One hour later

Axiom

Location: 627, 300 billion miles from Reach

After talking with the president, McCrea had left the bridge and was searching the Axiom for Eve. He was…no, he had to tell her. He was just worried about how he was going to break it down to her. It was hard telling someone that a close friend of theirs was dead. It was especially hard telling something like that to Eve. Her friends were like family to her.

Whilst McCrea had been searching the ship for Axiom, a worker had quickly spoken to him and given him a book that had belonged to an E.R member who was a friend of Eve. Apparently, she had given the book to the soldier for him to give to Eve (Eve and the task force were going to be on the Axiom for the mission) about an hour before the Covenant launched the attack on Reach.

McCrea had reached a holding room's door. He had searched all the holding rooms along the ways to and from the hanger, near the engine room and even the holding rooms where any captured Covenant would be taken to. This one was where Covenant were to go. Can't hurt to try. McCrea knocked on the door.

The door opened to reveal sergeant John standing there.

"Captain," he said, giving a salute.

"Good to see you, sergeant," McCrea replied. "Do you have Eve with you?"

"Right here, sir," John said, standing aside to give McCrea a clear view of the room.

The holding room was about the size of a classroom. In the middle was a table with several hover chairs around it. Eve was sitting on one of the chairs near the door. She got up when she saw the captain.

"Captain," she said, giving a salute.

"Good to see you, Eve," McCrea replied.

He turned to John.

"I need to have a private word with Eve," he said.

John already knew what the captain meant.

"Okay, captain," John said, walking out of the room.

It was just Eve and the captain alone.

Captain McCrea took a seat across the table from Eve. Eve sat down in her own seat. McCrea cleared his throat and set the book down on the table.

"What's that?" Eve asked.

"It's a book from one of your friends," McCrea replied. He handed the book to Eve.

Eve opened the book. She was amazed. It was her friend Rachael's scrapbook. It had various photos of her friends, both from the E.R and the task force. She smiled at one of the pages that had a photo on a timer camera. In the photo was Eve and all her friends smiling at the camera. The photo was taken on Takra, six months before the war began.

"Some great memories Rachael saved here," Eve said to herself.

McCrea sighed. Now it was the hard part.

"Eve," he said. "I have something to tell you,"

Eve looked up at McCrea.

"What is it?" Eve asked. McCrea sighed again.

"I'm sorry for telling you this, but you're the last member of the task force," McCrea said. "Every other member has been killed. It all rests on you. Your our only hope."

Eve went wide-eyed and clapped a hand over her mouth. Then, she sighed and gave McCrea a sad look.

"I can't do this on my own," she said. "I can't be the last member of the task force. There's got to be someone else out there," Sadly, McCrea shook his head.

"I'm sorry, Eve," he said. "We've checked the entire database. All members, except you, are dead. And there's something else as well."

"What?" Eve inquired.

"The entire E.R organization was on Reach when the Covenant attacked." McCrea answered.

"No," Eve replied weakly.

"Yes," McCrea said. "The E.R is completely destroyed. But about an hour before the attack, one of your friends from E.R gave us that book. She wanted you to have it. To remind you of your friends in the E.R when you were away."

Eve rested a hand on her head above her eyes. A small tear came out of her left eye, rolled down her cheek and fell onto the photo of Eve and all her friends. McCrea sighed. He knew this was going to happen.

"I'll leave you alone to pull yourself together," he whispered to Eve, who replied with a nod.

McCrea got up and walked out the room. Before he closed the door, he took one last look at Eve. He sighed and closed the door.

Eve slowly got out of her seat and rested against the wall of the room. Then, she slid down to the floor and brought her legs close to her chest. She rested the book on her legs and looked at the photo of her and her friends. The ones she had known for years. Ones that had been her friends. Her family. They were gone.

After a while, Eve put her face on the book and silently began to cry.