Author's Note: This chapter is a little shorter than usual, and the writing is a little vague in spots, but I didn't want to get too bogged down with men walking through halls so, here you go, enjoy!
Chapter 8: The Bunker
Nathan peered through the scope of his battle rifle. The sight was centered on the elite's head. It was one of two that stood on either side of a bunker entrance. He saw that they both had carbines. The Sgt. sucked on his upper teeth with his tongue in concentration, then he looked back to Mike.
"Two elites, both armed with carbines. Guarding a bunker. Could be a safe place to rest, and the covenant may be storing some weapons here," Nathan informed the Cpl. Mike nodded, and crawled forward a little bit, and used his own battle rifle to look down at the bunker entrance, his preferred SMG had been abandoned because he had run out of ammo for it. He brought the scope of his weapon to his eye.
"Yeah, but we could also get bottled up in there from the flood. If they want to get in there they have the numbers," Mike said, feeling it was his duty to point out the negative aspects of taking the bunker.
Nathan bit his lower lip, wanting to swear, but decided to keep it in. He looked around, not sure what for.
"Sir, they may have some kind of communications network we could use to call for help," Amy said from behind them, stroking the black metal of her shotgun, looking into the jungle like woods of the swamp.
"Yeah, and it would be easier to take the Flood out if they were bunched up inside. I would rather fight them inside then out, where they can jump down at us from the tops of the trees," Jim pointed out, chewing on a stick to try and keep himself calm. His nerves had been strung out tight over the past few days.
Mike thought about it for a second, then nodded with a look of appreciation on his face. Then he turned to his Sgt. who was looking through the scope of his battle rifle still.
"Lets find a bed, some guns, and some communications," Nathan said. He turned to the marines, and they nodded, making sure their guns were ready. Nathan took a deep breathe, then started down the foliage covered hill to the Bunker. Once he got to the bottom, he and the others hid behind a log hidden by a clump of shrubs. Jim and Mike aimed their guns at the elite on the left, while Nathan aimed for the one on the right.
"Fire," Nathan said, his finger resting on the trigger.
The sounds of three battle rifles opening up ripped through the swamp. The shots hit. After four direct bursts to its chest and head, the elite on the left died, its blood across the wall behind it, it fell backwards, and slid to a sitting position, smearing its blood down the wall.
The elite on the right took two hits to it's shielded head, and it was totally shocked. On the third burst it's head exploded and it fell face first into the dirt, its brains leaking out across the ground.
The four marines smiled at the easy victory, but they wiped the grins away knowing that many more covenant would be waiting for them within. The marines walked in a crouch to the dead elites, they policed the weapons, two carbines and two plasma rifles. Nathan and Amy both got a carbine, and the plasma rifles went to Mike and Jim.
"Lets go and say hi, shall we," Jim said, cracking a joke, a first since they had landed in the swamp. Nathan guessed that fighting familiar enemies on semi-familiar ground gave the critical moral boost that they had all needed, especially himself.
They proceeded into the bunker, first of all there was a ramp that led into the ground, then they came to an elevator that led deeper. The marines stepped on it, wondering if the lift was automatic. Then Nathan spotted the holographic control panel. He reached his hand out, and instinctively pressed it.
There was a sudden lurch, and the elevator began to descend smoothly. The marines patiently waited, but they were alert, ready for a fight. Then the lift emerged from the ceiling of another room. An elite with a few grunts following it, were startled by the humans. The gold armor of the elite signified to Nathan that this fight would not be as easy as the original attack.
The elite let out an alien roar, and charged up an energy sword. Amy stepped forward and raised her shotgun. Jim, Nathan and Mike all fired at the grunts, who were torn up by the quick hail of bullets.
Nathan turned, and saw the elite charge Amy, who responded by firing her weapon. The boom of the shotgun was deafening, but it smashed through the shields of the elite, as well as its armor, flesh, heart, lungs, and neck. It's sword died, but the body kept moving forward. It fell to the ground just past Amy.
The other marines shook their heads at the elite, and Amy calmly slipped another shell into her shotgun.
"Don't piss with the bitch," Jim said. Amy looked up at him, and Jim realized what he had said. That was something he had always used to say to Sara after a battle. The moment was slightly awkward, could he really be replacing Sara already. He couldn't just forget about her.
"Fuck," he muttered, then turned away from Amy.
Nathan looked around the room. There was only a single hallway that led from the room, so the marines went up it. It led to a crossroads in the hall. Both ways looked the same.
"Lets go right," Amy said.
"Why?" Mike asked, his logical thinking trying to figure out how she came up with that answer. For a reply, Amy simply shrugged.
"We'll go right," Nathan said, and started down the left passage. The others followed quickly behind.
The creature's tentacles waved above its head as it watched the marines enter the bunker. Once they were in, the creature sent out a mental pulse and two infection forms emerged from the shadows of the swamp. They delved into the chest cavities of both corpses, and then the two elites rose to their feet, as combat forms.
The creature sent out another mental pulse, and dozens of combat forms emerged from the woods of the swamp. The humans rampaging through the bunker would help the Flood greatly.
"It is time to see what you have wrought," the creature said in it's deep voice.
Nathan thought he heard the elevator in the room behind them moving, and he suddenly wished he had at least hidden the bodies. He pushed his marines forward, always forward. They walked through corridor after corridor, until they seemed to blend together.
Then suddenly ahead Nathan saw a door, the light above it was green. Possibly meaning unlocked.
"Lets go marines," Nathan said, and the other three got on either side of the door. Nathan walked in front of it, and it opened automatically. Inside were three elites, two armed with carbines, the other with a plasma rifle. There were also roughly a dozen grunts, all in the stages of eating.
The room was apparently some form of mess hall, though it hadn't been so originally. Purple tables were placed in the room for the covenant troops to eat. But despite all this, that wasn't what caught Nathan's eye.
"You," he said.
