halo

I awoke to the ground shaking. I felt so tired that i ignored it and tried to fall back asleep. Before i could, i felt another, followed by another and another, each one coming faster and stronger. I nearly fell out of my bed as i stumbled to the window. I nearly screamed at what i saw. Outside, the skies were filled with clouds of dust and shimmering purple, the were explosions and fires a couple of blocks away, but as streaks of purple flew overhead they got closer.



I instantly had my phone in hand while i slipped on clothes(jean shorts, a loose red shirt with a white long sleeved undershirt and shoes) and my heart nearly burst as i saw i had absolutely no signal, no way to contact my friends, my parents...no way to know if they were alive or not. I knew that if i stayed here i was a goner, so i took as much stuff as i could from my kitchen, consisting of a couple of energy bars, some water bottles, and a knife, and put them into my bag. i also took my mini flashlight, some spare clothes, a blanket, and the sharpest kitchen knife I had. It took me a whole 10 minutes to finish, dreading the sound of an explosion and the roof collapsing in one me.



With all my stuff packed, I took one last look at my phone, slipped on my watch, and headed for my door. Before i could even reach it i heard a explosion and fell back onto the ground. Dazed, it took me half a minute before I could see clearly, which I almost wish I couldn't.  The door, or what used to be it, was completely gone. Instead, there was just a gaping hole with plasma and smoke burning on the edges. I nearly passed out. What had been a panic driven but untouched neighborhood was now a completely different world. The houses were now ruins, the best had crumbling side walls with no roof and anything else. The streets bore huge craters, most still smoking. Bodies lay everywhere, some buried under rubble, some with plasma marks...and some still screaming in agony.



I shakily got to my legs and knew I was stranded. My only hope had been getting one of my neighbors to drive me to the shuttle to get away, but the closest thing to a car was a wheel slowly rolling away. I knew I was screwed unless I got cover, because covies(pronounced cu-v) never took prisoners. Houses and buildings were to obvious, so i took off for the mountains. maybe I could hide in the forest or caves there, all I know is that I must get out of here before they come. For the next half hour, I jumped fences, dodged from rubble to rubble, and crawled through bushes, keeping in cover as much as possible. The farther I got, the less people I saw, probably because i was heading in the opposite direction of the airport, which was good because that meant less chance of running into the covenant. I was hoping I wouldn't run into the covenant.



As i round the corner of a crumbling wall, a disgusting smell greets me, as well as some grunt and bark like sounds. I see a sight that horrifies me when i dare to see what it was. There was maybe 50 feet left to the forest...but a pair of grunts stood in the way. There was no cover, they had been tearing down trees for a mall, so it was a flat plain. I would either have to run or kill them to get past.They have plasma pistols...there is no way I can run past them and get into cover before I am shot down, I have to kill them.I circle around to the other side of the building, then as quietly as possible I slide out the knife. They were eating something that looked like rotten fruits, not to mention smelled like it. I grabbed a chunk of concrete and tossed it to the other side, the spot where I first saw them. Immediately they sprang to their feet, one moved to where I had thrown the rock while the other remained in place. I took advantage of their distraction and crept toward the remaining grunt, and grabbed his head while slitting his throat.



I grabbed his pistol and pressed the trigger, or at least I think it was a trigger.What the hell, why isn't it firing. At this rate, the other one will see the glow! The grunt started turning around, probably because he saw the dumb light, and I released the trigger so I would have a chance at running. Before I could drop the gun, a ball of green light flew toward the grunt. I didn't see what happened as I was knocked down by the force and blinded by the light. Before my vision cleared I heard an explosion and I almost didn't open my eyes. As I peeked I saw that where there once was a grunt, there now only remained scattered bits of armor with green goo. Tossing the gun away, because firing it would show exactly where I am, I looted the corpse, though all i found was 1 plasma grenade.



Wiping off the blood from the knife, i kept it in my hand as i ran for the forest. The thought that any second I could have 10 more of those grunts made me scared enough to not stop till I was deep in the forest. There were only a couple hours of daylight left so I started looking for somewhere I could at least have temporary shelter in.



-2 Hours later-



I kick the tree in frustration. What was I thinking! That there would be a hotel with AC, food and a warm bed!? It was already sunset. So I had only around 10 minutes left before full dark. 2 hours of looking and i had found nothing but a stream, which even though is good because now I will not die of dehydration, I can get killed in my sleep because i'll be out in the open. I threw a rock straight into the falling water, as there was a ledge where it fell from the hilltop to ground level.  Before I could vent my anger further, i heard the rock, but instead of a clack, it was a clack-clack-clack. I went to the falls, and cautiously put my hand through. The water hurt like hell but i was surprised that instead of touching stone i only touched air. I didn't feel like bruising every part of my body, so trusting my luck I jumped through. Whoooooooooooo! There was a cave here! And because of the light shining through the water, I can actually see in it. Thanking my luck, I took my blanket from my pack, went to the farthest wall from the waterfall, the driest part of the cave, and drifted into sleep despite the roaring of the falls.