Getting up from the rusty piece of metal and heading towards the tunnel exit, I thought. I thought about why I ended up here, why this even happened to me. Why do I feel nothing but anticipation? Where is the fear, anger, tears? At least sadness for the loved ones I left behind!? But none of that was there; I was simply walking towards my goal, this damned lake.
"System, did you do something to me and my emotions? Why am I..." I hesitated a bit, formulating the thought completely. "Why don't I feel what a person in my situation should feel?"
Yes, user. Some of your emotions have been disabled as dangerous in this situation. Now you need to act, not indulge in them.
"Who gave you the right to decide whether I need my own emotions or not!?" I flared up and raised my voice, which echoed through the remnants of the tunnel. It turned out louder than I expected, damn it. I shouldn't have made so much noise.
The System gave itself the right, user.
"And how far does your influence over me extend?"
The System cannot build up your muscles, make you more flexible, or cure you of illness or poison, user, but it can stimulate the production of certain hormones or stop it. Those parts of your body that are usually involved in anger and so on are simply not working.
"So, you can return everything as it was? And, by the way, why did I raise my voice recently if I was supposed to be calm?" I raised my eyebrows in surprise, realizing that both now and before, I was still a bit emotional.
Yes, the System is capable of that, user, but it is not expedient. And the fact that you sometimes raise your voice is a habit, nothing more.
"Alright, but I still need to think about this later," I said and stopped a few steps from the tunnel exit. And, taking off my backpack, I reached inside for the PDA. As soon as I took it out, I started browsing the map section. "And why didn't I think of doing this right away? Damn, and how do I find out where I am and where the lake is... System, can you help?"
You need to scroll the map to the very bottom, right corner, user. Previously, there was a village, a military town, and a large helipad here. What these places were called before, the System does not know, but now you are in the Ante-room of the Zone; there is only one tunnel here, and it is clearly visible on the map.
"Ah, thank you, I think I found it, let's see, let's see," I scroll through the map and zoom in, continuing to think aloud. "But there are two lakes here, one is bigger, the other is smaller... And I need the one near the Boiler House, right? Looks like it, it's a large separate building."
I hide the PDA back in the duffel bag and sling it over my back, making my way to the tunnel exit. The approximate path is set; nothing dangerous should happen. Judging by the entries from my double, they shot the dogs at the Boiler House, but on the other hand, boars... I'll have to see.
The bright sunlight stings my eyes less than it could have, but I still had to squint a bit, getting used to its brightness. The scene that appeared before my eyes was bleak. Cracked asphalt everywhere, trash, and leafless trees. To the left of the tunnel were various types of houses, and to the right, a bus stop, and behind it, a huge ledge, about five meters high or more. My path lies past these very houses on an asphalt road.
I pull the pistol from the holster and take it off safety, just in case. And I start walking. I try to think less and look around more. It's unknown what or who might suddenly appear, so it's better to be ready. As I pass another semi-ruined house, I hear some mooing behind me. I turn around sharply and see nothing; a wooden house with broken windows, a slightly collapsed fence, and a clear passage. Maybe someone needs help? But before I can take a step, a zombie appears from behind the fence. Gray and withered skin, emaciated outlines of a body peeking out from under remnants of torn and dirty clothing, no shoes, and remnants of hair on an almost bald skull. I manage to observe all this before a second zombie appears, and I realize they are not shuffling towards me, but towards the entrance of the house.
"System, if I kill these two zombies now, I'll level up my firearms and hunting skills, right?" I whisper the question to the System, remaining motionless and keeping the zombies in my sights.
Yes, user. But killing two zombies will not be enough to advance both skills to the next rank; you will have to try harder.
Well, then. I exhale and raise the pistol to eye level, aligning the front and rear sights with the head of one of the zombies, cock the hammer, and gently press the trigger. A loud shot echoes through the surroundings, my ears ring faintly, and my hand jerks slightly from the recoil. The zombie falls onto its companion, who had already started
to get up onto the porch, and they both fall inside the house. I take a few wide steps, looking around, and approach the zombies. The one I shot isn't moving, but it's better not to risk it. I raise the pistol and fire three shots, two at the one trying to crawl out from under the body, and one, a finishing shot, at the one lying on top.
