Chapter 20: Svenson
Arceneaux was dead. One of the creatures gunned him down with an assault rifle. Roscoe's chest exploded next to him as it was hit with an overcharged shot from a plasma pistol. Svenson didn't have time to think. He shot the closest monster to him, ripping its arm off with a hail of bullets and tearing its chest apart.
More gunshots came from all around him, he couldn't tell if they were from the monsters or not, but he couldn't turn around to check. He gunned another down just as it raised a rifle towards him, and another. He ran out of ammo in his rifle, and he dropped it on the floor before pulling out his sidearm.
A bullet grazed the armour on his left shoulder and he moved faster than he had before, turning to see another monster behind him. He fired three shots from his M6D into the thing's chest, and it fell. From the corner of his eye he could see Skenandore on the ground, there was a pool of blood around him.
The members of Fireteam Delta fell all around Svenson, and he would fall too if he faltered for even a second.
The noise of the shootout died down. Svenson looked down at himself as if to make sure he was still there, alive and standing. He took a deep breath and slowly let it out, taking the quick moment of respite to grab his rifle and reload it.
"Fuck…" Lopes said under her breath.
Svenson finally turned around. Arceneaux sat with his back against the elevator's railing. His chest was stained a deep shade of red from being riddled with gunfire. Roscoe's corpse was barely being held together by what remained of his body after the hit he took. Skenandore was flat on his front, blood pooled around him. Seguin's face was completely missing.
Svenson, Lopes, Faraday, Kamal, Clarke, and Hanoi were all that remained of Fireteam Delta. And Svenson wasn't sure how much longer Clarke would last, he'd been acting like O'Hale had been when she was stabbed by one of the creatures.
"This is real bad," Kamal said, his voice shook with each word.
"No shit," Lopes breathed.
Svenson looked at Faraday. She hadn't said a word since they'd left Alpha Base. She was staring at Arceneaux's corpse, she was almost as still as it was.
"We're not getting out of here, are we?" Svenson asked.
"With O'Hale and Arceneaux dead, our chances really don't seem likely," Lopes replied.
"And there's only six of us left," Hanoi said.
The remaining members of the Fireteam looked at each other in silence. None of them had any experience leading, they barely had any experience in general. Most of their first real combat experience was watching Reach get glassed, and even then they had only made it out by the skin of their teeth.
"Well I for one would rather not stand here and wait to die," Svenson said, "I'd rather go down knowing I tried."
"I'll drink to that," Kamal said, reloading his rifle, "if there's any bars wherever we're going."
The other's nodded, including Faraday who seemed to be only half paying attention.
"Well, I've got no clue where we are, but hopefully wherever we go is where the exit is," Lopes said.
"Let's just pick somewhere, come on," Clarke said impatiently.
It was clear why Clarke was so impatient. He seemed like he was getting thinner by the second, and his skin began taking a greenish-yellow hue. By that point they had put O'Hale down, but none of them had the strength to kill Clarke. At least he was another gun they could use against these monsters.
Everyone nodded again, and they all moved in a group towards the elevator room's exit. The door opened on approach, the chamber beyond looked like it had gone through hell and back. It was dark, the only lights were flickering or too faint to do much. Wall panels were burned and torn off, blood was splattered all around the walls and the floor. Svenson couldn't tell what kind of blood it was. The Marines clicked on the flashlights attached to their weapons and helmets.
The sound of wet flesh sliding against a surface came from behind them, they had left the elevator room just in time. One of the monsters jumped out at them, with a bunch of the small balloon-like forms trailing behind it. Svenson blasted the thing's chest with his rifle, Kamal took out the smaller forms with a few squeezes of his rifle's trigger. Another of the creatures stepped through, it was clear it used to be human.
Svenson could see its head hanging from its body as if it was only attached by the skin. He could see its face too. O'Hale screeched and launched toward them like all the other monsters had before, the sound seemed to come from her body as her mouth barely moved.
Something stopped Svenson from shooting at her. This was the first of the creatures he recognised as someone he'd known before, and it just so happened to be his former Sergeant. That thing isn't O'Hale anymore, he told himself, you need to shoot it, now! But he couldn't. His inner self relaxed when he didn't have to shoot it, Lopes shot the thing in its chest and it exploded.
O'Hale's ruined corpse flopped to the ground, blood mixed with whatever fluid was inside those balloon things pooled around her. More began to come through the door. Arceneaux, mutilated and twisted by the horrors of this facility stepped through first. Skenandore was right behind him. There was another with its face missing, that had to be Seguin.
"We need to jump!" Hanoi shouted over the sound of gunfire. She peppered Arceneaux with bullets. Faraday shot at the thing in Skenandore's chest.
Svenson looked behind him. The chamber they were in had two levels, it was like all the light bridge chambers they'd gone through before. Just without the light bridge. The drop looked pretty significant, but he was sure he'd be able to land it.
