Twelve hours later
Twelve hours have passed since Eve and Auto reached Halo's control centre. Twelve hours since Eve was warned by Auto that captain McCrea was heading into danger. After Eve had run outside Halo's control centre structure, Echo 419 came and picked her up and flew back into the ring's tunnel subsystems through a large hole in the side of a mountain near the pyramid structure.
After twelve hours of flying, Echo 419 had reached a large swamp. The tree canopy stretched much higher than the trees on Earth's rainforests. The climate, however, was not different from Earth's rainforests. It was either the dead of night, or there was a heavy storm above the rainforest because it was pouring down with rain. The air was hot and humid. It was so dark that Foe Hammer had to turn the lights in her pelican.
Echo 419's pelican lowered through the canopy towards the ground. The drop off point for Eve was a small soaked grass area filled with loose soil and soaking wet plants.
"The last transmission from the captain's drop ship was from this area. That was over twelve hours ago,"
Eve, who now had battle rifle which Echo 419 would keep a kit of to give to weapon less UNSC troops, jumped down the ten feet from the pelican to the ground. At once, her vanilla white hair was drenched. Water began sliding out of her hair down her face. Eve's suit was pretty much drenched as well.
"When you locate captain McCrea, radio in and I'll come pick you up,"
Eve placed a finger on the radio in her ear.
"Thanks, Foe Hammer," Eve said. "I'll contact you later,"
"Good luck. Foe Hammer out,"
Echo 419's pelican slowly hovered into the air. When it was about twenty feet above the ground, the pelican flew off into the trees and disappeared into the darkness. Eve was now alone.
Eve took out her battle rifle and walked through the swamp. The rain had made several small lakes that went up to Eve's ankles, in her suit's boots. Eve sighed. Dirt and leaves from submerged plants were getting stuck to her suit's boots and legs. This was really annoying Eve.
"What the…?" Eve said, absolutely speechless.
Up ahead was a small hill. The rain had pretty much destroyed this hill because with all the soil coming loose, it looked like some great beast had been ravaging at it and left it. That, however, was not what surprised Eve. Lying on the ground and against the small hill was a pelican. Eve ran over to the pelican. It looked a total wreck. It looked like it had crashed into the ground really hard because the wings were all bent and there were weapons and ammunition scattered all over the ground.
Eve ran up to the pelican and looked inside. The resting area's seats were wrecked and there were gunshot holes scattered across the floor and walls. The door to the pelican's cog pit was lying on the floor, having been ripped off It's hinges. What was strange was there were no dead bodies of UNSC marines on the ground and there were no survivors in the pelican. What the hell happened to the crew? And whoever, or whatever, attacked the pelican? Then, Eve heard a faint static noise among the equipment on the ground. She searched through the equipment until she found a small radio in the dirt. Eve picked it up and wiped the dirt off the radio.
"Drop ship Victor 933-(static)-Axiom-need assistance. We are under att-attack by some new kind of hostile-isn't Covenant.- Captain McCrea reported captured by hostiles. - dug in a large structure in a swamp-We need to pull out. Please - I will send this message to repeat at-regular intervals. Drop ship Victor 933, clear,"
Eve went wide-eyed. A new type of hostile that was not Covenant. Well, there was one good thing from the radio transmission. She now knew where captain McCrea was. Eve dropped the radio onto the ground. She had to find captain McCrea and rescue him from these 'new hostiles'.
BANG! A large explosion several hundred feet away made Eve jump. She turned round just in time to see the end of a fireball disintegrating in the rain. Eve ran over to where the explosion came from. She gasped.
A Covenant drop ship was lying against the side of another small hill with the two L-shaped sections pushed hard into the ground. The blue haze that usually hovered between the two L-shaped parts of the ship was gone. The turret had been ripped apart and the two doors on the side of the L-shaped parts of the ship had been torn off and broken apart in the crash. The remains were scattered up in some nearby trees or on the ground. Three Covenant Grunts and two Jackals were lying dead on the ground. One had a large wound on It's shoulder, probably where part of the drop ship's side doors had come off and sliced into it.
Eve was now more worried than she had ever been for some time. These unknown hostiles had most likely destroyed Victor 933's pelican and now they had destroyed a Covenant drop ship. Not that a Covenant drop ship was hard to take down, but it was hard to shoot it down with only little damage. These unknown hostiles must be in a great number or have some type of aircraft or have very advanced weaponry even the Covenant could not master.
Eve kept her finger on the trigger ready to kill these hostiles if she came across them. She walked onwards past the destroyed drop ship, but stopped when she saw a large tree up ahead. The tree had a long and wide branch sticking out of It's side that went over a small pit to the side of a hill. If Eve went across this branch, she might be able to find the structure captain McCrea had reportedly been taken to after the unknown hostiles captured him.
Eve climbed onto the side of the tree and walked along the branch towards the hill, not wanting to run because the branch's surface was too slippery to do so because of the rain. As Eve got closer to the hill, she could see the top of a Covenant turret. Eve aimed her battle rifle at the top of the turret and waited a few seconds. What? There was no Grunt or Elite in the turret. Maybe the Covenant left it here and forgot about it.
Then, something moved behind the top of the hill. Eve lowered her battle rifle slightly. A tall figure ran out from behind the hill the top of the hill and stopped next to the turret. It appeared to be facing in Eve's direction. The figure looked right and left several times before it turned and ran back behind the hill, disappearing from sight.
What the hell was that? It could not have been Covenant. If it was, it would have fired on Eve the moment it saw her. But it could not have been a UNSC soldier either. If it was, it would have waved or shouted at her to come over to position. Maybe it was one of these hostiles Eve had heard from Victor 933's radio. She quickly shook the thought out of her mind because if it was, it would have attacked her on sight.
Eve raised her battle rifle and, her vigilance level at It's height, walked forward. She would be ready to fire on anything that was hostile. When Eve reached the hill, she climbed up it onto the top. She looked at the sight in front of her.
There were several tall trees standing in a small valley-like place several metres away at the bottom of the hill. What was also in this valley, at the right end was a light. Eve walked along the hill towards the light. After a few feet, she saw it was a structure with a front shaped like an A, except there was no line going across the middle and the top of the structure was smooth, not pointed.
Suddenly, a barrage of gunfire exploded in the forest. It sounded like fire from MA5B and MA5C assault rifles. Then, several Grunts and Jackals ran out of the structure screaming in terror. An explosion lit up the jungle, throwing another Covenant turret, near the entrance to the structure, several feet into the air. It landed with a crash on the ground.
"Marines!" Eve exclaimed.
