"Now..." I repeat after her with my lips, calculating the odds in my head. "Alright. But I'll warn you right away – we'll have to stay overnight in the Dark Ravine, and there are few suitable places there. So, we'll barely cover a third of the way today."
"The main thing is to get out of here," the girl sighs heavily, turning her head away. "I'm so tired of these devouring glances... Wolf and Sidorovich, of course, protect me, and there are other good guys, but..."
She falls silent here. And I don't need extra words to understand her situation. A young girl among men hungry for depravity, where the rule is: "The Law is the Zone, the prosecutor is the bloodsucker." But I don't want to lecture her or pity her, it's not my business. She wanted to come, so she came, who am I to teach her anything? I'll fulfill Sidorovich's request, and goodbye, my dear.
"We'll leave in ten minutes, I'll pack my backpack and provisions for now," I slowly get up from the chair, saying these words. "And I'll find you a cloak now, so you don't attract too much attention with your figure."
Then I quickly stuff my and her backpack with everything necessary – I wasn't going to carry all the luggage myself. After that, I shove the first cloak I find in the closet, a legacy from the Hunter, into her hands and look at the resulting picture. If her face is hidden by a balaclava, she'll look like a perfectly ordinary stalker, of which there are countless here – she definitely won't attract attention.
"Now listen," I begin, handing the packed backpack to the girl. "We'll leave the village and head east, through the ATP and the road tunnel. When we get to the Ravine, we'll make a stop, it will be dusk by then. Don't worry, there's a closed and protected place there. Any questions?"
"None so far," Liza shakes her head.
"Good, and now about my requirements for you. You walk behind me step by step and try not to make noise. You can talk and ask about things, but quietly, and under no circumstances shoot first. In general, just obey me, and we'll reach our destination safely," I finish my speech.
"Why not shoot?" she asks, tilting her head slightly. "What if there's some danger?"
"First of all, we'll try to avoid the danger, you don't have any proper equipment, and the usefulness of your pistol is extremely low," I reply, and seeing her look, I decide to explain immediately. "If the opponents have minimal protection, the pistol won't help. Not to mention mutants, without proper skill and a bit of luck, your caliber will be like peas against a wall. In short, we'll try to pass quietly and unnoticed, okay?"
The girl nods briefly at my words, so all I can do is hope that I was heard and understood. I hope I don't get into trouble because of this person. Or at least, not big trouble. May the Zone grant it.
I quickly scan the contents of my backpack again and check my weapons, magazines, and vest pouches. We can move. I lead Liza outside, lock the door behind us, and head for the village exit under the envious glances of other stalkers. I don't like this, what if someone follows us? I need to speed up.
Same place, same time.
Liza breathed heavily, trying to keep pace with her stalker escort, so she had neither the strength nor the desire to look around. When her leg muscles burned with pain, and her tongue threatened to fall out, she had no time for the local beauties. The girl thought of only one thing – rest. But she didn't want to ask the Executioner to go slower or give her a short break. It was too much of a blow to her pride.
She herself didn't know where this pride came from or when, but for some reason, she didn't want to disgrace herself in the eyes of her escort. At the moment, he was the only stalker who didn't lecture her about danger and the "real" place for women, where she should be, and even listened to her request. The others just twirled their fingers at their temples, saying that the Dump was now one of the safest places due to the crowd of stalkers, and anyway, what would she, a woman, know about the Zone's paths.
And so they pass the ATP he mentioned, without stopping there for a second, and start climbing uphill along a dirt road overgrown with grass. Only here, slightly slowing down, Liza could catch her breath a little. Soon, the girl could see the arches of the tunnel stretching into the distance, beyond a small camp where several stalkers were now located. As if paying no attention to the passing travelers, they didn't even look up from the campfire and continued to silently watch the fiery flashes. Liza only exhaled with relief.
But the relief didn't last long.
Same place, same time.
We pass by an unknown trio of stalkers who have set up camp here. A strange place, indeed – the ATP is nearby, and the village, and you can wait out bad weather there, and it's not far from the merchant. Although, maybe they are preparing for a long raid into the Gut, or conversely, decided to rest after it? It doesn't matter, I have no business with them, so we calmly move on.
