Chapter IX: Sidetracked Once More

 Diary of Lance Corporal Dimka Torodov, day... I don't even know anymore.

The Zone feels hostile, and the Zone feels like home. Never in my life have I felt this conflicted. This place is more dangerous than an Australian jungle and yet I feel more complete here. Sevka doesn't share my enthusiasm, he keeps bickering about the mission every time I stop to wonder an anomaly or to inspect an abandoned house but hell, how could I not? This is the most unique place in the world. Yet the feeling of dread fills me equally, everything here could kill me. Fanatics, bandits, fellow stalkers and Duty if they found out who I really was, mutants, anomalies, the list goes on.

Well anyway, enough of my ramblings. I just felt like I needed to vent this into the diary, I dare not open up to Sevka about such things. We arrived to Dead City during the night. It is creepy, and the mercs remind me of the PMCs we saw in Liberia, thugs disguised as professional soldiers. Some look like they're proper soldiers and fighters, some look like they're just as likely to stab us in the back as they are to help us... Sevka noticed this as well, and we agreed to keep our guard up the entire time here. The city may look creepy, but damn if this place isn't beautiful in the morning as well. When morning rose over the old brutalist buildings, I swear it was even more glorious looking than the jungles of Liberia and the local countryside with lush vegetation in Transnistria.

The mercs have been eyeing us the entire time, ever since we switched into our UNISG uniforms. Thankfully there are no stalkers here, so no need for hostilities. Apparently only non-mercs in the city are us and the corpses of a group of renegades, who a new arrival merc recently slaughtered in the nearby school building. No idea who the renegades are. The commander of these guns for hire, Dushman, invited us for a chat. He was older than I would expect for someone in the Zone, and seemingly weary and fatigued. He wore a plain LC-suit, but the massive arsenal around his desk, ranging from AA-12 shotguns to American-made AKs and WW2 veteran Thompsons told me that this guy meant business.

• So, UNISG or so you look like. Password?

• Still remember blue ocean in this dying world, I replied to the merc leader.

• I hope we do so in the future as well. So, what do ya need, soldats?, Dushman grinned.

• I was told we could replenish our supplies and upgrade our suit selection here? And Hernandez sent me to grab some documents in your posession?

• Here you go. Don't worry, we got our payment already. As for the suits and supplies, you can get yours... For a price. Despite this old communist setting were in, this is no bread line where you get things for free, Dushman said sternly and gave me a stack of papers inside a leather case.

• Not surprising. Well, Dimka, I need to restock on meds, so see ya soon, Sevka scoffed and headed upstairs.

• Your companion doesn't seem too happy to be here?, Dushman asked.

• He thinks only of the mission. As he should, that's what we came here to do, I replied while browsing through the weapon selection.

• Yet you clearly do not seem to be like him. Let me guess? You like it here? You want to stay here? The Zone intrigues you, and you feel like you must learn its secrets.

• Nah mate, I'm here to do the mission and get out, I lied.

• Right. I've seen enough mercs like you, some even in our employment today are similar. Most people come to the Zone to complete a mission and get out, but there are some who stick around, enraptured by the scenery. And you look like you belong in the latter club, Dushman explained.

• Thanks for the psych eval, but I got one from UN before coming here. And besides, what does this all have to do with anything?, I asked, confused why the old merc was hounding me.

• Okay, you don't want me beating around the bush, got it. So to put it bluntly, I need troops. Even before the Third Emission things were bad, military attacked us in here and we repelled it thanks in very small and insignificant part to Redemption. New mutant abominations kept killing my men, and we lost Limansk to Sinners, Dushman explained, sighing before he continued.

• Then came the failed attack on Agroprom, where we lost ten operators to helicopter fire. As they were retreating, the Third Emission swept across the Zone and wiped out the survivors in Yantar. I'm down to a platoon of men scattered around Dead City, and the military has been sending raids into the area. There's also a ton of mutants here, their levels almost the same as when we first arrived to this cursed place.

• You're still beating around the bush. Why do you need me?

• To clear those raiderss and mutants. I haven't got men to spare, we're holding on to what we've got. We might have some bigger gigs up after that if you survive.

• Fine. I'll fix your issues, but just like you guys, UNISG is no charity so be prepared to pay.

• Just go fetch your pal and wipe the fuckers out, will ya?

