Chapter 6: Fighting the Tide and Flying Into the Darkness

The flood. When Trevor heard those words he felt one thing... fear. He'd talked big talk and even cracked a joke but he couldn't help the facts. He'd heard stories. Stories from soldiers who had been at installation 05 and seen their friends turned into monsters. The worst part about it all was the theory. The belief that these monsters... are still our friends. That their screams are them and not the creatures that used to be them. That they are still alive in there. The last thing Trevor wanted was to become one of those things. As he finally got a hold on his fear, he realized that Zach and Jaree were talking and trying to make a plan. "- the vehicles were destroyed when that portal opened up." Zach said. "There aren't enough for us to get out of here. And we can't stay here, if they come at us here then there's no way for us to hold them off. We'll be overrun in seconds."

"Well we can't run. The flood will as surely overrun us in the city as they will here. We need to get an evac out of here." Jaree replied.

"Which requires a safe LZ." Zach replied. "Something we're lacking. Especially since I'm sure there are a lot of people out there asking for the same exact thing."

"What about the roofs?" Josie said. "If we could get to a roof, we might be able to set up a good LZ."

"Maybe. But the likelihood of making it through a building that's tall enough to keep the flood from jumping straight up to the top is low. In a building we have to worry about the lack of maneuverability in the halls and staircases. If the flood surround us in a building, it won't matter how much ammo we have. They will overrun us." Zach said.

"So we don't move through the building." Josie said.

"And how do you propose we do that?" Zach asked.

"With that." Trevor said, pointing at a tall building a few blocks away. As everyone looked, they saw the thing Trevor was pointing at. About halfway up the building was some suspended scaffolding. "We could use that to get to the top."

"How?" Jonas asked. "It's halfway up the building. How are we going to get to it?"

"We can figure it out when we get there." Trevor replied.

"Are we even sure it can hold our weight?" Jonathan asked.

"Do we have much choice?" Josie said. "It's this or wait to die. I say we try."

"I agree." James said.

"Me too." Lily said.

Eventually almost everyone was in agreement. Only Zach, Jonathan, Jonas, and the elites hadn't said anything. Suddenly, Tarok spoke. "I agree as well. I'd rather not lay down and die. If there's a chance I say we take it."

"We should have a plan at least to get up there." Jonas said.

"I have a plan." Trevor said.

"You have a plan?" Jonas said. "Yeah right. Then let's hear it."

"Okay, I have part of a plan." Trevor said.

"Part of a plan?" Jonas said. "What does that even mean?"

"Can you give us a percentage?" James said.

"You. Shush." Jonas said, causing James to put his arms up in a 'what' look. "What percentage?" Jonas said turning to Trevor.

"I don't know. Twelve percent?" Trevor replied.

"Twelve percent?" Jonas said. And then he burst out laughing.

"That's a fake laugh." Trevor said.

"Oh it's real!" Jonas replied. "That is the most real authentic laugh I've ever had! Because that is not a plan!"

"It's barely a concept." Josie said.

"You're taking his side?" Trevor asked.

"It's better than eleven percent." Zach said with a shrug.

"Thank you!" Trevor said to Zach. "See? He gets it." He looked around at everyone. One moment ago, most of them had been onboard with the plan. Now he was lucky if two people were willing to try it. "Guys. It's the flood. We can either wait here and die, or we can go out there and take down as many of those bastards as possible. Maybe we die, maybe we get away. Either way, it comes down to one thing. Do you want to lay down and die? Or do you want to die fighting?"

Everyone remained quiet for a few moments clearly thinking. Finally, Tarok spoke. "I have fought in this war for many years, and never have I had the honor of fighting alongside soldiers as resilient as you. No matter what forces you face, you face them. No matter the odds, you accept them. If I am to die today, I am honored to die alongside you."

"I agree with Tarok. Should we die today, I would be honored to die among you." Jaree replied surprising Trevor with the fact that the elites were the first to support him.

