"Status window," I whisper quietly, walking towards the torn barbed wire fence and noting that it is now three fifty-six AM.
I need to hurry before it gets dark. I kneel down, take out an empty pistol magazine, and start loading it. I check my gear, then go outside the fence. Now I need to be as careful as possible.
I walk forward cautiously, looking carefully underfoot and occasionally throwing bolts ahead of me. The anomaly detector, of course, works excellently and helps a lot, but only when I get within arm's reach of anomalies, which is best avoided.
I walk through another bush and realize I've reached the spot where Nick was shot. I quickly hide behind the trunk of a thick tree, wait for a while, and peek out from behind it. On the road lie two stripped corpses, without boots or outerwear. One of them is the one who shot my partner, and the second one, apparently, was unlucky. When I was shooting at the bushes, I accidentally hit him. The renegades took everything they could from the bodies of their former comrades and left their bodies to be eaten by mutants.
I grunt and stick out a little more, carefully scanning the surroundings. No one seems to be around. I exhale sharply and, on bent legs, quickly cross the road, hiding behind another tree. I look out again, scanning the area. Still no one. I turn around and walk on cautiously. I really don't want to deal with renegades.
There were no difficulties on the way to the farm, although I had to hide in the bushes sometimes, letting renegades pass by. They've become active, the devils. I even wondered why they weren't there, at the bridge, where the skirmish happened. And I managed to overhear the answer to this question when I was once again lying on my belly in the mud under a sprawling bush.
"Listen," a scruffy renegade in a black jacket and with a hood over his head said in a hoarse voice, smoking a cigarette, to his comrade. "Why is the boss making us run like this? We're not young anymore."
"What, didn't you hear?" the other, a little taller and broader in the shoulders, replied in a bass voice. "The scouts of the blues took down Sovok's entire squad."
"How so?" the first one wonders. "There were eight of them, and the blues strut around in pairs, at most in threes."
"That's how, they shot them like rats," the second one shrugs. "They also noticed a couple of suckers near our base, so the boss is raging."
"What's wrong with the suckers?"
"You don't know anything at all," the second one spat. "Two suckers shot Zhmykh when he went to relieve himself. He wounded one of them, so the second one picked him up and bolted into the bushes."
"So what, it's easy to catch up with a wounded man."
"Yeah, our guys decided so, they went into the bushes, so the second sucker shot a few times. He killed one outright, and wounded two more. They didn't dare to go further.
"Lucky, pfft."
"Lucky or not, who knows, but no one wanted to lie there with a pierced head anymore. That's enough chatter, we still have to walk to the church," he said, throwing his cigarette butt on the ground and extinguishing it with his boot.
I started approaching the farm when it was completely dark, so I had to walk the remaining distance with a flashlight. I didn't want to stumble or sprain my ankle. Fortunately, there was no one at the farm. But there was no time to check the entire farm in detail. Dogs howled nearby, and the bushes started rustling suspiciously. I take a short run, accelerate,
and jump onto the wall of the house, grabbing onto protruding bricks with my hands, pull myself up, reposition my hands, and climb into the attic.
I take out my flashlight and examine the room. Nothing has changed since our visit. I also found the backpack that I had asked Nick to hide. And, to my surprise, there was an assault rifle next to it. Ksyukha, if I'm not mistaken. And a note. I pick it up and start reading.
"This assault rifle is for saving you, I asked the guys to drop it off, and a couple of full magazines as a bonus, so you have something to shoot back with against all sorts of riff-raff. If you're still in our area, drop by the fishing farm for a trade or just to chat. We'll be glad to see you. It's the southwesternmost farm, go straight from the abandoned church. Good luck with your trip, Executioner and Nick.
Proton."
I decide to deal with the assault rifle and the rest tomorrow. I take both mattresses and move them to the farthest corner from the entrance, stacking one on top of the other for convenience. I sit down, take off my backpack, and take out some canned food. I'll have dinner and go to sleep, I'm very tired.
