Chapter V: Dangerous Mutants and Anarchists

 Diary of Lance Corporal Dimka Torodov, day 5

Despite the constant sounds of gunfire and explosions, the road I was travelling on seemed safe enough. Army Warehouses sure was different from other places in the Zone I had visited before. First of all, the terrain was not nearly as flat, everywhere one looked there were ridges, hills and cliffs. Darkscape had been similar, but it was more of a valley, this place was constantly changing in elevation. Similarly, while I had seen combat in Dark Valley and Garbage, it had been sporadic skirmishing between small forces or initiated by me. This seemed like a proper warzone, reminding me of Liberia or Transnistria. And the fortress on top was most likely the lynchpin of this whole battleground.

I kept tossing bolts ahead, those new fire anomalies had certainly spooked me. The road was thankfully clear of them, although I did see one spew flames inside one of the buildings. Weirdly, it did not cause the shack to be lit alight. I shrugged and moved on, not like it was the weirdest thing I had seen so far. The Zone soon desensitizes one to its wonders, at least for now. I passed a roadblock of sorts, standing next to a bus stop. There was a weathered chest inside it, and cranking it open I found some supplies, nothing major but possibly something I could use on a bad day. Besides, my stomach was protesting once again, last time I had eaten was before the big battle in Garbage. Here's hoping those anarchists have some food... Well, they're not communists so maybe, I thought and chuckled.

Few hundred metres later I spotted men in camouflage uniforms. I hid behind a bus and observed them from the shadows. The camo pattern reminded me of the one Bundeswehr used, I had seen plenty of those during my peacekeeper years. The patch they had was not the one used by the military, but I still wasn't sure if I wanted to approach them. Still, sitting around here would get me nowhere, so I decided to cross the road and approach them from behind an incline. I kept my gun low and appeared behind the men.

• Hey guys, any idea where I can find those Freedom guys?, I asked, keeping my gun ready if they would turn out to be hostile. The two strangers turned around quickly, guns drawn, but lowered them as they saw my patch.

• Where the hell did you pop up from? Anyway, you just found Freedom. You new or something?, one of them said, dressed in one of those fancy skeletal suits, this time without all the mechanical bits.

• Yes, I'm pretty new, but by no means a pushover so don't try your luck. Anyway, is there some sort of fee to enter your base or something? Do I need to speak to someone? I need to resupply and get some grub.

• Fee? Hell no, why do you think we're named Freedom man? Just waltz into the gate and go to a guy named Skinflint inside, he'll hook you up with some food and gear, maybe even a joint or two. Tell him Danya Artist sent you and you might just get a discount, Danya said with a laugh.

• A discount? From Skinflint? Man, you've got to be kidding me. But do try your luck, greenhorn, who knows, the other Freedomers, in similar suit, laughed mockingly.

• Fuck off Matvei, obviously Skinflint doesn't give you no discount when you're such a sour urod, Danya cried back and the two started bickering.

I amused myself with their bickering for half a minute and then climbed up the hill, glad to not have to go through rigmarole of doing meaningless jobs to be accepted. The guards seemed sharp and experienced, not unlike the ones I had seen in Rostok, but these guys didn't seem to have sticks up their asses. They reminded me of the guerillas I had seen especially in Africa, not following strict military protocol but clearly a foe worth respecting. I wanted to learn more of them, just like I had wanted to learn of Duty, since there clearly was plenty of opportunities to make myself irreplaceable. I asked the gate guard for directions on the trader and if it would be okay to meet Freedom's leader. He told me where to find both.

There was a rusty, broken down T-64 in the middle of a four-way intersection, and past it a large administrative building with giant holes in it at places. Most striking thing about this place however, were the large towers scattered here and there all over the base, some with distinct antennas standing over them. There were warehouses and barrack buildings all over the place as well, enough to house a few companies at the least. Despite the grumbling of my stomach, I decided to visit the Freedom leader first. The place seemed guarded enough to rest for a while, God knows I needed that.

Inside the central building I found a technician, to whom I left my AK to be repaired. He asked me where I had gotten such a high-tech piece, and I answered that I took it off a merc corpse, a phrase we had been taught on the way to Ukraine, apparently only mercenaries had access to new US guns. He told me it would take a while to repair, so I went to chat with the other guy standing on the opposite side of the corridor. He introduced himself as Leshiy, a local guide, apparently he had been a merc in the past. His face was strikingly familiar, like if I had seen him in some old film. He told me a bit about the history of the place, how he had been caught in a space anomaly and how he had discovered a way to Limansk, a ghost town northwest from here. Apparently the place had seen quite a bit of action a few months ago, but he didn't elaborate on that.

Upstairs I found the Freedom leader, a fellow named Lukash. Seemed like quite an intensive guy, but some of that edge was clearly taken off by fatigue and sleep deprivation. I told him that I had been in the Zone for only a short while but I was interested in Freedom.

• You're at the right place then. Pardon my tiredness, things have been tough for us as of late. We almost lost Yanov up north, Monolith has been hammering us at the Barrier and that whole "new Zones" thing is straining our resources thin as Duty and we are squabbling over territory. Hell, just yesterday we fought a big battle over the Forest, the leader explained.

• So you guys are not fond of Duty?, I asked.

