Out of Cryo | A Horizon: Zero Dawn Fanfiction

Chapter 21: Fallen

"Hello?"

A sigh of relief. "Oh good, you're still answering. Not that you wouldn't – I just didn't know if comms were still working."

I adjusted the volume on the Focus so that I could hear her better. "So...what are you doing?"

Jenna laughed. "Really, Becks? There is literally an apocalypse going on outside and you're just acting like it's no big deal? Must be nice, getting to sleep and then wake up in a new perfect fucking world."

I winced at her harshness. "Jenna, you...you know I'm not supposed to talk about that. And I swear, if we could have built another one, I'm sure Dad would have had one made for you. He...he knows that you're important to me."

Another sigh – this one exasperated. "I know. Sorry, I don't mean to be a bitch. I just...I wasn't ready for this, you know? This morning, Mom stopped by my room to remind me about...later. The way she said it though, Becks – it's like she's making fucking dinner instead of getting syringes ready for us to all off ourselves with."

I felt nauseous. Hearing my best friend talk about something like suicide like this was heartbreaking and pissed me off at the same time. Why couldn't we all have cryo tanks? Because of money? Why the fuck did that even matter right now? The fucking world was ending.

Jenna continued. "And it's all so fucking stupid. I mean, I barely got to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. And the worst part is that none of it matters! I never mattered!"

I tried not to cry, only because she knew me so well and would be able to tell immediately and I didn't want to make things worse than they already were. "It...it does matter. And so do you." I took a deep breath. I had to tell her. "Jenna, I-,"

Static. "One sec. Mom's c-c-c-calling m-," The call began to cut out.

"Jenna?"

Dennis' voice sounded from behind me. "Becks, hurry up! Dad said we gotta get downstairs, now!"

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"Becks? Becks, wake up."

I stirred, forgetting where I was for a moment as I opened my eyes.

"Becks...we have to get going. The others are probably waiting for us." Aloy's voice was soft but still had that urgency in it.

I groaned and wrapped the furs around me tighter. I didn't want to get up yet. That meant not being warm anymore and I wasn't really onboard with that. "I don't want to."

She chuckled and kissed my temple. "You and me both." She worked her arm underneath the blanket and pulled me close to her, her armor cold against my bare skin.

"You're already dressed?" I rolled over to face her.

She nodded. "I needed to check my weapons."

"You could have woken me up."

A shrug. "I wanted to let you sleep as long as possible."

I smiled before leaning in. We kissed for a while – not the fierce, passionate kissing of the night before, but gentle and calming, her hand stroking my hair before moving downward to rest on my cheek. She stopped, pressed her forehead against mine.

"I love you. We can do this."

I bit my lip and nodded while trying to push back more of the tears that had continued to come in intervals throughout the night.

Aloy frowned. "Hey. Look at me. Becks, please look at me."

I complied, reluctant as I was as a tear rolled down my cheek. She brushed it away with her thumb and held my gaze – her tone steady and determined. "We're going to do this and we will succeed. We'll get your father's ring back and we will fix GAIA. Okay?"