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Post by The Khan on Jul 19, 2014 3:55:47 GMT -5
"Don't worry, I know how you feel. All caged up. No one to talk to. Even when you meet people it's still hard to talk to them. It's hard to trust anyone in these dark tunnels, isn't it? You don't know who's going to shoot you in the back all of a sudden... it's all I've ever wanted, really. Just... someone to talk to... someone I can trust."
Sonya leaned back against her rucksack, stretched her arms above her head and yawned. She was sitting on the ground with her legs crossed. A little to her left was a fire, bright, but warm. Deep underground it got cold often. She wore her sun glasses so it didn't hurt her eyes. Sonya took a bite of a piece of meat, rat meat she had cooked on the fire.
She was in a room she had found and barricaded up, it looked like it might have been some sort of place where the cities electricity and pluming when through, it had heaps of old and cracked pipes and hanging cords, maybe some sort of maintenance room before the bombs fell. One meter in front of her was a large makeshift cage she had made. Inside of it was a Watchman. She had managed to lure it into the cage using a live rat she had managed to capture. There were three others with it but she had quickly taken care of them. The wolf-like creature was pacing back a forth in it's little cage, staring Sonya in the eye with killing intent and growling.
"The only thing for us is the darkness, it's where we belong, isn't it. It's the only place we seem to fit in." Sonya sighed, pausing for a few seconds before standing up and sitting her rat meat on her rucksack. "I wish we could've met under better circumstances, I really do." Sonya took her pistol out of it's holster before letting out a little laugh, "In reality, you're no different to us. Hungry, starving, scavenging through the remains of this once great civilization. Sometimes I even envy you. You're part of a pack, you survive together. Me... I just barely manage by myself." Sonya smiled, a sad smile. "I really don't want to do this, but I don't see any other way. I'm, sorry." Sonya held her gun with both hands and pointed it straight at the creatures head. It snarled defiantly before two shots rang out. The Watchman dropped and let out it's last breath, the sound of the shots echoed through the room and the seemingly empty passageways for a few seconds before silence. All that could be heard was the dripping of water and the familiar and lonely moan of the underground tunnels.
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Post by CaptainNips on Jul 19, 2014 6:03:55 GMT -5
He panted, his gas mask struggling to keep up with his heavy breaths. Mikhail barely had time to take it off, having ran straight into the Undercity from the sewers... and as far as he knew, his pursuers were still behind him. The stalker could hear them as he ran heavily with all his gear, the sound of the nosalis pack an all too familiar gargle of growls and beastial roars. The passage was impeccably dark, his only guidance being his dim headlight as it illuminated the curved and stained cavern walls. The stalker's wild imagination could almost hear or conjure the sounds of spirits, unsettled with his presence and the savage host following him.
With his heavy stride dodging puddle and crevice, turning to left and right to somehow escape the menace, he cursed. Mikhail knew that it was fruitless to try and outrun this pack, the Undercity undoubtedly their home for all their mutated lives. But it was out of fear which kept him running, and an ever stinging urge to escape the dark that surrounded him. For he was alone.
Gripping his Saiga tight, Mikhail randomly turned the next right... running on, until his headlight caught something in the ground ahead. Peering at it curiously, his feet skid to a stop a split-second later, sensing a divide in the ground. "Fuck!" he shouted, the large man's voice echoing as he regained his balance. He was caught in a canyon... a dead end, and even his headlight was unable to seek out the bottom of the abyssal darkness below him. Mikhail's breath hurried, his heart speeding up as he turned around suddenly, his Saiga's laser sight catching a shadow from where he came. The nosalis had found him... and their pack thickened as they began to form a semi circle of spitting growls and roars around their trapped prey. The ex-Hansa grunt made a growl, "Come on! You scared? Bring it on, you fuckers! Come and get me!" he yelled mostly out of panic, refusing to be afraid... refusing to be killed. This stalker knew for certain he'd be taking these creatures to hell with him.
