Out of Cryo | A Horizon: Zero Dawn Fanfiction

Chapter 2: Debriefing

A distinct and familiar crackle stirred me awake, and the smoky scent of cooked meat urged me to open my eyes. It's been a while since we went camping. Dad used to take Dennis and I at least once a month. Mom would come along sometimes though she usually would take the opportunity to get small projects around the house done or go out with her friends while we were gone. After the swarm, well, happened, it was too dangerous to be outside for long. It was interesting that Dad had actually changed his mind on that.

Wait.

When my eyes opened, I found myself staring up at the sky. The bright, blue sky. A few puffy clouds drifted overhead before being blocked from view by the many trees that encircled my field of vision, however blurry it still was. But the sky...

What the fuc-

"You're awake." The female voice from earlier sounded from behind me. I recognized it quickly - it was strong and confident, but traces of hesitation and concern lingered at the end of the sentence.

I pushed myself up, only to find that I was still very, very weak. My arms easily gave out and I nearly fell back onto the ground when she caught me. The world began spinning again as nausea overtook me and I promptly turned to the right and vomited on the dirt next to me.

The stranger behind me did not loosen her hold as I struggled to take in my surroundings while the nausea receded. "You're safe, now. You can...take a moment if you'd like," she said, her voice low and quiet.

I shifted free of her grip so that I could turn to face her and she let go of me, her hands hovering close to my shoulders in case I fell again. Moments later we were facing each other.

She couldn't have been much older than me, if at all. She was not much taller than me but was definitely built stronger, her physique lean and muscular. Fiery red hair pulled back in a chaotic web of braids cascaded down her back. Her face was slightly tanned and sported a light dusting of freckles beneath the hazel, almost amber eyes that stared back at me with a blend of curiosity and worry.

Her clothes were definitely odd - a complex layering of leather, cloth, and what looked to be some kind of metal that shimmered brightly in the sunlight. She had a spear, an actual spear, strapped onto her back along with the strangest looking bow I'd ever seen.

What is going on?

"I'm Aloy. We found you...in a ruin. You were...you were frozen, I think," she explained.

The memories of what had transpired rose up in a rush as I realized that I was not camping and that my-

"Where are my parents?" I demanded.

The girl - Aloy was her name? The hell kind of name is that? I decided I didn't really care what her name was. I just wanted to know what the hell happened, why the sky was so goddamned blue, and where my family was.

She spoke, her tone not losing any of its calmness or confidence. "You were the only one in the ruins we found alive."

"Ruins? What ruins? What the hell are you talking about?" Logically I knew that she had saved me from something and that she probably meant no harm but my thoughts were too fuzzy to really process anything let alone be reasonable about it.

She leaned backwards so that she was sitting on the grass and inhaled deeply. "You're from the Metal World."

"I don't know what you're going on about but I asked you a fucking question," I growled. I whimpered quietly as my stomach ached again and the nausea returned.

Aloy didn't seem to care that I was yelling at her. She put her hand on my shoulder. "I'm sorry. All the others we found were dead in those tanks when we got there. Yours was the only one still powered."

What?

Something registered. "Y-you said you found me in a...in a ruin?" She nodded in silent response.

No. "What..." I swallowed hard and tried to control my breathing, which was proving more and more difficult by the moment. "What day is it? And," I gestured around us, "where are we?"

For the first time since meeting, Aloy appeared uncomfortable. "It's...not that simple I'm afraid. It's been a long time since you went to sleep."

"How long?" I tried to keep my voice level, but it came out broken anyway. I knew the answer. I knew where I was.

"Hundreds of years. Maybe longer. You froze yourself to wait out the machines right?" Aloy said.

I nodded and took a quick scan of my surroundings. We were in a campsite in the clearing of a forest, and it was the middle of autumn, for the leaves were a radiant mix of orange, yellow, and red that fell slowly from the trees onto the piles already on the ground. The unmistakable chirping of birds reverberated throughout the clearing while a rustling in the low brush told me that there were small animals of some kind scurrying about. The swarm had been stopped. The cryo sleep had worked.

At least...it had for me.

"My parents..." I wanted to scream and cry and tear apart every fucking Faro robot in existence.

Aloy's eyebrows arched up in sadness. "I'm sorry. If there was something that could have been done to save them I would have tried. But," she said and shook her head, probably in confusion. No shit - I'd be confused if I was in her shoes too. "Why weren't you in Elysium?"

"Elysium?" This girl was starting to piss me off with all of her questions while barely answering any of mine. "I don't know anything about an 'Elysium'."

Mom. Dad...and Dennis. Jenna - everyone? Surely someone made it through since there was another human being talking to me.

She tilted her head. "You weren't part of Zero Dawn?"

How could she possibly know about that? Did it actually work? I blinked. I wanted to cry but I was too stunned to really feel anything other than shock at this point. I suppose it must have if we're here and the sky is blue and there are fucking trees everywhere. "N-no. Did...did the weapon work? Did it stop the swarm?"

Aloy opened her mouth to answer when the male voice I had heard earlier during my 'rescue' shouted from beyond the trees nearest to us. Moments later, a tall, burly man with a mohawk and a short beard emerged from the trees. He held a massive hammer in one hand and was out of breath.

"Bandits," he panted as his gaze went from me to Aloy and then back to me again. It was then that I noticed the top of the hammer was coated in blood.

Aloy stood up immediately and reached for her bow. "Where?" she asked hurriedly as she proceeded to grab an arrow from the quiver that hung at her side and swiftly nock it. Well, she acts like she's done that a least a hundred times before. And what was up with all the arrows, hammers, and spears anyway? Did we not have guns anymore and if so, why the hell not?

"Other side of these trees here," the man said. "They're headed this way."

Aloy rolled her eyes. She looked down at me. "Stay here. We'll be right back," she said with a sigh, as though having freaking bandits attack them was just another day at the office.

As I watched the duo disappear into the trees, I suddenly felt more alone than I had in my entire life. I wanted nothing more than to curl up into a ball and scream for my mother until she showed up to take me home. But she was gone. They were all gone. Home was gone - no, this was home.

Tucking my knees to my chest, I buried my face in my hands as the tears I had been holding back all this time began to flow.