Eve ran down the hill towards the entrance of the structure. The screams and shouts of the fleeing Covenant faded away as they fled further into the jungle. Eve reached the structure's entrance. She looked inside.
There was a ramp that led from the structure's entrance to a large room inside the structure. The floor and walls were a silver coloured surface with strange markings engraved in them. There were two large pillars several feet from both ends of the room holding the ceiling up. There were two panels sticking up out of the floor with a holographic switch between them. The control panel was situated a few inches away from a massive circular shaped hole in the floor. Eve walked down into the structure. As she got closer to the bottom of the ramp, an electrical whirring sound was heard. It was coming from the hole. Eve ran up to the hole and looked down it to see a circular shaped lift rising up towards her. When it reached her, the lift stopped and a locking sound was heard, probably locking itself into place to be ready for the next person to ride it.
Where are the marines? Eve thought as she stepped onto the lift.
Eve walked over to the edge of the lift and rested a hand on the holographic switch between the two panels. At once, she jolted slightly as the lift rose several feet into the air before descending into a massive shaft. The shaft was a dark blue colour with white lights along It's sides. Fifty feet…one hundred feet.
Man this lift goes down far Eve thought.
Then, the lift began to slow down. As it slowed down, Eve saw that she was in another room. It had the same coloured walls and floors with the markings engraved in them. It also had the same two pillars, only this time they were not holding up the ceiling. However, at the right wall there was a large door.
The elevator stopped and locked itself into place. Eve got off the elevator and walked towards the door. It was a hexagon shape, much like those in the mountain region around the control room. It opened as she approached it. Eve walked through the doorway.
Eve found herself on a platform being held up by several pillars around the sides of a large room. There were two panels sticking up out of the floor several feet in front of Eve near the edge of the platform. Like all the others Eve had seen, there was a holographic switch hovering between them. Further down the room was another platform with another door, that had red lights on it meaning it was locked, and another control panel. There was another hexagon shaped door on the lower left wall, that was connected to the floor. Underneath the platform, on the other side of the room, was another hexagon shaped door. However, this one also had red lights on it, meaning it was locked.
Eve looked down at the floor. It was about a fifteen foot jump from the platform to the floor. This was pretty much the only way out of this room. Eve breathed in and jumped down onto the floor. Luckily, the impact was not absorbed into her feet, which were being protected by her boots. Eve breathed a sigh of relief and walked over to the door. It opened as she approached it.
Eve was revealed with a square shaped corridor. It had cream coloured walls that seemed to light up the way. Eve looked left, then right. She gasped.
There were dead Covenant lying on the floor. A Grunt and a Jackal. Blue blood was splattered over the floor and walls of this part of the corridor and the left turning. By the looks of it, these two Covenant soldiers had been surprise attacked. Eve thought it was probably the unknown hostiles she had heard on Victor 933's radio. Eve clasped a hand over her mouth and nose to stop herself from throwing up by the stench of the dead Covenant's bodies. Eve stepped over the dead Covenant soldiers, one of her boots hitting the blood as it touched the floor. Eve then walked down the next part of the corridor and turned left again. She stopped next to a hexagon shaped door. It opened to allow Eve to pass into the next room.
Eve stepped into the next room and looked around. This room was smaller than the first room she had entered in this part of the structure. It's walls were a dark grey colour. There was a large cube shaped object in the middle of the room that stretched up from the floor to the ceiling. There was shattered glass on the floor around so it must have had glass on It's sides before it was smashed. Above Eve were four walkways that went into an almost four-way intersection way, except they had to go around the massive cube shaped object. These four walkways then joined onto one big walkway that ran around the sides of the room. There were two more hexagon shaped doors in the room as well. One on the left wall to allow access to the walkway and one underneath the big walkway on the left wall of the room.
Eve scanned the room. It was not just the cube shaped object that was a mess. There was light blue blood splattered all over the floor. This mostly came from a dead Covenant Grunt lying in the corner of the room. Eve began to get anxious about this place. She had not come across these new hostiles before but she was probably bound to soon. With this many dead Covenant, the number of hostiles must be large.
Eve walked over to the lower left wall door. It opened as she approached it. Eve found herself in another square shaped corridor. Eve walked right down the first section of the corridor, turned left into the second and then left again into the third. She walked through another hexagon shaped door that opened to allow her pass into the next room.
Eve was in another room much like the first she had entered when she came into this part of the structure. It had two control panels on two platforms at both ends of the room, two hexagon shaped doors also at both ends, and there was another hexagon shaped door on the wall opposite the one Eve was at. The only differences about this room from the first was that the two platforms were now connected by two walkways, one either side of the room, and there was a third hexagon shaped door on right wall of the room underneath the right platform.
Eve walked towards the door at the right end of the room. It opened as she approached it. To her surprise, when she entered the next square shaped corridor, there were no dead Covenant. Eve walked right down the first section of the corridor, then turned left into the next section and then turned left again into the third section. She walked another hexagon shaped door.
The room she was in now was a real mess. There were scorch marks across the floor and walls, light blue blood was splattered over the floor, two Grunts were lying dead in the corner of the room and a small fire was raging at the top left end of the room, where part of a walkway had collapsed onto some huge cube-shaped object.
"What the hell happened here?" Eve asked herself as she stepped into the room.
Eve walked towards the collapsed walkway. As she did, she passed another of the large cube shaped objects in the room. Like the last one, the glass had been shattered and the sides of the objects were covered with blast and scorch marks. It was obvious there had been a battle here, but was it between the Covenant and the captain's squad? Or the Covenant and the new hostiles?
Eve climbed onto the walkway. She walked up the broken part of the walkway, which joined to the section that ran along the wall. Eve walked along the walkway and stopped outside another hexagon shaped door. It opened to allow her to pass.
Eve was again revealed with another square shaped corridor. Only this time, there was a lot of light blue blood across the walls and floor, along with four dead Grunts. Eve clasped a hand over her mouth, to stop herself from throwing up, and walked over the dead Grunt's bodies into the next section of the corridor. She passed a torn open hexagon shaped door that led into a small square shaped room. Inside the room were two dead Jackals and three Grunts.
Eve shuddered and walked on into the next section of the corridor and through the hexagon shape door into another room.
This room was exactly the same as the first room she had entered in this part of the structure. However, at the other end of the room, on the other platform, the hexagon shaped door was torn open. Eve wanted to get over there. But the problem was; how?
Eve looked around. There were no walkways leading to the other platform. And she could not jump down and find another way onto the other platform. That would take forever. There had to be another way.
Then, Eve remembered the control panels she had seen. She looked at the edge of the platform she was on. There it was. The control panel with the holographic switch hovering between it. Eve walked up to the control panel and rested a hand on it.
