//------------------------------// // Chapter 6: Mad World // Story: See the Zone and Survive // by RoadRunneR //------------------------------// Chapter 7 Mad World “Hawaiian, I need ammo,” I said coldly. “Lots of it.” The trader raised his gaze to me and backed off, wide eyed. “A-anything you want. It’s on t-the house.” I snatched a few boxes of 9mm JHP and a few magazines for my SVU without a word, turned around and headed to the technician’s. “Cardan. Have you finished yet?” I asked. “Wait a minute, I’m almost done,” he mumbled. I grunted. He raised his gaze at me. “I mean, Y-yes, of course. I was just tuning it,” he stuttered, handing me the guns. I attached the suppressor to the 1911 and loaded it. After checking it for any malfunction, put it in its holster on my chest. I checked my modified Beretta pistol before I holstered it on my right thigh and grabbed my SVU, loaded it, checked its action and slung it over my shoulder. I put as much ammo and magazines as I could in the pouches of my vest. My firearms ready, I checked my knife: its long polymer blade engraved with the words 'Воин Монолита' - Voin Monolita, Warrior of the Monolith - was as sharp as ever. I put it in its sheath and counted my supplies. I was ready to kill. I slowly stood up, donned my helmet and walked through the exit, slamming both doors open. There were voices. I could hear Hawaiian talking. Am I in Yanov Station? I opened my eyes, only to close them immediately as the light from the ceiling blinded me. After a while, I slowly reopened them and slowly sat up, scratching my beard. I looked around and winced as a dull pain spread all along my back. I was indeed on the couch in the infirmary of Yanov Station. Damn I feel like shit. The medic seemed to notice I was awake. His eyes widened. “You shouldn’t be awake yet! How is this possible?” he asked. “Not the first time I’ve been told that,” I deadpanned. “Who are you and how long was I out?” “Ah, where are my manners? Name’s Bonesetter, I’m the medic here. You’ve been brought here unconscious about an hour ago. I managed to save you with the help of a friend of yours. What’s your name?” “Vano,” I said, offering a hand. The medic smiled and shook my hand. “Nice to meet you, although I wished it was in other circumstances.” I groaned and rubbed my temples. “Why? What happened exactly? I can’t remember.” “Well, you told the guy who brought you here -Strider if I remember right- that ‘the Bandits have her’, as if they had kidnapped one of your friends.” I shot up. “They have her? Where is Strider? We have to-” “Calm down now. You’re not in condition to go anywhere,” firmly said the medic, forcing me back on the couch. “Besides, your friend immediately left after learning the news. At first he had a bit of a mental breakdown. He-” “Wait. Strider? Mental breakdown?” I asked, dubious. “Well he did look like he was going to faint... after that, he changed. I’ve never seen such a radical change in one’s behaviour. At first he was leaning against the wall, almost crying... then something snapped in him. I felt it. The man was literally emitting such an aura of anger and hatred I instantly felt in danger around him, even if it wasn’t directed towards me,” said the medic, suppressing a shiver. I scratched my beard. “Strange. That's not the Strider I know. Mental breakdown?... weird.” The medic sighed. “I don’t know. How is it so unlike him?" he asked. "Emotional balance," I began. "The sniper must be able to calmly and deliberately kill targets that may not pose an immediate threat to him. It is much easier to kill in self-defense or in the defense of others than it is to kill without apparent provocation. The sniper must not be susceptible to emotions such as anger, anxiety or remorse," I explained. "Sounds like something out of a field training manual," said Bonesetter, raising an eyebrow. "That's because it is," I replied. "And Strider is a trained sniper and ex-Monol -forget I said that." The medic shrugged. "You know him better than I do. I’m just glad he’s gone now,” he replied, suppressing another shiver. “Concerning your equipment... you only had your armor and a few things on you when you've been brought here,” he added, pointing to a table behind him. “If they hurt Natascha... they’ll wish they’d never been born,” I muttered. “Who’s Natascha? The one the bandits kidnapped?” “My gun.” Without adding anything, I went to the table. My PDA was there and in one piece, meaning I still had all my money: I never liked using cash. My SEVA suit was completely destroyed however, and all the rest of my gear was missing. I shrugged. “Oh well. Now I know what to do with all my money.” The medic looked at me, shocked. “You’re not worried about your friends?” I smirked. “Nah. You