PONYSHKAby ReviewfillyChapters1. Soup2. Standoff3. Moonlight4. Journey5. Mankind6. Goodbye1. SoupGray clouds roiled above in the night sky as a thunderstorm began ravaging the Zone. Thick droplets of rain pattered on the dusty, abandoned buildings, darkening their decrepit walls even further in a fruitless attempt to wash away the decades-old grime. The fickle gusts of wind guided a few of these drops through the half-collapsed roof of a small home, where they hit the lid of a small red pot hanging above a makeshift campfire on a rickety tripod, evaporating immediately with quiet hisses. A young man squatted next to the fire. He wore a dirty jacket and baggy jeans, the ends of which he stuffed into a pair of worn military boots. He threw his head to the side to move a few locks of his long black hair out of his face and raised his eyes towards the sky. A lucky drop of water hit one of them, causing him to blink in pain and curse. He scoffed as his vision slowly returned to normal. Not only was he stuck on cooking duty, he also had to endure the rain because his comrades had the brilliant idea to stay in a house like that. ”The hole’s gonna solve the issue of smoke, Aleksei!” he mockingly replayed their words in his head. Yeah, great fucking idea. He pinched the handle of the pot’s lid with his coat’s sleeve and carefully raised it. Slowly, as to not burn himself, he moved it to the side and stirred the food a few times with a dirty wooden spoon, before fishing out a bit of soup. He leaned closer to get a better look at the pale seeds swimming in the opaque water. They didn’t seem particularly appealing, so he took a sniff at the salty broth, hoping perhaps at least the smell would prove to be a bit more encouraging. But as nothing more than the completely neutral scent of hot, salty steam entered his nostrils, he merely sighed in disappointment and poured the rest of the soup back, covering the pot once more. The pot’s contents had already been boiling for almost an hour by now, yet they still staunchly refused to become any softer. Nor did they magically become any more appetizing either. “If anyone ever asks me to buy and cook buckwheat again, I swear I’ll just strangle them on the spot,” Aleksei muttered to himself in frustration. He leaned away from the pot and slowly stood up. While keeping the spoon in one hand, he placed the other on his back and straightened it, groaning in pain and relief as his joints popped. As he stretched he looked to the side, towards a dark corner of the house that still had its part of the roof above it. “Let me guess, you’ve got nothing to add as usual?” he asked the figure sitting on a large flat piece of concrete. He was even younger than Aleksei, hardly in his twenties. His back was arched to an unhealthy degree as he stared at a small screen perched up between his legs. The quiet sounds of two characters conversing cheerfully to soft, upbeat music could faintly be heard from the pair of cheap headphones sitting between the locks of his short, curly brown hair. “Christ, Maxim, you really never get bored of that stupid crap, do you?” His mockery received no reply. Aleksei shook his head and spat into the fire, but the hints of an understanding smile played on the corners of his mouth. Deep down he wasn’t truly angry. The kid might have been a weirdo, but then who wasn’t of all the people who dared their fate here? Regardless of who you were or why you came here, the Zone ground everyone down. The anomalies, the loneliness, the fear of meeting another group of looters and not making it back... Anyone who couldn’t find their own method to cope was bound to end up insane or dead by their own hands. For instance Sergei, the last member of the group, who was currently making sure no one else was nearby, was a deeply respected stalker known for being as no-nonsense as they come and yet even he carried with himself a small portable tape player containing several crackling recordings of Soviet folk songs from his childhood. Aleksei himself brought along images of his adoptive mother. A vile hag who kept her distance and never showed too much love to him. Yet whenever he glanced at the faded black-and-white picture of her paper-thin smile and tired dark eyes as she gave him one of her rare, stiff hugs, it gave him the push to survive from one day to another. And Maxim? He was easily the one who stuck out the most. Whenever they weren’t on a mission he spent almost all of his waking hours watching some old children’s cartoon. The others knew or cared little about it, especially after learning that the show was apparently meant for little girls, featuring small colorful ponies engaging in simple adventures about friendship and being nice to each other. Its cloyingly sweet messages made Maxim the target of an endless tide of jokes and less-than-polite banter, but he couldn’t care less. As they kept asking him again and again why he was so insistent on wasting his time on such juvenile things, he always just replied that it reminded him of the fact that, despite everything, the world still wasn’t only about cruelty and violence. Somewhere deep down Aleksei respected him for this, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t willing to make fun of his eccentricity. Suddenly the door opened with a loud slam as Sergei burst into the room, screeching Aleksei’s train of thought to a sudden halt. He was a middle-aged man, at least forty, though the others never found it quite prudent to ask the exact number. In a profession where people die young, someone of his expertise and knowledge was invaluable. His usually faded-brown coat seemed almost black from being drenched in rain as it hung rigidly on his broad shoulders. Most of his head and face were hidden under his coat’s dripping hood, leaving little more than his glasses and the ash-stricken goatee on his tanned-brown chin poking out, the former of which fogged up from his rapid, short breaths. His rugged boots and worn, oil-green jeans were covered in mud, but he cared little about any of this. “Hurry up and get your shit together,” he panted. “I’ve heard something weird nearby.” Aleksei didn’t need to be told twice. He threw down his spoon and grabbed his AK leaning against a nearby wall. Maxim too fell out of his trance and quickly closed the lid on his device. He carefully stuffed it along with his earphones in his coat’s pockets, before jumping up and taking his own weapon. A moment later the trio snuck out into the darkness. The faint moonlight made it hard to see anything through the rain, but they couldn’t risk revealing themselves using flashlights. Instead they opted to move as silently as they could, hoping the downpour would mask them from others just as much as any hidden threats lurking in the night were masked from the stalkers. The air was permeated by the earthy musk of the soil stirred up by the storm, while the haunting glow of distant lightning strikes illuminated the silhouettes of faraway ruins. Sergei pointed with two of his fingers towards a direction and they began moving. They passed building after building, carefully avoiding any windows or other large openings that could expose them to anything that might be lurking in the darkness. Very soon a quiet sound mixed into the loud drumming of the rainfall. As they crept closer it slowly began to resemble pained crying. The men exchanged a knowing look and gripped their weapons tighter. The Zone had a cruel sense of humor. Just because something was capable of crying didn’t mean it couldn’t also be deadly. They continued to walk in the darkness, though a bit slower than before. After a few minutes of enduring the elements, they found themselves up against the half-collapsed remains of what used to be a house’s wall. By the loudness of the wails, it was clear that whatever was waiting for them was on the other side. Sergei motioned with his head towards the sound. The others silently nodded and switched off their weapons’ safeties. He held up three fingers. Then two. Then one. The three men rushed to the other side of the wall, guns raised to shoot anything that made the wrong move. None of them were prepared to deal with the sight that met them. 2. StandoffIn front of them, lying in a mix of mud and rubble from the destroyed house, was a small creature, hardly the size of a larger breed of dog. Its body was round and covered by short yellow hair that seemed to glow in the gloomy darkness. Four short appendages ending in nubs stretched out from it, lying strewn awkwardly over the ground. What seemed to be a large piece of crumpled up, black cloth was laid over its head, but as the three men carefully approached it turned out to be a long and brushy mane which, similarly to its body, also shone in an odd yellow color despite being jet black. Aleksei and Sergei continued to hold their guns towards the creature, but Maxim lowered his. A dazed look sat out on his face as he took a tentative step towards it. “Maxim. Back here. Now,” Sergei growled at him, but he didn’t listen. The youngest stalker seemed to be in a trance as he approached the being. He slowly leaned down and held out one of his gloved hands, keeping it hanging in the air a few centimeters from the creature. It looked at him with its quivering, cartoonishly large eyes and shrunk back. The other two exchanged a confused look. This thing in front of them was just like a character out of Maxim’s inane cartoons. Aleksei slightly lowered his gun and shuffled from one leg to the other awkwardly. He was expecting a monster, not a being like this. He had no idea that he was supposed to do. Sergei, however, didn’t relent. He continued to train his gun at the scene in front of him. He couldn’t exactly place his finger on why, but the creature gave him a very bad feeling. He felt the hairs on his neck stand up. Some