//------------------------------// // Day 3 // Story: DayZ of Hardship // by Nightwish //------------------------------// For the first time since the outbreak started, I managed to get some decent sleep. The reason I say decent is because I was still woken up. Thinking back to it, I kind of wish that a nightmare had woken me up instead. --- "Fucking branches!" a voice swore, causing me to jolt awake. Snatching up my PDW, I stuffed my feet into my boots and crawled through the flap of my tent, scanning the area around me. Martin was there too, eying the scenery suspiciously with his SVD against his shoulder. "FREEZE!" a new voice shouted. Grinding my teeth, I watched as two bandits came from the trees, both of them armed with M4A1s. "Drop your weapons," the one on the left commanded in a thick Russian accent. Martin and I reluctantly complied, dropping our weapons and raising our hands. "What's going on out here?" Vinyl asked. I turned my head to see her stepping out of the tent, rubbing her eyes wearily. "What the fuck?" the man on the right said. "That looks like some child's cartoon!" "Yeah," the man on the left agreed, "I think it's supposed to be a horse." "What did you just call me?" Vinyl asked, cocking her head and glaring at him. "You heard me you multicolored donkey." "Okay, now you're messing with the wrong pony." "What are you going to do? Shower us with rainbows and flowers like the little sissy unicorn you are?" "That was not a good idea," I said, watching Vinyl's horn glow and ducking as a rock flashed in my direction. "Son of a bitch!" the man on the right yelled, covering his left eye that had been hit by the rock. The same happened to the man on the left, and while he was stunned I lunged forward and grabbed his gun. Considering that he had just been hit in the eye by a flying projectile, the man didn't think to tighten his grip, so I easily wrenched it from his grasp and turned it on him. Looking to the side, I saw that Martin had done the same, now pointing the M4A1 at the bandit's head. "Not so tough now, are you?" I snarled at the bandits. "Actually," a voice said, causing me to turn around, "I'd say that we have you right where we want you." A third bandit had managed to sneak up on vinyl in the confusion and grab her. He had an arm wrapped around her throat and his free hand gripping her horn, threatening to tear it off while the other held a pistol pointed in our direction. Vinyl was panicking, her eyes darting around looking for a way to escape. The men behind us snickered and pulled out M1911s. "DIE, SON OF BITCH!" There was a faint familiarity to the voice, but instead of trying to recognize it, I took the man's moment of confusion as an opportunity to turn and shoot the men behind us. With them taken care of, I turned around in time to see Dmitri strangling the third man with Vinyl standing off to the side with a confused look. "Dmitri?" I said, shocked to find him here. "Just a moment, comrade," he replied. "I am busy." Raising a fist, he punched the man in the face, breaking his nose. "Thought you could escape me?" he yelled in the his ear. "You will regret ever being born!" "What the hell is wrong with you!?" Martin snapped, pushing Dmitri off of the man. The man gasped for air and took the cloth off his head, revealing a steady stream of blood coming from his nose. "That man murdered my wife!" Dmitri growled, trying to get back to him. "You should've heard that whore scream," the man wheezed, only enraging Dmitri further. Martin was barely able to hold him back. "Why are you here?" I asked the man. "We came to steal the keys to the GAZ," he replied, coughing up a bit of blood. "We didn't expect anyone to be here." I chuckled on the inside at his stupidity. Who would be stupid enough to leave the keys to a vehicle just lying around? "Well, it looks like your mistake ended in the deaths of two people," I said. "It's going to be three when I get my hands on him," Dmitri interrupted. "Dmitri, calm down or we'll be forced to tie you up." "I am perfectly calm!" he insisted, but I could tell he was lying from the way his hand kept twitching toward his back, where the easily identifiable shape of an M249 SAW LMG could be seen. I looked back at the bandit, contemplating what to do with him. On one hand, he could have easily killed or seriously injured Vinyl. On the other, he and his friends had not known that we were here. Making up my mind, I said, "Okay. Martin, let him go." Looking at me in disbelief, Martin did so. Dmitri stepped toward the injured man, who looked at me with a horrified expression. "You're coming with me," Dmitri snarled, grabbing the man's shirt and lifting him off the ground. "Vinyl, you might not want to hear this," I said. She took the hint and put on her headphones. Dmitri carried the frightened man far out of our sight, but the screams we heard were bloodcurdling. Martin