Chapter X: Of Monsters and Men

 Diary of Lance Corporal Dimka Torodov, day ten... I think.

We dashed across the Dead City streets in pursuit of the beast that had brutalized the poor merc. I switched into my Saiga, although I did wonder if 20-gauge would be enough for such a monster. Sevka kept his Saiga steady as well, his was more potent 12-gauge. We passed by the remains of the merc, and I noted the clawmarks on his body with a shudder. My suboptimal Voyager would be shredded in seconds against this kind of force.

The monstrous mutant had turned to face us and leaped towards us as we rounded the corner. I barely dodged it, making a dash to the side in split second. The Voyager would not have the armour to stop the thing's claws, but at least it made me nimble and quick on my feet. Before the mutant could turn, Sevka and I lit it up, tearing large chunks off its hide and making it growl in pain. It lunged at us again, and learning from our earlier blunder we dashed to the side, again. It could not pick a target and thus kept going, not stopping after landing. We struck again, keeping the volume of fire high even as we sought distance from the damn thing.

It made two lunges more, both times our quick feet avoiding it at the bare minimum of clearance. As it landed Sevka managed to strike it into a spot between the main head and torso, which sent blood spurting and the monstrous creature groaned once before smashing to the ground. With the abomination dead, we lowered our shotgun barrels and I had to take a breather.

• Good shot! Damn good shot!, I managed to shout between the panting.

• Is that an actual compliment?, Sevka replied sarcastically, but I could see he was proud of his achievement.

• Alright, let's get its parts, I'm sure the science team would love to get some of those, I said, ignoring De Luca's question while grabbing my boot knife.

• You think that little thing is gonna work on its hide?, he laughed.

• What's wrong with my knife?

• You call that a knife?, he snorted and pulled out a Ka-Bar knife before continuing:

• Now that's a knife!

• Show-off, I was half expecting a spoon to be honest. But sure, go ahead and dig out its insides, I'll keep watch, I scoffed and lit up the campfire next to us, sitting next to it to warm my hands.

Sevka did open the monster up quite nicely, taking every part that looked like it could be valuable. Meanwhile I enjoyed a simple breakfast, trying my best to ignore the sound of flesh being torn and the horrible stench. Half an hour passed, until Sevka emerged next to me, head to toe in mutant blood, and tossed three bags of body parts next to me. The breakfast I just had almost decided that it was time to take the lift back up, but I managed to keep it inside... For now.

• Good, you made yourself useful for once. Let's get going, I've been hearing some creepy-ass noises from that building and I don't want to know what's making them, I said, wrinkling my nose at the body part bags.

• Agreed, I need a shower. Or at least something to clean my armour with...

• Yup, only place that it could camouflage you now is a tomato soup, I joked, and surprisingly Sevka gave me a slight grin.

But we were not lucky enough to escape completely unnoticed. We left the two-headed corpse behind and started to move back towards the marketplace, when something shook the ground under our feets. A behemoth of flesh, muscle and tusk barreled towards us, its size almost that of an armoured car. It looked like a boar, supersized to ridiculous proportions. We barely had time to lunge to the side as it kept going, hitting a KAMAZ truck down the road. I was sure it would stop the beast as it was laden with bricks, but the truck just flipped and the bricks got spread across the asphalt.

The thing shook its head, dizzy from the impact. I grabbed Sevka's shoulder and tore him up a nearby concrete slab with me. My goal was to reach top of the ruined building next to us, it wasn't tall but it would provide us breathing room. The gigantoboar had now recovered, and begun to charge us again. I made a desperate dash upwards and somehow managed to land on top of the second floor. I pulled Sevka there too, gritting my teeth. The massive tank-like boar struck the building, making it shake and collapsing a few slabs of concrete laid against it. I fired my Beretta at it fruitlessly, and it jammed completely. I tossed it at the monster and got Sevka up the second the creature snapped its jaws on the air he had previously inhabited. Dust filled the air, and we disappeared into it, hoping that the creature relied on its immense mass instead of sharp senses.

• I thought I had seen all the horrors in the Zone after that feline killing machine, but that? I've seen tanks smaller than it!, Sevka unloaded after we had managed to calm our breaths.

