Augmented Heart

13

As much as I thought I'd prepared myself to be separated from John, I couldn't help but cry when time came for him to say goodbye.

"Don't cry, I'll be back soon," He wiped the tears from my cheeks and kissed my forehead.

"I'll miss you though," I clung to him as if his armor were magnetic.

"I'll miss you too. I'll try to call you tonight, okay?"

I nodded and let go of him. He fitted his helmet to his head and waved goodbye to me before pulling himself into the Pelican.

I dragged my tired body to work.

"You okay?" Noah asked.

"No. Dr. Halsey's probably never gonna let us see each other again."

Noah couldn't even respond. He knew that I was right, as dramatic as I may have sounded.

"At least I get to work on a Wasp and not a Warthog today. I was getting tired of Warthogs."

It felt like days went by before our lunch break. I poked at the gross cafeteria food. I hardly noticed the red flashing lights and alarms.

"Covenant breach?" Henry got up quickly. "We just can't catch a break."

I feared how much time I had to prepare. All I had on me was my sidekick. I didn't have a helmet or a Spartan to protect me this time.

"How'd they make it past the guards?" Noah panicked.

"We can assume there's a fuck ton of them if they've made it past guards," I said. I gripped my sidekick with shaking hands.

"Let's run to the weapons hall," Henry suggested. "We might be able to prepare a little more."

I nodded. Noah and I followed closely behind him into the weapons hall. Other marines made it there as well. Maybe we stood a chance.

I grabbed an AR and an extra helmet that didn't fit my head well.

I fought alongside my friends much better than I expected to. Noah even seemed to set his anxiety to the side.

An elite materialized in front of me.

"Shit," I muttered.

Each shot I fired did nothing as he seemed to circle me in active camo.

My body lifted from the ground. I squinted, preparing myself for an energy sword to tear through me. It never came. My friends became more distant as I was carried away.

"Sage!" Henry shouted.

He attempted to chase after me. The elite had a speed like nothing I'd seen before. He jumped to a covenant dropship with ease.

He threw me to the floor as the dropship took flight.

"Easy, we were ordered to bring her alive," the voice of a Brute boomed.

"Ah, I think we should just kill her," The elite responded.

"We only want to lure the demon. Once we have him where we want him we can dispose of her."

I wondered if John would even find out. What if Dr. Halsey had already put him in cryo sleep?

"You," the brute looked down at me. "Don't you try anything crazy. Otherwise we will have to kill you."

"I thought you just said we couldn't until we lure the demon," a grunt chimed in.

I almost wanted to laugh at his silly remark, but my terror outweighed the urge.

Another commented, "She's pretty. Can I just marry her instead?"

"Green man would kill you first!" The first grunt said.

I stifled a laugh through my fear. Maybe I was just hysterical at this point.

"She even thinks I'm funny!" The second grunt said.

The brute groaned, "Silence!"

Once we arrived at a covenant base, the grunts took me to a completely empty cell.

"What if I have to pee?"

"Don't ask me," One of the grunts shrugged as the pair walked away.

How did the covenant even find out about me and John? Had they hacked into UNSC files? What if Dr. Halsey allowed the data to be compromised to see what would happen? As crazy as it sounded, it couldn't be put past her.

Maybe I ran out of tears. I hadn't cried during this entire event. Maybe the shock was too much. Part of me just held onto faith that I'd be rescued.

Two elites were let into the cell.

"It's time to make the hologram," One said.

I barely had time to speak before he grabbed me and held an energy sword to my throat. The other one held my arm.

"Demon, if you want the girl back, you must come and get her. If you are able to get through the covenant, that is."

Awful sounds of cracking and crushing came from my arm. I screamed in agony. The elites dropped me to the floor as if nothing had happened.