said Strider went after the bandits, right? I would be more worried for them if I were you.” I kept walking, slowly but surely. My destination? The old checkpoint: according to Snag, a lot of bandits like to hang out by this vestige of the soviet era; it is a strategic position or something like that. So, what is the plan? ... I need information. As much as this checkpoint is well placed, it is not an easily defendable place. Too many points of entry, not a good place to keep a prisoner... guess I’ll ‘ask’ questions. I was pulled from my thoughts by a beeping, courtesy of the thermal scanner in my helmet. It detected a lot of activity ahead, about thirty thermal signatures. I stopped, assessing the situation. If I walk in, they might attack me. A lone stalker is an easy prey... what am I thinking? Me? An easy prey? I smirked under my helmet and chuckled darkly. Guess I am walking in. I unslung my SVU from my back and I casually approached the checkpoint. A lot of bandits were patrolling around on the ground or on catwalks. There was three buildings: two on the left a big one on the right, guarded by a bandit. Their leader must be in there. Soon enough, the sentinels noticed me. Surprisingly, none of the bandits opened fire. I shrugged and proceeded. The guard at the entrance of the small building blocked me. “Stop! Where do you think you’re going?” he asked. Time to bluff. I took off my helmet and locked my gaze with his. “Let me through, I have got business to discuss with Jack,” I deadpanned. “Come on in then. To your right, then on the far left,” he said, stepping aside. "And holster that shooter." I nodded. What a moron. I holstered my sniper rifle, entered the building and took a right turn to a corridor. At the end of it on the left, a door was opened. I walked to it and entered the room. A few pieces of furniture were disposed along the walls, various tools scattered on them and an armed bandit was standing on the far side of the room. Jack was on the other side, to my left, sitting on a chair behind a desk, wearing a long leather jacket. The bandit leader raised his gaze to me. “Well, well, well... what do we have here?” he asked, a smirk on his face. “Who are you and why are you here?” he asked, presenting me a chair in front of his desk. I put my hands on his desk. “Names are for friends, so I don’t need one,” I replied. “I am here to... negotiate.” Jack looked at me curiously. “Negociate, heh? About what exactly?” he asked. “I know for a fact that you and your men have captured a friend of mine. I want her back,” I firmly said. My interlocutor seemed to be confused for a moment but his expression changed for half a second. He knows. “Doesn’t ring any bells. Now piss off, else I’ll blow your head off," he threatened. Without a word I slowly turned around. I heard Jack stifle a laugh. I froze and snorted. That’s it. I suddenly pulled out one of my suppressed M1911 and shot the guard behind me twice in the chest before he could do anything. He instantly dropped his M16 and fell to the ground, dead. Seeing this Jack stood up and tried to raise his shotgun, only to be met by the muzzle of my silenced pistol. “I do not think so,” I calmly said. Apparently, the Bandits outside had heard the commotion, as I heard the guard outside tapping on the wall. "Boss, you okay?" I ignored him and turned my attention back to Jack. “Sit down,” I added, before disarming the bandit and tying him to his chair. He laughed. “You think you have a chance? Look at you, only a pistol. I have thirty five men out there, waiting for you!” “Thanks for the headcount,” I said, switching to my modified Beretta. Then the guard from the entrance ran into the room. “What’s going on in ther-” Upon noticing the bodies on the floor, his eyes widened. “ALERT-” BRTT I interrupted him with three hollowpoint 9mm bullets between the eyes, nearly splitting his head in half and sending a good chunk of his brain on the wall behind him. “Thirty-four,” I said, looking at the results of the gunshot. I heard shouts coming from outside; reinforcements were coming, not for me... fortunately. I really felt like blowing off some steam at the moment. I picked up Jack’s discarded shotgun: an old and weathered Armsel Striker... a good tool for the task at hand. Big, cumbersome, heavy and packing a punch. His shotgun in hand, I went to Jack, held his chin and looked at him in the eyes. “You are going to stay down and shut up until I am finished with your pathetic friends out there,” I said dryly. “W-who are you?” he asked, panicked. I pursed my lips and put my helmet on. “Good question,” I replied, before knocking him out. This is going to be interesting. I picked up the M16 the guard I had killed dropped. The second bandit to