Several days have passed since the assault on the Elevator and ATP, during which several important things happened. The stalkers gave the military a good beating and captured the grain silos without any losses, with Shram particularly distinguishing himself by taking down most of the soldiers single-handedly. After that, an annoyed Khalecky handed over the coordinates of the case, which the mercenary immediately took to the trader.
Almost immediately after that, Sidorovich resumed trade with our camp, and good equipment began to flow to us like a river. Both new weapons, excellent suits, and much more. All that we need on the eve of war with the bandits, as various small stalker groups are flocking to us.
As soon as the situation with the trader was resolved, Valerian put out a call for help in the stalker chat, and many responded. From Predbanik, the familiar group of Barmaley set out, from Agroprom, through the Marshes, several stalker squads also set out, not to mention the stalkers from the Dump, who had long been tired of tolerating bandit lawlessness. Yogu and his gang are in for a good thrashing.
"Here," Shilov lays a gray stalker suit on the table, unfolding it. "As agreed, this is an improved version of the stalker's 'Zarya'. The protective qualities against anomalous effects remain the same, but the body armor has been replaced with a better option, also reinforced with Kevlar inserts. It will withstand an automatic rifle shot, but it's better not to expose yourself. And, my advice, don't dive headfirst into anomalies in this suit."
"Wow," I whistle, picking up my new suit and checking its weight. It's quite substantial.
"But that's not all," the merchant says, pulling a sniper rifle out from under the counter. "I took the liberty of ordering this beauty for you from Sidorovich. It's a shortened sniper rifle, a decent compact weapon, just right for you."
"And what does it shoot?" I ask him, taking the weapon from his hands and trying it out. "It weighs a lot, but yes, it's a good solution."
"Standard SVD cartridges will fit," Shilov replies, resting his knuckles on the tabletop. "But I won't give this away for free; we don't have many rifle enthusiasts to order such things in bulk. It cost me a pretty penny."
"How much?"
"Forty thousand," the trader replies briefly, barely smiling. "Exactly as much as the scientists sent me for that mutant. To the penny."
"Will you throw in some ammo on top?" I ask with a deep sigh.
"If you give me your Mosin rifle, I will."
"What a scoundrel, Lord," I sigh, taking the suit. "Prepare the ammo, I'll be back soon."
Ten minutes later, already changed into a gray stalker suit, I was picking up my new weapon, a couple of magazines, and ammo from the trader. I decide to load them right there when Shram enters the room, who hasn't left for the Dump yet.
"Got any work?" he immediately gets to the point, asking the trader.
"Yes, of course," Shilov says, sitting down on a chair. "Due to recent events in the Cordon, a considerable number of scavengers have appeared. The bodies of the killed were not buried, so you can guess the rest. Novices are afraid to stick their noses out; it's too dangerous, trade suffers, and so on. Therefore, Valerian, together with Volkov, the stalker leader in the village, and Sidorovich, have established a reward. Two hundred rubles for each mutant killed."
"And none of your guys went for it?" Shram raises an eyebrow in surprise. "Shooting dogs is easy."
"Well, you two," Shilov says, nodding his chin towards me, sitting at the table. "Were the first to find out about it. In principle, you can agree and go together, shoot some and earn some money."
Turning to me, the mercenary gives me a brief glance and chuckles at something, briefly knitting his brows. Is he really considering inviting me on a joint hunt? I don't mind, and I should try out my new rifle, why not on mutants, but I always thought Shram preferred to work alone. Although, judging by the game, everything can be different here.
"You don't mind?" he asks me after a few seconds of thought, gripping the strap of his assault rifle tighter.
"I don't mind," I reply, standing up from my seat and slinging the weapon over my back. "When do we leave?"
"Now," he says quickly and turns back to the trader. "Where and when were these scavengers spotted?"
