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The Exclusion Zone (S.T.A.L.K.E.R.)

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@DerPoltergeist @Yurihime Himeyuri @Zeitgeist Blue @DB_Explorer @PanzerWaffles @Wizard_Marshall @Kyldin @Kensai @Hoshino Yumemi @Kharn_Valnikov

"Pardon my French, but this is bullshit!" Talon spoke aloud with evident agitation to her company in the backseat. "We're ripe to get jumped like this..."

The Belgian merc clenched her fists on her sub gun. No one was present at the roadblock she knew was supposed to be for low-lives that fleeced passerby for 'entrance fees.' That much didn't bother her, as she would shoot them as much as look at them. However, she knew if someone or something offed those scum, they could still be around...and her sub gun, even in her hands, could only do so much killing. She glanced at the turret of the technical ahead as she heard the egghead say something that made sense for once. With a nod, she grabbed her radio and spoke into it.

"Dexter's right. We need to keep our attention off the obvious. Steel's got the right plan, too. Some of our badasses need to go scope out the situation...once I get a sit-rep from Felix on what he found with his RC toy, Talon out." With that, she turned down the volume and crammed the radio into an empty GP pouch on her armor. Talon turned again to face her passengers.

"I'll be right back. Keep a lookout for trouble."

Talon exited the rig, weapon in hand. She strolled with her piece at a low ready and approached the Teutonic techie. In German, she posited an inquiry to Felix.

"So, what have you seen with that gadget of yours? Any idea where the bandits went?"
 
@PanzerWaffles @DerPoltergeist
Steel watched as Talon walked up to Felix, faintly she heard the German words she exchanged with him as she continued to keep her watch. Looking around she then let out a sigh as she made her way over to the two of them before patting Talon on the shoulder.

"I'm moving up to the barricade, get ready for anything." She said to her before turning to look at Felix. "Try to find out where they are, then once your sure their not behind those hills radio me." She instructed to him before she started making her way to the barricade, Kalash held in her hands ready to bark.

@Sushi @DB_Explorer
"I'm moving up to check the barricade myself, will radio in if I see something or nothing at all." She comm'd to the others as she was walking over in the middle of the road.

"Dexter get ready on that RPK, I'll try to pinpoint their location if I start getting shot at." She said once more before letting go of the walkie talkie.
 
@Sushi @PanzerWaffles @DerPoltergeist @Zeitgeist Blue @DB_Explorer @Wizard_Marshall @Kyldin @Kensai @Hoshino Yumemi @Kharn_Valnikov
Valkyrie couldn't help but agree with Talon, something about this situation was funny.

"Even if they are just glorified highwaymen, having the opportunity for someone to get past them like this doesn't make any sense."

Hearing over the radio that Felix was going to try using the drone to get a view on what was going on she decided to get out of the vehicle.

"I'm going to go with Steel there and take a look at things. Something isn't right." She said as she slid out of her seat,her eyes keeping watch on the surroundings for signs of movement.
 
@Sushi @PanzerWaffles @Zeitgeist Blue @DB_Explorer @Wizard_Marshall @Kyldin @Kensai @Hoshino Yumemi @Kharn_Valnikov @Yurihime Himeyuri

From his bird's eye view, Felix could see… a whole lot of nothing. No people, no animals, no mutants. "There's a bit of interference stopping me from getting a closer look, but judging by the footprints, it looks like whoever was supposed to be here packed up and left not that long ago," Felix mumbled, still looking at the drone feed. Maybe it was paranoia, but he couldn't shake off the feeling of imminent danger. "The only things alive here are us and the trees."
 
@PanzerWaffles @Kharn_Valnikov @Yurihime Himeyuri

Nick watched Steel and Valkyrie move to the empty barricade, and Talon exchange words with Dexter. Nick couldn't hear what was being said, but it was sure to be something he wouldn't like. In a place like this, at this time any news was bad news, and at least the detective could say his companions shared his anxiety if not his eagerness to leave.

He thumbed the speaker and the radio crackled, a bite of urgency to his voice. "Whatever's the hold up, let's get a move on. If the Bandits aren't here to toll us then we don't need to look for them."

@Hoshino Yumemi
He caught Lilith's eyes from the rearview mirror as he unclipped his shoulder holster. She was the stalker he lent the Tokarev to in a fit of absent-mindedness, something he doesn't regret now, and so was hitching a ride in his Niva.

