Secrets of the Zone: Ghosts of Chernobyl

by TheFullCrumb

.:LOG 2:. - Derailed

Nimble stood with Vano and Zulu as they stared at the building in front of them, Vano shaking his head once again.

“No, we're not going in there.” Vano was not as happy as the other three had expected. It had been two days of slow movement, partially due to Sparks inspecting every new thing she came across. Nimble sighed. Zulu's expression seemed to indicate that he shared his exasperation. Sparks was like a small child who had never been told about a toy store, and was suddenly taken to one.

“Vano, we need supplies, and as much as you think we don't, having better equipment for Sparks is good.” Nimble motioned to the pack on his back, Sparks merely smiling at it. She had spent the better parts of two hours during their trek and secured a backpack full of artifacts. Zulu was almost in shock, but they were low on funds, and it was a welcome sight.

“Yes, Sparks is good artifact hunter. Good for cash. Hawaiian will be happy.” Vano sighed, resigning himself to their little stop. Zulu opened the side door, motioning for Vano and Nimble to enter quickly. After they had entered, Zulu stood outside, watching Sparks as she examined a small piece of metal covered with scratch marks. Shouting and gunfire alerted him to Vano and Nimble running into trouble inside. Cursing himself silently, he drew a Fort-12, holding it out to Sparks.

“I watched your lifting with the horn. Those dolbo yeb, they got in trouble. Take this, shoot anything that's not us.” He set the pistol down beside her, leaving her to her own devices. Lifting his RP-74, he cocked back the action, clearing a jammed empty shell. Sparks stared up at him, fear clearly showing.

“Please don't leave me-” Zulu had already left to enter the station. “-alone?” Glancing around, small noises became large noises as she became fearful without the scavengers.

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Inside, things were not going as well as they would have hoped. Nimble and Vano had stacked up crates and metal pieces, anything they could use as cover, and were shooting over it as strange, humanoid mutants with tentacles inside of their mouths charged. Some became transparent, only their glowing eyes visible.

“Fuck! Kill the bitches!” Zulu set up his RP-74, clearing an area around him for firing. Nimble and Vano cursed, their weapons jamming.

“Zulu! Fire now!” With a loud report, the support machine gun tore through the mutants, many barely even reacting before they were corpses on the floor. Vano and Nimble had taken cover near the entrance to the room Zulu was now in, cowering and clearing their weapons of jams.

“Shit! Shell got jammed!” Gunfire from outside prompted Nimble to sprint outside, watching Sparks fire at a random area far off in the distance. He noticed the floating Fort-12, snatching it from the field she had it in.

“Who the fuck gave you handgun, hmm? Vano, or Zulu?” Sparks shrank away, her ears flat against her head. Nimble sighed, kneeling down in front of her. He held up the handgun, motioning for her to take it. “This is not child's toy, Sparks. This is weapon, deadly. Do not shoot unless you intend to kill target.” Her eyes grew wide as Nimble explained, a tear springing to her eye as he let the handgun drop.

“You... you kill others? Why would you do that?! Killing is-” Nimble held up his hand, a finger raised to his lips.

“Quiet.” He looked around, keeping his eyes peeled. “We're not killing others. They... were people. Maybe. But mutants in there now.” He looked up as Zulu and Vano left the structure, blood covering their hands.

“Did you see that? Bloodsuckers! There was thirty, no, forty!” Zulu tossed a body in front of Sparks as a little demonstration. She backed up quickly, stepping away from the blood that still poured from the mouth of the mutant.

“That's-”

“Bloodsucker. Very nasty creatures. They kill without mercy.” Zulu stomped on the head, crushing the skull underneat his foot, Sparks backing quickly away before the spurt hit her. A thin line of red trickled down her nose as her eyes went wide, the realization quickly striking her.

“No! No no no no no no-” Zulu held her muzzle shut before setting down his RP-74, grabbing the Fort-12 from Sparks. Aiming it around, he sighed, shaking his head. Nimble noticed Zulu's behaviour, bringing his AK-47 to bear. Something about the whole situation felt incredibly off, Vano feeling it as well.

“Shh. Do you hear that?” Zulu inquired of the others, aiming the pistol at where he assumed the sound to be coming from. A rather bulbous form shambled out over the nearby hill, raising a single hand. Vano let out a howl as he lifted his hands to his head, Nimble and Zulu following suit. Sparks glanced around wildly, looking at the mutant directly above them. Vano still had his Dragunov strapped to his back, while Nimble had dropped his AK. Focusing with her horn, she undid the strapping on the Dragunov, remembering watching how Vano primed the chamber, and how he reloaded.

