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Post by blackpapermoon on Feb 13, 2011 20:42:50 GMT -5
“I don’t know if they’re bored, or just getting desperate,” He said, “Hansa and the Reds have knocked down their numbers even more then they where before.”
Yuras was about to continued when the skinned man that Balalaika had been siting next to came forward and spoke.
It seemed that the two where going to the south where he had just left from, it was also unsurprising that the new comer has issues with the Reich.
“The Reich has started to go after stalker and scavengers,” Ferret said, “ I was ambushed by a group of them up on the surface not that long ago, luckily the Howlers and Demons where more interested in them then me.”
“My names is Ferret, comrade,” said Yuras extending his hand to the other, “now what’s this I heard about going to explore the southern tunnel? I just came from that way myself, it’s not some place you want to travel alone.”
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Post by Roj Makhnovsk on Feb 13, 2011 22:34:29 GMT -5
Roj's expression relaxed, and he shook Ferret's hand firmly.
"Comrades call me Roj," He replied. "And Balalaika and I were --are-- going down there for, eh, expeditionary reasons, you could say. Now, what do you mean by that? What is so wrong with an empty, unpopulated, mutantless line?" Perhaps this little 'controversy' is merely a fear of emptiness. Paranoia. It wouldn't be difficult to go insane in unpopulated tunnels; thinking you hear noises that were never emitted. Thinking you saw sights that are not actually there.
Once again, Roj denied enlightenment of the metro's more... seemingly fictious feaures. Yet, his philosophy was believeable.
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Post by blackpapermoon on Feb 14, 2011 9:04:40 GMT -5
“That’s just it,” Yuras said, “there is nothing, the station was complexly devoid of life…the strange thing is there was no dust or cobwebs…like time has stood sill for twenty years.”
“I don’t believe the ghost stories but, there is some wrong with that place,” he said as he put away his food, “Rats and Nosalises can live in parts of the metro that we humans can’t live, and if there not around then there is something bad going on.”
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Post by Roj Makhnovsk on Feb 14, 2011 18:00:39 GMT -5
Roj sighed, slightly frusturated. He wanted to ask, "Then why the fuck is the station so repulsive?", but he knew he would recieve the same answer -- just reworded. "Fucking xenophobia, superstitious shit..." He murmured, inaudibly.
How can something so void of... anything end lives, as Balalaika had described with Proskept Mira's alternative passageway? Xenophobia can't kill, can it? Perhaps it's irradiated or something. But then again, nosalises can survive in irradiated areas.
"Right. Well, I suppose we should be leaving soon, before it gets too late. Do you want to tag along, comrade Ferret, or are you too afraid of the dark?" Roj joked.
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Post by blackpapermoon on Feb 16, 2011 8:49:34 GMT -5
Yuras held back a laugh, Roj was cocky but the younger man had very determined nature about him. However he should learn to hold his comments and sarcasm, Hansa and other powerful groups did not take kindly to such.
“ That’s pretty big talk, considering this is probably the first ‘un-explored’ tunnel that you ever graced,” said Ferret in a neutral tone, “It must be if you have those opinions.”
“Tell you what, if you make it to Sevastopolskaya station with us or if I get frightened off, I’ll give you my old gas mask,” he said after giving it some thought, “I have a better one, so it’s not of much use to me any more…so what do you say Roj?”
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Post by Roj Makhnovsk on Feb 16, 2011 22:32:20 GMT -5
"Roj says, 'hell yes, comrade Ferret'." Roj replied, with slight enthusiasm present in his tone. A gas mask would be quite a useful thing to have.
I think I'll like this Ferret guy; it is not everyday that one gives a 'monkey' something for free. Although he needs to listen to less camp fire stories... the hell is with stalkers and supernatural rubbish?
"So, are we ready?" Roj asked aloud; to no one, directly.
He awaited a response from Balalaika and Ferret.
Note: In Russian slang, "monkey" is a pejorative term for an African.
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Post by Lawnmower Joe on Feb 18, 2011 14:03:01 GMT -5
"Mostly", said Balalaika before leaving the bar without even waiting for the other two to catch up. Her hobnailed boots banged noisily on the concrete floor of the station. They weren't good for sneaking around underground, but they were tough and could easily cause a lot of pain to anyone who might try attacking her. A couple of bandits had been kicked in the knees and face back at Mayakovskaya and would probably remember the beating for a while.
