your family," He swore darkly, throwing away his empty clip and eyeing the piles of bodies, the two soldiers both dead. He turned back to the Marine who's eyes widened, and the man threw himself forward, blocking Chief from the last of the creatures that was about to attack him.
The monster latched onto the Marine's chest and burrowed into his flesh, its tentacles dripping with blood, the man screaming and writhing as it burrowed deeper. Chief forced himself to move and slammed the butt of his rifle into the creature, its bulbous sac exploding into slime and dust and instantly killing it. He rushed to the dying man's side, laying his gun down and analyzing the deep, ripped wound. Chief could see the solder's rib bones, the man's organs were punctured and spitting blood. He knew he couldn't save the soldier.
Another promise broken.
The Marine coughed, a deep shudder running down his limp body. His fingers moved weakly to a tiny, frayed, blood stained photo a beautiful woman holding a baby in her arms. The picture looked so peaceful, a snapshot of something Chief never could have.
"Find them." The man coughed, blood flying from his lips and speckling Chief's visor. He pressed the precious photo into Chief's glove, and with that, his breath expired. His soul leaving his mauled body and heading away from the war-torn ring and, maybe, to a better place.
Chief stood slowly, tucking the crumpled photo tenderly into his armor. He closed the man's bulging eyes carefully, picking up his gun and walking softly from the carnage. Towards the lift that would take him into the light, and away from the death and hopelessness that clouded that evil place. He stood like a statue as he was carried up into the dim, grey light, ignoring the static coming in on his comm.
"This is Echo 419. Chief, is that you? I lost your signal when you disappeared into the structure. Whats going on down there? I'm getting readings everywhere!" Carol asked worriedly from the comm, her voice grainy and distant.
Chief sighed and opened the comm, "There's a new life form that infects its enemies. Its taking out all the troops, and turning them into some sort of host." He informed her briskly all while advancing forward. "I now know that these creatures took Captain Keyes and wiped out two teams consisting of ten units each.
"Thank you, Chief." She said calmly, "I am sensing a large tower a few hundred meters away from you. I'll pick you up there."
"Got it." Chief responded, trying to take his mind off the soldier and the photo. He tuned the comm off and hiked through the jungle he was now in, the flies buzzing lazily around his face. He stopped at the base of the tower and started to climb up the winding staircase, breaking into a jog as he burst out onto the top of the tower. Then, the creatures and the Covenant and humans they had infected burst out behind him, ready to kill. Chief whirled around, firing at them as quickly as he could as they surrounded him. Claws grasped for him and the smell of rotten flash filled his nose. Darkness pressed on the edges of his vision.
I'm sorry, Cortana.
I sat in the holo podium, staring at the doors that lead into the control room. Watching, waiting for my Spartan to come back. Worries flooded my mind, but I drove them back, knowing that he would come back. he always came back. After all, Spartans never die. they just go missing in combat.
They never die.
Do they?
A/N So, it's a cliffy. I did more into emotion in this chapter than fighting, hope you weren't bored! I wasn't, I had a blast writing this one! What do you think? Thumbs up hopefully? I am actually really pleased with this chapter, so I would like some feedback. Also, here some info for the future go this story. This first book with span Halo: Combat Evolved to Halo 2. The next one, War and Love (may be renamed) will span from Halo 3 to Halo 4. The third book in this trilogy will be the aftermath of the wars and will tell of the aftermath of the wars.
That's it. So please review if you remotely like this story, and stay fabulous.
PS. I will put updates and info on this story on my profile page, so check there for info. Feel free to PM me with questions or suggestions for this fic.