• Understatement of the year. Fuckers have been a thorn in the side of all free people of the Zone for years, and we're the only ones keeping their fascist boot from crushing the Zone. We just want a Zone unrestrained by state influence, Duty wants to destroy it. You can see the problem. Not to mention they are constantly bootlicking the Military and Ecologists. Things looked a bit better for our relations during the Northern War, we even helped each other out a bit, but you just can't trust fascists.

• I see. And this goal of free Zone, how do you seek to achieve it? If you don't mind me asking, I prodded slightly, concealing my interest as well as I could.

• There are things in the Zone that the states of the world would only abuse. Ukraine, Russia, USA, hell even the UN, all would seek to use these atrocities to change the world to their agenda. We seek to keep their agents out by occupying strategic positions in the Zone, Army Warehouses and Yanov, and by getting to the secrets of the Zone before the fascists. Still, last few years we've tried our best to protect the Zone from Monolith, Sin and mutants, both at Yanov and the Barrier. Things seemed dire until Redemption and Clear Sky took more active role in the north, Lukash continued.

• Monolith? Sin?, I said, puzzled by these mentions of odd names.

• Ye, fanatical cults that have plagued the Zone for years. You got this far without finding out about them? Anyway, there was a psi-installation north of here which brainwashed them into the servitude of some former scientists and... Well, it's a long and boring story. Either way, they're very strong, fanatical and most importantly, kill without feelings or remorse. Most that cross their path don't live to tell the tale. So stay out from the north if your life is dear to you.

• I see. Thank you for the info, it has been enlightening, I said and got out, heading for the trader. Lukash did yell after me that if I was ever interested in joining Freedom, there was a spot open for me. No thanks.

The trader resided in one of those barracks, a distinct-looking fellow in sunglasses, did he think he was in some corny American action movie? Despite his appearance he did have a good selection of guns, from brand-new AUGs to old war-horses like the M1 Garand. What piqued my interest however was a M14 DMR, a proper sniping weapon fitting of my status of pathfinder, but my current meager cashstack would never get me one. I settled on some MREs, expiration date passed months ago but these things would survive an apocalypse alongside rats, roaches and government tax collectors. I got some 5.45mm ammo for my rifle and sold all the crap I had looted off the bandits. Skinflint had a proposal for me once I had done my shopping. Apparently there was a continuos problem with a village west of here, where some nocturnal mutants would appear to harass local stalkers.

Someone had killed a black massive one of the mutants about a year ago, but another pack had made their home in its lair. If I got rid of them, Freedom would be quite happy with me and I'd be rewarded well. Another job he gave me was to find some scientific medkits through any means necessary, apparently a new shipment was going towards Yanov soon and the entire faction and their allies were pooling up resources for it. I agreed, even though I had no idea where to get them. I received coordinates on the location of the lair, and after wolfing down my meal I trekked there. Night was creeping in, I could see the cold stars appear over the sky.

Overlooking the village in the darkness, I noticed two massive balls of fire circling around the village. One of them even climbed up the tower at the edge of the hamlet. Sometimes among the buildings I could see electric sparks fly off on the ground, and at times some critter triggered a pillar of fire from the ground inside a ruined house. Cesspools of anomalous toxins billowed at spots, lighting up the soil around them in green, sickly light. And among this spectacle of unnatural phenomena, dark figures darted between bushes and constructions, flickering in and out of vision. A campfire at the edge of the settlement told a tale of gruesome combat as I approached it. Men in white and spotty uniforms reminding me of birch bark lay on the ground, ground to minced meat by unknown creatures. I quietly reloaded a magazine filled with hollow-point ammunition into my rifle and turned on my flashlight.

A roar froze me up. I hate to admit it, but I almost shat myself right there. It was so animalistic, but at the same time so unnatural, like some demon manifesting in audible form. My eyes scanned the landscape frantically, the headlamp flying over the ground following the spinning of my head. A gigantic frame of a monster materialized in front of me, as if cloaked, and I only barely managed to sidestep out of its way. It tumbled past me in sheer momentum, and I could observe it for a split second before it vanished from the light. It was some sort of a humanoid, but not the docile zombies I had seen before. Orange skin, human-like lower half, upper half wider than normal and some sort of tentacles hanging from its mouth. What the hell?

It appeared again. Charging at me like a loose freight-train. In this brief window of opportunity, I unloaded my magazine into the thing. It took a long, heavy swipe at me, but smacked down to the ground without the claws connecting. The rifle smoking, the smell of cordite and blood in the air, I lowered the barrel with shaking hands. The monster was dead. Thank heavens, I thought. The beast no longer a threat, I observed it throughly and carved out some of its most odd-looking features for further research. Then I turned my attention to the dead men, but after a through search I found little to indicate who they were. Still, I took their weird brownish patches with me, perhaps Freedom was not a friend of theirs.

I searched rest of the village throughly for any more of the beasts, but to be honest I was quite relieved that no more roars and surprise ambushes came my way. At the crack of dawn I left, my limbs aching and stomach once again gurgling audibly. The hills had calmed down a bit over the night, but I still tried to make myself as small a target as possible. Better to not draw more attention to myself. Still, it was good to know that the anarchists weren't utter degenerates like the bandits I had seen. The trader greeted me drowsily, and I collected my price, enough cash to keep me going for quite some time. I got some more supplies, sold everything I had looted in the village and set off to return to Rostok. Despite my haste to get the mission done, I had to admit. A little part of me already wanted to linger in this wondrous frontier for a little longer.