One moment you are preparing to go to sleep, and next, you are underwater, struggling to breathe; with a desperate push, I manage to emerge from my water prison and resurrect.
"Gagh..." Coughing and throwing my hands and feet around, I managed to get to shore. When I get as far away as possible from the water, I just lay down on the dirty beach and look at the night sky and saviour stinky air, which smells horrible but was beautiful for my strangled lungs.
"Where...the...fuck...am...I" was my first phrase, which helped me notice something extraordinary. My voice sounded different than I used to.
'Please no' with a terrifying thought, I crawl back to the water, the closest thing for a mirror around me.
Instead of my face, the stranger looked at me. A young face with a barely grown moustache and beard. Still, green eyes at least, but hears were much darker than I used to have. The look wasn't ugly either and not an example of the top model—no cheekbones or anything extraordinary. A small scar beneath my brows gives me some roguish appearance—ordinary lips, not too big and not too small.
After a few minutes, I crawled away from the water and sat down on a nearby metal box. Again I continued sitting in silence, trying not to frick out and failing miserably.
'Okay, okay, calm the fuck down, breath and think' with a deep breath, I started looking around. I was near the ship graveyard. At least, I think it is a ship graveyard.
The second thing I did is look at my clothes. They were wet and uncomfortable but still better than nothing. Now that I concentrate on them, there is something in my pocket. With a trembling hand, I reached and grabbed it. It was a wallet, a simple black wallet.
Inside he found some dollar bills, one photo with a family of four people and an ID card.
'Let's check ID card first' with little effort, and he took a piece of plastic. Besides his new face photo, there also was a name and some details—James Rainer, 2/27/1994, 6,1 feet high, male, caucasian.
"Well, it is official. I am in some isekai bullshit." my voice was still rough and in the final stage of puberty, but already I could say it's going to be a baritone in the future.
After ID, he took a photo and looked at it. He could see himself and three other people—two adults, which should be his parents and young girls, about eleven or twelve years old.
'Twelve, she is twelve years old' sudden thought appears in my head, then I froze. 'How do I know that?' Then I get second thought or, better say, an emotion. Sadness, looking at this photo gives me a depression level of sorrow and despair. With monumental efforts, I put everything back in my wallet and force myself to walk.
I don't know my destination, but James memory guided me through the boat graveyard into the trainyard. While walking, I get another information about the place I found myself. I was living in a dying city or an impoverished city. Maybe it was just a poor part of the city, but I never saw so many homeless or junky on the street in my life. Some group of mean-looking teenagers who should be home at this time were beating some homeless guy. I wanted to help the guy, but I was wet, tired and not entirely in control of my body. Intervention could be my death sentence, so I keep walking.
Finally, I reached a living complex. It was a four-storey building. From the sound, I can conclude that amount of people who lived there was too much for the building to afford, and it was my home.
'Basement, I rent basement here' is another unexpected but helpful thought. It was easy to get inside. If anyone can call it home, his new home was a bare shithole: Beton walls, some mould in the corners, and a bed with a closet. No douche, only toilet and a sink. There was a table with a letter on it.
It was easy to guess what kind of letter it was. Suicide letter, instead of reading it, James threw it into a toilet and flushed it. His wet clothes also found themselves in the trash bin.
'I need to sleep.' using his last strength, he slowly walked to his bed and collapsed on it.
Instead of dreamless sleep, he gets nightmares and memories of his dead parents, the Lung and Keiser fight casualties. His young sister was also wounded during the battle and now was in a coma because Panacea can't heal brain damage. His destroyed home and how his life becomes what it is.
With the knowledge of his new life comes sorrow and despair thousands of times more vital than before. He was alone in the new world, without his old or new family, no resources, almost no money.
Then everything changes. He saw the stars, beings beyond his understanding, and the answer to his problem—a technological tree with weapons, ammunition, and enginery. But beneath the tree was crystal, green, bright, powerful crystal.
With a shout, he waked up and a word which can change the world.
"Tiberium..." then he falls again, and this time his dream was dreamless.
New story. My first story after a very long pause. I wanted to post it as a crossover, but then I thought, besides few things, it is not really a crossover. Eh, who knows. Tell me what you think.