After Tarok and Jaree threw in their support, Josie threw in hers. Then James. Then Lily. Then Jonathan. Until finally the only one still not onboard was Jonas as per usual. Everyone looked at him expectantly. "If you think this is one of those moments where you all stare at me and I suddenly support your idea, you're wrong." He said. Everyone continued to stare at him. "Nope. Not happening." They kept staring. He sighed. "Fine. If my choice is to die standing here arguing or fighting... I guess I prefer fighting. There, you happy? Now we're all ready to die. Bunch of idiots." He said.

"Then it's decided." Zach said. "We head for the roof." And with that, he turned to shoot a flood form in the face as landed behind him. "Now!" He yelled as he ran for the closest vehicle.

Trevor spoke next. "Well, love to stay and chat but," he paused and shot another flood form with his shotgun. "time to go." He jumped on his chopper and Josie jumped on behind him. "Let's hope we can get far on this thing. Got a long ways to go and the more we can avoid these flood, the better I say."

"Agreed." Zach said as James and Lily climbed on his ghost with him. "Too bad we lost the wraith. Would've been useful."

"We'll have to make due." Trevor said.

"But there aren't enough vehicles for everyone." Maria said speaking for the first time since the pelican.

"Holy crap!" Trevor said. "I forgot you were here."

"Maybe if you paid attention, you'd remember us." Tyler said. "And don't worry, I can hot wire a car. I saw one that should hopefully fit four people."

"That should be enough." Zach said. "Take Maria, Paul, and Ellen with you." Tyler nodded his head at Zach and the four of them headed toward a car that had survived. That left Jonas riding with Jonathan. Tarok still riding with Jaree. Josie riding with Trevor and Zach stuck with James and Lily.

As Tyler got the car started, they formed a line and began heading through the city at a quick but steady pace. They wanted to reach the building quickly but they wanted to keep an eye out for an ambush. With the chopper, Trevor and Josie were at the front of the line to clear cars and such out of the way. Suddenly, he slowed down bringing everyone to a crawl. "Why are you slowing down?" Josie said. He shushed her and sped up. After a few moments, he slowed down again and then stopped. "Why are you-" Josie began but then she saw what made him stop. "Damn. We're not gonna be able to move that with the chopper are we?"

"Nope." Trevor said. In front of them was a graveyard of cars and trucks. "We could maybe maneuver through but there's no way to clear this out."

"Okay. That explains why you stopped now but what about earlier? Why did you slow down?" Josie asked.

"To check something." He replied.

"Check what?" Josie asked.

"I'll let you know later." Trevor said.

"Why we stopped?" Zach asked.

"Have to move slow through here. Can't plow through, have to maneuver through." Trevor said. "We're almost to the building. Maybe five minutes away."

"All right, then let's move. The longer we sit here the more we're sitting ducks for the flood to pick us off." Zach said.

"All right all right. We'll get moving." Trevor said.

They began to work their way around the trucks and other vehicles. Within minutes, they were almost all the way through when Josie spoke again. "So the slowing down?"

"Flood." Trevor said. "They've been following us since we left the cliff."

"I don't see them." Josie replied.

"Look at the top of the buildings." He said. "And in the gaps between the cars."

Josie glanced around and then she saw them. They moved with their group, staying behind cars and hidden on the roofs. "Why aren't they attacking?" She asked.

"I'm not sure." Trevor said. "Zach noticed them too. He clearly doesn't like it either."

They continued through the maze of cars in silence, moving slowly and keeping an eye on the flood. Eventually they came out on the other side at the bottom of the building they had been heading for. "We made it!" Josie said.

"Maybe." Trevor said.

Zach got off his ghost and walked up next to Trevor and Josie. He looked up at the suspended scaffolding. "How's that plan coming along?" He asked trevor.

"Not fast enough." Trevor said. "I don't think those flood will hold back much longer. The next best thing I can do is climb up to it and bring it down."

"Then get climbing." Zach said. "And make it fast."

Trevor began to climb the building using his book. Jonas walked up and looked up at Trevor who was already about twelve feet up. "This is the plan?" He said quietly. "I saw the flood, we don't have time for this."

"It's the quickest way up there." Zach said. "We'll be fine. We can handle a few flood. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a call to make."

With that, he walked off to the side and attempted to contact someone to pick them up. Jonas headed over to join the rest of the group, leaving Josie standing there watching Trevor climb.

