CP. III – Second first impressions.
“The outside world ? are you really that naïve ? if they really had planned to purify the zone, they would have done it long ago. Over time, everyone outside the Zone just forgotten about us or simply stopped caring. It is easier this way for them.”
I was paralyzed… someone saw me coming. In all the darkness of the muzzle tunnel, I couldn’t discern any other pony. Then, the megaphone sounded again.
KEEP DOWN, OR YOU WILL SHARE THE SAME FATE OF YOUR FRIENDS, EARTH PONY!
Wha…? Earth pony? couldn’t be…
I rushed toward the exit of the dark tunnel, it ended atop a hill, overseeing lush, verdant fields, filled with pine trees and bushes. Far down, a road crossed the fields.
It was a much welcome change from the fetid and ugly swamp. Being on the very bottom, meant that the cordon was barely infected by the radioactive horrors of the Zone.
However, it was not devoid of horrors of its own.
“But I swear, I did not took it! Please, believe me”
I carefully lurked by the trees, approaching the direction of the voices.
“This is your last chance. Spill the beans, loitering scum.”
Military, half a dozen of them. Heavily armed soldiers. All of their rifles aiming a single yellow mare.
Around them, corpses of other stalkers.
The mare’s eyes watered. The sudden fear of death made her cry loudly for her life.
The soldiers merely exchanged devious glances at each other.
One of them approached the mare and subdued her, using an awful amount of force by it. Then stripped her backpack off and blindfolded the mare.
He dragged the earth pony along. All the other military followed, with one stopping to pick the backpack. I followed them as well, from a safe distance.
The soldier released the mare after some walking. She was still blindfolded. Then he spoke to her:
“Let’s play a game, stalker… if you win, we’ll be out of your mane. The rules are simple, really. You just need to cross this minefield in front of you. But thing is, you’re not allowed to remove the blindfold. If you do so, we’ll just shoot you. Understood?”
The mare shook nervously
“Now go. Just walk forward and you’ll be safe in no time.”
She dared a few steps forward, still scared. The mare moved very cautiously, as to avoid tripping any mines, thinking three or four times before taking another step. Meanwhile, the soldiers were yelling “directions” at her and laughing maniacally. Their rifles still pointed at the mare’s flank.
She didn’t know, but there weren’t any mines. From what I could see, they released her on a clean field.
But then, why tell her that it was a minefield?
They must want to make her go slowly, so then they can shoot the mare easily after they had enough fun with her. This thought came to my mind.
I was wrong.
When enough steps were taken, she reached it.
The mare instinctively knew about it when caught on the outer rim of the anomaly, and tried dashing away.
However, it was far too late. If she just crossed it while dashing, then she’d probably be able to cross it unscratched.
The whirlgig (that was the name of the anomaly, according to my PDA) entrapped the mare mid-air, sucking her closer and closer to the core, as she angushly flailed her legs in a futile attempt to disengage from the anomaly.
Eventually, she tired off and the whirlgig got the best of it. As she was caught on the core, breakneck speed winds slashed her throat before she could even scream. The whirlgig then pulled her body higher and higher above ground, while its diagonal sprouting winds dismembered her body in instants. Ultimately, all that was left from the stalker was a scarlet pool of blood.
The soldiers were still watching and bursting in laughter.
The one carrying the backpack emptied it of its possessions. After a minute sorting out the stuff, the soldier came with a box of pistol bullets. He ditched the backpack and everything else from it.
“Sarge, just 20. I guess it can be split by three or four…”
“That is not for you to decide soldier. Gimme that.”
After the sergeant took the box of bullets from the private’s hands, he yelled at his platoon:
“Dismissed.”
All of the six soldiers traveled back to their outpost. The “border” of the Zone, as it was the construction that blocked away one of the few paths leading to the outside world.
As for me, I crawled my ass off from the bushes, and trying to make as less noise as possible, I moved to the village, aiming to not alert the military patrols at the road.
At distance, the megaphone soared again:
“Any attempt to penetrate the security Zone will be punished by any means necessary. The troops will rightfully shoot trespassers at sight.”
Boy, talk about taking their job seriously… thanks heavens, nothing else stood on my way as I reached the abandoned village.
There isn’t much to talk about it. An abandoned farm village, long since deserted and scavenged, the skeletons of former homes now were used as shelter by the “fresh meat” of the Zone. Rookies.
A blue bus was rusting by the village’s entrance. At the side of it, a faded writing said “Happy farm trails.” A lone caramel-colored pegasus stalker stood guard near it.
“Name your business here, stalker.”
“I came to negotiate with the trader.”
“He can be found by crossing the village, at the cellar after the last houses. Mind your manners while you travel to it, though. We may still be inexperienced, but not totally helpless.”
I nervously smiled at him, then proceeded forward
Curious eyes glared at me from inside the buildings. As I reached the middle of the village, the exact point where a few stalkers gathered around a campfire, smoking, singing and telling stories, they all fell silent when I passed by, one of them even stopped hoofing his guitar. All gazes were upon me.
The only one which seemed not to give a fuck was lounging at the wall of a house. From his ochre suit, white gas mask and attitude, he looked like some kind of more experienced stalker, some sort of “caretaker” for the newbies.
Since I had no business with the stalkers, I just ignored the commotion and went directly to the cellar.
Upon opening the heavy metal doors, I stepped inside.
A heavy fragrance of apple cider instantly invaded my nostrils. This basement was used to brew booze. Some of the walls still held some faded and dusty apple paintings. After descending into the cellar, I finally came toward an iron vault door.
On the right side of it, a small camera with a blinking red light spied on me.
After a few minutes, the door’s lock disengaged, wheezed and opened with a thud.
The trader had allowed me in.
Inside, the very same heavy rotten apple atmosphere. A retrofitted sewer grating separated the trader from his customers.
Behind it, a fat brown stallion unicorn, with dirty blond hair and a cracked horn.
The trader didn’t seem to notice my presence, as he was distracted munching some cupcakes lay on a tray in front of him. They looked rather tasty.
“Why are you standing there for, stalker? Come closer. I don’t bite. Unless you have the same sugary filling as these cupcakes”
Then he turned to me, moving his hoofs to the notebook at his right side. (A peg.-ASUS brand machine.)
When he glared at me, I could instantly distinguish his most particular feature: his right eye.
The cornea of it was opened whole, comically. Inside the cornea, red lens moved dazzlingly, stopping for a few seconds, then flipping quickly to another section of the cornea. It was somewhat mesmerizing. This eye was a stark contrast to the left one, a bored light brown eye.
“Ah, a customer… not many come from the swamps these days. I just wish you ponies would wipe your hooves before entering my humble home.”
“Um… hi. You must be the trader. I am kind of looking for somepony and my Limpid Skies buddies told me that you know all the buzz that goes in the Zone…”
“Straight to the business, right stalker? I like it, hahaha. You heard right, young one. I have some good informants, able to dig out crap about any wretched soul that ever crossed the Zone. But where are my manners, stalker? I do not even know your name. since we’re about to deal business, why not introduce ourselves ?”
