The Metro smelled of rust and wet stone that morning. Lanterns burned low in the tunnels, shadows curling along the walls like smoke. Stalkers gathered at the south gate, their gear clattering like the bones of old soldiers.
Some laughed, others checked magazines with grim silence. All of them ignored the boy standing at the edge.
Mikhail adjusted the straps of his scavenged gear — a patched jacket, a too-large gas mask hanging at his hip, and a battered rucksack that rattled faintly with empty canteens. On his finger, the ring glimmered faintly in the lantern light. It felt warm, as if alive.
His father's voice echoed in his head: "The Zone doesn't forgive. The Metro doesn't care. Remember, son — you survive by your wits, or not at all. The ring is not your strength. You are."
He breathed slow, steadying his nerves.
The stalkers at the gate muttered about anomalies, about "new dogs prowling near the surface," about the price of Premium Rounds. They didn't even glance at him. That was fine. In their eyes, he was nothing. A boy. A nobody. But today, he would step into the Zone proper — and either return as a STALKER, or not return at all.
The guard at the gate pulled the levers, gears grinding as the heavy steel door rolled open. Cold surface air washed over them, carrying with it the taste of ash and the distant echo of wings. Somewhere above, a demon cried, its voice like rust tearing from iron.
The stalkers moved out, one by one, disappearing into the ruined streets. Mikhail lingered at the threshold, journal pressed close inside his jacket. He thought of his mother's note, her last words inked into those first pages, urging him to live, to endure.
He stepped forward into the ruined world.
The Zone greeted him not with words, but with silence broken by the wind. Broken towers jutted like teeth against a grey sky, and in the distance, a shimmer in the air marked an anomaly, swirling lazily like a mirage.
Mikhail's heart pounded. For the first time, the Metro was behind him. Ahead lay the Zone — its anomalies, its mutants, its secrets.
And he was ready to learn.