Alex
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Post by Alex on Jun 7, 2011 16:38:35 GMT -5
A bathroom. As "Novyhs'" books can confirm, a bathroom would've normally been the last place one could find ammunition. And yet, here they were. 12 7.62mm bullets. A pure goldmine. "Novyh" opened his bag. Two half-full gasoline cans, 34 7.62 mm bullets, and a few spare car parts. That should be enough. The inexperienced stalker closed his bag, put it over his shoulder, and left the bathroom through a hole in the wall. Moscow... Such a beautiful city. It had something mystic about it, a symbol of what humanity once was. Ah, the sound of footsteps over snow. Up until recently, Adrik never heard that sound. And yet-- A scream. Somewhat distant. But a scream nonetheless. The young stalker knew what had to be done. Quickly looking around his surroundings, "Novyh" decided to hide in an abandoned bus. He got inside, dropped on his stomach, drew his revolver out (only a revolver? Seriously? He really wished he didn't waste all his money on armor. It's useless if you have no means of striking back) and one minute later, a fellow stalker passed the bus, screaming like crazy. And behind him, three Howlers, or Watchers, as "Novyh" liked to call them. Poor bastard ran out ammo - although he's an idiot for screaming so loud, he'll attract every mutant in the surrounding area. Adrik knew better than this, he had common sense. He wasn't going to help the guy, post-apocalyptic Metro is no place for heroism. Besides, truth is, young "Novyh" was scared. He was scared of death, for death in a world such as his is slow and painful. He was breathing heavily, and his gas mask wasn't helping at all. He still didn't get used to the gas mask. It was a real pain to breathe with it, but when he's panicking, it's nearly impossible. Then there was his backpack, and his bag. It was heavy. Really heavy. It slowed him down. A lot. The rookie waited, and waited. In moments like these, Adrik liked to think about some other place... This time? Paris. It looked really nice. At least in his postcards. It was probably a messed up place as well. Did anyone there survive? What if Adrik was in the place of that other stalker? Could he have managed to escape? Probably not... What is death like? He... always wondered that. And so went his random thoughts, that continued for an hour. It was only then that he decided it's safe to leave. And no one can blame his cowardice. He's inexperienced, and really lacks the firepower that more experienced stalkers have. As he was leaving the bus, it hit him. He checked his revolver. As he thought. He forgot to put bullets in it. If the Watchers had found him, he would've realized this important information but too late. Carefully reloading his revolver with the new bullets he acquired, he proceeded back to Babushkinskaya. The trip was relatively short, as Babushkinskaya was close to the metro entrance, and met no mutant (or human, for that matter) resistance. Adrik knocked 3 hard times on the large doors, it being a code for his arrival. The guards, although startled, opened the door. "Novyh" quickly made his way inside, and the guards closed the door again. Ah, Vladislav Kyznetsov, his "manager" as he jokingly called him. Adrik took his gas mask off, and quickly proceeded to shook his hand, all while asking for a cigarette (and trying to hide the fact that he was scared shitless).
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Post by Lawnmower Joe on Jun 9, 2011 8:27:54 GMT -5
Balalaika was, to put it in her own words, royally buggered.
She would often organise trips to the surface, some of which would last several days, in search of loot. She was perfectly acquainted with the dangers of the surface and the various creatures that roamed the frozen, dead realm of Moscow. This little expedition had started out as a well organised endeavour, a simple sally to search for any valuable items on the surface. But, to put it it simply, things had gone disastrously wrong. She'd originally set out with two men she knew from her dealings in Kitai-Gorod. Dodgy but still trustworthy types much like herself. However, one of them had fallen into a large crack in the ground and had thus broken one of his legs and had also sucked up an unhealthy dose of radiation from the water at the bottom of the fissure.
After painstakingly getting him out of the crack, Balalaika and her comrade had set about trying to get him back to the station they'd set out from. Unfortunately, a few of Balalaika's "acquaintances", that is to say a rival gang intent on getting rid of her to eliminate her from the stalker business, had been waiting for them at the station's entrance, having probably bribed the guards to let them do their sinister business unhindered. Her injured companion had been killed, while she and the other one had managed to escape. They had then intended to go to the safety of another neighbouring station. Sadly, their attackers turned out to not just be a bunch of bandits, but proper mercenaries with surface experience. The mercenaries managed to follow Balalaika and her companion's route and had stopped them from reaching the safety of the station. They had also set up an ambush, and Balalaika's remaining companion had been killed.
