I quickly run into the house, briefly say goodbye to the stalkers, and grab my backpack with my weapons. Then I lead Shram behind me towards the exit of the village. We walked in complete silence; the mercenary wasn't in a hurry to ask me anything, and I didn't know how to approach him. On one hand, I'm incredibly curious to talk to an in-game character and learn more about his history, but on the other hand, I understand that I don't really need it. He used to be my avatar with his untold backstory, but now he's just another stalker in the Zone.
We reached the checkpoint under the railway bridge in fifteen minutes of leisurely walking. Khaletsky's Lonewolves hadn't managed to gather squads to storm our base yet, so there was no shooting on the way. Passing the checkpoint, we head straight for the camp.
"Who did you bring, huh?" the guard at the entrance asks me with interest, scratching his curly beard.
"To Valerian," I throw back, passing by him. Shram follows me, paying no attention to the stalker.
We walk through the camp under a barrage of interested glances. The mercenary certainly looks quite exotic for these parts. No one is familiar with Clear Sky, so the suit's coloring attracts a lot of attention. Reaching the open door
of the building where Valerian is located, I point Shram to the entrance.
"Here," I explain to him, noticing his slightly raised left eyebrow. "When you go in, turn left."
He barely nods at me and enters under the arches of the house, disappearing into the darkness of the unlit room. I watch the mercenary go and look for a comfortable spot, eventually sitting on the chassis of a rusty Volga. Then I pull out Nick's crumpled letter from my chest pocket. I unfold the homemade envelope made of crumpled, yellowish paper and take out a sheet covered in uneven handwriting.
"Hello, Executioner! There's so much I want to say that I don't even know where to start. So I'll go in order.
First, thank you very much for pulling me out and not leaving me to die with a hole in my gut in the swamp. Ah, I already owed you a lot, and you're just increasing the debt. But, mark my words, someday I'll pay you back.
Second, I'd like to ask why you haven't visited? But I understand everything and I'm not offended, you must have plenty of worries at the Cordon without me. And Shaman kept saying that you were busy with some kind of development. He's very strange, isn't he?
Speaking of him. Not long ago, about a week ago, as soon as I could stand on my feet, he started acting stranger than usual, always getting ready to go somewhere, preparing for a long raid. And a few days ago, right before the blowout, he took me to the Clear Sky base. They didn't want to take me, but our acquaintance Proton helped. So I'm like a gofer there, helping with small things. If you only knew how soulful the guys here are, you should visit.
In short, since then, neither I nor others have seen Shaman. Oh, he also asked me to tell you that if it's the Zone's will, you will definitely meet in the North. Maybe you know what he meant?
Well, that's all. I hope everything is well with you. Come visit us sometime.
Nick"
I exhale deeply, fold the letter, and put it back in my pocket. I lift my head and look at the white clouds slowly drifting across the sky, lost in thought for a moment. I'm genuinely glad that Nick is doing well and has found his place among good people. But I felt a little sick to my stomach knowing that many of them would soon die, and I wasn't going to do anything about it. I can't or don't want to, I don't know, it's all complicated. On one hand, from a more human perspective, I should warn them about everything, but on the other hand... Who would believe me?
"Did something happen, Executioner?" Valerian pulled me out of my thoughts, patting me lightly on the shoulder. "You look completely grim."
The stalker leader was standing very close to me now. His face was full of concern, his lips were curved in a slight, understanding smile, and his eyes looked at me with great warmth. Both tough and kind, I now understand why the stalkers called him Father Valerian. I look away from him, noticing that not only he, but also several other stalkers were looking at me with concern.
With each passing day, I begin to understand and realize more and more that all these stalkers around me are not background characters at all, but real people. Each with their own character, history, and destiny. And I can't just dismiss them, because I am also a person. And from this, deep down, it becomes unbearably painful that even though I know the tragic stories of some of them, I can't help them. My intervention in some matters can only complicate things, and I'll also put myself at risk.
I shake my head, squeezing my eyes shut painfully, and get up from my seat. If I can't help the Clear Sky assault squad, then I can help the remnants of their clan. As soon as the Shram saga ends, I'll head to the Swamps.
"Nothing serious," I reply with a soft smile to Valerian, immediately asking: "Are you finished yet?"
"Well, let's see," the stalker squints suspiciously, carefully examining my face. "If you decide to talk, then I, and all of ours, will listen to you and help as much as we can. And regarding your question, yes. Shram volunteered to help us with our problem and is now talking to Khaletsky, oh, and here he is. How are things?"
"He's silent," Shram says briefly, standing opposite us and crossing his arms. "What are we going to do?"