As she made her way across the station and went into the tunnel, she was stopped by the Hansa guards posted in it. They were all huddled around a fire and cradling their AK rifles in their arms and seemed surprised that someone was going South.
"-Oi, miss, where do you think you're going?", asked one of the men.
"-South", answered Balalaika. The guards looked at each other in surprise.
"-There's nothing South", they said. "No rats, no people, no mutants. But there are bad things..."
"-That's what I want to see", said Balalaika before turning around to look for her two comrades, who were lagging behind.
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Post by Roj Makhnovsk on Feb 21, 2011 10:17:40 GMT -5
"Dermo-tó," Roj exclaimed. "Balalaika, wait for a second." He jogged after her at a moderate, although still considerable speed. By the time he had caught up with her, she was out of the station; waiting by a group of Hanse guards; all seemingly surprised at their presence. More superstitious people...
"-Pizdets," One of the Hanse guards exclaimed.
"More of you lot are going down there? Seriously, bad things have happened--"
"-I don't care." He coolly cut the Hanse off.
Roj turned to Balalaika. "Thank you for waiting for us, madam stalker." He said with noticeable sarcasm, albeit not coldly.
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Post by blackpapermoon on Feb 24, 2011 15:33:17 GMT -5
Yuras paid for his drink and quickly whet to catch up with Roj and Balalaika. As he passed thee guards he noted that looks on their faces. They had been there when he returned from the southern tunnel earlier that day, and they could not believe that any one would go back into that tunnel for a second time. As the trio continued to walk down the tunnel the light form the station got dimmer and dimmer until it finally disappeared any they where left with the weak light from their flashlights.
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Post by Lawnmower Joe on Feb 28, 2011 15:02:53 GMT -5
Balalaika ignored Roj's sarcasm. Where they were now the tunnel echoed with every word they uttered, and Balalaika's hobnailed boots made a truly infernal racket on the concrete floor. Balalaika noted the complete absence of rats in the tunnel, and this made her uneasy. Ferret seemed to be keeping to himself, whereas Roj seemed almost stupidly confident. Had he EVER been through the Metro? She had never encountered someone so stubborn in the assumption that danger, real or felt, did not exist unless it was actually clawing at his eyes.
As the tunnel became even darker, and even the light from the Hansa barricade's searchlight disappeared, Balalaika switched her torch on. She was growing increasingly uncomfortable. The tunnel was incredibly quiet, without even the squeak of a rat to break the silence. Unconsciously, Balalaika unholstered her Stechkin. After a while, the tunnel opened up into a station. A sign hanging from the ceiling gave the station's name: Nagatinskaya. The platforms were completely deserted save for the very old remains of a fire and a few objects. It was a perfectly quiet station, and this made Balalaika even more uneasy.
"Nagatinskaya", she said, shining her torch around the empty station. Dust hung in the air, and after some examination, Balalaika saw that the ground and platforms were also covered with dust. Nobody and nothing had been here in a long time. "Nobody's been here in yonks..."
The small woman climbed onto the platform to have a look around. Her boots clattered noisily on the tiles, breaking the heavy, almost asphyxiating silence that hung in the air. The platform was completely clean save for the objects they had seen earlier. No rubbish, no disturbances. Absolutely no signs of life normal or mutated.
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Post by The Karcolith on Mar 2, 2011 13:41:56 GMT -5
Oleg had been cautiously making his way north, back from a scavenging trip to the surface were he'd picked up several old hand radios. The dull light from his light was slowly fading as he approached the station marked Нагорная, "Ahh, Nagornaya." He said quietly, his strong voice carried with a little echo into the dark.
Shifting the pack he'd carried for so long to relieve to strain building in his shoulder, living as a loner was a hard existence but it helped remind Oleg that he wasn't fit to live amongst civilised company, and refusing to stay with some of the independent stations further out.
During his last visit he'd encountered a small group of satanists, what they were doing out exploring the surface was unknown, but Oleg knew that the dwindling human populace didn't need more deranged fanatics endangering them. He managed to shoot three of them before they retreated fleeing to the east somewhere.
The trip back had been unnaturally quiet this section of the metro had a strange manner, it was as if no one had ever found these stations or they had been abandon a long time ago.
Trudging onwards he consulted his map noting that Нагатинская was the next station. Carefully folding the map he placed it in his pack and continued onwards hoping to sell his wares as quickly as possible and leave again.