“They aren't alive. They're only mutants,” she quietly and constantly reminded herself as she cocked the Dragunov, taking aim at the mutant. “They're not alive, they're only mutants. Only mutants.” With a single pull of the trigger, the chambered 7.62x54mm round blasted out of the barrel towards the mutant, the red spray flying out through the small hole in its forehead. Zulu stood up, pointing his pistol at the mutant.

“Controller! Wait – did malen'kaya loshadka kill it?” Vano and Nimble stood still for a minute, Vano checking his back for the reason of why it felt so light. Sparks shakily got to her hooves, stumbling a little bit. Her eyes unfocused, her face turning a light shade of green before her mouth twisted in a grimace of pain. With a heave, the contents of her stomach splashed all over Zulu's boots. He patted her on the head, moving it back and forth until she stopped breathing heavily. Vano knelt down next to her, holding up a torn piece of cloth to her face, while Nimble kept his distance, watching for any other mutants that might have been attracted by the rifle's shot.

“Vano, Zulu. We're close to Yanov, da?” Zulu silently nodded in Nimble's direction, while Vano continued to wipe off Sparks' face. She looked at the three of them, her face twisting into a fascimile of a smile, only a ghost of what it should be, but they could tell she felt incredibly uneasy about what she had just done.

“Yanov is best bet for now, Nimble. Duty or Freedom, it does not matter. We need rest, and good food.” Nodding to each other, Zulu and Vano walked ahead of Nimble and Sparks, letting the two of them talk, though, for the longest part of the walk, Sparks refused to look at any of them, instead intent on staring at the ground directly beneath her hooves. Nimble rubbed the back of his head, sighing as he glanced off into the distance.

“How are you all so friendly!? You kill each other, apparently all the time, and yet, you three still remain friends!” Sparks shouted at Nimble, startling him into backpedaling away. Sighing, she turned back to the ground, lowering her head as Nimble retook his position.

“Is, well, hard to really explain. Vano, he is asshole sometimes, but he has big heart. Too trusting sometimes, but he pulled this dolbo yeb out of lot of fight.

Zulu, though? He rescued Vano and myself. Without him, I would be dead. We stay friends because, well, we have no one else,” Nimble stated, looking around as he kept his hand close to his Kalashnikov, worry overtaking his face as they approached railroad tracks. A few groups of fellow Zone dwellers passed by, each member muttering a simple, polite greeting in passing. As they moved among the irradiated carcasses of former trains, Sparks shrank away as she felt the unnatural warmth of the radiation leeching off of the metal.

Ahead loomed the train station, a massive concrete and brick structure that had stood the test of time as much as one would expect from a several-decade-old structure. As soon as Vano put his hand on the door, the doors swung open quickly, two men staggering out and laughing as they grabbed Vano and Zulu, bringing them up in grand hugs and laughter.

“Vano, you piece of shit! How are you?”

“Cardan! Nitro! You two are sight for sore eyes!”

The two men broke the embrace with Vano and Zulu, motioning for Nimble to follow, only stopping when they noticed Sparks. Cardan smiled as he moved towards her, squatting down as Nitro took Vano and Zulu inside. Nimble tensed up as Cardan placed his hand on her head, only easing up when all he did was scratch behind her ears. Sparks smiled, closing her eyes as she moved her head towards the welcome touch.

“Well, man! Introduce me to your friend, dumbass!” Cardan got out before he started chuckling, pulling out a clean rag to wipe off the small amount of blood that still remained on her face.

“My name is Twilight Sparkle.”

“Cardan, one of best technician in the Zone,” He replied, keeping his response short and simple. “Hey, odd question. Where is Strider?” Nimble closed his mouth as Cardan froze, fear evident on his face.

“He... he never came back. He just up and left, and never returned.” Cardan held a pistol out in his hand, looking away from Nimble as the Stalker took the weapon, sighting it as he held it.

“His Black Kite. Good handgun. Sparks, come here.” The unicorn plodded closer, her eye wandering over the gun before she focused, lifting the pistol quickly from Cardan's outstretched hand. She pulled it away quickly, preventing Cardan from retrieving it. Sighing, Cardan resigned himself to drinking out of a small metal bottle, screwing the cap on when he was done.

“Cardan, I thought you stopped drinking that der'mo,” Nimble stated before Cardan held up a hand, silencing the Stalker.

“Purified water. Nitro got water filtration ready in basement. Good water,” Cardan responded, taking a long drink before capping the bottle. “Got to stay healthy, eh?”

Nimble chuckled as he led Sparks inside, guiding her as she moved around the tables, the other Stalkers stopping their conversations and staring as they watched the jacket-clad pony skirting around their legs. The members of Duty and Freedom kept their fingers on their triggers, remembering their agreement to share the train depot, though a lot of them would have preferred it to belong to their specific side. Cardan hummed as he walked behind them, stopping to chat with some of the other Stalkers. As Nimble approached a stairwell, Sparks could hear laughter emanating from the basement, with a rather boisterous voice dominating the rest.