primal instinct he gained over the years screamed at him that he was in mortal danger. The thought of just shooting both Maxim and whatever this anomaly they found was passed through his mind. Yet, while the risk was high, perhaps too high, against his better judgment, he held his trigger. “It’s okay, we’re not gonna hurt you,” Maxim said in a quiet, reassuring tone. He cast a dissuading glance backwards. Aleksei took a step closer and stared dumbly at the being, while Sergei removed his finger from the trigger, but remained in the back. Upon hearing Maxim’s words the thing’s tear-soaked eyes glinted in recognition and surprise. “Can you understand me?” Maxim asked. The being looked into his eyes and then towards his hand, before slowly opening its mouth. “You- you speak my language!” it exclaimed in surprise between two sniffles. By the voice Maxim surmised it was in fact a she. “How?” The three men were taken aback by the creature’s perfect Russian. Maxim couldn’t find the words to answer so he merely continued to stand there, half-crouched. The thing, the pony, didn’t wait much for his answer. She slowly leaned closer to his hand and sniffed it, before brushing against it. Even though it wasn’t his bare skin, Maxim still felt a calming warmness where the pony’s cheek touched the glove. Ever so gently he scritched under her chin and in response she closed her eyes and leaned into his hand. They stayed like this for a few seconds and eventually her crying slowly dried up. Maxim forced himself to let her go and took a step back while she clambered onto her hooves. The stalkers stared as her glow intensified for a second and the mud and rain was repelled from her coat by some invisible force, landing on the ground with a soft plop. Maxim couldn’t help himself but throw a glance at her flank. Curiously it was blank, unlike the characters in the cartoon, who all had a symbol representing their special traits. The three men stared at the sight in bewilderment for a second or two, before he cleared his throat and broke the silence again. “I guess we should introduce ourselves. I’m Maxim, this is Aleksei, and this is Sergei,” he said while pointing at his comrades. The former didn’t even try to hide his astonishment anymore, his eyes flicking wildly between Maxim and the pony. The latter still gripped his weapon and the little of his face that showed under his hood seemed impassive. “Do you have a name? How did you get here?” “My name is Mir and I- I don’t know.” Fresh tears began to flow from her eyes. “I was just walking out in the park when I suddenly felt something lift me up and the next thing I know I was lying here. I- I was so scared!” She let out a small whine. Maxim gave her an understanding nod. Several of the the Zone’s anomalies included teleportation. Sometimes just between buildings, sometimes between one end of the Zone and another. The destinations of some of these portals were never figured out, as any who entered was never seen again. It was unheard of but certainly not impossible, that an anomaly could tear a hole into a whole other world. Before he could say another word, however, Sergei walked up to him and grabbed him by the shoulder, yanking him back slightly. “With me,” he grunted. “Aleksei, watch it for a second,” Sergei commanded and Aleksei half-heartedly raised his weapon again. Meanwhile Sergei brought Maxim to the other side of the wall. “Are you out of your fucking mind?” he spat into Maxim’s face the moment they were out of sight. He was hardly able to keep his voice low enough not to be heard on the other side. His glasses seemed to glint from his rage. “What do you even think you’re doing? This is an anomaly! You should bless your luck you haven’t killed us all or worse already!” Maxim tried his best to resist the overwhelming aura of the older man. He forced himself not to avert his eyes, even though Sergei’s own bored into his soul like two hot pieces of coal. “She isn’t an anomaly,” he replied meekly. His voice wavered and he felt like his legs wanted to give out. “She’s just lost and confused. We need to help her!” “’Her?’ Devla,you really have lost it.” Sergei spat to the side before leaning in extremely close to Maxim’s face. A muscle twitched on his forehead. When he spoke again, his voice was hardly the suggestion of a whisper. “Listen, boy. If you haven’t realized by now we are in the Zone, not in some cartoon. I don’t give a rat’s ass that it looks like that kids’ stuff you have the hots for. That thing over there is still a monster. Any moment it could snap and end us all. We should just kill it and sell its hide to the peddlers before it causes us any more trouble.” Maxim’s eyes went wide in shock at the words. The gruesome images of a gunned down and skinned pony flashed through his mind and his previous fear extinguished in a moment, its place taken by a boiling rage. The rapid thumping of his heart drowned out the pattering of rain as blood rushed into his face and he bared his teeth. The young stalker leaned forward to meet Sergei’s challenge. “You will not hurt her,” he replied slowly in a low voice. His hand, as innocently as if he was merely trying to scratch himself, began reaching towards the holster of his gun. Sergei’s eyes calmly followed the movement. He then looked back into Maxim’s face undeterred. “Be very careful what you do next,” he said quietly as his fingers curled around his own rifle. “I don’t intend to die here.” Both men kept their hands on their weapons, but neither made a move. As they glared at each other the rain slowly began to stop. Soon the only sounds breaking the silence were their ragged breaths. “Do you?” he added. “You will not hurt her,” Maxim repeated blankly. A few more seconds passed. The two stalkers continued to hold their ground, as water dripped quietly from their coats. Finally Sergei looked towards the sky and allowed his hand to fall limp. As his eyes left Maxim’s, they seemed to faintly glint yellow for a moment. He ran his other hand down his cloak on the back of his head. “Fuck... Okay, fine. We will get your horse wife back to her world, but that’s the last favor I’ll ever do for you.” 3. MoonlightMaxim sighed in relief and immediately let his weapon go as well. While his face still burned, his hands felt rigid and ice cold inside the gloves. His breaths were short and shallow. In truth he was hardly able to keep his bluff up for even such a short time. It took all of his concentration to stop himself from shaking and he was extremely close to breaking down. He had never been much of a fighter. It was almost certain that if they really had ended up dueling, Sergei would have blown his head clean off before he could have done as much as unbuckle his rifle’s holster. But he simply had to take the risk. He couldn’t allow that poor little thing be butchered. Not after all her kind had done for his sanity. He took a deep breath and exhaled. The cold night’s air helped ease his racing heart. “Thanks.” It was all he could say. Sergei didn’t reply. Instead he motioned towards the wall and the duo shared no other words as they slowly returned to the others. They found Aleksei sitting on the ground, his rifle in his lap. He stroked his chin as he seemed to be in deep thought. Mir sat in front of him, still as pristine as before, with a soft, almost motherly smile on her face. For a moment neither of them said a word, but then the young stalker spoke up. “It’s gotta be the Moon.” “Nope, wrong again,” the pony said with a soft laugh. “I was thinking of a cloud.” “Aw, crap.” Suddenly they fell silent and their eyes snapped towards the other two as they noticed their return. Aleksei made a haphazard attempt at raising his gun and clambering to his feet, but Sergei merely sighed and waved him off. “Don’t bother.” He then turned and motioned towards the pony. “We’re gonna get it back to wherever it came from.” The pony’s ears perked up and her eyes quivered. A great smile spread onto her lips.”Oh, thank you, mister! Thank you so much!” She jumped up and rushed towards Sergei to embrace him, but he stopped her dead in her tracks by taking a step back and vaguely aiming his gun at her. “Stay right where you are. The only reason you’re not fly food already is because this idiot here -” he nodded towards Maxim “- would have been willing to have his brains blown out for your sake.” Aleksei cast a surprised look at the two men, then at Mir. “You two did what?” he asked, his voice tinted with obvious disbelief. As he looked back towards his comrades the yellow moonlight briefly illuminated his eyes. He sighed. “You know what? I don’t even want to hear it. Besides, Sergei, what even is your plan?” He let out a worried chuckle as he waved his hand towards the mare. “Chuck her into a random anomaly and hope for the best?” Sergei didn’t immediately reply. Instead he massaged his temple with a hand and then shrugged a little. He reached into his coat’s breast pocket and fished out a damp cigarette along with a small petroleum lighter. He toasted the cigarette for a few seconds until it dried enough to be lit, then ignited it. He placed it in his mouth, then took a long drag. “Beats me. Maybe our local horse expert here has an idea,” he said while exhaling a cloud of smoke. Maxim, however, just shook his head. “Don’t look at me, I know as much as you do.” “Umm, maybe I can help,” Mir spoke up. She cast an uneasy look at Sergei, worried he might cut her off, but he was completely focused on his cigarette. She turned to the others. “I’ve started feeling a presence a little while ago. I can’t really describe it, but it feels like it is calling out to me.” She vaguely threw her left hoof towards a direction. “I think it might be something that will return me home.” Maxim and Aleksei looked at Sergei. He shrugged and continued to smoke. “Well,” he said