The first one readied to pounce, roaring before being stopped mid-charge by a the human's automatic shotgun. It skidded across the ground, Mikhail only briefly saw it's blood spread over the gravel before one's pounce hit it's mark. Mikhail shouted, pushing back the nosalis' snapping jaws, garrisoned with uneven razors. Predator and prey screamed at one another, before the determined victor threw the other over the side. Mikhail heaved, nervous he'd throw himself over the side... but felt it to be a small victory as the beast howled down the canyon. Reminded by the numbers of his enemy, the stalker's hope began to wane... but just then, his headlight spotted another side of the crevice. A cavern! Just far enough to jump.
The desperate stalker barely weighed the chances before taking the risk, jumping with whatever strength he had left. Mikhail thought he would fall, until his strong arms were just barely able to catch the gravelly end of the cavern. He pulled himself hurriedly, feeling haunted by the growls and moanful roars on the other side... once again, he had just barely escape death. And Mikhail sure hoped this luck would keep up.
He walked for what felt like hours in the confusing maze of tunnels, passing through an all manner of clearings and openings with random instinct. Mikhail didn;t care where he went, as long as it was safe... but he hoped to run into others, or at least find a connected tunnel to the Metro.
Blam! Blam!
Others! The stalker hurried into a sprint, using his well adapted ears to locate the source of the gunshots. After weaving through a few side caverns, he suddenly stepped into an obviously man influenced cavern by crouching under a whole in the wall. The stalker was taken aback by the change in atmosphere, but was still glad to hear the somewhat comforting sound of dripping water. Deciding to move on, he came to the supposed area of the gunfire... Mikhail was sure it was here. He could see fire light creeping in through the cracks in the maintenance doorway. Bandits? Nazis? Rangers? It could be anybody, but Mikhail heard no voices. Best to knock then...
The tired stalker banged on the barricaded and rusty metal door, his glove making a heavy thud. "Anybody here? Friendly to a stalker run down on luck? I can see the fire, heard the gunshots, I know you're here. 'I come in peace'... or whatever." Mikhail raspily spoke, feeling it odd to hear his own voice after the unsavory struggle minutes before.
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Post by The Khan on Jul 19, 2014 6:32:11 GMT -5
Sonya leaned against the cage. Somehow exhausted. Not physically, but mentally. There had been many times when she had thought about ending it, but she pressed on, for her parents, she knew they'd want her to live on. Taking a deep breath she put her pistol back in it's holster, took her place by the fire again and picked up the rat meat she had been eating.
She looked at it for a bit before deciding that she wasn't hungry anymore. She took some cloth out of her bag and wrapped it up. Just as she was putting it in her bag she was startled by banging on the boor. She quickly reached into her bag and grabbed her AKS, which she only used on occasion.
A voice? A person? An actually human being? This far away from the civilization they call the Metro? Sonya slowly walked over to the door, not moving her gun from it for a second. "Come in peace?", that's what they all say! Sonya took down the five metal rods she had propped against the door. She whipped the door open and jumped back, training her gun on the person that stood before her.
"Get in! Quick!" she said, "And close the door on your way!" taking a few more steps back. The barrel of her gun stayed pointing at his head.
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Post by CaptainNips on Jul 19, 2014 7:02:33 GMT -5
Mikhail's brow raised as he heard the barricades on the other side of the door being removed, and took a step back. Suddenly, the door swung open, and the stalker raised his Saiga as an instant reaction.
"Get in! Quick! And close the door on your way!" Mikhail had stumbled upon many hosts on his travels, all strange and carrying their own odd stories with them. His latest one seemed no different, clad in simple cloak and grey shirt, but still wearing an array of crude scars. Mikhail lowered his gun, somewhat curious as to why she didn't lower hers. This cavern-squatter sure was young... he could tell from her looks, and also just by simply observing the way she handled him, the abrupt visitor.
His eyes widened in mild surprise at the sight of her... it's not like she could see it anyway, for his face was still covered by the skull visor of his helmet, his gas mask still below it. Decked out in kevlar vest, combat jacket and the gear of a born and bred survivalist, Mikhail imagined the grim sight he'd appear to her. Raising his gun and other hand in the air, Mikhail showed he meant no harm before going through the doorway. He closed the door behind him, not taking his gaze off the point of her gun. The great bear of a man straightened his shoulders, and flexed his neck before stepping casually past her. "Spasiba."