After breakfast and checking the new weapon, which turned out to be a shortened Kalashnikov, worn but still in good condition, I grab my backpack and set off. The assault rifle rests on my shoulder. I carefully jump down from the attic, looking around, then cautiously leave the farm territory, heading southeast. The sooner I get to the Cordon, the better.
But I don't get far before a dog jumps out at me with a rustle of bushes and grass and a loud bark, intending to bite my leg. I manage to take a step back, grappling with the creature, raise my rifle, and put it to rest with one shot. I quickly reload my rifle and draw my pistol from my holster with my right hand, holding the TOZ by the barrel in my left. Dogs are pack animals, they rarely attack alone. I wait for a while and relax a little. Apparently, it was completely starving to attack alone.
After a couple of hours of travel, I arrive at the tunnel, habitually putting on my gas mask and passing through it. I wince a little when I realize that I will have to crawl on my belly again so that the soldiers don't shoot me. And I will have to do this more than once. I get down on my knees, then lie down and crawl towards the village.
The village greets me with emptiness. There were almost no stalkers on the street, except for a couple watching the village. I immediately head to the Hunter's house, reach for the keyhole with my key, but realize the door is open. I push it, go inside, and without taking off my shoes, go straight to the kitchen, where I find a slightly overgrown and dozing Wolf without his usual hood pulled over his head. He stirred, looked at me for a moment, and jumped up, quickly approaching me.
"Executioner," he says joyfully, hugging me. "Well, how did your trip go?"
"It went well," I reply to the stalker, sitting down on a chair and taking medicine for Shaman from my backpack. "What about the Hunter?"
"The old man is very bad," he takes the package from my hands, unwraps it, and fishes out a note on how to use it. "Let's see, I'll go give the Hunter the medicine now, and then we'll talk."
The stalker turns to the stove, takes a kettle from there, and pours a full glass of water, then disappears into the workshop. After a slight hesitation, I get up and go to my room to put away my things. I'll have to sort everything out later and take everything unnecessary to the trader, I doubt I'll get much for it, but it's some money. Throwing two backpacks onto a worn mattress, I place my rifle and assault rifle against the wall. In the village, a pistol will suffice.
I return to the kitchen and see the remains of potatoes with something in a frying pan and sliced bread on the table, apparently, Wolf didn't finish. I pour myself some warm water, sit down at the table, pull the dishes closer, and start eating. Not bad. As I put the last forkful in my mouth, Wolf appears in the kitchen.
"That's it, I gave him the tincture, treated the burn, had to wake him up," he pulls a chair closer to me, plops down on it. "But he fell asleep again almost immediately."
"That's good," I reply. "By the way, why is it so empty in the village? I thought they would be sitting here while the mutant was alive."
"That's it," Wolf grins crookedly. "No bloodsucker, and no point in sitting here either. I only lost money on this food idea. I tried to return his provisions to Sidorovich, but no, he says, I'll take it for a third of the price."
"What a greedy guts. Was I wrong, and there was no bloodsucker?"
"Yeah, Valerian's guys took care of it," Wolf says, leaning his elbows on the table. "They went to the elevator, looked, and indeed, a lair was set up, you were right about that, the creature was there. On the way back, Yakut, a sharp-eyed stalker, noticed the bloodsucker. They say he shot him in the eye from fifty meters. So they dealt with the monster without us. How did your trip to the swamps go? Tell me."
"Normally," I reply after a slight pause. "Only Nick was shot by renegades, they almost completely took over the Swamps. Luckily, it wasn't far to Shaman, he patched him up, he should be on his feet soon. He demanded food as payment, I think I'll go and take it tomorrow."
"Yeah, things are happening," the stalker says, stretching. "I'll have to let our guys know to be more careful in the Swamps if they go there. Don't worry about the food, I'll give you provisions for the money you gave me. Come on, you'll escort me."
"Of course," I get up after Wolf, who immediately heads for the door.
"I'm glad you're back. Both I and the Hunter are greatly indebted to you," he says, extending his hand for a handshake. I shake his dry, strong palm, remembering the anomaly detector.
