Out of Cryo | A Horizon: Zero Dawn Fanfiction

Chapter 13: Frozen

I walked for what felt like hours.

After leaving the bunker, I put on the coat Jenna had unceremoniously given me and had bundled up as much as I could. The icy breeze that blew through the region felt like razorblades cutting into my face. It was sometime in the afternoon when I departed, though it was difficult to tell because I had very limited visibility. The snow came down hard, blowing downwards and sideways, the windspeed increasing gradually as I continued away from the mountains.

It wasn't long after I had left Ted's bunker that I realized Jenna was right. It was fucking freezing out there.

Jenna. I still had a hard time processing what I had heard. What I had seen. I was hurt, angry, worried – all at the same time. She made her choice, I guess. I would go back for her though, when I could. I grudgingly admitted to myself that there was no chance for us to be...well, anything more than friends. Maybe that's all we would have been regardless. I would never know. And if I was being really honest with myself, I don't think I was really that broken up over that fact. Was I upset at her situation? Fuck yes. But there was something else, something different. She had changed. Hell, I had changed. I loved her. She would always be my oldest and closest friend.

But I wasn't in love with her. Not anymore. And I think I hadn't been for a while. Maybe the idea was more attractive than the reality of it? Who the fuck knew?

At least I had time alone to think. I picked a direction that I thought was probably south and started walking. Hopefully I'd be able to find shelter or the weather would clear up enough for me to build a fire...or try to anyway. I still sort of sucked at the whole wilderness thing. Usually, Aloy (or Erend if he was with us) would take care of the campsite setup. I would try but my lame attempt would usually end in me getting frustrated at the fire not starting and the two of them giggling like idiots. I'm pretty sure Heph was laughing at me too, in its own way.

Aloy. Fucking Ted Faro. What a dick. It had made me beyond angry when he called her an 'it'. Just a clone that had performed a function. Asshole. I'd like to see him perform half the functions she does.

Maybe not that half. I sighed to myself, annoyed that somehow, I was able to stumble and embarrass myself with my own fucking thoughts. Classic.

You know what? Fuck it. I grabbed the Focus from my ear and used both hands to break it in half. Not going to have fucking Faro tracking me anymore. I was in the middle of nowhere, in the cold, with no food or shelter or any idea where I was going to go, or how I was going to find my friends and explain to them what had happened to me. What I had discovered.

I tossed the pieces to the ground and continued on, approaching the top of a hill that overlooked a small river. I wondered what Aloy would say when she found out that Ted Faro was still alive and that he was still a psycho. I growled under my breath, frustrated that an asswipe like Ted was still invading my thoughts like this and getting under my skin. I needed to think about something else. It sucked being alone like this.

As if on cue, I tripped over an overgrown root buried deep under the snow and fell forward. I flailed my arms to try to prevent myself from falling, but it was no use. I hit the ground face first and rolled down the hill, my body scraping over the sharp rocks and gravel that were not completely covered by the snow. I let out a shrill cry as I splashed into the icy stream and rolled under the surface.

My blood froze and I floated in shock for a few seconds before panic set in and I began thrashing in the icy water. The stream was shallow and through some strength I did not know I had, I managed to pull myself out of there. With a heavy wheeze, I rolled onto the snow, facing the cloudy sky. My side where my ribs were bruised exploded in pain, followed an electrifying jolt that ran throughout my body as I began to notice the freezing water that had soaked into my clothing.