"You know how to use a gun?" he asked her.
 
@Zeitgeist Blue
Lilith hesitantly nodded. "I'm not...exactly a marksman, but I'm familiar. Close combat theory," she cryptically said. To demonstrate she had at least some mechanical knowledge of her weapon, she flipped its safety and comfortably ran her thumb over the magazine release. "...and more than a little poking around."
 
@DerPoltergeist
Steel looked down at her walkie talkie attached to her chest rig bark to life as Felix reported what he saw on the drone's camera. "Nothing at all huh? Try and look around some more, there's bound to be something." She comm'd back to him before turning to look at Valkyrie who managed to catch up to her, a smile on her face as she then turned to look back at the checkpoint.

@Yurihime Himeyuri
"You take the right side of the checkpoint and I'll check left, if I hear gunfire from your side I'll make may over. Hear it over my side you do the same alright?" She said to her before moving onto a light jog, her hand flipping the selector of the Kalash to full auto as she poised herself to shoot if needed.
 
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_____Scarecrow sighed and grasped the rifle at his side. "Fine, fine! Indiana Jones, you alive up there? Keep your eyes peeled, because those pain in the ass trucks aren't moving themselves." The Ford rumbled as he goosed the gas, rifle laid across the windowframe. Gravel crunched beneath the tires as the truck moved alongside the stalkers already marching forward. Pinkie grasped the scattergun Dexter had left in her care, her expression sour. She muttered something lost in the racket of the moving vehicle and turned back to the side opposite Dexter's gun, her eyes pressed to the narrow vision slit. "Hey, you!" Scarecrow barked. "Yeah, you. Max Payne and action-chick! Hook these tow bars up to the truck on the right. Make sure it's in neutral, will you?"

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_____There it was. Twenty feet to the left of the blockage, a circle of paint marked Sid's stash. It was on top of the second red truck, this one burned down to axles, until all that was left was metal frame, rusted panels and a flapping canvas roof. Beneath the fabric, the edges of a black rucksack showed. It was sizeable— not your typical lunchbox, but a full-sized hunting pack about a meter in height and as wide as a barrel. It was wedged tightly on top of the vehicle's frame.

_____The road's side took a gentle gradient into a sort of slit trench at the base of an earthen bunker. There was a cheap metal mount for some sort of automatic weapon inside the dugout, which had a commanding view of most of the road from the Cordon. The premises were vacant, although a half-eaten chocolate bar and an empty water bottle, sans cap, on the floor had to be pretty recent. In the trench outside, a handful of 5.45 casings were sprinkled into the dirt in a neat pile, maybe one magazine's worth. Among the scuffmarks and trash, there was also one orange Soviet medical kit.

_____Sera's bike begun to cough. The idle fell ragged as the tac wavered, then bounced hard left and right in the gauge like she'd slipped the clutch on wide open throttle. She felt the controls pulsing beneath her fingertips as the rear tire spun for grip, then her motorcycle fell dead entirely.

_____"Need a hand with that?"
 
Steel dropped herself to one knee as she saw the casings, half-eaten chocolate bar and the soviet AL-2 medkit sort of bunched together. seeing that medkit sure did bring lots of memories from back then as she shook her head with a chuckle, her hand moving to pick up one of the casings before dropping it and picking up the medkit instead.

@Zeitgeist Blue @DB_Explorer @PanzerWaffles @Kyldin @Hoshino Yumemi
"Steel to Convoy and Valkyrie, just found a medkit and a half-eaten chocolate bar next to twenty casings of 5.45. Their still fairly warm so there must have been a fight or something, in any case those bandits won't be coming back for some time." She comm'd to them as she leaned her rifle on the side of the dugout to pack the medkit in before taking up her Kalash once more.

"I suggest we move the convoy through now, no point in waiting for ourselves to get pick pocketed by them." She comm'd once more before making her way over to Valkyrie.
 
"So they got ambushed in the middle of a snack break, only had enough time to fire off a mag and ... we did'nt hear any of this despite it not happening long ago." Dexter summarized, he would of been more useful if this was something more... natural, at least natural for the zone, biology did'nt help much when guns came into play. "You think it was other STALKERs or something more local?" Dexter asked before pausing. "You know what? Consider that a rhetorical question - move the damn trucks so we can clear a likely kill zone."
 