"A few days ago, they appeared at ATP and the Elevator," Shilov begins to explain. "A few novices wanted to profit from the dead soldiers, but they only stumbled upon mutants. The day before yesterday, they started to spread out a little around the area. And be careful, they look like nothing special, just hungry blind voles, but they say wolves have been seen. And they are more dangerous than ordinary dogs."
Nodding to the trader goodbye, Shram and I set out from the stalker base. It was decided that we would first visit the Elevator, as it was closest to us, then ATP, and then wander around the area a bit, shooting mutants. The mercenary approached the job very responsibly and wanted to see it through to the end, not just scare dogs and collect the reward, which I really appreciated.
This time, Shram led, moving forward confidently with quick, wide strides, so I even had to catch up with him a couple of times. It was clear that he was an experienced stalker and had spent a lot of time in the Zone. After circling the camp and reaching the tunnel, Shram stops and turns to me halfway.
"There's a lot of burning fluff in the tunnel," he says, looking at me with an attentive gaze, then turns back and enters under the concrete arches.
I follow him step by step, and indeed, there is plenty of burning fluff here, as well as trash. I don't think I would have gone face-first into this fluff without warning, but I still thanked the mercenary, to which he simply remained silent, continuing to walk forward.
As soon as we emerged from the tunnel, Shram bent his knees and, raising his Kalashnikov, slowly moved towards the Elevator. I walk just as cautiously, sweeping my rifle around, looking for mutants. We approach a wide passage in a brick L-shaped building, and the mercenary raises his fist in the air, signaling to stop. While he peers into the darkness of the room, I notice chips and bullet marks on the bricks.
Looking at the traces of the battle that took place here a few days ago, I almost missed the start of Scar's movement. Coming to my senses, I quickly followed him, surveying the area. A pile of spent cartridges, dried blood on the ground and walls, and I even noticed the remains of someone's hand, gnawed to shreds and lying under a
rusty car.
As soon as Scar rounded the corner, he immediately opened fire. A short burst from his assault rifle echoed in my ears, and I hurried to his aid, but it was too late. The mercenary instantly took down four dogs resting near the half-devoured corpse of a soldier in uniform. It's even surprising that it hadn't been completely devoured yet.
Then, a strange noise came from somewhere behind me, so, having learned from bitter experience, I instantly turned around and saw a wolf already leaping. A wide maw bristling in a snarl, fangs the size of a finger dripping with saliva, a long body, and magnificent fur, by local standards, of a white-gray color. Blind moles were no comparison to this beast. But it didn't manage to jump – a bullet from my rifle hit the beast between the eyes. And the wolf collapsed to the ground, dead.
After waiting a little longer, we began to collect trophies. If there were any other mutants here, they had long since fled from the sounds of gunfire. As soon as we finished cutting off the tails, we moved on, until Scar suddenly stopped at the exit of the building, and I almost ran into him.
"What's wrong?" I asked the mercenary, trying to spot anything that might have made him stop.
"There's something to discuss, Executioner," he said, turning to me and holding his assault rifle pointed at me. "And no one will overhear us here."
"Discuss?" I repeated, taking a few cautious steps back.
"Yes," Scar nodded. "Who are you?"
"What do you mean?" I didn't understand what he was getting at, but it made me incredibly tense, and I gripped my weapon tighter. "What are you talking about?"
"Too many coincidences," the mercenary replied, shaking his head, seeing how I grabbed my weapon. "A Clear Sky operative asked me to pass on a message to you. I didn't find anything interesting in it, so it's probably encrypted phrases. And, what a miracle, you're the one who's supposed to take me to Valerian's base. And then to the meeting, where you were looking at me strangely. You look too much like a Clear Sky agent."
"You're mistaken."
"Maybe," Scar shrugged. "But so far, everything adds up. You appeared at the Cordon from the swamps about a month ago, and almost immediately gained the trust of the Cordon's top brass. You proved yourself a brave and skilled fighter, joined the local group of stalkers, and even rose to command your own squad within this faction. So, who are you? What do you know about my goal? What does Clear Sky want from me? And don't even think about acting up, I've heard about your abilities, one wrong move and I'll put holes in you."