Trevor got about thrirty feet up and looked around. "This isn't gonna work." He mumbled to himself. "I'm taking too long and as long as we're here we're sitting ducks." As he went to keep climbing he caught movement out of the corner of his eye. He got a bad feeling and turned his head to confirm what he already knew. A huge group of flood was heading right toward the bottom of the building. Looking around he saw two more large groups coming from two other directions. They'd meet at the bottom of the building and kill everyone. He had to warn them. He activated his comm and began to speak.

Zach had just finished arranging a ride for them when suddenly Trevor was screaming in his ear. "Flood! Coming from all three streets! Get ready, there's lots of them." And just like that he was done. And then there was silence. Within moments, that silence was gone as Zach began to get everyone ready for the attack that was moments away.

They were all doomed. Trevor knew it. They had too little ammo. They were all going to die. And yet. He still held hope. He knew it was crazy. He had ran the odds of survival in his head and they were low. And yet, something inside of him refused to give up hope and he had no clue why. It was then that he glanced down and realized why he held hope. He saw Josie, another soul trapped in a war with no hope of victory that fought anyway. That was unwilling to lay down and die and instead chose to die fighting. And Jaree and Tarok, who had come so far to kill the very humans they now worked with. And Zach... Zach could have given up on him on reach, should have given up on him on reach and yet he didn't. Zach, without whom he wouldn't have been able to defeat the brute chieftain and protect the others. Zach, the leader that would do anything to make sure his men make it through the mission. Zach, the leader... Trevor had never thought of him as such but now he could see it was Zach's leadership that got them to be able to face impossible odds. With Zach leading them, Trevor had hope. He'd never tell Zach that but it was true. He realized all of this in a second and decided to try and keep climbing.

Zach had everyone split into groups. Tyler, Maria, and Jonas were covering one street, Jaree, Tarok, Jonathan and Josie were covering another and Zach, Lily, and James were covering the direction they had come from. By this point, the flood weren't hiding their presence and they could all hear their screaming as they charged them. "The moment you see any of those bastards... fire." Zach said. As the screaming grew louder a flood form appeared ahead of Zach and he fired.

Trevor heard the shots. He was about halfway to the suspended scaffolding and was worried he wouldn't make it quick enough. He kept climbing and tried to pick up the pace. As he went to remove the hook to launch it again, he saw movement and turned to see a flood combat form flying at him from a nearby building. He spun quickly and kept it at bay with his left arm. It had a hold on him but he wasn't about to go down without a fight. He watched as the tentacles of the parasite that had infected the poor man, ran over his helmet. "Gross." He said. The flood pulled back and grabbed his helmet in an attempt to remove it. "Oh no you don't." Trevor said and he flipped around again smashing the flood into the wall and crushing it. "Ew. Flood guts." He said looking down at himself. Suddenly, he shifted. Looking up, he saw that the hook had been damaged in the struggle. There was no way for him to keep climbing and he only had a few moments before the hook would break and he'd fall. So he did the only thing he could, and, rather than wait, let himself fall.

Everyone stopped fighting for a moment as they suddenly heard Trevor yelling on his way down. "SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!" He screamed as the ground approached fast. He only had a few seconds to make a plan. He quickly evaluated what he had at his disposal. A shotgun, that was slowly running out of ammo. A fresh Spartan laser that had not been fired yet. A pistol. An energy sword. And a knife. Not exactly a lot of options available. "Fuck it." He said, whipping out the knife and stabbing it into the window of the building. It slowed him down but the glass didn't hold and shattered, allowing his freefall to continue. He hit the ground hard but had slowed down enough to survive and not break any bones. "Fuck." He said. "Well that hurt." As he looked up, he saw Zach running towards him.

"You all right?" He asked.

"I'll live." Trevor replied as he got up. He picked up his knife and sheathed it and then pulled out his shotgun.

"We'll I hope you have a plan b." Zach said.