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_____Steel's boots crunched in the gravel as she left the bunker. As she took a glance back, a glint of light caught her eye. There was small nook she hadn't seen in her initial inspection, a different branch in the dugout just big enough for a person to stand up in. Some light streamed through a window-like cutout in the top. Steam wafted through the hole, though against the watercolor blue sky, it had been nearly invisible. Now, standing at a very specific spot, the Russian ex-paratrooper was just barely able to see the steam rising from the spot, highlighted against the dirt backdrop.
 
Sushi said:
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_____Steel's boots crunched in the gravel as she left the bunker. As she took a glance back, a glint of light caught her eye. There was small nook she hadn't seen in her initial inspection, a different branch in the dugout just big enough for a person to stand up in. Some light streamed through a window-like cutout in the top. Steam wafted through the hole, though against the watercolor blue sky, it had been nearly invisible. Now, standing at a very specific spot, the Russian ex-paratrooper was just barely able to see the steam rising from the spot, highlighted against the dirt backdrop.
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Steel stopped in her tracks as she saw the hole, to the untrained and inattentive the steam would have been invisible. Nonetheless she stared at it while moving one of her hands to her radio as it crackled to light as she pressed her thumb on the side button.

@Yurihime Himeyuri
"Valkyrie, I need you here right now. Convoy start moving, I don't like how you lot are just sitting there waiting to be RPG bait." She comm'd to them as she then squatted down on the ground before taking her Kalash, her hands pulling the rifle as it un-slings itself from her body as she then leaned it against the side of the dugout. Once Valkyrie had arrived she then turned to look up at her. "Steams coming from this hole, big enough for one person to fit in." She said to her before pulling out her Makarov, her hand cocking the slide back before sighing. "I need you to watch out here, if shit happens there's nothing much you can do since it fits only one person." She said before turning to look at her with a little cheeky grin.

"Seems like its my turn to become like those tunnel rats in Vietnam." She chuckled to her before the ex-paratrooper took out her flashlight and slowly made her way inside the hole. Turning it on she then squeezed herself in as best as she could. "Keep in contact with me by the way." She added.
 
Nick stared for a second longer at Scarecrow's call before shifting the Niva's gear to neutral and leaving the car. Whatever allusion he was referring to was lost on the detective, the nickname giving way to the good sense of starting the work to get out of here.

Nick grabbed the hook, pulling it to the truck and attaching it firmly to the truck's rear. That done he took a step back and waved to Scarecrow. "Done!" he called. "Now get the truck moving."
 
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_____Valkyrie gave a boost as Geralt watched on, and Rachel found herself staring over the rusted bulk of the truck. An enormous rat, nearly the size of her skull hissed, snapping at her nose before fleeing into the body of the truck. What remained was a large duffel hidden under a drop cloth. It was heavy, laden down with a jingling assortment of weapons and a bulky swathe of fabric that Rachel recognized at once as a Russian classic in Afghanistan, the titanium plates solid under her fingertips. The others made up a hefty stockpile, almost more than a single person could carry on them. This had to be someone's Zone retirement fund. How the bandits never found it, it was hard to say.


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_____As Steel twisted and peered into the vent, she noticed an alcove just tall enough for a person to fit into. And the jet of steam. Rhythmic, regular, seeming to emanate from no spot in particular. It was peculiar, perhaps another artifact or anomaly. The work continued outside, truck rumbling forward. Nick brought up the hook with a sharp, metallic clang, and the steam's flow paused, tapered off until Steel heard something like a cough.

_____The steam coughed. A deep, phlegm-tinged sound that seemed to be drawn through a crooked hose, the cloud bobbing before settling down. It was at rest again.

_____Behind Steel, outside the bunker itself, Scarecrow gave Nick a thumb's up and shoved the noisy diesel truck into gear, his foot hovering over the accelerator pedal.​
 
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Sushi said:
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_____As Steel twisted and peered into the vent, she noticed an alcove just tall enough for a person to fit into. And the jet of steam. Rhythmic, regular, seeming to emanate from no spot in particular. It was peculiar, perhaps another artifact or anomaly. The work continued outside, truck rumbling forward. Nick brought up the hook with a sharp, metallic clang, and the steam's flow paused, tapered off until Steel heard something like a cough.

_____The steam coughed. A deep, phlegm-tinged sound that seemed to be drawn through a crooked hose, the cloud bobbing before settling down. It was at rest again.

