Chapter 2

A/N: Hello, and welcome to another chapter of Becoming Human. I know I have other stories to write, but this is always nagging at my head.

Another reason why I wrote this story is because of how tough of a childhood a friend of mine went through. She was always so cold and such, like Weiss if you squint. But I slowly cracked her open and now she's smiling everyday. I want to do this for her. And no, she's not dead. She's a very nice person.

And I know Ghost can be a nice guy as well when you give him the chance.

As always, these two products belong to their respective companies. I wish I worked for Rooster Teeth though.

Location: Unknown

Date: Unknown

Sergeant Riley O'Neil "Ghost"

Ghost just stayed in that position with his head propped up against his right hand. The wind whistled softly past his head letting his hair whirl around a bit. His eyes burrowed into the ground, wanting to unleash the build up tears stockpiled behind his eyes. Refusing to give in, he clenched his eyes shut. His hand gripped at his hair acting as an anchor to prevent from shedding his tears.

"Why do I deserve to live? Too many men died. Too many of my men. All dead because of me. How many did I sent to their deaths? All because of my actions? And yet I'm here, wherever the hell I am, alive and kicking."

He always asked himself that question everyday. Ghost was always plagued with nightmares whenever he would go to sleep. He wanted some spirit or a Covenant ambush to take his life. Yet he was always alive while fellow ODSTs and marines died. A ghost surrounded by death.

A few moments passed on by in silence. It always was quiet for Ghost. The screams of his men dying never bothered him. It went through him as if he wasn't there. All he could do is see them fall in front of him dead. And there was nothing he could do.

But his period of silence was soon disturbed when he heard distant growling. This caused the ODST to stand up and donned on his helmet. The outside of the helmet polarized into a shiny black where nothing can look in, but he could still see clearly out. Ghost slung his shotgun off his back and brought it up to eye level and pumped it. This was pure instinct for Ghost to do since he joined the ODSTs, learning to adapt quickly to various situations, whether they happened before or not.

Deciding that the best option right now was to run and find out where he is, the ODST cautiously moved backwards without turning his body away from the forest at the same time. The M90 Shotgun was held firmly in his grip while it was aimed at the treeline, ready to unleash a storm of lead into anything that came for him.

Ghost quickly snapped his eyes to the right. His sight caught the foliage rustling around. "Alright, stop fucking around with me and come out," Ghost boldly threw out. He placed his index finger on the trigger and squeezed it softly, ready to fire if need be.

And he was given an answer.

A pitch black figure slowly stepped out from the foliage along with a low growl. Bright piercing red eyes glared animalistic with the lust to kill. If looks could kill, this wouldn't even rank anywhere a hundred in Ghost's books. He has met face to face with a Sangheili that threatened to rip his face off with it's mandibles stretching out to bite him. It would've if he hadn't stabbed his knife in it's neck. White bone plating was on it's face and back of the wolf like creature that appeared before him. It then let out a loud roar that echoed away, meaning it was ready to attack.

Ghost smirked behind his visor as it charged towards him. "Poor choice." Aiming down at one of it's legs, he applied full pressure on the trigger. A hail of pellets were shot out from the shotgun and hurled itself into the front left leg. The creature could only howl in sharp pain, falling on the ground on it's injured leg. Ghost then ran towards it and dropped the shotgun and caught it by it's barrel and held it like a club. He then got close to the creature and swung towards it's head. The stock of the M90 Shotgun made contact with the bone plating and cracked it behind the force.

Years of training and combat have given Ghost almost unhuman strength, being able to go toe to toe with a Brute on the field. To finish things off, he aimed the shotgun in front of it's face and pulled the trigger. The force from the shot and the close distance caused a huge chunk of the head to be blown off.

Ghost sighed and reached into a small vest pocket while looking at the body. The ODST pulled out a couple of shotgun shells and loaded them into the M90 Shotgun. It slowly let out some smoke as it started to dissolve right in front of his eyes. "That's weird. Well, Covenant do burn nicely." He poked the dissolving corpse of the creature with the gun and sighed a bit. "But this isn't Covenant."

He slung the shotgun back onto his back before turning around to look at the ruins he saw earlier when he woke up. "If I'm going to spend the night out here, that place looks the best place to set up shop. It'll have to do instead of staying out here." Taking out his M6S/SOCOM Pistol in hand, Ghost took in a deep breath and began a quick march towards the ruins without second thought. It was the only place that made sense that would prove to serve as a place to hold up for the meantime.

Basically, ODST training was kicking back in.

Two hours later...

It never surprised Ghost that he wasn't ambushed on his way towards the location he was heading for. He always had this certain aura that emitted from him that caused living things to stay away from him. Even some Elites were scared of him as he approached closer to them before he caused their demise.

He was only panting lightly during his quick march, sweat lightly forming on his forehead as he neared the ruins. It was fairly dark when he reached the limits of the ruins. Looking to the left, he saw a destroyed sign that was eroded from time and wear.

Vale, Alpha Extension It read.