Clarke stepped between them and the door after the reanimated corpses of their friends were killed again. He looked at all of them, somehow seeming worse than he did before. More growls and screeches came from the elevator chamber.
"You guys go," Clarke said, "I'll hold them off."
Svenson wanted to beg him not to, he wanted the group to stay together. He didn't want to lose another friend to these things, but he knew it was the right thing to do. Clarke wasn't going to last much longer anyway. It was cruel, but there were few options. He could see the others felt the same way.
"Give 'em hell," Kamal said, patting Clarke's shoulder.
Svenson sighed. There wasn't much else for anyone to say. He hoped he wouldn't have to shoot him later. Kamal moved to the edge of where the light bridge was supposed to be and jumped down, landing crouched on his feet.
"Come on!" Kamal shouted, waving for the rest of them to follow.
Svenson flinched when he heard gunshots behind him. He turned to see Clarke gun down another one of the monsters, and then another. Lopes jumped down next, then Hanoi. Faraday seemed very hesitant to jump down.
"We need to make it out of this alive," Svenson said, reassuringly patting her shoulder, "let's go."
Faraday nodded. She braced herself, and then jumped down. Svenson followed her, landing next to her and falling onto his knees after hitting the ground. He picked himself back up and chased after the others as they moved to a door on the other side of the room.
Clarke's scream echoed around the chamber. He held them off for long enough for Delta to get out. Lopes stopped next to the door as it closed behind them and used a spoofer that she carried with her to lock the door behind them.
The group had entered another looping hallway. So many areas of the facility were exactly the same, this hall didn't look any different from any of the others they had gone through. And he was sure that if the lights were on in the previous chamber it would have looked exactly the same as all the other ones.
"What are our chances of getting out now?" Kamal asked solemnly.
"Not much better," Lopes sighed. "He was a good Marine, but we all knew he wasn't going to last much longer."
Kamal nodded and sighed, then took the moment to reload his rifle. Svenson looked at Faraday as everyone else took the time to reload.
"How are you holding up?" he asked quietly, though he didn't care if anyone else heard him.
Faraday didn't respond for a moment, and then she simply shook her head. It was a universal sign.
"Yeah," Svenson sighed, "I get that."
Svenson jumped when something slammed into the other side of the door. It seemed like the things were trying to break through.
"Shit, we gotta move," Lopes said.
There was no argument, they all moved in a line until they reached the other side of the hall. The next room looked even worse, this time there were dead bodies left behind. Hopefully that meant there wouldn't be many monsters there.
Most of the bodies seemed to have been Covenant, but he could spot the remains of one or two Marines in the piles. Huh, they're all in piles? That's strange.
"This doesn't look good," Svenson said.
"No shit," Lopes said.
"I mean, why are they all piled up like that?" he asked. He looked closer at one of the piles of bodies, there seemed to be a layer of slime covering them.
"Maybe they have other uses for the bodies?" Hanoi asked.
"If they can turn people into even worse things than what we've been shooting at then I think I'm good with having lived this long," Kamal said.
Svenson shuddered. Seeing as the bodies weren't yet infected, he was really hoping they would have a longer moment of rest. "Let's just keep moving," he said.
"Agreed," Lopes said.
They moved to the next door, and through the next hall. Things seemed to be quieting down, but that didn't mean anything good. If there were less monsters down in the facility, then there were more on the surface. There was also the matter of their undead Fireteam chasing them, which signified that it still wasn't safe down there.
The group passed through another light bridge chamber without running into any monsters, and soon they came into another elevator chamber. The elevator was already sitting there, waiting for them. Svenson breathed a sigh of relief.
Everyone pushed toward the elevator, but they didn't take their eyes off the entrance to the chamber. The doors holding back the monsters wouldn't hold forever. Lopes stepped over to the control panel next to the elevator and began tapping on the holographic screen.
Something wet slammed into the ground behind him, and time seemed to slow. He turned and looked up. Things were falling from the elevator shaft. One landed on Lopes's back, another in front of Kamal, spraying him with viscous green liquid.
Svenson turned towards Lopes. The thing on her back was one of the small balloon creatures, the things that seemed to be in the chests of all the infected monsters. It dug its tendrils into the base of her neck, and tore through her skin. It began pushing itself inside her body.
Without thinking, Svenson backed up. Another balloon landed on Kamal's chest, pushing him onto the ground. Svenson raised his rifle and shot the thing off his chest, but it had already begun burrowing into him. Faraday shot the one inside Lopes, killing her and the creature. Hanoi retreated with Svenson. She shouted something, but for some reason he couldn't hear it.
Kamal scrambled to his, holding the gash on his chest as blood seeped from it. Faraday was close behind him. Three more balloons landed on the elevator, then four, then five. All of them jumped on Faraday at once. Something inside Svenson broke as he watched the creatures tear into her. He wasn't going to be able to save her, and he would still kill her anyway if he tried shooting at the things.