The stalker began to look over her fire and camp... a cage? Dead howler? Typical cavern-dweller, he supposed. You had to do anything to survive, right? His back was to her, but he could hear her breath... could almost feel her hot aim upon the back of his head. As he started to pull off his helmet and gas mask, Mikhail spoke, "If you're ready to let someone into your haven like this, you should be ready to lower your gun from their head too."
His helmet and mask was off, revealing the scraggly scars along the back of his head. Turning around to face his host, he spoke to her as he strapped his gear to his pack, breathing in the fresh air, "It doesn't make for good appearances..."
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Post by The Khan on Jul 19, 2014 7:50:34 GMT -5
The man raised his hands and entered. He was big, imposing. He was wearing that armour that some people wore. She personally hated it, it'd just slow her down. He closed the door behind him and stepped straight past her, as if ignoring the gun. He took off the helmet and gas mask which he wore and the buzz cut man spoke, "If you're ready to let someone into your haven like this, you should be ready to lower your gun from their head too." The man had a scar on the back of his head which disappeared down his back under his clothes, it reminded her of her own scar she had on her face. He turned around and continued, "It doesn't make for good appearances..."
Sonya hesitantly lowered her gun, "Y-yeah, I'm sorry". What was she doing, letting him in here. He's probably after her supplies, or even her. How stupid! Was she just letting him in to appease her loneliness? Maybe. It was too late for anything else now.
Sonya sat her gun on the ground and turned around to fix the barricade again. She picked up the long iron rods and propped them back against the battered door. She picked the gun up again and limped over to the opposite side of the fire, she picked up her rucksack on the way and repositioned it to her new seating location. Sonya sat down with her legs crossed and sat her assault rifle on her lap with her hand still placed firmly on the grip of the gun.
She gestured for the burly man to sit down. "W-what brings you so far away from those crowded stations of yours?"
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Post by CaptainNips on Jul 20, 2014 22:16:58 GMT -5
It was odd, being so easily let in to someone's personal camp, so far from the tunnels. Mikhail could sense the suspicion in her, but could see the inexperienced youth just as equally. She had definitely seen some horrid crap, but still, he could tell she still had something left in her for her to cling onto humanity. It didn't mean she wasn't just as broken though, like everybody was in the Metro.
The armored stalker waved off the apology, "None taken. Everybody has to be wary, you have to if you want to live in this hell-hole." He said it as if it was a well-known fact, and went to sit down by the fire with a heavy sigh. Like his host, his weapon was laid across his lap. It was nice... to be around a fire, a well-needed rest from the nightmare he had just ran out of. The stalker's mind began to wander, his eyes fearlessly watching the flames lick the wood, spitting out occasional sparks.
"W-what brings you so far away from those crowded stations of yours?"
Mikhail was broken out of his daze, just remembering there a host who was providing the campfire. He noticed she called the stations his, but saved that thought for later. "The name's Mikhail Zukov," he began, "it's my job to get away from these 'crowded stations of mine'. I'm a Stalker, an idiotic dare-devil if you will, ex-Hansa grunt." He trailed off, eyes looking from the fire to the cracked ceiling as he went on.
"As to how I got here, was truly idiocy. I was with a group, from the 1905 Confederation. These knuckle-heads wanted to transport some valuable 'goods' to Polis. Thing is, they didn't want to pass through the Hansa to get there, and the Reich blocks the other way, so they had to trek the surface. Now that's why they hired me... some extra muscle and a guide to keep them from getting killed."
The stalker broke out his tin water bottle to wet his lips, before continuing. "I didn't question anything, about the goods, their purpose. Nothing. I was being paid well, and that was good enough for me at the time. But I should've recognized the folly, read between the lines a little more. 'Cause eventually, it bit me in the ass.
"We were making good progress for a while, no encounters with mutants and good terrain. We were about halfway to Polis, and things were looking good... until we were intercepted." Mikhail clapped his fist against his hand. "Bang! A grenade goes off, and bullets start flying. We all take cover, getting a good look for our enemy in between exchanging rounds at each other. By the swastikas, we could tell they were Reich... and a whole squad too. I cursed loudly, whatever these 1905'ers had, the Nazis wanted too."