"Hey," a voice from behind stops us. I turn around and see one of the stalkers sitting by the fire getting to his feet and heading towards us with a wide smile on his bruised face. And his accomplices have already aimed their sawn-off shotguns and pistols at me and the girl. Very menacingly. "A little bird whispered to us that you, pal, are supposed to go with a certain dame I know..."
"That's Dimas," the girl whispers in a trembling voice, standing to my left. "The other rookies in the village beat him up when he almost raped me."
"Listen, Dimas," I sigh deeply, not imagining how crazy you have to be to go in leather jackets and with sawn-off shotguns against an experienced stalker in armor and with an assault rifle on his shoulder. "I see you don't quite understand the situation..."
"I don't give a damn, kid. You should listen to smart and adult uncles, understood?" this creature rasps, stopping a few meters from me. "Give up the girl, your guns, and scram wherever you want."
"Decided to start your stalker career by robbing your own kind?" I chuckle at his words.
"Yes..."
But I wasn't interested in hearing his answer. I sharply push Liza away from me, afraid she might get caught in the return fire, and snatch the Fort from my holster with my right hand – I knew I should leave it.
Same place, same time.
The girl was scared. Of course, her escort was dressed much better, and his weapons were more impressive,
not to mention the assault rifle, let alone the monstrous pistol in the holster on his left thigh, but... The numerical superiority was a serious argument in any case. What if he got scared? Didn't want to get into trouble, as he said before? What if he gave her up to them!?
Then she feels the Executioner's hand forcefully push her aside, causing the girl to stumble and fall to the ground, painfully feeling every pebble and twig digging into her even through her cloak and leather jacket. Before she could understand anything, she hears the sound of shots. A pistol shot, a second, a third, a shotgun roared, another one – and that was it. Silence.
Liza slowly raises herself on one elbow, her eyes wide with fear that washed over her. If the Executioner lost, then... But these were vain worries. Her escort was the only man left standing. He casts a long glance at the bodies lying before him, and only then, with a loud hiss, he drops to one knee, clutching his stomach.
"Are you wounded?" she jumps up like a frightened doe, practically flying to the stalker.
"No," the guy replies, breathing heavily. "The body armor held up, but it's not pleasant. There will be a big bruise. I'll catch my breath and we'll move on."
"Are you sure?" the girl asks warily. Of course, she was worried about him, but even more so, she didn't want to be left completely alone far from people.
"Yes," he nods, carefully straightening his torso. "You'd better go search them."
"S-search?"
"Yeah, that's it," the Executioner chuckles and takes short steps to a small stump near a stretched tent and sits down on it. Taking off his backpack, the stalker reaches inside and pulls out a first-aid kit and a small pot. "Ammunition, medicine, food... And take that sawn-off shotgun. It's unlikely its owner had a slug, but even buckshot will be better than your pistol."
Liza, who had been trying not to look at the corpses until then, shifts her gaze to them and freezes. No matter how bad these people were, they were still people... She could understand why the Executioner did this to them, even approved of it somewhere deep down, but for a city girl, it all looked too wild. Murders, looting...
"I-I don't want to," she says quietly, in a whisper, and looks around frantically at the Executioner, who, in the short time she was looking away, had managed to pull off the upper part of his suit and was now applying the metal pot to the reddening bruises on his stomach. Then he takes it off and proceeds to bandage himself.
"Haa," he only exhales, and the girl tenses inwardly, preparing for a reprimand from the one who just risked his life for her. "Let's talk seriously. Your journey to find your brother might be si-i-ignificantly delayed."
"So what?" she replies with a question, folding her arms across her chest with displeasure.
"And if it happens, I'll allow myself to give you one small piece of advice. In advance," the stalker said, rising from the stump, grimacing and straightening his shoulders, putting his suit back on and coming up close, almost looming over her. "Better to discard squeamishness, there's no place for it in the Zone. On these bodies lies what can help you survive in an emergency. And it's up to you to decide whether you want it or not."
"And won't you help me?"
"I will, but only within the agreed limits," the stalker said, taking a step aside and going behind her back. "I'll take you to the Dark Valley, stay there with you for a bit until you sort out your business, and then back – to the Cordon. But after that, we'll part ways like ships in the night, and you'd better have a drop of minimal skills by then. If, of course, you have to linger in our parts. And now let's go, we must reach our camp before it gets dark."
