"Now that we are all gathered," Valerian says, watching the last person to enter his office, Shram, take a seat. "We can begin the meeting. The post
under the railway bridge spotted the military at the Elevator and ATP."
"How many are there?" Yakut asks, clasping his hands in front of him.
"As we suspected," the leader replies, nervously tapping his fingers on the hard tabletop. "Two groups of about ten men each, plus or minus. They are commanded by junior and senior lieutenants Fedotov and Voblov, though that's irrelevant to you."
"We should be able to handle them," the commander of the first squad quietly mutters. "What's our plan?"
"You and your men, Yakut," Valerian says, looking intently into the stalker's eyes. "You will go to the Elevator, passing through the road tunnel southwest of here. The men from the post will cover you and prevent the military from firing on you prematurely, but still, be careful."
"Understood."
"Now you, Palach," the stalker leader turns to me. "You and your squad will go to ATP. You will pass through the railway embankment to the east, near the forest. But be careful and do not approach the derailed locomotive closely; it's very radioactive there. After that, act according to circumstances, but the military must be eliminated. Is everything clear?"
"Yes," I nod.
"This is your first serious mission as a squad leader," Valerian continues, having heard my answer. "Do not risk yourself or your men unnecessarily; I need you all alive. If you cannot deal with the military immediately, retreat. By then, I think Yakut will have finished and will come to your aid. Any questions?"
"How feasible is it to send a squad of six men against a dozen military personnel, especially when they are entrenched in a fortified position?" I voice the question aloud, truly not understanding why Valerian doesn't want to gather more people beforehand and then act.
"Ah," the stalker sighs heavily, rubbing his furrowed brow with his palm. "That's a good question, Palach. It's not feasible at all, as you put it. But I simply don't have any more people. Your squad of six, Yakut's squad of seven, plus those three from the post. I'd gladly assign them to you, but the approaches to the Elevator are well-observed, and without proper cover, the men would be shot down. But you and your men can easily approach ATP without fire support; the terrain is more convenient in that regard. There are still people at the base, but I can't pull them away; they're guarding it, after all. Any more questions?"
"No."
"And you, Shram," Valerian addresses him. "I can't order you, who will you go with on this mission?"
"With Yakut," the mercenary replies briefly, and the meeting ends.
Half an hour later, my squad and I were leaving the camp, heading east. The faces of my subordinates were serious and grim; the traces of former cheerfulness had vanished. And the weather matched their mood. The sky was completely covered by gray clouds, making it seem like a downpour could start at any moment, and a cold wind blew from the north, chilling us to the bone. You wouldn't say it was the height of summer.
I walk first, my squad following close behind. We pass about ten meters from two dilapidated buildings, and for a moment, I think I saw a shadow flicker in one of the windows. I raise a clenched fist, stopping the squad, and silently nod towards the more intact house. The men understand me without words, though with a hint of skepticism on their faces.
We cautiously circle the house from both sides. Mulat and I enter it from the east, finding ourselves in a room filled with empty crates, without a floor. Instead, there was only bare concrete with barely visible scratches from someone's sharp, strong claws. Kirpich and Trotil enter the room opposite us, where the stairs to the second floor are. Batut and Nemoy apparently stayed to cover us outside.
I scan the room again, finding nothing unusual. Bare walls with peeling white plaster in places, a corner under the ceiling taken over by black mold, half-rotten window frames from moisture, peeking out to the south and north, long having lost their glass. Remnants of past lodgers in this house in the form of a faint smell of tobacco smoke, empty tin cans, dusty cigarette packs, and crumpled plastic bottles. Did I imagine it?
"Empty, commander," Trotil says, having already climbed to the second floor. "The passage to the second room upstairs is blocked by crates. I tried to move them, but they're stuck fast."
"So, I imagined it," I reply with a sigh and slowly turn to leave the house, when my gaze catches a smoldering cigarette in the far corner.
Someone tried to hastily extinguish the cigarette with a boot and completely crushed it, but tobacco smoke continued to emanate from it. I bend down and pick it up, showing the others proof of an unknown stalker's presence in this house. The shadow was real, which means the stalker couldn't have gone far. He couldn't have passed us; we would have definitely noticed a fleeing person, and there's nowhere to hide outside. Only one place remains.
"I'll count to three," I say loudly, drawing my Fort from its holster and aiming it upwards. "And if you don't show yourself, you'll regret it. We'll shoot the ceiling to hell. One! Two! Th—"
"Wait!" a trembling voice from above is heard. "Don't shoot, please! I'm coming out!"
A rustling is heard from above, the creak of boards, and then the clatter of Batut's rifle bolt reaches us from outside. The unknown person climbed onto the roof, walked across it, and climbed into the room with the stairs leading down. As he began to descend, the stalker brothers literally dragged him down and, grabbing him by the arms, pulled him closer to me.
I approach and crouch down, carefully examining my interlocutor. Dirty, matted military uniform with private chevrons on the shoulders. The soldier's face is gaunt, slightly swollen, and pale. His lower lip trembles, and his blue eyes with burst capillaries dart from me to the other stalkers. I look a little closer and realize his face reminds me of someone. But I've only interacted with the military...
"Batut, come here," I call to the other stalker who participated in Khalecky's capture. And as he approaches, I ask, "Don't you recognize him?"
"Why, it's Khalecky's driver," Batut whistles, also crouching before the soldier. "And what wind brought him here?"
"We'll find out now," I reply and turn my head towards the private. "Well, tell us."
"W-what?" he asks quietly, stammering.
"How did you get here and what were you doing? In detail and quickly, we're in a hurry," I say, pointing my pistol at him. "We don't have time to mess with you; we'll shoot you if you don't talk, and that's that."
