Okay...The second chapter...(sorry about the 6-9 year old mix up, I'll try to stupidly work it into the plot!). Anyway, I don't own any of the Halo characters, weapons, plots, yada, yada, yada. You know where I'm getting at.

Nausea was the first thing Delano had felt when he woke up. He was told to get up and take a shower. He asked the man how to find the showers and he pointed him to the bathroom. When he opened the door there were three other kids there. A girl and two boys.

Delano walked up to the shower head and pulled down on the chain and the warm water rained down on his face.

"Hey man, they just woke you up, huh?"

"Michael, that you?"

"Yeah, the gangs all here. I'm Sam if you remember, and the girl is Sarah." He looked over at Sarah who waved back at him.

"Yeah I remember, I think. Oh well, have you noticed we're the only kids here?" Delano asked the rest of them.

"Yeah, it's kinda weird. But then, I'm the only girl I've seen except for that doctor but she's old."

"Hey Del. Think of it this way, your finally in the Marines." Delano smiled at Sam's joke. The others laughed but then Delano's face turned solemn.

"They abducted us, so, I doubt we can trust them. Be on your guard for a while. I'll see you later guys." Delano picked up a towel and dried himself off and grabbed his uniform that had been laid out for him. It was a little itchy at first but he got used to it after a few minutes.

"I should go look for Halsey." After a few winding halls and following the arrows in the base, he was lost. The last arrow he saw was red and said "Training Facility." He looked at the hall ahead and saw a huge, nearly 8 foot tall person in full body armor. Not the regulation armor. It was green, a helmet with a visor, a large pack on his back.

"Wow." He ran after the huge person. The sliding doors shut behind him and he stared at them for a moment. A keypad had a red light on. With a few taps of buttons the light turned green. The person was still there.

"Hey! Wait!" Delano ran after the person. He turned to face him. At only 5 foot he had to tilt his head all the way back to look at his face. The robot-looking person's gauntlet hands reached for his helmet and took it off. The person held out his hand.

"I'm Delano, sir." The man gave him a nod.

"My name is John. What are you doing on base?" Delano scratched the back of his head.

"I'm not so sure, this woman, Halsey I think, I was at school and she was nice at first, but then she knocked me and my friends out and brought us here." John looked away for a minute and said something under his breath. This was just like what he went through. He shook the thought off.

"How old are you, Delano?" John asked.

"I'm 9, sir." The boy was three years older than we had started his training. He shook his head and got rid of the thought.

"Delano, you and your friends. Did you ever play any games?"

"Oh yeah! We went through an obstacle course before, played catch, king of the hill. You know? Stuff kids do." John sighed. This boy had lead a good life. But now that had to change, and at a such a young age, just like him.

"Do your best here. It will get tough your first few days but you'll learn to bear it. Good luck." John put his helmet back on and Delano stood at attention and saluted him. He returned the salute and continued on to the training facility.

Michael stared at the mess hall. A lot of Marines were eating. He was about to sit down and enjoy a meal himself but he heard his name called over the speakers. The voice said to go to the lab and surely enough his friends were called too. He entered the room in transition to the lab and saw Delano.

His eyes told him everything. Something was up, Delano's chest was heaving and the doctors were injecting him with fluids every few seconds. He could see Delano forming words with his lips.

It was too late before he could get the message comprehended. The door slid shut behind him and the light turned red. Michael saw the guards approaching him. Frantically, he tapped the keys on the keypad but the door refused to open. In the matter of seconds he stripped the watch from his wrist and slammed it to the ground, maybe he could at least warn Sam and Sarah. They picked him up by his arms and dragged them onto a makeshift bed beside Delano's.

Through a window at the end of the room he could see Dr. Halsey. Her head buried in her hand. Michael gritted his teeth as the first needle slipped inside of him.

Sam and Sarah were the last to the lab apparently. The guards told them to go on in. They walked in and Sam stepped on something. They both looked down. It was Michael's watch. He had done something like this before when...

"Run!" Sam turned and jumped through the door before it had a chance to shut. Sarah wasn't lucky enough. He stood and looked at the door. Sarah began to scream and Sam tried to run. The Marines standing guard picked him up and threw him against the wall. His head smacked the wall and the last thing he saw was his own blood trickling past his eyes.