"We were pinned down, and already a handful of our escort was dead. The enemy had good cover, and few of our men had found some for themselves. It was only until it was only I and the goods-holder left alive when I saw a chance to escape... a demon had flown in, attracted by the gunfire, and the Reich soldiers were distracted for a time. Taking the holder's arm, I ran. Within a few seconds, bullets started flying after us... a stray one hitting my companion in the shoulder blade as we ran. He collapsed, and I tried my best to carry him and at the same time somehow find safety from our attackers.
He shook his head, his hawkish face grimly illuminated by the glow of the fire, "We did eventually lose them, finding a blasted nook providing an entrance to the sewers. But the wounded man had lost much blood... and it didn't seem he could go on. He told me to take the item he was carrying, and somehow find a way into Polis. It was wrapped in a a rough envelope, and I took it... hesitating at his final request. But I did it."
The man made the shape of a gun with his hand, jerking it up as if firing it. "I did what I had to do, it was what he wanted. Best a merciful death than being torn by a mutant pack. But anyway, I ran through the sewers and found an opening to the Undercity. I attracted a group of nosalis, but lost them by a great stroke of luck. And so, here I am." he motioned about him, "Graced by your wonderful hospitality."
Mikhail chuckled, swigging his water, swishing its metallic taste in his mouth, before swallowing. "How about you? What's your name? How did you end up here... of all places."
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Post by The Khan on Jul 21, 2014 3:45:38 GMT -5
Sonya sat there patiently listening to the story, staring into the bright yellow flames and the orange embers though the dull shade of her sunnies. Her hands were subconsciously fiddling with her gun, turning the safety on and off, taking the magazine out and clicking it back in. It wasn't very often that she heard the adventures of other people, but she could really relate to what the man, Mikhail, had recently been through. Dodging bullets and nosalis claws, running through tunnels and caves. But it wasn't her job, it was her life. When Mikhail was finished he chuckled, which Sonya found strange, she couldn't find and humor in is words.
"How about you? What's your name? How did you end up here... of all places."
"My name is..." she hesitated, she had almost forgotten her own name "Sonya". Sitting there for a few seconds Sonya thought about what to say. "I've been here for about a day," she looked down at the watch on her wrist, "a bit less. I was looking for some... company... this Watcher," she gestured with her hand over to the dead mutant in the cage, "just happened to be wandering nearby with his friends." Sonya looked down at her hands, brown with the dirt and mud accumulated over time. But what she saw was blood, not dirt, unwashable, there for the rest of her life.
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Post by CaptainNips on Jul 30, 2014 21:19:42 GMT -5
Mikhail now sat casually by the fire, finally granting his body rest after hours of trekking the surface. It was times like these that he enjoyed. Usually there wouldn't be odd loners like his current host, but it would be other stalkers, guards, merchants, anyone with the will to just sit, smoke and chat. It was relieving to relate stories above the flames of the fire, after all the horrors you face that day. Even then as he told her, Mikhail felt the side of his combats, patting the outline of the parcel... reminding himself that there was still a job to be done.
"My name is... Sonya."
Sonya, he liked that name. The stalker always believed you could imagine what people were like before they were broken, simply by the sound of their names. Sonya was no exception, for he saw suspicion, and no less fear in her eyes, ever since he entered her abode. She'd only been here about a day, apparently. The dead Watcher in the corner was a shivering sight, it's gold eyes still wide open... glaring with a dead stare of hunger straight towards the pair of them.
Mikhail looked away, trying to ameliorate the cold feeling on his neck with a short chuckle. "You didn't have to look far to find company. I was practically running my way over here." He smirked wanly. "Not sure if the nosalis on my tail would've liked being held in a cage like that, though."
The stalker paused, shrugging as he stroked the side of his Saiga. "Tunnel trash... that's what we call them. So is that what you do? Cage tunnel trash down here for a living? You can't have been here this long and not get bored of it."
