An Outsider

Is this a dream?

"Wake up, sir!"

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

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

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

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

A feeling of suffocation came, and the reeking smell hit his nose. He couldn't breathe. He immediately coughed violently. It took a lot of effort to stop. He wanted to put his helmet on immediately, but he held his breath, shook off the vomit, and wiped it off with his 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, he quickly forced himself to calm down and began to observe his surroundings.

Where is this?

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

In the shaky scene, he saw that this place seemed to be a rainforest, the trees so tall that he 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 he stepped on it.

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

Dull pain in his left arm made him realize he was not dreaming. It was so real that every cell in his body was transmitting a sense of reality. He turned his head to look at his left arm and found a black branch stuck. Which was exceedingly tough and sharp at the tip as if an arrow had pierced his battle suit and drilled into the flesh of his left arm, causing him 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 his 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, he finally had time to stop and use his brain. What the hell was going on here, he still couldn't believe it.

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

The person in front of him wasn't typical. The uniform he's wearing looks weird. That's an exoskeleton? He 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 he also wearing such a strange outfit? He found himself and the soldier carrying him 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 he'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.

He managed to calm down and began to recall his identity to confirm that he had not lost his mind. His name is Lucio Segovia, an orphan, 28 years old, a retired commando soldier, active-duty male special forces police officer, the name Lucio Segovia was given to him by his adoptive father, who wanted him to be like a light, always full of hope.

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

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

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

The sound of gasping uncontrollably, through the intercom in the helmet transmitted to the ears, not only of himself but also of the other side. The male warrior next to him also showed a tense expression, his hands wearing tactical gloves were clenched tightly on the ground, Lucio 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 Lucio Segovia was shocked unpredictably, facing such a surreal and supernatural picture for the first time, even if he was a well-trained special force, but also difficult to accept. The good thing is that his trained tension keeps him from losing control and screaming, or panicking to get out, he just tries to crouch down, stare at the monster, and try to adjust. breathing, suppressing his 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. Lucio's movements were stiff, numb, and slow. If it weren't for the support of the exoskeleton, He was afraid he 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.