between two drags. The faint yellow moonlight reflected off his glasses for a moment. “If we’re not shooting it, I guess we might as well listen to the freak.” He threw the butt away and stomped on it. “Lead the way.” Mir gave him a small nod and turned around. She began moving. With each step the mud refused to stick to her hooves, which, along with her unnatural glow and appearance, made her seem like she was merely superimposed into reality instead of being a living, breathing creature. Sergei began walking after her. “Let’s move,” he called out to behind himself. Aleksei remained in his place and glanced back towards where they’d come from. “What? We aren’t even going back to eat?” he asked, his voice ringing with hurt. “No. Having this thing around with us is already too much of a liability,” came the harsh reply. “Come on Maxim, help me out here,” pleaded Aleksei, but he too only shook his head and turned to follow the mare. “Sorry, but I can’t really think of eating right now either.” Aleksei scoffed. “Oh, that’s just great! I’m so glad I’ve spent so much time cooking for you then!” he yelled after them. Sergei stopped for a second and faced him. “Quit your bitching already and pick up the pace,” he said with clear disdain in his voice. “We’ll have plenty of time to eat your slop after this.” Aleksei raised his eyebrows in outrage and opened his mouth like he was about to give some retort, but after a second he closed it again and just mumbled something under his breath, picked up his rifle, and joined the others. 4. JourneyEven during quiet periods navigating the Zone was never a truly calm experience. Just because one was lucky enough to avoid the raiders and mutants that roamed the wasteland, the threat of almost-imperceptible anomalies continued to constantly hang in the air. If you were lucky, stepping into one merely meant a minor inconvenience. Perhaps your skin changed color or you grew a third ear or perhaps you suddenly started speaking a different language; debilitating, but at least you walked away alive. More often than not, however, the effects were gruesome and violent, leaving nothing to bury after an anomaly-struck stalker. As few could afford the already dubiously-effective devices which were supposedly capable of detecting these hot zones, most instead simply opted to rely on their eyes alone and throw nails, screws, or whatever small objects they could find into the direction of suspected disturbances. For this very reason all three men had one of their pockets full of various rubble and tiny pieces of scrap metal and rocks, but oddly enough even though they had been walking for quite some time, they couldn’t spot a single anomaly nearby. They still occasionally threw a pebble or two in front of themselves, just to be safe, but there truly wasn’t anything out of the ordinary around them. Everything seemed almost normal as the faint yellow moonlight fell upon them, which in the Zone was anything but that. The eerie quiet was only broken by the rhythmic thumping of the men’s boots and the soft clip-clops of their odd companion. The team made its way around the serpentine streets between decrepit warehouses and rotting factories. Even the animals, the few birds and scavengers that eked out an existence in the harsh environment of the Zone, seemed to have fallen completely silent. Eventually Mir stopped in front of one of the warehouses. “It’s this one,” she said. “I feel the presence from inside.” Maxim surveyed the building. He couldn’t spot anything unusual about it. Its weathered concrete columns had become almost black from the frequent rainstorms. Most of its windows were broken and great chunks of their glass panes had fallen out, the shards of which glistened as they laid haphazardly over the ground nearby. A massive corroded Red Star hung on its front, leaning dangerously outwards, held only by its loosened screws. The warehouse’s great double doors hung ajar and the faint glow of light could be seen from inside. Someone must have set up camp inside, Maxim thought. Sergei seemed to have the same thought as he silently pointed towards the door and then to his weapon. Mir cast a fearful glance at the men and pulled her tail under her belly. “Don’t worry, we’ll protect you,” Maxim leaned down and whispered into her ear. “Just stay behind us.” She gave him an uncertain nod in response. The group slowly moved inside the building. They found themselves in a dim corridor, only vaguely illuminated by the lights emanating from deeper inside. Faded orange papers clung to the sides of the walls, printed full of warnings and instructions. The stalkers paid them no heed. Their eyes were focused firmly of another set of metal doors that most likely led to the main atrium. As they slowly approached the door and backed up against it, the barely audible sounds of muffled speech and harsh laughter could be heard from the other side. Aleksei thought back to his step-mother as he held his weapon tighter. Sergei mumbled a quiet prayer and asked his grandparents to watch over him. Maxim stepped to the pony and petted her, which she reciprocated by nuzzling her muzzle into his hand. The word “diplomacy” was rarely known in the Zone, especially when one came in possession of something as valuable or unique as Mir was. “You stay here,” Sergei told Mir quietly. “Follow us when we tell you to.” She took a step back, sitting on her haunches. “Please be careful,” she whispered as she pulled in her neck, with worry written all over her face. Sergei, however, had already turned back towards the door and held up three of his fingers again. He counted back. The moment he reached zero, he kicked in the door and ran inside with the others. The hall inside was filled by rows of crates and gutted vehicles, with a wide corridor in the middle allowing movement between them. In the middle five men wearing dirty military uniforms sat around a haphazard campfire fueled by old furniture and planks of wood. Two of them were silently smoking cigarettes while the one sitting in the middle had a dirty rug in his hand which he used to polish his rifle. The last two were engaged in a loud conversation about something when the three stalkers burst through the door. “Raise your fucking hands!” Sergei screamed. Four of the five men immediately complied and dropped whatever they had in their hands, raising them in shock. The fifth, however, who was closest to a box dove behind it, disappearing out of sight. “Brother, what’s this all about? We’ve got nothing to do with you,” the man with the rifle in his lap spoke calmly. Based on his slightly less unkempt appearance and unfazed demeanor, he was probably the leader of the group. He began to lower his hand to get up, but Sergei shot into the ground in front of him. “Stay,” he growled and the man gulped and slowly raised his hands back again. “Okay, brother, I understand. Let’s not be too hasty and talk this out, yes?” he spoke in a reassuring, but clearly anxious voice. “What do you want? We hardly even have enough for ourselves. The best I can offer is a few rations of food or a couple of rubles.” His shoulders dropped slightly as he realized neither of his offers seemed to entice Sergei in the least. “Or there is also an anomaly here at the other end of the hall. We called dibs on it, but if you want you can have that!” “First you will call your man back, then we can talk.” The man slowly nodded and turned his face towards the box.”Very well. Josif,” he said quietly. The others looked in the same direction, but didn’t say a word. “Listen to him and come out. Don’t do anything stupid.” 5. MankindFor a few moments nothing happened. The three men continued to train their guns at the four in front of them. The fire continued to pop and crackle cheerfully, illuminating their worried faces. Finally, ever so slowly, the fifth member of the group emerged. He was a young man, similar in age to Maxim. He had a raised rifle in his shaking hands and was panting from fear. “Son, listen to me and you will not be hurt. Drop your weapon and raise your hands,” Sergei commanded. His voice was firm, but far softer than the one he used against the leader, almost fatherly. The kid, however, merely continued to stare at him with wide, unfocused eyes. He was clearly in shock. “I will not tell you again. This is your last warning. Drop the gun.” Despite Sergei’s words, the young soldier remained frozen. His breathing only quickened as his glance bounced between the three men. A moment later the room was filled by sounds of gunfire. “Shit!” screamed Maxim as he tackled Sergei to the side. As they fell he was jerked back by the wet impact of a bullet hitting his right arm. The two landed on the ground with a loud thud behind the remains of a jeep. At the same time Aleksei aimed his rifle and shot the kid dead, before taking shelter behind a box on the other side. This broke the four remaining men’s stupor and they all reached for their own guns and dove behind boxes themselves. The sounds of panicked panting filled the room. “Brother, let’s be reasonable here,” the leader of the soldiers yelled across the room. “You are outnumbered and your friend is wounded. As an apology for my subordinate’s disobedience I’ll forgive you his death and allow you to walk out from here now with your men. Enough blood has been spilled already. I swear it on my mother’s soul that we will not follow you.” Sergei gave him no answer. He looked at Maxim, who quietly sobbed from the pain, while grasping his right arm. The seeds of doubt sown in his mind began to germinate and bloom. Why not just accept the truce and walk away? One of his comrades was already wounded and there was no guarantee they’d win this fight. Why were they even here? Were they really prepared to throw their lives away for a horse creature they’d only met a few