“Seems fine to me… ok. My name is Boshan Hollowbane, Just came to the Zone three days ago, not much here. I only left the swamp today.”
“Boshan, huh? Interesting name. As for me, I spend so much time down here that everypony call me “The Mole”. Not that I’m complaining, staying underground has it’s benefits, since I just stay here and ripo…uh, trade with travelers instead of risking getting shot by dumb bandits or being bitten by a rabid mutated critter.”
“So, back to the subject, do you know anything about an unicorn named “Searinor”?”
His wicked red eye gazed at me from several positions, until he finally answered.
“I am afraid not… he must have his own personal supplier, or used an intermediate to trade with me. but give me a couple of hours and I’ll get something about him. By the way, how are planning to pay me?”
“Pay?”
“Why, yes. 2 grants of bits”
I just eyed at the trader expressionless…
“Bits? What are those?”
The trader facehoofed
“What the hell? You washed up on the Zone amnesic or something, stalker? Bits are the money you use to buy stuff, these.”
He showed me a pile of bight coins with equine figures and a few bills with mare pictures. Then, he put those away and started to stroke his chin lightly.
“Since you cannot afford the service, Boshan, then can we discuss an alternative payment? I have something else in mind, a little job that needs to be done.”
I came closer, to hear him out better.
“The boys in uniform have been a real pain in my ass lately. They friggin’ blocked off my trade route across the railroad bridge, not letting any stalker come in or out the cordon. As a result, not many customers drop by, or merchandise, for that matter. It will end up killing my profits on the long run.”
“Are you sure of what you’re asking me? There is no way I could kill an entire army of military ponies”
“Don’t rush yourself to conclusions, stalker. No, even if you actually could kill them, I’d ask you not to. You see, the commander of that outpost and I, we have kind of a deal. He loves a bottle of vodka as much as the next pony. In exchange for a few artifacts and quality booze, he brings me a lot of stuff from outside the Zone. It’s a win-win situation. These came from him.” He pointed at the cupcakes.
The trader then opened a drawer, took off a cigar, lighted it and started smoking.
“You see, since cows cannot live long in a mutant-wildlife-infested area, milk is a hard commodity to come by. So, cupcakes, pies, muffins, all of these are indeed a rare treat, much better than those crap-flavored diet sausages. It is a benefit I’d rather not be devoid of, stalker.”
Both of his eyes focused at me
“Instead, I want you to strike a deal with the soldiers. From what I’ve been informed, the reason why they are so hot headed is because somepony stole something from them. Speak with Furpaw outside; he can fill you on the loop of the situation. Complete this assignment and I’ll help you out. Deal?
He offered his hoof. Not seeing much options, I raised my own, brohoofing the unicorn.
“Mole, I have something else…”
I floated the crumpled coupon to him. His crazy eye glanced at it for minutes, then he TK-grabbed it and stashed the coupon on one of the drawers.
“I can credit you 500 bits for this one…”
“What? But you endorsed it for twice this amount!”
“Interest rates, depreciative value, monetary correction. If you don’t like it stalker, then you can take it to another trader.”
As if any other trader would accept a crumpled paper with the name of their competitor on it….
“Fine, show me your wares.”
After a while rummaging at the trader’s overpriced stock, I bought a can of food, five bandages and one hooffull of anti radiation drugs
“While you’re out there, I’ll be digging info, stalker. Take these in case you need to speak to me.” he handed me a piece of paper with numbers. “This is my frequency. If you come across a ham radio, use it at the frequency to speak with me and keep me updated about the assignment. Do me a good job stalker, and I might even let you have a bite at these”
He mused at the cupcakes, and then extinguished his cigar at one of them, laughing.
I turned to leave, inputting his radio frequency at my PDA.
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I couldn’t see Furpaw’s expression, that white gas mask was unfathomable. He was the “Caretaker” I mentioned earlier, a veteran charged of motivating, training and teaching the newbies, also in charge of dealing with outsiders from other factions and whatnot.
“Stalker, if what you told me is right, I believe you’re the only one that can take this job. Come to my office; let’s discuss privately a few details. I’d rather not let them fall upon the ears of the rookies.”
He led me inside one of those ruined houses. His “office” was little more than a room with decayed wallpaper, a bedroll, a few shelves, some tables and a pile of crates.
“Have a seat” He indicated the crates. I took one from the pile, placed it before the loner and sat on it.
“Boshan, right ?” I nodded. “Here’s the truth. One of the stalkers had the audacity to steal from the army, possibly he had help to lug his loot around, but anyways, bottom line is that one stalker stole the soldier’s monthly shipment of sidearm ammunition. Four hundred pistol rounds were diverted from their supplies.”
“And now the soldiers do not have bullets to fill their pistols? Oh my, what a tragedy…. now they can only count on rifle rounds to hurt bandits…”
“Great, just what I needed. Another smartass unicorn, as if the Mole wasn’t enough. This may surprise you, stalker, but the army does not grow ammo on trees. Without using sidearms , they are quickly wasting all their rifle rounds on any hostile, especially mutants. If they keep it up, they’ll end up without any pretty soon. Not that I have love for those sons of a bitches, but they locked us up. Nopony leaves the cordon unless they get their shipment back. And what is worse, they have been accosting my stalkers and laying waste to them in order to rob their ammo.”
The mare on the whirlgig sprouted to my mind.
“But the cordon is huge… where do I even start?”
“First off, do not tell any stalker about the situation. If they know about it, they will just blame each other and turn themselves to the military, or even start shooting each other, hoping to find the culprit. Hell, we are lucky that the Mole lives nearby, and is friends with their commander, or the soldiers would even raid the village. Now, as to where you begin, I deducted a few things about the theft…”
He took a notepad from his pocked, then flipped the pages, searching for a particular entry.
“Ah, here it is. Whosoever stole the shipment knew exactly what they did. It wasn’t a rookie, since most of them do not even know how to reload a pistol properly, let alone steal a huge crate of ammo right beneath the army’s nose. It also wasn’t the bandits work. They are too rough and messy; it is not their style to be stealthy. No. somepony knew what he did there, he probably knew the topography and took time studying the military’s delivery schedules, and also had the mad skillz to snatch the crate silently. I can only think that it was the work of a veteran stalker, or more than one.”
He put away the notepad, and opened a map.
“Here, across the railroad bridge there is a stalker camp. Once you reach it, talk to their “leader”, Jinglepocket, about any stalkers that crossed the railroad bridge lately. Then I’ll be able to thin down my suspect list.”
“Aren’t the military blocking the bridge passage right this moment?”
“There is another way, stalker.”
He pointed to an area east to the bridge passage
“My scouts report that there is a tunnel here leading to the other side, stalker. However, it is a one-way. You’ll understand once you reach it. Also, you might want to avoid the road, since the military is patrolling it nonstop after their crate. Hope you can handle yourself against the mutants and anomalies that sprout on the woodlands.”
