Chapter 5: The Flood

I own squat. Bungie and 343 Industries takes all the credit. (Not for the story, just the game series.)

The Chief was praying to God, if there was a God, that he was just in a nightmare. The Infection Forms were pouring into the room, and the Master Chief didn't even have to tell his team to open fire. "What the hell are those things?!" Grif screamed, firing at the infectious bastards. "They're called the Flood!" the Chief shouted over the drones of firing. "What the hell happened here, Chief Mendez?!" he asked, still firing. Mendez continued firing as he answered. "Hell if I know!" he said. "Something must of got us on the way here!" The Chief was facing his worst nightmare, for about the one thousandth time, and hopefully, the final time. If he could describe hell, this would be it.

"This is why the Elites and Brutes were disfunctional! They had been infected by the Flood!" he shouted. Just then, an Infection Form jumped onto Sarge's back. "Damn it!" the Chief said, running over to Sarge. He pressed the barrel of his Assault Rifle into the slimy bastard's "skin". "This may sting a little." he said, as he pulled the trigger. The Infection Form's "insides" blew across the back of Sarge's helmet. The Chief grabbed the dead form and tore it off the sergeant's back. "Jesus Christ!" Church said, firing his Battle Rifle. "The fuckers keep coming!" The Chief grunted as he started to kill the next wave of Infection Forms. "Get used to it Church," he said. "I've fought these night time terrors before." Grif continued firing at the now joining Carrier Forms. "This beats the monster in my closet!" he screamed over the fire.

"Stupid bastards!" Mendez said, firing with his Pistol. "Where did these things come from?! First it was the corrupt Brutes and Elites, now this!" Sarge fired several shells at the Carrier Forms. "If we survive this Grif," he said. "I'm gonna kill you." The Chief rolled his eyes. "No one's going to kill anybody!" The Chief stopped to reload, and listened to his team fire at the incoming Flood Forms. "When will these nasty fuckers stop?!" Washington screamed. "You still haven't gotten it, have you?" the Chief asked him. "They won't stop until they infect you, or until you kill them!" The Chief returned fire once again, and they stopped. The Flood just stopped. The Spartans and Mendez stopped firing. "Why did they stop?" Grif asked. "They're smart, the damn bastards," the Chief said. "They've either all been killed, or they've realized we've won, and they'll try to corner us somewhere else."

"Let's move out," the Chief said, getting ready to exit the bay. "Are you insane, sir?" Grif asked. The Chief looked at the orange Spartan. Even with the helmet on, Master Chief could still see the Spartan's fear. And he understood it. When he first encountered the Flood on Alpha Halo, at the so called "weapons cache", he'd been scared out of his mind. Of course, it got worse when 343 Guilty Spark found him, and took him to a Forerunner construct, called "the Library." Then, he was fighting the Flood from all sides. Of course, Cortana wasn't here to help him this time. Even without her, he still had a mission that he had hidden from the others. He had to get her chip back to Dr. Halsey, so she could "destroy" it.

That's what happened to all the AIs that would eventually go rampant. At least, he'd heard rumors about it, he didn't know if that was actually what happened. Grif's voice snapped the Chief out of his thoughts. "Chief, are you insane, sir?" the Chief looked back at the Spartan. "We still have a mission Grif," he said. "We have to get off the Spirit of Fire, and kill everything that isn't human." Grif scoffed. "Screw your mission, Chief!" Grif said. "I'm not a part of this anymore!" CPO Mendez stepped up to the Spartan's face, and lightly slapped his helmet. "Stow that, Sergeant," he said. "Besides, the Chief is right. We have to get off this Flood infested ship, and destroy everything that isn't human."

"CPO Mendez?" he asked. Mendez looked aver at him. "Yes, Chief?" he asked. "Is there anyway to destroy the UNSC Spirit of Fire, without destroying anything in a mile radius?" The CPO shook his head. "I'm afraid not, Chief," he said, grimly. "Why do you ask?" The Chief met the CPO's eyes. "These soldiers," he started. "My men, they have a home, less than a mile from here. Two bases in a box canyon." The CPO sighed. "Like I said Master Chief," he said. "There's no way to destroy this ship without destroying their bases. Unless, we can clear out the entire ship." The Chief thought for a moment. "We can try. Failure to contain the outbreak is not an option." Mendez nodded and gulped. "I understand." he said. The Chief turned back to his troops. "Ok," he started. "You heard the man. We start clearing out the ship."

"But Sir," Grif said. "What if we fail?" The Chief was really hating Grif's attitude at the moment. "Soldier," he said. "Failure. is. NOT. an. option. Think about your home. Millions of lives could be at stake. Think about Donut, Caboose, Simmons, Lopez, Tucker, Carolina, and all the others." Church laughed. "You're thinking about Caboose?!" he said, cracking up. "You've lost your marbles. Sir." The Chief stepped up to Church. "Have you got a better idea, soldier?" he asked. Church finally shook his head. "Then it's settled." he said, walking to the door. "Let's move ladies. On the double!" The Chief, his Spartans, and the CPO walked out of the cryo-bay, about to walk into hell.

