– Around Us Inside –
Beep. Beep. Beep.
Between the blinking sound and the eerily moaning winds, Ivan continuously looks at the device as he proceeded to enter the zone, simultaneously alternating to observe the reading on the device he held in his hand and towards his surroundings. "Fuck…"
He mutters as he looked at the level he was receiving and then at the misty zone he has entered. However, despite being unable to proceed any further, his tasks were done and so with that, he retreated from the radioactive wasteland until the blinking sound and red light came to a stop.
With heavy steps across the rough terrains, he walked and he walked, his surroundings being the same thing and theme since that 'catastrophe' – dead withered forests, wet toxic marshes, thick fogs – it looked the same everywhere else; all that it had in common was the sense of grim death that plagued them all around. In addition to all the gloomy sights, there was another of the layers of many drastic changes to their world – Radiation.
Breathing through the gas mask he stole all the years back, he marched on foot at the side of the road, a road that had deteriorated over time and returned to nature with the patch of grass that stuck out at cracks that has formed. To add to details as he continued along, torched cars littered the road as well as belongings and suitcases that all lay scattered across the ground. 'It seemed they were in a hurry' he examined but of course, everyone at the time when the catastrophe occurred were all in a hurry to escape the city. That was until Marshal Law was set to action and the roads were blockaded to the city, and just as Ivan recalled, he saw the poor-conditioned fences and the barricades that blocked the roads. The wires could be seen with tattered pieces that belong to a cloth, perhaps someone had the bright idea to climb over them and risk being cut.
Ignoring the grim atmosphere and the stories that can be told just by examining the place, Ivan simply moved passed through the checkpoint and continued on. He has become too accustomed in transiting through the place, especially since he has been doing this for two decades now. Same road, same checkpoint, and same tasks. For an entire two decades.
But then again, despite being well familiar with the place and its route, he learns something new every single time he walks here from the settlement to his tasks. It could be he found a clothe he never noticed, and he would speculate what might have happened, perhaps it was a canned food that was laying in a corner where it could have been someone's last meal. In summary, the place was just crawling with so many stories to tell just as there were once many people with their own lives that were suddenly snuffed out or tragically changed.
Just as he was about to exit the checkpoint as he passed through, he noticed something white and shiny, and being a scavenger and foremost a Stalker that belongs in the zone. With a fast reaction, he approached the item and inspected it. He picked it up from the patch of grass that was growing inside of the building, maybe it explained how it wasn't scavenged up to this long. 'A watch?'
Ivan took a closer look as he wasn't expecting in finding a wristwatch here, among all places. He was astonished by his find and began to put it in the many pockets he had. It was undoubtedly the highlight of today's and it was also reasonably important to a Stalker such as himself. Ivan lets out a small laugh as he gave a small smile as he returned back on the track to returning to the settlement. The wristwatch was of course not working, but finding the battery for it wouldn't be so hard. But the main importance of time was unreasonably necessary, definitely so when the thick mist obstructs the light and the sun to tell the time of day it was. Also because…
A low growl catches Ivan's attention as he turned to its direction but found nothing, it was a wolf no doubt and it was stalking him. Lifting up his AK, he turned on the flashlight strapped to the gun with duct tape as he began tracing the wolf's movement.
Ivan was silent as he composed himself to focus. Over the time since the 'catastrophe', many things changed, and to survive the change he too had to fit right in with the change. Unlike the man he once was before it all began; he was just a simple brute construction worker who was in the lowest depth of society without much to go on about – who was now a well-known Stalker among the Stalkers for undertaking solo scouting missions and subsequently to those claims…
Ivan was as tough as a Bear
However, despite being talented in taking those high risked missions, death could still come even to those who were veterans and expert Stalkers that transit through the zone. As the saying goes among the Stalkers – be cautious, always. Or the Zone will take you.
Those words, those quotes, that mantra has what kept Ivan alive for so long. Therefore, even when Ivan was being told by his whole body to turn and run, he stood his ground and waited as all he could do at that moment was just to stare down the end of the barrel of the gun – and wait…
He was cautious and he couldn't afford to make a mistake, even a single decision could decide how his fate would turn out to be. So, with his very life on the line, he was adamant about being spatially aware around his surroundings and making use of the keen senses he has developed over the countless times he encountered danger when scouting the zone.
The bushes moved and the sound of breaking twigs alerted him to the wolf's position and he fired a short burst in that direction. No movement. Ivan was unsure whether he had hit his mark but with uncertainty in the air and in his mind, he shot again and this time 'it' came out…
– Around Us Inside –
The sight and revelation put a shock and stun to Ivan's movement as he stared down the 'wolf' he has supposedly thought – only for it to be something more terrifying than a wolf; as it was a grotesque creature that stood on its hind legs as it stood a foot taller than Ivan. That height and its reddened fur that told it has been killing plenty and its sharpened fangs were stained with black blood.
As if the sight wasn't horrifying enough, its back was hunched over like an oldened aged person that couldn't stand upright. But instead of walking at the pace of a snail, the thing could run like a fit man. Ivan felt his legs about to buckle and his grip on the gun tremble. He couldn't escape this thing even if he tried, even if he wanted, so when the thing did make the first move towards him – Ivan pulled the trigger and sprayed it with leads.
But despite hitting a few of its marks, it looked so unbothered as bullets pierced its flesh. Worst of it, the thing doesn't even seem to make a grunt or moan out of the pain. With its bulging and widened eyeballs, snarls with sharpened fangs that seemed like it was smiling at him – Ivan never released the trigger and continued spraying.
The mutant…was relentless…
When the clips emptied and the muzzle no longer flashes, Ivan and the beast took a split moment to look at the other. Ivan was a stare of fear, and the smiling wolf had a look as if happy to have found a meal.
It was silent all around, until it seemingly took a step and then two as it approached Ivan in a walk instead of a dash, almost as if it was sadistic and soaked in the fear the prey had. But not a person to remain stun and fearful, Ivan gathered all his courage despite with trembling hands as he reached for a clip as he replaced the old and inserted it to the gun.
Over the decades he has been scouting, lurking and scavenging near the zone, just outside the distance of the city, he had only faced against mutants either smaller or weaker than he was with a loaded gun. As he had earlier summarized, every time he transits between the zone and back to the settlement, he sees or learn a new thing – supposedly this unflinching monster.
But with experience and knowledge he has learned throughout the decades, 'if you can't kill it. Disable it. Cripple its movements.'
Then like clockwork and with all he has trained, he aimed at its hind and boney legs instead. Several shots missed due to the rifle's recoil, some grazed it but eventually several struck its mark. With the severe injury it received to its skinny hind legs, it dropped to the ground with a thud. But the smile never left its face…
Seemingly adamant to pursue Ivan, it began to crawl as it pulls its dragging bleeding body across the ground, leaving traces of dark oil-like blood. The sight was disturbing, it nearly reminded Ivan how a human would react – especially when hunger was all that drove them.
Ivan had a quick flashback before it disappeared, and without any more moments to waste he lifted the gun and aimed between its eyes. He could do it, even when he wasn't a great marksman, any person could when 'it' wasn't evading or running to cover.
A single bullet, a single flash from the muzzle that lit for a moment, and the sound that rang once he fired. He did it, and the mutant was dead…
With a smile still plastered to its face
– Around Us Inside –