Chapter 22 - Chapter Twenty two

David had been spending more time with Maine and the crew, and when talk started spreading around Night City about the land outside the walls turning green, Maine decided they should see it for themselves, so one afternoon David found himself riding along with Rebecca, Pilar, Dorio, Lucy, and Maine, their transport bouncing on cracked road as the smog thinned more with every mile until the gray-brown dirt they were used to seeing outside the city gates slowly shifted into patches of grass, then full stretches of green fields with the forest rising like a wall in the distance, and all of them sat staring at the sight like they couldn't believe it was real; Rebecca was the first to break the silence, laughing and pointing out the window, "Holy shit, chooms, look at that, this is straight up fairy tale crap," and Pilar smirked but his eyes stayed locked on the trees as he muttered, "Yeah, real funny until we find out what kinda scam Corpo's running this time," while Dorio kept scanning the area like she expected something to jump out at them, Maine just sitting forward in his seat with his usual heavy scowl but his eyes giving him away, watching the greenery with suspicion that mixed with something else, maybe awe, maybe dread. They pulled off near a stretch of grass and Rebecca hopped out before anyone could stop her, boots sinking into soft earth instead of the cracked concrete she'd grown up with, and as she crouched down, brushing her hand over the blades with a grin, a small rabbit bounded out from the tall grass, stopping only a few feet from her and twitching its nose. Rebecca blinked, then laughed, "No fragging way, it's a bunny, I thought these were only in old vids," and she held out her hand as the animal sniffed the air, took a cautious step forward, and then to everyone's shock, pressed its nose to her palm before hopping around her feet like it had no reason to be afraid. Rebecca dropped down to sit on the grass, eyes wide with a rare childlike smile, and as she did the rabbit stretched out next to her, laying down against her leg as if she belonged there. David crouched beside her, watching in silence, the simple act of an animal showing trust somehow heavier than all the chrome and contracts he'd seen in his life, and before long there was more movement: a squirrel darting down from a nearby tree, pausing only long enough to sniff at Rebecca's boot before climbing onto a rock, followed by a deer stepping carefully out of the tree line, its ears twitching and nose pointed toward them, but instead of bolting it lowered its head to nibble at grass, flicking its tail as if unconcerned. Rebecca whispered, "You seeing this? They're just chilling, like we're nothing," and Lucy stepped up slowly, her voice quiet, "They don't know to be afraid of us, not yet," and Dorio muttered, "Or they're Corpo experiments too dumb to run." Pilar laughed under his breath but his eyes never left the deer, and Maine finally grumbled, "Doesn't matter what they are, they're here, and that's new, which means someone's behind it." The crew stood there longer than any of them meant to, watching more animals emerge—birds darting overhead, the rabbit rolling in the grass, the squirrel crunching on a nut it found, the deer chewing calmly—and David felt a strange kind of peace he hadn't known in years, a moment without gunfire or chrome humming under his skin, just life happening like it was supposed to. For a moment, Night City felt far away, and though none of them said it out loud, they all knew they'd seen something real, something different, and none of them could shake the question of who or what had brought it back.