Trevor looked around at the army that was bearing down on them. That was when he spotted the gravity hammer. "I have a plan." He said turning to Zach. "Cover me!" He ran for the gravity hammer as he passed Lily and James, he told them to follow him. He snatched up the gravity hammer. He threw the hammer to Zach and told James and Lily to help him move a car. They began to shove the car into position. This will work. He thought. This has to work.

Josie was fighting harder than she'd ever fought before. Fighting to protect her brother, herself, and the elites, something that amazed her to no end. And yet in all of that fighting, she couldn't help but notice as Trevor ran by with Zach, James, and Lily hot on his tail. As she watched, they began to attempt to move a car. As hard as they tried though, it was very slow going and from what she could tell they needed to move fast. So in that instant, she decided to help. She began to move toward them and that was when it happened.

Trevor looked up just as Josie began to run towards them. He had to admire her determination and desire to help in any way possible. Just as she was about halfway to them, a large wave of flood poured over from where Zach and the others had been covering. "Look out!" He yelled to her. But it was too late. In seconds she was overran. That was when he heard the shots. She was fighting back. There was little chance she would last long but maybe he could get to her. And maybe there was another way he could help...

Josie hadn't seen it coming but suddenly she was surrounded by flood. She began to open fire but her shots were erratic and completely for protection. She may as well have been bleeding bullets at the rate she wasting them. Her assault rifle quickly ran out and she didn't have time to reload so she switched to her pistol. She fired off a few shots and killed a few flood but they just kept coming. There was no end to them, and she knew she was doomed. That was when the music started. Not just over the comm but over every radio and sound system in the area. "What the hell is this?" She said into the comm as the flood paused from the sudden noise.

"This will be the day by Jeff and Casey Lee Williams. Just listen to it and let it guide you. Trust me." Trevor replied over the comm.

And she did. And instantly she began to move more smoothly. She stopped just killing flood and began to avoid them as well. Rather than wasting bullets. She killed dozens of flood wasted barely any bullets. She began to move toward the direction of Trevor and the others. She dodged flood left and right, flipped over some of them and almost made it to the others but her path was blocked by a really big flood. She was low and ammo and rolled backward away from the big flood and picked up some smgs. Even so, she knew she was doomed and as the words "legends scatter" played in the song, Trevor flew across her vision in what appeared to be slow motion to her and began to kill flood with two smgs. He rolled across the ground and got to his feet and continued shooting flood. He backed up next to her and, while still shooting, said "Take the weapons from ones that have them!" And then moved to kill one approaching with a pistol. He whipped out his knife and stabbed it in the parasite that controlled it. He then yanked his knife out took it's pistol and fired a round into the hole his knife had left. "And aim for the parasite!" He then pulled out his pistol and began to duel wield them and fired at all the flood around him. She fired and moved around the flood. Not a steadfast warrior but a graceful predator. She kept killing flood and taking their weapons until she began to run out of weapons to take. That was when she saw it. The big flood was back and their was no one to save her from it. She raised the pistol she was holding and fired a round at the parasite. It missed and didn't phase the flood. She fired another round. Miss. She had one more round and she fired it. It was a direct hit. And yet it kept coming. She had nowhere to go. She could see Trevor and knew he couldn't get to her quick enough. She dropped the pistol and raised her fists, ready to accept her fate. That was when she saw Trevor pull out his energy sword.

Trevor whipped out his energy sword ready to slaughter flood. In three swings he killed ten flood and disarmed five others. As he looked over at Josie, he saw that while she wasn't outnumbered like him, she was facing a much tougher flood. And a quick movement he pulled his knife out and chucked it at the back of the flood. It hit it's target and stuck in. He then turned his attention back to the flood around him as it turned to face him satisfied he'd given her a chance.

As the flood turned away from Josie she saw the blade sticking out of it's back. The message was clear. She grabbed the knife and yanked it out. The flood let out a screech and she said, "Bring it bitch." As it turned to face her, she shoved the blade as far into the parasite as she could. As the flood died she yanked the blade out and ran to join Trevor. She cut through to him and took an assault rifle from one of the flood. As she reached the middle, the song slowed and they stood back to back. Trevor wielding his sword and Josie the assault rifle. They looked at the swath of destruction. They had created and as the song picked back up, tore through their enemies. They flipped over each other's backs and finished off the last of the flood as the song ended. For a few seconds, there was silence and then everyone began to cheer. They had made it through.