"Let's go," Valerian replies, turning around, and before entering the building, he beckons me invitingly.
As soon as we are in the office, the stalker takes a PDA from the desk and contacts someone on the stalker network, then he puts the communicator aside and tells us to sit down. While the leader paces the office and prepares tea, I peer into Shram's face, which shows no emotion. Noticing my curiosity, he turns halfway towards me and slightly raises an eyebrow.
"Nothing, sorry," I just reply, looking away, I shouldn't have been staring at him like that.
Shram wanted to say something, but was interrupted by Yakut, who entered the room and immediately sat to my left, greeting everyone briefly. By this time, the kettle had boiled, and as the room filled with the tart aroma of black tea, the meeting began.
"It's time to discuss our plan of action regarding Khaletsky," Valerian begins, sipping from his glass. "This rat is clearly counting on his own people, which is why he's silent. He knows we can't get rid of him easily yet. So, we have to deal with them."
"Who might come to his aid?" Shram's voice is heard, he hasn't even touched his tea.
"As the informant reported," Valerian replies. "A couple of junior officers and about twenty soldiers, all unofficially."
"Maybe we can negotiate?" Yakut asks. "Why should they risk their skins for this scumbag? They'll retreat, we'll get the case. Everyone's happy."
"It won't work," the stalker shakes his head, leaning back in his chair. "Everyone who goes to his aid owes the major an astronomical sum of money. I don't know what he threatened them with, but they will fight for him to the last."
"When will it all start?" Shram asks again.
"In a day, maybe two," the leader says, twisting a mustache on his finger. "We couldn't find out more. They keep to themselves, hardly communicate with anyone except their own."
"I didn't know we even had an informant among the military," I say quietly, finishing my tea.
"Khaletsky has plenty of ill-wishers," the stalker chuckles into his mustache. "So it wasn't difficult to contact one of them and hint that we could help solve the problem with the major. Not for free, of course."
"This is all well and good, of course," Shram says, crossing his arms over his chest. "But what will be our plan of action? We know the numbers, but what next?"
"This is where the difficulties begin," Valerian sighs deeply, getting up from his chair and walking to a shelf, taking a thin roll, which turns out to be a map of the Cordon. "We don't know exactly where the soldiers will go, so we can't prepare a couple of surprises for them. We could deploy people, but there aren't enough of them for normal control over the territory, and scattering our forces before the battle is a bad idea."
"But we can leave a couple of people in the village," Yakut replies, pointing a finger at the map spread out, towards the area of that very novice village. "At least we'll know when the military makes a move."
"So, we have nothing to do but wait?" I ask.
"That's how it is," the group leader shrugs. "We can't attack at the checkpoint; the military won't tolerate such audacity and will smear us thin. So we'll wait and prepare for any surprise our opponents might throw at us."
After a little more talk, we finished the meeting. Unfortunately, we didn't decide anything definite. The military could go down any path to any part of the Cordon to plan an attack on our base from there, so we are forced to wait for their first move. We could have sent scouts, but as Valerian said, there are few people, and it's dangerous. If they get spotted, we'll lose a person without learning anything useful.
The next day, the leader summoned me to his office. Upon entering, I saw several familiar stalkers there. One of them, Batut, a stocky stalker, was angry about something, which made his already unpleasant face look even worse. Next to him, by the wardrobe, stood Nemoy, a tall and silent stalker, who lazily glanced at me. Opposite them were two brothers, Kirpich and Trotil, short stalkers who were smiling tensely about something.
Valerian himself sat at his desk, tapping his knuckles and looking at a piece of paper lying before him. Opposite him sat a swarthy stalker nicknamed Mulat, who crossed his legs and slightly shook the toe of his boot. As soon as I entered the office, they all sharply looked at me.
"Valerian, I'm abou—" Batut began to say, but was immediately interrupted by the leader.
"Enough," he said sternly, looking at the stalker. "This is my final decision. If you don't want to obey, then go your own way."
"Understood," Batut grumbled, casting an extremely resentful glance at me.
"I suppose you're already acquainted with everyone," the stalker leader says to me with a slight smile. "Here, this is your squad. And don't worry about Batut; he's a grumbler, but he won't abandon a comrade in trouble. He'll get over it."
"I'm right here, by the way!" the mentioned stalker sharply turned towards Valerian, eliciting a few chuckles from everyone else.
Before I could say anything, a notification sound came from Valerian's PDA. The stalker reached for it, turned on the screen, and began to read. With every movement of his eyes, the leader's face became darker and darker. Finally, after finishing, he put the communicator aside and looked at me seriously.
"It's time, Palach," he says. "The military has been spotted at ATP and Elevator."