Balalaika had thus been thrown into a savage game of cat and mouse. She had deployed all her survival skills to avoid being killed by her human pursuers while also avoiding hungry mutants. After two days of being chased, Balalaika's reserve of gas mask filters (she'd taken enough for only one day) started to dwindle with alarming speed. She had been completely unable to reach the safety of any stations, as her pursuers had proved to be experts at anticipating her moves. Soon, she'd stopped heading for stations and had avoided them. This had thrown her pursuers off her track well enough, but Balalaika had also gone very far North to lose them, and she now found herself in an area with no known inhabited stations. Eventually, she was down to the two emergency filters she always kept in her coat's front pocket.
As she headed towards the area where the botanical gardens once stood (the rangers had destroyed them with pre-war weapons), she heard gunfire, followed by screaming. This meant there were humans or a human somewhere nearby, and Balalaika headed off in the direction the screams had come from. After walking for a while through the streets, she caught sight of a human figure running towards the entrance of a station.
Humanity! Civilisation! Balalaika was on her last filter now, so after checking the area around the station for any signs of danger, she sprang from her hiding place behind an abandoned car and ran towards the station. As she ran, her lungs suddenly began to sting. It was a familiar sensation, and it meant that her last filter was finished. Now she was just inhaling toxic air. Gasping, coughing and spluttering, the female stalker arrived at the top of the old escalators leading down into the station. They had shut the doors behind them. She stumbled down the old escalators, falling down the last five corroded metal steps. Gingerly, she stood up and went to the blast doors. She'd stopped breathing a few minutes ago to preserve herself from the poisonous air, and her lungs felt like they were about to burst. Her head reeling and spinning, she raised her fist and banged three times on the heavy doors.
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Swag
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Post by Swag on Jun 9, 2011 8:56:49 GMT -5
Vladislav was leaning against a pole near the entrance to the Babushkinskaya Station, patiently waiting for his "partner-in-crime" Adrik Ivanov to return from scavenging above ground. He and Adrik has recently started up this operation, recently meaning very recently, this only being Adrik's first time to the surface in which he was actually scavenging. Because of this, Vladislav was rightfully nervous, Adrik had insisted that he knew what he was doing, but both he and Vladislav knew that the only real experience he had on the surface was peeking out the entrance or putting a single foot out because of a dare. But Adrik's immediate danger wasn't the only thing worrying Vladislav, he and Adrik had left their home with only four hundred to the both of their names because Adrik has blown most of their money on his armor, which to Adrik was less for protection and more just because it looked "badass". They had virtually no food, a very low supply of ammunition, two old pistols that constantly jammed, and no idea of where to go after this station.
It came as a welcome relief when he heard the knocks on the door, and the guards let Adrik in. Vladislav nodded to Adrik as he walked in, briefly noting in his mind that Adrik was trying to play it cool even though his expression told different. Shaking his hand, Adrik then asked him for a cigarette.
"Let's see what you got first" Vladislav replied to Adrik's request for a cigarette. He was then briefly distracted by three deafening knocks on the stations door, remarking in the back of his mind that it was rather strange that a backwater station like Babushkinskaya would be receiving any more visitors besides them, as it wasn't exactly a prime location for traders. But quickly he then refocused his attention on Adrik and what he had scored from the trip, hoping that it would be something good enough to get them some sort of escort at very least, more maybe if they were lucky even a cart, to the next station.
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Alex
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Posts: 13
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Post by Alex on Jun 9, 2011 9:21:17 GMT -5
"Ah, playing it business style, I see?" asked Adrik, as he put down his backpack, and unzipped his bag. "Quality stuff, I assure you! I almost got killed for this!" said "Novyh", before pointing out his "inventory" "Two half-full gasoline cans, 34 7.62 mm bullets, and, get this, a few spare car parts. Amazing, ain't it?. Ivanov took a quick glance at the door as he was saying that, noticing the guards were rather restless. "So soon?" they asked themselves. It made Adrik curious as well, this place rarely ever got stalkers offering their trade. And to see one coming so soon after he arrived was rather... suspicious. It was quite obvious that everyone was wondering if they were Bandits, or Neo-Nazis, or, hell, ANYONE who would want to ambush them, waiting outside.
After a few seconds of awkward waiting, "Novyh" snapped back into his senses, and turned his head back to "The Siberian". Now, how about that cigarette? And maybe a drink as well, eh? And, well, uhh, I'd like to better the performance of my pistol. If I'm stuck with it, at least I should make it better quality. I say we stock up before we go drinking... So we don't get drunk and waste it all on drinks and prostitutes". Ivanov was amazed at how mature he handled the situation, as if he changed somehow.
