Disclaimer! I do not own Horizon Zero Dawn, Ark Survival evolved, or any other elements of this story. This is my first story and I am am just making it up as i go.

Let's get into the story...

Meet Jordan. He is your average tan, athletic, handsome 18 yr. old who happens To live in a distopian future world overrun with machines, and other weird creatures. He doesn't know how he got here nor how he will get out, if he even can get out. All he knows is that he is not alone and he needs to survive. He has only seen machines so far other than one other person. This new world kind of reminds him of a game he played back home... What was it again...? Ah, yes. It was called Horizon Zero Dawn. It was a role playing survival game , with an intense storyline. It had several tribes, but this world had only one other person, so it cant be exactly the same. "Alright" Jordan Whispered to himself. "First I need some food. Those berries should do for now." Jordan Walked over to a berry bush and started picking. He was suprised at just how many berries came off the bush. "I'll only need a few more bushes at this rate..." Once he had collected some berries he realized he hardly had any clothes on. "This won't do." He told himself. "Let's see if i can't find anything." After a while searching he stumbled upon some old abandoned ruins.

"Maybe I'll Find something useful Here..."

He started looking around. Before he knew it he had found A basic set of armor, a small bow with a couple of arrows in a quiver, and a long wooden spear with a sharp metal tip.

"Now this is what I'm talking about" Jordan said with sudden confidence. He felt like he could take on anything. Well almost anything. He still didn't know what kind of creatures roamed this new world he found himself in.

All of a sudden a slow, gentle Thud started up. It repeated again and again slowly getting louder. All of a sudden there was a quick flash of white and gray as something metallic whirred right beside him. Jordan spun. There right beside him was a robot... What was it? It appeard to be a raptor, but it had a single large glowing eye. He knew it was all over. Sure he had a weapon now, but he didn't know how to use it. "Dang it, you robot" It titled its head said it was confused. "Well aren't you going to kill me?" Jordan had no idea wha to do so he slowly got up and started walking away, still not turning his back towards the machine. It followed But showed no aggression towards him. "Interesting. I guess these ones are harmless." "Never mind" He thought as he saw a pack of machines of the same type attack a robot bull. "Good to know. They're pack hunters, they are definitely strong, and that strength is amplified in packs. So why didn't you attack me?" Jordan asked, mostly to himself as he walked up to the raptor he had just encountered. The machine came just a little closer, close enough to rub against his leg hip. "I guess you're an exception. Is that why you're not over there with them?" Jordan suddenly realized how dark it was getting. He decided if he was going to survive he needed shelter, and quick. Heading back to the place he first started at- It had fewer creatures- he started looking for something to at least yield a hammock for his first night. He found lose large leaves and something close enough to a a piece of string. "This should do." He tied the leaves together using a knot he learned backinthereal world, when he was a Boy Scout- He hadn't wanted to be but his parents made him. They said it would save his life someday. "I guess they were right." He quickly hung up his hammock between the two sturdiest trees he could find. He noticed thed raptor was still following him. "I guess you're staying with me." He later out a couple extra leaves so the raptor didn't have to sleep on the hard ground. He decided he would hold a real shelter first thing in the morning, but for now the most important thing was to get some much needed rest. The next morning Jordan, like he promised himself the night before, Immediately started gathering supplies for his shelter. He decided to build a more high tech one later. For now he gathered more large leaves, some large bamboo sticks, and more of those stringy leavesh used for his hammock. He realized the trees he used for his hammock were an apple tree and orange trees. "Those are going to be a good supplier of food and essential vitamins" Jordan decided to try and build his shelter up to the top of the trees to proctect them from outside forces. He knew he would need to allow sunlight in so he needed to find something transparent to allow light in, but not rain, wind, snow, etc. He would worry about that later. Back in the real world Jordan was interested in a lot of things, and spent most of his free time cramming everything he could into his head.He remembered from when he studied architecture that an structure needs a good, stable foundation. He wasn't sure what to do. He didn't see anything he could use for the foundation so he did the only thing he could think of. He went back to the ruins.

He got his raptors attention, and they set off.