_____Behind Steel, outside the bunker itself, Scarecrow gave Nick a thumb's up and shoved the noisy diesel truck into gear, his foot hovering over the accelerator pedal.​
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Steel stopped in her tracks as watched that part of that wall where the steam was coming out, her brows furrowed at what it was. The first thing she thought of that it was a man possibly using a Hookah or some type of bong, the other was worse as it could be an anomaly that could tear her into pieces in a matter of seconds. Licking her lips she then moved her left hand to start digging into her left pack before taking out a thick metal bolt.

"Lets see what you are." She said to herself in a whisper as she then tossed the bolt forward, aiming at the hole at the side to see what it really was.
 
Sushi said:
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_____Valkyrie gave a boost as Geralt watched on, and Rachel found herself staring over the rusted bulk of the truck. An enormous rat, nearly the size of her skull hissed, snapping at her nose before fleeing into the body of the truck. What remained was a large duffel hidden under a drop cloth. It was heavy, laden down with a jingling assortment of weapons and a bulky swathe of fabric that Rachel recognized at once as a Russian classic in Afghanistan, the titanium plates solid under her fingertips. The others made up a hefty stockpile, almost more than a single person could carry on them. This had to be someone's Zone retirement fund. How the bandits never found it, it was hard to say.

​


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Rachel and Geralt kept watch over the perimeter while Val investigated the cache. It was only after Val opened the container up that Rachel gave the contents an appreciative glance. The equipment wouldn't be worth much outside, but from her history in the Zone, Rachel knew it was worth its weight in gold, especially considering her current getup. She desperately wanted the body armor, given that the only thing standing between her and a bullet was a thin camouflage parka, but this wasn't just her haul. Val had accepted the job too, and she deserved a cut. Besides, Val was more likely to be in the thick of things than Rachel.

@Yurihime Himeyuri

"Val, you should take the body armor. I'll take the flamethrower and we can split the rest," Rachel said. The flamethrower wasn't her first choice, but it was there. If her enemies got close or surrounded her, she'd prefer the steady waves of flames over her slow, 30 rounds per minute rifle.

Sushi said:


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_____As Steel twisted and peered into the vent, she noticed an alcove just tall enough for a person to fit into. And the jet of steam. Rhythmic, regular, seeming to emanate from no spot in particular. It was peculiar, perhaps another artifact or anomaly. The work continued outside, truck rumbling forward. Nick brought up the hook with a sharp, metallic clang, and the steam's flow paused, tapered off until Steel heard something like a cough.

_____The steam coughed. A deep, phlegm-tinged sound that seemed to be drawn through a crooked hose, the cloud bobbing before settling down. It was at rest again.

_____Behind Steel, outside the bunker itself, Scarecrow gave Nick a thumb's up and shoved the noisy diesel truck into gear, his foot hovering over the accelerator pedal.​
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After divvying up the gear, Rachel shot a glance over her shoulder at the rest of their team. Looked like they were clearing the road. "Let's head back. I don't feel comfortable out here, away from the others."

The bandits had encountered something. No one just spent bullets freely in a hellhole like the Zone. If whoever or whatever got them was watching the team now, a pair of stragglers who broke off from the group would be Rachel's first targets.
 
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_____The bolt left Steel's hand, although it seemed to run into a wall long before hitting the opposite end of the cave. It did so with a dull thud, and the Russian ex-paratrooper felt the air shift in the cavern as the steam gushed into her face. About a foot above eye level, a pair of milk-white dots glared down, looking like the eyes of a hounding standing in a car's headlights.

_____A howl, part velociraptor snarl and jet turbine scream tore through the bunker, and Steel felt an enormous hand clout across her middle with an even louder thud, her body hurtling limp the four or five feet through the entrance, rifle doing backflips in the dirt. Two enormous feet dragged up a trail of dust that covered half the area in seconds, the beast itself unseen as all that could be seen for a moment were the glowing white eyes suspended mid-air, a moment later vanishing as the only sound was the mad stomp of the creature's feet.
 
Steel groaned in pain as she laid down on the ground, the ex-paratrooper disoriented from the hit and her landing. Whatever the thing was that attacked her certainly had other plans than hiding, the trail of dust leaving her behind on the ground. The hand with her flashlight then stowed the light source away before grasping her radio and pressing the side button.

