- The Munchies
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P.8
For the rest of the day, Dante sat in his quarters with the lights off. The Spartan knew that he was changing. He felt sick the first time he had seen gore, but in the steel refinery, he felt nothing but anger as he spilt the blood of his enemy.
Dante figured he had limited time before what he was now completely died. If he wanted his parents to see something they could be proud of, now was the time. The Chief took out his blue dress uniform, and donned it. He quickly shined his shoes, then his Spartan Insignia. He ran as fast as he could to the garage, and took a civilian model warthog.
Dante drove up to the fort's fence, and it opened. This was an extremely dangerous thing to do. If a high ranked officer figured this out, the Chief was meat. Dante figured this was worth the risk. His family lived in the suburbs a good three hours away from the base at the warthogs top speed, which is what he was hitting.
The Spartan herd sirens, and red and blue flashing lights behind him. Should he pull over? If he tried to escape, more officers would come. There would be a police chase, and they would catch him. He could probably escape by running after his car being stopped, but the base would probably do an investigation on who took the warthog. The best choice was to just pull over. Maybe he could get the officer not to say anything.
Dante stopped at the side of the road, and took a deep breath. The officer pulled up behind him, and walked around his vehicle to the driver's side. "License and registration please."
"Don't have it on me officer." Dante replied politely.
"Alright then. Step out of your vehicle.
The Spartan had a good idea of what was about to happen. Hesitantly, he exited the warthog, and stood. The officer went pale as Dante raised to his full hight. "My name is Dante, Spartan E18, Master Chief Petty Officer. I'm on a mission, and you're in my way," The officer nodded, stepping back slowly, "And Officer, this never happened." The man nodded, got back into his cruiser, and drove away.
Dante grinned at his move. He always wondered how much authority he would get as a Spartan. After some time of driving on the most remote highways the Chief could find, he arrived at his home town. He slowed down, and let the warm summer breeze play with his hair. The smell of freshly cut grass filled the air. It was just like when he was a kid.
The Chief stopped the car to look a large maple tree on the front lawn of the McHenries. He watched as the wind ran through its leaves, ruffling them in the soothing sound he loved. He drove on, for a few seconds, then spotted his house. It was exactly the same, the white wooden exterior, the slate roof, and the oak door. It was beautiful.
Dante pulled into the driveway, and parked his car. His heart beated faster and faster as he approached the door. Holding his breath, he knocked on the door. When it opened, a man in his mid fifties opened the door. He didn't freeze in fear or turn pale like the others; he just looked Dante dead in the eye and said, "What do you want?"
Dante saddened, "It's me, Dante. Don't you recognize me?" After he stopped speaking, he realized how ridiculous his expectation was.
"My son is dead," The man said angrily, "Get off of my property."
"But it's me dad. I'm home, I came back."
"I watched my son die in the hospital you sick freak."
'Sick freak.' The two words hit Dante like a tank shell. "What are you talking about? I was taken by the UNSC to make me a Spartan. How could I have been there?"
The man narrowed his eyes. Dante prayed that his father was still the genius he remembered him as. "Show me your hand." The Spartan reached his hand forward. The man took it, and scrutinized it as if he was looking for something. His face turned pale, and he burst into tears. Dante had to kneel down for his father to embrace him. He was back.
The man had spotted a scar running diagonally from Dante's pointer finger, to his index finger. It was from the time when Dante had cut himself playing with a kitchen knife. When they separated, Dante wiped is moist eyes. "What made you realize?"
"The scar across your fingers, the child didn't have it. I shrugged it off. I should have known it was a flash clone." Dante's father worked in genetics, and he had a good deal of knowledge about cloning, but ironically, when the clone is your child, you'd never notice. "Come in Dante." The Spartan lowered his head so he wouldn't hit it on the doorway. "Wait here for a moment."
Dante waited in the hall as his father called names. There were thuds as people came down the stairs, and a conversation started. Dante could hear everything from three rooms away.
Dante's father was telling his familly that their son had returned, and that the boy who had died was something called a flash clone, but Dante looks very very different now, however, they should not to be alarmed. His father told them that their son is a Spartan now, then he called Dante in.
Dante walked through the halls, looking at the familly pictures. He was in all of them, a smiling little boy with dirty blonde hair, and green eyes with beams of gold.
Dante opened the door to the living room, and stepped in; his sister Miriam, his father Charles, and his mother Gabriel. After a moment of shock, Gabriel and Miriam ran forward, and embraced Dante. Kneeling again, he wrapped his arms around them. Tears flowed, and words of love were exchanged.
A boy around the age of five rn to the room, and grabbed onto Gabriel's hand. When he looked up, his eyes widened, not in fear, but in excitement. "Mommy look, a Spartan!" He stared at Dante in awe.
"It's very rude to stare honey." Gabriel said, looking at the boy. She looked back up at Dante, and smiled. "This is your brother, Tyler."
The little boy slipped out of his mother's grasp, and ran to Dante. "Wow! You're my brother?!"
Dante smiled. He already loved the boy. Tyler was so much like Dante at his age. "Yeah," Dante said, laughing, "I am."
"Can I hug you?"
Gabriel cleared her throat. "Honey, don't bother your broth-"
"Sure." Dante interrupted, sitting down.
Tyler jumped onto his lap, and threw his arms around Dante's neck. Dante patted the boy's back. He had always wanted a little brother. The child spotted Dante's shining Spartan insignia, and his widened again. "Whoa! Is that your insignia?"
Dante nodded, "Want to see it?"
"Yeah!" Tyler said, thrilled. The rest of the familly watched in joy as the two instantly formed a brotherly bond. Dante unpinned his insignia, and handed it to Tyler. The boy moved it around in his fingers, inspecting it from every angle.
"Tell you what," Dante said, "You can keep that."
"Really?!"
"Yes, but you can't show it off. It's top secret."
Tyler giggled, "Okay."
"How about some dinner?" Dante's father asked. Everyone agreed, and they all cooked together. Dante sat without a chair, and everyone began to eat. "So Dante, how have you been doing?"
"Good." Dante lied.
Miriam grinned, "So Dante, are there any ladies you're into over there?"
Dante laughed, his sister would always ask him about his love life, even though he was only five at the time. It was an ongoing joke they had. "Well um, any intimate relation would be a serious violation of conduct in the military, especially in my field."
There was a momentary silence, then everyone burst into laughter. "Alright Dante, what's her name?" Miriam asked. Dante had given himself her way.
"Her name is Sarah, she's another Spartan." Everyone let out an "Ooooo!" And Dante laughed. He was completely forgetting how serious and confidential his job was meant to be. When dinner was over, they all went to the living room and reminisced.
It got late, and it was time to go to bed. Before the family went upstairs, Dante stopped them. "This is the last time I'll ever see all of you." Dante's family all wore miserable faces, "In truth, I'm not even supposed to be here. I'm in a direct violation of my duty. I want you to know how that I love you more than anything in the world, and I'll miss you all.
Tyler was sniffling, and the rest were silently crying. Dante kneeled, and the group embraced each other. Afterwards, they ascended the stairs with heavy feet. Dante's father stayed behind. "Son, I never told you how proud of you I am."
The Spartan smiled, then it faded. "I always wanted you to say that," He expected tears to come to his eyes, but they didn't, "Bye dad, I'll miss you." E18 turned, and walked out the door, leaving his family forever.
[Edited on 04.06.2010 3:53 PM PDT]