I gazed at the sky outside. It was deep black now.
“Of course, you should wait until tomorrow. The mutants are especially active during nighttime. This fact combined with your lack of night-vision technology means that going out there on the dark is the quickest way toward a coffin.”
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Bang Bang Bang….
Yip Yip Yip
Stupid dogs… traveling off-road has proven to be unnerving. Stumbling into those coward dogs or even other braver mutant was common. However, it was more survivable fighting them than a group of soldiers.
After some walking, I finally reached a building. An abandoned factory.
Studying my map, this meant that the railroad bridge was close by. Luckily, I could hide myself from the soldiers on the factory and spy on them from afar, in order to predict their moves and program myself.
BEEP BEEP BEEP….
Of course… a factory filled with anomalies. Just my luck.
BEEP BEEP BEEP….
Well, on the bright side, whenever there are anomalies… there could be artifacts as well. Could be a good opportunity to fill my wallet. And plus, oversee the military activities.
I entered the rusted structure. Like everything else on the Zone, it was long left abandoned and just stood as a rotting scar on the landscape.
BEEP BEEP BEEP….
Twoosh
I kept tossing the bolts at the springboard anomalies. The very same ones that I found at my first day on the Zone. Looks like it was a fairly common sight.
After probing the main floor for a while, I devised a way toward the stairs.
Carefully crossing the dirt floor, I was almost reaching it, when a metallic sound interrupted my focus.
CREAAKKK
Nervously, I lifted the AK, glancing the area.
Squeak Squeak Squeak.
A small naked rodent ran through the floor, squealing frantically.
Goddamn critters…
The stair led me to a catwalk section of the factory, built to allow maintenance for the machines.
One of the catwalks ended on an “L” corner. On the corner, by the wall, laid a cadaver.
Definitely a bandit, by his ragged black jacket. The pegasus was decomposing oddly, probably an effect of radiation, as most of his meat still hanged on the skeleton.
Squee ! Squeeee.
Two of those jerboas were feasting on the cadaver’s entrails. A few steps from them, the bodies of two other jerboas, with several tiny bite marks. The ones which lost the fight for food.
SqueakSqueakSqueak.
When I approached the bandit, the diminutive mammals ran off. Examining him closer, a burn on his left hoof was discernible.
Some steps further into the catwalk, the reason for it. A burner anomaly. Sprouting on the middle of it, an artifact, encased by the ferruginous mist that I was sure would envelop in flames anything that crossed it.
I tried my TK at the artifact. No use. It was thoroughly sucked by the biomagical vortex of the anomaly. The only way to move it, would be to do so physically.
Eyeing around the factory, I moved a metal tube, trying to nudge the artifact toward me.
As I poked it into the mist, the metal glowed red. I pushed it further, touching the artifact.
The tube instantly melted upon touching it. But then, how did the bandit…?
I tried poking at it again, this time using one of the dead jerboas. The critter’s skin immediately caught on fire upon entering the mist. But when it touched the artifact, nothing happened. The jerboa kept burning at the same speed as before. Someway, the core of the artifact-ridden anomaly only instantly melted artificial matter.
My focus kept firm as I tried to push the artifact by using the jerboa, but to no avail. It simply did not budge from the spot it was, even after I tried placing the jerboa in its place.
SQUEAAKKK !!!
Ok, one last try.
I enveloped the jerboa scurrying through the floor with my TK, and pushed him toward the burner.
FWOOSH ! SQUEAAA.SQUEAA
The mammal cried in agony as it was burned alive. It could still face its destiny, the core of the anomaly. I tilted him and shoved it directly at the stone. The artifact left the core of the anomaly, dropping on the ground. Only to be replaced by a scorching entity that someday was a jerboa.
I picked the stone from the ground, letting my magic let go of the mutant.
It was a bright red round stone. When my hoof picked it up, it emitted some heat. Not the damaging kind of heat found on a burner, but instead, soft warmth. My Geiger counter indicated no signs of radiation in it. I just tossed it at the saddlebag.
Looking at the way back, the other section of catwalks led to another set of stairs, this time, leading to the roof.
I spared one last glance at the burner. The jerboa was now coated with a whitish solution. The anomaly was probably producing another artifact from it… fascinating.
After glancing off one of the “marvels” of the Zone and crossing to another stair further above, the wind caught my mane as I ended up on the roof.
The view from up there was rather decent. Could see the village, the border outpost, and the railway bridge itself.
I raised the AK to use the scope, thought it, I spotted the military at the railway bridge checkpoint exchanging gunfire with a group of bandits. Great, If only these two groups could kill each other, my task would be much easier. But the outcome of the fight was rather predictable, since the boys in sage uniform had bigger toys.
Instead of watching the conflict unfold, I scoped at my left, toward west. The direction my map pointed as the location of the tunnel that Furpaw mentioned.
Lush pine forests sprawled from whenever my sight went. This section of the cordon was particularly dense. I guess the best I could do, would be to trust the directions given to me.
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Finally, the tunnel stood a few meters from me. A clearing with a stump and an abandoned van was the only path to it. On the clearing, a huge boar slept lazily.
I considered the option of simply shooting the animal, however, after seeing them charge incredibly fast to catch a prey (almost invariably, a blind dog.) while traveling on the cordon. I believed that a plan wouldn’t do harm.
Then I saw it, sparkling on the ground. I didn’t noticed it before because it was under direct sunlight.
Another anomaly. One that I never saw before. the ground seemed to crackle with blue lightning around it. The boar was quite close to it.
Perhaps, it could work…I thought to myself, as I gravitated a bolt toward it.
I let the bolt go, and at the second the metal touched the anomaly, it expanded.
SWATCH! GROAAA!!
A circular wave of blue lightning hit the boar’s flank. The mutant didn’t move. It was paralyzed.
The chance I needed.
RATTLERATTLERATTLE…
However, I didn’t account for the other two boars that were on the bushes.
GROAAA!!! GROAAA!!!
The beasts dashed at me, covering ground in an alarming speed. I turned away and ran as fast as I could. Still holding the AK, I shot everything behind my back, trying to scare them off.
One of them went away. The other one still chased me. I turned to face the boar, while still running backwards. My back hooves hit a tree. Dammit!”
I frenetically tried to aim the AK properly, but the boar was far too close. He jumped, headbutting me. My barding took most of the damage, but the strength of his strike pushed me. I tried to both regain balance and stabilize the AK, when he charged again.
Only now, to be held by my gun. I used the AK to parry his strike. All my TK was used on forcing the gun’s metallic body on stopping a 250 pounds mutant. Not good for the weapon’s condition.
I quickly loosened the grasp on the AK, only to tighten it again and use the riflebutt to slap the mutant’s face .This dazed him enough to give me time to pick up the pistol and shoot him.
BangBangBang…
Problem solved. Now to the tunnel…
The tunnel was filled with construction debris, empty containers and trash. At the other side of it, I could spot another green field, pretty much the same layout as the cordon.