"I have indeed been to the Swamps," I began, with a deep sigh. I couldn't stay silent, and maybe I could talk him down. "You probably know yourself why I went there. And I did contact Clear Sky, but after my refusal to join them, they made it unequivocally clear that they weren't happy with random stalkers. As for the message, it's from my partner, who was with me on that trip, but he was wounded and left with the Shaman. And that..."
"I believe you," the mercenary said and slung his assault rifle over his back. "I just wanted to make sure. After everything that's happened to me, I feel like I'm going crazy. That's why I snapped when I started thinking about you. No hard feelings?"
"No hard feelings, perhaps, but I'll definitely remember this, Scar," I exhaled with relief, as I definitely didn't want to shoot him.
"Acceptable," he nodded and turned towards the exit. "Let's go, there's still prey waiting for us."
Next, we headed to the ATP. After all, I didn't want to leave things halfway, but due to what happened in the granary building, we had to double our caution. Although the mercenary had calmed down, and he had missed his chance to eliminate me without problems, it was still difficult to trust him completely. Therefore, from time to time, my rifle was pointed directly at Scar's back.
We didn't encounter anyone on the way to the transport hub, not even mutants, which was strange. No one from our side had been here since that day, I know that for sure. Newbies were afraid to leave the village, and mutants couldn't have just disappeared on their own. Although, maybe the Hunter went for a walk? But if that were the case, Shilov would have told us. Something was not right here.
And my fears were confirmed when, at the entrance to the transport hub courtyard, right at the entrance, lay a halved blind dog. The dog lay on its belly, or rather, its remains, and the lower part of its body was torn off; something had bitten the dog in half. Judging by the bloody trail stretching behind the body, the still-living mutant had tried to crawl away from whoever did this to it, but died from blood loss. And it happened recently.
"Don't go far," Scar whispered to me, stepping over the dog and moving forward quietly.
The courtyard greeted us with parts of mutant bodies, mostly dogs, but a couple of wolves were mixed in. Everywhere lay severed heads, over which flies had already gathered. They had clearly had time to lie there before we arrived, which meant the creature that had settled here had made a lair. And if we didn't take it down here and now, it could turn into a catastrophe for the Cordon.
I activated my hunting skill and crouched down, reading the tracks left here. Boot prints, dog paws, and the sought-after huge print. Barely visible and left on a hard crust of mud, dried by the sun's rays. A print the size of my palm, with five fingers and huge claws.
"It's a bear," I said quietly to Scar, who was intently surveying the area at that moment, not straying far from me. "And it's somewhere nearby."
"As if I thought otherwise," the mercenary grumbled quietly.
"We need to get higher, preferably to the roof," I said, standing up and adjusting my grip on the weapon. "Otherwise, we won't leave alive."
And at that moment, somewhere behind us, beyond the fence, the crunch of fallen branches and heavy, hoarse breathing with a hint of growling were heard. Without a word, the mercenary and I simultaneously dashed towards the ladder standing outside. I literally flew up it first and offered Scar my hand, helping him climb. As soon as we were both on the roof, we immediately prepared to shoot.
We didn't have to wait long for the beast. The bear slowly entered the courtyard, swaying as it walked, and it was a terrible sight. The beast was huge, over two meters long, but incredibly thin, with bald patches visible on many parts of its body, showing bite marks, and red foam dripped from its open mouth onto the ground. The animal was clearly very emaciated, and even without our intervention, it wouldn't have lasted long.
The bear continued to walk slowly, without lifting its head or paying any attention to us. So I aimed, waited a bit, getting in sync with the beast's movements, and shot it in the eye, ending the life of the once mighty animal.
"We'll get over two hundred rubles for this one," Scar said after the beast fell to the ground.
"Definitely."