"L-Vobla," the private begins, "Oh, I mean, Lieutenant V-Voblov, found me in the road tunnel where I was hiding. He t-threatened me and sent me here to watch the s-stalkers. He also gave me a r-radio for c-communication."
"How did you get past our post?"
"I-I bit through the p-prickly wire with p-pliers and passed," the soldier replies timidly.
"The radio, here," I say, extending my hand.
The soldier reaches into the wide breast pocket of his jacket with a trembling hand, pulls out a compact communication device, and hands it to me. I take the radio from his hands and abruptly turn back, throwing the radio to the ground and shooting it. I wince slightly from the ringing in my ears and put the pistol back in my holster. We can leave now.
"We're done with this," I announce to the stalkers. "It's time for us to go."
"And me? What w-will happen to me?" the soldier involuntarily leans forward, but Kirpich, firmly gripping his shoulder, pulls the soldier back. "Ow!"
"I don't care," I reply, looking him up and down. "You're free to go wherever you please, but I wouldn't advise going near the military; a tribunal is guaranteed. And take off your jacket; you'll have a better chance of survival."
"Are you sure?" Mulat asks me, his automatic rifle held tightly.
"We'll manage without unnecessary bloodshed," I say, heading for the exit of the house. "Now the Zone will decide his fate."
Leaving the former soldier alone, we leave the house and head towards the blocked tunnel and the derailed locomotive. When our squad approached the railway tracks, we indeed saw a gap in the barbed wire fence, but, deciding to stick to Valerian's plan, we simply walked past. After all, this passage leads directly to ATP, where the military is holed up.
Somewhere in the distance, blind voles barked, and black crows, filling the sky, echoed them with their caws, as if anticipating a future feast of corpses. And finally, we reached a fallen tree, which meant the passage we needed was very close. We quickly cross the railway embankment, passing the old green locomotive and a small anomalous field.
We take cover behind a cluster of boulders on a hill, a short distance from the embankment, and stumble upon a sleeping dog. Due to the clatter of several pairs of boots, the mutant wakes up, stretches a little, and begins to get up, moving its mangy muzzle from side to side, sniffing. And before the mutant can bark, I kick it hard in the stomach. The emaciated body of the once-friendly dog is thrown directly onto the stones, from where a unpleasant crunch of protruding ribs is heard. I immediately end the dog's suffering with a knife.
"We can't make noise yet," I quietly say to the squad. "Nemoy, check the territory. Mulat, cover him."
"No one," Nemoy whispers, returning a couple of minutes later with Mulat. "Looks like they shot the pack, and this mutt managed to escape."
I nod and take out the binoculars issued to me by Shilov from my backpack, peeking out from behind a huge gray boulder. Okay, the road to ATP is empty, but ATP itself is not. I saw a couple of sentinels walking around the inner courtyard. Helmets, body armor, and Kalashnikov assault rifles. Formidable opponents; we'll have to think before rushing them.
"What's the plan?" Batut
asks first, crossing his arms over his chest. "And don't think that just because Valerian put you in charge, I'll follow a stupid plan, and others will support me."
"The plan is quite simple," I reply, observing the nodding agreement from the rest of the squad. "We'll need to split into two groups. One will have two people, the other four. The task of the first group will be to distract attention. The second group, a little later, will storm ATP."
"Reasonably sound," Kirpich says, rubbing his palms. "How will we split up?"
"As the only owner of optics, I'll be in the first group," I say, taking the rifle off my back. "Let Nemoy be with me. And so. Now Nemoy and I will crawl along the embankment and take up a position on the elevation. You will start acting as soon as we engage them in combat. Well, break a leg, guys."
"To hell with it."
I leave them the binoculars and a few grenades taken from the warehouse. I carefully step out from behind the boulder on bent knees and, heading northwest, lie down on the soft grass, starting to crawl forward. Somewhere behind me, I hear the steady puffing of the silent stalker. We had to crawl a long way, and overall, we were very lucky not to encounter any mutants or anomalies, otherwise it would have been tough.
Once in position, I turn towards ATP and prepare my rifle for shooting. Nemoy is fussing to my left. I reach into my pocket for my radio and contact the team.
"In position," I whisper quietly. "Be ready."
"Roger that," Mulat's voice hisses from the radio.
I put the radio back and press my eye to the rifle scope. The transport hub courtyard is like a palm to me now, and I will use it to the fullest. I survey the surrounding area first, then ATP itself, noting a couple of sentinels. Most of the military seem to be holed up in one of the buildings. I aim at the face area of one of the soldiers, place my finger on the trigger, and then, to the west of us, shooting begins. Yakut has started the assault on the Elevator.
The soldier flinches, hearing the sounds of shooting, and even grabs his assault rifle, but it doesn't save him. A palpable push of recoil in my shoulder, and my victim falls to the ground like a heavy sack. The spent casing flies out onto the grass, and I load a new round. The sentinel in the inner courtyard of ATP, who didn't have time to react, falls to the ground with a shot to the neck.
Four soldiers jump out of the tall brick building onto the street, and then Nemoy gets involved. His burst of automatic fire, though it didn't hit anyone, forces them to take cover. Then a soldier who was on post from the road to Dark Ravine runs into the courtyard and immediately falls to the ground, killed by my shot. Several bullets fly over our heads, fired by the enemy from behind the corner of the garage, narrowly missing us. And then the rest of the team joins the fight. Three grenades fly directly into the ATP courtyard, exploding with a hundred fragments, several soldiers falling victim to them.
Following the grenades, stalkers run into the courtyard, drenching the wounded soldiers with lead. Someone tries to fight back, and one of ours, Mulat, is even wounded in the arm. But they had no chance, and the battle for ATP was over.