"Hey, down there! Help, there's another one, inside the house, by the stairs to the attic!" a voice calls from the roof of the house; the owner of the voice is not visible. Well, I don't particularly want to risk it, but I can't just walk by.
I step over the corpses and enter the house. Broken furniture, piles of garbage, shabby walls, and missing windows – that's what greeted me. There was no one in the first few rooms, but in the last one, there was indeed one zombie, which was already shuffling towards the noise I made outside. I raise my hands and shoot it in the head as well. My opponent's head jerks, and he starts to fall backward. As soon as he falls, I take a step forward and fire another shot. Two bullets left; I hope it's enough, if anything. In the room, there was a square cut out in the ceiling, apparently for a ladder to the attic.
"Alright, I've put him down, you can come down," I shout upwards, stepping back to one of the walls of the room so that both the passage to the attic and the entrance to the room are visible.
"Yeah, brother, just a sec, I'll lower the ladder!" comes the reply, and a few seconds later, a stalker is already descending it. Shorter than me, scrawny, his hair hidden by a black bandana. At first glance, he had no weapons, except for a knife in a sheath on his belt. "Well, thanks, you saved me! I thought I'd have to jump from the attic, and then you showed up, right on time."
"And how did you end up in such a situation?" I chuckle, putting the pistol back in the holster, but not fastening it.
"Well, I bet with a friend that I could spend the night in this house, naked, I mean, without weapons, just a knife, eh..." he starts to explain, stretching. "I didn't believe it could be dangerous here; it's the Ante-room, not even the Cordon. And what do you think? I got here yesterday without a hitch, not a soul around. I climbed into the attic, slept, my bones are just a little stiff. I start to descend, and there it is, a zombie, with its back to me, just starting to turn towards me. You can't fight something like that with a knife, and it can easily tear you apart. So, I had to climb back up, and as soon as I got up, I pulled the ladder up behind me. Listen, what's your name, my savior? I'm Vitya Rybak."
"No nickname yet," I shrug, and look him up and down again. "Do you need an escort? You don't seem to."
"Well, that's okay, rookie, you'll get one! Don't look at me being as poor as a church mouse; I'm an experienced stalker, and I can make it to the bar myself. By the way, you don't have a pass for there, do you? Let me whisper to the bartender; he owes me a favor, they'll let you in just like that. Say it's from me."
"Deal," I shake his outstretched hand and head for the exit. Strange, but it seemed like he even exhaled when I agreed to get a pass to the bar. As soon as Fisherman was far enough away from me, I asked, "System, I didn't imagine that he was happy to arrange a pass to the local tavern for me, did I?"
"You are right, user. There are many superstitions among stalkers, and one of them relates to what happened to you just now. If someone helped you, you must help him in return, especially if that person asks you for something you cannot refuse."
"And I got a really bad deal, didn't I?"
"Actually, no, user. He could have saved himself without you, but he could have gotten injured. Therefore, your help came at the right time. You couldn't demand anything serious from him, but asking for free help with some task or to share information would be quite possible."
I leave the System's last remark unanswered; it's clear that I could have gotten something more useful from him than a bar pass, which can be bought anyway. My further path was without any incidents. I reached an abandoned grocery store, which I saw no particular point in entering, as I was fully confident that everything that could have been taken had already been taken long ago. After the grocery store, I turned left and walked along the fences of local gardens, and also got a view of the very fenced-off helipad. I couldn't see anything special, just a white fence and remnants of barbed wire.
"System, can you tell me if there are any wild boars on that lake?" I ask as I approach the fence surrounding the Boiler Room. A tall, three-story building, dilapidated due to its age, made of red brick adorned with crude graffiti and various inscriptions, with an overhead passage to another building, already two stories high.
"No, user. The System can show where you are, but it is unknown to it where someone else is."
