Chapter 6: Lost
Date: 2529
Age:19
Location: Requiem Jungle and Waterfront Tower
John stood in the middle of a dense jungle. The ground was soaked with rain waters that made it difficult to walk through. The UNSC commanders had sent him on a mission over a week ago, and still the signals were blocked by something while trying to contact back to Infinity.
The trees began to spire around him and started to form a tunnel around him. John got back from gathering food and made it back to his small campsite, his home away from home. Though it was quiet peaceful listening to the birds chirp and the bugs buzz around him, he felt lonely, even with Cortana. He took her chip out of his helmet beside him. He left it off because the humidity fogged up his visor.
He pressed the raised button.
"I'm tired of waiting," Cortana said as she laid her head on his shoulder. " Something on this blasted planet is blocking the signals, and we have to find it."
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The next morning John stamped out the small fire, leaving only a pile of ashes. He packed all the edible plants in his bag that he had been storing underneath a large tree branch. He also grabbed his jug of water and put a water purification pill in it. He shoved both of them in his pack and slung it over his shoulder. The rampant trees intertwined so much so that it was difficult to see. Cortana's blue light led his way through the fog. Until they stumbled upon a small metal structure.
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John's boots clanked down the dimly lit passageway. Leading up to the very end of the ramp was a staircase. Once he arrived to the top it opened to an overlook to a valley, with different metal spires jutting up out of the earth in the distance. They continued to the next corridor that led them to a room lit by bio luminescent plants. It made the room feel eerie. There was some kind of living being around here somewhere, because the dim lights on the floors below were ran with electricity, and the console in front of them.
"Stick me it, please, I wanna get out of this place," Cortana whined more than usual.
John took her chip from his pocket and pushed it into the console. She sat in the orb as normal, searching through all the communication towers, each of the spires in the distance were one.
"We have to get to the furthest one from here, it's the only tower that works, although we have to get there by midnight, because these beings are cutting all communication with UNSC," Cortana stated. "They been at this for years, always bickering." She shook her head in disgust.
"Well we better get going then," John said as he pulled her from the console.
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Both of them journeyed back deep into the jungle, Cortana being the only light source through the dense vines and underbrush, and also because the sun was setting. Time was running out. John began to run now, letting the branches hit him from every which angle. He merely didn't care about the small objects around him. He finally reached the beach at dusk, ran up the tall tower and plugged the chip in.
"Cortana to Infinity, do you read me," she asked.
There was a crackle and a break of anticipation.
"Yes we hear you loud and clear, coordinates ma'am," the voice rang clear. She handed them over.
Freedom at last.
But not forever.
Sorry guys I haven't been posting much. Still developing ideas for future chapters and sometimes it takes a while, and I've been quiet lazy too. Live long and prosper ~PiinkSkyy