Chapter 1
Dressed in his basic outfit, the lonely stalker walked down the tunnels of the underground Metro system. Between a Lunar Republic camp and his destination: Trotvitskaya. The station was often overlooked, due to its own size. Too small to be a station, too large for a camp. Taro switched on his head light and cautiously raised his Bastard machine gun. The tunnels of the Metro were dangerous. You would be lucky to make it through the tunnels without using at least one full clip. Taro had used many getting through the camp of Lunar activists.
After an eternity of walking in the dark, save for his head light, Taro came to a door. The door that closed off the station from the rest of the tunnels. He banged loudly on the door and waited for a response. The door opened slowly and a guard greeted him. “Passport?” he asked. Taro showed him wordlessly. After doing this for two years, he had come accustomed to it. Two long years of fighting and killing in those tunnels. “Go on in, Taro.”
Taro nodded and continued through the door. He looked at his watch. It stated twelve o’clock. Most people of the Metro didn’t mind much about time, sticking to their own schedule of whatever they were used to. Taro did generally the same, only he kept a watch set to his time, which doubled as a timer. Walking around for a minute, Taro found a nice place to stop and eat. He ordered a small pig roast for himself and some tea. Seven military-grade bullets, the currency of the old tunnels.
He removed his rucksack and set it on the chair next to his. He took the time of waiting for his food to examine the station he was in. Small crowds of people wandered the station, living without a care. There were so few, Taro could easily make out the grey floor, as well as the multicolored walls behind them that were filthy, barely recognizable as a color. It was in desperate need of a scrubbing. He raised his head to the high ceiling, thinking “I’d hate to be the guy who has to clean all the way up there.”
The waiter dropped his plate onto the table and Taro dug in, his stomach rumbling. Being a stalker had some disadvantages, although, these were a little too extreme. Constantly hungry, constantly hunted, always looking over your shoulder. Going to the radioactive surface alone to scavenge was never fun. Taro never had a friend to go with. Not that he cared. He was always into adventure. Sometimes he thought it would be nice to have someone to talk to, but more importantly, to fight off the watchers and nosalises.
“Um... ‘scuse me?” asked a girl.
Taro lost his train of thought. A woman, not over the age of nineteen or twenty, dressed in a small black coat with the hood up was standing next to him. “Yes?”
“I couldn’t help but notice your outfit and gear. Are you, by any chance, a stalker?” the girl asked.
“Yes, why?” The girl pulled down her small hood, letting her colored hair fall to her shoulders.
“Because... mm... I want to...”
“Let me guess, you want to get out of this station?” Taro finished.
“Yes. Please. It’s not that I don’t like it here, it’s just that, the scenery is all the same. Nothing changes, ever. I’ve asked half a dozen stalkers if I can go with them to see the other stations or the go up to the surface, but... well, none of them say yes. I just want to go on an adventure.”
“Alright.”
“Wait, huh?”
“Sure, you can come if you want. I could use someone to talk to.”
“Really? I’ll go get my stuff!”
“Hey, before you leave, I’ll meet you at the trading center. I still need supplies.”
The woman smiled. “Okay.”
Taro stood and walked off to the booth. “Medkits, filters, knives. Everything you need when traveling in dangerous areas,” shouted the tender. Taro examined his stock. “Bang. All problems gone,” the trader said when Taro looked at the grenade.
“I’m sure...” he replied. “I need some knives.”
“Of course. Four bullets.” Taro handed him the money and turned around to examine the rest of the trading post.
There were men advertising their guns, shouting about bullets exchange, and others were trying to sell a different set of clothes for the tunnels. The clothing was always ridiculously expensive, but no one ever seemed to raise the price over ninety-eight bullets. He looked around the guns. He could replace the bastard he had with him. The gun, that is.
“Okay, so I got my revolver and all of my pistol ammo, a gas mask, I only have one filter, my backpack, and all of the military ammo I have... well... ten bullets.” The girl jumped in front of Taro. “By the way, I’m Rainbow Dash.” She stuck out her hand to Taro, who shook it, replying with his name. “So, where are we going?”
