Chương 29: Chapter (26) Prelude to Firefight (10)
(Mc Pov)
'….Are hugs supposed to last this long?' I think to myself seeing as it has been at least 5 minutes since I began holding these kids. Their sobs have decreased, turning into sniffles and a bit of shuddering in their bodies, but I kinda don't know what to do.
Don't get me wrong I know that they need to be comforted and reassured…but I don't think I can do that. To be honest I have not been a very good person at conveying emotions or expressing them. Add the years of Spartan training into the mix as well as my training being mostly away from other people and you get someone who isn't that….socially attuned to say.
Which is depressing to say. I can hold conversations and interact with people well enough, but physical things like hugs make me a bit uncomfortable. Though I am sucking it up for these kids whose parents might have been eaten but at the very least are most likely killed…That's enough thinking about my lack of social skills.
"Alright are you two feeling better," I said calmly with a stern face as I pulled them off of me. They both nodded in response as they rubbed tears and snot off of their faces.
"Good…may I know your names?" I ask trying to think of all of my human interactions and movie knowledge to try and get these kids to trust me so they can survive this mishap.
"M-My name is Luna," said the older girl. She looked younger than 10 years old but older than five.
"D-Dante," said the younger boy. He looked to be around 5-6 years old.
'Damn, these kids haven't even gotten out of elementary school, but have already had their parents massacred. That will probably leave some trauma on them for years to come. Not many people are forced to lose the ones closest to them at such an early age….wait a minute…aren't I an orphan as well?' I thought to myself before being wrapped up in the irony that an orphan was pitying another orphan.
Shaking my head out of my thoughts I look back at the kids. I am still crouched down with my helmet sitting on top of my thing and my left arm resting on top of it, "Well Luna, Dante I need your help," My request seemed to confuse them as Luna's eyebrow was raised in a confused manner while Dante innocently tilted his head to the side.
"To be honest there are a lot of these monsters running around this facility," I said, nodding down at the corpse of the dead Brute. Both Dante and Luna had a look of hate-filled disgust on their face, "And I am not sure if I can find them all. If I had someone in the security center watching the cameras… I think I may be able to do that. Would either of you be willing to help me?" I asked, doing my best to get the kids' minds off of almost being eaten and their new status of being orphans.
They both looked at each other and whispered to each other in a moc huddle. Of course, I could easily hear them but decided to tune them out and act like I can't hear them. I could theoretically coerce them into doing what I want…but come on I am not someone so pathetic as to manipulate a couple of children.
After a moment or two of their conversing at multiple glances from over their shoulders, their inte
nse discussion came to an end. They turned around and collectively said "Yes," I then nodded and put my helmet back on. Then pulled out my Battle Rifle before turning around to move into the Hallway.
Just as I was about to check the doorway and halls I remembered to tell them something so I looked over my shoulder and spoke in a serious tone, "Before we go anywhere. Make sure you both pay attention and don't get distracted. Most importantly however make sure that you stay behind me. I can take a hit or two but neither of you will last past one shot,"
Without checking to see if they nodded or responded I turned my head back facing the door. I first peeked into the hall looking left scanning for anything in the hall on that side. Before recognizing that it was all clear and doing the same with the opposite side. Once noticing that the surrounding area was safe I motioned with my shoulder that we would be walking and headed out the door.
…
..
.
It took us around 10 minutes to make it back to the maintenance shaft, a bit longer than it would be with me alone, but I am not one to complain. As we made our way to the elevator I found that we would be in a conundrum once we got there.
These kids can't climb this cable. They simply aren't strong enough to pull their bodies up nor do they have the grip strength required to not slip and keep themselves stable. So while we walk through the halls slowly and methodically I am internally thinking of a solution, until finally I come up with something that just might work.
When we finally got to the closed maintenance elevator door I placed my rifle on my back before putting my fingers in the crack of the closed doors. Then I forcefully pulled them apart until the doors were open and the empty shaft was seen through the open doorway.
"Wow that's really deep," said Luna to my right.
"Maybe we should call the elevator," said Dante to my left.
"Actually I have a better idea," I said, turning around, gaining their attention, "Say, do you kids want to have a piggyback ride?"
Both sets of eyes immediately lit up once I finished my inquiry.
"Can we!?" asked Luna
"Can we please!? You are so tall, unlike Dad!" said Dante dealing critical damage to his dead father in the process.
"Sure," I say in response before giving a warning, "But you must hold on tight with your arms around my neck and legs wrapped around my waist. Otherwise, you might fall and get hurt. So if either of you feel like you can't do that I will put you in one of these rooms and lock it, but I will come back to get you before I am done. So are you certain you can follow my directions?" I am given a firm nod in response to my warning and subsequent question.
I then pick up Luna and place her on my back where she does exactly as I say holding on tightly to my body. Then I grab Dante and put him on the right side of my chest away from my wound. He does the same albeit with less strength than Luna due to his age.
"All right hold on tight," I say before taking a leap across the shaft and grabbing the metal cable for what seems like the tenth time today. This time I controlled myself and didn't hit any walls thankfully and started my descent.
The security center is on the 5th floor, the same as the data center. I didn't check the data center to see if the Covenant had infiltrated that floor or if they had extracted any information. So I am walking in blind. Luckily there is a low possibility that they have gotten through the door on this level.
The 5th, 6th, and 7th floors are all on lockdown most likely due to some countermeasure pulled at the beginning of the surprise attack. I am not worried so much about the 6th or 7th floors because the Brute's first priority would be to gather research. Therefore they would likely focus on getting through the blast doors on this level with plasma cutters.
'Interesting,' I thought to myself as I realized that I had located the maintenance elevator. How? You may ask. Well, I am currently standing on top of it. Moving on I make my way to the hatch on the ceiling of the elevator with the two children still clinging to me and smiling… at least Dante is. I then tell them to hold on tight again and open the hatch and drop into the elevator.
"So how was the ride?" I ask after setting down both kids and pulling them off of me.
"It was great!" said Luna
"Can we do it again!?" asked Dante
"Hmm Maybe later right now though I need you two to get serious and focus on me," I reply, gaining them to adopt stern expressions and pay attention to me, "There could be a lot of dangerous monsters in these halls and they could very easily hurt you. So continue following my directions from before and make sure you hear and listen to anything I say," they nod and I pull out my shotgun," Alright then let's go,'' I turned around and walked out of the elevator.
…
..
.
*zzzzzztttt*
*BANG*
'Seems like I got here just on time,' After making our way through the narrow halls to the entrance of the data center and security center we were greeted with an explosion. Peeking from around the corner I find the cause to be the breaking and entering of a team of Brutes and grunts into the data center.
"Alright, you two see that closet over there," I say pointing to a cleaning closet to which they nod, "Go stay in there and don't come at till I come and tell you,"
"..Y-You will be coming back right?" said Luna as she shook me on my lower back.
"Of course, I will. It's going to take the grim reaper a lot more than some dumb apes and a bunch of cone heads," I said with confidence, making them giggle. They then followed my orders and headed to the closet, closing the door quietly.
'Ok, time to teach some aliens about private property, trespassing, and the 2nd amendment,'
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So short chapter today I am about to go to a funeral. So I don't have much time to write either of these.
Uhhh next chapter will probably be the last of this precursor arc it will be long and will come out thursday or friday.
Drop any questions here.
Song of the day is "Unstoppable" by Disturbed
I hope you all have a blessed day and I will See You Star Side.
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