And, once he said that, the doors opened, revealing only one figure, but there could always be more waiting for an ambush. Adrik was taken off his guard. He didn't expect the guards to actually open the door. Like the guards, he took his weapon out (Goddamn this is one shitty revolver) and aimed it at the person. It looked wounded, but, better safe than sorry.
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Post by jakers on Jun 9, 2011 9:28:22 GMT -5
Yakov, or Jakers as most named him, was sat on a crate cleaning out his Mosin Nagant in the far corner of the room with a content smirk across his face as he watched a stalker slipping through the gate from the icy grip of the dead city. Jakers noticed the stalker's legs were still shaking from his latest adventure. Probably scared shitless, those howlers are ugly.... I almost threw up when I saw ones face, he thought to himself, shaking his head at the thought of a howler then looking at, ironically, a severed head of a howler by his foot.
He heard a three extra knocks sounded against the metal, and the knocks seemed unusually desperate... Once the guards opened the gate, he could see a female at the opening almost choking from the fumes that fermented in the radioactive air outsides in the snowy graveyard that was Moscow. He shook his head and placed the gun down by his trophy, strolling over to help the female in before she suffered anymore.
"My dear, holding your breath doesn't work that well, I've tried it!" he chuckled, escorting her in while supporting her slightly as he saw she had hurt her leg from falling somewhere or another, he was also summing up how much she could be carrying on her and if he could, acquire it for being a good Samaritan. He smirked slightly.
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Post by Lawnmower Joe on Jun 9, 2011 9:42:37 GMT -5
Nobody answered her desperate knocks. Tears began to show in Balalaika's tired eyes, and she swayed on her feet. Unable to hold her breath any longer, she inhaled a small dose of toxic air. She was about to bang on the door again with a trembling hand when it was finally opened with a loud click and a long screech of metal. She stumbled past the doors and halted as guns were aimed at her. She raised her arms and spoke, her voice hoarse from exhaustion.
"It's okay. I'm alone. I'm a stalker", she said before pulling the hood of her coat back, revealing her dark hair she hadn't cut in a while (she usually went for a buzz cut). The air inside the station was breathable, and her lungs took long, gasping breaths of it as if she could be kicked back out into the cold at any moment. The AK-74U, her Helsing and the long, saw-toothed bayonet she wore on her belt would probably make the station's inhabitants suspicious.
One of the men present in the station's entrance lobby came forth and took hold of her arm, leading her away from the still open blast doors.
"My dear, holding your breath doesn't work that well, I've tried it!", he said. Balalaika took her gas mask off and took several breaths of the station's wonderfully breathable air.
"-No shit, Sherlock", she said in answer to the man's comment. "I've been out on the surface for two days, and I ran out of filters."
Having sat down, she looked at her leg. She had a small cut on her calf, and she had twisted her ankle. Nothing serious. She left her leg alone and looked around her, noticing the name of the station on the wall: Babushkinskaya.
"Babushkinskaya? Wow. That's even further North than I thought...I didn't think anyone lived here", she said. Nadya had never mentioned anyone living beyond VDNKh, and the woman knew the outer areas of the metropolitan very well.
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Swag
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Post by Swag on Jun 11, 2011 13:12:35 GMT -5
Vladislav looked at Adrik with a completely flabbergasted expression on his face.
"You're kidding me right?" Vladislav said to Adrik, his voice raising somewhat "You think we'll get enough off this to go blowing it on whores and alcohol?" Vladislav shook his head.
"Nah, we either go with the supplies and party, or we get some supplies, and that upgrade you wanted, hey you listening to me?" Adrik was busy pointing his gun at the person who entered the station, Vladislav looked over at the newcomer. Some guy who had been throwing them some condescending smirks went over to try and help out the woman, whatever he said, she seemed to have a negative reaction to it, but she still let him help her walk. Something about her was strange.
And that prick is still smiling..what is he fucking smiling at?
Vladislav regained his focus, looking back at Adrik and giving him a poke
"Remember, we need to get a cart as well, unless you want to walk south."