burst into the room was greeted by a wall of lead to the gut. The hail hollowpoint high pressure 9mm bullets proved much more effective than my old pistol. They tore through the front of the man’s poor quality Kevlar vest, penetrated his body and expanded before exiting from his back, spraying squirts of blood over the far wall as well as on myself. Impressive. I really like this gun. Switching to the shotgun, I went to the corridor. Two bandits were there, aiming hesitantly at me. BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG A wall of buckshot splattered them on the far wall before they could react. Thirty-one. I peaked outside. I could see two dozens of bandits from where I was.This time, they didn’t think and opened fire. I rushed out of the building and jumped behind a big concrete sewer pipe that was laying on the ground next to the building I just came out of. Time slowed to a crawl as the as every sound around me faded away. I could sense every bullet hitting the wall I was hiding behind, where all the bandits were, their every movement, even their erratic breathing and the metallic clanking of their weapons' mechanisms... I could feel everything around me. I was not afraid... I felt confidence, peace even. I stayed behind cover, waiting for an opportunity. After a while, the shooting stopped and I heard the telltale sound of weapons reloading. I shook my head. Big mistake. Do they even know what ‘strategy’ and ‘suppressing fire’ mean? I popped up from my cover and fired back, slowly unloading the rest of the shotgun magazine: steady, accurate... deadly. The three closest bandits fell to the ground, their heads annihilated by one well placed slug each. The next three on my right tried to switch to their pistols as I reloaded, only to be interrupted by a wall of... buckshot, this time. Huh. Should have sorted the ammo I looted from Jack. I spotted two bandits with shotguns on my left, aiming at me. Two shots later, both hit the ground, clutching their destroyed throat as their life essence left their bodies in the form of crimson, pulsating geysers. I popped back behind cover and reloaded. One bandit managed to approach from behind, knife drawn. Oh no you do not. He raised his knife, preparing to stab me in the back. Letting go of my gun I spun around, blocked his jab with my left arm and promptly thrust my knee in his stomach, knocking the wind out of him. I followed by a hard right hook to the face, sending him stumbling backwards. Before he hit the ground, I recovered, unholstered my Beretta and shot him in the temple. BRRTT His head exploded in a shower of blood, brain matter and broken bone pieces, finishing to cover me from head to toe of grime. I grunted and wiped most of it off the visor of my helmet. I felt a bullet whizz past me. I swiftly spun around and shot the responsible right in the chest. He dropped his AK rifle to the ground, a hand over his heart and fell to his knees. That was sloppy. I switched to the M16 I had looted and kept on shooting, hitting target after target. One after another they fell to the ground, dead... until only one remained. As I walked out of cover, he frantically looked around panicked, and turned away, trying to escape. He tripped on a rock and hit the ground with a thud, dropping his gun. I removed my helmet and walked up to him, occasionally putting a bullet in a still live Bandit squirming on the ground. “P-please don’t kill me,” he begged. I grabbed him by the collar and lifted him to eye level. “Please,” he began. “I’ve got a family, oh God please no!” BANG Discarding the now empty M16, I laughed as the wounded man tried to crawl away from me, his terrified gaze locked with my manic one. “Nice coat,” I said, kneeling down next to the soon-to-be corpse. I ended the Bandit with my knife, intending to take his cloak. “Very nice,” I added, adjusting the black leather cloak over my armor. I let the dead bandit there went back to Jack, who was where I left him, strapped on his chair and unconscious. I proceeded to awaken him, slapping him across the face a few times. “Wakey wakey,” I gently said as he opened his eyes. The bandit slowly opened his eyes and looked around, a confused look on his face. Upon spotting me, his expression changed to a mixture of terror and defiance. Defiance? I did not know why. Terror, maybe because I had half his buddies covering me from head to toe. “I cannot say that your minions outside put up a real fight,” I taunted. “But it was fun, at least. Well! Now that you are awake, we will play a game. If you answer my questions, you will get out of this room alive.” I narrowed my gaze. “You do not, and... well. It is just a matter of how much you want it to hurt,” I added coldly. “Are we on the same page?” He nodded, trying to speak through his gag. “Good! Now,” I added, standing up. “First things first. Your name is Jack, Right?” Once again, he nodded frantically. “Good, good. Now where do you keep the... alien prisoner?” I removed his gag, allowing him to speak. