Chapter XXV: Taking over the Meadow part 1, a fiery welcome

 Boris and Dima had just managed to fight off a Monolith ambush and Dima had proclaimed that he'd join Boris despite his plan being, well, a bit out there, when a pair of stalkers appeared at the doorstep to the farmhouse, weapons held high. Boris turned around quickly and pointed his AKMN at them, but both parties relaxed upon seeing a neutral Zone-dweller instead of a fanatic or a soldier. And to think if it wasn't for the suicide mission Dushman had sent him on, Boris would be fighting these stalkers right now.

They chatted a bit with the newcomers, and the stalkers told them that there was a medium-sized loner outpost right next door. Boris asked Dima what he thought of some rest and recovery before entering Meadow and Dima agreed. The stalkers went their separate way and the mercenary duo entered the Loner farm. With guards posted on the roofs and walls of the outpost, it seemed like the forts of old, guarding the wilderness of Western America or Siberia.

Inside the walls, Boris decided to immediately head to sleep, and found a good spot for his sleeping bag next to a fire. Dima headed to the local trader, intending to sell some of the late Monolith patrols gear and goods. Last thing Boris heard before falling asleep was the bargaining growing louder and louder in the other building, Dima calling the trader a pigheaded baffoon and the trader responding by calling him a boar's arse. Amused, Boris sank into deep sleep.

After getting 11 hours of sleep, more than he had gotten in weeks, Boris slowly awoke, crawling up from his sleeping bag to put some pieces of bread and sausage to roast on top the now almost dead campfire. Dima had gone to sleep as well, and was still snoring nearby, leaning against a wall midway through cleaning his rifle. Some stalker had jokingly put a thin piece of sausage into the breech of the gun. Boris chuckled at the sight and headed to the trader to resupply as well, but unlike Dima did not really care for bargaining. He got some more ammunition and rifle grenades just in case, and returned to his breakfast.

Halfway through it, Dima woke up. He glanced at Boris, still half asleep, and then checked his gun, finding the sausage.

• Ha ha, very funny. Joke's on you, I just got a free breakfast, he said triumphantly and ate the sausage, adding:

• The gun oil really adds to the taste, perhaps I should use it more often.

• You think I'd throw away a perfectly good sausage for a joke? Who do you think I am, Bill Gates? I don't have the money for that kind of tomfoolery, Boris responed. Dima grinned at him and rose up, putting his Val back together.

• So, should we finally start heading towards Meadow and get that stupid plan of yours in motion. I really want to meet these bandit friends of yours, I'm sure they'll have some cigarettes I can "borrow", Dima asked with a smirk.

Boris nodded to him, his mouth too full of food to properly answer and they gathered their gear. The farm had been closer to Meadow than they had expected and it took them only half an hour to reach the remote village. Last time Boris had been here, he had been a wanted and desperate man, but now he entered as a respected and well-equipped member of a faction. The village was quiet, apparently after Boris and Dimuha had fought the Loners stationed there and won, no one had retaken it. It was, finally, time to change that, Boris thought to himself. He'd make Meadow into the new Rostok, or at least the new Skadovsk, even if it took his life in the process. It was time for a new er...

• Jesus, what a dump, Dima groaned, stopping Boris' monologue short.

Boris sighed at this but couldn't help smiling. Yeah, perhaps this wasn't going to be the new Rostok, he thought as he looked over the rotting and collapsing houses and radiation riddled spots. But it could be something. He could make it something. He only needed time and money, and now that he was no longer a constantly hunted fugitive, Boris could have both of those.

Dima stopped his musings when sporadic but loud gunfire erupted up the hill, clearly near the Meadow factory. It evolved into a cacophony of different calibres, some booming and thundering, others little more than barks in loudness. Boris and Dima started moving forward at a careful pace, as while the shots were coming from the factory, there could just as easily be enemies here. This approach paid off when they spotted roughly 6 soldiers moving up the hill. Dima took aim, but Boris stopped him with a whisper and raised his grenade launcher up. Dima nodded and Boris fired his VOG-grenade.

It spun through the air but unfortunately went a bit wide, exploding at the side of a wrecked car. One soldier was clearly wounded by this but the rest scattered and started laying covering fire for each other. Boris cursed his bad aim and thought to himself that if he survived this he'd learn how to use the grenade launcher properly. Dima moved to the right side of the village, taking cover behind a ZIL-131 truck and started firing his Val, accurate as ever. The wounded soldier had not quite managed to reach cover and he was shot down.

Boris meanwhile climbed a ladder on to an attic, using the same trick he had used in the Monolith ambush earlier and surprising the attackers by firing through gaps in the walls. He first AKMN shots hit one of the soldiers in the shoulder and his weapon, making him collapse to the ground, wounded or dead. Another soldier popped into a window in the house in front of Boris and started firing at him like a madman, forcing Boris to retreat. Outside, Dima yelled as he hit another one of the soldiers, but his victory was shortlived as a third soldier had tossed a grenade at him, forcing him to abandon the ZIL position.

Boris heard fire coming from behind him as he was still looking for a spot to fire from. The last unspotted soldier had flanked them and was now firing at Dima from the side. Dima screamed as he was hit, his SEVA apparently uncapable of protecting him this time. Boris switched to his shotgun as he jumped down and as he fired it at the soldier, he could see the look of surprise before it turned to pain in his eyes. The last two soldiers rushed Boris while he was distracted, firing their AK-74s.

Some rounds bounced off hid armour, some missed but one hit his leg and another one grazed his left arm. Boris turned around while he was loosing his balance, and managed a snapshot into one of the soldiers before he collapsed, killing the soldier instantly. The last one had clearly had enough and started running away, but Dima, who was still alive, only wounded in the arm, managed to kill him with his Val.

Boris yelled to Dima to check his status and was relieved to know he was okay. Boris knew he needed to fix his wounds quickly to stop the bleeding and possible infections, so he quickly washed his wounds with vodka, grimacing as the pain surged from this, and checked his leg wound to see if the bullet was still inside. Thankfully it had gone straight through without hitting the bone and was barely a fleshwound. Boris bandaged it the best he could and grabbed plenty of painkillers as Dima moved over to him.

• Not our most successful scrap eh? Next time, maybe hit them the first time, I know I need to workout but this is all a bit too harsh for me, he said, his smile wide despite his injuries.

• We survived, that's the main thing. How about we go look what's going on up there, by the looks of those soldiers it's nothing good, Boris responded, still a bit dizzy from bloodloss.

• You sure you can manage?, Dima responded, looking at Boris' leg.

• I'll have to, my friends could be dying up there right now, and then I'd have to put up with only you, Boris shot back and despite his pain, gave a slight smile.

Dima grinned and helped Boris up. Whatever was going on up there, it was heating up, the fire becoming more and more intense. It seemed Meadow was a forgotten and desolate backwater no more.