Furpaw wasn’t joking when he told me it was a one-way. An electro anomaly was traveling by the tunnel, appearing and fading at timed intervals. It started spawning on the start of the tunnel and the middle of it, moving forward progressively. I could sync myself to cross it toward the other side, but there wasn’t any way to get back without getting caught on the anomaly. If it could even stun a boar through its resilient fur, I could imagine what it would do to soft-skinned stalkers.
Ok Boshan… it is not so hard. You can do it… just breathe.
I ran through the tunnel, carefully stopping near the anomaly and waiting for it to vanish, in order to proceed again.
BEEP… BEEP… BEEP
After repeating the procedure a few times, I was apt to cross the tunnel unscratched, unlike some burdened or slow stalkers whose skeletons filled the tunnel.
The other side of the cordon was pretty much similar to the one I just left. Pine forests, upon whose shadows, I was certain that mutants lurked.
Checking the map, the stalker camp was not much far north from my position. Another trek by the pine forest and I’d be there in no…
RATTLERATTLERATTLERATTLE. GROAAA!!
“These pigs are almost as irritating as those pitiful stalkers.”
A military patrol, scouring the woodlands !
The only way to not be caught on their vision field would be to run to the road.
Huge mistake.
The other military soldiers, bunkered at the railway bridge, opened fire at me on the moment I reached open ground.
RATTLERATTLERATTLE.
I was cornered! Couldn’t go back onto the woodlands, neither use the road. On the right side of it, a ravine protuberated.
RATTLERATTLERATTLE.
The bullets whistled near, digging holes through the metal plates of my armor. One of them shaved near my neck. A fillet of warm blood washed my chest.
My judgment was numbed by the overwhelming harmful options, as I dashed to the only seeming not immediate threatening one. The ravine.
I jumped down at it, my body staggering through dirt and sharp rocks, until I finally reached the bottom of the pit.
Apart from heavy abrasions, gunshot wounds and dazedness, I was OK.
Well, not really. But being alive filled as an important requisite toward reaching that state.
I opened the saddlebag and used the bandages up on the wounds. At least, I wasn’t still oozing blood.
The pit I fell at was dark and damp. After I moved a few steps, it also revealed another characteristic.
BEEPBEEPBEEP
Filled with radiation and anomalies. On the bright side, no soldier would follow me down into this deathtrap.
Bolting off the field of springboard anomalies, I slowly moved across the area.
One thing caught my eye. Under one of the anomalies, the body of a unicorn.
I grabbed it using my inherent TK, tripping a few anomalies while bringing him closer.
Once in reach, it was easily identifiable that the cause of death wasn’t the anomalies, but a few bullets to his head. He was probably thrown on the pit afterwards.
Beneath the location that the body were before I moved it, laid a PDA as well. I also brought it to me. Although the glass screen was broken and the fact that it was tossed onto a shockwave-emitting anomaly, it still worked.
After scanning it, I found the diary’s last entry:
“This is it. I am getting rich, finally.
That Ballpoint dude must be crazy to pay 100 bits for each 20 rounds of 9x18mm; some of the boys are saying that he scavenged a minigun from the garbage and is retrofitting ammo for it. Anyway, somepony like me just couldn’t let this opportunity pass.
Confounding those trigger-happy military nutheads was easy. Almost too easy.
Now, what is getting on my nerve is having to haul this goddamn crate through the entire cordon. if I am in luck, they will only find about the theft tomorrow, when I’ll be at the garbage, drinking my commission. Thanks heavens for telekinesis, if I were an earth pony or a pegasus, I’d never could cross that blasted tunnel with the loot, at least, not in one piece.
The only thing that separates me and the booze are a few kilometers of wilderness, it is just a matter of keeping my head down and being quick.”
Well, well, seems like I found the culprit. But no signs of the crate. And the military wouldn’t believe anything a stalker had to say if he didn’t had the stolen ammo. Their orthodox reasoning methods were limited to putting a bullet or ten onto a stalker.
But somepony else had taken the crate, after wasting the unicorn. Since the military were still blocking the cordon, neither them, nor the stalkers had taken it. Only one faction on the cordon remained. I just considerably thinned down Furpaw’s suspect list.
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“Mole, come in. this is Boshan here. I have news about the assignment”
“My favorite stalker…what’s the update?”
“The thief is dead. I found his PDA. But he didn’t had the package on him. I suspect that the bandits took it.”
“He had what he deserved, stupid moneygrubber, and so will the bandits. If you’re up for it, I’ll cash you up some bits on our deal for your medical treatment tab. Think of it as a compensation for dealing with these dregs of society.”
“I fought bandits before, but never a whole group of them by myself.”
“Hmm… yes, I suppose you could use some help. Let me talk to Jinglepocket”
I stepped away from the loners ham radio. It was one of the luxuries of their camp. They had done a nice job onto it, repairing the small cracks of the stables and furnishing it, even included a dormitory and a mess hall.
I smiled to the carnelian earth pony stallion next to the door and mused inside. Jinglepocket was wearing heavy saddlebags, filled with heavens-knows-what. His prowess on trading and diplomacy has earned the respect of his fellow loners, which praised him as their unofficial leader, or so I had been told. He smiled back and picked up the microphone to speak with the trader.
As I waited for him, I went to the mess hall and bought two bottles of vodka from the barman. The money came from selling off the jellyfish. I also used some of it to repair the AK. That fucking boar’s tough head nearly trashed it. By luck, AKs have cheap maintenance cost, being brought in quantity to the Zone due to their popularity.
Now I had roughly 350 bits. I stashed a bottle on the saddlebag, and floated from it one handful of the anti radiation drugs. After I spent the entire morning running through an anomalous field, some radiation built in on my body’s cells.
I opened the bottle of vodka and spilled the meds into it, and then I poured down my throat the mixture. A cocktail of happiness which also cured me of radiation. Why I hadn’t thought of this before?
My PDA’s time was at 1:48. Time for late lunch.
I floated the can of food from the saddlebag. Not bad. I could get used to eating this stuff. The expiration date still hadn’t passed.
Some time after I enjoyed my meal, Jinglepocket appeared. He sat at my table, eyeing the customers around the mess hall.
“Boshan, I discussed thoroughly with the Mole. I cannot order my loners to aid you. With the mutants and the military crossing the cordon, I fear leaving the base defenseless. You understand, don’t you? We need to keep a safe haven for stalkers, and that means defending it and maintaining order into it.”
I just laid my head down. “How I am going to fight off a whole party of bandits, alone? I could as well just turn me over to them to them with a sign saying “shoot me” “
The stallion snickered a bit, and then cleared his throat. “There is an option. Like I said, this base is a haven for stalkers. Any friendly stalker may seek refuge between these walls. I suppose one of them could help you if I ask around.”
Said those words, he lifted and eyed the mess hall.
“Ponies, listen to me. I know many of you seek to live peacefully and just survive out of the Zone’s salvage. But this pony here” he hoofed to me. “Decided to take a stand against those who greedily steal an honest stalker’s loot bag. Bandits, I tell ya. This courageous pony wants to kick them out of the cordon and teach that criminal scum a lesson they will never forget.”
