An Outsider

"Wake up, sir!"

The scene in front of her was blurry, and she could see a figure outside the transparent glass. Lines of letters flash with various data streams around the border of the helmet's glass. She had never seen a helmet with this data line before.

She has been pulled off the ground after feeling a force on her body. She sucked in a breath because her left arm had a sharp pain.

She felt her stomach tighten, goosebumps accompanied by bouts of dizziness that made her vomit immediately. The helmet's glass vomited on it, and a terrible odor increased, so she hurriedly put off her helmet.

"Sir! Don't you want to live anymore? Put on your helmet!" The man carrying her walked briskly, shouting hoarsely, his voice muffled because she had taken off her helmet and was far away from the intercom device embedded in the helmet.

A feeling of suffocation came, and the reeking smell hit her nose. She couldn't breathe. She immediately coughed violently. It took a lot of effort to stop. She wanted to put her helmet on immediately, but she held her breath, shook off the vomit, and wiped it off with her tactical gloved hand before putting on the helmet.

The oxygen supply has restored, but the uncomfortable feeling had not passed. After initially being overwhelmed and disoriented, having all the qualities a professional soldier should have, she quickly forced herself to calm down and began to observe her surroundings.

Where is this?

“There's a hole in the tree ahead, let's hide in it!" The man said.

In the shaky scene, she saw that this place seemed to be a rainforest, the trees so tall that she did not see the summit while also blocking the sun from sight. The ground was rich with green plants and a moist layer of decomposing leaves that would sink when she stepped on it.

She suddenly reacted, what the hell is going on here? She slept in the car, and how did she wake up in such a goddamn place? Is this a dream?

Dull pain in her left arm made her realize she was not dreaming. It was so real that every cell in her body was transmitting a sense of reality. She turned her head to look at her left arm and found a black branch stuck. Which was exceedingly tough and sharp at the tip as if an arrow had pierced her battle suit and drilled into the flesh of her left arm, causing her pain.

Behind, the ground shook more and more clearly, in the sea of trees, there was a "scratch", and "rumble" sound as if a large tree had fallen. Beads of sweat on her forehead... what was that? What is chasing them?

Soon they reached the hollow of the tree, the male warrior bent down and used a shovel to dig a few times and then ducked into the hole. The two panted and hid, trying their best to hide the tracks and noises, hiding in silence.

At this point, she finally had time to stop and use her brain. What the hell was going on here, she still couldn't believe it.

She grabbed the branch with her right hand. She pulled out and threw it out in a fit of rage with a pitiful cry. The strange thing was that the wound on her left arm wasn't bleeding but was bruised and swollen. In her experience, she's afraid it is poisonous in the branch. No wonder she was dizzy and had trouble keeping her mind clear.

The person in front of her wasn't typical. The uniform she's wearing looks weird. That's an exoskeleton? She had seen in sci-fi movies that soldiers in the future world wearing this exoskeleton could help soldiers run fast for a long time, increase their stamina, and carry heavy loads to reduce their burden.

But why is she also wearing such a strange outfit? She found herself and the soldier carrying her both attired similarly, green camouflage military uniforms, the exoskeleton attached to the combat uniform made of black steel material, supporting the limbs of their spine. When she's running, it will make a hydraulic "click" sound. Under the combat boots, there is a non-slip layer to increase the contact surface of the sole for faster running.

She managed to calm down and began to recall her identity to confirm that she had not lost her mind. Her name is Jordyn Barker, an orphan, 28 years old, a retired commando soldier, active-duty female special forces police officer, the name Jordyn Barker was given to her by her adoptive father, who wanted her to be like a light, always full of hope.

Why did she come here? And where is this place?

These two questions did not linger in her mind for long, for immediately afterward, the horrifying scene before her eyes quickly took her soul.

The ground rumbled, and a large and ugly figure appeared in her vision. Through the silk sheath hanging over the outside of the tree cave, she saw a sight that would haunt her for the rest of her life. The first shock and fear when she first arrived were from that monster, like a knife cut, leaving a deep mark on her heart.

The sound of gasping uncontrollably, through the intercom in the helmet transmitted to the ears, not only of herself but also of the other side. The male warrior next to her also showed a tense expression, his hands wearing tactical gloves were clenched tightly on the ground, Jordyn couldn't see his figure clearly because his entire body was equipped with equipment.

It was a monster with an extremely ugly appearance, and extremely strange. This monster's height or shoulder height is more appropriate, visually estimated shoulder height is four meters tall, and the body is at least ten meters long. She is humanoid in shape, with yellow skin, hairless, but fly-like crawling forward, a distended belly, very long and jointless limbs, zigzagging in all four directions. The bare head is not very round, and the top of the skull is concave as if there is an extra piece of skull bone. In front was an extremely ugly face, on the face, there were three pairs of eyes folded, no nose, and a bloody mouth, or exactly the same hole as a mouth, with split petals and fangs.

This seemed like a giant fly-like monster, so Jordyn Barker was shocked unpredictably, facing such a surreal and supernatural picture for the first time, even if she was a well-trained special force, but also difficult to accept. The good thing is that her trained tension keeps her from losing control and screaming, or panicking to get out, she just tries to crouch down, stare at the monster, and try to adjust. breathing, suppressing her emotions.

The monster doesn't search this place carefully, she left with an unpleasant fishy smell, even though the helmet's oxygen mask it can't get rid of the smell.

The two waited for about five more minutes in the hole in the tree that had been drilled in silence. Jordyn's movements were stiff, numb, and slow. If it weren't for the support of the exoskeleton, She was afraid she would have collapsed soon. There are four-gun slots on the exoskeleton: two around the waist with two pistols and two on the back with a rifle and an odd-looking gun painted in camouflage, looking a bit like a laser gun. A tactical knife holster is strapped to the right leg, containing a military knife and a folding tactical engineer shovel.