"Damn," I exclaim and prepare to go back into the house, explaining to Wolf what happened. "I forgot about the anomaly detector, I'll get it now."
"No need, kid," he smiles. "Keep it for yourself. Come see me tomorrow for food. Bye."
After saying goodbye to Wolf, I go into the house. I still have a lot to do today. For the next couple of hours, I wash dishes and do a light wet cleaning. Wolf wasn't too concerned about the cleanliness of the Hunter's house, so it's a bit dirty here. After washing the dishes and dusting everything, I heat water to wash myself. After taking a shower, I smoothly shave the stiff stubble that has grown over the past few days and start sorting through my loot.
The money collected from the renegades turned out to be not much, only fifteen hundred, and that's from eight bodies. I transfer the information from their PDAs to mine, and then pack them, along with weapons and ammunition, into a bag that I intend to take to the trader.
Without waiting for my hair to dry, I immediately go outside and immediately feel the warm spring breeze on my face. I inhale the aroma of blooming spring mixed with the smell of campfire smoke with a full chest and head towards Sidorovich. Stas, seeing me, silently nods his head towards the weapon crate. After parting with my pistol, I go inside.
"You're back, kid?" the trader asks, tearing his gaze away from some notebook, immediately hiding the notebook under the table.
"You've heard about my trip?" I reply with a question, placing the bag on the table. The trader grunts understandingly and starts unpacking the items.
"Of course," Sidorovich says, pulling out another PDA. "I know everything here, Executioner. By the way, did you see any Clean Sky guys?"
"You know about them too?" I raise an eyebrow in surprise. "I thought they were a secretive group."
"They are secretive, yes," he says with a smirk, examining the weapon. "But, heh-heh, you didn't think they lived on holy spirit, did you? They have a mutually beneficial exchange with me, I give them food and some gear, they give me... ahem, what was I saying. You need to take a flash drive to them, wait for a response, and come back to me. Will you take the job?"
"How will I find them again in such a large swamp?"
"A cunning guy like you will find them easily," the trader says. "It's an urgent matter, you need to be back by the day after tomorrow, and my trusted person is busy with another job. I'll pay with real goods or money."
"Will you give me a fancy PDA?"
"Yes. So, do you take the job?"
"I do," I agree. I know where to look for them, so I'll handle the task easily.
"Here's your money," he hands me four thousand and answers my surprised look. "I pay well for PDAs with info, if you find more, bring them to me. You'll get the flash drive from Stas in the evening."
I hide the money in my chest pocket and leave the trader's bunker. Once outside, I stretch and yawn. While I was talking to the trader, it started to get dark. It's a shame you can't see the sunset from here, I would have admired it. I go home. As soon as I enter, I immediately go to my room, but I am stopped by the faintly audible voice of the Hunter.
"Executioner?" the old man calls me hoarsely, coughing.
"Hello," I greet him, entering his room. The old man is half-lying in bed, propping his back with a pillow. While I was gone, he became very thin, and his skin took on an unhealthy yellowish hue. "How are you?"
"Thanks to you, kkh-kkh," my mentor coughs again, I take a wide step and find myself next to the bedside table, picking up a glass of water from it and handing it to him. "Thank you. Thank you for everything... Kkh. You're like my guardian angel..."
I silently watch him finish the glass, then take the dishes from his hands and put them back on the nightstand. Because of this illness, the Hunter has aged even more, and now looks older than his age.
"You shouldn't have risked so much, kid," he says after a few seconds with a very sad and even a little lost look.
"I've lived my life, and my son and wife are already waiting for me there..."
"I don't think they wanted you to die like that."
"Maybe you're right, kid," the Hunter replies quietly. "And let's speak informally. You've saved my life so many times, and you keep using formal address, that's not right, heh."
"Okay," I nod in agreement, and with a smile, I ask. "Are you going to eat?"
"Of course, kid," the old man says, his mood brightening, and I go to the kitchen.