Chapter 13

"Do we fight?!"

"Of course we fight!"

"But the mayor doesn't want us to!"

"I DON'T CARE IF THE WORLD WAS EXPLODING AND HE SAID WE SHOULDN'T TRY TO ESCAPE! WE DON'T FIGHT AND EVERY LAST MAN, WOMAN, AND CHILD DIES!" Axel suddenly hollered as the pair rushed toward the elevator and began their descent. It seemed to take forever before before the doors finally slid open and the rushed out, weapons in hand.

The streets were in chaos, with majestic skyscrapers burning and covenant running about firing their weapons at will. Screams from citizens and a variety of other odd noises from the covenant filled the alleyways and roads. Mothers cried desperately with their children, fathers tried to protect their families, and people who were alone scrambled to get indoors.

"Oh no…" Peters groaned, his voice dismal and glum. However, Axel was no longer by his side, and was now a few feet ahead, grabbing an elite by the shoulders and trying to drag it to the ground. Once she had defeated this enemy, she became invisible in order to sneak up on and assassinate others.

Peters began fighting as well, pulling out his Assault Rifle and firing rapidly. He was holding up well for a few minutes, eliminating all hostiles within four feet of him. However, he was suddenly jumped from behind by an elite, who clung on to his back before Peters jumped backward, landing his big, muscular body on top of it.

As for Axel, she had been doing quite well herself.What was that new combination I fought myself? She now faced a brute holding a gravity hammer. The furry creature threw the hammer down too late, and Axel back flipped out of the way. It prepared for another swing, but as the hammer came down, she jumped up.

As she fell back down, she used her agility to carefully balance and crouch on the handle of the weapon brute, who didn't seem very smart, flung its hammer up, as if it thought she could hit her while she was on it. She jumped out of the way as the hollow-headed brute's face made contact with his own hammer.

Now alone in the midst of battle with no enemies attacking her, Axel quickly glanced around, quickly checking on Peters. He had put down a bubble shield, which was currently surrounded by a few jackals. However, as the shield lowered, he was capable enough to take them out without too much trouble. Peters put the shield away for use later and quickly went on to another group of enemies.

As Axel turned to do the same, an elite came hurtling toward her, energy sword in hand. She knew this creature was smarter than the brute, and the same trick she had just used probably wouldn't work. Also, it would most likely be nearly impossible to balance on an energy sword without slicing her legs off, so she thought better of it and came up with a better plan.

Axel decided to dodge the attacks first in order to learn about this particular enemy's fighting style. After a few minutes of dodging, she had concluded that the elite was good at aim and swing, but it was slow. Axel used this to her advantage, easily sliding passed its assaults and slipping underneath it. She was behind the armor-wearing alien now, and the creature was, as Axel had expected, too slow to prevent her from ending it.

She heard a few murmurs around her from townsfolk as they ran to safety. They were just noticing her defeat the elite as they raced passed.

"Is that a spartan?"

"What's a spartan doing here?"

"Does the mayor know about it?"

"Are they...helping us?"

"I thought they were supposed to be bad!" Axel only thought for a moment about these questions and comments as she raced around the town which was now slowly falling apart in front of her.

Suddenly, there was a loud shriek that rang louder than all the others, and Axel picked out a young woman, screaming and pointing toward the streets from under a building's balcony. Axel turned to look where she was pointing, and saw a young boy, maybe six or seven, crying as he searched for his mother. A tall and thin building behind his was burning quickly, and was beginning to lean forward, threatening to fall over and crush the small child.

The next thing she knew, Axel was racing past Peters, snatching his bubble shield, and running toward the boy. She felt as if she wasn't in control of her own body; it was as if she was relying on instinct alone. The building creaked, and the walls cracked. It leaned further and further as she grew nearer. She was almost in reach of the child now...but so was the structure. Then, a loud, unearthly snap came from the building as it came crashing down, sending smoke and dust up everywhere.

The woman who had been screaming, who was most likely the mother, fell to her knees, tears streaming down her eyes. But ten, as the dust settled, she caught a glimpse of something in the midst of the rubble. It had the appearance of a large bubble, but it seemed to be strong enough to hold the large chunks of debris that balanced on top of it.

What amazed her the most was that she could see her own little boy, being held tightly by a spartan, whom she had been convinced was a terrible and murderous excuse for a human. And yet there it was, as clear as day, her son perfectly fine and safe in the arms of a spartan.

Axel looked around her at the bubble shield surrounding her and the child. She would have given a sigh of relief, but knew it wasn't the time. The shield was beginning to collapse, and there was still heavy debris on top of it, directly above her head. Quickly, she looked at the boy she was holding for a moment and then dropped to her knees, careful to keep as much of him underneath her as possible.

The bubble shield went down, and chunks of the building fell on top of her painfully, but Axel refused to collapse. When the chunks had finally seemed to stop falling, she shoved them off her back and got the boy on his feet. He was terrified; anyone with eyes could see that. He was shaking in fear, and his crying had turned into a soft whimper.

Axel kneeled down in front of him, pulling off her helmet and looking him in the eyes, gripping his cheeks lightly and gently.

"Are you ok, sweetie?" she asked softly, using a voice she didn't even know she had. The boy nodded his head slowly, then shot forward quickly to hug her. She hugged back, proud that she had saved his life, which had almost been ended very quickly. She let him go.

"Where's your mommy?" she asked, glancing around the streets for the woman she had seen earlier. The boy stopped hugging her and took time to look around. The pair both searched for his mother, and in the process, Axel realized that a people had begun gathering and staring at her. Of course! They must be surprised to see a "heartless killing machine" saving someone…

Finally, the child pointed out the woman she had seen earlier rushing toward them. The boy got up, toddling over to her as fast as his short legs could go. They gripped each other tightly, and the woman had tears rolling down her cheeks. As they did so, Axel got back on her feet and returned her helmet to her head. The woman glanced at her for a moment before quickly scurrying away with her child in her arms.

The rest of the covenant seemed to have either retreated or been killed by the falling building, and the streets were now silent as people helped each other shakily to their feet. Peters came up behind Axel quietly.

"It's time we left. Now that the covenant are gone, the mayor will probably have us arrested. The falcon is already on its way," he said softly, gripping her shoulder. She nodded, and the two began running toward the edge of town, where they had come from.