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Alex
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Posts: 13
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Post by Alex on Jun 12, 2011 10:56:31 GMT -5
The door opened, to reveal only one person, apparently a woman. She claimed that she was alone, and a stalker, and everyone calmed down. Or, that's what it looked like. A man proceeded to help the woman walk in, she was out of breath. The gas mask must've been malfunctioning or something, Adrik didn't really pay attention. He put his revolver down (didn't holster it quite yet, he didn't exactly trust the woman, it was all still too fishy in his mind), before turning back to Vladislav, ignoring the woman so far. Adrik wasn't no charity work. It's a basic rule in the Metro. You stick to yourself, you stay out of trouble.
"What did you say? Oh, yeah, the supplies. said "Novyh". Well, hey, it looked enough to me, do you have any idea how hard it is to find spare car parts in a Metro? They're not exactly prime locations for cars. Read any book, it'll tell you so." After finishing his sentence, Adrik pondered for a few seconds, before going "Fine, let's buy supplies and make my revolver better. Maybe we'll have enough money for half a drink. We'll share it. And there's always our hands for the second part." "Novyh" replied, trying hard not to laugh. "Carts are convenient, but do you really think we could waste our money on them? I'd rather we keep the rest of the money just in case. Besides, the tunnels only get dangerous after we reach VDNH, or so I heard."
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Post by jakers on Jun 12, 2011 12:23:24 GMT -5
Jakers chuckled, "two days you say? What stopped you from getting back in the Metro...." he looked at her suspiciously, "unless you're the one those greedy bastards are after! Y'know, the ones that have been searching up top with guns," he smirked before allowing her to sit down before he sat down himself, bringing his trophy and gun closer to him before pulling out a mushroom, picking at bits to eat.
"Same here! I found this station about a day ago because armed men were blocking every metro tunnel... and let's say I knew a few of them.." he laughed awkward before putting another piece of bland mushroom into his mouth and chewing on it to satisfy his hunger until he went off, or looking at this hideous trophy to ruin his appetite. He kicked it lightly before expressing disgust, he hated howlers, out of everything, they were his most hated.
"I suppose you don't have enough for filters then," he continued, turning away from his hated, yet prized, trophy and looking towards the exhausted woman and her wounded leg, "or medical supplies? Hopefully you might of found something out there, no one goes out this far by choice," he speculated, finishing of the mushroom with an almost discontent expression before placing his rifle on his lap so he could check it over, he knew he'd be screwed if it jammed when he was getting his face chewed off by a tunnel rat.
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Post by Lawnmower Joe on Jun 12, 2011 14:16:04 GMT -5
Balalaika's eyes darted furtively in the stalker's direction. So he too had been singled out? Maybe it was a trap set to make her admit that she'd been chased too.
"Hmm, that sounds quite bad", she said. "I just happened to run into a pack of Howlers up there, and they chased me around for a while. Drove me away from the stations until I shook them off and made a run for Babushkinskaya."
Evidently, this was a complete lie. Balalaika was suspicious of the other guy, not to mention that his tone seemed to imply he wanted something from her. She stood up and limped towards one of the guards.
"Hey, mujik. When's the next caravan leaving this station? I want to go to VDNKh", she asked one of the guards.
She was on good terms with the people at VDNKh. She'd worked for them a few times and they had held their side of the deal, thus leading to a somewhat friendlier relationship than in most other cases. Here it was obvious that she was not particularly welcome, and she also wanted to get away from the other stalker. Her years spent working for the Red Line's secret police had made her somewhat paranoid.
"Oh, and do you have somewhere where I could get a bite to eat?", she added, smiling hopefully.
The guard pointed at the stairs leading down into the station. Balalaika kept on smiling politely despite the guard's coldness. She was about to head down into the station when the guard's heavy hand landed on her shoulder.
"Leave your weapons with me, devotchka", he growled. "You'll get them back afterwards."
With a heavy heart, Balalaika handed over her AK and her scoped Helsing. The guard then looked down disapprovingly at the long bayonet that hung from her belt.
"-Give the knife to me."
"-Aw come on...", began Balalaika, but the guard never relented. Finally, Balalaika gave in and handed him her beloved bayonet.
And then she limped off towards the stairs. As she went towards the station and its platform, a young, blonde woman walked past with a basket containing rations for the guards. Balalaika eyed her as she went past before painfully making her way down the stairs. The station was not very populated, but it had a tiny stand made out of old bits of cardboard and corrugated metal that sold food (mostly mushrooms and some pig meat). She purchased several strips of pig jerky before heading back into the station's lobby and sitting down on the floor with her back to the wall. The guard who had her weapons eyed her suspiciously before going back to his meal.