Nearing the station he heard a very clear clattering sound, he couldn't identify the sound but it didn't sound like a mutant at any rate. Raising the rare firearm he'd managed to restore and convert he covered his light so only a slight covered the ground in front of him, coming to the last bend he clicked it off walking as quietly as he could ahead he could see lights swaying and arcing as if someone was looking around the station. His guess was they weren't members of the Reich, or the Red Line, maybe stalkers or explorers of the metro.
Walking forward while keeping his fire arm raised but not aimed at the group, he moved forward quietly trying not to draw their attention. Once he was close enough he saw that it was a smallish lady whose boots gave off the sound he'd heard on his approach. Speaking a neutral, slightly quiet voice he said.
"Greetings, what brings a group such as yourselves to this desolate part of the metro?" He asked, stopping as the group whirled around aiming various firearms at him.
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Post by Lawnmower Joe on Mar 3, 2011 2:57:02 GMT -5
"Greetings, what brings a group such as yourselves to this desolate part of the metro?"
The voice made Balalaika's heart miss a beat, and she spun around, her lamp illuminating the stranger. She lowered her Stechkin when she saw that the stranger was human, and not a wraith haunting the station and its tunnels.
"Fucking hell, mujik", she said. "You scared the shit out of me."
Balalaika eyed the stranger suspiciously. What was he doing down here?
"Well my comrades and I are here on business", said Balalaika, deliberately keeping her answer vague. "And what are you doing here? Last time I heard nobody goes down here because they're too shit scared of the entire line..."
As she observed the stranger, she noted something interesting: his boots were dirty, and it wasn't the usual muck one picked up in the metropolitan either. Balalaika knew that muck all too well.
"And I see you've got surface muck on your boots", she said. "Been to the surface lately?"
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Post by The Karcolith on Mar 3, 2011 9:20:30 GMT -5
"I apologise for that, I didn't mean to startle you." He said his voice came in halting manner. He shook his head looking back to woman who'd spoke, before glancing nervously at her two companions.
Clearing his thought he continued answering the barrage of questions that had been lumped on him.
"I was scavenging on the surface yes, I often do that it's the only way for me." Looking around the tunnel it certainly had an eerie quality but it didn't make Oleg feel particularly nervous. He shrugged, "Personally I prefer the quite tunnels, it normally means it's empty, and you can hear when someone approaches."
Oleg did his best not to fidget from the presence of these people, he gave an unconscious shudder.
"Is there something wrong with this line?"Oleg asked unsure of the rumors from this part of the Metro having spent most of his time further north.
"Are you familiar with the traders around here?" He asked, carefully rubbing his left hand and shifting his shoulders to make the steel plates he was wearing more comfortable.
"May I inquire to your business, and maybe join you for part of it?"
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Post by blackpapermoon on Mar 7, 2011 8:49:32 GMT -5
Yuras was rather suspired to find someone else beside himself and his companions here in the abandon station. He new comer was a scavenger not unlike himself or Balalaika, not only that but it appeared that he had also just returned from a run on the surface. Seeing that his boots where still coved in muck that meant there had to be a useable exit somewhere near by.Now that he had fulfilled his original reason for coming down this line, he only had the matter of the bet to contend with.
"May I inquire to your business, and maybe join you for part of it?", ask the stranger.
Ferret felt no reason to distrust the new comer so he answered,
“-Nothing much, just exploring the line, you’re welcome to join us if you want Comrade.”
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Post by Lawnmower Joe on Mar 8, 2011 19:24:14 GMT -5
"Yes, of course...", said Balalaika. It wasn't that she felt afraid of the tunnels around her, but she felt happy at getting someone else to bolster their small group. The obscurity around them now seemed to have a life of its own, choking sound and eating at the white beam cast by her torch.
"All right", she said somewhat briskly, "nothing here. Let's get going."
With that, Balalaika took off towards the Southern tunnel. She hesitated slightly before starting to walk again. The tunnel was really making her uneasy. Something just wasn't right round these parts, and Balalaika hated it. With every step she took she felt a growing need to turn back towards the safety of the Hansa and civilization. As the small group entered the tunnel, Balalaika glanced back one last time at the empty and perfectly silent station.
The group made their way into the tunnel, their boots making some noise on the concrete floor. Still no rats were to be seen, and the tunnel was disturbingly quiet until a long, wailing groan resonated through the darkness.
"Pipes", said Balalaika. "They say the wind or the earth make the pipes groan and creak..."
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