Out of Cryo | A Horizon: Zero Dawn Fanfiction

Chapter 12: Ghost

"Well, at least you remember my name. That's a start."

"Jenna," I said again. I blinked a few times to make sure I wasn't dreaming – that this was real. That she was actually there. Breathing. Alive. But that doesn't make any sense – she was going to go with her parents and...

It was a lot to process. I had been grieving, mourning her...perhaps more so than anyone else I'd lost. But here she was, right in front me. I could tell her everything that happened. About GAIA, the machines, Heph, Meridian, and-

Aloy. She had left us and gone to fight those Eclipse. She'd been on her own, well, I mean HEPHAESTUS was there also, but she'd sent Erend and me to run back to Meridian while she distracted them. They had been looking for me.

They were looking for me.

"Becks?"

Jenna.

"Becks, you all right?"

I painfully pushed myself so that I was sitting up on the bed. Jenna reached out and helped support me as I sat up. Her touch, her smell, everything about her was familiar and comforting. It was all so surreal. "You really should take it easy," she said.

I shook my head. "Jenna...what are you doing here? How-you were...I thought-,"

She gave a soft, quiet laugh. "I know. It's still a little weird for me, too. But," she continued when she saw my baffled expression, "don't worry. I'll explain everything and then I think you should meet someone."

Meet someone? Who the fuck else did I know here? And where were Aloy and Erend?

"Where are my friends?"

Jenna cast me a dubious look. "After all this you want to know where those people that kidnapped you are?"

I did a double take. "The fuck? Kidnapped me? They're my friends, Jenna. They saved me from...from the cryo tank." I narrowed my eyes at her. "And you still haven't fucking told me how you're still alive."

She frowned. "Sorry. Just...you weren't supposed to be there."

"What does that even mean?" I sighed. I didn't want to argue with her but I was tired, scared, and everything hurt. "Can you just please tell me what's going on?"

Jenna was quiet for a moment. She took my hand in hers. "My parents lied to me, Becks. They arranged for me to be airlifted from my house after our call dropped. These guys took me to this other place, a sealed facility. They didn't tell me much, only that I was going to go into cryostasis." She looked down. "I wasn't really given a choice."

Holy shit. "Jenna...I'm so sorry," I murmured, giving her hand a gentle squeeze. "But when did you-,"

"My cryo tank opened on its own ten years ago, Becks. Ten years."

What? My eyes went wide with shock. I couldn't help but study her again. The black clothes - accented with a dark red embroidery - she wore combined the styles of the Carja and maybe a bit of the Oseram – it was difficult to tell as I wasn't much of an expert on the clothing styles of this world. Her chest, back, and shoulders were armored with remnants of GAIA machines and metal chains, leaving her midriff and arms exposed. She'd always been pretty thin but there was obvious muscle definition on her stomach and arms now. No wonder she looked different. Ten years? Where had she been? And why was she hanging out with insane cultists? There was something else about her, though. Something...sad. Harrowing.

"You've been all alone here for ten years?" I still couldn't believe it. "But...the Eclipse. They tried to end the world, Jenna. Why are you with them?"