If he was going to keep this raptor he would need to name it. "How about Watcher? Do you like that name?" Watcher seemed to nod his head and wag his mechanical tail. Once the ruins came in view they began to run. It was a good thing too. He knew there were machines, but he had only seen a couple types. And he had only seen one other person. What he didn't know, however was that there was a sort of plague, called the corruption, going around infections machines and turning them into rabid savages. These corrupted machines are stronger, faster and meaner than the original machines. If Jordan and Watcher had not run when they did they would have been in for a treat, and not a good one. Once inside the ruins Jordan headed up to a higher level since he had lofted the base level the last time he visited. He could not go up al the stories yet, since some parts of the building were destroyed, so. Went up to the next floor, still pretty close to the ground. Inside he found some metal shards, A better spear, some Blaze, and a ropecaster. After finding these items he realized just how similar to the game Horizon Zero Dawn it was. He remembered the corruption and hoped it didn't exist here. There was no doubt it did though He would need to be a lot more careful. Just to be safe, he leaned out the remains of one if the windows. Just as he feared he saw the corruption in action. There was a PAC of at least 10 corrupted raptor machines, similar to Watcher. "Oh no..." Jordan said. As he fully returned into the room Watcher looked out the same window. After seeing the problem Watcher started looking out all of the windows. Looking out the window across from the first one, Watcher noticed, then alerted Jordan of a massive herd of Chargers,which are bull-like machines that can really hurt with their horns, especially with over a hundred pairs. "If I can find a way to scare them and make them stampede, maybe they can trample those corrupted machines." Figuring it was worth a shot, Watcher and Jordan climbed down to the first story then out the rusty doorframe. Watcher lead they way to alert Jordanof any potential danger. Once far form the enemy Machines, Jordan proposed his plan to Watcher. "I'm going to start shooting arrows, then you run out and pretend to be being hunted.They'll think there is a hunter and opefully stampede. Then you'll have to herd them to the other side so they can do some damage. Let's do it!:" Watcher Ran out and starting growling. Since he was mechanical it was really loud, and just as frightening. Jordan started shooting arrows and the chargers started trying to figure out what all the sudden chaos was. They noticed Watcher and instead of running, they started stomping they're feet. All of a sudden something dawned on me. These were chargers and are not passive. Chargers fight back. They started surrounding Watcher in a loose circle . Slowly they tightened the Iceland started closing in. I knew I needed to save Watcher but I didn't know how. I knew I couldn't fight them all at once, so I needed to create a distraction. I fired arrows all around Watcher. I climbed atop a boulder and continued firing away at them. I was a pretty good shot since I had taken archery lessons since age 9. I was just close enough to jump on the nearest charger. It was a huge risk, but I needed to save Watcher. I jumped from one to the nex until I was standing on one if the center Chargers. I leaped down into the very center right next to Watcher. I picked up my arrows calmly, trying to show I wasn't afraid. Inside I was but they wouldn't know that. They closed in further until We had no room to move. I knew we were dead. In the game back at home one charger could kill you. Here I was surrounded by hundreds. Then, Nothing. Nothing Happend. They just stood there. I realized this was similar to what happened with Watcher. I maneuvered through all the horns in my face and stood up. I stuck my hand out near one of the Chargers. I assumed it was the leader since it was the largest and seemed to be the closest to me. It looked at my hand then up at me, then back at my hand. It took one step forward and rested its head on my hand. Yes! This is so much better than just scaring them! They're actually working with me! I told then the plan then got all of them in position.I walked toward the corrupted machines. I was going to see if I could tame them. If i could, then great, If not the chargers will come, led by Watcher and trample the corrupted raptor machines. Before I approached the machines by myself I caused A minor distraction to help me get to them safely. I threw a couple of rocks on the other side of them. They slowly went towards it to check it out. This was my chance. Forgetting Stealth completely, I ran. I made it all the way up to them before they noticed me. I could tell they were different. The started growling to each other. "RUN!!!!" I screamed. Seeing that I needed backup, that chargers attacked. Watcher ran up to me to make sure I was okay. Luckily I made it out of there before they got me.

TO BE CONTINUED...