Gear: New World

Go Crazy

     This time I was fortunate enough to wake up on an actual bed, not floating in unknown water. Daylight pierced the cracks in the ceiling making it much harder to sleep in than I wanted to. I feel around, looking for my usual phone and TV remote, but all I grab is a handful of nothing. Slowly getting up, I can immediately tell that I'm still in a different place. The usual smell of breakfast doesn't linger in my room, but coffee and the outdoors fill it instead. I look around my new room, letting everything set in before I try to move. The room is barren, with bare wooden flooring making up most of it. Several items occupy my room, nothing too much though as I notice only a bed, dresser, chair, and coffee table are here. At first, I try to move, but my legs deny me that benefit and I immediately collapse to the ground with a thud.

     "Kid! Don't you go breaking anything now up there okay!"

     That's right. Cain's house, something about being in a rural area. I find my phone on the dresser nearby and look at the time and day, almost falling out of my bed when I see that it's already been 2 days since I last remember being awake. Memories start flooding back as the previous events come back to me. My mind isn't the only one to remember as my body begins to ache once again, my back and legs burning up once again. This time though, the pain wasn't as intense, only feeling like I played intense football instead of swimming, falling, fighting, and carrying. Managing to get out of bed I hobble my way downstairs, almost tripping on the last set of stairs.

     "So nice of you to join us, we were wondering when you'd wake up."

     Looking up, I see Cain and Chris enjoying breakfast. Chris is bandaged up, around where his wound is looking only slightly better than I last saw. He's now in fresh clothes and not looking dead like before. Cain on the other hand probably had the biggest change. His hair is longer, about shoulder length, though now it's tied back. His age has taken hold of him ever since he left Meadow Town, gray hair barely streaking across. Newly formed scars also go across his face, most notable, one going down from his right cheek to under his jawline.

     Sipping on some tea while eating a bagel, Chris looks up and nods. I groggily walk to the kitchen and pour myself some cereal, not even bothering to pour milk.

     "So good morning to you too, kid. I'll give you this, I'm impressed by how well you held your own. Especially with getting off the building, the way you used your second Gear to reduce the speed, quite impressive."

     Did I just hear him right? He SAW me jump off the building. That's impossible though, he said he was busy with his own business, for him to have seen me jump, that means he saw the entirety of the fight. My struggles, and even walking around like a homeless person.

     "I mean the way you were holding yourself, even after waking up in the water. Quite impressive, I didn't think you had it in you" while he starts walking away. Turning back, "Oh and by the way, you should try to learn breathing techniques. It'll help you conserve energy more."

     Rage swells up inside me, as I feel the heat rushing to my head. For a moment, my vision gets blurry, the only thing I could focus on is grabbing him and yelling. As I take a step forward, Chris comes from behind, putting his hand on my shoulder. He looks at me with an exhausted expression, like he's already gone down this road before. My temper goes down, and when I look back at Cain, he's smiling at me as if he knows the reason for my anger.

     "What are you going to do kid? Fight me? Try me."

     That's when I lose it. I shrug off Chris's hands and walk towards Cain, mind filled with only one thing. Fight. It didn't matter if my body was still aching, or if I could barely walk properly, I was still ready to fight. Grabbing Cain by the collar, before I could even push against him, he grabs my collar and flips me over onto my back. Looking down at me from above he smiles.