She ran as fast as her legs would allow her, dodging bullets here and there. A brick building stood ominously in the distance, and that was her target. Dilapidated walls exploded with the gunfire that was chasing her. She could feel the lactic acid building up in her legs, her lungs ready to explode. She made a sharp turn into the building and ducked underneath a dusty, old window. She tried to slow her breathing, but nothing happened. Her breathing sped up once more when she heard a Locust outside the window.

"Diiiiiie." It hissed.

The window exploded above her and showered her with glass. She got onto her stomach and crawled as fast as she could. If she stood up, she would dead. If she stayed here with no ammo and her armor failing, she would be dead as well. She scrambled to her feet and ducked into a stairwell. Suddenly, there was more gunfire than usual, then silence. The young girl took this opportunity to poke her head up. She could see that the Locusts were dead, but who had saved her? She ducked around the corner outside and pointed her Lancer directly into a Latino man's face.

"Whoa whoa, calm down I'm on your side!" He shouted, holding his hands up.

"Who are you?" She demanded, failing to notice the COG insignia on his armor.

"Sergeant Marcus Fenix, and you are to put that gun down now."

She reluctantly obliged, and then her training kicked in. She snapped Marcus a crisp salute. He merely grunted at her.

"At ease soldier. What's your name and rank? And where is the rest of your squad?"

"Private Genevieve Ironheart, sir. My squad and I were separated, they're presumed dead." She replied quietly.

A blonde man had looked her up and down and got very close to her.

"Jeez, they let kids into the COG these days? How old are you?"

"Twenty-two, sir. Old enough." She replied with a hint of distaste for the man who had referred to her as a 'kid.'

"Regardless of how old you are Private, you're coming with us." Marcus growled, continuing on.

"But sir, I don't have any ammo. I ran out a while ago and I've been running ever since."

"Oh, that's why you use the chainsaw baby! It's there for a reason!" A large black man chuckled.

"My squad mate tried that." Genevieve replied, holding up his COG tags. "You can see how well that worked."

While Delta squad trekked onward to some nameless destination, Genevieve (or Jenny, as Cole liked to call her) learned a lot about her new squad mates. She felt sorry for Dom, he's been searching for his wife for eleven years with no luck. Ben Carmine was adorable, he was a little rookie that was desperate to prove himself in battle. Baird and Cole were two knuckleheads on the outside, but both were very intelligent, especially Baird. Marcus…he was something else. He was a seasoned war veteran with a deep hatred for the Locusts. He didn't seem to like Jenny. She wasn't sure if it was something personal, or if was just like that with everyone. Dom rubbed her back and slapped a fresh ammo clip in her hand.

"Don't take it personally." He whispered, "Marcus is like that with everyone. You just have to earn his respect."

Suddenly, Marcus stopped short which caused Jenny to collide into his armored back. He ducked down and the rest of Delta squad followed suit. He pointed at a high tower, which Jenny could barely see a mounted Troika with an eager Locust standing behind it. Jenny ducked and ran to nearby cover, which happened to be a worn-down wall. She carefully poked her head up and heard the Troika whirr as it aimed at her. She tucked and rolled into the next cover, but she wasn't fast enough. The bullets had penetrated her armor and shot right through her. She crumpled on the ground in pain as Cole hurled a grenade up in the tower. It exploded, and soon Delta squad was showered in warm blood and Locust chunks.

"Don't EVER do something that stupid again. You could've been killed!" Marcus screamed as he undid her chest armor.

The plain white tank top she wore underneath was now a deep red color. He picked her up bridal style and jogged into a nearby building. Dom and Cole stood watch outside and Marcus observed Baird try and do a make-shift surgery to get the bullets out.

"We don't have any anesthesia to give you, so just squeeze my hand." Marcus stated calmly.

Immediately, Jenny grabbed his hand and squeezed until she almost broke his fingers. Baird chuckled as he finally dug out the last bullet and dropped it on the floor. He took out a first-aid kit and filled her wounds with an anti-bacterial cream and bandaged her abdomen.

"Well, lucky for you the bullets didn't hit anything vital. Nothing I can see anyway. You're probably not going to able to fight, let alone walk. Someone's going to have to carry you around."

He wiped his hands on his already-bloody armor. "Congratulations toots, you just became one huge burden and liability."

Marcus scooped her up bridal style yet again, and walked out of the building.

"We need as many soldiers as we can get, so we're going to take turns carrying her. As long as she doesn't strain her injury, she'll be fine." Marcus stated to the rest of the squad, and they all nodded and headed out.

He looked down at her, she had fallen asleep already. Her collarbone-length red hair was a tangled mess, and much longer than regulation would allow. Her skin was very pale, either by nature or her loss of blood. Her deep blue eyes opened and she smiled up at the Sergeant.

"Thanks for not leaving me behind sir." She groaned in pain.

Marcus stared off in the distance, not looking down at her.

"A good soldier never leaves a man—or woman—behind."