and I carried the other two men far enough away so that we wouldn't have to smell the decay, and when we returned, so did Dmitri. He was breathing heavily, and I almost gagged when I saw specks of blood on one of his combat boots. "I'm sorry about scaring you my friends," he said. "I had been following those three for a while." "Then I'm guessing Krasnostav was a lie?" "No, that was truth. Where do you think I found this?" He hefted the M249, thankfully keeping it pointed at the trees. "Now I have a question for you." he said. "How did you come across Vinyl Scratch?" "You know her name?" I asked, very confused at the moment. "Yes, it's not very hard to memorize the names of background ponies if you're a good brony." "Brony?" Vinyl said. "Background ponies? What the hay are you talking about?" "You are a character from a TV show called My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. I also know other characters such as Derpy Hooves, human-obsessed Lyra, Colgate, Carrot Top, Octavia Philharmonica, Caramel, etc." "You lost me at the word brony," I said, even more confused. "I'm surprised you've never heard about them," Dmitri said, sounding skeptical. "Bronies have been a topic on the news a couple times." "Yeah well I don't really watch the news." "If you really know about me, then can you name two events that I played at as a DJ?" Vinyl asked. "You played at Rarity's first fashion show, which failed miserably, then you appeared after Shining Armor and Princess Cadence were married." From the way her jaw dropped, Dmitri must have been right. "Now, you never answered my question." "I just found her in an abandoned car hiding from the zeds." "Ah, and how did she get there?" "Ask her." Dmitri looked at her with a raised eyebrow, waiting for an answer. When she told him, he burst out laughing when she finished. "I imagine that Celestia is not amused," he said, calming back down. "Twilight should know better than to listen to Rainbow Dash." "Not meaning to be rude, but just who is Rainbow Dash?" I asked. "A pegasus who thinks herself invincible at times," Dmitri replied, crossing his arms and smirking. "Personally, I like Applejack more than Rainbow Dash." He chuckled at my look of confusion and sat down next to the remains of last night's fire. "Do you need a place to camp?" I asked, pushing the confusion away. He looked at me warily, as if he thought I was tricking him. "Why not," he said finally. "Not like I have anywhere else to go." Grabbing his pack, he rummaged through the contents and pulled out the materials for a tent. With a speed that could only be achieved through years of practice, he set up his tent within a couple minutes. "I'm guessing you've gone camping before?" Martin said, reminding me that he was still there. "What? Oh yes, I have set up many tents in the past years. I used to climb mountains as a hobby." "Really?" Vinyl asked, looking impressed. "Yes, though I stopped about five years ago." "Five years ago?" I said. "How old are you?" The reason I asked is because he looked to be in his twenties in my opinion. "I am thirty-five years old," he replied. "Why? Do I look younger?" "I thought you were in your twenties," I admitted. "HA! So keeping fit does make you look younger." "Guess so," Martin said, yawning. "Still tired? You should not be using a gun if you're sleepy." "I'm not tired," Martin insisted. "Tell your lies to somebody who will believe them," Dmitri said. "If you're tired, go to sleep." Martin rolled his eyes and crawled back into his tent. "Little harsh, don't you think?" I asked. "Harsh?" Dmitri said, blinking in surprise. "Would you rather have his aim fall to shit because he can't keep his eyes open!?" I have to admit, I could see what he was saying, but I still think he could have been nicer about it. "Fine, alright," I said. "What should we do now?" "Well, I ran a bit low on supplies while I was following those three, so I was thinking of doing a bit of scavenging in Berezino." "Do you need some help? I don't really have anything else to do." "Sure!" Dmitri grinned. "Vinyl, you can come along too if you like." "I think I'll just stay here with Martin," she said, yawning slightly. "Got it," I said, walking over to Martin's tent. "Hey Martin!" I lifted the flap to see him groaning and rubbing his eyes. "I thought you guys wanted me to get some sleep!" he complained. "We do," I insisted. "I just wanted to tell you that Dmitri and I are heading to Berezino, and we're leaving Vinyl here with you." "Okay, have fun." Turning over, he didn't take long to fall asleep again. "Okay, Vinyl, we should be back in a few hours." "Catch ya later," she said, crawling into my tent. Dmitri hefted his pack back onto his shoulders and motioned me to hurry up. Tossing a couple water bottles and cans of food into my pack, I swung it over my shoulder and picked up one of the M4A1s, putting a few