Chapter XVI: City of Spirits and Husks

 Diary of Corporal Dimka Torodov, day 18

Sevka and I followed the trail behind Alla under Pripyat. After the large domed room, a new tunnel stretched out in front of us. As if there wasn't enough of that here already... This one seemed a lot more unused, with flooded spots and dirt floors. Also plenty of Zombified corpses, Alla had made sure work of them. We also passed some sort of mutant, a humanoid one. It was not like the gasmask-faces or tentacle monsters we saw before, this one had a massive, bulbous head and parts of its body was covered in bandages. My Geiger counter went off the rails when nearing it, so we steered clear of it.

It did make me wonder however. When I was close to it, my head begun to ache similarly to the time in Jupiter Factory. Like something was probing my mental defences. I shuddered and hurried my steps. When the Zone was wide open in front of me, and there were all sorts of nooks and crannies to discover and places to visit, it was like a good dream. But in cramped corridors like these, knee-deep in mud and irradiated water, walking past empty husks and mind-fucking mutants? It was a nightmare alright. I could see why the local stalkers seemed so broken.

After we had passed the group of corpses and the unknown mutant, we found ourselves in front of a ladder upwards. I looked up and then to Sevka, who shrugged and nodded for me to take the lead. I didn't mind, I could see blue sky ahead and right then I could've sold my liver for a bit of fresh air. The ladder was thankfully sturdy enough that we made it up there, and finally we were out. Clear sky as far as the eye could see, tall Eastern block buildings reaching towards it. Streets overtaken with vegetation, now bursting out from the ground that had finally thrown away its frost cover.

Ahead of us was a yard with forgotten construction materials, and behind it a two-story building with windows covered by metal plates. I consulted the information provided by the mercenaries, and it appeared as if the building was the local stalker base. Apparently there was also a mercenary base not too far from here. And some intelligence on a possible lost UNISG squad in the Pripyat hospital. Plenty of places to explore. There was also the location of the lab, apparently it was under some place called Yubileiny service center. We decided to visit the local stalkers first.

The place was apparently an old laundromat. Inside was a guide, who greeted us, putting his pistol back into its holster. Clearly this was no Rostok. I greeted him back, and we went further in. The place was really small, only two rooms, the first housing some beds, a table with a tough-looking medic sitting on it. Near the door, a group of clearly veteran stalkers sat drinking and playing instruments. Further up the room was a trader and technician, Cashier and Yar respectively.

• New arrivals? Howdy ho, stalkers, welcome to the Edge of the World. Here you can choose to shop only the finest wares with Cashier, ranging from beautifully aged, rust-painted double-barrels to almost completely functioning Kalashnikovs and even better, a bunch of Tourist's breakfasts that are ONLY 5 years past their best before-date. All these at prices that will make you feel like you're buying from the famous Sidorovich himself!, Yar marketed.

• Shut it Yar, you do that little spiel every time, it's getting as old as you are!, Cashier retaliated jokingly.

• So about as fresh as a spring flower? Indeed, I am well-known for my original and witty commentary. This one time in Dark Valley with Ashot..., Yar started.

• Yar, shut the fuck up, came a choir of stalker voices from the other room. The old technician grinned in amusement but did stop as ordered.

• Uh, we could actually use some rations, old or not. We went through the underground and it was absolutely packed with snorks, to the point we had to abandon most of our gear to survive, I lied, as Hernandez had ordered. If the stalkers believed the underground to be dangerous once more, that would limit the amount of prying eyes in our base.

• That so? That's not good news. Ever since Rogue and those two mercs cleared the passage, we've had a healthy influx of stalkers coming here. Damn, I think we might have to clear it out, Cashier pondered out loud.

• I wouldn't recommend it. I've been in the Zone for two years, and never have I seen as many snorks. I still can't believe we made it out, Sevka said.

• I see. I'll contact Loki. But yes, rations, Cashier said, and we bought some food that wasn't actually in as bad a shape as Yar had mocked it to be.

After that whole encounter we set off. I would've liked to visit the mercs, but Sevka decided against it. He did not like it here one bit. And I must admit, the place was creeping me out too. Abandoned vehicles, some overgrown with bushes and trees, cracks the size of a boar in the asphalt with anomalies sticking out of them. Empty rows of windows that nonetheless did not seem empty at the corner of your eye. I could feel something staring at my neck but when I turned to look the streets were empty. A cold breeze like someone breathing next to me slipped by a few times as we moved.