"Valkyri- cough Valkyrie! Convoy! Something's coming out of the tunnel, its invisible and I assume all of you heard th- cough that loud shriek!" She shouted through the radio before sitting herself up, holstering her Makarov she then grasped and pulled her Kalash over to her before slowly standing up.

"Fucking hell, whatever that thing was it packed a punch!" She groaned to herself as she then slowly made her way out of the tunnel before falling down to her knees.

@Yurihime Himeyuri
Steel looked up at Valkyrie before coughing up some more. "Weapons at the ready, whatever it is its fast and hits hard!" She shouted to her as she slowly brought herself up to a stand, the former VDV paratrooper still trying to catch her breath after being winded out.
 
@Sushi @Kharn_Valnikov

Nick was already moving as soon as Steel's shouted words came through everyone's radios.

He unholstered his pistol, carrying the Tokarev in one hand, magazine in and safety off, as he spoke through his personal radio. "Steel, this is Bloodhound. Get back to the convoy now. We're getting out of here."

To anyone listening, Nick's voice was that of an officer of the law, unfazed by the events in motion. He strode through the convoy, gesturing for Scarecrow to hurry up even as his words kept an even pace talking to Steel. "Valkyrie and Rachel should be around your area. Do you need our help?"

It came naturally to him during crisis situations, civilians depended on them to be the calm in the middle of the storm, but all Nick could think about was the pack of cigarettes waiting in the Niva. Whatever. He'd smoke when they got out of here alive. All of them. And that meant rounding over to where the asshole sat on his gun turret.

He opened the rear hatch of the Ford as it readied to move and jabbed a finger to the kid's face. "Stay here!"

Then the detective backpedaled to the driver's seat, catching Rain-Spider's attention. "Any idea what we're facing?"
 
@Sushi @Yurihime Himeyuri @Wizard_Marshall @PanzerWaffles @Zeitgeist Blue @Kensai @Kharn_Valnikov @Kyldin @Hoshino Yumemi @DB_Explorer

Felix did what any sane person would do after witnessing a fully grown adult getting ragdolled and scrambled for cover behind the Mercedes. Whatever Steel had run into up near the bunker definitely wasn't in the mood for a friendly chat. Felix pulled out the drone feed and tried once again to spot the… whatever it was. He swung the camera around, desperately trying to locate the monster, but like his earlier attempt, found nothing.

"Verdammt! Ist das ein Geist?" Felix cursed to himself. "Maybe if I switch to thermal it'll sho--Oh Gott im Himmel, das ist keiner Geist aber Ungeheuer!" Felix's eyes popped out of his head in terror at the grotesque creature that suddenly appeared on the drone feed. He tried to relay his findings to the rest of the group, but Felix was suddenly having issues stringing words together into a coherent sentence.
 
@Sushi @Yurihime Himeyuri @Wizard_Marshall @PanzerWaffles @Zeitgeist Blue @Kensai @Kharn_Valnikov @Kyldin @Hoshino Yumemi @DB_Explorer

Talon, upon having heard a roar neither Human or beast, gripped her weapon as she glanced around where she stood. The German beside her, Felix, seemed to be at a loss for words at what he witnessed on his camera feed past it being a monster.

"So, it's a spirit that turns into a monster?" Talon mused. "I bet enough bullets will lay it to rest while it's in the flesh...Or if we find a way to make it visible when invisible." Talon radioed to Steel in her usual accented English. "Steel, If you can manage, head to the front of the Merc. I have an idea..." She turned to her German colleague, and in her best Schwarzenegger impression spoke as her weapon was held Rambo style while she stood alert. "I take it your monster is one ugly motherfucker."
 
@Wizard_Marshall
Wizard_Marshall said:
"Val, you should take the body armor. I'll take the flamethrower and we can split the rest,"... snip
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"Thanks Rachel." Val said as she donned the Flak vest with a warm smile as the familiar weight settled over her, "If you dont mind I'll take the grenades as well, you can have the rest of it" She said as they finished divvying up the loot.
@Kharn_Valnikov @Sushi @DerPoltergeist @Kyldin @Hoshino Yumemi @Kensai @PanzerWaffles @Zeitgeist Blue @DB_Explorer


The sound of an unearthly roar echoed to where she and the others where standing when she heard Steel over the radio. Already Instincts born of years of training had her flicking the safety of her weapon off, and a round in the chamber. It might not be anything she had fought before, but if the whispered tales of horrors were to be believed, then even monsters in this place could be killed.

