Chapter XIII: Factoring In

Diary of Corporal Dimka Torodov, day 15.

Couple days have passed since my last entry. I was promoted to Corporal for the successful conduct of our mission, despite my protests. This was partially because of one our officers, lieutenant Maus. Coincidentally, he was the guy I saved back in Transnistria, and the reason I was here now instead of doing a peacekeeper tour in some unstable nation. He recognized me and backed my promotion. He also provided me and De Luca with better gear, I swapped my battered AK to a brand new DVL-10 Saboteur and sold him the Voyager suit as well, not needing it any longer.

Sevka got himself a more advanced American variant of the Saiga and a Glock 18, sneering at me for keeping my Ruger revolver. I also sold my Saiga, the 20-gauge shells on it not really that useful in a firefight no more. From now on, I'd stick to long-range, or so I hoped. Sevka could handle close-range combat for all I cared. Besides, from what Hernandez had given to us as missions, I would be doing more exploration and infiltration than strictly combat. He had been impressed by Sevka's report on how I had already made networks inside the stalker groups. And more was apparently in store.

• Alright, corporals, mission for ya, Maus came to tell us as me and Sevka were cleaning up our gear on top of one of the trains in the new UNISG base.

• What is it, Maus?, Sevka asked casually, Maus wasn't too caring on the whole "proper officer greeting" thing.

• Military patrol, heading into that big factory nearby. Our intel indicates that there could be something there, we need to make sure the Ukrainian jarheads don't get to it first, Maus replied.

• Open confrontation with the military? We going in UNISG gear?, I asked.

• Just make sure none of them survive. No witnesses, according to Hernandez. Take Locke, Mill and Stuart with you, the military squad seems quite large.

• Roger roger, Sevka replied and I nodded.

Half an hour later we were outside the factory. It was a cool, misty day, mere hours from rain. The factory was massive, large towering walls and rows of windows stretching as far as eye could see. We passed under the first building, through what seemed like a lobby area with guard booths. The three guys sent in with us seemed quite jumpy, clearly not as accustomed to the Zone as we were. There were anomalies inside the plant, mostly those green goo things, and Mill stared at one for a long minute. I nudged him in the elbow and once I got his attention, said:

• Wouldn't stare into that for too long drugar, those things can cause you to get hypnotized into drinking from them, saw an abdál do that once, not a pretty way to go let me tell you.

• Really? Bloody hell, this place is a proper shitehole, Mill stammered.

• Oh c'mon Mill, ya tosser, Torodov is clearly taking the piss with ya, Locke laughed.

• Or am I?, I replied with a mischievous smile that made Mill gulp.

We continued on, passing a yard, eyeing the windows on a nearby walkway with growing paranoia. Perfect place for an ambush. I took the lead, keeping my brand new rifle trained on nearest corners. The area had lush vegetation, undoubtably hiding the worst kinds of monsters. Couple of those darn fire anomalies crackled in parts of the pavement, having melted their way through. I told the other guys to watch their step. We rounded the corner ahead and practically ran into a group of Zombified. Those former humans, now made into husks by some horrifying thing, sat inside a shed. I stopped the squad and told them to lay low.

I could hear speech. The husks were talking. Most of it was gibberish, singular words I could barely make out like "artefact", "brother" or "emission", whatever the hell the last one meant, but some spoke complete sentences. I closed off all else and simply listened, and it filled my heart with dread.

• Oh Daughter... How you've grown... Daddy will come home soon. Home to you, one croaked in a tortured voice.

• Bratan, where are you? I cannot see... Radar, why did you leave me at... Radar..., another one mumbled.

• Monster... Leave me alone, monster... Why are you inside my head... Mons... Master!, one growled, holding his head with both hands

I looked at Sevka, who had grown pale too. He nodded at my suppressed sniper, and I immediately took action. One shot, one dead brainless husk. Second shot. Final shot. Three shots, three dead. None of them had reacted, I had gone for the one outside of the shed first and then dealt with the two others. I lowered my rifle, and with no further threats in sight, we continued. But I still felt cold sweat on my neck from the encounter. The yard opened up into a field of construction equipment and vehicles, with more factory buildings ahead and some more guard booths. But our target was to the left, a small doorframe leading further into the plant.

