Chapter Two: The Boy

LOCATION: VIZEGRAD
Jack was tired, but he found himself unable to sleep. An unnatural behavior for a seven-year-old boy; when they get tired, they drift away quickly. It was hard for him to enter that comfortable state of unconsciousness, however, as the television was murmuring in the room down the hallway. His parents enjoyed watching the news at night. But enjoyed doesn’t seem to be an accurate term...
From the few times their voices became barely audible, they seemed frightened. It's been like this every night since a few years back. Around the same time they stopped visiting his Grandpa. Grandpa lived far away from Reach, on a planet called Harvest. Jack and his parents used to visit Grandpa every year. But suddenly, they stopped; around the same time his parents started watching the television in the dead of night.
It's because something happened to Grandpa, Jack thought, trying to put two and two together.
He stared out the window. Some shooting stars left fiery trails as the burned through the black: leaving shimmering gold tails in the night sky.
"I wish I knew what happened to Grandpa," Jack whispered to himself. It was a question he was asking himself for the past three years. In the distance, a strange noise murmured. It was like a mechanical whine, echoing through the still air. It must be the maglev train, Jack thought to himself. There was also a popping noise, reminding Jack of the noise a firecracker made when it exploded. To the innocent mind of a seven-year-old, there was no way those sounds could be produced by firearms, no way that those shooting stars could be ODST drop pods and fragments of battleships falling from the sky.
I wish I knew what happened to Grandpa... he thought as he wished upon a star.
Unnoticed by the boy wrapped underneath his covers, the sounds outside steadily grew louder.
***
Jack’s mind started to collapse under the weight of fatigue. He couldn't even keep his focus on the questions he had formulated about his grandfather. Jack was so tired, he didn't even care when his semi-unconscious mind noticed that his parents were crying in the living room. His eyes closed as he finally started to give in to the urge to sleep...
There was a massive explosion, the crash of wood splintering, the shriek of metal tearing, and the whine of some unknown origin; the sound of the house's front door flying off its hinges. Now wide awake and bolt upright in bed, the seven year old could hear his mother screaming, the patter of running feet, and a roar of anger. He leapt out of bed, and was just about to open his door when his toes encountered something wet in the dark. He looked down, but could not see what he had stepped in. Just outside, there was the sound of heavy breathing, along with the sound that accompanied something heavy being slid across the floor. Jack opened the door just a crack, and peeked through the opening. He held back a gasp.
The monster outside his bedroom door was not human. It was tall, even taller than his father. However, it stood hunchbacked. It had sharp beady black eyes, and the head of a shark. It grunted, as if it was aware of Jack's presence. It held his father in one hand. His father was very still, his eyes glazed over… The terrified child stumbled back on all fours, leaving the door slightly open. I gotta go to sleep…It’s all a bad dream… A single ray of light illuminated the wetness on the floor; it glinted red. Blood red. Suddenly, Jack could hear the sound of the monster springing to life. And the child thought about something he had never thought much about: death. But quickly, he heard another sound amidst the shuffle of the monster's feet. "Fucking-Covie-get-out-of-my-FACE!" Through the crack in the door, Jack could see the shadow of the monster stumble back, and the shadow of a human take its place. In his hands, he held what was obviously a gun. There was a bright flash of light, and the sound of firecrackers popping. The monster roared, and then everything fell silent. The man outside Jack's bedroom sighed.
"Threat neutralized."
There was a crackling noise.
"Good, get to the next waypoint."
There was a pause.
"Negative. I-I think there's someone here. I can hear...breathing."
Jack's bedroom door opened. A Marine stood there, holding the gun casually in one hand.
"Hey come here little guy," he said as he knelt down.
Jack walked over, tears starting to come to his eyes.
The Marine slung the gun on his back and picked up the seven year old.
He's damn lucky the Elite didn't notice him, the Marine thought to himself.
He keyed his radio.
"I got a survivor, I'm coming out."
"Roger, where is he from?"
"Here, I think."
"I mean, where can we take him?"
"Hey, uh..." the Marine said to the boy, unsure of how to phrase the next question.
"You got any...relatives?"
Jack stuttered, "Only Grandpa, but he lives far away on a planet called Harvest."
"Oh," the Marine said, a tear coming to his eye.