Three men stood at the entrance to a large metal structure. One shifted uncomfortably underneath his long coat, his poorly maintained armour patched with whatever he could find. Another faced the other way, keeping watch for any number of creatures or humans that could simply charge through the brush.
“Wolf, I do not like this. We are exposed the longer we stand out here.” The third man, kneeling down near the entrance to the structure, straightened his standard issue combat vest, standing up to face them.
“Ivan, keep your cool. We barely escaped bloodsuckers, eh?” He nudged Ivan as he looked over at the one who was staring back at the bushes. That one's armour was dark grey, marked with blood and various holes where previous owners had been shot, usually by him. It had been patched as well as any soldier could patch their armour, various old suits cannibalized to repair it.
“Keep quiet, you two. We do not know what's out there. The best we can do is to keep to ourselves, yes?” Ivan and Wolf glanced at each other, before sweeping him into their arms and dragging him into the metal structure. The door creaked shut as Wolf tossed a makeshift torch into the room.
“It's clear. Hope we can keep-” Voices alerted them to another group within the building.
“Chush' sobach'ya! You're kidding!” STALKERs were seated around a fire, their bottles of Chechnya vodka shining clear in their hands. Wolf and Ivan smiled, looking back at their STALKER friend.
“So, Aravich-”
“Remember, it's Alexei. Aravich is that eblan back in 100 Rads Bar. Hope Barkeep still has the best vodka on tap.” Without another word, all three jumped down, their weapons clearly strapped onto their packs where they would not be a threat. The sound of boots impacting the ground had the effect of causing the stalkers by the fire to scramble for their weapons, mostly badly-repaired AK-47 assault rifles. When the group of three came into view, they relaxed, their bottles once more coming out as they reminisced about previous exploits. Alexei looked at their group. They seemed to be little more than rookies, new blood having made its way into the Zone from the outside, and yet, they had the eyes of seasoned veterans of many combat situations. He stared down at a strange member of their group, one who had anatomical differences he did not expect.
It had wings.
It had a horn.
It was a quadripedal creature. That being said, he watched it intently. The Stalker it leaned on stared at Alexei until he looked straight at him.
“What's that there? New mutant?” One of the campfire stalkers tossed a bottle to Alexei, smiling.
“Our sniper, comrade. Not much to look at, eh? She's tougher than she looks, and a hell of a shot.” Alexei did not respond, merely sipping his vodka as he watched the group interact. They reacted like friends long lost to one another instead of strangers, the vodka a great incentive to make the others feel as welcome as possible. Wolf leaned over, rubbing his hand on her head. A soft sighing escaped her mouth as she continued to sleep.
“Soft, like good pillow. Like Duty's beds. Curious.” Ivan raised his bottle, pointing to his new 'friends.'
“To the Zone! May her wonders continue to grow!” The rest of the stalkers raised their bottles, repeating the second sentence of Ivan's short speech. Alexei was still intrigued by the strange unicorn with wings that lay against the stalker. As his eyes adjusted more to the light, he noticed she was purple, almost... cartoonishly so. Large eyes that seemed unnatural, with an almost human smile on her face.
“So, where'd you find this... 'loshad', eh? Not a creature of the zone-”
“I'm a stalker, like you, and trust me, you're not as smart as you think you are.” Alexei took that moment to look up, staring directly into the barrel of a SVDm Dragunov rifle. It floated, surrounded by a purple field of energy. He swallowed, smiling. “I'm also a pony, dolboeb.”
“As for how we found her, comrade, well, we can tell you that in a short while...” A bottle lifted to the pony's mouth, lifting up as she downed a third of the bottle.
“Comrades! To great scavenging, good drink, and new friends!” Alexei grunted, standing to walk out through the door they had come through. Earlier, he had noticed a ladder to the roof of the metal structure, letting him find a place to sit by himself. He rarely slept, his mind always active to allow him to see threats before they saw him. There was a good ventilation pipe, leaving him with a relatively comfortable backrest as he sat down, his own rifle clanking as he set it down. Wolf and Ivan had been his travelling partners for seven years, ever since the escape of the Major, a man that many would assume was unable to die, his proficiency with various weapons beyond anything they had ever seen. Clanking up the metal ladder alerted Alexei to another stalker climbing the ladder, the leader of the group they had met, from the looks of it.
“So, you want to tell me the story of how you found little Miss Purple down there?” The stalker lifted a bottle of what appeared to simply be purified water to his lips, grunting as he swallowed. He held it out to Alexei, who took it without a second thought.
“Sure. I mean, the loshad, her name is Twilight. The big guy, well, you haven't seen him yet. Protects her like a small child.” Alexei chuckled, staring up at the sky.
“Like a father to a child, huh.” He turned back to the stalker, who was grinning. “What's your name, stalker?” The stalker froze, relaxing when he let the question sink in.
“To be honest, don't got one. Took one for myself that everyone knows. All of 'em, they call me Nimble. I can get anything from anywhere.” He retrieved a small metal flask, downing a large gulp from it. “True Chechnya vodka, better than the govno that they usually drink.” He placed it once more inside his jacket, staring up at the clear sky, stars beginning to show. “It's a long story, my friend, a long one. And yet, it feels like it happened yesterday.”