“No, no! The Major, he help kill mercs! Lousy shot, but he help out lots.” Nimble smiled, walking down the stairs as the figure came into view.

“Now, now- what piece of shit did cat drag in? Nimble?!” The man stood up, running over to Nimble and drawing him up into a bear hug, squeezing him.

“Uncle Yar, Uncle Yar! Let go! Is hurting me!” The man, identified as Uncle Yar, patted Nimble on the back.

“So, the Zone still fucking hates you. Good to know.”

“I'd say it hates you more, but we'd have to ask the mercs about it!” With a loud laugh, they all howled as Sparks backed away, her ears flat against her head. Cardan knelt down beside her, rubbing behind her ears.

“Is okay. Nimble and Yar, they like brother. Very close.” Cardan pulled a photo out of his pocket, looking at the faded and crumpled picture with a smile. Nitro and Cardan had arms around each other's shoulders, while Vano glared at the both of them. Nimble and Yar were giving a thumbs up to the photographer, while Zulu stood off to the side with Cardan and Strider.

“Were you all close?”

“Like brother. With Strider gone, is not easy to remind self that bright day come soon.” Sparks stood up, looking right at Uncle Yar with a determined look on her face. Cardan backed away, unsure of what was going on.

“So, Uncle Yar!”

“Ah, our newest arrival! Nimble was telling me you shoot good. Killed Controller. So-”

“You sit here laughing while your friend Strider is missing? Cardan says you were all like brothers! Why are you sitting here-” Nimble stepped forward to try to shut her up when Yar held his hand in front of him, silencing his rebuttal.

“We looked, little one. Strider leaves, comes, he decides. He is free to choose.” Sparks looked down at the floor, gritting her teeth. Tears ran down her face as she started to cry.

“You've got a friend missing who you can look for! I can't ever see my friends again!” Yar looked at Nimble, who shrugged.

“She never talked about friend. She kept quiet most of time. This is new.” Yar was about to respond when another Stalker came running down the stairs towards them.

“Uncle Yar! Come quickly!”

“Garry? But what-”

“Strider's back, and he's badly injured!” Nimble, Yar, and Cardan looked at each other, nodded silently, and took to the stairs, moving quickly as to see to their friend. Sparks followed, the first thing noticed being the blood. A man in heavy armor coloured with white and grey sat on the floor, punctures through his armor in several places, along with a gash across his face.

“Strider-” Several Stalkers moved aside to let a single one through carrying medical supplies.

“Bonesetter, good thing you're here. He is hurt-”

“Get out of way, now.” All of them immediately agreed, stepping back. He ran his hands over the wounds, tensing his jaw when he saw the bullet barely peeking out of one of the wounds.

“Good news. I can help him, but he was shot with Dragunov. Modified, too.” Nimble looked over to Vano and Zulu, who both nodded. Sparks watched as they split off from the group, whispering to each other.

“Can't be Monolith. Most are dead. Mercs, maybe.” One of the men in the crowd, wearing faded camouflage armor, placed his mug on the table, sighing as he took a seat in an available chair.

“Ukrainian Security Service members. Most likely to take out Stalker encampment, like Yanov.”

“Kovalsky? But we thought-”

“Discharged from military. They tried to pin blame on me. I was discharged, I came here. I can guide you to area where USS soldiers could be, but it will cost you.” He leaned in closer, a smile crossing his face.

“I want to gut bastard responsible for hurting Strider.” The other three nodded, looking over at Sparks.

“I know you don't agree with method, but Strider is friend, and that is matter of slava, honor between Stalkers.”

Sparks looked down, staring at the Black Kite held aloft in front of her. Anger welled up inside her as she began to understand just what the Zone did to them. With her jaw set and a dark expression crossing her face, she lifted the pistol, pulling the slide back.

“Then we won't miss.”

Author's Note:

Strider was always my favourite character. I was originally going to use Hatchet the Mercenary, but he's more useful for later on.

Anyways, I'm glad to finally be back in the swing of things. I'm speaking at BronyCAN this year on Evolution of Character, so that's a thing.

Mutants Mentioned:

Bloodsucker
Controller

Characters Seen/Mentioned:

Uncle Yar
Kovalsky
Garry
Bonesetter
Cardan
Nitro

And yes, Nitro does sort of look like Putin. It's weird, but hey, it's funny.

Comments

[Sonic Rainboom Dash]

will we get a bit more backstory of what caused twilight to end up there in the next chapter?

also welcome back.

[TheFullCrumb]

6924277 I'm working on story elements. I REALLY wanted to get this chapter out, and Strider was the best way to get everything moving forward the way I wanted to.

[Sonic Rainboom Dash]

6924473 cool.