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he firmly said. I sighed and punched him in the face. His head jerked violently to the left and blood splattered the wall. I punched him again. And again. And again. And again. And again, each impact of my clenched fist against his head resonating in the empty room. I raised the bandit to eye level. His nose was broken, blood was trickling from his mouth, the whole left side of his face was bruised and battered and a few of his teeth were missing. “Where is she?” I asked again. The bandit said nothing and spat in my face, splattering a mixture of blood and saliva on my cheek, adding to what was already there. “Oh well,” I said. “time to move on to something else.” I replaced his gag and silently examined the furniture in the room. A few tools were lying around... I decided to crank things up a bit. I snapped back towards Jack. “I see you have quite the workshop in here... very good,” I said, picking up a pair of pliers. “These are pliers. Very useful to work on extremities, such as fingers, toes, ears, nose... among others.” I pulled a chair and sat down in front of Jack. “Stay back!” he yelled, wide eyed. “Hands,” I began. “Oh so convenient hands. Very useful, they allow humans to grab things in a way no other animal can, enabling fine controls over tools expertly crafted... like these,” I said, twiddling with the pliers. “I will ask again,” I growled, approaching the metallic tool to his thumb. “Where. Is. She?” I slowly asked. “Do not try to be clever with me, even your pawn at the entrance knew of her existence,” I spat. “Tell me everything you know, else I will tear you apart,” I said nonchalantly. “Literally,” I added, yanking out the nail off of his thumb. Jack’s eyes widened. His body tensed but he did not scream. Well, that was anticlimactic. The bandit panted. “I won’t tell you anything!” He shouted, glaring at me, spitting blood in my face once again. I wiped the blood splatter and sighed firmly grabbing the Bandit's index finger in my hand. “Fuck you," I said, twisting the finger backwards, cracking the bones.“Okay? Fuck you.” I sighed and stood up. “Your goons have her captive. I just want to know where,” I stated. “Guess we are going to use something else,” I stated, picking up a blowtorch and a metal rod laying on a piece of furniture. I ignited the blowtorch and used it to heat up the rod. “Heat is an extremely effective torture method, as it cauterizes every wound it causes," I commented, staring at the metal rod as I heated it up. "No pesky bleeding, only pain... and maybe a general infection later if you are unlucky." Once the rod extremity was red hot, I killed the torch and approached the rod from Jack’s panicked face so he could feel the heat emanating from it, before bringing it closer to his intact hand. “See that?” I asked mischievously. "Red hot. Shhhhhh goes the flesh. Now where is she?” “S-STOP! Please, st-top-p,” he stuttered, trembling. “I’ll talk.” I tilted my head, faking surprise. “What? Already?” “T-the old container depot, South West from here! That’s where I told them to keep the horse thing!” “See, that was not so hard,” I said, lowering the metal rod. “How many men are guarding the place?” “A-a few d-dozens or so, I don’t know...” “You do not know?” I asked innocently, playing with the reddened metal piece. “Around Fifty! Fifty men, with automatic weapons and shotguns.” I said nothing and brought a hand to my chin before searching through the bandit’s pockets. After a while, I had found what I was looking for: his PDA, though it looked more like one of these fancy touch screen phones. Where in the Zone did he get that? Looks nice though, I'll keep it. I unlocked the device and browsed through Jack’s mailbox. The last conversation caught my attention. The first message read: ‘Jack, it’s Barin. There’s an alien in the Zone, and you’ll never guess what it is: A fucking winged unicorn pony! Her, yes ‘her’ name is Celestia, and apparently she can do magic. She’s white and colorful, impossible to miss out. She hangs out with two stalkers named Vano and Strider. Get some of your boys and go retrieve her, she’ll be worth the damn jackpot for my clients! Be aware, Vano is a giant armed to the teeth and as rumors say, that Strider is ex-Monolith. Don’t fuck this up. Share goes 40/40 and 20 for your boys, as usual.’ To which Jack had answered: ‘Shouldn’t be a problem. I’ll send my best fighters and it will be over before they even know it. Besides, that Vano still owes me money. The requested package will be delivered in time. A pleasure doing business with you.’ The last message was a reply from Barin. 'A pleasure, yeah, I’ll have some when I’ll get my hands on that fine piece of meat hahaha! I’ll be sure to break her before delivery. Jackal will be pleased with his latest acquisition.' I took a deep breath. Fine piece of meat? Break her? Barin, you fucked up. “Who is this Jackal?” I asked, glaring at Jack. “I-I don’t know! Some high-ranking Merc! That’s all I know I swear!” “That is all I wanted to know anyway,” I said, freeing the bandit. He fell to his knees and hugged my legs “Thank you, thank-” “Oh, shut up,” I ordered, kicking him in the stomach. “What do you thank me for?” I put my helmet back on, grabbed him by the collar and dragged him outside. There, I forced him to kneel and raised my Beretta to his head. He looked at me desperately. “B-but you said-” “I said that you would get out of this room alive. You did, did you not?” I calmly asked. “IF YOU KILL ME YOU’RE DEAD YOU HEAR ME! YOU’RE DEAD! YOU’LL HAVE ALL MY DAMN FACTION AFTER YOUR BACK, YOU FUCKING MOR-” BRRTT “See if I care.” The gunshots echoed in the distance. Jack’s body hit the floor, his brain splattered on the ground. A few ravens took flight. A gust of wind swept the land. Should have switched to semi-auto. A light rain began to mix with the blood on my garments. I turned around and walked away, to the container depot. Hold on, Celestia. I am coming. I jolted awake and groaned in pain. My head was throbbing and my right wing was killing me again. I was taken by a fit of coughing. My whole body felt numb. It was cold and the floor was wet. The scent of... cooking meat came to my nostrils. I gagged in disgust and tried to move. Something was keeping my mouth shut, my legs were tied up and... a leash was attaching me to the wall. There were voices around me... Where am I? I observed the room I was in. A few people clad in long black coats were speaking while sitting at a table and playing a card game. I heard voices from the outside... someone was coming. The door slammed open and five dark figures entered the room. The one clad in mechanical armor ordered the others to go outside, leaving both of us alone. He approached me. “Hmmm yes... Thanks to you I’ll be rich!” He lowly growled, removing his helmet. “But first...” I instantly recognized him: it was the man I spoke to the day before, Barin. He moved his hand to touch my muzzle, and began to stroke my neck and my chest, down to my stomach... descending lower and lower... I desperately twisted my whole body, trying to escape from his dreadful touch. I don’t want this, no no please, I don’t wanna be here, somepony get me out of here! “Don’t you fucking move, bitch! I own you now!” he shouted. He punched me in the face and my vision faded for a second, obscured by dancing lights. He punched me again, and everything went black. I woke up with a gasp, only to hear Barin talking. I was still in the same place but this time, I was strapped to a table, my back forcefully pressed against the cold metal of the piece of furniture. My forelegs were attached together, my wings were restrained, and... my hind legs were forced spread out. I began to hyperventilate. I heard my captor chuckle. “You know, when I first saw you, I thought I was crazy, but I quickly realized I could make a profit out of it,” he said. “You are a very valuable item to my clients: you’ve got fucking MAGIC out of all things!” He laughed. His joyful laugh filled me with fear and dread. This madman seemed to really enjoy what he was doing. “W-why?...” I asked weakly, a tear of despair rolling down my cheek. Barin entered my field of view. “But for money of course! Why else?” he asked casually. “You’ll be sold to some scientists and they’ll be very happy to cut you apart, for science of course,” he explained. “But first... I’m gonna have my fun,” he added, grinning maniacally. I began trembling uncontrollably. “W-what are you doing? get away from me!”I yelled, trying to cast a defensive spell. The throbbing in my head intensified, forcing me to fall limp. Barin punched me again and grabbed my horn, almost breaking it in half. “Don’t try anything funny, or I’ll break that horn of yours, then I’ll break every bone in your body,” he growled. “It will reduce your value, and I’d like to keep your worth to a maximum, so don’t... just don’t,” he said, stroking my stomach. I shuddered in disgust, my vision blurred by the insufferable throbbing in my horn. Please... someone help... me.. “Look at you, whimpering and trembling. You’re pathetic,” he spat. He punched me one more time. “And so fragile...” he added, before punching me again. “Taking advantage of