Chapter IV: Manhunt of Truck Cemetery

 Boris breathed in the cold, misty air of Truck Cemetery. In his loner days, he had visited this place once. It was an ominous sight, rows upon rows of abandoned military and civilian hardware. The fallout of Soviet regime, all gathered here from the prying eyes of civilian populace to keep them complacent from the catastrophe of '86. And now it was inhabited by those who did not want to be seen again. Bandits had set up their outpost here not long ago. The man Boris was hunting would be there, he would be sure of it. Artushka Panadol, so named for his painkiller addiction derived from his profession. Gladiator king of Dark Valley and the worst nightmare of bandits prisoners.

Boris had fought many times under his vigilant gaze, and had seen many of his former loner brethren be cut down by him. Boris was disgusted that he needed to work for the bandits to have even a small chance of survival, even if some of them were as good to him as Dimuha had been. But at least now he was about to end one of the biggest bastards among them. He opened his PDA, and could see bandits having a rather tight grip on the area bar the forested areas around the main vehicle yard. Boris was sure that Monolith would frequent those areas quite heavily. He would need to somehow find a way to lure the gladiator into them.

It seems the Zone smiled upon Boris that day. Artushka was heading to Army Warehouses next, and was looking for a guide there. It was just what Boris had been looking for. His exosuit would keep him hidden long enough for the ruse to run its course, and he could guide the gladiator into Monolith troops. If they did not end him, he would. No one would suspect anything seeing as the Monolith were swarming the place. Boris and his bandit companions followed him through the small gaps between communist era vehicles. There was something eerie about it all, rusting machines surrounding them, possibly hiding all sorts of horrors inside and behind them.

They reached a large open area without much resistance. Large helicopters had been scattered on a field there, and Boris managed to climb on top of one to surveillance the surrounding area. He scanned the wrecks ahead of them with his binoculars, and spotted the bandit camp, nestled at the very edge of the scrapyard. There he would find his prey. A scream from Dimuha woke him from his musings. Dimuha had sensed something, something terrible. A psy-storm was setting over the Zone. Boris yelled at them to head straight ahead and leaped from the top of the helicopter, barely breaking his stride. They raced faster than ever towards the bandit outpost, zigzagging between the APCs and firetrucks. Boris could feel his brain cooking. His vision was getting blurrier, his thoughts erratic and thinking slow. But he could not stop.

Just as their vision started to darken, they made it inside. Vityukha fainted. Dimuha vomited. Inside his gasmask. One of bandits chuckled and Boris turned to him. The bandit was clearly not that experienced and thus shooked a little when he realized Boris was wearing a full exosuit and carrying an AK-12. Boris leaned to check on his fainted comrade. He was alive, and pulse felt stable. Dimuha was pale, but alive as well, and weakly cleaning his mask. Even if Boris felt worried for Vityukha, he was also partly glad this had happened. He wouldn't have to raise suspicions about leaving his companions on the camp if he could get the gladiator to follow him.

Once more reminded of his mission here, he started looking around the room. A bored looking trader had leaned up against the wall next to them. The rookie bandit looked curiously at Boris' gear. And the gladiator stood at the window, not even glancing at the trio. He had an exoskeleton on, and was carrying a nasty looking Armsel Protecta. The trader opened his mouth first, asking them what they were after in this godforsaken place. Boris replied that he had heard a need for a guide, and since he was also heading to Army Warehouses, he thought he could help. The gladiator turned to look at him finally.

You can guide me, he said, but leave those girls behind. I've got no time for weaklings. Boris simply nodded to Dimuha, and he nodded back, but Boris could see he was boiling inside. Boris shook his head very slightly to signal not to pick a fight with this guy, but Dimuha had apparently already figured that out. Boris replied that he could take the gladiator to outside Freedom base for 5000 rubles, but no further. Freedom and Renegades were not the biggest friends. The gladiator agreed, and they set off as the psy-storm began to clear. Boris had spotted some movement in the treeline just when the psy-storm broke, and thus started moving that way. He would need a distraction to end the gladiator, and even if it wasn't Monolith, anything would do.

Once they cleared the treeline, the gladiator became visibly nervous. Not so great when you're not beating prisoners I see, Boris thought to himself. He had spotted a Monolith patrol already, and could see that the gladiator had not. The fanatics were already setting up a trap, one where the gladiator would inevitably stumble into. First shots rang, and the gladiator was hit twice, his armour withstanding it for now. More fire kept pouring into him before he could even react, and soon even the mighty exoskeleton was decimated. Boris had taken cover, and he saw the bandit collapse. He had seen enough to be satisfied and relieved. No one would remember his former self now.

He tossed a grenade towards the advancing fanatic squad, and while they leaped to cover, he rushed out of the forest. The fanatics followed him, firing hasty shots as they ran. Boris thought to himself that he could have planned his escape a little better. He kept springting in between the wrecks, ducking and weaving to avoid the fire and praying to whoever was listening for help. A group of bandits apparently had heard his prayers as they started laying fire at the fanatics from a large tower. Boris ran there for cover and noticed Dimuha among them. He seemed relieved that Boris was there. The last fanatics fell on the large opening, having rushed ahead too quickly after Boris.

After the dust had settled, Boris explained the situation to the bandits. Having seen the Monolith, the bandits believed him, and actually seemed more interested in recovering the exoskeleton and Protecta than questioning Boris' story. With their backs turned to him, Boris sighed slowly. While he could perhaps never more be a free man, at least now he would not have to be constantly wary of his past crawling up to him.