hours ago? His mind buzzed like a badly-tuned radio and his thoughts seemed almost foreign. The old soldier waited a few seconds for an answer. Upon realizing none would come, he sighed and spoke again.”Look, I don’t know what makes you want to get through us so hard, but I must warn you there is nothing here worth losing your life over. We are on our last leg. It’s why we’re cooped up in this shitty warehouse in the first place. That anomaly I mentioned before? It’s some kind of portal, we’re not sure where it leads. We just recently sent three of our men through and have been waiting for their return. We hoped they might bring back a few artifacts with themselves, but that was hours ago. Surely you don’t want to risk yourselves for something like that, do you?” Sergei looked into Aleksei’s eyes for a moment. The younger stalker was still panting from the adrenaline rush, but he gave Sergei a small nod. As he looked back, his eyes glinted with yellowish light from the fire for a moment. “We want it,” came his calm answer. “That is a shame, brother.” The soldier’s voice rang with solemness as he nodded to himself. The sounds of shuffling could be heard from the other side and for a moment he hoped the stalker’s words were merely talk and they really did leave. However, as he peeked out the door was still closed. “Fucking stalkers, nothing more than unhinged animals,” he whispered in a disappointed tone as he spat to the side. He turned towards his comrades and pointed towards the row where the three men hid. “Let’s smoke them out.” The soldiers left their cover and slowly made their way towards the stalkers’ hiding spot. They held their breaths back as they passed box after car. Eventually they came in front of the row where the trio was hiding. The soldiers looked at each other. In the confusion they didn’t bother to check which side the stalkers dove behind. Choosing poorly would be a death sentence, even with their superior numbers. “Last chance to surrender. Lay down your gun and walk away,” the leader called out, looking from left to right, trying to gauge where they might be hiding. Come on, idiots, give me some stupid insult or just a grunt or anything. Let’s make this easier for everyone. Suddenly Maxim’s soft groan rung out from the left side. The soldier smirked. It was too easy. He nodded to the left and he and his comrades rushed in. They only found Maxim lying on the ground. “Wait, no!” the leader screamed, before his head slammed into the concrete with a new hole in it from Aleksei’s rifle. Before the others could have gotten any chance to react Sergei leaned out from behind his cover and shot two of them in the chest. They collapsed after each other with soft thuds. The final man dropped his weapon. He slowly looked down at his dead comrades with a blank stare. He gulped dryly and raised his eyes towards the stalkers. Without saying a word he turned around and began running back towards the camp. Maybe he could still escape, his mind told him. The stalkers had no reason to hurt him anymore, did they? He was unarmed, he wasn’t even there. Maybe- Without hurry or hesitation Sergei aimed his rifle at the man and shot him in the leg. He stumbled forwards and collapsed into the fireplace with a loud thud, kicking up a million sparks. A moment later his coat and hair caught fire and he began screaming and begging, swatting himself in blind pain. Sergei took a step closer to the man and aimed again. Another shot rang out and the last soldier went limp. The metallic smell of freshly spilled blood mixed with the revolting stench of burning flesh slowly began to fill the room. As he lay on the ground, Maxim’s coat began to redden. He sobbed from the rhythmic jolts of stabbing pain. Having confirmed that everyone else was dead, Sergei and Aleksei rushed to his side. “Are you okay kid? Can you stand up?” Maxim winced and tears began falling from his eyes, but he gave them a small nod. Putting their hands under his armpits, the two men helped him up. “Slow and steady... Okay, careful now. There you go.” They helped him out of his coat and Sergei sucked in air between his teeth as he inspected the gash.”Kurwa, that is an ugly wound. At least it didn’t hit any arteries, so you’ll live. We’ll get you to a doc after we’re done, but until then here, take this.” He reached into his coat and pulled out a small metal flask. He twisted off the cap and handed it over to Maxim. He took a swig and gagged from the strong spirit burning his tongue. He forced it down regardless and felt the warmness spread in his body. He rested his back against a box, while Sergei took out a small cloth from his pocket and dampened it using the liquor before tying it over the wound. Maxim hissed and ground his teeth as the alcohol burned the wound. His knuckles went white as he held onto the box behind himself. “Thanks,” he groaned and wiped his tears. Soon the pain dulled a little and he tried to roll his shoulder. It still hurt, but at least he was still on his feet. “Right, that’s that. Put your coat back on, we can’t have you catch a cold while that bullet is inside you.” Sergei packed away the flask, then wiped his hands into his own attire. “Aleksei, go back to the hallway and get the horse-thing inside.” 6. GoodbyeMir’s glow seemed to wane as she stared at the grisly scene in front of her. She glanced at Maxim and upon noticing that he was wounded her ears flopped down and she rushed to him, avoiding the corpses and the blood as much as she could. “Are you okay?” she asked with her mouth hung agape. Her eyes flicked between his face and the bullet hole. “What happened in here?” “It hurts like hell, but I’ll live,” Maxim echoed Sergei’s words. “Don’t worry about anything. I’m just glad to see you’re okay.” The pony’s cheeks slightly reddened and she averted her eyes. Maxim weakly turned to his friend. “Hey, Aleksei, a little help please?” he grunted with a weak chuckle. “Oh. Right. Sure.” He stepped to Maxim’s side and allowed him to put his left arm over his shoulder for stability. Sergei gave them a silent nod and turned towards the far end of the hall. They hadn’t noticed in the confusion of the fight, but just like the old soldier had said, something shifted there. “Guess that’s what we’re looking for. Let’s move.” It took them quite some time to reach the other end of the warehouse due to Maxim injury, but as they finally approached the anomaly, it slowly revealed itself to them in its full glory. The three stalkers and the pony found themselves in front of a massive, vaguely round, black spot which hung in the air in front of them. Its undulating edges glowed with a bluish light that twisted and turned in mesmerizing patterns like a whirlpool that wanted to suck them in whole. A quiet whooshing sound, like the wind was blowing from the other side, emanated from it. “Well. We finally made it,” Aleksei said quietly. His voice was more relieved than triumphant. He grunted as Maxim shifted his weight on him. “Yeah. We did.” Sergei turned to the mare. “Well, what are you waiting for?” he asked expectantly. “There’s your portal, you can go back to your little cartoon world of bullshit.” Mir shifted between her hooves and eyed the anomaly with some worry. Her tail flicked. “What if something else got through?” she asked. Sergei cast her a completely unimpressed look and shrugged. “I really couldn’t care less,” he replied matter of factly and reached into his pocket for a cigarette. He carefully lit it and pulled deeply, before exhaling the smoke with a glacial pace. He pointed the burning end of the cigarette towards the mare for a moment. “We got you to your portal, that’s all we promised.” He then turned around and took a seat on a nearby box which already had some radio equipment on top of it. For a few seconds only the portal’s quiet noise and the radio’s droning ambiance broke the silence. “The soldiers said they sent someone over, didn’t they?” Maxim pointed out between two grunts. “If that’s true, we can’t leave her alone now. What if she runs into them?” While Mir looked at him with gratefulness, Sergei’s face darkened from rage. He threw away the half of his still-lit cigarette and pushed himself off the box. He walked right up to Maxim’s face. The two found themselves staring at each other again. Even without saying a word Sergei looked like he was about to tear Maxim’s injured arm off. Aleksei watched their silent standoff nervously. He was still supporting Maxim’s weight, but he had absolutely no interest in taking sides or getting in the crossfire. “So what?” Sergei hissed. “Do you have any idea how much we’ve risked just to get this stupid horse here? We killed five people, who we would have never even met otherwise! Do you think I enjoy killing innocents? What’s more, you are injured and it is only by the grace of the Lord that you’re not dead right now!” His voice quickly rose in volume to a bellow, as he screamed into Maxim’s face. Both he and Aleksei shrunk back slightly. “And now you’re expecting me to step into an unknown anomaly? For what? What’s so important about this shitty animal? Just look at it!” His eyes snapped towards the pony, who slowly backed off and hid herself behind a small crate. “Helping it isn’t gonna earn us tomorrow’s meal! It’ll fuck off back to its life of ease, while we’ll be back hunting for scraps!” His voice trailed off in exasperation. “Fine! If you aren’t willing to do it, I will,” Maxim shouted back leaning towards him. His wound flared and he almost collapsed. Aleksei grunted under his weight, but kept him standing. Sergei stared at him with wide eyes for a second. His wrinkle-ridden face contorted into a scowl as he turned around and walked up to another box. He kicked it, breaking a few of the planks with a loud bang. As he turned back his glasses reflected Mir’s yellow glow for a moment. His