"All right people!" Zach said. "I'm as relieved as the rest of you but we need to get moving. I doubt that was all of them. Now some of you keep an eye out more flood. The rest, get over here and help us move this car."

And with that, Jonathan, Tyler, and Maria spread out and kept watch in all three directions for any flood. As the others finished moving the car into position so that the car was balanced on a ledge with front hanging off toward the building, Jonathan climbed on top of a truck and looked out in all directions. "Whatever you're gonna do, do it quickly." He said over the comm. "We have another wave of flood coming in and this one looks bigger than the last one. So anyone who isn't needed, could you please get over here and help."

"I only need Zach and two other people to cover me. Everyone else can go help hold the flood mostly back." Trevor said.

So Josie and James volunteered to cover Trevor and Zach. As Lily went to walk away, James stopped her. "Be careful." He said.

"You too." She said. "Good luck."

"You too." He replied. As he watched the others go to join the rest of the group, he spoke to Trevor. "This plan of yours better work." He said.

"It will." Trevor said. And then quietly to himself. "I hope."

As Jonathan watched, the almost literal wave of flood rammed through the cars and pushed them out of the way as if they weren't even there. He was split. A part of him couldn't help but think there was no way they could make it out of this alive and another part of him wouldn't give up on protecting his sister. So as they approached, he opened fire. The flood began dying in droves as the others began opening fire as well, but he knew that they were doomed if they didn't get away soon. They just didn't have enough ammo. If he did die then he would die knowing he'd done what he could to protect Josie.

Trevor made the final evaluations and hoped his math was right. He then walked up to Josie, Lily and Zach. "Give me your grenades." He said. "All of them."

"What?" Lily said.

"Trust me." Trevor said. Josie handed her grenades over first and then Zach.

Finally Lily handed over her grenades and said. "You ask for a lot of trust."

"I know." He said. And then he climbed on top of the car and got to the back of it.

"Of course you would come up with this plan." Zach said.

"Think you can make the shot?" Trevor said.

"Hm. Can I?"

"Can yo-"

"Of course I can!"

Trevor looked toward his target as Zach raised the hammer. Out of the corner of his eye he could see the others backing toward them and could see Josie and Lily join the fighting. He held the grenades ready and nodded his head. Zach slammed the hammer down on the front of the car and sent Trevor flying through the air. As he flew he spun and looked down at the chaos below and began throwing grenades down upon the flood. As he threw his last grenade, it landed near a car and set off a chain reaction of cars exploding. It went through all the cars both the ones pushed aside and those not. Flood exploded everywhere and a huge fire was created that blocked their path. All this happened in seconds and as he neared his target, he flipped into position to land. He caught the railing of the suspended scaffolding and climbed onto it. He stood and looked down at the others who were cheering his plan. Even Zach nodded his approval at him. Trevor took a quick bow and then turned and worked the controls to get down to ground level. As he reached the bottom, a pelican flew overhead and hovered near the rooftop. "All right." Zach said. "Everyone get on. That pelican isn't going to wait long."

As they climbed on, they heard a loud scraping noise. As they turned to look, they saw flood pushing through the burning cars. Some caught fire and died but a new one instantly took it's place. "There's no end to them." Paul said climbing aboard. He looked out and saw that Ellen was standing facing the flood. "Ellen, come on." He said.

"I'm not going." She said.

"What are you talking about?" He said. "If you stay here you'll die."

"I died when Franklin died." She replied. "Go on you three. Live. I'll keep them from following you guys as long as I can."

"Noooo!" Paul screamed and went to run for her but Jonathan threw his arms around him and held him back. "Ellen no! I already lost Frank. I can't lose another friend today!"

"You already have." She replied. She turned to Jonathan. "Don't let him do anything stupid." Jonathan nodded his head. She turned to Josie. "Take care of your brother. He's stubborn and sometimes forgets you're just as good at watching his back as he is yours."

"I will." Josie replied tears in her eyes.

