Waiting for my death | Horizon zero dawn fanfiction

Chapter 16: Reverie

The door shuts fiercly, the sudden thump sound slamming against the carbon steel causing me to jump. I lean against the wall closest to me, my hands resting on my tired knees to keep balance. Cordelia leans her arm on a supply crate identical to the ones we found outside. If the temperature were below zero we would look like dragons breathing out steam.

"You don't think it spotted us?" I ask through my heavy panting.

"Don't think so," she says while gazing down at the obsidian black floor, "it was too busy investigating my silver ring. I think we just made it in time."

As I take a few more seconds to fully restore myself, I peek around the confinded cargo. Crates are stacked on one another across the whole carriage, like small towers engulfing a vigorous city. There were no lights apart from the natural environment outside, illuminating the cargo through tiny cracks on the side of the walls. The smell of rusted iron haunts my nostrils as I wipe my nose.

"Are you sure this is the right train?"

"Double checked. Can't be mistaken," Cordelia replies with confidentiality as she scans her surroundings, "and no humans in sight so far."

I slowly let my back slide against the wall behind me until my body reaches the floor. I sit cross-legged on the smoothly carved floor, taking off my light bag and placing it next to me by the stacked supply crates. Cordelia scoffs.

"How much did you pack?"

"Barely anything."

"No food? No blanket?"

I shake my head in a determined manner, "but I did bring water."

Cordelia sighs, "at least you brought the deer sculpture, right?"

"Of course."

"Thank god," she walks past me and runs her hands carefully through the carbon steel door, "the train won't stop in Denver. We're going have to jump out mid motion when we are there."

"You never said this was part of the plan!" I cry while Cordelia keeps her steady hands on the rough steel of the train, looking like a dragon trainer.

"You would have never agreed if I told you all that, but it's too late to turn back now," she says stoically.

I curse, "you are ridiculous sometimes, of course I wouldn't have felt reluctant by that. I have jumped off trains several times. It's kind of a hidden hobby of mine."

"Very funny. And my hobby is to stalk people up and creepily watch them sleep."

This time I can't help but giggle faintly, my laugh becoming contagious to Cordelia.

"How about you stalk up Ted Faro and murder him in his sleep?"

"I wouldn't commit such a crime," Cordelia says, as if she actually considered it for a second, "besides, I'm not on the same level as them. And I don't think I would have coped if I were to kill another human being."

"Imagine how those bastards who killed Ivy feel," I say quietly.

"They don't feel anything. They are psychopaths," Cordelia kneels down beside me and strokes my heavy shoulder. Her action fills my tired lungs with nurturing air, her company feeling like a tranquil walk in the forest.

"I thought about something, what do we do if someone walks in?" I ask.

"Good question. Best case scenario is if someone simply doesn't. But if it happens, I brought a tarpaulin to cover us. I'll keep an eye out if my focus detects a person and I will inform you in time."