someone else have never been easier.” I felt everything spin around me and my vision faded to red. I don’t want to... no. I felt myself say one word before I lost consciousness. One word, carried by a powerful voice I didn't know was mine. “NO.” I ran through the wasteland. A storm was brewing. The rain had intensified the night was beginning to fall. I ignored it, thankful for my newly acquired coat and kept on running. Celestia’s sake was at stake, I did not want to lose a single second. Thankfully, the old container depot was not very far from the checkpoint. I stopped on a hill a few hundred meters away and crouched behind a bush to observe the bandit base through my binoculars. I counted the bandits and examined their patterns and equipment. I could see forty nine of them, all standing still or patrolling around. The sentinels, mobile or not, were never alone and seem to be moving in constant circuits. Clever... but predictable. I stayed on my vantage point, looking for a point of entry. The left side of the compound seemed like a good option: only two guards near the entrance, a dozen or so past them but a manageable way to the rooftops with the possibility to avoid them all; while the container storage area seemed heavily guarded. A lone exosuit-wearing stalker approached the compound. Curiously, the bandits let him through. I snorted. “Must be Barin.” He made his way through the container storage and entered the main building in the back, two bandits clad in long brown coats following him inside. Surely where they keep Celestia. A couple of minutes later, all the bandits got out of the building. My cue to go in. I grabbed my SVU and checked it checked before climbing down the hill. Hold on, I am coming. I silently crouch walked among the bushes, taking a large detour to the left. After a couple minutes, I saw the two bandits a hundred meters away guarding the left entrance. They were sitting around a campfire and I could hear their conversation over the noise of the rain. “Fucking rain,” said the first bandit. “I’m soaked to the bone now. Just great.” “Stop complaining,” retorted the second one. “Pfft, you can say that, you're the one with a waterproof suit." "Yeah, whatever. You know what the boss is up to?” “Last thing I heard, he was going inside to check up on the package.” “Package?” The second bandit shrugged. “Yeah, the horse thingy. Apparently, it’s worth a lot... rare animal, or something like that.” “So the boss is into animal trafficking now. What’s next, slave market? Oh but wait, we already do that!" The two bandits laughed. I have the information I need. I raised my SVU, made sure the suppressor was in place and looked through the scope. TSHP The first bandit fell to the ground. His friend made a move to grab his AK. I don’t think so. TSHP He fell backwards, a hole in the windpipe. Thanking the storm that masked my suppressed gunshots, I approached the campfire and hid the corpses in a shack nearby, which appeared to be an armory of sorts. A multitude of weapons and armors were aligned on the shelves on the walls along with a lot of ammo. I was about to leave when I spotted two piles neatly arranged next to each other: Vano’s guns and Celesta’s equipment. Their stuff seemed in good condition, even Vano’s machine gun was there. I decided to leave all the gear there and headed out. Two bandits patrolling passed by. I waited until they were out of earshot and exited the armory. The night had fallen. I activated my night vision goggles but I could still not see or hear anybody. Better take the high ground. I climbed on the containers. From there I could see all the compound: most bandits were patrolling around, a few were sitting around a campfire and two of them were guarding the door to the far building, weapon in hand. I stealthily hopped from container to container, making my way to the building in the back. Nobody seemed to notice me as I positioned myself above the two guards. I pulled out my suppressed M1911. I dropped on the first bandit, knife drawn, and drove it into his neck. His friend, seeing this, raised his shotgun... TSHK ...only to be interrupted by a .45ACP round through the skull. I heard screams inside the building. My 1911 still in hand, I unholstered my Beretta and slammed the door open, not bothering to hide the bodies. BOOM I got blown several meters away by a massive explosion and landed hard against the harsh metallic surface of a container. I tried to get up but couldn’t move. My vision was a blur of colors and my ears were ringing from the blast, I couldn’t hear a thing. When my hearing came back, I was greeted by the sound of gunfire and screams of pain. There was another explosion. I felt something hit my head. Everything faded to black.