Ellen turned to Zach and trevor. "You two. ODSTs." Trevor pointed to himself and Zach turned to her. "Take care of them. Especially you." She said to Trevor. "Josie is like my little sister. Take care of her."

"We will." Trevor and Zach said.

"Good." She said and began to turn away.

"Ellen." Zach said. She turned back to them and Zach removed his helmet. She got her first look at his face. The man who had gotten her to move when she would have rather curled up in a ball and died. The man who had inspired to die fighting rather than give up. He had vibrant blue eyes, light stubble and light brown hair with streaks of dirty blond. Scars dotted his face here and there but didn't make him looked ugly and his nose looked as if it had been broken at least once before, most likely by his brother was her guess. He then stood at attention and saluted her. Trevor removed his helmet and followed his example. The rest of the ODSTs followed suit, even Jonas. Zach then put his helmet back on and turned and got them rising. Paul began screaming Ellen's name but she was already fighting flood that had broken through. When they were about halfway up, they saw her back into the building and the flood followed. "Let's hope we beat them to the top." Zach said. And Paul punched him. He punched him so hard his visor cracked and he flew back and hit his head against the side of the building. That unfortunately meant he also broke his hand but he didn't care. He was to upset to care.

"She's down there fighting for us and all you care about is whether they beat us to the top!" He screamed. "Maybe if you had done your job and protected Frank, she'd be with us still! They both would!"

"Our mission was the ship. Not to protect you." Zach replied matter of factly. "It's unfortunate what happened but it's not my fault."

"You ordered us to come along!" Paul yelled. "You son of a bit-"

He was cut off suddenly by a punch to the face. Looking up, he caught a glimpse of Trevor before he punched him with his left fist again. He hit him again and broke his nose, causing it to bleed profusely. Trevor then grabbed him by the leg with his right hand and held him over the edge. "If you ever insult our mother again, you'll be seeing Franklin again real soon." Paul stared at Trevor for a few moments before nodding his head and shutting up. Trevor brought him back up on the scaffold and they rode the rest of the way in silence. As they reached the top, Zach searched for the pelican to draw it in. Paul went of to the side holding a rag to his face. Trevor walked over to Paul. "I'm sorry I punched you. I overreacted." He said.

"No. I wouldn't have stopped otherwise." Paul replied. "My family died on reach and... well, they're the only family I have left."

Trevor looked at Zach, James, and Lily. "I know exactly what you mean..." He said to Paul. He stayed silent a few seconds before he spoke again. "I watched my parents die on Reach."

Paul turned to Trevor a look of surprise on his face. "What happened?"

"We had gotten them to one of the transports off world. We were gonna go with them but me and Zach weren't ready to leave and give up. So we stayed behind. Our parents friend, Dr. Michele, stayed behind with us and promised our parents that she'd wait for us til the last transport left. After we left, we took Dr. Michele to a shelter nearby to help wounded. As we went to leave, we heard shooting toward the transport. Zach activated his comm and began listening. He relayed what they were saying to me. The covenant were attacking the transport and the captain was requesting permission to take off. That was when we heard it, looking up I saw a covenant corvette settle in above us. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Zach stiffen and knew he was listening to the comm. But it was more than that, whatever they were saying worried him. I could see it. I began to ask him what he was hearing. That was when I heard it. The transport was taking off. That was when I knew what had Zach worried. I looked in the direction of the transport and sure enough, it was taking off into the air. I began to scream. To yell. I barely even remember what I said now. But there was no stopping them. In seconds, the covenant corvette opened fire on the transport and it crashed down into the water." Trevor went silent. Paul went to speak when Trevor continued. "That was the first time I saw the robot. Zach's eyes were cold, with no emotion. He just looked at where the transport had last been, staring. In that moment, I hated him. I screamed at him. It felt like I did it for hours but it was more likely only minutes. And when I was finished, we did the only thing we could, we went out and fought. Eventually we escaped but..." Trevor looked at his robotic arm. "Things will never be the same again."

As Trevor finished they reached the top of the building. Paul could only think of one thing to say. "I'm sorry." He said. Putting his hand on Trevor's shoulder.

"Thanks." Trevor said. And with that, he shrugged his hand off his shoulder and walked over to Zach and the others who had gotten off onto the roof. "Now what?" He asked Zach.