He prodded for more information from her, curious on her origins... her previous whereabouts. Sonya was certainly a striking figure, and her almost feral stare and untamed gait could attract curiosity from even the most grizzled of men. And so, Mikhail asked her, giving no thought to if he'd be disturbing a wounded past. But what else could you do in the metro? We exist as survivors for reasons. We share stories, we relate, we warn, we caution... we mourn. And perhaps then, and only then, we can survive just a few more days.
Just a few more days in hell.
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Post by The Khan on Aug 2, 2014 5:11:42 GMT -5
"Not sure if the nosalis on my tail would've liked being held in a cage like that, though."
It felt strange to be talking to a person like this. It felt, somehow, natural, normal. But she still couldn't stop herself from stuttering. "I d-don't think anyone w-would like to be stuck in a cage." Sonya was warm but she couldn't stop herself from shaking.
"Tunnel trash... that's what we call them. So is that what you do? Cage tunnel trash down here for a living? You can't have been here this long and not get bored of it."
This annoyed Sonya a bit, she looked up, straight into the man's eyes, as if trying to burn through them with her vision, "Tunnel trash? Don't forget, we're the ones that made them the way that they are." Sonya's thoughts turned back to the 'conversation' she'd had with the Howler and her stutter was gone as she started to raise her voice, "What makes us the ones that decide what's trash and what's not!? How are we any better than them? If anything they're more human than us. We kill each other endlessly and pointlessly, if that's what it means to be called human than I'd rather be one of them!" she gestured at the Howler with her hand; she slowly let it drop and looked back into the fire. "In these tunnels everyone's tunnel trash. You. Me. Them... all of us."
After a short pause more questions came. "I used t-to live in P-Polis, now I don't." she simply said as to not open old wounds, "Since then I h-have been surviving as best as possible." Her stutter was back as the blood rushing to her head started to slow and she got more control over herself.
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Post by CaptainNips on Aug 5, 2014 5:04:58 GMT -5
Mikhail stared back into her eyes as she spoke, not flinching, stepping back, or faltering in any way despite the ferocity in her words. Perhaps it was the first time he ever listened well to anything in a long while, you never survived long enough if you didn't blare out reality. Though in many ways, he agreed with her. He'd seen the horrors in the Metro, they were around every corner, and sometimes they were in themselves, in him. And he knew that, and for that reason was why he looked down... and nodded slowly in silent but reluctant agreement.
"You're probably one of the few in this whole cursed place who'd willingly accept that truth," he said, eyes glazing over the fire. Survival of the fittest. "But hasn't that always been the case with us humans...? I can hardly say, I was only a boy when I glimpsed the civilized surface for the last time." Mikhail smirked sadly, images of his youth flashing in his mind as he looked back up. "But what are we... if we do not try to be something more, to survive as a race? By seeing ourselves as beasts, we are succumbing to a dirty truth and not allowing ourselves the grip to pick ourselves back up. To be something more than what nature and primal instinct demands of us. It is in ignorance... that we can achieve solidarity in escaping being 'tunnel trash'. And if it takes calling everything else monsters and cretins to do it, then so be it... I say."
The stalker leaned back, his grizzled face warmed by lingering so near the flames. He paused and looked to the side, intently studying a cave mushroom as he truly thought how such deep and idealistic words could escape his lips. It was like a weight had left his shoulder, to have finally voiced an outlook on life he'd been holding onto for years. And who would've known he'd be saying it to Sonya... some cave dweller deep in the Undercity. Figures... the Metro sure had its ways.
Polis. Mikhail was reminded at the word. Polis... he was recruited at Polis. Mikhail felt for the parcel, sighing to feel it still safely in his pocket. Whatever was inside it, he did not know, but surely it was important enough for a whole squadron of Reich goons to track them and set an ambush on the surface. All his group may have been dead, but Mikhail still felt a sense of duty in finishing what he'd set out to do.
Take it... finish what I have failed to do.
The stalker shuddered at remembering the man's final words. Polis... his thoughts forced their way again to linger on that station of light, that station of reason and conduct... that station of humanity. He wondered how this ragged girl before him could've found a place there, in that station and intellects and bureaucrats. Might as well have asked.
"I didn't imagine you would have been a Polis girl. That's a lucky place to live, many would give everything for that chance. So why'd you leave?"