"Wait!" she said loudly, making the stalker look back over his shoulder. The girl ran up to the dead man with a shotgun, grabbed the weapon, and quickly fumbled through his pockets for ammunition. When a dozen buckshot shells were found, she returned to the Executioner. "Will you teach me to shoot it?"
Dark Valley, Sawmill, evening.
When we finally reached the sawmill, it was about eight in the evening. I thought we could have done it earlier, but alas, due to the recent shootout, we had to revise our squad's speed. My body ached with every step, turn, and any movement at all; I was even afraid to look under my armor. One good thing – I was standing too close for the buckshot to scatter in all directions.
I open the door, go in first, and, making sure everything is exactly as it was before I left, I call Liza. She enters the large building with some apprehension, but relaxes when she sees that there will be no one else here but us. I close the door with a thick bolt and go to the far end of the room where the beds are located. I need to see how the bruise is doing. I hope the cold and the pressing bandage managed to minimize the damage even a little.
"Liz," I call out to her loudly, taking off my outer clothing. "For now, look around here and choose a bed to sleep in, and when I'm done, I'll prepare food on the campfire."
"Is it really safe here?" she said, coming closer and glancing at the small puddles of dried blood.
"Well, yes, only I have the keys to this place, all the doors are locked," I answer her question, unwrapping the bandages and, good heavens, I can't do without a warm compress here.
"Can I help somehow?" the girl asks again.
"Can you start a fire?"
"N-no."
"Then... Bring some firewood here, just some planks, and look for some kind of pot and alcohol..."
After a few minutes, a new campfire was built with our joint efforts in place of the old one. I hang the army pot on the hook of the metal tripod, fill it with water from my canteen, and while it's boiling, I pick up an old, dented iron bowl. It was covered in dust, and I didn't want to waste water to wash it. So, I take the first rag I find, wipe the dish, and rinse it lightly with vodka, then go over it with the rag again and pour out the remaining alcohol. It will be a container for a warm compress; I'll just pour some hot water into it and soak the bandages.
I set it aside and take a half-used pack of rice and a couple of cans of stewed meat from my backpack. I glance furtively at the girl. She has taken off her cloak and carefully folded it on the very edge of the bed. She herself climbed onto it with her legs, buried her face in her knees, and sat quietly, swaying slightly from side to side.
"How are you?" I ask her when the water starts to boil.
"Scared," Liza replies quietly, visibly saddened, without lifting her head. "It's... it's all so wild here. Nature, people, especially them... And I constantly feel out of place. And there was nothing like that at the Antechamber and in the novice village, but as soon as I went a little further – that's it! How do you stalkers live with this feeling? The feeling that something bigger is constantly watching, peeking from behind your back, and as soon as you want to turn and see what it is, it all disappears..."
"Hmm-m," her words make me think, because I didn't feel anything like that. But my case of being here is also fundamentally different from hers... I decide to answer honestly. "Personally, I don't feel any discomfort, and I don't catch any gazes from nowhere."
"You don't believe me?" her voice carries a slight indignation.
"I believe you," I nod, pouring a little boiling water into the iron bowl. "In general, talks about the Zone always take a lot of time, heh, so I'll be brief. If you feel such strong discomfort from just being here, in one of the southernmost territories, then... this place is not for you. And it has nothing to do with habit, or skill, or even your gender. It just didn't accept you."
"And what should I do if I don't find my brother?!" the girl exclaims loudly, almost shouting, while I bathe the unwrapped bandage in the bowl for the compress.
"You're a grown girl, decide for yourself," I shrug, applying the squeezed and warm bandage. "I'm just saying that it's better for you not to stay here for long. You'll have a lot of trouble with men, and the Zone is treating you strangely."
She didn't answer, just buried her nose in her knees again and sighed loudly. Alas, there was nothing I could do for her. To purposefully search for her brother throughout the Zone is a futile endeavor; there are so many different and deadly places where one can get lost forever in an instant. And if he was eaten by mutants long ago, then even more so.
Soon, a simple dinner was ready, and after it, I lay down in bed, closing my eyes. Tomorrow will be a very long and tedious day. An early rise to have time to have breakfast and head towards the Valley. I wonder how much Freedom will differ from Duty? And by the way, I'll also ask about work from Chekhov. If it's a contract for mutants, I'll earn some good money and test my revolver in the field. The only important thing is that Liza's brother is alive and at the base, because I don't really want to leave the girl alone with the greens.