Dan had already forgotten how long he'd been crawling through that vent. Adam was trotting beside him, and the only sound was of their very breath. A thick tension hung in the air like smoke in a diner. The tunnel seemed endless and neither of them could hold out much longer. Trudging through the steamy tunnel was worse than crossing a desert. They were walking toward the nearest grill to survey the damage and look for survivors. Adam practically had the entire building memorized, but it didn't help them get there any faster.
"Almost there," Adam said. "Turn right." After Dan did, he met a cool rush of air. He then saw several lines of light stretched across the side of the vent opposite of the grill. They approached the vent. Dan turned on his side to peer through the openings.
It looked something like the battle field where he had lost two of his men. The only difference was that the human side was represented by a handful of fleeing rehab patients instead of marines.
"Oh god," Dan sighed as he surveyed the scene. He pulled out his sniper rifle and bashed the barrel through the grill. He fired off a couple of well placed shots, but was soon discovered be an elite. It roared angrily as it aimed its plasma rifle at Dan.
"Oh shit!" Dan exclaimed, "Move!" He shouted back to Adam. He pushed himself back and felt a sudden jerk. He looked back at the vent as he heard plasma searing the outside of the vent. The end of the rifle was stuck in the vent. Dan tried to pull it out a few times with no avail. "Why do we always have to cut these things so damn close?" A plasma round hit the vent and the rifle broke free. His heart leapt.
"Come on!" Adam cried. "We have to keep moving!" They dove through the plasma scoured vent. They had to get out. As they took off down the tunnel, a loud metallic screech made them both cringe. Dan turned around and saw how weakened the vent had been made from the constant barrage of white hot plasma. It was breaking in half. If it did snap, it would turn into a suicide slide. There was still a good length of vent before it made a turn and they would be safe. It creaked again.
"Ah, Christ," Dan said, "Run!" Adam and Dan started to race down the tunnel. They had made it half way, when they heard it creak a third time. Ten feet away, another screech. Adam lunged around the corner as the vent gave way. This left Dan to make a desperate grab for the corner's edge.
The end of the tunnel hit the floor with a thud. Adam offered him a hand, but when he grasped it Adam fell forward with the sudden added weight. They both tumbled down the vent, shouting various obscenities. It was a good fifteen seconds before both of them tumbled out the other end of the vent. Dan stumbled out and drew his shotgun before he could even see clearly. When a blue blur approached him, he instinctively fired. His vision cleared and he was relieved to see that he had killed an elite.
"Look out!" Came a voice from behind him. He turned around to see an elite, dressed in gold armor, charging at him with a sword. He raised his shotgun and waited for him to get close enough. Before it got there, Dan saw an arm appear behind it, wielding a knife. The man jumped on the alien and stabbed it in the neck. It fell over, gushing blood out of its sliced open throat. A half blood covered counselor Corey emerged.
"I keep telling you guys, anger is a very powerful emotion." He said. Dan looked around, something was a miss.
"Where's Adam?" he asked
"Ah, the crazy one," Corey turned around and pointed at a mousy man playfully chasing a grunt. After a good hit, it went down, and Adam took its plasma pistol. He then, wondered over to Dan and Corey.
"We should find some of the other patients. They could be really helpful."
"Yeah," said Corey, "especially that Travis guy. He can make a bomb better than MacGyver."
"Well, that's a good place to start."