extra clips into my pockets. Before I was even ready, Dmitri started walking, heading in the direction of town. Quickly checking the bandages on my leg, I threw a few last minute supplies into my bag and limped after him. "You are quite slow, comrade," he said, smirking at me. "Did you not notice my fucking leg!?" I said, adjusting to the pace. "Oh, I did, but that shouldn't stop you from being able to prepare yourself quickly." "Oh shut up." Dmitri chuckled but didn't continue. --- The walk lasted around the usual time, and we didn't encounter any trouble on the way there. When we entered the city, Dmitri suddenly stopped next to an abandoned car and looked around, taking in the scene. I was shocked when I saw what he was looking at. It looked like there had been a fight during the night, leaving a lot of dead bandits in the middle of the road, with a couple of them being gnawed by zeds. "Looks to be around ten," Dmitri said, walking over to a bandit and yanking a fire axe out of his back. "Jesus," I said, dumbstruck. "I think this is the work of a group. No single man could have killed all these men." He was stating the obvious, but I didn't really want to say anything about it with that axe in his hand. "Maybe there's a fort nearby," I said instead, remembering how other survivors had warned me a few times before to stay clear from bandit forts. "Possibly." Hefting the axe, he walked over to a zed who was calmly enjoying her manwich, that is until he chopped her fucking head off, causing me to wince as her decapitated head rolled a couple feet along the ground. "Why the fuck did you that!?" I asked in shock. He looked at me in confusion. "Why?" he asked. "Would you rather have them continue attacking and killing people?" "Well, no." "Then there you have it." Hefting his axe again, he proceeded to kill the other zeds that had been attracted to the dead bandits. With one last swing, the final zed's head was separated from its body, and Dmitri dropped the axe. "Now, lets get some food and return before we're missed," he said, taking the lead. As we passed through the town, we came across more signs of devastation. "God, it looks like they just killed everything in their path," I said, looking at the scattered bodies of zeds riddled with bullet holes. "They must have a good stash of ammo if they waste it so haphazardly," Dmitri mused, stuffing his hands into his pockets as he walked. The town was eerily quiet and empty without all the zeds, which actually scared me even more, and it only got worse as we got closer to the general store. "Looks like they had the same idea as us," Dmitri said, looking in through a shattered window. The place was trashed with cans and bottles everywhere. "They must have just grabbed everything they could carry," I said, picking up a water bottle that had been left behind. Dmitri was already busy, picking up cans and bottles that hadn't been opened and stashing them in his pack. He was making a move to open a cabinet when we heard a voice. "Why are we still here?" it asked, sounding annoyed. "Because the boss said so," a second voice replied. "Trust me, I'm not happy about it either." "But there's nothing to do!" the first voice complained. "We should just go back to the fort." "You know the boss would get pissed. Besides, you didn't hear the other two complaining, did you?" As the voices got closer to our location, I could hear their footsteps, gradually getting closer and closer. "I'm going to enjoy this," Dmitri whispered, grinning as he pulled a hunting knife out of his boot and hid behind the shelf closest to the windows. As for myself, I opted to take cover behind the counter with my weapon sights trained on the windows. The bandits came into sight, both of them armed with shotguns. One of them must have spotted me, because he cursed in Russian and raised his weapon. Dmitri was on them before they could react. He snatched the shotgun from the man who was aiming at me and swung it at his companion, hitting him in the side of the head. Shocked at seeing his friend taken down, the man didn't react fast enough to stop Dmitri from burying the knife in his throat. I watched on in disgust and horror as Dmitri withdrew his knife, watching the man clutch at his throat in a futile attempt to stop the bleeding. When he finally went limp, Dmitri used the shotgun to finish off his friend, then dropped the weapon onto the blood-stained ground between them. "That was a little overkill," I said, trying to avoid letting the sight of their bodies burn its image into my brain. "It's what they deserve," Dmitri said. "They probably would have done much worse had they managed to capture us." "Well," I said, deciding to change the subject, "it looks like I was right about the fort." "Indeed, and maybe we can find out where if we find the other two bandits." Fuck, I thought, wishing I hadn't said