"A pelican should be along soon to evac us." Zach said. "We just have to wait."

"How long?" Josie said staring down the side of the building.

"Maybe six minutes. Why?" Zach replied.

"Because I seriously doubt we have six minutes." She replied. Everyone moved to the edge and looked down. Most of the flood were still pouring through the doors of the building but a large group had broken off and begun climbing. "I thought the point of getting up here was to avoid that sort of thing. How the hell are they doing that anyway?"

"I don't know." Trevor said. " And I don't want to find out."

"Me either." Zach said. "Command, we're at the top of the building where's our evac?" He listened to static for a few seconds and then continued. "I say again, where's our evac?" The static continued.

"Is anyone out there?" Trevor said. "We need evac."

"So we're trapped!" Jonas said. "Some plan!"

That was when they saw it. A pelican flew around the side of a building below. As it flew up toward them, a voice came over the comm. "A little bird told me you needed an evac."

"Christine?" Zach said. "Thank god!"

"Now let's make this quick." She said. "The elites have begun to glass the city."

"What?!" Trevor said.

"No time to explain, let's go!" She said as she backed the pelican to the top of the building. Everyone climbed aboard as they began to leave. Trevor heard a noise and looked up to see a covenant cruiser position itself above the building they were on. He then got onboard with the others. While they began to fly away from the building he began to speak into his comm.

Ellen had made it far into the building. She had finally hidden in a room off the stairwell. Well hidden was the wrong word. She had run out of ammo and been wounded a few stairwells down. Now she was holding the door closed and hoping they wouldn't get through. That was when her comm went off. "Ellen, are you there?" Trevor said.

"Trevor?" She replied. "Did you guys get away?"

"Yes." He said. "I thought I should let you know that... give you a warning... I don't know, but the elites are glassing the city. They're actually above the building you're in. I'd suggest getting out if you don't want to get glassed."

"I think I'll be all right." She said taking a sharp breath. "Might be less painful." She said slightly jokingly. "Paul, Jon, and Josie. I just want to say, goodbye. And it's been a hell of a ride." And with that, she closed her eyes as the elites began to glass the building.

They all watched as the elites began to glass the building destroying the flood within and around it and killing Ellen. Trevor stood up and removed his helmet. He walked to the front of pelican and leaned his head into the pilots area. "You wanna explain why the elites are glassing the city?" He said.

Christine faced him for a moment and he caught a glimpse of himself in her visor. Roughed up, exhausted and clearly pissed. She turned forward again and spoke. "They have to stop the flood from spreading over the whole Earth. From what I've heard, we're lucky they aren't glassing the whole planet. And it's not just the city, it's closer to half the continent."

Trevor turned and started heading toward the back of the pelican. He paused about halfway and threw his helmet as hard as he could against the wall right above Jaree's head. The helmet shattered with the force and Jaree didn't even flinch. "You really must stop breaking those." Zach said simply. "They aren't cheap."

"Respectfully 'sir', I don't give a shit." He turned to the elites. "And you two! You wanna explain why we have to glass half a continent to stop the flood from spreading?!"

"Just one flood spore is enough to destroy all life on this planet. Be glad they're only glassing half a continent." Jaree said.

Trevor hated to admit it but Jaree made a compelling argument. "I guess you're right." He turned back toward the cockpit. "So where we headed now?" He asked Christine.

"The Foward Unto Dawn. That's where they're planning our next move." Christine replied.

"They?" Trevor replied.

"Lord Hood, Commander Keyes, and the leaders of the elites. The Arbiter and the Chief are also there. So we might get to see the Master chief if we're lucky." Christine said, clearly excited at the prospect.

"Well, with the way our luck has been today that's not likely." Trevor said. And he headed back to his seat. He barely heard Christine call him a buzzkill. He sat down and leaned his head back. He closed his eyes and that's when the dream started.