face dropped and he reached into his pocket for a new cigarette. Nobody said a word while they waited for him to light it. Mir glanced out from behind her crate with a wary look. Aleksei and Maxim stared at the portal. Sergei stared at his boots as he inhaled the smoke deeply, then exhaled. When he spoke again, his voice was eerily quiet and reserved. “Maxim, sit down and wait for us here.” He turned to the other man. “Aleksei, help him to the radio and grab two headsets. You’ll come with me. We’ll go through, make sure there’s no one around the entrance on the other side, then come back immediately.” He turned back. “Is that enough reassurance for you?” Maxim couldn’t find the words for a second. He just stared at Sergei. “T-thank you, but are you sure I shouldn’t come as well?” His voice lowered to a whisper. “I kind of want to see what their world looks like.” “No. You will stay. You couldn’t even raise your rifle in your condition, you’d just be in our way.” Maxim hung his head. Obviously what Sergei said was true, but he still felt disappointed. However, he didn’t find it in himself to argue any further. “Hey, hey, hey, wait a minute, Sergei! Now you’re saying we should go through the portal after all?” Aleksei cut in, looking at the two in absolute bewilderment. “What the fuck, man? I thought you told us it’s too dangerous. Go through if you really want to, but as much as I want her to return safely, I ain’t gonna step into that creepy thing over there.” He wildly flung his free arm towards the portal. “What if it turns us into horses or something?” Sergei threw his cigarette away and reached into his pocket before picking out a screw. He tied a small piece of string to it then threw it into the portal. Instead of exploding or violently disintegrating, it simply disappeared into the blackness without any fanfare. A few moments later he yanked the string and the screw returned completely unharmed. “Are you still questioning my judgment?” Sergei’s glasses shot yellow sparks in Aleksei’s direction. “Have I not brought you this far alive?” “I-” Aleksei’s conviction visibly faltered. He continued in a quieter tone. “Yes, you have and I’ll be forever grateful for that. But still, this is totally unlike you! And what about Maxim? He could still be useful for spotting stuff, no?” “Next time you take a bullet for me, I’ll let you sit out a mission too.” Aleksei opened his mouth to say something, but then closed it again. He sighed. “Okay fine, let’s get this over with then. Come on, Maxim, let’s get you to the box.” The two men ambled over to the crate and Maxim took a seat with a grunt and took out his headphones from his coat. He plugged them into the radio. Aleksei picked up two of the small transceivers from next to it and put one on his head. “Can you hear me?” he spoke into the microphone. “No, it’s just static. It’s probably still tuned to the previous soldiers’ channel. What’s written on that?” Aleksei took off the headphones and read the label on the side.”Six,” he said, before putting it back on. Maxim twisted the knob a few times. “Try now.” “Uhm, okay. Can you hear me?” The headset on Maxim’s head echoed the words very slightly distorted. “Yeah, now it’s good. Signal’s loud and clear.” “Gotcha.” Aleksei walked up to Sergei and passed him the other headset. “Well, guess we’re ready.” “Come out,” Sergei called out to the pony. “It’s time to go.” Mir slowly emerged from behind her box. “Okay. Just let me say my goodbyes first,” she replied. She turned to Maxim and leaned against his legs hanging off the box. He placed his hand on her head and gave her mane a few soft strokes, while also scratching under her ear a few times. “Thank you. You saved my life,” she purred quietly. “I would have starved without you. I will not forget this kindness. Goodbye.” Sergei rolled his eyes and stepped in front of the portal. He whistled. “Move already, we don’t have all day. Aleksei, you with me first, then the horse.” Mir broke away from Maxim and the two shared one last look. She stepped behind the two stalkers. Maxim furrowed his brows for a second as he thought about the last thing Mir said, but then he dismissed the thought. The small group walked into the portal which shifted and pulsed as they touched it. The smell of ozone filled the room as they slowly disappeared behind some invisible veil. A few seconds later the radio crackled into life. “Okay, we’re through. Shit, I can’t see a thing,” Aleksei’s voice spoke. “Yeah, fucking dark in here. Horse-thing, do you have no Sun or something?” “No, no, you’ll see. Just go a bit further, we’re almost there,” Mir’s voice responded. Unlike before it was strangely calm. A few seconds later the radio transmitted the faint sounds of weird crunching and something wet tearing. Maxim rapped on the device a few times. Must be some interference, he thought. “The fuck was that? Aleksei, did you hear it?” “Uhh yeah, I did. I have no idea.” “Hey, horse, what wa-” The transmission suddenly cut out. For a moment there was stunted silence. “Sergei? Sergei, are you playing some shitty joke on me? It’s not funny at all. This really isn’t the time.” A moment later Aleksei screamed in horror. “Jesus Christ! Sergei, he’s-! I- I just bumped into his body! He’s dead! Oh, mother!” His voice wavered. “Oh, Jesus fucking Christ! What the fuck!” he screamed between two errant gasps, as he ran. Maxim could hardly understand his words as he coughed and sputtered. “He was right next to me just a second ago! The horse is gone! I knew this was an awful fucking idea! I’m coming back! Fuck, fuck, fuck! I- I can see the portal!” His voice turned almost maniacally happy. He laughed like a madman. “Oh God! I’m almost out of here! Maxim, pick up your rifle and be ready to shoot whatever is after us!” Before Maxim could even properly process let alone react to what he just heard, the noise of a large object slamming into flesh came through the radio. Aleksei cried out in pain and let out a gasp before the wet thud of a body collapsing on the floor rung out. He whimpered once or twice before something cracked and his voice faded into static. Maxim forgot about his arm and hardly even noticed the pain as he threw himself off the box. His headphones slid off his head and fell to the ground, their plug falling limply after them as the weight yanked it from the radio’s socket. He stared in horror at the dark orb in front of him. It continued to shift peacefully, its blue frills expanding and contracting in hypnotizing patterns, giving no clue that anything out of the ordinary happened. He was about to forget everything and run not knowing where or what to do next, when suddenly the radio picked up another voice. Maxim froze in place and slowly turned back towards it. The voice was familiar, one heard just a few minutes ago. It should have been calming, welcoming even, but instead it sent a cold wave of terror and stinging pain into his heart. On the other end of the portal, hanging in a world of perpetual night and five dead men, a being laughed with the soft, yellow voice of a pony.
1. SoupGray clouds roiled above in the night sky as a thunderstorm began ravaging the Zone. Thick droplets of rain pattered on the dusty, abandoned buildings, darkening their decrepit walls even further in a fruitless attempt to wash away the decades-old grime. The fickle gusts of wind guided a few of these drops through the half-collapsed roof of a small home, where they hit the lid of a small red pot hanging above a makeshift campfire on a rickety tripod, evaporating immediately with quiet hisses. A young man squatted next to the fire. He wore a dirty jacket and baggy jeans, the ends of which he stuffed into a pair of worn military boots. He threw his head to the side to move a few locks of his long black hair out of his face and raised his eyes towards the sky. A lucky drop of water hit one of them, causing him to blink in pain and curse. He scoffed as his vision slowly returned to normal. Not only was he stuck on cooking duty, he also had to endure the rain because his comrades had the brilliant idea to stay in a house like that. ”The hole’s gonna solve the issue of smoke, Aleksei!” he mockingly replayed their words in his head. Yeah, great fucking idea. He pinched the handle of the pot’s lid with his coat’s sleeve and carefully raised it. Slowly, as to not burn himself, he moved it to the side and stirred the food a few times with a dirty wooden spoon, before fishing out a bit of soup. He leaned closer to get a better look at the pale seeds swimming in the opaque water. They didn’t seem particularly appealing, so he took a sniff at the salty broth, hoping perhaps at least the smell would prove to be a bit more encouraging. But as nothing more than the completely neutral scent of hot, salty steam entered his nostrils, he merely sighed in disappointment and poured the rest of the soup back, covering the pot once more. The pot’s contents had already been boiling for almost an hour by now, yet they still staunchly refused to become any softer. Nor did they magically become any more appetizing either. “If anyone ever asks me to buy and cook buckwheat again, I swear I’ll just strangle them on the spot,” Aleksei muttered to himself in frustration. He leaned away from the pot and slowly stood up. While keeping the spoon in one hand, he placed the other on his back and straightened it, groaning in pain and relief as his joints popped. As he stretched he looked to the side, towards a dark corner of the house that still had its part of the roof above it. “Let me guess, you’ve got nothing to add as usual?” he asked the figure sitting on a large flat piece of concrete. He was even younger than Aleksei, hardly in his twenties. His back was arched to an unhealthy degree as he stared at a small screen perched up between his legs. The quiet