Ghost stopped his marching and stopped on a slightly cracked street and looked around him. Many of the buildings were destroyed and chunks removed from them. Some weren't even done construction, showing some cranes and construction vehicles. The wind whistled through the desolate streets with the dust and dirt being picked up from the breeze.

Placing his left hand together with his right, he raised his pistol up to eyesight and entered the city cautiously. Ghost scanned the place thoroughly, eyes flickering from the ground up. He sighed when he couldn't see anything past ten feet away from him. "VISR. Night Vision," He whispered softly to himself. His vision went blank for a moment before it opened it to a more green like vision. Objects were highlight in a yellow outlining like car wreckages or buildings. "Set it to any unknown visual is hostile."

The A.I in his suit just let out a positive beep with Ghost smiling a bit. He never smiled to anyone, less than himself. But he allowed himself to smile, just when no one was around. "Thanks, buddy," He said to his A.I. It let out another beep in thanks at him, a soft chirp. Navy Special Weapons (Or NavSpecWeap) saw that Ghost was one of the few ODSTs that was combat effective in any situation. While all ODSTs are combat effective, Ghost was one of the few that was more brutal of the 105th Marine Expeditionary Unit. While not as strong or changed as a Spartan, the ODST was one of the best the 7th Shock Troopers Battalion had to offer.

Looking around a little more, Ghost saw that there was an opening in a building. It looked like it was blown wide open by something. He then looked up the building to see it was a decent tall tower. Even being on the ground, he could tell that it provided observation around his surroundings and would prove to be a good place to set up. Why? Ask a certain ODST sniper whom the ladies ran after every time. He knew everything that was a good place to set up a sniper's nest.

Holstering his pistol, Ghost took out his M90 Shotgun and walked into the building. And when it's a large building like this, there was bound to be stairs. He looked up to see a sign pointing towards where the stairs are. "Convenient. Very convenient."

Ghost shuffled himself over to the set of stairs and took cover beside it. Taking in a deep breath, he got in front of it and kicked the door down. The loud thud echoed through out the building. He aimed his shotgun forward while scanning the stairs. Nodding in satisfaction, he made way towards the stairs and slowly ascended them up to the point he found outside.

Five minutes later...

Time seemed to fly on by as Ghost went up the stairs. He already passed twenty six floors, wanting to get to the twenty seventh floor to set up shop. "Finally," The ODST muttered quietly. He got in front of the door that went to the floor he wanted to go to. Not even waiting, he ran towards the door and rammed himself through it. Soon after breaking through it, he got down on one knee and aimed down the hallway. All he heard was the echoing of the loud smashing of the door and crows cawing. Ghost stood back up and started his survey of a good place to hold up.

To the looks of it, the place seemed like it used to be an apartment complex. Heading down the hallway, he chose the room at the end of it. Getting there, he slowly opened the door with care with his left hand while pointing the shotgun through the opening with his right hand. Looking in, he saw it was clear. And the best part, it had a window that overlooked a good portion of the city.

Placing the M90 Shotgun on the wall beside him, Ghost walked into the center of the room to observe it. It was modest. While the furniture was decayed with cobwebs littering the couches and bookshelves, it was nonetheless a good place to stay put for the time being.

The ODST took out his handgun and walked around. Seeing that another room was connected to what he assumes as the living room, he cautiously walked in with the firearm in hand ready to shoot. It was a smaller room compared to the living room section. There was a bed, with no doubt layers of dust and webs on it. The wooden frame of the bed was rotten and the air was heavy with the scent of rotting flesh. But that didn't bother Ghost one bit.

A small nod from him confirmed that it was clear to his satisfaction. Whether he was going up against another Covenant target or an unknown enemy, he always had a hunch for something when there was something going to happen or something hidden. A sixth sense to be basic.

Being safe, Ghost closed the door into the room and pushed a bookshelf right in front of it. He then holstered his M6S/SOCOM and removed his helmet off his head. He shook his head and rubbed his forehead trying to relax himself. His fingerless gloves allowed the skin to make contact with the head for more effect.

Walking over to the window, he wiped down the dust that accumulated on the glass and looked out of it. All what his eyes saw immediately was the sight of decayed buildings. "This is perfect," Ghost muttered to himself. But his eyes soon saw that there was rather bright lights on the horizon. And if his eyes were seeing things, he saw a ship of some sort flying towards it. Nodding, the ODST knew that would be the next destination that would make sense to head towards. Wherever there was light and at least some type of transportation, there was civilization.

Deciding that he has had enough for one day, he bent down and leaned on the wall beside the window. Ghost leaned his head back against the wall and sighed. "Just... Get some rest... It should do me some good."

Taking in a deep breath, Ghost closed his eyes and let out that breath. He sighed softly and relaxed his body. It had been a long day for him. He never even had sleep for four days straight since he arrived on Planet Algolis. But he feared sleep at times. He would see the faces of the men that died in front of him. But there was always one face that scared him. One he wished he would forget but at the same time didn't.

"Spartans never die, Riley... And I'll be with you... Always..."

WHOOO! Winter break! I'll try my best to pump out as much as I can during the break before I resume school. But till then, I'll do as much as I can.