Post by Basil on Oct 14, 2012 12:31:44 GMT -5
It was a party of five. Five stalkers clad in worn green camouflage, old gas masks hanging from straps around their necks, hoods drawn over their heads, guns held in their hands. The small road that snaked through the forest was quiet, the trees bordering it on both sides silent save for the occasional rustle of a small creature scuttling through undergrowth. The stalkers passed the blackened, twisted remains of a Soviet truck, charred metal scattered over the cracked tarmac. One stalker stopped and drew her hood back, revealing short dark red hair.
"Well that brings back some memories", she said, inhuman eyes brushing over the wreckage. She sniffed and cursed quietly at the slight pain in her throat. Even in the Zone, the common cold remained a nuisance. After passing the back of her hand over her nose, she turned towards her comrades, her pupils thin black slits in pools of green.
"So why couldn't these guys come up to the Warehouses?", she asked, irritably.
"Too tired, boss", answered one man, rolling one shoulder and groaning, a shoulder emblazoned with the Freedom wolf. "They walked all the way from the Garbage and haven't slept much. They stopped at the old mining station to rest."
"They'd better want to join Freedom", grumbled Adder, "I'm tired of running around and picking up idiots."
The group set off again. Adder eyed the trees suspiciously, watching for any signs of an attack. This was the Red Forest after all, even if the Eastern part was relatively quiet compared to the area beyond the Barrier.
Finally they reached the mining station, tall and built of bricks and steal. A rusty catwalk was visible alongside ancient machinery frozen into silence by time and neglect. Forester lived here, or used to live here. Adder couldn't quite remember.
As the building came into view, Adder went over their mission. First of all, they were here to pick up a group of stalkers who wanted to join Freedom's ranks. Maginot, who was very strict when it came to dedication, wanted Adder to assess their motivations and determination. Would they make good anarchists? Could they live in a libertarian society? That sort of crap. Secondly, Adder was here to do some research. Maginot had also started studying the Zone and its anomalies, and this part of the Red Forest was rumoured to have a strange space anomaly.
Evidently, Adder was not too pleased about going into the Red Forest again.
"Stop!", barked a voice from above. The Freedomers looked up and saw a man standing on the top of the building. "You from Freedom?", he asked.
"I'm Adder", said Adder, stepping forth and raising a hand in greeting, "and we're from Freedom all right. Keep your shooters down so we can come in and have a chat. Is Forester in?"
"Nah, he went off into the woods", said the stalker, "crazy guy. Going out into the fucking forest with only a rifle, and he was smiling!"
Adder rolled her eyes and walked towards the entrance of the building. There she ran into another stalker leaning casually in the doorway. The bags under his eyes were clearly visible.
"Howdy ho", he said, yawning. Something about his greeting annoyed Adder. "You the guys from Freedom?"
"Yeah."
"Ah, good. Come in and have a drink with us."
The stalker pushed himself away from the doorway and walked around the metal elevator that took up the centre of the building. Adder and her comrades followed, and they ended up in the old toilets. The commandant grimaced slightly as she saw two other stalkers asleep next to the old cubicles, snoring loudly.
"Not enough room with the old man, so we crashed here", said the stalker, yawning again, "anyway, want some vodka?"
He tugged an unopened bottle of Cossacks vodka out of a rucksack that lay propped against the wall.
"A drink would be nice", said Adder, taking the bottle and uncapping it. She brought it to her lips and took a swig, the strong liquid burning into her guts and wiping away some of her weariness and irritability. The bottle got passed around, the sleeping men woke up and one Freedomer brought out some tinned food. Soon, the stalkers and Freedomers were having a small but enjoyable snack with hard bread and tinned sardines and vegetables.
"So...why do you want to join us?", asked Adder after taking a bite of bread dipped in sardine oil.
"We've been going round the Zone for a while now", said the leader of the small group of loners, a middle-aged man named Anton, "started out as artefact hunters, did some digging in the Garbage, worked with Duty's mutant hunters, had run ins with the bandits...we just got tired of being bossed around in the end. Duty kept confiscating our loot, the army kept shooting at us, and bandits kept trying to cut our throats. So we decided it was time to give freedom a try, you know. No Gods, no masters, solidarity..."
"That's what we do!", said one Freedomer through a mouthful of vegetables and bread. The stalkers chuckled and more vodka was passed around.
"You don't seem to have any problems with this", said Adder, indicating her eyes. Anton shrugged.
"I've seen weird shit in the Zone. A pair of freaky eyes just seems pretty to me, now."