Then, Jinglepocket lowered his voice dramatically.
“But no pony is an island. And bravado alone won’t save us.” He returned to the normal volume. “This is why I ask you, stalkers, to walk the walk, to fight the fight. Raise your voices and fight for your rights, aiding my friend on his righteous mission. Now, is there somepony here brave enough to aid him on this heroic undertaking?”
“Me, me, me, me, me, me”
A silver-eyed deep blue earth pony mare was hopping excitedly, flailing his hooves on the air exquisitely. The most disturbing thing was the red cloud above her head… her mane. It was too big. Like a dense burner cloud, only ten times messier.
“Anypony…?”
“Me, me, me, me, me, me”
Jinglepocket turned to me apologetically “looks like you’re on your own, kiddo.”
The redheaded mare hoofed him.
“I want to help him, jingly! All you trust me to shoot is one or another strider. I am up to the job! Why don’t you listen to me?”
The stallion shrugged. “Lielle, you’re as helpful as a serving of pseudodog dung. Actually, even less. Since it can be used to draw the mutants away, unlike you.”
Then, he seemed to reconsider a bit. “But it’s not my call. Boshan, it’s up to you to decide, but I’d recommend you not to.”
The blue mare’s eyes sparkled at me, as she opened a wide grin. “Can I, mister? Please? I’ve been dying out here for some fun shooting down criminals, but the other stalkers always keep turning down my company.”
Jinglepocked drew a large cough. “I’ll let you two by yourselves. I have some urgent business”
I just confusedly glared at the mare. “Are you sure you want to come along? Fighting bandits is not the same thing as fighting mutants. They are… ponies.”
She shook her head, cluttering the hair even further. “Yes, I am aware. Jingly told us to leave them alone when they were just a nuisance. Now, they have even a whole fortress on the forest, and they keep assaulting lone stalkers. It is about time somepony stood up to them. I know that I may not have all the combat expertise of everypony, but… I want to help. Please, just give me a chance.”
I don’t know if it were her needy eyes, or the fuzzy crimson hair, but I had felt sympathetic for the mare and hell knows, I would pretty well need all the damn help my hooves could reach.
“Fine, I suppose I could use a friendly hoof. Lielle, right?”
She bounced, grinning and squealing. After a while, she stopped the display and eyed me, embarrassed.
“Sorry, I don’t get out much… and yes, my name is Lielle, Lielle Crackgiggle.” She shook my hoof excitedly “Nice to meet you… um…”
“Boshan, Boshan Hollowbane” I shook my head. “Likewise. Now, do you have a shooter?”
She opened her saddlebag and drew a silenced PB1s “Yea, I saved enough to buy plenty of ammo for my little velvet flute” she giggled.
I didn’t get it. Well, leave it be. She stored the pistol back again. “Have you packed all supplies and everything you should need?”
She drew a hood over her head, and what I thought to be impossible, covering all of her hair.
“I am ALWAYS ready. You never know when you’ll need something at hoof on the Zone.” She mused happily.
Then, both of us moved to Jinglepocket’s shop. He just had finished attending a customer.
“So, you choose for her help… heavens protect you, traveler.” He reached a parchment on a shelf behind him and unfolded into the counter. “Following my scout reports, the bandits built a settlement a few hours from here, overlooking the road to the garbage. If we had dealt with them back then… they still are no match for my group of stalkers, but since they must defend this site, we’re at a stalemate, with the bandits slightly turning the scales in their favor by wasting lone stalkers.” He hoofed at a point on the map. “There is their camp. Beware; they spent a long time fortifying it, to the point that they even have a fixed gun.”
“Do you have any idea of how many hostiles we’ll be facing, Jinglepocket?”
“Probably seven or eight, not counting their leader. That one… you should not underestimate him, unicorn.”
I eyed the elder stallion, awaiting his explanation.
“He “rules” the band by sheen fear. Nobody knows from where he came from, but I can state that he is the most evil bandit of the entire Zone. While with all the other crooks you can negotiate or even turn a blind eye to them, this one particular bandit, Kieffer, he is a total psycho. He lived on the Zone for so long, that he lost track of reality. Once in a while, he suffers memory lapses, and when he comes back from them, he cannot remember where he is or who he is, getting to the point of shooting his own acquaintances. The bastard is always armed and dangerous, indifferent about other ponies plight and feared by anypony else who had the misfortune to bump into him.”
“If he is so horrible and have absolutely no friends at all, why the bandits hang out with him?”
“They do not. The bandits have locked him up on a room, and only release him as a “last resort” offensive method. After he Ponyslaghter any attackers, they just drug him off to jail the monster again.”
My blue companion commented at his description. “Sounds like a terrible character. Like a super-meany chicken thief.”
I rolled my eyes. That was a severe understatement.
============================== [><]=============================
“Ohmygosh! You are on a race against time to survive? You know it sounds just like a video-game plot.”
I just kept my gaze at the map. For the last three hours, I had to listen my excessively talkative companion tell the tale of her life. My mind trailed off after the first five minutes, but she didn’t seem to notice. And then it was my turn to tell my tale, as you can imagine, I didn’t spend a quarter of the time she did.
“And you have always been a loner?” I asked distractedly.
“Weren’t you listening? Ever since I came to the Zone. It is strange, I tried to apply to other factions, but they never answered me. I have been forever a loner so far.”
“According to this, they set shop on a clearing up ahead… prepare yourself.” I drew my AK as I said it.
After a few steps, the bandit lair was visible. It was basically a ruined down mill, of which they reinforced with salvaged metal plates from vehicles and cut down pines.
Blocking the main entrance of the compound, a turned down pink truck, with a machine gun mounted atop it. A bandit sentinel lay near it, lazily playing with his knife.
On the front of the truck, a cardboard cutout figure of a purple unicorn mare. From the bullet holes onto it, the bandits had been using it for target practice, and even drawn a pair of mustaches onto the figure, along with a stallion genitalia down below. How lovely.
As to improve their décor, they also hang pony skeletons onto the stony walls of the mill. Probably their unlucky victims.
I could spot at least three bandits roaming outside of the buildings.
I lend the rifle to Lielle, so she could use the scope to see the compound too.
After seeing she awkwardly trying to hoof the weapon, I used the TK to keep it steady for her.
“Look, look… they have hanged skeletons. Once I heard that zebras hanged scary masks as a welcoming sign. What if all these skeletons mean that the bandits are friendly and right now, they are throwing a Halloween party?”
I glanced at my PDA. “Halloween at march?” Then rolled my eyes at my own gullibility. “The odds of they actually being a bunch of loveable partygoers are pretty much the same of striders growing wings.”
She let go an orgasmic glee. “Flying bacon…. MMMMMmmmmm”
Now I understood Jinglepocket’s advice… although a bit too late.
