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Story 8 – “Dear Mother…”
The morning service was over but many still lingered inside. It was dark and stuffy. The heavy scent of incense almost suffocated Valentina Filipovna and the sticky wax candle in her hand flickered and smoked heavily. “Gospodi pomiluy.” – Several wax drops fell into the holder and Valentina Filipovna put her candle on them. –… Continue reading
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Story 7 – Grishka (or The Last Day in Izovo)
“Is that Grishka?” – Olga grabbed Misha’s forearm. – “Look, look, over there, by the broken flower bed.” – She gazed in the distance, then turned to Misha: “Grishka… Him, for sure!” Misha dropped his backpack on the cracked concrete tiles of the platform and looked across the square in front of the train station.… Continue reading
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Story 6 – Coup de Grace
Vania forced himself to look through the scope of his Vintorez again. His heart was racing – its beats so loud as if it was about to burst out of his chest. “No doubt… That’s him.” – the realization crept over Vania like a winter chill. Old memories flashed before his eyes. Playing in the… Continue reading
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Story 5 – The Second Convoy
“Checkpoint 9! I am Lt. Kirilov, the Commander of the Omega-4 squad, Kerzhovian Special Containment Unit. Do you copy?” – Not even waiting for an answer, he continued: “We are approaching you from the southeast, two green Toyotas Trailhunter, 10 fighters. Arrival time 07:49 pm.” – He paused. – “Don’t get jumpy.” ”This is Sergeant… Continue reading
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Story 4 – The Archivist
“Vladimir Petrovich from apartment 3 used to work there” – Dima rushed across the street to a three-story building with the crumbling beige plaster. The downpour turned the old flower bed in front of it into a pool of mud. Dima hunched under the white wall of water. His wet feet felt cold. – “The… Continue reading
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Story 3 – The Last Artifact
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… Continue reading
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Story 2 – The Voice in the Concrete
“God, it stinks like piss in here!” – strained and panting, Lysyi crawled in the space under the fallen concrete roof of an old bus stop northwest of the former KAF Military Base. – “As if I have a choice”. Inside, he could even sit upright. Lysyi shoved his backpack between himself and the wall,… Continue reading
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Story 1 – The Passenger
The thunderstorm passed them half an hour ago but it was catching up again. The soaked canvas of the battered ZIL truck sagged over the heads. Lioha rolled his eyes and tried to guess if it could survive another downpour. Their driver pushed for the derelict Freight Train Depot before dark. One of the potholes… Continue reading
Andriy Karamazov 