At once, a loud whirring sound was heard. Then, a purple haze began to form in the air between the two platforms. After a few seconds, it became an energy bridge, much like the one she had activated when she arrived on Halo. Eve walked across the bridge to the other platform. She then walked through the open doorway into the next room.
This room was a wide rectangular shape. In the middle of the room, and taking up most of the floor space, was a large rectangular shaped object that stretched up to the ceiling. On the wall behind Eve was a massive glass window. On the wall on the other side of the rectangular object was another glass window. Eve walked left to go around the rectangular shaped object. Maybe it would lead somewhere.
Then, Eve saw something on the floor behind the edge of the rectangular shaped object. As she got closer, she saw it a leg. Eve almost ran forward. She gasped. It was a marine. Eve ran up to the marine, knelt down, placing her battle rifle on the floor, and rested his body on her legs. She placed two fingers on his pulse. He was dead. Judging by the coldness of his body, which Eve could feel through the suit going into her fingers, he had been dead for some time. Eve laid the marine back down on the floor. It was then Eve recognized that there was a path heading down a slope corridor to a small landing. Eve got up, picked up her battle rifle and walked down to the landing. She saw another ahead of her lead up to the other side of the massive rectangular shaped object in the room above. However, there was also a small path that led to a hexagon shaped door to her left.
Eve raised her battle rifle and stepped towards the door. She saw a UNSC control pad attached to the door. The UNSC soldiers gave it the nickname the 'Spoofer'. This device could unlock, lock, hack into the most protected devices anywhere and even set off any timed explosive devices within a seventy mile radius. Not many of these were left after the Covenant destroyed the main technological research facilities on Reach, Takra and Tura II.
Eve lowered her battle rifle as she reached the door. She was about to place a hand on the control pad when…
HIIIIIISSSSSS
Eve shot round, her battle rifle raised. She heard the noise come from behind. But there was nothing there. Perhaps she was imagining it. Yes, probably over exaggerating herself because of these new hostiles that were said to be here. Eve was now even starting to think maybe these new hostiles were a new type of Covenant race, or thinking that there were no unknown hostiles at all and maybe the dead Covenant was just caused by an accident or friendly fire.
Eve placed her hand on the control pad. A beep was heard. The door opened.
"AH!" Eve gasped loudly.
As the door opened, a dead UNSC marine had been lying against it on the other side. The door opening caused the body to fall forward into Eve's arms as she caught it. Eve stared at the soldier. He had several wounds along his side and chest and parts of his uniform was torn. Eve turned round so she was facing the landing again. She raised her battle rifle and stepped backwards into the room. The door closed when Eve was several feet into the room. Eve set the soldier's body on the floor and turned round. The room was big with two ramps in the middle of it and four pillars along It's sides, two on the left and two on the right. The ramps had glass tops. There were several hexagon shaped doors scattered around the room as well. Two on the left wall, two on the right wall, the one behind Eve and the in the same place as the door behind Eve but at the other end of the room.
Eve raised her battle rifle and walked forward. Around the floor was blood. Human blood. There were no bodies, except for the one she had just set down onto the floor. There were, however, two MA5B assault rifles and a pistol lying on the floor. As Eve walked left slightly towards one of the doors, that had been torn open, she saw something else lying on the floor as well. It was about the size of a fingernail and was a square shape. Eve recognized it as a small camcorder. The UNSC camcorders were specially made to fit into soldier's helmets or suits. They would then project a holographic screen that would play anything on the camcorder. The device also allowed the person using it to fast forward, rewind, pause etc. at any time by just thinking it, but only when the camcorder was in contact with the soldier's suit or helmet.
Eve picked up the camcorder. It probably had a message on it. Eve did not know where to put it. The dead soldier's suit was no use because of the tears in his uniform and he had no helmet and there were no places she could put the camcorder in her suit. Then, she remembered how she placed the data cord on her shoulder and it sank into her suit. Maybe it would work with the camcorder. Couldn't hurt to try.
Eve placed the camcorder on her shoulder. Sure enough, it sank into her suit and disappeared. Eve then thought 'Play'. At once, a small beam of light shot out of her shoulder and grew into a wide square shaped screen. A set of numbers and words appeared on the screen.
Open record view (2552. 4. 13. 21: 20: 42L).
The screen changed into a view of the pelican's resting area. The camcorder must have been in the soldier's helmet because the picture was moving about, probably the soldier looking round the resting area. Across from the soldier was John and four other UNSC troops. On the soldier's side of the resting area were two other soldiers. Rock music was playing in the background. 'Alpha Centari' was the name of the song. It was made about seven years ago.
"Moe, will you turn that thing off!" one of the soldiers across from the soldier filming moaned.
"No way," came the filming soldier's reply. "This is my personal item and I'll do what I want with it!"
"I thought you said you would let one of us use it." another of the soldier's sitting across from the soldier filming.
"Yeah, well I changed my mind," the soldier replied. "I'm not lending this out. Not after the time I lent out my other camcorder to you guys and you gave it back to me looking like it went through a battle cruiser's engine."
"Hey! I did say that wasn't my fault!" the soldier sitting on the other side of the resting area argued back. "I did tell you that some jackass left heater in the cafeteria on. I didn't know it was on anyway!"
"Ah, can it you guys!" John barked. The arguing ceased immediately. "You guys are worse than the UNSC top commanders!"
"Hey, sarge?" one of the soldiers sitting on the filming soldier's side asked. "Why do we have to listen to this old crap?"
"Watch your mouth, son!" John said. "This music is the only thing reminding us of what we're fighting to protect,"
"Hey, if the Covenant want to destroy this particular part of my service in the UNSC army, that's fine by me," the soldier replied
"It'd be fine by me if they destroyed Moe's damn camcorder!" one of the soldier's sitting on John's side of the pelican's resting area said.
The screen shifted back face the soldier's sitting across from the soldier filming.
"Screw you," the soldier said.
"LZ looks clear. I'm bringing us down,"
The screen turned right to face the pelican's entrance. The swamp was visible outside. The ground got closer, meaning the pelican was descending towards it.
"Go! Go! Go!" John's voice ordered.
Eve thought 'Fast Forward' On the screen, FFW appeared. After a few seconds, Eve thought 'Play'. The FFW on the screen disappeared and was replaced by Play.
The scene was now in the small valley outside the structure. The light on the building's roof was just visible.
"Stay close, Moe," came John's voice.
The soldier filming moved through some bushes. He came out of them and stopped outside the ramp that led into the structure. The rest of the squad stopped outside the entrance to the structure as well.
"Thomson, move in up," John ordered.
A marine armed with a battle rifle ran forward into the structure, stopping at the bottom of the ramp.