Mikhail paused, biting his lower lip as he went on. "Tell you what, I'll be returning to Polis soon... for business, got to finish that job I told you about. You could come with me. Return home. I could sure use the company." He forced a smile, hard to come by those days. He expected resistance. "Come on. You aren't going to live out life well in these caves and maintenance tunnels. I can help you find work, some way to live. I have earned my own decent share of contacts, through working for Hansa or whatever."
He waited for an answer, setting aide his Saiga to free his hands as he looked to Sonya. "So?"
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Post by The Khan on Aug 5, 2014 21:05:06 GMT -5
Sonya sat silently listening, as he had done. This was the first time in a very long time that she had even had the chance to talk like this, she couldn’t tell if she was enjoying it or not.
“I’m not sure if people have always been that way, but it’s very likely. Probably will be like that for a long time. I've never seen this so called ‘civilisation’ you speak of, I’ve only been to the surface once, and it wasn’t a very pleasant view. People are trying to relive the old days, instead of surviving.” Sonya sighed and looked at the cage, “It seems that we’re enduring as a race in our own separate way. Everyone has their own opinion as to how to survive, and for everyone with their own opinion there will always be someone to agree and someone to disagree. As surly as you call it the truth there will be someone to call it a lie.”
Her stutter was gone; maybe she was used to talking to this person now. Whatever the reason she was glad, she hated her stutter, it was one of the reasons she didn’t like talking to people. Sonya yawned and took her glasses off to rub her eyes, and then put them back on.
"My parents were killed and I was raped." she said bluntly, not hesitating for a second, "And so I never want to go to that place again." she shrugged, "I suppose these tunnels are my home now."
Sonya sat, thinking for a few minutes, "But I can show you the way if you would like to return. I know most of these tunnels like the back of my hand. I could lead you most of the way, although it's not going to be easy." she put her head on an angle and looked at Mikhail, "Do you even know where you are? It's not exactly a short journey from here to Polis. You wondered off your mark by quite a bit. I don't know about this 1905 place that you mentioned, but that nosalis pack must've been chasing you for a while because we're nowhere near Polis."
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Post by CaptainNips on Aug 27, 2014 2:48:59 GMT -5
Mikhail had seen the Metro, met its many denizens, worked for its conspirators, its merchants, its scoundrels. And for all that, he respected Sonya's opinion. Even though they were all in the same boat, humans would not diverge from their nature in striving to argue, to conflict in beliefs. The stalker enjoyed listening, speaking his own opinions. Perhaps it was the allure of the flame, the way it crackled and danced... tempting even the most reserved to let their thoughts be free on the shit that happened every day. It was times like these that kept Mikhail moving on.
As she yawned and began to tell her story, Mikhail stroked his chin, surprised such a heavy scruff could be felt already. But Sonya was blunt in her words, and it honestly caught him off guard. It shouldn't have really, as every little shred of hell existed in the Metro... and it wasn't hard to find them. Mikhail saw he me aloof and accepting, shrugging, yet he didn't doubt she had been through numerous phases of rejection and sheer misery. Everyone did. Still, Sonya seemed adamant in ever going back to Polis.
At her next words, the man's eyes opened with relief, secretly glad he wouldn't have to trek the tunnels alone and probably get lost a few times in the muck and dark. If anyone knew the Undercity well, it looked like she would. Mikhail laughed, making his gladness clear. "It's never easy. You learn eventually that the tunnels always want to fuck you over whenever they can."
Mikhail looked to the side where he'd lain his pack, and undid a pocket to withdraw an original map of the metro. Every maintenance tunnel he'd discovered was etched in crude pencil, and surrounding it were spidery notes on stations and various potential dangers. The paper was old, and Mikhail did his best not to even crinkle the map as he laid it on the dirty gravel beside the fire. "So..." he took up a pencil to trace the route. "Barrikadnaya." he tapped his finger on a station just west of the Reich. "We moved to Polis... made it about half way, then everything turned to hell. And so I went... what was it. It has to be Southwest, which puts us about... here."