The Chief looked around, convinced that the fight was no where near over. The Chief took the Rocket Launcher of his back, leaving it behind. There was nothing that could slow them down. It wasn't possible. They needed to get off the ship, and kill everything. And they would. Even if it cost them their lives. The Chief picked up a spare Shotgun that was lying on the deck. He placed it on his back, and continued. His motion tracker started to show a red circle mass all around them. "Hostiles!" he said, readying his Rifle. "All around us! Get ready to fire!" The group got in a strategic formation, so they could face every direction the Flood could come from. Seconds later, a mixture of Infection Forms, Carrier Forms, and Infected Brutes and Elites began to swarm them.

The group opened fire on the newcomers. The Chief hit several Elites and Brutes, and downed them, but only for a limited amount of time. He primed a grenade, and lobbed it into the group of Flood Forms. The resulting explosion sent limbs flying in every direction. An Infection Form jumped onto the Chief's helmet, and attempted to get it off. The Chief struggled, trying to get a grip on the bastard. The Master Chief eventually got a grip on the infectious bastard's mushy skull-like structure, and squezzed down on it, crushing the form. "The bastard's aren't giving up!" Grif shouted. "We don't want them to give up!" the Chief said, reloading his Assault Rifle. "We want to exterminate them, idiot!"

He switched to his Shotgun, and opened fire on the Brutes and Elites. The Carrier Forms were lessening, but the Brutes and Elite Forms were rapidly increasing. "Chief, help!" he heard Grif's voice. He turned around, and saw that Grif had an Inection Form on his head. "Jesus!" he said, ripping it off, and killing it. He turned back to the Flood Forms that were assaulting them. He continued shooting at them, and lobbed a grenade in the process. The grenade went off, killing the forms that were already there. "I think they're gone." Grif said. Just then, two infected Hunters came around a corner. "Oh, 'I think they're gone.' You had to say something didn't you, Grif?!" Church said. The Hunters were made up of many Lekgolo worms. So, it was a difficult thought the Flood had infected every individual worm. "Supressing fire!" Sarge said, spraying the Hunters in Shotgun shells. The Chief did his part, switched back to his Assault Rifle and fired at the Hunter's vulnerable spots.

"So," Church said, coming shoulder-to-shoulder with the Master Chief. "You've faced these things before?" The Chief grunted, as he continued to fire. "Long story, Church." he said. "No time for that, now." All of a sudden, Grif shot Church by mistake. "Ow!" Church shouted. "What the fuck, Grif?!" Grif looked at Church. "Sorry!" he said. The Hunters were gone, hopefully. Church started to argue with Grif. "Stop, Church!" Grif said, waving his hands. "Red is Blue! Blue is Red!" Out of the corner of his eye, the Chief saw a "dead" Hunter raise his Fuel Rod Gun. The Chie snapped to the Hunter, but it was too late. The Fuel Rod Gun went off, sending glowing ball of green plasma energy to Grif's feet. "Ah, son of a bitch...!" he screamed, as he went flying. The Chief ran over to the Hunter before he could get up, and pumped a few rounds into his head. The Hunter fell back down, now dead.

The Chief went over to Grif, and looked at him. "He's hurt Chief," Church said. "He'll survive, but we need to get him help." The Chief sighed. "Well, let's try not to get killed any-" he was saying something, and then a bullet went through Washington's abdomen. Washington fell to the deck, knocked out. "Damn it!" the Chief said. "We're outnumbered!" All of a sudden, Mendez snapped towards he Chief. "Watch out!" he screamed. The Chief tried to turn, but it was too late. The Chief's shields were blown offline, and he felt his lower abdomen be pierced by a penetrator tentacle. The Chief groaned in pain, as the Infection Form struggled to tap his spine. The Chief ripped the form away, leaving the tip of the tentacle in. "Give me some biofoam, now!" he barked. He could feel the tip wriggling under the surface of his skin.

The CPO quickly opened up a medpac, and handed the Chief some biofoam. The biofoam would keep the tip from moving for at least a half hour, but the Chief needed immediate medical assistance. The Chief filled the already bleeding wound with biofoam, and took a breath. "Ok," he said, standing up straight. "Our plan has failed. We get out of here, and we call for reinforcements." The CPO nodded, along with Church and Sarge. "What about them?" Church asked. "We can't leave them to die." The Chief shook his head. "No Church," he said. "You are right. I need a way to carry the fallen soldiers, and I need it fast." The CPO stepped forward. "There are tables in the mess hall, you could drag them on that." The Chief nodded. "Then get me that." he said. "Then we get out of here, and hopefully, the Flood won't follow us."

A/N: I apologize if this chapter was too short for you're liking. No one's going to die. I just spoiled it. You know what? Just ignore that. Pretend it's not there. Next chapter, Operation Storm Spirit of Fire or whatever will come to an end, and that will usher in a new act for this story. Stay tuned.