sounds of two characters conversing cheerfully to soft, upbeat music could faintly be heard from the pair of cheap headphones sitting between the locks of his short, curly brown hair. “Christ, Maxim, you really never get bored of that stupid crap, do you?” His mockery received no reply. Aleksei shook his head and spat into the fire, but the hints of an understanding smile played on the corners of his mouth. Deep down he wasn’t truly angry. The kid might have been a weirdo, but then who wasn’t of all the people who dared their fate here? Regardless of who you were or why you came here, the Zone ground everyone down. The anomalies, the loneliness, the fear of meeting another group of looters and not making it back... Anyone who couldn’t find their own method to cope was bound to end up insane or dead by their own hands. For instance Sergei, the last member of the group, who was currently making sure no one else was nearby, was a deeply respected stalker known for being as no-nonsense as they come and yet even he carried with himself a small portable tape player containing several crackling recordings of Soviet folk songs from his childhood. Aleksei himself brought along images of his adoptive mother. A vile hag who kept her distance and never showed too much love to him. Yet whenever he glanced at the faded black-and-white picture of her paper-thin smile and tired dark eyes as she gave him one of her rare, stiff hugs, it gave him the push to survive from one day to another. And Maxim? He was easily the one who stuck out the most. Whenever they weren’t on a mission he spent almost all of his waking hours watching some old children’s cartoon. The others knew or cared little about it, especially after learning that the show was apparently meant for little girls, featuring small colorful ponies engaging in simple adventures about friendship and being nice to each other. Its cloyingly sweet messages made Maxim the target of an endless tide of jokes and less-than-polite banter, but he couldn’t care less. As they kept asking him again and again why he was so insistent on wasting his time on such juvenile things, he always just replied that it reminded him of the fact that, despite everything, the world still wasn’t only about cruelty and violence. Somewhere deep down Aleksei respected him for this, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t willing to make fun of his eccentricity. Suddenly the door opened with a loud slam as Sergei burst into the room, screeching Aleksei’s train of thought to a sudden halt. He was a middle-aged man, at least forty, though the others never found it quite prudent to ask the exact number. In a profession where people die young, someone of his expertise and knowledge was invaluable. His usually faded-brown coat seemed almost black from being drenched in rain as it hung rigidly on his broad shoulders. Most of his head and face were hidden under his coat’s dripping hood, leaving little more than his glasses and the ash-stricken goatee on his tanned-brown chin poking out, the former of which fogged up from his rapid, short breaths. His rugged boots and worn, oil-green jeans were covered in mud, but he cared little about any of this. “Hurry up and get your shit together,” he panted. “I’ve heard something weird nearby.” Aleksei didn’t need to be told twice. He threw down his spoon and grabbed his AK leaning against a nearby wall. Maxim too fell out of his trance and quickly closed the lid on his device. He carefully stuffed it along with his earphones in his coat’s pockets, before jumping up and taking his own weapon. A moment later the trio snuck out into the darkness. The faint moonlight made it hard to see anything through the rain, but they couldn’t risk revealing themselves using flashlights. Instead they opted to move as silently as they could, hoping the downpour would mask them from others just as much as any hidden threats lurking in the night were masked from the stalkers. The air was permeated by the earthy musk of the soil stirred up by the storm, while the haunting glow of distant lightning strikes illuminated the silhouettes of faraway ruins. Sergei pointed with two of his fingers towards a direction and they began moving. They passed building after building, carefully avoiding any windows or other large openings that could expose them to anything that might be lurking in the darkness. Very soon a quiet sound mixed into the loud drumming of the rainfall. As they crept closer it slowly began to resemble pained crying. The men exchanged a knowing look and gripped their weapons tighter. The Zone had a cruel sense of humor. Just because something was capable of crying didn’t mean it couldn’t also be deadly. They continued to walk in the darkness, though a bit slower than before. After a few minutes of enduring the elements, they found themselves up against the half-collapsed remains of what used to be a house’s wall. By the loudness of the wails, it was clear that whatever was waiting for them was on the other side. Sergei motioned with his head towards the sound. The others silently nodded and switched off their weapons’ safeties. He held up three fingers. Then two. Then one. The three men rushed to the other side of the wall, guns raised to shoot anything that made the wrong move. None of them were prepared to deal with the sight that met them.
2. StandoffIn front of them, lying in a mix of mud and rubble from the destroyed house, was a small creature, hardly the size of a larger breed of dog. Its body was round and covered by short yellow hair that seemed to glow in the gloomy darkness. Four short appendages ending in nubs stretched out from it, lying strewn awkwardly over the ground. What seemed to be a large piece of crumpled up, black cloth was laid over its head, but as the three men carefully approached it turned out to be a long and brushy mane which, similarly to its body, also shone in an odd yellow color despite being jet black. Aleksei and Sergei continued to hold their guns towards the creature, but Maxim lowered his. A dazed look sat out on his face as he took a tentative step towards it. “Maxim. Back here. Now,” Sergei growled at him, but he didn’t listen. The youngest stalker seemed to be in a trance as he approached the being. He slowly leaned down and held out one of his gloved hands, keeping it hanging in the air a few centimeters from the creature. It looked at him with its quivering, cartoonishly large eyes and shrunk back. The other two exchanged a confused look. This thing in front of them was just like a character out of Maxim’s inane cartoons. Aleksei slightly lowered his gun and shuffled from one leg to the other awkwardly. He was expecting a monster, not a being like this. He had no idea that he was supposed to do. Sergei, however, didn’t relent. He continued to train his gun at the scene in front of him. He couldn’t exactly place his finger on why, but the creature gave him a very bad feeling. He felt the hairs on his neck stand up. Some primal instinct he gained over the years screamed at him that he was in mortal danger. The thought of just shooting both Maxim and whatever this anomaly they found was passed through his mind. Yet, while the risk was high, perhaps too high, against his better judgment, he held his trigger. “It’s okay, we’re not gonna hurt you,” Maxim said in a quiet, reassuring tone. He cast a dissuading glance backwards. Aleksei took a step closer and stared dumbly at the being, while Sergei removed his finger from the trigger, but remained in the back. Upon hearing Maxim’s words the thing’s tear-soaked eyes glinted in recognition and surprise. “Can you understand me?” Maxim asked. The being looked into his eyes and then towards his hand, before slowly opening its mouth. “You- you speak my language!” it exclaimed in surprise between two sniffles. By the voice Maxim surmised it was in fact a she. “How?” The three men were taken aback by the creature’s perfect Russian. Maxim couldn’t find the words to answer so he merely continued to stand there, half-crouched. The thing, the pony, didn’t wait much for his answer. She slowly leaned closer to his hand and sniffed it, before brushing against it. Even though it wasn’t his bare skin, Maxim still felt a calming warmness where the pony’s cheek touched the glove. Ever so gently he scritched under her chin and in response she closed her eyes and leaned into his hand. They stayed like this for a few seconds and eventually her crying slowly dried up. Maxim forced himself to let her go and took a step back while she clambered onto her hooves. The stalkers stared as her glow intensified for a second and the mud and rain was repelled from her coat by some invisible force, landing on the ground with a soft plop. Maxim couldn’t help himself but throw a glance at her flank. Curiously it was blank, unlike the characters in the cartoon, who all had a symbol representing their special traits. The three men stared at the sight in bewilderment for a second or two, before he cleared his throat and broke the silence again. “I guess we should introduce ourselves. I’m Maxim, this is Aleksei, and this is Sergei,” he said while pointing at his comrades. The former didn’t even try to hide his astonishment anymore, his eyes flicking wildly between Maxim and the pony. The latter still gripped his weapon and the little of his face that showed under his hood seemed impassive. “Do you have a name? How did you get here?” “My name is Mir and I- I don’t know.” Fresh tears began to flow from her eyes. “I was just walking out in the park when I suddenly felt something lift me up and the next thing I know I was lying here. I- I was so scared!” She let out a small whine. Maxim gave her an understanding nod. Several of the the Zone’s anomalies included teleportation. Sometimes just between buildings, sometimes between one end of the Zone and another. The destinations of some of these portals were never figured out, as any who entered was never seen again. It was unheard of but certainly not impossible, that an anomaly could tear a hole into a whole other world. Before he could say another word, however, Sergei walked up to him and grabbed him by the shoulder, yanking him back slightly. “With me,” he grunted. “Aleksei, watch it for a second,” Sergei commanded and Aleksei half-heartedly raised his weapon again. Meanwhile Sergei brought Maxim to the other side of the wall. “Are you out of your fucking mind?” he spat into Maxim’s face the moment they were out of sight. He was hardly able to keep his voice low enough not to be heard on the other side. His glasses seemed to glint from his rage. “What do you even think you’re doing? This is an anomaly! You should bless your luck you haven’t killed us all or worse already!” Maxim tried his best to resist the overwhelming aura of the older man. He forced himself not to avert his eyes, even though Sergei’s own bored into his soul like two hot pieces of coal. “She isn’t an anomaly,” he replied meekly. His voice wavered and he felt like his legs wanted to give out. “She’s just lost and confused. We need to help her!” “’Her?’ Devla,you really have lost it.” Sergei spat to the side before leaning in extremely close to Maxim’s face. A muscle twitched on his forehead. When he spoke again, his voice was hardly the suggestion of a whisper. “Listen, boy. If you haven’t realized by now we are in the Zone, not in some cartoon. I don’t give a rat’s ass that it looks like that kids’ stuff you have the hots for. That thing over there is still a monster. Any moment it could snap and end us all. We should just kill it and sell its hide to the peddlers before it causes us any more trouble.” Maxim’s eyes went wide in shock at the words. The gruesome images of a gunned down and skinned pony flashed through his mind and his previous fear extinguished in a moment, its place taken by a boiling rage. The rapid thumping of his heart drowned out the pattering of rain as blood rushed into his face and he bared his teeth. The young stalker leaned forward to meet Sergei’s challenge. “You will not hurt her,” he replied slowly in a low voice. His hand, as innocently as if he was merely trying to scratch himself, began reaching towards the holster of his gun. Sergei’s eyes calmly followed the movement. He then looked back into Maxim’s face undeterred. “Be very careful what you do next,” he said quietly as his fingers curled around his own rifle. “I don’t intend to die here.” Both men kept their hands on their weapons, but neither made a move. As they glared at each other the rain slowly began to stop. Soon the only sounds breaking the silence were their ragged breaths. “Do you?” he added. “You will not hurt her,” Maxim repeated blankly. A few more seconds passed. The two stalkers continued to hold their ground, as water dripped quietly from their coats. Finally Sergei looked towards the sky and allowed his hand to fall limp. As his eyes left Maxim’s, they seemed to faintly glint yellow for a moment. He ran his other hand down his cloak on the back of his head. “Fuck... Okay, fine. We will get your horse wife back to her world, but that’s the last favor I’ll ever do for you.”
3. MoonlightMaxim sighed in relief and immediately let his weapon go as well. While his face still burned, his hands felt rigid and ice cold inside the gloves. His breaths were short and shallow. In truth he was hardly able to keep his bluff up for even such a short time. It took all of his concentration to stop himself from shaking and he was extremely close to breaking down. He had never been much of a fighter. It was almost certain that if they really had ended up dueling, Sergei would have blown his head clean off before he could have done as much as unbuckle his rifle’s holster. But he simply had to take the risk. He couldn’t allow that poor little thing be butchered. Not after all her kind had done for his sanity. He took a deep breath and exhaled. The cold night’s air helped ease his racing heart. “Thanks.” It was all he could say. Sergei didn’t reply. Instead he motioned towards the wall and the duo shared no other words as they slowly returned to the others. They found Aleksei sitting on the ground, his rifle in his lap. He stroked his chin as he seemed to be in deep thought. Mir sat in front of him, still as pristine as before, with a soft, almost motherly smile on her face. For a moment neither of them said a word, but then the young stalker spoke up. “It’s gotta be the Moon.” “Nope, wrong again,” the pony said with a soft laugh. “I was thinking of a cloud.” “Aw, crap.” Suddenly they fell silent and their eyes snapped towards the other two as they noticed their return. Aleksei made a haphazard attempt at raising his gun and clambering to his feet, but Sergei merely sighed and waved him off. “Don’t bother.” He then turned and motioned towards the pony. “We’re gonna get it back to wherever it came from.” The pony’s ears perked up and her eyes quivered. A great smile spread onto her lips.”Oh, thank you, mister! Thank you so much!” She jumped up and rushed towards Sergei to embrace him, but he stopped her dead in her tracks by taking a step back and vaguely aiming his gun at her. “Stay right where you are. The only reason you’re not fly food already is because this idiot here -” he nodded towards Maxim “- would have been willing to have his brains blown out for your sake.” Aleksei cast a surprised look at the two men, then at Mir. “You two did what?” he asked, his voice tinted with obvious disbelief. As he looked back towards his comrades the yellow moonlight briefly illuminated his eyes. He sighed. “You know what? I don’t even want to hear it. Besides, Sergei, what even is your plan?” He let out a worried chuckle as he waved his hand towards the mare. “Chuck her into a random anomaly and hope for the best?” Sergei didn’t immediately reply. Instead he massaged his temple with a hand and then shrugged a little. He reached into his coat’s breast pocket and fished out a damp cigarette along with a small petroleum lighter. He toasted the cigarette for a few seconds until it dried enough to be lit, then ignited it. He placed it in his mouth, then took a long drag. “Beats me. Maybe our local horse expert here has an idea,” he said while exhaling a cloud of smoke. Maxim, however, just shook his head. “Don’t look at me, I know as much as you do.” “Umm, maybe I can help,” Mir spoke up. She cast an uneasy look at Sergei, worried he might cut her off, but he was completely focused on his cigarette. She turned to the others. “I’ve started feeling a presence a little while ago. I can’t really describe it, but it feels like it is calling out to me.” She vaguely threw her left hoof towards a direction. “I think it might be something that will return me home.” Maxim and Aleksei looked at Sergei. He shrugged and continued to smoke. “Well,” he said between two drags. The faint yellow moonlight reflected off his glasses for a moment. “If we’re not shooting it, I guess we might as well listen to the freak.” He threw the butt away and stomped on it. “Lead the way.” Mir gave him a small nod and turned around. She began moving. With each step the mud refused to stick to her hooves, which, along with her unnatural glow and appearance, made her seem like she was merely superimposed into reality instead of being a living, breathing creature. Sergei began walking after her. “Let’s move,” he called out to behind himself. Aleksei remained in his place and glanced back towards where they’d come from. “What? We aren’t even going back to eat?” he asked, his voice ringing with hurt. “No. Having this thing around with us is already too much of a liability,” came the harsh reply. “Come on Maxim, help me out here,” pleaded Aleksei, but he too only shook his head and turned to follow the mare. “Sorry, but I can’t really think of eating right now either.” Aleksei scoffed. “Oh, that’s just great! I’m so glad I’ve spent so much time cooking for you then!” he yelled after them. Sergei stopped for a second and faced him. “Quit your bitching already and pick up the pace,” he said with clear disdain in his voice. “We’ll have plenty of time to eat your slop after this.” Aleksei raised his eyebrows in outrage and opened his mouth like he was about to give some retort, but after a second he closed it again and just mumbled something under his breath, picked up his rifle, and joined the others.