"Everyone ready, tango from the tunnel!" Valkyrie cried out as she readied herself for what might come, her rifle already aimed down into the darkness.
 
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Dexter bit a choice curse as he watched the former VDV get hurled back into the road, Albatross below him in the truck as less circumspect – he had no clue what she yelled but the tone made it sound very vulgar. He really didn't care.

He swung the machine gun toward where their would-be investigator become a fastball special in time to see a pair of stark white eyes fade into the background. He had assumed that the check points desertion was a matter of people fighting people – he was wrong on that assumption it seems and the old adage on assumptions still held true even in the Zone.

It was now clear enough to figure out what happened – check point with lazy guard's vs some invisible monster. Nothing in the zone was going to match first assumptions, humans were now low down on the totem pole it seems – the woods were dark and full of monsters again.

Well, at least he had a machine gun.
 
Yurihime Himeyuri said:
@Wizard_Marshall

"Thanks Rachel." Val said as she donned the Flak vest with a warm smile as the familiar weight settled over her, "If you dont mind I'll take the grenades as well, you can have the rest of it" She said as they finished divvying up the loot.
@Kharn_Valnikov @Sushi @DerPoltergeist @Kyldin @Hoshino Yumemi @Kensai @PanzerWaffles @Zeitgeist Blue @DB_Explorer

The sound of an unearthly roar echoed to where she and the others where standing when she heard Steel over the radio. Already Instincts born of years of training had her flicking the safety of her weapon off, and a round in the chamber. It might not be anything she had fought before, but if the whispered tales of horrors were to be believed, then even monsters in this place could be killed.

"Everyone ready, tango from the tunnel!" Valkyrie cried out as she readied herself for what might come.
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Unfortunately, before they could redistribute the loot at Val's suggestion, a primal roar tore through the area.

Sushi said:

_____The bolt left Steel's hand, although it seemed to run into a wall long before hitting the opposite end of the cave. It did so with a dull thud, and the Russian ex-paratrooper felt the air shift in the cavern as the steam gushed into her face. About a foot above eye level, a pair of milk-white dots glared down, looking like the eyes of a hounding standing in a car's headlights.

_____A howl, part velociraptor snarl and jet turbine scream tore through the bunker, and Steel felt an enormous hand clout across her middle with an even louder thud, her body hurtling limp the four or five feet through the entrance, rifle doing backflips in the dirt. Two enormous feet dragged up a trail of dust that covered half the area in seconds, the beast itself unseen as all that could be seen for a moment were the glowing white eyes suspended mid-air, a moment later vanishing as the only sound was the mad stomp of the creature's feet.
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Rachel felt fear stab her in the gut with ice-cold knives and twist. Fucking Bloodsuckers. One of the nastier creatures of the Zone. Back in her military days, a report was distributed to her platoon concerning new dangers in the Zone. After reading the nightmarish report, she had hoped to never encounter one of them, but that prayer went unanswered several days later. She still remembered how hardened veterans reacted like rookies, firing haphazardly into the air at ghostly images. Most of her squad survived the encounter, few recovered from the incident. It was so sudden that she didn't have the composure to utilize any of the information in the report. This time would be different. Her team needed to be informed about the Bloodsucker's dangers and how to kill it. This wasn't some boogeyman. It could bleed and die just like any other living creature.

@DerPoltergeist @Zeitgeist Blue @DB_Explorer @PanzerWaffles @Kyldin @Kensai @Hoshino Yumemi @Kharn_Valnikov

"It's a Bloodsucker. That's literally what they do," Rachel spoke in a cool, crisp tone over the radio, informing her team of the danger. She jogged towards the vehicles. "They're fast, vicious creatures with optical camouflage, but they're not too resilient. A good shot will take them down. Headshots are fatal. When they're cloaked, their bodies seem weaker. I've even heard of some crazy idiot taking one down with a single swipe from a KA-BAR. If you see a pair of glowing eyes, you're not hallucinating. Just shoot."

Despite her business-like tone, Rachel felt cold sweat trickle down her nape. Something soft and wet nudged her hand. It was Geralt. That's right. She didn't have this guy back then. The Bloodsuckers only fooled the eyes, not the other senses. A smile ghosted her lips before she gave Geralt the gesture to sniff out the monster.
 
