"Hailey, get up! It's time for you to get dressed for Elementary school." I shout, banging on my sister's door to her pink room. I hear a mumbled reply and a thump as she probably rolls off the bed.

I cringe a little. That must of hurt. There's a muffled groan as well and I smile. Oh well, at least she's up. I grab my school stuff and walk down the stairs, jumping the last few steps. I walk up to the table, ruffling my little brother's hair. "Hey champ, what you up to?" His blue eyes look up at me and he smiles, dribbling milk from his cheerios onto his shirt.

I smile and grab a napkin, wiping his chin. "Ah ligkt dihr fod" he says. I smile again, he was trying to say that he liked the food. "I'm glad you like it Gaige." I ruffle his hair again and grab some food to put in my backpack for lunch and dinner. I stay after school for 5 hours for swim team and marching band. I had put my laptop, camera, art supplies, my trusty multitools (which I basically hoarded, never know when you might need them.) Little band-aids(you have no idea how many times I've had to use them on Gaige), and my phone and chargers, portable and plug in. None of my homework was on paper anymore, all of it was digital except art.

I stuff the food in and reach for my swimsuit- suddenly there is a thump outside. I look up, "Ugh, dad probably fell off the ladder again." I shoulder my backpack and walk towards the door, putting on the other strap. I grab the handle and open the door. "Dad, do I need to call mom aga-" I stop cold as the sunspots clear from my eyes. Only a few feet away, is a giant alien, ones of the ones I've seen broadcast on TV from reach and harvest, other planets that were attacked by them. It is wearing Blue armor and has legs like a horse, and a mouth with four parts. In its four fingered hand is a blue double pronged sword, and on the ground is my dad, unmoving. There are more aliens a little farther away and gunfire and screams reach my ears.

I scream, loud and high pitched and it shakes its head angrily from the noise and turns towards me. I can't think, only run. I dart into the house, and into the first door I come across, the basement. I close it behind me and trip down the stairs, just barely managing to keep on my feet. There is a roar behind me and the sound of splintering wood. I whimper a little and dart around forgotten boxes of things, coming to the basement door. There is another roar and the sound of glass breaking as boxes and knocked over. I fumble with the latch and get it open, shoving the heavy doors open and jumping up the stairs. There is a swish behind me and I turn around to close the doors. The elite had swung at me and missed, and was now pulling his sword from the wall, his head level to my knees. With a shriek, I slam the doors closed, hearing a big thunk and denting the metal, and there is a collapsing sound but I am already off like a rocket. I dart into the field behind my house, blindly shoving through the corn. I make zig-zag patterns. There is still the sound of gunfire, and no matter where I run it seems to get closer.

I stop quickly and grab one of my multitools, this one consists of a blade and a screwdriver. There is the sound of something crashing through the stalks of corn. I let a little gasp of fright out and then clamp my hand over my mouth as the thing pauses. It comes closer and bursts through the stalks. Its the same type of alien this time, but red. It looks at me and slowly stalks toward me, and energy sword in its hand. I scramble backwards, tripping over a root and scooting backwards. It seems to smile and raises it's sword. I scream and instinctively throw the knife in my hand at it, trying to deter it even if only for a second, and throw my other arm up in defense. There is a garbled choke and I look up, horrified to see the alien weakly grasping at its throat where the knife is buried to the hilt. It slumps to it's knees, and falls on its face, the energy sword nipping my arm slightly before turning off. I let out a animal cry of fear and scramble backwards, getting up and turning to run, right into a wall of black. The 'wall' grabs me and I scream, kicking out and desperately trying to get away. I don't want to die! "Hey, hey, its OK, I'm here to help." A man's voice says. I stop kicking and look up into the orange visor of a black helmet.

It's a Spartan, like the ones I saw on reach videos at school. I don't know what to say, I'm slowly going into shock. "We'll get you out of here." He says an looks behind me at the dead elite. "You did that?" He asks, his voice showing surprise. I nod numbly. "Wow, I'm impressed." He says, even more surprised. Now it's my turn to be surprised. But it doesn't last long before shock starts taking over and I go slack in his grip. "Woah, steady." He says, and calls over someone. They carry me bridal style and I bury my head in his chest, not wanting to see the chaos around me. I start rocking as he starts running, shielding me with his armor and shield. There is the sound of glass shattering as shards hit his shield. Finally, after what seems like endless gunfire and war, I feel him hop into something, I finally lift my head and see that we have climbed into a pelican, a small cargo plane the size of a one room house with four thrusters on it's corners that tilt and turn to angle the plane. It has a very small cockpit and a large troop and cargo space in the back with seats lining the sides. The soldier carries me in, and lays me on a seat. I prop myself on one elbow before slowly pushing myself into a sitting position.

The soldier signals some other men to enter the pelican and then signals the pilot to take off. "Wait! My family!" I shout, but its too late. The pelican slowly lifts off the ground, the hatch still open while the pilot lifts into the air. I have to buckle in so I don't start sliding out once he reaches a higher height. Once I look up, recovered from my shock, I gasp at what I see. Before the door closes, a quarter of my planet can be seen. There are fires and explosions all over the surface. At one point there is a giant alien ship that looks like a fat hook shooting an orange beam. There is another doing the same thing that is flatter and shaped like on of those special blister band-aids for fingers. The orange beam destroys everything and gives it a glassed look. I hold my hand over my mouth, choking back a sob. I can only hope that they are making it on another pelican.

The hatch starts closing, but just before it closes, there is a massive explosion, right in the area my house is. No pelicans are behind us and the explosion is so big that I have to turn away and the pelican shakes. No! I feel numb. I want to cry but no tears come out. Everything is lost. I think. Wait, not everything! I remember that I still have my backpack and bring out my phone, looking at the picture of my family in it. I brush my fingers on my parent's faces, and then I form a fist. I will get revenge, they will pay for this. I stuff my phone back in my bag and shoulder it. No more tears. You have to be strong Anni Dare.

We finally reach the outer atmosphere, and then space itself, pulling into the bay of a large space-ship. There is a blue energy screen keeping the space air out and we pass through it. The pelican lands slowly, finally touching down, and the hatch starts opening. "Can you walk?" I look to see the same spartan from before looking at me. I nod and stand up. We walk off the pelican, and I hold my arm, just remembering the nick and finding my arm covered in a light layer of blood. I press on the wound, taking a quick breath as it stings, and putting a few things of gauze over it for now.

"Ok, these people will take you to the med bay to be healed." The Spartan says. There are two people in white suits with red crosses on them holding a stretcher. "Wait a second." I reply and walk over to the other marines. I turn to the soldier who seems to be in charge and tap on his shoulder with my good hand. He turns around and I say firmly, "I want to join the Spartan program."