//------------------------------//
// 4. Journey 
// Story: PONYSHKA 
// by Reviewfilly 
//------------------------------//

Even during quiet periods navigating the Zone was never a truly calm experience. Just because one was lucky enough to avoid the raiders and mutants that roamed the wasteland, the threat of almost-imperceptible anomalies continued to constantly hang in the air.

If you were lucky, stepping into one merely meant a minor inconvenience. Perhaps your skin changed color or you grew a third ear or perhaps you suddenly started speaking a different language; debilitating, but at least you walked away alive. More often than not, however, the effects were gruesome and violent, leaving nothing to bury after an anomaly-struck stalker.

As few could afford the already dubiously-effective devices which were supposedly capable of detecting these hot zones, most instead simply opted to rely on their eyes alone and throw nails, screws, or whatever small objects they could find into the direction of suspected disturbances.

For this very reason all three men had one of their pockets full of various rubble and tiny pieces of scrap metal and rocks, but oddly enough even though they had been walking for quite some time, they couldn’t spot a single anomaly nearby. They still occasionally threw a pebble or two in front of themselves, just to be safe, but there truly wasn’t anything out of the ordinary around them.

Everything seemed almost normal as the faint yellow moonlight fell upon them, which in the Zone was anything but that.

The eerie quiet was only broken by the rhythmic thumping of the men’s boots and the soft clip-clops of their odd companion. The team made its way around the serpentine streets between decrepit warehouses and rotting factories. Even the animals, the few birds and scavengers that eked out an existence in the harsh environment of the Zone, seemed to have fallen completely silent.

Eventually Mir stopped in front of one of the warehouses.

“It’s this one,” she said. “I feel the presence from inside.”

Maxim surveyed the building. He couldn’t spot anything unusual about it. Its weathered concrete columns had become almost black from the frequent rainstorms. Most of its windows were broken and great chunks of their glass panes had fallen out, the shards of which glistened as they laid haphazardly over the ground nearby. A massive corroded Red Star hung on its front, leaning dangerously outwards, held only by its loosened screws.

The warehouse’s great double doors hung ajar and the faint glow of light could be seen from inside. Someone must have set up camp inside, Maxim thought. Sergei seemed to have the same thought as he silently pointed towards the door and then to his weapon. Mir cast a fearful glance at the men and pulled her tail under her belly.

“Don’t worry, we’ll protect you,” Maxim leaned down and whispered into her ear. “Just stay behind us.” She gave him an uncertain nod in response.

The group slowly moved inside the building. They found themselves in a dim corridor, only vaguely illuminated by the lights emanating from deeper inside. Faded orange papers clung to the sides of the walls, printed full of warnings and instructions. The stalkers paid them no heed. Their eyes were focused firmly of another set of metal doors that most likely led to the main atrium.

As they slowly approached the door and backed up against it, the barely audible sounds of muffled speech and harsh laughter could be heard from the other side. Aleksei thought back to his step-mother as he held his weapon tighter. Sergei mumbled a quiet prayer and asked his grandparents to watch over him. Maxim stepped to the pony and petted her, which she reciprocated by nuzzling her muzzle into his hand.

The word “diplomacy” was rarely known in the Zone, especially when one came in possession of something as valuable or unique as Mir was.

“You stay here,” Sergei told Mir quietly. “Follow us when we tell you to.” She took a step back, sitting on her haunches.

“Please be careful,” she whispered as she pulled in her neck, with worry written all over her face.

Sergei, however, had already turned back towards the door and held up three of his fingers again. He counted back. The moment he reached zero, he kicked in the door and ran inside with the others.

The hall inside was filled by rows of crates and gutted vehicles, with a wide corridor in the middle allowing movement between them. In the middle five men wearing dirty military uniforms sat around a haphazard campfire fueled by old furniture and planks of wood. Two of them were silently smoking cigarettes while the one sitting in the middle had a dirty rug in his hand which he used to polish his rifle. The last two were engaged in a loud conversation about something when the three stalkers burst through the door.

“Raise your fucking hands!” Sergei screamed.

Four of the five men immediately complied and dropped whatever they had in their hands, raising them in shock. The fifth, however, who was closest to a box dove behind it, disappearing out of sight.

“Brother, what’s this all about? We’ve got nothing to do with you,” the man with the rifle in his lap spoke calmly. Based on his slightly less unkempt appearance and unfazed demeanor, he was probably the leader of the group. He began to lower his hand to get up, but Sergei shot into the ground in front of him.

“Stay,” he growled and the man gulped and slowly raised his hands back again.

“Okay, brother, I understand. Let’s not be too hasty and talk this out, yes?” he spoke in a reassuring, but clearly anxious voice. “What do you want? We hardly even have enough for ourselves. The best I can offer is a few rations of food or a couple of rubles.” His shoulders dropped slightly as he realized neither of his offers seemed to entice Sergei in the least. “Or there is also an anomaly here at the other end of the hall. We called dibs on it, but if you want you can have that!”

“First you will call your man back, then we can talk.”

The man slowly nodded and turned his face towards the box.”Very well. Josif,” he said quietly. The others looked in the same direction, but didn’t say a word. “Listen to him and come out. Don’t do anything stupid.”