“Just… grab your pistol and sneak up on them. I’ll go by the other side and try to do the same with my knife. With luck, we can take out four or five of them before we are caught, then we can pretty much rifle the survivors down.”
She wore the necklace with the pistol, then mouthed it and nodded her smiling head several times. I only wished she didn’t point that thing at me while doing so.
She went left while I crawled right, toward the mounted machine gun. I crept real close to the wall, the bandit above still oblivious. I floated my knife…
“BOSHAN! I GOT ONE, I GOT ONE!!!”
Dammit Lielle!
Three and a half seconds after her scream, an alarm soared through the compound. In the shock, I dropped the knife. The machine gun sentinel got into position and began gunning down the mare.
BLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAM…
Lielle dived for the trees, but she was pushed by the bullet barrage. She actually got hit by several bullets on her flank. I didn’t know if I was seeing right from that distance or anything, but she didn’t bleed… I wasn’t a doctor, but even that sunrise suit wouldn’t stop the massive bleeding taken by being gunned down by a high-capacity machine gun.
Dumbfounded as I was, and without the knife, I bucked off the truck on a desperate attempt to help Lielle.
CLANKK!!!
The bandit was surprised. He let go the machine gun and mouthed his revolver. Enough time for another buck.
CLANKKK !!!
This time, he lost his balance atop the truck and fell to the dirt. As he tried to stand back up, I drew the AK and shot him off.
RATTLERATTLERATTLE.
I entered the main field of the compound, only to find more opposition.
TCHUKTCHUCKTCHUCK.
BANGBANGBANG.
Three bandits were taking cover behind a forge on the middle of the courtyard, wielding shotguns and a pistol. Several crates were scattered around the ground.
Lielle appeared from an opening onto the fence, vainly shooting her pistol at the bandits.
PLCHUTPLCHUT.
It almost made no sound at all, like a little soft melody. This was the reason she called it “velvet flute”. However, she was oblivious that pistols are rather ineffective at medium and long range.
I used the provided distraction to fire at them.
RATTLERATTLERATTLE
One down, two to go.
Lielle went through the crossfire and sat beside me, panting heavily. I noticed she had several holes at the flank section of her suit, but no bleeding at all.
“Lielle, what the f…”
“Later! Shut up and hand me a medkit, stack!”
I floated my last blue medkit to her. I needed to remember to buy more of those later on.
TCHUKTCHUKTCHUK
BANGBANGBANG
We moved to another cover, closer to the forge, blazing our guns while doing so.
RATTLERATTLERATTLE
PLUCHTPLUCHT
The last bandit ran away to another trio bunkered behind some crates, he tripped at one of the opened crates while doing so, spilling red cylinders on the ground.
Dynamite! The bandits were storing it!
“Lielle ! Shoot the box, the box!”
PLUCHTPLUCHT
BOOOOMMMM !!!
That should teach them not to cover behind explosive-filled containers, had they survived.
The tripping bandit ran away to the mill, screaming like a maniac.
“RELEASE KIEFFER NOW! THEY ARE TOO…”
RATTLERATTLERATTLE…
The sound of a TRs-301 roared inside the dark recesses of the ruined building, as the burst of bullets pierced the bandit’s head off, interrupting his warning.
Then, the gun itself appeared from the darkness, followed by a scarred white unicorn, wearing a well-worn dark trenchcoat.
“DEATH TO THE INTERLOPERS!!! ENEMIES EVERYWHERE” he screamed.
RATTLERATTLERATTLERATTLERATTLERATTLE RATTLERATTLERATTLERATTLERATTLERATTLE
That insane unicorn bulleted nearly everything on his reach. When he finally had to reload, me and my companion tried to fall back. That guy made the ravenous blind dogs I saw two days ago seem like puppies.
On the second he noticed us moving away, he dropped his rifle and TK’d dynamite from the boxes, lighting their fuses and floating them toward us.
I used all of my magic exploding them mid-air before reaching us or tossing them away. But the bastard was starting to toss several lit dynamites at once. I was having a hard time trying to keep it up with him.
BOOOM !!! BOOOOM !!! BOOOOMM !!!
“We are doomed if he keeps this up” I said after a particularly close explosion. “I don’t know how long I can handle it. Lielle, run for your li…”
Nopony except me there. She wasn’t by my side anymore. The earth pony probably ran away on the first opportunity. Well, although she abandoned me to an ill fate, I found solace on the fact that she would live.
The albino unicorn was laughing maniacally, cracking crates open and floating more dynamite cylinders from them
RATTLERATTLERATTLERATTLE…
I tried firing at the dynamite while he was moving them, but for each one I exploded, he brought two more!
BOOOOMM BOOOOMMM BOOOMM
One of the explosives fell directly at my feet.
I only had two seconds to look idly at it.
BOOOOM
The impact threw me on the outer wall of the compound. I couldn’t move a muscle. My hooves, my horn, all aching pain.
Kieffer quickly stepped in, smelling a fallen prey. He was standing over me, his butterfly knife drawn.
“I love an up-close personal kill, breathe my victim’s desper…”
BLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAM…
His body was struck by several bullets, while his face froze forever on an expression that mixed sadistic pleasure and confusion.
“Yay. That’s right, chicken thief! Your crimes didn’t go unpunished!” Lielle yelled atop the pink truck, the smoking mounted machinegun close to her.
With her help, I stood up again. after I was feeling a bit better, we explored the mill a bit. The ammo crate must be somewhere.
On the compound, material for creating dynamite. The bandits were mass-producing the stuff for some reason. As I exanimate the forge, I found some metal scraps, forged specifically to crack locks open. Skeleton keys. I grabbed the three of them. I also picked up Kieffer’s TRs. The weapon was very powerful and dangerous, indeed. But close examination told me that its owner frequently did small repairs to the highly unreliable gun, all that time locked up and nothing else to do… I could see that without that special treatment, this particular weapon’s condition would fall pretty quick. Nevertheless, instead of replacing my AK with it, I stashed the TR to sell it later. I also recovered my trusty knife, standing lonely on the cold ground.
Then I went to explore inside the mill. Lielle was busy thoroughly looting the bandit’s bodies and opening every crate to spy on its contents. She ended up with a pile of meds, foodstuffs and bullets.
I used my TK to light a torch on the forge to illuminate the dark building. On the main floor, a stairway to above and a huge opened metal door. Kieffer’s room.
As I predicted, it was filled with materials for weapon repairing. On the ceiling, a hole covered by a black blanket. This was probably the way that the other bandits devised to feed him without having direct contact with Kieffer.
The walls were thoroughly clawed and painted with coal. The bandit “leader” liked to exercise the fine art of drawing violent scenes, with an especially gory one of a pegasus munching a pile of brains being his “masterpiece”.
My stomach revolved at the sight, and I looked around for someplace to sit… then I found it. The crate of ammo. It was still intact and marked with the military crest. The bandits descended it with a rope, as a “gift” to Kieffer.
I floated it out to the main hall and dropped by it while I climbed upside.
