Chapter Two: Discoveries
By the time Dalton had got into the outskirts of Beijing it was already dark. He'd racked his brains on the way down as to what could have happened; yet all possible outcomes escaped him. He'd come to the land of dragons as part of a joint US-Chinese special force operation to quell terrorists who were threatening to bomb the US and China. He'd looked forward to the op for a while. Firstly, he'd watched too many Chinese films back home, probably thanks to his ex-girlfriend. Secondly, he'd never left the States, and the opportunity to explore another country, even in combat, was rare to refuse. And finally, he was relatively fluent in Mandarin, taught to him by his father, who had been a CIA operative in China in the 60s and 70s.
But when things started getting nasty, he had forgotten about discovery. The terrorists were ruthless, using civilians as human shields, slaughtering downed soldiers. When he and his squad had gone scouting in the foothills they never expected the volume of fire they had encountered. He was looking forward to laying in a soft bunk and getting drunk so he could ignore the pangs of sadness that hit him every time he thought of his dead friends.
The oddities that had started since his awakening in the forest hadn't stopped though. When he'd got in a position to overlook the city, it looked remarkably underdeveloped. He couldn't see any tower blocks, or roads. He figured it was just his eyesight. But as he walked through the outskirts, other things startled him. There were no people, no streetlights or cars, no noise of traffic.
Dalton rounded a corner to find a man threatening a woman with a rather vicious-looking knife. He was screaming at her in Chinese, telling her to give him money.
He cried, "Hey buddy"
The man looked and his eyes filled with fear. He dropped the knife and ran. He didn't think twice about this, a fully camped Special Forces soldier would look scary. But the woman also ran away, screaming "monster, monster" Things were definitely getting weirder. He continued walking and entered a massive courtyard.
"Whoa, I've never seen this before"
Dust whipped across the open area, there were carts abandoned at some of the edges. It was eerily silent. He dropped down on one knee and reached for his water bottle. He took a last swig as the bottle ran empty. He had felt really dehydrated since he awoke and it was beginning to bother him. Before he could even through the bottle away however, action erupted in front of him.
A woman wearing grey, and a black masked fighter literally flew down from above the courtyard and into the area. Both turned to face each other, and then engaged in martial arts combat. Dalton watched, entranced by this dance of death. It wasn't until it started getting rough he decided to intervene.
As the woman in grey grabbed the masked intruder, Dalton loaded his weapon and in his best Mandarin shouted "HEY!" The two looked, and both stopped fighting. The masked intruder then let out a womanly scream and leapt off, flying away like he had never seen. The woman in grey took a step toward him. He levelled his weapon at her, but it didn't seem to stop her, like she didn't know what it could do.
"Hold it right there" he said
"Calm, calm" she responded
"I AM CALM!" he shouted, before realising he was doing it. "Are you alright?" she said, looking oddly at him
"I'm fine, now who the hell are you?"
She stopped, steadying herself in case he was going to attack.
"My name is Shu Lien" she replied, at least that's what Dalton thought she said. It was too late for him to make his mind up however, as a hard object struck him in the back of the head. As he went down he fired his weapon at the distance, and the last thing he heard was a scream.
By the time Dalton had got into the outskirts of Beijing it was already dark. He'd racked his brains on the way down as to what could have happened; yet all possible outcomes escaped him. He'd come to the land of dragons as part of a joint US-Chinese special force operation to quell terrorists who were threatening to bomb the US and China. He'd looked forward to the op for a while. Firstly, he'd watched too many Chinese films back home, probably thanks to his ex-girlfriend. Secondly, he'd never left the States, and the opportunity to explore another country, even in combat, was rare to refuse. And finally, he was relatively fluent in Mandarin, taught to him by his father, who had been a CIA operative in China in the 60s and 70s.
But when things started getting nasty, he had forgotten about discovery. The terrorists were ruthless, using civilians as human shields, slaughtering downed soldiers. When he and his squad had gone scouting in the foothills they never expected the volume of fire they had encountered. He was looking forward to laying in a soft bunk and getting drunk so he could ignore the pangs of sadness that hit him every time he thought of his dead friends.
The oddities that had started since his awakening in the forest hadn't stopped though. When he'd got in a position to overlook the city, it looked remarkably underdeveloped. He couldn't see any tower blocks, or roads. He figured it was just his eyesight. But as he walked through the outskirts, other things startled him. There were no people, no streetlights or cars, no noise of traffic.
Dalton rounded a corner to find a man threatening a woman with a rather vicious-looking knife. He was screaming at her in Chinese, telling her to give him money.
He cried, "Hey buddy"
The man looked and his eyes filled with fear. He dropped the knife and ran. He didn't think twice about this, a fully camped Special Forces soldier would look scary. But the woman also ran away, screaming "monster, monster" Things were definitely getting weirder. He continued walking and entered a massive courtyard.
"Whoa, I've never seen this before"
Dust whipped across the open area, there were carts abandoned at some of the edges. It was eerily silent. He dropped down on one knee and reached for his water bottle. He took a last swig as the bottle ran empty. He had felt really dehydrated since he awoke and it was beginning to bother him. Before he could even through the bottle away however, action erupted in front of him.
A woman wearing grey, and a black masked fighter literally flew down from above the courtyard and into the area. Both turned to face each other, and then engaged in martial arts combat. Dalton watched, entranced by this dance of death. It wasn't until it started getting rough he decided to intervene.
As the woman in grey grabbed the masked intruder, Dalton loaded his weapon and in his best Mandarin shouted "HEY!" The two looked, and both stopped fighting. The masked intruder then let out a womanly scream and leapt off, flying away like he had never seen. The woman in grey took a step toward him. He levelled his weapon at her, but it didn't seem to stop her, like she didn't know what it could do.
"Hold it right there" he said
"Calm, calm" she responded
"I AM CALM!" he shouted, before realising he was doing it. "Are you alright?" she said, looking oddly at him
"I'm fine, now who the hell are you?"
She stopped, steadying herself in case he was going to attack.
"My name is Shu Lien" she replied, at least that's what Dalton thought she said. It was too late for him to make his mind up however, as a hard object struck him in the back of the head. As he went down he fired his weapon at the distance, and the last thing he heard was a scream.