anything. "Come, they can't be far." Wiping his knife clean on the jeans of one of the fallen bandits, he started walking. I swore under my breath as I followed him, hoping for the bandit's sake that we didn't find them. --- Hoping for something not to happen seems to make it even more likely to occur, because we found the other two bandits after about an hour. Since they had their backs turned when we spotted them, it was all too simple for Dmitri to sneak up, relieve them of their weapons, and quickly force them to the ground. "WHERE IS THE FORT!?" he shouted, putting pressure on their arms. which he had pinned in rather uncomfortable positions. "WHAT!?" one of them shouted back in confusion, only to gasp in pain as Dmitri applied more pressure. "Just tell us where the fort is," I said, crouching in front of them with my M4A1 in one hand. "Don't you dare fucking tell them," the other bandit hissed, glaring daggers at his companion. "But they'll kill us!" the first bandit whined, tears blurring his hazel eyes.. "If you tell them, I'll kill you!" "That's not a very nice way to talk to your comrade," Dmitri said, smirking as he put much more pressure on the offender's arm. The guy must have been tough, because he didn't even wince. "Dmitri, let him get up," I said, indicating the crying bandit. Dmitri readily complied, releasing his hold on him and shifting his weight onto the other bandit's back, giving him a better hold. The bandit looked at me in surprise, then slowly got to his knees and rubbed his arm. "You're not going to kill me?" he asked. "Not if you tell us where it is," I replied. He looked at the other bandit uneasily, then turned back to me. "It's at Krasnostav airstrip, situated mainly around the hangars and the control tower." "You little son of a bitch," the other bandit growled, only to receive a punch to the face from Dmitri that resulted in a broken nose. "Okay, you're free to go," I said. The bandit looked at me, still unsure if I was telling the truth. After a moment of awkward silence, he slowly got to his feet and ran away in the direction we had come from. "Now we need to think of something to do about you," Dmitri said, smirking at the bandit he still had pinned. "You're never gonna get me to talk," he snarled, his words slightly changed by his broken nose. "Oh? Then perhaps we have no more need of you," I said, indicating for Dmitri to let him up. The second Dmitri got off of him, the man sprang to his feet and tried to pull a M1911 from his pocket. Dmitri reacted fast, and there was a knife in his throat before he could even get a good grip on the pistol. "Why must they always fight back?" Dmitri asked, looking the bandit in the eye. "Fuck you," the bandit rasped, coughing up blood. Dmitri held the knife in his throat until he went limp, then pulled it out and wiped it clean on the part of the bandit's shirt that wasn't drenched in red. "Now," Dmitri said, "let us get back to the camp." "Sounds good," I replied, letting him take the lead and watching my step as I followed. --- We reached the camp after about two (or was it three? God I really wish I had a watch) hours of walking, and the sun was almost going down. "Hey guys," Vinyl said, waving a hoof in greeting as we approached. "Hey Vinyl," I said, pulling my pack off and setting it down. "Where's Martin?" "Right over here," Martin replied, stepping from the trees in his ghillie suit. "Took you guys long enough." "That is because we ran into some interesting characters," Dmitri said, "and they were kind enough to tell us where a Bandit Fort is located." "Cool. I was waiting for you guys to get back so I could go for a ride." "In the GAZ?" I asked. "No, on my bicycle," he replied, pointing to said bike that was propped against a tree. "Okay, just don't get lost." "I won't. I should be back in about a couple hours." "Be sure to take some supplies in case you do get lost," Dmitri said, chuckling as he lit a fire and grabbed a pot from his tent. "Do I look stupid to you?" Martin asked, climbing on his bicycle with his pack swung over his shoulder next to his SVD. "No, but just because you don't look stupid doesn't mean you aren't." Martin rolled his eyes then started peddling, heading off on his way. "I think he jinxed himself," Vinyl said, "saying that he won't get lost." I shrugged. "You could be right." --- Around three hours (I'm still just guessing) after Martin had left, I was getting tired of waiting for him. "I'm just going to get some sleep," I said, exasperated. "Maybe he'll get back tonight, or maybe he'll get back in the morning." "Yes," Dmitri agreed, "there's no point in staying awake to wait for him." Putting out the fire with a bit of dirt, I kicked off my boots and crawled into my tent. Vinyl, who had gone to sleep long before, didn't so much as twitch as I came in. I was so tired that I fell asleep the instant my head hit the pillow.