Taro lead the way to the tunnel they were taking. “Well our first stop is Alandraskaya, and from there, we’re going to climb out into the surface of Stalliongrad to take a shortcut to get to Venice. Once there, we’ll go underground for a few uninhabited stations to avoid the factions at war here, although we will need to deal with bandits. Once we make it to the next station, we’re going back up to the top to walk to the Ponyville station and walk underground to Canterlot. That’s the plan so far, anyway.”
“Wow, you’ve got this all figured out, huh?” Rainbow Dash replied, walking through the exit after Taro.
“The plan isn’t reality. No telling what will happen along the tracks and surface,” Taro replied. “So all you’ve got for guns is a pistol?”
“Yes, but I have plenty of ammo for it.”
“Alright, I don’t really expect anything big. It will take us about a day to get to Alandraskaya, so sleeping in the tunnels is almost mandatory.” Taro raised his machine gun.
Taro and Rainbow Dash walked quietly at first, letting the only sound be that of their footsteps and the occasional rattle of a pistol or machine gun. Rainbow Dash often looked over her shoulder to inspect the tunnels behind them. “What is it?” Taro would ask.
“Nothing, I just thought I saw something.”
“This tunnel plays tricks on you.”
And the journey would continue. After a few metres, a curve came into sight, with a faint glow beyond it like that of a fire. Taro looked at Rainbow Dash.
“Maybe they’re friendly?” asked Rainbow Dash.
“Not in the metro,” Taro replied. “Stay back here.” Taro quietly walked toward the curve and looked around it, quickly returning to Rainbow Dash. “No one is there. Not at the moment anyway. I couldn’t see over the sandbags though. I think we can pass, but be quiet.”
Rainbow Dash nodded and followed Taro. They kept their back to the wall, making sure to make as little noise as possible. Rainbow raised her gun to her chest. Taro could see the pot on the fire, with something furry in front of it. A back of a creature. A mutant of the tunnels. Taro made a face and turned toward Rainbow Dash. He tapped his gun, silently telling Rainbow to prepare hers.
Taro took a small step closer and raised his bastard gun. In retrospect, reloading it at the station would have been a smart move. Five of thirty bullets were left in the clip. He fired at the beast, hitting its back with two of the shots, waking it up. And angering it.
“Fire!” Taro shouted, ducking.
Without a second to spare, Rainbow Dash fired five bullets into her target. The mutant fell to the ground, growling quietly. Rainbow walked up to it and released her final bullet into it.
Taro stood, reloading his gun. “Nicely done.”
“Thanks,” Rainbow Dash replied, reloading her own weapon. “What was that?”
“One of the mutants of the tunnel. A regular tunnel trash nosalis.” Taro nudged the black beast. “They usually live in packs, which means we should be on our guard for more.” Taro walked to the other side of the sandbags that lined the small camp. “Well, there was a camp here.”
Rainbow Dash followed him around the barricade, her face darkening. Three people lay on the ground, dead. One man’s torso was ripped open, but he was the lucky one. Another was ripped completely in half. The last of them exploded blood from his stomach and lungs, his hand shoved into the stomach of a nosalis that he stabbed with a trench knife. “Compensation for finishing what you started,” Taro said, taking the supplies off the men.
“How could you do that? You’re just going to take all of their stuff without even feeling sorry for them? What kind of a heartless person are you?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“We live in the metro, Rainbow Dash. The word ‘sorry’ doesn’t have meaning anymore. Not only are people fighting the mutants, they’re also obsessed with killing each other. If I could change the world, I would, but I can’t. This is how people live in the metro,” Taro explained.
“...Okay... I understand...”
“Do you want to go back?”
“No. Let’s keep moving.”
“Hold on.” Taro grabbed a shotgun and some shells. “Take this.”
Rainbow Dash took the gun. A uboinik. A revolving, automatic shotgun. She placed her revolver in its holster and loaded the uboinik with the blue shotgun shells Taro grabbed.
“Now we can go.”