He wasn't happy with the location. By his rough estimate, his gloved finger placed them just North of Smolenskaya. "Smolenskaya is not a place you want to be." Mikhail mused, echoing his own trail of thought. "If the stories are still true, it's a station overrun by mutants. This one is supposed to be as well." He tapped the station east of it. "And east... is the way to Polis. So I hope you know these catacombs well, Sonya." Mikhail chuckled quite darkly.
"Because we might have to make a choice of either getting lost in the maze of the Undercity, take a long trek on the surface, or brave an infested station." the stalker spoke the options as if he was one of those pre-war game show hosts. He'd made this kind debate with indecision more times than he could count, and already the subject began to lose its weight for him. Life was a risk. "You know these parts well, your the guide. So, you're more qualified than I to choose."
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Post by The Khan on Aug 29, 2014 2:53:41 GMT -5
Sonya scowled at Mikhail, he swore. Sonya didn't like that, she'd been taught by her parents not to swear so she lived strongly by that even after they were gone. "Please don't say that word, it's not nice." When he got the map out she sat her gun beside her before shuffling around the fire a bit so she could see it properly. She watched him ponder over it and and trail his finger over it. He pointed to the stations and Sonya listened intently, taking it all in. Sonya really didn't know all that much about the inner stations, she'd been around them plenty of times but never actually into them.
"Well, for starters you're a little bit off, we're a bit more over here" she said as she leaning over and pointing on the piece of paper west of Smolenskaya. "I know some tunnels that can go around that station", pointing to the closest of the two, "I don't know any tunnels into Polis, besides the obvious ones, I try to stay away from there, bad memories. We we'll still have to go through the other station but I want to try and keep clear of the surface as much as we can." Sonya sat back again and crossed her legs, "We could go the long way around to come from one of the other tunnels but that might take a while, what would you prefer?" she said, looking up at the bald man.
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Post by CaptainNips on Aug 29, 2014 20:32:12 GMT -5
Mikhail gave a small smirk, muttering a soft apology after her motherly-like scold. What stalker didn't have a dirty mouth, after all? And this situation certainly did call for a few "complicated words", though. By Sonya's explanation they were farther west than what Mikhail predicted, and the man grimaced. The bright side was that she knew a way around Smolenskaya, one of the two infested stations, but there would be no avoiding its neighbor. Then again, there was always the long way around... but the way Mikhail saw it, there just as equal danger the long way as the shortcut. Going through that mutant hole would be undoubtedly be difficult, and trekking a long way to another whole branch of the Metro had a high chance of running into some trouble. It was a difficult choice, and Mikhail's brows furrowed as he contemplated it. "Both ways are equally risky... it just depends on which we'd prefer." Mikhail straightened his back. "Ultimately, I think the shortcut through the mutant station after bypassing Smolenskaya is a better choice. As long as we have enough ammo and are willing to run if things go to sh-- go to 'crap'." He grinned. "But that's only if we mess up. There's always the chance of choosing stealth, sneak past whatever lives there... and even still, we'd have to be ready for anything. Understand?" The burly stalker studied her expression and whatever she would say. For he knew that the only way the shortcut could succeed was if she had total agreement and trust in her partner. "besides, if anything dares come up to us... they'll be dealing with my Saiga here." Mikhail patted the automatic shotgun like an old friend. "I wouldn't be surprised if ol' Pavlova's name spread through all these nosalis packs."
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Post by The Khan on Sept 21, 2014 20:59:45 GMT -5
Sonya smiled, it'd been a long time since she'd done that. She knew how to get to the station, but she had no idea what awaited them when they got there. "If we play it carefully and don't make too much noise it should be safe enough. Depends what's actually in there." Sonya leaned back, "But before we do that we should get some sleep, it's getting late and it's not good to walk around these tunnels half asleep."
Puting her hands on the ground she pushed herself off of the ground. She made her way over the her rucksack and rolled out a thin grubby blanket. She wraped herself in it, took her glasses off, hung them from her shirt and sat down in the corner oposite from the door.
"You can keep watch if it makes you feel any safer, but if anyone... or anything finds us we'll hear them before they can get to us." Sonya hugged her gun tightly under her blanket as she started to drift off.
(Might as well finish here, unless you have any objections. Sonya and Mikhail have a lot cut out for them in the morning. Sorry for the wait btw)
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