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09-03-2016 — "Waking Up"
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    The Garbage​
    _____A warm tongue licked at her face. The dirt supported her side, the sky was a dull orange above. There was another lick. Geralt whined and bumped his nose into Rachel's dirt-stained cheek, tugging on her till the merc begun to stir. As she moved, her arm brushed into dozens of brass casings littering the ground all around her. Her body ached like she'd been run over with an entire convoy of trucks, but she didn't see any gashes that bloodsucker claws had left, no gaping hole where her blood had been sucked dry. All considered, it was much better than the typical outcome of a bloodsucker attack.

    _____Her phone buzzed. She'd missed a half-dozen calls from Jack.

    _____It had been 48 hours since she'd last checked. Her dry lips and tongue attested to that much. The bodies of everyone were splayed around her; the hard-boiled cop, and Val directly adjacent, and the kid they had picked up not far away. Their Mercedes and Niva were parked neatly by the road-side, and nobody had picked them dry in forty-eight hours. Her hand still clasped the Dragunov tightly, safety flicked off with a full magazine loaded.

    _____A dog howled in the distance. Anomalies crackled. The sun was getting low, and the day was dwindling fast.


    _____Sera didn't like going down without a fight, but when she opened her eyes, her motorcycle was standing, perfectly balanced on its two wheels. Her ribs ached, her head throbbed, and the air smelled faintly of burnt gunpowder. The others were just starting to stir and awake from a slumber that had taken who knew how long. All of her belongings were in place— even the stash of 'spices' she had surreptitiously brought with her. As she collected herself, she saw a small scratch on the left fender of her bike that hadn't been there before. When she ran her fingers over the spot to inspect it, Sera nearly jumped out of her own skin.

    _____It was a Serbian gang marking.



    _____Her earbuds throbbed like an axe in her skull. Talon knew how to tune out the loudest of music, though, and it wasn't the pounding Metallica that woke her up. It was the gentle hum beneath her feet, as she saw that she was still belted into the driver's seat of the Mercedes. Still? Had she climbed in earlier? The engine was still on, ticking over as the gauges showed the oil was still warming. Her TMP was cradled in her lap, half a magazine fired, empty casings rolling around the floor. In the back, Felix laid out cold on the second row, colored cases at his feet. Teijo was nowhere to be seen, and Dexter had disappeared again.

    _____It had been forty-eight hours. The tank was still full.


    _____The turboprop's engines buzzed in her skull as the cargo bay dropped, wind snapping at her fatigues. Rifle lashed tightly to her chest, the paratrooper glanced out at the punishing Afghani environment below, before leaping from the bay, static line jerking at her back.

    _____Steel looked back down, and her feet dangled beneath her, the bodies of her comrades scattered around, spent casings and weapons between them. Her shoulders felt the pinch of a harness. She was dangling from a tree five meters in the air, as if she had parachuted in to the Zone rather than walked, and had fouled herself in the branches instead. Her weapon was nowhere to be found, and her backpack sat neatly at the base of the tree below her. Birds chirped above her, and gunfire slowly popped in the distance, as nothing in the Zone seemed to care for her predicament.


    _____"Keep going, you'll never miss it!" That was what the "guide" had told Drifter, hours ago when dropping the young hunter off at the Zone's border. After the guards had shaken him down for a "tip," he'd been left to his own devices by Father Valerian's "Pig Pen." Not long after that, he'd hitched a ride with some loners heading to a checkpoint by the far end of the Cordon. As they settled down and made camp for the evening, they advised he'd find another group of stalkers in the Bandit Garbage territory. As long as he kept his wits and paid any bribes demanded of him, the trip to the Flea Market was an easy one.

    _____He'd been chasing one of those 'artifacts' for a few minutes, a conular yellow rock-like one that made his geiger counter tick. Every time he sped up to catch it, the thing kept hopping away faster than he could jog and throw bolts. Eventually, it hopped right into bandit territory, rattling down the hill and out of sight.
    ​

    _____And then he'd stumbled across what looked like the corpse of a woman dangling from a tree above him @Kharn_Valnikov​, clad in a camouflage uniform and heavy body armor. Several others were splayed around the place, which served as an entrance to the Garbage. Drifter had been told in detail how the nearby bunker was a place where bandits made their camp, and interrogated any newcomers, especially loners. Instead, he'd found a pile of unconscious and awaking stalkers of all walks, a pair of vehicles parked nearby as his boot nudged the glimmering brass casings all around the place.
     
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