As Balalaika sat and chewed on the tough strips of meat, she thought. The first thing she would do once she got back to Kitai-Gorod would be to have a nosy around to find out who had tried to kill her. Then she would have her revenge. Would she stab him? Shoot him? Or would she cut his throat? Maybe the clean, quick way was best since it wouldn't attract so much attention. The people of Kitai-Gorod cared little about who died and how after all.
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Post by blackpapermoon on Jun 13, 2011 13:07:09 GMT -5
“Bastard, stupid bastard,” cursed Yuras after the greenhorn he’d been put in charge of panicked then ran screaming and spraying bullets everywhere. He would have to go after the youth and see if he could rescue the boy before the Howlers could make breakfast out of him. Yuras was a second-generation stalker and veteran scavenger of 15 years, he had seen his share or dim witted rookies but this guy had to be the worst one yet.
Following a side street up he pressed his back up to a rusted truck and look up, the coast was clear no demon flew overhead. Cautiously he made his way through the ruins, trying to catch up with the youth but still being mindful of his filters. However when he did finally make it to the greenhorn it was too late. He saw one of the beasts tearing into the body and hard the crunch of bones being snapped in two by the powerful jaws.
He would leave the monsters to their meal; there was no point in saving the dead when the living still struggled to survive in this harsh new world. With the sick feeling of regret playing in on his conscience he slow made his way back to the Moscow Metro. He was in the north most part of the ruins had the only station he knew that was inhabited around these parts was the VDNKh.
That was way Yuras was pliantly surprised that he saw footprints leading into a unknown station, what was even more suspiring was that the station was inhabited and even had a small guard.
Finally relived to be out of the cold, he found his way into the small bar area to look for food and drink before he found a place to rest until tomorrow.
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Swag
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Post by Swag on Jul 12, 2011 10:22:38 GMT -5
Whatever the previous commotion was, it had calmed down and people had put their guns down and had returned to their conversations and business. Returning his focus to the conversation, Vladislav sighed heavily. Adrik always wanted to make things more difficult than necessary.
"So if we happen to run into trouble on the way to the next station you plan on defending us with that piece of shit?" Vladislav remarked, gesturing vaguely towards Adrik's revolver at his side, using his other hand to draw a cigarette from the pack in his coat pocket, passing it to Adrik.
"Lets just go down to the market and get this stuff sold, then we can discuss the transportation business afterwards. Da?" Vladislav said while drawing another cigarette for himself, as well as a lighter, flicking it open, lighting his own cigarette, and then offering the flame to Adrik's cigarette.
"Actually, I'll go to the market, you go get something to drink and I'll meet you down at the bar."
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Post by slappypancake on Jul 12, 2011 18:30:15 GMT -5
Nikolai was at the station's local bar, hitting some vodka and chatting up the locals. He was on his way to Belorusskaya after the station sent out a distress call on all frequencies telling of a mutant attack.
Nikolai had departed from Sparta base two days ago, and was stopping to rest at the station. He looked at his helmet, and checked to make sure his headlamp and night-vision devices on his helmet. He finished his drink and quietly sat at the table, drifting off to a light sleep in his chair.
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Alex
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Posts: 13
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Post by Alex on Jul 13, 2011 7:54:39 GMT -5
"Well, hey, it won't be "that piece of shit" if you let me get a better one, or at least get an expert to make it better." replied Adrik, taking the cigarette, then putting it in his mouth. "I assume you're talking about the revolver" continued Adrik with the cigarette moving as he spoke, his voice somewhat changed so that the cigarette wouldn't fall.
"Well, that would be nice. That way we'd make money. Money is always good, right? said Adrik, letting out a hard laugh, then proceeding to light his cigarette with Vladislavs' lighter, before once again continuing "What about the pistol? What do we do with it?"
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Post by slappypancake on Jul 13, 2011 17:05:54 GMT -5
Nikolai had been walking around for a few minutes, he put his helmet on his head, having the part that covers the face flipped up. The station wasn't that bad, maybe a good place to retire when that time came. Then he got to thinking, about only 1 out of every 3 Rangers make it to old age, sure they were the best soldiers in the whole Metro, but it was just a dangerous lifestyle.
He was getting himself prepared to continue to Belorusskaya he overheard two men talking about some revolver they didn't know what to do with. Nikolai thought he might try to make them an offer and leave the gun in a surface ranger stash. He walked over to them, "Sir, I'd like to buy that revolver from you, how much you want for it?"
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