There, I found a makeshift office. On the table, several notes and files that confirmed that the bandits had been selling dynamite to representatives from the garbage.
“So, something interesting here?”
The blue pony started to poke around every corner of the room, eventually finding a lockbox. She then drew some bobby pins from her hair and started working on the lock.
“Don’t worry; I know exactly what I am doing.”
In five minutes, she broke twelve pins. However, Lielle was still adamant on prying it open.
I floated one of the skeleton keys and handed over to her.
“Here, try with this.”
“Yea right, as if it would work simple as…” Click !
She widened her eyes. “OHMYOHMY…!”
Then, after opening the lid, her face was one of dire disappointment.
“Artifacts ? artifacts ? why the hell would somepony use this nicely ornamented box to store artifacts ? why can’t I find some muffins or banana bread ? bandits have no sense of value at all…” She tossed the two artifacts to me, a red mishap thingy and a crystallized ball with spikes.
“Are you sure you don’t want them, Lielle? I mean, they should be worth…”
“Yes, I am sure. I have no use for them. Although this is a rather nice lockbox… I will keep it.”
I shrugged and levitated both artifacts to my saddlebags
============================== [><]=============================
“And when I shot at the crates, they’ve blown up! And then, they blew up again!”
Jinglepocket was rather amused at the redheaded pony’s boasting. At first he was incredulous, but after I showed him the crate of ammo, all his doubts waned.
My face was deep under a plate filled of smoked sausages; the burner was bought with the nice money that the two artifacts and Kieffer’s rifle yielded. I also bought a few medkits.
“I should talk to the Mole about our success.”
Jinglepocket countered. “Let me do it, Bosh. It is the least I could do, since the bandits won’t be a problem for a while. Also, leave the crate to me. I’ll strike a deal with the military, but it will take a while to do so. Probably around two or three hours until we can reach terms of agreement and the railroad bridge is opened again.”
Lielle made an irksome face. “TWO or THREE hours? That’s an eternity… what are we supposed to do, just wait here? I had enough of standing around.”
Jinglepocket gave us a wry smile. “If you must… then I have a little breadcrumb mission for stalkers.”
The mare’s smile widened. “It is about rampaging bloodsuckers ? Or recovering an ultra-rare-one-of-a-kind artifact? Or bringing a sample of lunar soil? Oh, oh… I know… you want us to bake a boar liver pie!”
The stallion muffled his laughter and said “although I am aware that these are some really nice options, the mission I have to offer is somewhat less extreme. It is simple, really. After the bandits overtook most of the garbage, anypony wanting to go deeper onto the Zone needed to deal with them someway. But my stalkers have found a tunnel to the dark valley, and that increased our cartographic options. It is the railroad east tunnel, and we had been using it for quite a while. Until after the last blowout, that’s when a strange anomaly appeared on the surroundings of the tunnel. What I need you guys to do is map a secure route into the tunnel for us.”
“Just this, draw a dumb map? I can’t believe you’re paying us to do this.” My companion scoffed
“The challenge of it isn’t much about drawing the map, but surviving the anomaly. Had it been easy, my stalkers would had done it some time ago”
I looked at my companion. She simply told: “are you up for it, Boshie?”
I smiled at her. “Let’s take it.”
“Great. Take this parchment and quill for the quest, meet me when the job is done. So, my friends, I guess I’ll leave you to finish your meal.” Jinglepocket said.
As I eyed him trotting back to his stall, I remembered something.
“Lielle, do you mind if I ask you a personal question?”
The blue pony’s eyes widened with curiosity, and she blushed a bit.
“No, not at all…”
“I couldn’t help but notice, that you bore being shot by a 300 bullet/min machinegun and also crossed the gunfire breakout between the bandits…”
“So what? Half of all the people on this room did the same at some point of their lives…”
My patience dwindled quickly…
“BUT YOU DIDN’T EVEN FREAKIN’ BLEED, HOW IS THAT EVEN LOGICALLY POSSIBLE?”
She just laughed at my rage.
“Look a bit closer…”
I looked at her bullet wounds. Yes, she had several holes on her sunrise suit, but the strangest thing is that the blood remained in the surface of the wound, as if an invisible barrier held it.
“Are you even a pony?”
She laughed again.
“Silly… my glass boulder does it, not me.”
With those words, she opened her belt pack and removed a stone from it, it was transparent. An artifact.
“They call it mica, silly name. It stops all kinds of bleeding. It is really nice because I save a lot on bandages.”
I sat there speechless… an artifact could be this powerful?
“Hey, wanna see something really cool?” She smirked
Without waiting for my answer, Lielle drew the artifact away from her and instantly her wounds begun to sprinkle loads of blood onto the air. Then she moved the artifact close to her again and the bleeding stopped.
It was mind-blowing!
Then, she did the same operation again, several times on a quick succession. Drops of blood quickly tinged everything on a two meter radius, she looked like a broken fountain, sprinkling blood and stopping. On an entire unrelated note, six stalkers sitting near us suddenly lost their appetite.
After a while, she stopped it. Lielle was rather dazed, due to having spent around two liters of blood.
“Pretty neat, right? My record is 63 times before fainting from blood loss.”
I ordered vodka. I guess I deserved one after putting up with being washed by red globules.
============================== [><]=============================
“Are we there yet?”
“You asked five minutes ago…”
“And?”
“No, we are not. Do you see any tunnel?”
We had been following the railroad trail an hour; the mountains blocked our access to the south of the cordon.
After a sharp turn on the railroad, the tunnel was visible. All around it, a rather large patch of green moss. It was sicker than the cordon’s vegetation, several vines and roots were exposed and even four or five weird fruit-filled trees. Bodies were also decomposing onto the vegetation. Not a good sign.
I approached the patch and drew a bolt. I tossed it and it landed onto the moss. Nothing happened.
I threw four more for good measure. Still nothing. My Geiger counter was also quiet.
Whenever… I entered the patch, holding the quill and parchment that Jinglepocket gave us. I was going to draw the map, since if I let Lielle do it, she’d probably draw it upside down, make it a 1:1 scale map or even draw the equestrian globe and point a tiny spot – there - , as the path that we were asked to draw. And also because she was an earth pony, unable to use telekinesis. So, she just followed me.
Tchklink…
“OW! Why did you do that?”
“Do what?”
“Don’t feign innocence. You threw a bolt on me.”
“I did not. You should look at where you’re going, Bosh”
I was completely sure that she did it, but more important matters were at hand…
Tchklink…
“AUCH! You are the one tossing bolts, you telekinesis-yielding bully!”
“I couldn’t do it. I am holding the parchment and quill already. You are just trying to make me feel sorry for you, in the hopes I forget about the bolt YOU threw on me.”
“I do not have any bolts at all, smartass.”
“Come and say that to my face, you backstabbing bolt-throwing mare”
She lifted her front hooves, ready to move, and then fell on the ground.
“My backhooves, I am trapped!”
Roots entangled the earth pony’s backhooves, holding her tightly.