"All clear?" John inquired.
"Yes, sir," the soldier replied.
"Alright squad. Let's head inside." John ordered. "The captain and his squad should be here soon. Moe, you take point."
"Sir," the soldier filming replied.
Eve thought 'Fast Forward'. FFW appeared on the screen again. After about ten seconds, Eve thought 'Play'. The FFW on the screen disappeared and was again replaced by the Play.
The scene was now in the room with the damaged walkway Eve had passed earlier on. The soldier filming ran forward up to John and another soldier who were standing over the carcass of a minor Elite.
"But It's just weird," the soldier said. "I mean look at him…" the soldier prodded the Elite's side with his foot. "Something scrambled the insides."
"What's that? Plasma scarring?" John asked.
"Yeah… I dunno," the soldier replied. "Maybe there was an accident. You know, friendly fire or something?"
"What do we have here, sergeant?" a voice asked.
A man in a high ranking UNSC uniform walked up to the group around the carcass. Eve gasped. It was captain McCrea. It had been a while since she had last seen him.
"Looks like a Covenant patrol, sir," John answered. "Badass Elites. All of 'em KIA,"
"Real pretty," McCrea said sarcastically, looking down at the carcass of the Elite. "Friend of yours?" he asked the soldier.
"Nah, sir," the soldier replied, sounding slightly apprehensive. "We just met,"
Eve fast forwarded the filming again. After a few seconds, she stopped the fast forwarding and thought 'Play'. The screen was now outside the door to this room. The soldier filming was up against the wall, looking at the squad. There were two marines at the front, then John and captain McCrea and then another marine guarding the squad's rear.
"Alright, let's get this door open," McCrea said.
"I'll try, sir," the marine at the front replied. "But it looks like the Covenant worked pretty hard to lock it down,"
"Use your Spoofer," McCrea ordered.
"Yes, sir," the marine replied.
The marine took out a Spoofer, the one that was on the door, from his pocket and placed it on the door. He then rested his hand on the top of the device. At once, a beep was heard and the door opened.
The marine who opened the door ran inside, the soldier filming right behind him. The squad spread out across the room. Captain McCrea took out a pistol and loaded a clip into it.
"I've got a really bad feeling about this," a marine said.
"Thomson, you always got a bad feeling about something-"
Suddenly, John's radio crackled to life. There was static for a second or two, then a voice came out of the radio.
"Captain! Sarge! Can you hear me?" John took the radio out of his pocket and held it up near his lips.
"What's going on, corporal?" John asked.
The voice replied in a panicked tone.
"We've got contact! Lot's of 'em! There not Covenant!…They're tearing through us!… What the!… OOOH! NOOO! KZK…"
The radio signal was cut off. Eve could have sworn that just as the radio signal cut off, she could hear more of the hissing noises, she heard out in the landing, in the background.
"Corporal?" John half-shouted. "Do you copy, over?"
There was no response.
"Thomson, get up to Second Squad's position and find out what the hell is going on?" John ordered.
"But, si-!" the soldier protested.
"I don't have time for your lip, soldier!" John barked at the marine. "I gave you an order!"
"Sarge!" the marine shouted, getting John's attention. "Listen!"
The squad remained quiet. The hissing sound erupted in the room. It got louder with every passing second.
"What the hell is that?" one of the marines asked.
"Where's that coming from, Thomson?" John asked the marine.
"I don't know, sarge," the marine replied.
"Over there!" McCrea shouted, pointing over to the door on the left wall closest to the room's entrance.
The scene shifted over to the left wall. The door closest to the room's entrance was expanding outwards. After about five seconds, the door broke apart, revealing a small room behind the door.
Out of the room came a swarm of small creatures. These were not Covenant. No. They had bodies shaped like skulls, massive flab parts sticking out of the back of their heads like hats and they had many small tentacles sticking out of the bottom of their body. The creatures made a loud hissing noise as they approached the squad.
"ARGH! AHHH! GET IF OFF ME!" a voice shouted.
The scene shifted over to the edge of the room. On the floor, a marine was struggling to get one of the creatures off him. The creature's tentacles had dug deep into his skin, causing blood to seep out of the wounds. Another marine ran over to his comrade and pulled the creature off, only to have the same fate happen to him.
A barrage of gunfire exploded in the room. The squad were firing their weapons at the creatures. When they were hit, the creatures exploded like balloons but they just kept coming.
Within a matter of seconds, the squad was surrounded by these creatures.
"Sergeant, we're surrounded!" McCrea said.
"Moe, fire your weapon!" John ordered.
The scene looked downwards at the soldier's hands as he struggled to pull out his gun. Just as he did, he accidentally spilled some bullets over the floor. The soldier scrambled down to pick them up.
"Moe, look out!" John shouted.
The scene moved back up to face the squad. One of the creatures jumped onto the camcorder's view. The soldier screamed, but it was muffled by the creature. Then, aloud thud was heard. Gunfire continued on and the hissing grew louder.
The screen turned to black. In red letters across the screen appeared;
Unexpected halt (WND/INCAP/KIA?)
End record view (2552. 4. 13. 22: 50: 03L)
The screen disappeared. Eve gasped and quickly squeezed her shoulder. When the camcorder appeared on her shoulder, she brushed it off onto the floor. She had to get out of here. She had to find a way out of this structure and get help!
HIIIIISSSSS
Oh no! The hissing sound! It was back! And that means those creatures will be soon. Suddenly, Eve heard a whirring noise behind her. She quickly shot round to see the hexagon shaped door closing.
"NO!" Eve yelled as she ran towards the door.
It was too late. The door had closed. Eve pounded on the door to try and break it down. This did not work. She tried prying it open with her hands. This did not work either.
"C'mon!" Eve growled. "Open up!"
HIIIIISSSSS
The hissing sound was back. Only this time, it was louder. Eve began to panic and she tried prying the doors open again.
"Oh, c'mon! Please!" she whimpered as she tried to open the door.
The door was not budging one inch. If Eve did not get it open, she would be overwhelmed and killed by those creatures.
BOOM! Eve gasped. That boom was the same noise she had heard when she was listening to the recording left behind by the soldier. BOOM! There it was again. Eve shot round. At the other end of the room, the door had expanded outwards about four feet from where it should be. Then…
BOOM! The door burst open. Eve 's worst fears came true. Out of the small room came a massive swarm of the creatures. As soon as they burst out of the room, they began heading straight for Eve.
Eve fired a burst from her battle rifle at the creatures. She hit one and it exploded like a balloon. The explosion of one of these creatures caused most of the others to explode. Within a few seconds, there were only a few of the creatures left out of the entire swarm. Eve fired at them, killing the remaining creatures.
