Gear: New World

Mossy Ground and Thorny Sides

I awoke to the smell of pine trees and chirping birds. I lay on my back, looking at the sky, a view blocked by the overhanging trees. Wincing at the pain I try to sit up, only to be knocked back down by a throbbing pain in my chest. I look down and see a tree branch protruding from my left peck. I rip part of my shirt off and stuff it in my mouth, grab the branch and rip it out. My muffled scream echoed through the forest, birds flying away from the noise.

"Cain! Cain are you there?"

Looking around all I saw were trees and plants covering everything, leaving no space untouched. Several minutes went by before I managed to get up, groaning to subdue the pain. Getting a better view of my crash site, I can see the motorcycle hanging in a tree, several feet away. I try looking for Cain, but don't see any sign of him. I even take a nearby branch and throw it in the direction of the bike, yet still no response. I groan once more as I slowly get up, dusting off the dirt and leaves that accumulated after crashing and laying here for however long.

I go into my pocket to check the time on my phone only to see the entire screen destroyed.

"Well, there goes any call for help too. Must've been destroyed after the fall."

I look up and realize just how far I fell.

"That has to be at least 3 stories, probably more from here to the edge of the railing."

I started to make my way in the direction of the bike, hoping Cain went in the same direction. Stopping every few minutes so I could rest against a tree, I called out his name to no avail. After what seemed like hours, I came across a makeshift bed, filled with leaves and anything soft one might find in the woods. I realized this must be where Cain is after seeing his tattered jacket laying nearby.

"Cain! Cain, are you there, it's me Ethan. How'd you even make this? These had to come from up in the trees."

Looking around, I finally find Cain, not in a state I was hoping for though. He's on his back, dried blood all over his shirt and legs and dirt covering the majority of his face. It did seem as if he had climbed the tree seeing the tree above him had the branch snapped in half as if it had broken underneath him.

Rushing to his side, I try to wake him up shaking and checking for a pulse

" Oh many, hey hey wake up! Don't you dare die on me now, not after all that bullshit you pulled and the lack of an explanation?! Now come on and wake up" and with good measures, give him a good slap across the face."

Instantly, his eyes jolt open and he grabs my wrist as if to crush it.

"Old man it's me!"

His eyes readjust and when they focus, he throws my arm out his face as if disappointed. Groaning he gets up, wipes the dirt on his face, and starts to hobble away.

"Hey, where do you think you're going? You're just gonna walk away as if we didn't just go through all of that before?"

"I thought you didn't want anything to do with me."

"Look man, I still hate you, don't get me wrong. But you still owe me an explanation for what the hell just happened."

Looking at me pissed, he trudged back and told me to sit.

"Okay fine."

We both sit down in the makeshift bed, which in all honesty is just a pile of leaves and moss from around the woods.

"Your friend Julia, she's not human. Well, she is, but not the normal kind, not even a Gear user. Simply put, she's an experiment, one that was shut down many decades ago."