Her screams were the last thing he heard as Hanoi pulled him back through the door. Hanoi attached her own spoofer to the door as it closed, and locked it. Svenson rushed toward the door and almost tore the device off of it.
"Svenson!" Kamal shouted. He had made it too. "Matthew," he said quieter, resting a hand on his back.
Svenson took a deep breath, realising what he had almost done. He took a step back. "I told her we'd make it out of this alive."
"I know," Kamal said, "but none of us could have predicted this."
"Fuck…" Svenson said under his breath.
"Guys," Hanoi said from behind them. They both turned around instantly.
One of the monsters was in there. It had been an Elite, but it looked weirdly intact. Like the others, its chest was fleshy and lumpy, and it had one of the smaller balloon creatures protruding from it. But its neck wasn't snapped. Its head hung normally from its body. Unlike every other Elite Svenson had seen, this one had grey armour.
Kamal jumped to the side and blasted it with his rifle. The thing's shields flared up, and all the bullets bounced off of it. Svenson noticed the creature holding something in its hand, he couldn't tell what it was until the room flashed a bright white. Gaseous energy shot out from it, and was trapped in the shape of sharp edges. Blades. Svenson's mind flashed back to Reach. He'd seen Elites wielding bright swords tearing through entire regiments of Marines.
"Run!" Hanoi shouted.
Svenson didn't even think. He sprinted to the other side of the room as the infected Elite lunged towards Kamal. He didn't look back, he knew his friend wasn't going to survive it. He heard a cry of pain just as he reached the door on the other side. Hanoi was right behind him until she exploded and fell forward onto the ground.
The infected Elite was now holding a plasma rifle in its other hand. Svenson took cover behind the other side of the door, he was panicking. He peeked out at Hanoi's corpse, and at Kamal at the other side of the room. Shit… Shit shit shit shit shit, this is bad. His inner self chuckled. Like this wasn't bad already?
He glanced back to Hanoi. Her spoofer was on the ground next to her arm. He took a deep breath. That thing most likely didn't forget he was there, and it was probably waiting for him to come out. Especially since that thing seems smarter than the others…
He glanced at his belt. He still had grenades left. Hopefully this works. He grabbed the grenades and primed them, then jumped from the cover. He tossed the grenades in the direction the thing was in last without thinking, but luckily for him it hadn't moved.
Bolts of plasma whizzed past him as he sprinted at full speed. He stopped himself and slid through the pool of Hanoi's blood just as the grenades exploded. He heard the thud of the Elite landing on the floor and he grabbed the spoofer. He stopped just for a moment to look at the Elite.
The grenades had done little more than knock it onto its back, but he could see the sparking from the armour's disabled shield generators. The thing's shields came back online before he could do anything, and he decided to run rather than let it get back up to kill him. And he ran.
He sped through halls and chambers, all of them empty until he ran into another large group of creatures. But he didn't stop. He ran until he reached the other end and slipped through the door. He stopped as the door closed and attached the spoofer to it. He had never used one before, but it was pretty easy to figure out.
The spoofer beeped twice, and the door's lights shifted from green to red. So that worked… Svenson took the spoofer and continued his sprint. He was running out of breath, and his legs started to feel like they were on fire, but he kept moving regardless. The next two doors he encountered he locked with the spoofer, making sure the monsters would need to break several doors down to get to him.
When he finally decided he needed to stop and take a breath, it was when he entered another light bridge chamber. He turned around as quickly as he could and locked the door. Taking deep breaths, he stepped back. And then he heard footsteps behind him.
He whipped around, reaching for his gun to shoot the monster behind him. But what was there was significantly less of a monster than the things he'd had to face down there. A normal, uninfected Elite stood there with its weird alien rifle aimed at him.
"Please… Please don't do this now," he said, still out of breath. He knew the Elite wouldn't understand him, but he didn't know what else to do. He raised his hands to show that he didn't want to fight. "Please don't kill me."
The Elite looked down at its weapon, and then lowered it. Svenson breathed a sigh of relief, and lowered his hands as well. He took a good look at the alien in front of him. It looked like just about every other Elite he'd seen, but its armour was grey. Just like the one that killed Kamal and Hanoi. He shuddered just thinking about them.
He noticed it was bleeding as well, it had been shot in its shoulder. He raised his hands again before stepping back, and taking off his backpack. He began fishing around to see if there was anything he could use to help the Elite. Help the Elite. Heh. He couldn't believe he was doing this.
He couldn't believe he was about to help one of the aliens that had been hellbent on humanity's destruction. But he needed to get out of there.
And even though the aliens and humans hated each other, he wouldn't want anyone to be condemned to the fate of staying down there.
