Chapter CXVIII: Secret Trails to the North

 The first warm morning sunbeams shone over Meadow, coating the hidden valley in light. Dimuha stood guard on the railing next to Hip's new shop, The Huntress' Lodge as she called it. The place was also the guard post for Redemption, but Dimuha preferred the cold outside air to the small house, as he needed his head clear. The biggest operation of his, arguably short, career as Redemption's leader was mere hours from beginning. He had chosen to only take the best men he had with him. Toshka would remain Redemption's leader with Tooth and Hip to help him. Stepukha, Leva, Toha, Valik, Reefer and Vova would join him on the mission, with Psoglav working as their guide. The Ecologist commandos under Major Tarasov would attack Monolith in the Pripyat Outskirts, hoping to draw forces away from Pripyat itself.

Dimuha had contacted Strelok to help Tarasov, and the legendary stalker had agreed. The Outskirts would see a large push towards the Pripyat port and hospital, while Dimuha's men would infiltrate Pripyat to reach lab X-9 entrance. It was a risky plan, but this was all they had. Generators had been rendered off-limits by the clusters of anomalies caused by the Third Great Emission, but Monolith and Sin remnants were busy fighting off stalker incursions into new, untouched areas. It was the perfect time to strike. Dimuha heard footsteps on the asphalt behind and turned to face the source of the noise. It was Hip. The stalkerette was in her usual Freedom suit, but her stature had changed over the last few weeks. She had found her calling with the shop, and it showed in the form of a massive confidence boost.

• Dimuha? How was the night? Any poltergeists to speak of?, Hip asked, grinning during the last question.

• No, they've been curiously absent after Vityukha disappeared, how bizarre, Dimuha replied with a dry chuckle.

• Well, let us hope he returns soon. Are you absolutely certain that mad plan works?

• I'm not. But wars are not won by being sure of things, wars are won by taking calculated risks. And by my calculations, if we don't take this risk, we're fucked, Dimuha said sternly.

• You might be right. Still, it does make me wonder. We got out of there ahead of time, Stepukha's squad got out by being outside the third floor, the eggheads and Strelok's boys were inside the Stormfront when the emission hit. What happened to Mark and Anton though?

• I asked Strelok about them, and all he said that they were alive. He was sure of it. But he wasn't sure where they were. Dunno how he can be sure, but I guess it is similar to how I can feel Boris and Vityukha being alive.

• You can? That explains your determination, I would'vd given up hope weeks ago, Hip prodded, prompting Dimuha to nod and sigh.

• I can. It's like a feeling at the back of my mind, telling me that they must be alive. Like I can just picture them in there, telling shitty stories and even worse jokes, he said, smiling absent-mindedly at the mental image.

• Especially with Dima, Hip said, laughing.

• Especially with our cranky old veteran, the master of terrible puns.

• Tell me about it. At least this time when you go to Pripyat, you won't have to deal with mister Fish-Puns McGee.

• Oh, true. Makes the trip thousand times more bearable. Only Monolith, Sin, mutants, anomalies and whatever else to contend with, Dimuha scoffed.

• Bossman! Time to go, we're wasting daylight, Stepukha shouted across the yard, prompting the two stalkers out of their conversation.

• Good for you to say, sleepyhead, you fuckers slept in your warm bunks while I kept watch all night!, Dimuha shouted back.

• Can you believe the guy, first time he takes watch in weeks and dares to complain, Valik commented, faking a deeply insulted voice, prompting Leva to laugh.

• Okay you smartasses, let's go. Pripyat awaits, time to be heroes, Dimuha replied in a paternal tone and led the men out of the gate, waving goodbyes to Hip and Dimon who now took guard at the gate.

• Damn baffoons, Hip said to Dimon and they chuckled at the squad, now walking towards Dark Valley, still chattering like old babushkas.

The lone squad of Redemption, hope of the faction's leadership, travelled through the glades and abandoned farms between Meadow and Dark Valley, avoiding gigantic anomaly fields and mutated dog stragglers. Sun shone bright, covering the ground in a multitude of colours, each vibrant. This greatly contrasted the bleakness of the Zone, providing once more a rare peek into the beauty of the Zone. They soon arrived to the cliffs overlooking Dark Valley, harbouring the secret base of Olivius. It had been abandoned however, as the bandit civil war was now officially over. As they were descending the cliff, a Duty squad rounded the corner. The Redemption squad and the soldier-stalkers gripped their weapons, but the Duty squadleader waved at them to lower the guns, as his squad also did. Dimuha ordered his men to do the same.

• Dimuha Loaf, right?, the Duty leader, dressed in PS5-B2 suit asked.

• The man himself. Who's asking?, Dimuha replied.

• Sergeant Mazepa. We were sent here to check on the lowlifes.

• Why did you not attack us? Is the ceasefire still enforced by Voronin?, Dimuha asked.

• There's confusion at the top, Petrenko wants to press against you now that you're weak but Voronin is against this. I shouldn't tell you this, of course, but I want you to succeed. Captain Orlov is stuck in that goddamn anomaly as well, and I owe my life to him. So if there is any way we can help, tell me so, Mazepa explained, and Dimuha saw that he was serious.

• Make sure the ceasefire holds. Report to your officers that the bandits are no longer disunited and are boosting patrols around Meadow. Tell them that free stalkers are also guarding Meadow. We need time, that is all. Can you do that, Sergeant?, Dimuha asked.

• I'll do my best. Godspeed, Redemption!, the Dutyer said before collecting his squad and disappearing back into the woods.

