"Could you lend me a few men?" Alex asked, still trying to guess what was in those tanks.
Some weird fish? Scientific equipment?
A fucking brain?!
"Want to investigate?" the Barkeep turned the question about. "I'm sure I'd find some Stalkers who're curious. But most of them are already on their way to the Heart of the Zone."
Right. Because that Brain Scorcher thing was down.
But if this were what he thought it was, it wouldn't be down for long.
"You guys had basic infantry training, too, right?" the Major turned to the aircrew next.
Who was he kidding, though?
They looked green and scared, bullied around by those Stalkers earlier.
"I'll go with you," Sokolov offered, though, surprising him. "Not like I want to help you, but those scientists back home would chew me out if I didn't investigate it."
So that made it the two of them so far.
"If they're not your guys, I can at least leak the info to the military," the Barkeep noted. "It would get nasty, though. They already lost those choppers and all, so—"
"Yeah, no. By the time they found a safe route inwards, it'd be too late."
Those images were already fifteen hours old.
The antenna complex seemed undamaged, so if all they had to do was hook up those tanks—
"We have to go now, and take whatever we can," Alex had decided. "There are two more helicopters beyond the Duga. If that thing affected the surviving aircrews—"
Though his real reason was much simpler.
The lost maintenance crew and this Monolith thing were definitely up to something.
Interrogating them could have finally shed some light on what was going on in the Zone.
And information gathering was his main priority from the start.
"M-Major Degtyarev," the younger of the rescued airmen stuttered. "If it's about to save the rest of our comrades—please, take me with you. I had a good buddy in the other Hind."
Hah, cute. But he needed more men, and not rookies to babysit.
"How much did you see of the Zone, soldier?" the Corporal interrupted, talking as if he outranked that guy. "Have you seen the monsters? Or the anomalies? Those Monolith guys—"
"Aye," the Barkeep joined in. "They're by far the worst."
That gave the Major a pause, too.
"What do you mean?" he asked. "Aren't they part of the lost crew?"
"Or only abusing their emblems to get rookie Stalkers to trust them," Sokolov grunted. "I don't know how much they have in common, but from what I heard—"
He pulled out his PDA, typing in some search words.
"I told you about those zombies before, right?" he mumbled in the meantime. "These guys. They're like they volunteered to be one. They're fucking mental."
"Every Stalker will confirm. They shoot first, ask questions later," the Barkeep nodded along.
And he never even heard about them from military intelligence?!
"Wait, but didn't you ask if they were our guys?" Alex remembered, eyes narrowing.
"Because that was the only thing I could think of," the grizzled guy with the tattooed neck pointed out. "Their gear, their discipline. They're no ordinary Stalkers."
Yeah, no. If they belonged to the army, he would have definitely known.
Even if it were a high-level secret, they would have told him before sending him here.
"Your photographer," he said, waving the picture around. "Did he give you an accurate number?"
The Barkeep shook his head.
"He didn't stick around for long," he grumbled. "Took a few shots, made a wild guess. Then, as soon as the place got hot, he fucked right off there. But he said they kept coming and going."
And they were definitely trying to restore the Duga to whatever it was doing earlier.
Alex sighed, his eye landing on the Corporal again.
"What do you suggest?" he asked, at the end of his wits.
"I don't know what your real goal is," Sokolov shrugged. "But if it were up to me, I'd kill as many of them as I could. Take any people we can, and expect high losses. Not elegant, but—"
"That's how things are in the Zone," the Barkeep noted, scratching his stubble.
"Now, if your mission was actually to save all the aircrews and return them home alive," the Corporal added. "I doubt it'd be a good idea to bring them along. They're not cut out for this."
"The best I can offer is some freelancers," the other man said. "Like half a dozen."
Yeah. He had no idea what to do.
He didn't trust the Stalkers, and the Stalkers didn't trust him.
He'd rather keep his rescuees alive, but also—
If that thing went back online, he could consider the rest of them already dead.
And then, lose all the leads on the Zone, and on the Hero of Kyiv as well.
Alex scoffed.
"Those mercenaries of yours," he said. "Will they shoot me in the back?"
"That'll depend on your attitude," the grizzled man grinned. "Seeing how our good Corporal looks at you, he might actually do the honor himself."
Well, yeah. He half expected that to happen for a while now.
"What do you want?" Sokolov grumbled. "He appeared out of nowhere, and those gullible morons trusted him right away. Last time they hired someone, it was a disaster, too."
So that was his problem?
"I won't repeat myself," the Major said. "But it's in my best interest to keep these airmen alive, and that Brain Scorcher thing offline. You called me here for the same reason, right?"
The Barkeep nodded.
"But the truth is, it all came out of left field for me, too, so I was hoping you could help."
What were they thinking? What was he? The Terminator?!
"Well, um," Alex grunted, clearing his throat. "Looks like our interests align, then. But to help you, I need to help as well—and give me some guarantees I'm not walking into a trap."
"I'll give you my guy behind the NSVT," the man said. "And take your troops, too."
"I'm going as well," the Corporal confirmed. "To keep an eye on you."
"On top of those," the Barkeep added. "Let's say I hire three trusted Stalkers for the same job."
"Eight men," the Major sighed, looking at the photo again. "Against all that."
Without any coordination, prior knowledge, and he had to keep those airmen alive, too.
They expected way too much from him, but to be fair—
The brass would throw shit like this at him too, without hesitation.
"Some more Stalkers might also drop by as they head towards the CNPP," the Barkeep pointed out. "And if there's one thing common in them all—they hate those Monolith guys."
"Or the zombies. They wouldn't want their brains fried," Sokolov sighed.
As if that should have comforted him.
Now he had to watch his back more than the enemies at the front.
"Fine, fuck it, let's go," Alex grunted anyway. "It's not like there's time to waste, and I've no other choice. The rest of the crew won't rescue themselves."
He shot a glance at those rookies still trembling in the corner.
Why couldn't he get himself some Special Forces escort?!
"Deal," the Barkeep grinned. "And if you succeed, I'll be happy to give you all the info I have."
Meaning that he hadn't yet?
He already regretted agreeing to this.