It was hard, paranoia was setting in. I was not superstitious, I didn't even think there was anything but slow decomposition waiting for us at the end of the line, but this place... I only realized I was on edge when my jaw begun to hurt from gritting my teeth together so hard. I tried to relax a bit but the howls, growls and shrieks along with the whispers in the wind made me anxious. Still, we continued further down the road, avoiding burner anomalies as we went. The sparks flying from the fire pillar's hiding spots indicated where to step to avoid them. The city was not quiet, but I did not hear any gunshots. This seemed like prime Monolith territory judging by what we had seen, but it appeared completely deserted.

We came across a large H-shaped building, which I took for the hospital by mistake until we wandered inside. Parts of the structure had collapsed, and we got in without issues. There were a few zombies wandering inside, staring blanky at walls or shuffling across corridors, slurring to themselves. Remembering the tragic words I had heard in Jupiter, I could not leave these poor sods to their fates no longer than needed. Sevka agreed, and we both picked a target. Killing the brainless creatures was not hard, their senses were about as sharp as a potato's. I sneaked behind my target, covered its mouth with my hand and pushed in my boot knife. It was enough.

I went through the lost stalker's pocket and found a badly written letter. It was mostly just words thrown together, clearly at some point after the man had become a mindless drone, but somehow he had managed to write something. Of the few things I managed to decipher were "pain", "home", "help me" and "Wish Granter"... I had no idea what the last one meant but the rest was disturbing. I left the note with the corpse, I knew I'd face a gruesome and most likely terrifying death if I carried it around. We exited out of a classroom window at the back of the building, entering what looked like a field or a park of sorts. More zombies, this time ones without proper weapons, just claws, wandered at the other end but we left them alone.

The reason for this was the service centre. We were right next to it. It was the most stereotypical Soviet-era building ever, parts withered away in storms and due to natural erosion of the materials. Tall, blocky and filled with windows. I could see electric anomalies sparkle on the top, I hoped there would be none inside. Sevka covered me while I crossed the street, and I returned the favour when he followed. I could hear hurring of machine inside as we stopped to listen. Lighting inside was dim, so our hearing could serve us better now. We waited two minutes, and then slipped in. I had not heard anything.

This did not mean the area was deserted. Once more we ran into zombified husks. And this time it did not go as smoothly as before. I stumbled into one of the walking "dead" while exploring the rooms, and managed to avoid most of the Makarov rounds the mutated human fired at me. One struck my protective plate and I winced at the dull pain, thankfully it did not get past. I swung my rifle at it and it staggered just long enough for me to pump a shot at its chest. And unlike the Makarov, the DVL did not struggle to pierce the leather jacket of my enemy. Sevka went loud as well the second he heard the gunshots, he had spotted some zombies more effectively than my blunder. His Saiga barked thrice, and I could hear the pained groans of Zombified coming from the other rooms. I swapped into my Ruger and advanced as well, planting a .45 ACP care package into the face of a husk trying to intercept me.

And then I finally saw it. The elevator leading to X-8. The information given by the mercs had included a password into X-7, but the resurgence of Monolith apparently had stopped them from investigating the place. I had to admit, I did not understand why. There was apparently a merc outpost here, and we had seen no Monolith warriors anywhere in the city. What kept them from trying this place if they had already explored X-8 so much that our high command considered it futile to search it? My thoughts were interrupted by a double-barrels worth of buckshot striking the roof over my head. I ducked and lunged to the side, firing wildly towards the place I intuitively considered the attacker's place. A grunt of pain confirmed that I had hit, and I peeked out from behind the corner to see a zombie writhing on the floor. I emptied my revolver chamber to finish him off.

Sevka was apparently having a blast in the other room, judging by the multitude of shotgun shots. I loaded up by chamber and followed the noise, coming to the room where Sevka was now finishing off a last surviving but mortally wounded brainless creature. He looked up to me and smiled solemnly before saying quietly:

• I never thought I'd feel good about myself killing something. But these things? It feels right to finish them off. This is horrifying.

• Indeed, a mercy kill everytime we release one of them. But I think we might've drawn attention to this place, so how about we make it to that lab? I found the elevator and it appears to be working, I replied and Sevka nodded.

We entered the small dimly lit elevator and I followed the procedure the mercs had given us info about. Holding a yellow button down while Sevka typed in the password into the machine, we managed to get it running. The old engine hurred to life, the light started blinking and the elevator practically fell downwards, making it feel like we were in zero-gravity at least in our stomachs. The descent begun, and with it, our first lab raid.