Chapter LXVIII: The Last Day of Autumn

 The old and rusting drawbridge had seen many a battle during its history, the one between Clear Sky and Renegades years ago a mere footnote in its bloodsoaked history. Limansk was among the last proper city areas in the Zone to not be ruled by a faction properly, despite the squabbles of mercs and Monolith. Now, a single bandit gazed over the bridge, still completely focused on his guard duty. He raised his jacket up a bit, as the cold and crisp autumn air was starting to get to him. This was far too important. The fate of the bandits hung over him staying ready for anything. If the outpost fell, any hope of unified bandit faction would die with it.

On the other river under the bridge, he saw movement. Old river barge, battered by the years of exposure to weather, chugged along the river. It stopped before the bridge, and its engine sputtered, coughing up a few last puffs of smoke before it died, possibly permanently. A squad of heavily armed bandits in ad hoc exosuits and reverse-engineered SEVA suits jumped out of it. They were led by a figure in a trenchcoat, carrying a large Groza assault rifle. The only man capable of saving the bandits from themselves was here.

On the other side of the Red Forest, three men sat beside a campfire. Stitch was grilling a kolbasa, Dima was enjoying a bottle of fine wine he had looted off one of the Sin leaders and Boris was reading documents from the same source. Stitch was telling the two Redeemed of the journeys Strelok, Rogue and he had taken after the CNPP raid.

• So as I was saying, Strelok had a vision after touching the shard. He lost conciousness for quite some time, and woke up pale as a ghost. He told us that he had seen images of whole Europe turned into the Zone, of a new psi-emitter capable of far bigger damage than the Scorcher and of an emission machine hidden deep into the Zone. We set off to find the last one, and ran into Sin in an area called Generators, a real heart of darkness. They chased us off and we got separated. I only survived since you guys wiped out their death squads.

• The Generators eh? That the place with those odd ball-thingies that look like someone stole them from Star Wars?, Dima asked. Stitch nodded and continued

• They generate emissions, but there was also some lab-like structure. We didn't get that good of a look as the place is crawling with Sin, Monolith and big muties, but we think that place is the source of the new wave of frequent emissions. As for mutants, Strelok mentioned that he read some documents while working outside the Zone of many, and I mean many labs still undiscovered. If he is correct, then we know maybe less than 1/10th of the amount of labs.

• Blyat, you believe they're creating mutants in there?

• Indeed. There are mentions of an area called the Lost Factory where bloodsuckers are coming in hordes from, and then there's Western Yantar...

• Hold up, Western Yantar?, Dima interrupted.

• Yes. A facility near the Miracle Machine base. Apparently it was used to research the psi-wave brain thingamajing they have in X-16. They may even have a prototype of it there, if our sources are correct. And those are the only two place names we managed to dig up. Thing is, ever since Strelok's raid into CNPP years ago, anomaly fields have closed off a lot of the Zone. And then the psi-emitters activated, and we lost contact with even more areas. Monolith also controls some areas so well that no one gets there. The current Zone areas are well-known, but wilderness around them is completely uncharted. We don't know what nightmares lurk there, and those that find out very rarely return, Stitch explained in a grim voice.

• This sounds like real fun, more and more lab-diving. As if we didn't have enough on our plate already, Boris grumbled, and Dima nodded approvingly.

• May I add one more thing on it then? There's an issue. I lost my decoder, which is crucial for those labs, and even though I have a spare one, it's in Truck Cemetery. I can't get that far without Sin hitmen killing me, but you could get there.

• Of course, we just came from there. Wasn't a pleasant visit, but we could check up on Toha, Boris said and glanced at Dima, who shrugged.

• All the same for me. We have a million things to do, and backtracking is not ideal, but I guess we could help, Dima replied.

• Great. You'll find it with a RF receiver, frequency 171. Here, you can have mine. You probably know how to use it?, Stitch said, giving Boris a small device that looked as if a calculator and remote controller had a child. Boris nodded.

The two Redemption members set off as a group of stalkers arrived to the mine, alerted by the gunfire and explosions. A dead chimera lay on the entrance, it had been stalking Boris and Dima but had set off the trap they had managed to avoid. Even the mightiest beasts did make mistakes from time to time it seemed, and good so too, otherwise it ambush might've worked. Boris pondered once more how close they had been to death, both in the mine and then in the claws of a chimera, but honestly, who wasn't a second away from death in the Zone? It was best to avoid twisting your brain about it.

They passed a large group of bandits and hid between leaves to observe them. They were about the best equipped squad that either of them had ever seen in bandit colours, but it was clear who was the leader. A man in trenchcoat led the way, but Boris could see that underneath the coat there was a finely-tuned machine of a suit. A true masterpiece of engineering had been done to fit it under the unassuming coat. Across his head went a large scar, starting from the chin and ending up somewhere inside his hood.

• Any idea who that is?, Dima whispered as quietly as he could.

• No idea, but if I had to guess, it's the next bandit leader. Looks like he and his boys have gone through hell and back, Boris replied in a hushed voice. Dima nodded.

The bandits did look like they had gone through something horrible. The squad kept moving southwards, with Boris and Dima tailing them until they took their own route to Army Warehouses, continuing down a surprisingly anomaly-free road. The trip through Army Warehouses was uneventfull, only consisting of a few skirmishes between Freedom and Monolith. The pair soon crossed into Army Warehouses, continuing down the same route they had travelled not long ago. The setting sun painted the woods around them crimson, it was clear that autumn was ending slowly but surely.

The vast graveyard spread across them once more, yet in their weariness the two Redeemed could not marvel the sight. They had travelled day and night for quite some time now, and had only taken small moments of rest. It seemed as if no progress was being made, they simply performed task after another while the north burned, mutants descended upon the Zone and feasted upon the last defenders up there. Boris cursed the situation, but he had no choice. Stitch needed that decoder, and his reasoning had been quite true.

In the twilight, they found the Digger camp, Wild Napr greeting them. Boris informed him of the dead Digger squad in Red Forest. He could see the tired stalker's face grow grim. His faction had it hard enough already, and another hit was not welcome. Boris could relate to his troubles well, not a day went by without him worrying of the Redemption getting squashed like a bug in their current state. Nevertheless, Napr gave them his thanks for avenging the Diggers and their guards and guided them to the campfire, where Toha was sharing drinks with the few diggers still awake.

• Damn it is good to see you two again!, Toha greeted his two superiors and received a warm smile from them both.

• You too, if only the circumstances were a little better. Your wounds healing up good?, Dima asked.

• Very well, I hope I'll be back in action soon enough. What's going on?

• Oh boy, what isn't going on son, Boris said, sitting by the fire beside him.

One of the new mutated wolves howled in the distance as the men sat around the campfire, listening to the firewood crack and whizz as the fire devoured them. The stars spread across the black canvas of night sky, and for one night, the Zone seemed to return to its former, more stable form. But far westwards, an airtight seal into a room long forgotten was broken. The clock was ticking, and this night could be the last peaceful one for the Zone. And in the dead of the night, small feather-light snowflakes started to descend from the dark skies above. Winter was coming.