Adder smiled slightly. They seemed to be good men, and the fact they'd walked all this way seemed to show they believed in Freedom's ideals. As the vodka was passed to her, she raised it and said:
"To Freedom's new members, may tyranny never take them!"
"To Freedom!", said the others. Adder smiled again. Mag would be pleased.
"Well that brings back some memories", she said, inhuman eyes brushing over the wreckage. She sniffed and cursed quietly at the slight pain in her throat. Even in the Zone, the common cold remained a nuisance. After passing the back of her hand over her nose, she turned towards her comrades, her pupils thin black slits in pools of green.
"So why couldn't these guys come up to the Warehouses?", she asked, irritably.
"Too tired, boss", answered one man, rolling one shoulder and groaning, a shoulder emblazoned with the Freedom wolf. "They walked all the way from the Garbage and haven't slept much. They stopped at the old mining station to rest."
"They'd better want to join Freedom", grumbled Adder, "I'm tired of running around and picking up idiots."
The group set off again. Adder eyed the trees suspiciously, watching for any signs of an attack. This was the Red Forest after all, even if the Eastern part was relatively quiet compared to the area beyond the Barrier.
Finally they reached the mining station, tall and built of bricks and steal. A rusty catwalk was visible alongside ancient machinery frozen into silence by time and neglect. Forester lived here, or used to live here. Adder couldn't quite remember.
As the building came into view, Adder went over their mission. First of all, they were here to pick up a group of stalkers who wanted to join Freedom's ranks. Maginot, who was very strict when it came to dedication, wanted Adder to assess their motivations and determination. Would they make good anarchists? Could they live in a libertarian society? That sort of crap. Secondly, Adder was here to do some research. Maginot had also started studying the Zone and its anomalies, and this part of the Red Forest was rumoured to have a strange space anomaly.
Evidently, Adder was not too pleased about going into the Red Forest again.
"Stop!", barked a voice from above. The Freedomers looked up and saw a man standing on the top of the building. "You from Freedom?", he asked.
"I'm Adder", said Adder, stepping forth and raising a hand in greeting, "and we're from Freedom all right. Keep your shooters down so we can come in and have a chat. Is Forester in?"
"Nah, he went off into the woods", said the stalker, "crazy guy. Going out into the fucking forest with only a rifle, and he was smiling!"
Adder rolled her eyes and walked towards the entrance of the building. There she ran into another stalker leaning casually in the doorway. The bags under his eyes were clearly visible.
"Howdy ho", he said, yawning. Something about his greeting annoyed Adder. "You the guys from Freedom?"
"Yeah."
"Ah, good. Come in and have a drink with us."
The stalker pushed himself away from the doorway and walked around the metal elevator that took up the centre of the building. Adder and her comrades followed, and they ended up in the old toilets. The commandant grimaced slightly as she saw two other stalkers asleep next to the old cubicles, snoring loudly.
"Not enough room with the old man, so we crashed here", said the stalker, yawning again, "anyway, want some vodka?"
He tugged an unopened bottle of Cossacks vodka out of a rucksack that lay propped against the wall.
"A drink would be nice", said Adder, taking the bottle and uncapping it. She brought it to her lips and took a swig, the strong liquid burning into her guts and wiping away some of her weariness and irritability. The bottle got passed around, the sleeping men woke up and one Freedomer brought out some tinned food. Soon, the stalkers and Freedomers were having a small but enjoyable snack with hard bread and tinned sardines and vegetables.
"So...why do you want to join us?", asked Adder after taking a bite of bread dipped in sardine oil.
"We've been going round the Zone for a while now", said the leader of the small group of loners, a middle-aged man named Anton, "started out as artefact hunters, did some digging in the Garbage, worked with Duty's mutant hunters, had run ins with the bandits...we just got tired of being bossed around in the end. Duty kept confiscating our loot, the army kept shooting at us, and bandits kept trying to cut our throats. So we decided it was time to give freedom a try, you know. No Gods, no masters, solidarity..."
"That's what we do!", said one Freedomer through a mouthful of vegetables and bread. The stalkers chuckled and more vodka was passed around.
"You don't seem to have any problems with this", said Adder, indicating her eyes. Anton shrugged.
"I've seen weird shit in the Zone. A pair of freaky eyes just seems pretty to me, now."
Adder smiled slightly. They seemed to be good men, and the fact they'd walked all this way seemed to show they believed in Freedom's ideals. As the vodka was passed to her, she raised it and said:
"To Freedom's new members, may tyranny never take them!"
"To Freedom!", said the others. Adder smiled again. Mag would be pleased.