Inside was what appeared to be a motorpool with electric anomalies. I spotted a chest on top of a fuse box, possibly one that could have had a stash in it. But, a time and place for everything, and now was not the time. We found a passageway skirting around the anomalies and moved further, walking under the main floor. More anomalies bubbled and sparkled among those forgotten tunnels, but those we avoided as well. Using a series of staircases and catwalks, we made it into a control room and went through the place quickly. Mill found some 5.7mm ammo, odd calibre in a place like this. Locke tried to open a cabinet fruitlessly.

• What's the matter man? Is it... Locked?, Stuart joked.

• Listen here you little shite. You've made that bloody joke every day since we left England, make it one more time and I'll give you cosmetic surgery for free, Locke replied grimly and Stuart stopped laughing.

Sevka and I shared an amused look but didn't say anything. Two minutes later I ordered the squad to move, and we continued on in the labyrinth of mesh wire, steel and concrete. This did not continue long however, as we arrived to a large hall. It was partially exposed to daylight as a Hind had crashed through the roof, and I did wonder what could've caused it to crash here. Then again, probably just anomalies, it was the Zone after all. I did not ponder this for long though, as a man in green uniform walked out behind a steel wall. Out of pure instinct, I fired and the bullet struck him in the left shoulder, making him slump over.

The lull of exploration was over. The soldier had clearly been from Ukrainian military, and we knew he was not alone. Sevka took the initiative and moved up to the door the man had emerged from, filling the small room behind it with buckshot. Pellets sent flying a cloud of sparks inside the small room. A Speznaz operator stumbled out of the room, not exactly hit but staggered by the noise and smoke. I smashed a round through the thin sheet of metal acting as a wall, and the scream coming from the other room confirmed that I had hit. The formidable .338 Federal was already feeling like a great upgrade over the AK.

I emptied my magazine into the room ahead, tossed a smoke grenade and let Mill took lead, his Tactical SIG Commando nailing a soldier through the smoke as we advanced. A swarm of 5.45 millimetre ammunition struck the private into his combat vest, stopping on the kevlar but striking him down and out. Locke replied in kind, and I joined him, the grunt coming from the next signaling the death of the shooter. I crouched down to check Mill's vitals while Locke, Stuart and Sevka charged into the corridor, guns blazing.

• Alive, thankfully, I murmured and followed the other guys.

The corridor ahead had a bloodtrail and a corpse strangled into one of those vine anomalies. It slowly dragged the corpse towards its centre, and I could see flesh burn in it. I winced but kept going, into another big hall. This one had, at quick glance, some sort of elevator for vehicles and what looked like a loading area. Three more soldiers were locked into a firefight with my companions, firing back from behind a wrecked jeep. I leaned from behind the corner and took aim, squeezing the trigger and feeling the recoil. A spurt of blood shot out from the chest of one of the elite operators, the clanking of his dropped rifle barely residing before I snapped another shot into his comrade. He suffered a similar fate, lung caved in, blood in his throat.

Sevka's Saiga killed the last retreating adversary, he had tried to escape through a barricaded entrance, partially blocked by a MAZ truck. With the Speznaz soldier leaving this world, I breathed out a sigh of relief. The thing about peacekeeping is that you can most of the time rely on your superior gear and training against local peace disruptors, from warlord units to bandits. Not here, not with these Speznaz. We had had the advantage of surprise this time, but had it been a fair fight, we'd most likely be done for. But fair fights are for suckers, a sentence never more true than in the Zone.

• Everyone okay?, I asked once the trio of UNISG troopers left the cover of the jeep.

• Peachy. What about Mill though?, Stuart replied.

• Vitals were okay. Seems like his chest rig saved him, I answered, reloading a new magazine into my rifle.

• Good. Let's carry his sorry ass out of here before he bleeds out or something, Locke said, and we nodded.

I lingered there for a second more though. Something about this place felt odd, like there was something dormant yet powerful presence in the room. As if trying to concentrate on this sensation was making my head blurry and disoriented, releasing concentration on it giving me a headache. An anomaly of sorts? Or some contraption causing this? I knew I had to return here to investigate, but first, I had to get my comrade-in-arms back safe. When the only allies you have in this hellscape are morally bankrupt guns-for-hire or unadjusted but experienced UN-sanctioned agents, you tend to try to keep as many of the latter alive as you can. And no matter my feelings towards the rightfulness of our mission, I would make sure no one died on my watch.

Part written in rushed handwriting and different colour of pen

Man, was I naive back then...