Dimuha was bit confused by the encounter, but it did explain Duty's lack of action towards Redemption, outside of usual incompetence of course. Still, the lone squad did not have time to dwell on Zone politics, and thus they soon marched into bandit base. Shishak was away, quelling Darkscape bandit dissidents, but Dimuha was not really here for him. Pug, the bandit guide, knew a route to Jupiter warehouses that passed the most populous areas of the Zone, and Dimuha intended to use his skills to get north quickly. The bandit guide explained that the latest mega-emission had caused him some problems on many other routes, but the route to Jupiter was still open, for a price. Dimuha paid the fee grudgingly, and the squad set off.

Travelling in the cover of the mighty forests bordering Truck Cemetery and Rostok, the guide led them through paths that seemed to appear out of thin air. The forest moss floor glistened in the morning sun, having a distinct rust red colour only really seen in the Zone. At times they passed a lone house or shed, at times occupied by zombies or fractures. The former they could avoid, the latter not so much. The disfigured and horribly twisted humans came at them, shouting to lure them in, but Pug was wise to their tricks. A salvo from the group's weapons brought down the mutated humans with ease. The rust-coloured moss gained another shade of red.

While they trudged across the wide wastelands, at times they would come across corpses of stalkers from various factions. Pug explained that they were not killed by mutants or stalkers, but by malnutrition or lack of water. The woods could, at night, produce such thick fog that hid the path onwards. The fog behaved like a living entity, and it could lead stalkers to quite literally run in circles until they fell on their spot, dead-tired, parched and malnourished. This description raised the hair on Dimuha's neck, but he wasn't quite sure if the bandit guide was messing with them or not.

The squad appeares out into Army Warehouses now, but Pug once again led them to the eastern side, moving through the bloodsucker village rapidly. They passed a few Freedom squads who had just triumphed over mutants and were now grilling their meat on the campfire. They offered the Redemption squad a seat by the fire, and Dimuha had to work hard not to accept the offer. Pug muttered something about filthy hippies and led the group up the hill, through a gap in the fence into the forest once more. Dimuha noted that this way, Pug's route passed over the Dead City tunnel route. This time the forest was a subsection of the infamous Red Forest. Leva especially seemed anxious inside the forest, and Valik was not much better. Dimuha could see that he was thinking back to his friend Gleb, and how a chimera had taken his life in this cursed place.

This time however, they took the safe route through. Pug led them into a mine close to the entrance to Radar, where they emerged just outside a magnificent, gigantic anomaly, surrounded by dead and twisted trees. The Electro anomalies sparked in the forest ahead, and the humming of gravitational anomalies was deafening in the otherwise quiet forest. But Toha's sharp eyes spotted a sign of danger ahead, and he quickly took lead, spreading the squad on the small encampment ahead. They took positions behind large rocks and waited, and during this wait Dimuha crawled to his sniper's position, asking quietly:

• What is it, Toha? Mutants?

• Sinners, coming from the forest. They're trying to blend into the underbrush, but I saw one of their weapon scopes glare in the sun. I think there is three of them. Tell the others, the marksman replied, perched on top of a tree uphill.

Dimuha did as ordered, and the squad was now prepared for the enemy. And sure enough, a minute or so later a trio of rust-red- and brown-coloured Sin zealots appeared out of the dark woods. Their pale, almost gray skin was at odds with the sunshine, and one could have mistaken them for ghouls or vampires. Aiming at the leader through his SVDS scope, Dimuha wondered what force kept these lunatics in the fight. Their leader was presumed dead, yet some still kept fighting. Glancing at Psoglav, Dimuha expected to see hesitation, but saw only determination. The young ex-Sinner had thrown away the shackles of that cult. Reassured, Dimuha pressed the trigger, and a volley of lead struck the Sin patrol. The leader staggered backwards. The fanatic to his left had his skull blown open by Toha's SV-98. The one on the left took a burst from Valik and Psoglav, screeching in pain before crashing face first into the mud.

The leader was smashed backwards by yet another shot from Toha and Dimuha, and this combination of heavy calibres finally struck the follower of Chernobog down. The Redeemed waited for few more minutes if any more cultists would appear, but only a flock of crows moved up ahead. Pug rose from his spot and took lead once more. They continued into the forest the Sinners had come from, and soon found a deep dell with a ruined tank at the bottom of it. Pug pointed at a big floating bubble on top of the tank and explained that it was a sort of teleport anomaly. The squad seemed highly sceptical of it, especially Vova, but quieted down after Psoglav explained that they were going to use a very similar thing in laboratory X-9 as well. One by one, they stepped into the anomaly, and after a very brief moment of pure whiteness and mysterious noises they landed into the yard outside of Forester's building.

There was a large-scale battle going on in the forest between Monolith and some unknown faction, and Pug hurried the others to move. Jupiter was almost in sight, and the Monolith patrols usually patrolling the road were clearly distracted. They passed Forester's home, and the old man shouted profanities at the bandit from his window, prompting Pug to frown and members of Redemption to burst into laughter. The road had no guards on it either, a single squad of Monolith soldiers had been killed by someone much earlier and stripped of their gear. With the Red Forest behind them, and very auspiciously so, Dimuha breathed a sigh of relief. The hardest part of the journey was still ahead, but the cursed woods were almost as dangerous as the lost city.

Soon after making it out of the forest, Dimuha's men entered into the helipads of Jupiter. Pug bid them farewell and turned back, heading into Dark Valley once more. With almost entire length of the Zone traversed in a day, thanks to the shortcuts provided by Pug, the squad was extremely exhausted. There had been barely any breaks on the way. Valik managed to force the helipad's office door open, and pouring into the small building, the squad settled for a well-deserved dinner. Only Dimuha remained outside, gazing at the sky which was rapidly growing darker. He holstered his trusty rifle and lit a cigarette. Tomorrow, his reign as leader of Redemption would come to an end one way or another. And that alone was enough to keep going.