My hopes for the System's help were unsuccessful, but it's not a big deal. I need to get to the very top to get a better view. I reloaded my pistol, all magazines are ready, I can handle a few zombies if there are any. I enter the inner courtyard of the Boiler Room. To my right, I see a partially destroyed garage, part of the roof has collapsed. In the garage itself, I saw several Zils with blue cabins. Also, in the courtyard, there were two huge tanks, if I'm not mistaken, and a bunch of pipes leading in different directions from the building.
I cock the weapon and enter the building itself. It's dark here, I could use a flashlight, but unfortunately, I don't have one. The light coming through the high and wide-open door and windows illuminated a lot, but not enough. The same piles of trash from cigarette butts, packs of cigarettes, lying rusty iron pieces, and fragments of metal pipes. And who managed to mess everything up here? In the tunnel, and in that house, and here, and even on the street, you can sometimes see various plastic packaging. On the second floor, there was nothing special, just an empty room from which everything that could be taken had been removed long before me. But the third, the highest floor, was an attic. Because of this, I had to walk through it half-crouched so as not to hit my head on the beams connecting the rafters. The attic itself was cluttered with a bunch of wooden and metal boxes, maybe I could even find something interesting here, but definitely not now. At the far end of the room, from the entrance to the attic, the slate was broken and opened up a view of that very lake.
To my relief, there was no one around the lake, only an abandoned yellow excavator, whose bucket was submerged in the murky water. Maybe it hit some pipe and this lake formed? Or it just rolled down the slope right into it. Okay, that's not what I should be thinking about now. The faster I fill bottles with water, the faster I'll leave here.
The unhurried descent to the first floor of the Boiler Room took a couple of minutes. I was still looking out for possible dangers, having learned from Fisherman's experience that one should never relax. I calmly walk out of the building, pass under that very overhead passage, and, walking past a rusted red Moskvich, I head straight for the lake. I put my pistol back in its holster, preparing to take off my backpack and get plastic bottles from it, when I hear a rough grunt from behind that very excavator, and from behind it, a Monster comes out at me.
There's no other way to call this animal. Enormous in size, about a meter and a half at the shoulder, with large fangs and dark brown skin, a wild boar. It hasn't even had time to understand what happened and how a person ended up here, and I've already started running back, up the slope, in search of some elevation, otherwise I'll die. My ears are pounding mercilessly, I can't even hear if it's chasing me or not, but I don't dare to look back. I jump onto the red Moskvich, try to draw my pistol and turn around, when a powerful blow knocks me off the car, it itself is dragged along the asphalt, and I painfully hit my back on the ground. My vision went dark for a couple of moments, after which I see the boar coming towards me. It probably considers me easy prey that can no longer fight back. I grab the pistol lying not far from me and shoot all the cartridges directly into the snout of this beast.
The boar screamed in pain, took a couple more steps, and collapsed half a meter from my feet. Damn. That was awful. But I can't just lie on the ground, I need to get up! I get up as quickly as I can, my back hurts incredibly, there will probably be large bruises. I take out the empty magazine, with a trembling hand I reach into my pocket for a full one, reload the pistol, and raise the pistol in front of me. My ears are still ringing, my heart is beating like crazy. I walk around the dead boar, glancing at its snout in passing, it seems I was lucky to hit it in the eye, otherwise it would have finished me off here. I scan the hill, but no hordes of boars are rushing after me, I can breathe a sigh of relief. And only now do I notice the inscription from the System, shimmering before my eyes.
"Congratulations, user! Your skill Firearms has reached the rank of Experienced. Now you will shoot more accurately, and handling some types of weapons will become easier."
I don't feel a drop of joy from the skill increase, I only feel emptiness from the situation. Ten minutes ago, like a madman, I checked and inspected every corner I could, so that no zombie could attack me, and at the most crucial moment, I simply missed a boar. And I was lucky, very lucky. The first shots achieved nothing but pain for this beast. A little higher or a little lower, and the bullet would not have pierced the boar's eye, and behind it, its brain. And now it would not be lying dead, but happily grunting and
finishing me off. Bruises and almost soiled pants are a small price for finally understanding where I am.