I went upstairs to get De Luca, who was wrapping up his shopping. I explained that the mercs needed help and Sevka gave me a look I had grown very accustomed already, one that clearly said "oh really, how convenient" in a very sarcastic manner. Sevka might've been an ass at times, but he sure could act all theatrical in a somewhat amusing manner. Either way, he did agree to help. Getting better gear would be great, we were operating with very limited weaponry and armour here and by the look of these mercs' equipment, they had some of the best stuff this side of the fence.

Dushman briefed us on the locations of the enemies. Some were currently fighting a group of mercenaries in the blocky building opposite of the merc marketplace, and the mutants were scattered around the city in small packs. We rushed out to help the merc defenders, but crossing the plaza proved dangerous. There were gravitational, electric and chemical anomalies on both sides of a large statue of Lenin, blocking our access to the more covered approach to the monoblock. We would have to risk it.

• Looks like we need to charge through the open, I commented to Sevka once we reached safety behind the Lenin statue.

• The soldiers are probably too busy with the mercs to notice us. But is it really wise to piss off the Ukrainian military?, Sevka asked.

• You're wondering this now? Besides, they're trying to keep this all hidden. In my books, that's justification enough, I replied before turning the corner and booking it for the monoblock, Sevka following in my steps.

We made it inside, where we witnessed a bloodbath. Similar to the scene I had seen in Agroprom, the military took no prisoners. A soldier in something resembling a heavy flak jacket shot a bullet through a skull of a merc holding his arms over his head. Another trooper in a gasmask-helmet combination fired once, killing a merc pleading for help on the ground. We held our rage from bubbling out, and I pointed at the other soldier, prompting Sevka to nod. He raised his Saiga while I took aim at the other guy with my AK. Two gunshots echoed within the monoblock, followed by two grunts of pain. The guy I had shot was still alive though, and I closed in for the kill. Still, having learned from my mistake with Skull, I kept my distance.

• Who... the fuck are you clowns now? Some fancy mercs?, the soldier growled on the floor, the markings on his suit showing that he was a Speznaz captain.

• Lance Corporal Dimka Torodov, UN International Science Group, bitch. Now, why are you attacking the city? Why the sudden aggression? What are your plans for the future?, I interrogated.

• We wanted to steal Dushman's porn stash. I hear your mother's in one of those, suka.

• How mature. Now, answer me or say goodbye to your kneecaps, I replied sourly.

• Fuck of..., the soldier replied, his insult fading off as my bullet struck the ground mere millimetres from his knee.

• I won't ask nicely again. Reply, bitch.

• You think a Speznaz falls for that shit? C'mon suka, try a little harder.

Before I answered, Sevka entered the room and shot the man. I turned around to look at him, startled by this sudden outburst of violence on his part.

• What the fuck?, I shouted.

• You're compromising the mission, he could have slipped away and then the entire Ukrainian high command would know about us. Focus, Torodov! This isn't some shitty backwater with some farmer militia, those were Ukrainian special forces! They don't take prisoners, and they don't tell us nothing, he bellowed back, venting his frustration first.

I was still shaken by how calmly he had executed the man. I understood why, I had been boiling with rage as well, but shit, that was rough. Still, he was right. I had been foolish to think that my threats would work on a Speznaz soldier. I nodded to Sevka, not wanting to speak as my voice would probably sound shaky. He eyed me with disappointment before turning away and heading upstairs to check rest of the rooms. I checked the corpses, finding some supplies and documents on them but not much. On one of the PDAs I found a simple message written on it: "Kill Strelok". I looked at it with puzzlement. Perhaps Dushman could explain what this was about.

Burst of gunfire from outside caught my attention, and I peeked out to see what was going on. A lone merc was running away from something, firing behind him inaccurately as if frightened to his core. Sevka appeared right behind me, and before we could even react, something big and brown leaped from behind a ruined building, pinned the merc down and ripped him apart. I stared in shock, and so did De Luca. The beast disappeared into the nearby building, but I caught a glimpse of massive limbs, two heads and blood-red claws. The initial shock gone, I checked my PDA. The marker for the target was in that very same building the thing had fled into. I showed it to Sevka as well.

• Mierda, he muttered.

• Last time I'm working for Dushman, I commented.

• Finally something we agree on, Sevka said with a smirk.