Andriy Karamazov

And there it was. Sashka knelt between two boulders hiding him from view. The forest clearing in front of him was thick with the Air Warp anomalies. He still could not grasp how he made it that far. Most stalkers who dare venture into the forests behind the Inner Circle Barrier stay there forever.

“The Artifact must be hiding right in the middle.” – The pain in Sashka’s sore feet interrupted his thoughts. – “The intel must be true; it must! Paid so much for it…” 

Sashka moved up just a bit and studied the surroundings. He propped himself with the left hand against a boulder. The soft moss under his fingers felt like a touch of something alien. One quick glance. – “So silent…” – an eerie feeling crept into Sashka’s heart. The sun was about to touch the horizon. A pack of mutated dogs barked and howled in the distance. A random shot. Light gusts of wind combed through the branches of the Area NG2X1 forest, gently playing with the swaths of poisonous ivy hanging from them. – “Like those old drapes in the abandoned apartments”. The thought of the Dead City unnerved him. Sashka chased it away. 

He crept out of cover. A ring of the Air Warps spread around in front of him. He could still see the air distortions they caused – the last rays of the sinking sun gave Sashka some hope. His anomaly detector beeped faster, the sound suddenly too loud. But he could still see. – “Just make it before dark… Just before dark…” 

Suddenly he noticed a swirl of dead leaves dancing in the air on his right – dangerously close. There was something mesmerizing in their jerky movement. An air wave brushed his face. A hiss. The leaves pack condensed into a small black pearl – Sashka rolled to his left just as one Air Warp discharged. 

 “On we go…” – he pressed on through the maze. 

Only now did he notice a body well hidden behind a mound of earth. Sashka stopped breathing. The body made a weak inviting gesture with the right hand, then rolled onto its side. A dirty, gaunt face looked at Sashka from below the OZK suit’s hood, eyes red. The stalker’s left side was one big fresh wound. His left leg was missing below the knee. 

“Spare a first aid kit, bro?” – a hoarse voice snapped Sashka out of his trance.

“Sure” – about four meters separated them, but Sashka tossed it accurately. 

“I was sure it would be mine. Finally.” – Heavy breathing mixed with cough interrupted the cripple. – “Had a map. But they moved.” – The hoarse voice gasped for air. – “Crawl past me here, take left. Then right, to that next mound. Then straight and left in a crescent.” – He tried to gesture but was too weak. – “It is there, right there”. 

Sashka was paralyzed. “How come I have not seen him? Fool!” – but it was too late to retreat. Dusk had settled in, and he was halfway through. 

He crawled on. One more effort. Beep. Beep. Beep. Another anomaly triggered. One more push. A distant shot from the Barrier. Sashka crept through mud and dead grass. The sky above turned sickly yellowish with brown undertones. One more push… 

Next moment, the artifact popped out of nowhere, its glow bathing Sashka’s face in warm light. “Got you!”.

Almost dark. The earth mound. Standing on his right knee, the wounded stalker aimed his TT at Sashka. 

 “And now you hand it over to me. And march into that Air Warp over there.”

Sashka slipped to his left, reaching out for his Makarov. Three shots rolled over the forest and startled the pack of mutated dogs. 

“Mine.”