Eve quickly loaded another clip into her battle rifle. She didn't care how easy they were to kill this time. All she wanted to do was get out of this room and out of the structure as fast as she could before more of these creatures arrived.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! Another door expanded and broke apart. Another swarm of creatures spilled out into the room. Eve fired another burst from her battle rifle at the creatures. One exploded and killed the rest of the swarm. However, another swarm spilled out into the room. Eve fired another burst of ammo at the creatures, killing them.
BOOM! Another door was expanding. Eve quickly loaded another clip into her battle rifle. BOOM! BOOM! The door broke apart. A wall of the creatures fell onto the floor into the room. Eve fired at them, killing one and causing the rest to expand as if they were swelling up and then, having being inflated too much, exploding. After a few seconds, everything went quiet. That's the last of them. All the doors in the room, except for the entrance and exit door, had all broken apart. Now she just had to find a way out of her-.
BOOM! Oh, no. The entrance door was expanding. They were outside as well! BOOM! Eve ran backwards onto the first ramp. BOOM! The door exploded, sending another wave of the creatures into the room. Eve fired a burst from her battle file at the creatures. The creatures exploded like balloons. They were all dead within a few seconds. Eve kept her battle rifle raised at the door in case anymore of the creatures were to attack.
A few seconds passed. Nothing happened. Maybe there were no more creatures. Eve stepped off the ramp towards the door. Suddenly, a low growl was heard. It was coming directly from the landing outside the room. Then, a tall creature ran into the room. Eve felt sick just looking at the creature.
The creature stood about eight and a half feet tall on two legs. It had yellowish/brownish skin with the legs bending backwards at the knees. The torso of the creature looked incredibly strong. It's arms looked like all the skin had been ripped off because they were an orange/dark red colour. The fingers on the hands were tentacles that were wriggling about as if they were searching the space around the creature for food. The head of the creature seemed to be joined onto the torso. The face of the creature had some kind of sensory stalks sticking out of it and there was a flabby part sticking out of the back of the head like a hat.
The creature charged towards Eve. Eve screamed and, trying to run backwards, fell over onto the ramp's side. The creature raised a hand and brought it down towards Eve. Eve rolled sideways, narrowly missing the creature's hand as it slammed into the side of the ramp. Eve fired a burst of ammo from her battle rifle at the creature's arm. The arm, literally, shot off the entire body of the creature onto the floor. The creature let out a growl and threw a kick at Eve, which she dodged by diving sideways.
Eve quickly fired another burst of ammo at the creature's head. The creature landed with a thud on the floor, dead. Eve breathed a sigh of relief. She had survived one of these creatures, but more of them would appear if she did not flee the room.
Eve stood up and ran out of the room back onto the landing. She ran up the left path. Then, she heard a growl behind her. Eve shot round and gasped. The creature she had just killed was standing on the landing, looking up at her. Then, the creature charged towards Eve. Eve reacted quickly by firing a burst of ammo from her battle rifle at the creature's chest. This must have finally killed the creature because it fell to the floor and did not rise again, even after several moments which Eve had her gun aimed at it to make sure it was dead.
When she had killed the creature, Eve ran into the room where the paths led down to the landing started. She ran up to the door on the left side, which she had entered through and walked through it as it opened for her.
Eve was back in the room with the energy bridge, which was still activated. However, she was not alone. Several high pitched screams and screeches drew Eve's attention to the edge of the platform. On the floor below her, several Grunts and Jackals were running away from a massive swarm of the two legged creatures. The creatures were running towards the Covenant squad, smacking their tentacles into their prey. The Covenant squad fired on the creatures, hitting one of them repeatedly and shooting off the flabby part of It's head and both arms. The creature fell onto the floor, dead completely. Eve's eyes widened. She had found a way to kill the creatures in one go.
Suddenly, one of the creatures spotted her. Before Eve could react, the creature jumped up towards her. Eve screamed as the massive tentacles whipped through the air at Eve, narrowly missing her by just a mere inch. Great! Not only did the creatures have some temporary protection against gunfire, but now they had the ability to jump high distances to attack prey high up.
Eve quickly ran across the energy bridge. Below her, the blood flowed and the screams of the dying filled the air as the creatures overwhelmed the Covenant squad. Finally, Eve reached the other platform. She wasted no time in resting a hand on the control panel. The energy bridge, immediately, disappeared. Eve then turned and ran back towards the hexagon shaped door, which opened as she approached it.
Eve ran into the square shaped corridor, turned left, then right and then right again. The hexagon shaped door on this side of the corridor opened as she approached it. She ran through it onto the room's walkway.
Eve's eyes widened in horror. Below her on the room's floor, there were more of the creatures moving about. There were both the ones that made up the swarms and ones that stood on two legs. Eve breathed in quietly and scanned the walls around the walkway. There were no other doors to get out of the room on the walkways. The only other way out of the room was through the door underneath the walkways. This was going to be tough.
Eve breathed in again. She crept over to the edge of the walkway and jumped down onto the floor. The noise of her hitting the floor attracted the attention of the swarm creatures. Eve fired a burst from her battle rifle at a massive group of them, killing one and causing the rest to explode as if they had been over swelled. Eve then ran towards the door, having to duck and dive the tentacles of one of the creatures.
Eve reached the door, causing to open. Eve sprinted into the square shaped corridor, the creatures right behind her. Eve ran down the first section of the corridor, turned left into the next section and then left again into the third section. She ran through the gap where the hexagon shaped door once stood, the remains were lying on the floor.
Eve was back into another of the platform rooms. The door she had used to enter this room earlier was now locked. The only other door she could get to was the one on the wall to her right. Luckily, for the moment, there were no creatures in the room. Eve heard a loud growl come from the corridor behind her. She ran towards the door to her right. It opened as she approached it.
Eve ran right down the first section of the square shaped corridor. She turned left into the next section, passing another broken apart hexagon shaped door, and then left again into the third section of the corridor. The door there opened to allow her to pass.
Eve was in another room with silver coloured walls and floors. There was another massive cube shaped object, that stretched up to the ceiling, in the middle of the room. Going around the middle of the cube shaped object were more walkways in a four-way intersection-like way. However, this room was also infested with more of the creatures. As soon as Eve ran into the room, they spotted her and charged towards her.
Eve had only seconds to react. She frantically looked round the room. There was a large square shaped metal object below the edge of one of the walkways above. Eve ran towards the object and climbed onto it. One of the two legged creatures dived for Eve. It's tentacles were aiming straight for her foot. However, Eve grabbed hold of the walkway's ledge and pulled herself up onto it, narrowly missing the tentacles of the creature. A loud thud indicated the creature had hit the side of the object.