I was the same old nightmare he'd been having for weeks. Only one thing was different. The bodies. It was the same flashback to Reach. To his parents death. He and Zach stood within the city of New Alexandria. Zach stood listening to his comm. Trevor knew exactly why he was listening and knew there was nothing he could do about it. Over the comm, Zach was listening to the pilots flying the transport their parents were on freak out and say they were launching because covenant were attempting to get it despite be told not to. As he heard the covenant corvette settle over the city, he turned to see the transport launch and watched in terror as the corvette fired and shot it down. He knew what came next but to his surprise, something else changed. Instead of beginning to run toward the transport as he had that day, he turned back to Zach as Zach spoke the words that had haunted him since that day. "There's nothing you can do to help them."

He turned away from Zach and Franklin was standing there. His neck was bent at an awkward angle and his words slurred when he spoke. "There's nothing you can do to help them." He said. And pointed behind Trevor.

He turned again to see Ellen. At first he didn't recognize her because she was severely burnt. But as she spoke causing flakes of crispy burnt skin to fall from her face, there was no question whose voice it was. "There's nothing you can do to help them." She said pointing once again behind Trevor.

He turned one final time to see a pile of corpses. At first he didn't know what he was looking at but then he realized it was the corpses of their team. Everyone from James to Josie. The only person whose corpse was not among them was Zach. Suddenly, Josie opened her eyes and the rest followed suit. They all spoke at the same time. "You can't help us." Trevor wanted to turned away but he couldn't. Something wouldn't let him.

As his eyes met Josie's, she spoke again alone. "And now there's nothing we can do to help you."

Trevor turned to where her eyes looked, and saw the elite from Reach. Standing with him, was the brute that killed Franklin and three other brutes. But they didn't worry him. What worried him was the assault rifle in his face and the soldier at the other end with his finger on the trigger. It was Zach, but slightly older and colder. He didn't seem phased at all by the fact he was pointing his gun at his brother. Trevor heard a voice speak from the darkness. "Do it." It ordered Zach. And Zach pulled the trigger.

"Hey Trevor." Josie said shaking him awake. As he opened his eyes, he saw her flinch. As he blinked, he became uncertain if he had imagined it or if it had actually happened. "We've reached the Forward Unto Dawn. I think you'll want to see this." He looked toward the back of the pelican. And saw that everyone was crowded on the ramp looking at something. He stood up and walked over to the ramp. Josie followed him and as they reached the top of the ramp, she gestured out into the crowd with her hand. There, walking amongst the soldiers was the Master Chief. He was big. Trevor could see that even from far away. The man towered above those around him. "Pretty cool huh?" Josie said.

"Yeah. Pretty cool." Trevor replied. And yet, even the epicness of the Master Chief couldn't chase away the nightmare.

Trevor was leaving the armory fully restocked on ammo and refitted with fresh armor and a fresh helmet when Josie came running up out of nowhere. "Did you hear?" She asked.

"Hear what?" He replied.

"Well, your mission still stands and your brother requested that we beat allowed to accompany you guys." She said clearly excited.

"You know most people would consider this a suicide mission." Trevor said.

"Yeah. And?" Josie replied.

"You seem excited for someone who's going on a suicide mission." Trevor said.

"Well it's not every day you go on a suicide mission with ODSTs." She said. "And now I'lI get to go on two! Oh, my brother might end up hating yours."

"Nah. Wouldn't be the first guy he pissed off." Trevor said.

"No he would not." Zach said as they reached the rest of the group. "Have you been filled in on the details?" He asked Trevor looking at Josie.

"No I have not." Trevor said.

"Christine will be flying us out into the battlefield. We'll launch out of the pelican and use jetpacks to reach the hull of the ship. We'll then find an entrance and fight our way to the bridge where we'll disable the ship." Zach said.

"Sounds simple enough." Trevor said.

"Which means it won't be." Zach replied.

"My thoughts exactly." Trevor said. "So let's get this show on the road."

"Looks like we're going through the portal" Josie said.

Sure enough, the portal was definitely getting closer outside the window. "Here we go." Trevor said as they flew into the portal. As they flew into the darkness.

Author's Note: This chapter has been a long time coming. A lot has happened in that time that has delayed it's completion but I hope you find it satisfying. I know I do. Hopefully things will pick up speed in the writing so I can bring you guys chapters quicker.