Chapter VII: Black terror and a desperate hunter

 With newfound purpose, Boris packed his things in the Army Warehouses Freedom base. Screw had managed to fiddle with his exoskeleton after Boris had given him some of the old tools he had been carrying, and now his exoskeleton no longer felt like a tank but more like a suit. He could run and move very much like in any other suit, but with the added benefit that now he could also carry more things than he had ever been able. Screw had even done that for free since he had heard that it had been Boris who brought him a new Gauss gun toy to play around with. Boris was allowed to fix up the badly beaten AKS-74 he had "liberated", as they said in Freedom, from the Duty patrol. He agreed with Skinflint to do one more job for Freedom in exchange for a scope for his new gun before Boris set off for Dead City.

The job sounded rough, hunting a experienced Bloodsucker in the ominously named Bloodsucker village. But it also meant that Boris did not have to fight some of his former Loner comrades or anyone else. Boris was desperate to get some good gear, and thus he agreed. With his new rifle and exoskeleton, he creeped slowly into the silent village. Balls of fire, aptly named Comet anomalies, slowly lumbered across the central road of the village, but beside the crackling generated by them there were no sounds. The bloodsucker apparently only appeared during nights, so Boris had couple of hours to find a safe place to hunt it from. He spotted a large tower at the other side of the village and set off to it, deeming it the best place for him to survey the area.

The intel Boris had received had been false however. Half-way to the tower he heard a bone-chilling roar from something. The bloodsucker was on the move. He turned instantly towards the howl, and saw far away a squad of mercs, suddenly assaulted by a massive monster, black as a bandits heart. He rushed to help them, but it was too late, the squad was ripped apart. Last survivor tried to escape towards Dead City but was soon caught by the monster. Before his eyes, Boris saw the blood sucked from the mans body, visibly turning pale as snow as life left him. Using this moment for his advantage, Boris raised his gun and shot a short burst, hitting the beast.

The thing quickly leaped to the shadows, leaving only a trail of blood behind it. Great, Boris thought, an invisible and pissed monster to deal with. He resumed his sprint towards the tower. It was his only hope now. He could hear the beast behind him, raspy inhuman breath sounding from few meters behind him. Without looking, he sprayed wildly behind him with his AKS, and the beast roared again. Boris 2, bloodsucker still 0, he thought to himself quickly, when a claw pierced his skin from the shoulder downwards. He yelped, but kept running. It can't be that bad, his panicked thoughts went, he was still running.

Just as the thing swiped at him again, he managed to jump to the ladder inside the tower. The swipe missed, and Boris climbed like a madman, using every bit of his strength. He had made it, he was safe. The bastard could not follow him there. Boris waited for his breath to steady and then checked the wound. Nothing too bad, he'd just need to keep it clean and patched. He poured some of his vodka supply on the wound and then applied some bandages. Shoddy work, but it would have to do.

With his shoulder patched, he turned his attention back to the monster stalking him. It had turned its camouflage on again, and thus Boris could not see it anywhere. He could hear its breathing somewhere however, and feel it looking at him, waiting for him to make a mistake. Boris used his Mosins scope to look for it, methodically scanning the village. Agonizing minutes passed with no results. The stalemate continued for almost half an hour when Boris finally spotted something. The beasts eyes, glowing in the rapidly darkening valley. He took quick aim, afraid it would move, held his breath and fired. Blood spurted from between the beasts eyes, and it became visible, collapsing to the ground. Boris sighed loudly and with extreme relief. It was over.

He returned the beasts head to the relieved Freedomers who could finally sleep after both the fanatics and mutants had been dealt with. With a new PSO scope he received from Skinflint as reward, Boris returned to his journey to Dead City. In the outpost guarding the entrance to the city, a lone merc stood watch. He halted Boris and raised his gun at him. What's your business here, he asked, and Boris replied with showing the package he was carrying. The merc relaxed a little, and said to Boris that he was feeling rather tense after his other guard bratans had disappeared. Boris told him what had happened to the squad earlier, and the mercs face darkened. He thanked Boris for telling this. To think I almost shot you since I took you for a renegade, and then I would've never learnt of their fate, the merc said to Boris. Boris laughed a little. Him, a renegade? Yeah right. They'd have to drag him into the Swamps to make that happen. The merc scoffed and let him pass.