Chapter III: Part-time banditry

 Passing through Meadow had been the easy part. Boris and Dimuha had met some quite stonefaced bandits, dealt with their burer and poltergeist problem and moved on. But stepping first time since his downfall into Dark Valley, Boris felt tense, more than ever. It would be uncharted territory from here on out. At any moment, a bandit could recognize him and blow his cover. Hell, Dimuha could be taking him straight to Sultan for a bounty. But without the help of Bandits, Boris could never survive here in the Zone. His guns had already started to deteriorate, his Renegade suit was a hole-filled rag. He'd need any spare rubles he could get.

Boris couldn't dwell on it much longer, as sounds of automatic gunfire and screams filled the air around them. They saw a small pig farm right of them, and there a couple of bandits fighting for their lives against someone... or something. They raced there to help, some honorary part of them activating to defend their clansmen. It was lurker. Those beasts seemed somewhat otherworldly to Boris. Mutants seemed wrong, but also felt like they belonged to the Zone. Lurkers... they seemed to be from another reality, one of ruin and eternal winter. Nonetheless, 12 gauge shells seemed to work on them as well as any other, and the beasts were defeated.

The two bandits told Boris that the main base had been under siege for many days now. Military, Duty, Clear Sky and Loners were all assaulting it from many sides. Dimuha and Boris decided to help lift the siege, and crossed a rancid lake filled to the brim with radiation. Dimuha stopped Boris right in time, he had spotted a military patrol. The blue berets of the soldiers gave them off, and Boris nailed the with his AKS-74U. Before they could check the bodies for supplies, Duty troops assaulted them as well. Hiding behind a block of concrete, Boris could feel bullets cracking next to and behind him. He knew that if he rised his head, death would come knocking. He did not see Dimuha, but he could hear the Dutyers over all the noise. They had just thrown a grenade, a sound which froze Boris' blood. He leaped from his concrete shelter, blazing away with his Carabineer, and by some luck managed to end the Dutyer. Dimuha hit the other one, who took off running. They decided to retreat to the main base to lick their wounds.

There, Boris headed straight to Limpid. Dimuha had seen the rather extensive amount of tools Boris had collected during his survival days, and the tools could be of use to Limpid. Limpid was glad to have them and paid generously as compensation. With the money, Boris and Dimuha could spend the rest of the day relaxing. The siege had broken down when two patrols had been lost on one side and one patrol on the other.

It would be generous to say that the next couple of weeks were exciting to Boris. He worked tirelessly for the bandits, just to make sure that even if they learned his true identity, they would not end him on the spot. Too much depended on him remaining anonymous till the end. He could not have his vengeance if his journey was cut short while he was still weak. Thus, he spent considerable amount of time and money repairing various guns, armour and helmets to be better prepared to the arduous journey he was about to take. Sultan did not recognize him, which was good. Even better was the fact that the gladiator leader had just left for Truck Cemetery.

Sultan had him working on fleecing loner rookies, throwing out loners from Dark Valley, doing hits on Duty and fighting military excursions. The pay wasn't great and the missions often came down to the wire with survival. But with Dimuhas help, they somehow survived. The pair had gotten more and more used to working together, and Boris was now more sure than before that he could count on the bandit. He could even consider Dimuha a friend, something his former self would never have even thought of. During a particularly nasty skirmish in Darkscape, Dimuha took a bullet for Boris when a wounded military trooper lashed at them with his last breath. Dimuha survived the encounter, and Boris knew he would've done the same for him too.

Only after earning the trust of the Bandits could Boris relax finally. He had gathered quite an arsenal, and their small group had grown. Boris had helped a downed trainee bandit Vityukha Flop during a Monolith raid, and he had agreed to join the two outlaws. Boris had finally gathered enough capital to get himself something much more useful, a looted exosuit. He bought one from Olivius, spending every last dime he had on it, and finally felt ready. Finally he could start his plan. He would only have to deal with the gladiator leader to make sure nothing stood between him and the end goal. But that would be easy now. He had gathered documents from dead Monolith members telling of increased raids into Truck Cemetery, and all he needed to do was to lure the bandit into one of them. The trio set out for Truck Cemetery, only one of them knowing the true nature of their trip. It would be another bloodsoaked day ahead of them, but this time, they were not going to be the only ones spilling it.