Eve ran across the walkways towards a door at the other end of the room. She ran around the cube shaped object. The door was only a few metres away. It looked like she would get out of here.
Suddenly, one of the creatures jumped up in front of the door. Eve screeched to a halt. The creature let out a growl and charged towards her. Eve pulled her battle rifle to shoot the creature, but it launched itself on top of her. Eve's battle rifle went flying across the walkway and landed just a few inches from the edge.
The creature raised a fist above Eve. It was going to smash her face in. Eve grabbed the creature by the flabby part of It's head and threw a punch at the creature's face. The creature got up and staggered backwards. Eve saw her chance and dived for her battle rifle. As she grabbed it, the creature ran towards her again. Eve rolled over and fired two bursts of ammo at the creature, shooting off It's arms. It dropped to the walkway floor, dead. Eve got up and fired another burst at the creature, just to make sure it was dead.
Suddenly, two thuds were heard behind Eve. She turned to see two more of the creatures running towards her. Eve turned and ran towards the hexagon shaped door. It opened as she approached it. She ran through the three sections of the square shaped corridor into the room on the other side. She was back in the room she entered when she arrived at this part of the structure, only she was on the platform opposite the one she entered the room on earlier. She had to find a way across to the other platform. She remembered the control panel. It was still working. Eve ran up to the control panel and rested a hand on the holographic screen. The purple energy bridge began to form. Within a few seconds, there was a path from the platform Eve was on to the platform that led to freedom from this abomination. Eve ran across the energy bridge. However, when she turned to turn off the energy bridge, she saw five of the creatures running across after her. Eve slammed her hand on the holographic screen. The bridge was not turning off! It must be broken. Eve would have to worry about that later. She ran through the torn open hexagon shaped door into the room with the lift.
There were more of the creatures in this room. There was another kind of two legged creatures in this room. They were smaller than the first Eve had fought with tentacles on their hands, yellowish/brownish skin, weird growths all over their bodies and a mutated looking head. The only difference between the smaller kind of the two legged creatures and the bigger of the two legged creatures was that the smaller of the two looked more human than the other.
Suddenly, one of the three small two legged creatures charged towards Eve. When it was a few feet away, it brought It's hand back and slashed It's tentacles across Eve's suit, throwing her to the floor. Eve's holographic meter appeared above her wrist. The level was in the yellow zone. That one hit knocked her shield's protection level down to half It's strength. If the creature hit Eve again, her shield would be disabled and then it could kill her.
Eve swiped her leg across the floor and smashed into the creature's leg. The creature fell sideways and smacked It's head on the floor. Eve saw her chance. She got up and ran towards the lift. However, when she was a few metres from her ticket out of this hell hole, another of the creatures jumped in front of her. Luckily, Eve skidded sideways and ran round one of the pillars; the creatures ran after her.
Eve ran out from behind the pillar. Just ten metres ahead of her was the control panel. She ran towards it. The creatures chased after her. Eve was panicking. She had to escape this structure. She had to get out of here. The tentacles of one of the creatures flew out at Eve, wrapping round her arm. Eve continued running, but the tentacles were dragging her back towards the creatures like the tongue of a massive beast wrapping round It's victim and was now dragging it towards the mouth to be chewed up and torn to pieces.
NO! Eve was not going to be these creatures' dinner. She grabbed hold of the tentacle wrapped round her arm and, using all her strength, pulled the creature towards her. The creature was pulled towards Eve so quickly that it actually flew over her head and landed on the floor with a painful thud.
With the tentacle off her, Eve ran towards the control panel. She reached her hand out towards the control panel. Her hand slammed down on the switch. The lift's locking mechanisms were heard unlocking themselves. Eve jumped onto the lift, with seconds to spare as the creatures were about to overwhelm her. Luckily, the lift ascended upwards away from the creatures. In a matter of seconds, they were out of sight.
Eve collapsed onto the lift's floor. That was one close call she would never forget. But those creatures had captured captain McCrea. They were probably holding him somewhere. That did not matter now. All that mattered at the moment was that Eve needed to get out of the structure and call for evac.
As the lift rose upwards towards the structure's entrance room, her ear radio crackled to life.
"This is Echo 419. Eve? Is that you? I lost your signal when you disappeared inside the structure. What the hell is going on down there? I'm tracking movement all over the place!"
Eve's elevator reached the round floor. The lift jolted again as it locked itself into place. Eve stepped off the platform. In front of her was a squad of nine marines.
"Oh, Eve," one of them said, running up to her. "Thank God It's you. We've been stuck out here for hours! After we lost contact with the captain's squad, we went to rescue him and then these…things. They ambushed us and drove us out into the jungle. We decided to flee in here to set up a base of operations and wait for evac. Now that you're here, we can get outta this place."
"Wait, did you say you were attacked by these things?" Eve asked the soldier.
"Yeah," the soldier replied. "They looked like mutants. Oh God, they were horrible. They chased us out into the jungle, but we managed to lose 'em. We've got to get outta here!"
"Damn!" Eve hissed. "They were everywhere down there and now they're out there as well,"
"What do we do?" another marine asked.
The solider was right. What were they to do? These creatures had infested the entire interior of the structure and now they were out in the jungle. The squad could not go outside, for they would be ambushed and trapped by the creatures. But they could not go back into the structure either. If they did, the creatures down there would overwhelm them and kill them. Either way, both paths would lead them to the creatures. Then again, going out into the jungle did not sound too bad. There were probably, hopefully, not many of the creatures out there.
Eve finally came to a decision.
"Lock and load," she ordered. "We're going out into the jungle. We're going to have our fight out way out of here,"
"You mean we're going back out there?" one of the soldiers said, whimpering slightly. "We'll get murdered out there!"
"If we stay here, we'll get murdered!" Eve growled at the soldier. "Look, I want to get out of here as much as you guys do. I am not going to leave any of you behind to get killed by those creatures, so you can either come with me peacefully or I'll drag you out there if I have to,"
The soldier said nothing. Maybe going out into the jungle was not such a bad idea after all. It was better than staying in this structure.
The soldiers reloaded their weapons. They were in for one hell of a fight.
Eve raised her battle rifle and ran out into the jungle; the soldier followed. The rain had stopped now, but it had also left a mark on the jungle. There were several puddles scattered around the ground, each almost a foot deep. The soldiers followed Eve through one big puddle, which looked more like a shallow pond. The water soaked their boots and some managed to slide down their legs onto their feet.
"OVER THERE!" one of the soldiers yelled all of a sudden.