Before I could do any gesture to help her, a bark-encased limb ripped off the map from my telekinetic field.
The tree… IT WAS ALIVE!
The trunk morphed into an evil face, as the braches quickly removed apples from each other and tossed them at me.
Doesn’t look so bad, right? But these apples were filled with several spiky spores, released when the fruit shattered.
The evil creature caught me on surprise and shattered one of the fruits on my back. It instantly begun to pinch, then the feeling grew to outright pain. I rolled on the moss in a desperate attempt to put off the spores.
A terrible idea, since the roots also came to life and tried to entangle me. I quickly bucked them off and rushed to Lielle, the other three trees came to life as well, and started tossing spore-filled fruits at us too.
I drew my knife, using it to free the mare from the roots.
Then, I levitated my AK.
RATTLERATTLERATTLERATTLE…
The monsters simply used their branches to defend themselves, and the few bullets that crossed them looked like mere filly scratches on the tough bark.
Lielle also drew her silenced pistol, shooting the tress to no avail.
Plucht plucht…
One of the braches near the silver-eyed mare tried to claw her head off, but she noticed quick enough to duck. The tree, however, had taken her pistol off.
With the firearm on its braches, the monster used another branch to pick up a rock and beat the hell out of the “velvet flute”. After a few minutes of beatings, the weapon was trashed.
“YOU MEANIE! IF I EVER FIND YOUR PARENTS, I AM GOING TO TRIM THEM REAL GOOD!”
RATTLERATTLERATTLERATTLE…
I emptied two or three clips, but the tree wasn’t even barely damaged! How the heck I am going to fight these things?
“BOSHAN, STOP SCREWING AROUND! CUT THEIR LIMBS OFF, GO FOR THE BRANCHES!”
Go for… how could I be so stupid not to think of this before? I dropped my AK onto the mud and grabbed my knife, floating it to the tree’s bark-coated appendages. In a few moments, I cut off all of the branches from the tree. After I did it, it just stood there immobile, making silly faces.
Then, I did the same to the other trees. Now that they couldn’t hurl anything at all, they seemed pretty harmless.
I even carved some arrows pointing to the tunnel on their bark, just for the sadistic pleasure of seeing their pain-impregnated faces as I did so.
“So, the mystery is solved. I guess some gasoline and matches could finish with the trunks and prevent them from growing more branches…”
My phrase was cut dead when I saw Lielle moaning over the broken weapon.
It was smashed beyond repair. I didn’t really know why she had given such an importance to a cheap pistol…
“My poor little velvet flute… may you rest in peace”
She dug a hole onto the patch and buried the gun.
“Aren’t we feeling a bit too dramatic today?” I remarked
“It was a gift from a dear friend”
Me and my stupid mouth… I turned away and finished drawing the safe route to the tunnel. Now it was quite easy, really. The only thing to avoid were the constraining roots.
Our way back to the stalker camp was filled with silence. I had to cut the ice.
“Sorry about it, Lielle… I didn’t know”
“It is okay, Boshan. It wasn’t your fault. It is just the velvet flute reminded me about the joy of sharing gifts and everything.”
I pondered at her phrase. Sharing… it is indeed an almost unheard thing on the Zone.
Then, I stopped on my tracks. “Since you need a gun and everything, I guess there is no harm if I give you one as a gift.”
The mare quickly refused. “Oh no, Boshan, I could never accept your AK, it is your personal weapon…”
I drew another weapon from my saddlebags. The throat needler. It was the only weapon I had (aside from the pistol and knife) that could be yielded by anypony who were not a unicorn without the need for a harness mechanism.
“What is this?”
“Well… it is a stakethrower, yes. It fires railroad spikes. See this lever up here? You can use it to shoot. No trigger at all.”
“Where did you even got a weapon like this?”
“A friend of mine did it, long story, but it didn’t really suit me.”
She was still suspicious. I put my best impression.
“This weapon fires stakes, it ties limbs to the wall, but wait, it does more…”
Her eyes widened. “More? What do you mean by more?”
I gave my most charismatic smile and said:
“Find it out by yourself”
She joyfully took the weapon and pushed the lever.
Choooo!
A stake hit the rocky wall of the mountain
“It sounds like a locomotive! OHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSH. Thankyou!!!”
She smiled profusely.
“I am calling it ChooChoo !!!”
============================== [><]=============================
“Safe and sound, I see, and with a friend…”
That apple-scented atmosphere still nauseated me. We were lucky of being able to reach the rookie village within daylight, after stopping at the stalker camp to redeem our reward. Thankfully, my funds were now enough for an extended raid deeper onto the Zone.
“Well, you held your end of the deal, stalker, and so should I.”
The brown unicorn laid some paper money onto the counter. Exactly 500 bits. I figured that it would be useless to argue with the Mole, and that I was actually fortunate that he was paying me at all…
“About your buddy, I heard that the bandits at the garbage dug up a PDA with his name on it. If you want to know about the whereabouts of this Searinor, your best bet is to deal with the crooks.”
“Hey, what is this?”
My companion was pushing her hoof onto the Mole’s crazy eye, coming closer and closer…
“Stop it! It is very very frail, it is a magic eye. Costs more than an upgraded SVD”
“You were born with only one eye?”
The trader was starting to get irritated with the blue pony.
“No, my natural eye was shot off. A stupid customer… let’s just say that he won’t be buying anything… ever again. As a result, I had to save loads of bits to buy this half-assed replacement”
“Why you didn’t buy another one to be symmetrical? This way it is just really weird, you look like a zombie”
“Get out, OUT! Take that foulmouthed pony with you, unicorn. One more minute and I am going to lose it.”
As we climbed the stairs back up to the surface, the trader’s last words echoed on the chamber.
“Good ponyhuntin’ stalker”
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PDA entry:
The zone encyclopedia
#/filefolder- bestiary
#/filenam – Treant
#/filedescript – Thought by many to be a drunken stalker tale, treants are described as trees corrupted by the Zone’s influence, infused with mutative characteristics that enabled them to be “aware” of their surroundings and even mimic some degree of intelligence, but not enough to develop the capacity of speech. Like almost any wildlife creature of the Zone, treants are regarded as a very dangerous threat, counting with several formidable abilities, such as a very tough bark, sharp branches capable of throwing projectiles and the capacity to seem a normal tree to trick stalkers and slash them with their branches. Treants reproduce through spores found on their fruits. The most important thing when facing one of them is that conventional firearms are highly ineffective against their natural armor. It is advised to use flame-throwing firearms or explosives to deal with the creatures. Like normal trees, treants cannot move, so running away is also an effective strategy.
My Little Pony, Friendship is Magic Intellectual propriety belongs to Hasbro
All S.T.A.L.K.E.R. installments Intellectual propriety belongs to GSC game world
I do not own, neither lay claim to the intellectual properties that this fan-fiction is based on. This work was made entirely for entertainment and appreciation, and should not be distributed for profit
This is a My little pony : FiM fan fiction Made by Hoghound.