Cordon

A wide tract of land separating the Zone from the Big Land. Stalkers have named this territory the Cordon due to the heavily defended barrier the military has constructed to prevent trespassing of the Exclusion Zone. The Cordon is home to all the loner rookies in the Zone, all of whom try to make an early living around the village, as well as the famed trader Sidorovich. The northern stretches of the Cordon show increased rookie bandit and mutant presence, in particular boars and blind dogs. The Russian military occasionally patrols the road from the Spetsnaz outpost, but rarely goes as far as seeking a fight with the stalkers that have managed to get past their barricades into the Zone.