A barrage lit up the jungle. The squad had spotted a large two legged creature running towards them through the trees. The creature was hit multiple times in the head, chest and stomach. The flabby part of It's head was shot off, along with both arms. Finally, the creature fell backwards onto the ground, dead.
"Move up," Eve said.
Then, Eve's ear radio crackled to life.
"Eve! Oh, good, I can get through to you. Where are you?"
Eve placed a finger on the radio in her ear.
"We're in the jungle outside the structure," Eve replied. "These hostiles are all over the place. Can you come pick us up?"
"Affirmative. There's a large tower a few hundred metres from your current position. Find a way to and come down and pick you guys up,"
"Roger that Echo 419, thanks" Eve said before taking her finger off her ear radio.
"Alright," she announced to the squad. "We need to get to a large tower. There, Echo 419 will come pick us up,"
"Or what's left of us," one of the marines said.
HIIIIISSSS
That hissing noise was very loud this time. It seemed to come from everywhere. Eve frantically looked around and saw a path going through a small valley about fifty metres ahead.
"Over there," she said, pointing over at the valley.
"AAAHHH!" one of the marines yelled.
A swarm of the creatures had come through the trees and attached themselves to the marine. Another of the marines ran up to his comrade and tried to pull the creatures off him.
"Hold still! Hold still!" the marine shouted as he pulled one of the creatures off his friend.
"MORE OF 'EM!" another marine yelled, pointing into the trees.
Eve looked where the marine was pointing. He was right. A massive group of the two legged creatures, both big and small ones, were charging towards the squad. Eve looked back at the two marines under attack by the swarm creatures. Just as she did, the helping marine fell to the floor dead and one of the creatures jumped off his body and began moving towards the squad.
"RUN!" Eve screamed.
The squad ran through the trees towards the valley. Eve was determined to get herself and these soldiers out of this swamp. The valley would probably lead to the tower Echo 419 had set for them to go to. The squad was getting closer to the valley. Just another thirty metres… twenty five…twenty. Almost there! Suddenly, Eve screeched to a halt. The squad did the same. They were on the edge of small lake the rain had created. It was about two feet deep.
"C'mon," one of the marines said.
"Wait," Eve blurted out, holding an arm out to stop the soldier. "What if more of those creatures are hiding in there?"
"I'm taking the chance!" the soldier replied.
Before Eve could stop him, the soldier pushed past her arm and ran out into the lake. The water soaked his legs and went into his boots. Suddenly, when he was half-way across the lake, a tentacle shot up out of the water and wrapped round his arm before pulling him underwater. The soldier screamed and splattered as he tried to stay above the water, dropping his gun in the confusion.
Eve wanted to run out there and save him. But what if there were more of the creatures hiding in the lake?
ROOOAAAAARRR!
A loud roar filled the air. Eve looked behind to see the massive group of creatures running towards them. It was now either run out into the lake and risk being attacked by the creatures out there, or end up getting surrounded and killed by the creatures behind the squad and out in the lake.
Eve came to a decision.
"C'mon," she ordered.
Eve ran out into the lake; the remaining soldiers followed. Eve first wanted to save the first soldier, who had the tentacle wrapped round his neck and was pulling him under. If she could save him, it would be one more life saved.
Eve reached the soldier and fired a burst of ammo at the water. A loud screech, which sounded partly gargled, was heard and a small two legged creature shot up from under the water. The rest of the squad then fired on the creature, killing it.
"C'mon, keep moving!" Eve ordered.
"What about the rest of 'em?" one of the marines shouted, pointing at the creatures as they were about to pass the last few trees to the lake.
"I got 'em," another marine replied.
The marine took out a fragmentation grenade. He pulled off the pin and threw it at the side of the lake. The squad then turned and ran as the creatures ran into the lake.
BOOM! An explosion lit up the jungle. Eve managed to quickly turn her head to see about ten of the creatures' bodies go flying through the air and land in the lake. The squad ran into the valley. When they were about twenty metres into it, they stopped to catch their breath.
"I think we lost 'em," one of the marines said as he got his breath back.
ROOOOAAAAARRR!
The roar sound filled the air. It seemed to come from both ends of the valley and from the two hills that formed the valley. Eve quickly reloaded another clip into her battle rifle.
"Where's that coming from?" one of the marines asked, whimpering.
"Everywhere!" Eve replied, also whimpering slightly.
Suddenly, a swarm of the small creatures appeared from both hills and headed straight for the squad. Then, at the other end of the valley, a massive group of the two legged creatures, both tall and small, charged towards the squad. Eve frantically looked round and saw the two waves of the creatures coming. They were boxed in.
"Fire!" Eve shouted.
The squad fired a barrage at the creatures. The small creatures were hit and exploded like balloons, but more of them would just keep appearing from behind the hills. Eve fired at the wave of creatures running towards the squad. She managed to fully kill three of them but one of the small creatures made a jump at her suit. However, it burst on impact. Eve was surprised, until her holographic meter appeared above her wrist again, showing the level was near the bottom of the green zone.
"AAAHH!" a marine yelled.
Two of the small creatures had attached themselves onto his chest. The marine tried to pull them off, but another creature jumped onto his face, engulfing it and causing the marine to fall to the floor, dead.
Eve fired a burst from her battle rifle at the two legged creatures, who were now just several metres away. She fully killed two more and shot off the arms of another. However, she looked behind her and saw that there were only four members of the squad left. Most of those that had been with her when the squad made it into the valley were lying dead on the ground. The small creatures were causing blood to seep out of the wounds. In fact, it looked like they were eating the marines. It was horrible to look at, let alone think about.
Eve snapped out of her trance and saw another creature run towards her. She threw a punch at the creature, hitting it in the face. Then she whacked it round the head with her battle rifle and pushed it to the ground before finishing the creature off with a deadly kick to the face.
The way to the other end of the valley was clear.
"C'mon. The way's clear!" Eve shouted to the four remaining soldier of the squad.
Eve led the squad down the valley towards the other end. Behind them, the roars and hisses of the creatures filed the air as they gave chase. Every few seconds, Eve would catch a glimpse of more creatures, both two legged and the small ones, coming out from behind the tops of the hills. They wanted to kill the squad. Eve began to panic. These four soldier's lives were at risk. She would survive longer than they would because she had the body suit and was quick with reacting to an enemy presence. They had very little or no armour and were not as quick at reacting to enemies as she was. Eve had to protect them and find the tower. She would survive longer than they would, but not for long if she stayed in the jungle.
Finally, Eve and the squad reached the other end of the valley. In front of them was a wide open space. Eve scanned the area. The ground was filled with a half-foot deep lake. There were several trees scattered round the open space. Then, Eve's heart leaped. About two hundred feet away was a large cylindrical shaped structure, that rose about sixty feet up, with four support beams sticking out the bottom and were attached to the ground. The top of the structure was almost twice as wide as the main body of the structure. It was flat and had several spires sticking out of the side of the structure's top and were aimed up at the sky like guns ready to fire at anything that flew overhead.