• Tell me about it, man I wish I had a M72 right now... We need to lure it towards the merc HQ somehow, no way our shotguns can kill it, I replied, and Sevka nodded, cocking his Saiga.

We found a staircase amidst broken building floors, and descended down onto the street. Stepping outside, we found ourselfs looking down the barrels of an assortment of NATO rifles. One by one they got lowered and a big mercenary in one of those fancy exoskeleton things, covered by parts of ghillie suit, stepped forward and looked at us.

• UNISG? We thought Sid himself had dragged his ass here and tumbled down, nothing else is big enough to make earthquakes like that. What are you fleeing from?, the merc asked.

• Big ass boar. Tank-sized, I managed to pant, still exhausted from the combat.

• Man, I thought UN would send their best here, but look at these clowns running away from a boar, the merc laughed, prompting the others to chuckle mockingly at me and Sevka.

Their laughter stopped the second the massive monster rounded the corner. The exoskeleton guy yelled for us to get to cover, and everyone launched into action. Weapons barked, tracers stuck the gigaboar and somebody threw a thermal grenade at it, missing slightly but lighting the thing's fur on fire. In the chaos I stumbled back into the staircase, the heat from the grenade making me feel like I could not breathe. The crescendo of gunfire was briefly overtaken by a screech of pure agony, and it shook me out of my momentary panic. I was a soldier for fuck's sake, an oversized farm pig would not make mockery of me.

I stepped out into the carnage. The merc that had insulted us lay dead on the floor, his guts open to the air. Another one had been thrown against the tree nearby. There was smoke in the air, and a wounded mercenary screaming for help somewhere amidst it. I could not see the abomination boar, but I could hear its feet smash into the ground. Sevka's shotgun barked in response. I ran to the wounded mercenary, but I was too late. He looked me in the eyes, whispered something and faded away. I held his shoulder as he went, raising up as the gaze in his eyes stopped forever. I had lost allies before, stood there as they died, but never to monsters like these. I had to help Sevka.

I rose from my feet and switched into my AK. Loaded with hollow-point rounds, it would be more use than the Saiga. The noise of Sevka's shotgun as my guide, I emerged from the smoke and immediately spotted the beast. Switching to burst mode, I laid down fire while Sevka retreated, and our soldier training kicked in. Time for the age old switcheroo. I fired until the goliath could no longer ignore me, and it turned to face me. It looked horrifying, tusks covered in blood, saliva dripping from its mouth, burned fur and skin hanging from grave wounds. I finished my magazine and ran, faster than ever. I could hear the beast bellow behind me, but I did not look back. Sevka's shotgun came into life again, and the monster's side received a salvo of slugs, making it cry out in pain.

I got inside what looked like a ruined warehouse of sorts, and the thing forced itself in behind me. It was losing strength, I could feel it somehow. But it wasn't alone. After all the fighting today, I was about done. My limbs felt heavy, as if filled with lead, and my reaction times were getting slow. I got to the end of the warehouse and almost dropped into a ditch at its edge, when faint crackling stopped me on my tracks. Burners. The mutant was right behind me, rushing me like a runaway freight train. I turned to face it, but a plan had already formed in my head. It came on like a mountain of death, but I stood my ground. On the last possible second I lunged to the side, and the boar could not react fast enough. It barreled into the ditch, and around five separate pillars of fire engulfed it.

Its screams filled the air, my ears suffering from the high-pitched screeches. I watched the monster turn into crisp, fire consuming its enormous corpse. Sevka appeared next to me, his armour in shreds and shotgun covered in grime, but alive.

• God damn. Never have I had to fight for my life against a pig, Sevka muttered, exhaustion heavy in his voice.

• Tell me about it. But, there is a bright side to this, I replied.

• Which is?, Sevka asked, raising his eyebrow.

• It was my turn to harvest the beast for parts, looks like that thing has no parts left, I said with a grin, and Sevka chuckled.

• Plenty of bacon though, he said, sniffing the burning fat and meat in the air before continuing.

• You ain't half bad Torodov. Thanks for saving my arse again.

• Not too bad yourself, De Luca. Although you do need a shower, I joked, and he grinned.