ROOOAAAARRRR!
Eve snapped out of her trance as the roar filled the air. Eve looked behind her back into the valley. She lost her breath. A massive wave of the creatures, both two legged and the small creatures, were heading straight for them. It was time to run.
"Follow me," she said to the four soldiers.
Eve ran out into the open area towards the structure; the soldiers followed. The distance between the squad and the structure decreased rapidly. They were almost free. Just another one hundred feet and they would be out of the jungle. Now ninety…eighty…seventy.
Suddenly, two of the big two legged creatures jumped down from the trees to the ground several metres ahead of the squad. The squad screeched to a halt. Just as she did, the two creatures charged towards her. The squad fired a barrage at the two creatures. The two monsters were hit in the chest, head and arms. Both arms on both of the creatures were shot off, along with their heads' flabby parts. The two creatures fell backwards onto the ground, dead.
The squad ran onwards to the structure. They reached it within a few seconds. Eve placed a finger on the radio in her ear.
"Echo 419. We're at the tower. Requesting immediate pickup." Eve said.
"Negative, Eve. I cannot find a clearing in the trees. They're more dense here than anywhere else in this part of the jungle. Just hold on a little longer. Eve? Eve. EVE!"
Echo 419 had lost contact with Eve. The last she heard was Eve gasp, gunfire and one of the soldiers shout.
Eve had gasped and the soldier had shouted because when the wave of the creatures was only a few metres from the squad's position, several light blue portals opened in the sir above the squad. Then, just seconds later, strange robotic machines hovered out of the portals. They did notice the humans but they also noticed the creatures. As soon as the robots spotted the creatures, they fired a strange beam at the creatures. When the beam hit the creatures, it seemed to blow off their arms of flabby parts of their heads or just fully kill them on impact.
The robots were nothing like Eve of the soldiers had seen before. They had a main body section in the shape of a diamond and three large spear-like parts on the front of the robot's main body. One on the top and two at the sides. They went into a pincer-like way at the front of the machine. Also at the front, and several feet below the pincers, was a shining blue light. It seemed to be the supplier for the beam the robots were firing at the creatures, as it was right next to the silo the beam came from, because as soon as a beam would fire, it would change to red, then yellow and then back to blue in the blink of an eye.
Eve and the soldiers stood rooted to the spot, wide-eyed as the robots took on the creatures.
"What the hell are these things?" one of the soldiers said, aghast.
"I don't know," Eve replied.
"Let's help 'em out," another soldier said.
The four remaining soldiers ran towards the battle between the creatures and the robots. They fired at the creatures, which would wound them, then the robots would fire a beam at the creatures the soldiers had fired on, which would kill them.
Eve reloaded another clip into her battle rifle. She was about to run out to join her squad in the battle when…
"What the…?" Eve gasped.
A series of bright gold circles began to from around Eve. They seemed to appear out of thin air and were engulfing parts of her body as if it were eating away at her. More of them were appearing. Within a few seconds, Eve was fully enveloped by the gold light.
All of a sudden, Eve landed on her feet on the tower's roof. She could see the carnage between the robots and the soldiers against the creatures unfolding below. She had to get down there and help them.
Suddenly, Eve heard something move on the roof. It could be the creatures since they could jump high. Eve whipped round and fired a burst of ammo across the surface of the tower's roof. She waited several seconds. Nothing happened. Maybe it was a stray bullet or laser.
BANG! Eve fired again. This time, at one of the spires. She must have hit something explosive on or inside the spire because as soon the bullets hit the object, it exploded. Eve saw something, or someone, get thrown to the floor. Eve quickly reloaded another clip into her battle rifle and stepped towards whatever fell to the floor.
"Who are you?" she shouted as she neared the thing.
The thing scrambled backwards towards the edge of the roof as Eve neared it, breathing heavily. As Eve got closer, she saw the thing was actually a human. It was a man. He was about six foot tall and was wearing a strange bodysuit that was dark blue/black, with the strange markings dotted around his suit, and some strange flat soled boots which were actually part of the bodysuit. The man looked up into Eve's eyes and Eve looked into his. The man had short straight brown hair and grey/hazel coloured eyes. He had a faint scar on the side of his neck and a just visible bulge-like thing near his hand, which was not covered by the suit.
Eve lowered her weapon slightly. This man looked harmless. Like he wouldn't even hurt a fly. She held up a hand to help him up but the man just stared at it as if waiting for something to happen.
BOOM! An explosion in the carnage below lit up the jungle. The man scrambled over to the side of the roof and looked down. He gasped when he saw the creatures.
Eve walked up to the man. As she got closer, she could hear him whispering something. She could not make it out, but it sounded like…Inferi Redivivus?
"The Inferi Redivivus has escaped," the man whispered.
"What?" Eve asked.
The man shot round to face her. He looked at Eve. He was still breathing heavily from where Eve almost killed him.
"Are you a monitor?" the man asked.
Eve raised an eyebrow. Did he just call her a monitor? What the hell was a monitor and who was this man?
"A what?" Eve asked.
"Are they your sentinels?" the man asked, pointing down at the squad.
"Wait, stop!" Eve half-shouted, silencing the man. "Monitors? Sentinels? What the hell are you talking about and who are you?"
"I'm 343 Guilty Spark," the man answered. "Well, that's my monitor name. My real name is Wally. I'm one of the monitors of Installation 04."
"What, you mean this tower?" Eve asked.
"No, this ring," Wally replied. "I didn't know we had a female monitor or monitor-like sentinels,"
"I'm not a monitor," Eve said. "I'm a human. And those soldiers, or sentinels as you call them, down there, they are humans as well. And so are you."
"I can't be a human," Wally replied, shaking his head slightly. "I don't even know what a human is,"
"You must know," Eve blurted out. "I mean, how can you not know you are human when you are a human?"
"You must be mistaken," Wally said. "But, I have to get to Juggernaut and tell him what's happened," "Who?" Eve asked.
"Juggernaut," Wally replied. "He's the only other monitor on this ring. Or was until now,"
"What are those things, then?" Eve asked as she looked down at the creatures.
"Inferi Redivivus," Wally answered. "Or there is a nickname for them. The Flood. Come. We have to go now,"
Before Eve could ask where they were going, the bright gold light quickly reappeared an enveloped both her and Wally. Then, the lights disappeared and Wally and Eve were gone.
"Eve! Where are you! I've lost your signal! Eve! EVE!"