4. JourneyEven during quiet periods navigating the Zone was never a truly calm experience. Just because one was lucky enough to avoid the raiders and mutants that roamed the wasteland, the threat of almost-imperceptible anomalies continued to constantly hang in the air. If you were lucky, stepping into one merely meant a minor inconvenience. Perhaps your skin changed color or you grew a third ear or perhaps you suddenly started speaking a different language; debilitating, but at least you walked away alive. More often than not, however, the effects were gruesome and violent, leaving nothing to bury after an anomaly-struck stalker. As few could afford the already dubiously-effective devices which were supposedly capable of detecting these hot zones, most instead simply opted to rely on their eyes alone and throw nails, screws, or whatever small objects they could find into the direction of suspected disturbances. For this very reason all three men had one of their pockets full of various rubble and tiny pieces of scrap metal and rocks, but oddly enough even though they had been walking for quite some time, they couldn’t spot a single anomaly nearby. They still occasionally threw a pebble or two in front of themselves, just to be safe, but there truly wasn’t anything out of the ordinary around them. Everything seemed almost normal as the faint yellow moonlight fell upon them, which in the Zone was anything but that. The eerie quiet was only broken by the rhythmic thumping of the men’s boots and the soft clip-clops of their odd companion. The team made its way around the serpentine streets between decrepit warehouses and rotting factories. Even the animals, the few birds and scavengers that eked out an existence in the harsh environment of the Zone, seemed to have fallen completely silent. Eventually Mir stopped in front of one of the warehouses. “It’s this one,” she said. “I feel the presence from inside.” Maxim surveyed the building. He couldn’t spot anything unusual about it. Its weathered concrete columns had become almost black from the frequent rainstorms. Most of its windows were broken and great chunks of their glass panes had fallen out, the shards of which glistened as they laid haphazardly over the ground nearby. A massive corroded Red Star hung on its front, leaning dangerously outwards, held only by its loosened screws. The warehouse’s great double doors hung ajar and the faint glow of light could be seen from inside. Someone must have set up camp inside, Maxim thought. Sergei seemed to have the same thought as he silently pointed towards the door and then to his weapon. Mir cast a fearful glance at the men and pulled her tail under her belly. “Don’t worry, we’ll protect you,” Maxim leaned down and whispered into her ear. “Just stay behind us.” She gave him an uncertain nod in response. The group slowly moved inside the building. They found themselves in a dim corridor, only vaguely illuminated by the lights emanating from deeper inside. Faded orange papers clung to the sides of the walls, printed full of warnings and instructions. The stalkers paid them no heed. Their eyes were focused firmly of another set of metal doors that most likely led to the main atrium. As they slowly approached the door and backed up against it, the barely audible sounds of muffled speech and harsh laughter could be heard from the other side. Aleksei thought back to his step-mother as he held his weapon tighter. Sergei mumbled a quiet prayer and asked his grandparents to watch over him. Maxim stepped to the pony and petted her, which she reciprocated by nuzzling her muzzle into his hand. The word “diplomacy” was rarely known in the Zone, especially when one came in possession of something as valuable or unique as Mir was. “You stay here,” Sergei told Mir quietly. “Follow us when we tell you to.” She took a step back, sitting on her haunches. “Please be careful,” she whispered as she pulled in her neck, with worry written all over her face. Sergei, however, had already turned back towards the door and held up three of his fingers again. He counted back. The moment he reached zero, he kicked in the door and ran inside with the others. The hall inside was filled by rows of crates and gutted vehicles, with a wide corridor in the middle allowing movement between them. In the middle five men wearing dirty military uniforms sat around a haphazard campfire fueled by old furniture and planks of wood. Two of them were silently smoking cigarettes while the one sitting in the middle had a dirty rug in his hand which he used to polish his rifle. The last two were engaged in a loud conversation about something when the three stalkers burst through the door. “Raise your fucking hands!” Sergei screamed. Four of the five men immediately complied and dropped whatever they had in their hands, raising them in shock. The fifth, however, who was closest to a box dove behind it, disappearing out of sight. “Brother, what’s this all about? We’ve got nothing to do with you,” the man with the rifle in his lap spoke calmly. Based on his slightly less unkempt appearance and unfazed demeanor, he was probably the leader of the group. He began to lower his hand to get up, but Sergei shot into the ground in front of him. “Stay,” he growled and the man gulped and slowly raised his hands back again. “Okay, brother, I understand. Let’s not be too hasty and talk this out, yes?” he spoke in a reassuring, but clearly anxious voice. “What do you want? We hardly even have enough for ourselves. The best I can offer is a few rations of food or a couple of rubles.” His shoulders dropped slightly as he realized neither of his offers seemed to entice Sergei in the least. “Or there is also an anomaly here at the other end of the hall. We called dibs on it, but if you want you can have that!” “First you will call your man back, then we can talk.” The man slowly nodded and turned his face towards the box.”Very well. Josif,” he said quietly. The others looked in the same direction, but didn’t say a word. “Listen to him and come out. Don’t do anything stupid.”
5. MankindFor a few moments nothing happened. The three men continued to train their guns at the four in front of them. The fire continued to pop and crackle cheerfully, illuminating their worried faces. Finally, ever so slowly, the fifth member of the group emerged. He was a young man, similar in age to Maxim. He had a raised rifle in his shaking hands and was panting from fear. “Son, listen to me and you will not be hurt. Drop your weapon and raise your hands,” Sergei commanded. His voice was firm, but far softer than the one he used against the leader, almost fatherly. The kid, however, merely continued to stare at him with wide, unfocused eyes. He was clearly in shock. “I will not tell you again. This is your last warning. Drop the gun.” Despite Sergei’s words, the young soldier remained frozen. His breathing only quickened as his glance bounced between the three men. A moment later the room was filled by sounds of gunfire. “Shit!” screamed Maxim as he tackled Sergei to the side. As they fell he was jerked back by the wet impact of a bullet hitting his right arm. The two landed on the ground with a loud thud behind the remains of a jeep. At the same time Aleksei aimed his rifle and shot the kid dead, before taking shelter behind a box on the other side. This broke the four remaining men’s stupor and they all reached for their own guns and dove behind boxes themselves. The sounds of panicked panting filled the room. “Brother, let’s be reasonable here,” the leader of the soldiers yelled across the room. “You are outnumbered and your friend is wounded. As an apology for my subordinate’s disobedience I’ll forgive you his death and allow you to walk out from here now with your men. Enough blood has been spilled already. I swear it on my mother’s soul that we will not follow you.” Sergei gave him no answer. He looked at Maxim, who quietly sobbed from the pain, while grasping his right arm. The seeds of doubt sown in his mind began to germinate and bloom. Why not just accept the truce and walk away? One of his comrades was already wounded and there was no guarantee they’d win this fight. Why were they even here? Were they really prepared to throw their lives away for a horse creature they’d only met a few hours ago? His mind buzzed like a badly-tuned radio and his thoughts seemed almost foreign. The old soldier waited a few seconds for an answer. Upon realizing none would come, he sighed and spoke again.”Look, I don’t know what makes you want to get through us so hard, but I must warn you there is nothing here worth losing your life over. We are on our last leg. It’s why we’re cooped up in this shitty warehouse in the first place. That anomaly I mentioned before? It’s some kind of portal, we’re not sure where it leads. We just recently sent three of our men through and have been waiting for their return. We hoped they might bring back a few artifacts with themselves, but that was hours ago. Surely you don’t want to risk yourselves for something like that, do you?” Sergei looked into Aleksei’s eyes for a moment. The younger stalker was still panting from the adrenaline rush, but he gave Sergei a small nod. As he looked back, his eyes glinted with yellowish light from the fire for a moment. “We want it,” came his calm answer. “That is a shame, brother.” The soldier’s voice rang with solemness as he nodded to himself. The sounds of shuffling could be heard from the other side and for a moment he hoped the stalker’s words were merely talk and they really did leave. However, as he peeked out the door was still closed. “Fucking stalkers, nothing more than unhinged animals,” he whispered in a disappointed tone as he spat to the side. He turned towards his comrades and pointed towards the row where the three men hid. “Let’s smoke them out.” The soldiers left their cover and slowly made their way towards the stalkers’ hiding spot. They held their breaths back as they passed box after car. Eventually they came in front of the row where the trio was hiding. The soldiers looked at each other. In the confusion they didn’t bother to check which side the stalkers dove behind. Choosing poorly would be a death sentence, even with their superior numbers. “Last chance to surrender. Lay down your gun and walk away,” the leader called out, looking from left to right, trying to gauge where they might be hiding. Come on, idiots, give me some stupid insult or just a grunt or anything. Let’s make this easier for everyone. Suddenly Maxim’s soft groan rung out from the left side. The soldier smirked. It was too easy. He nodded to the left and he and his comrades rushed in. They only found Maxim lying on the ground. “Wait, no!” the leader screamed, before his head slammed into the concrete with a new hole in it from Aleksei’s rifle. Before the others could have gotten any chance to react Sergei leaned out from behind his cover and shot two of them in the chest. They collapsed after each other with soft thuds. The final man dropped his weapon. He slowly looked down at his dead comrades with a blank stare. He gulped dryly and raised his eyes towards the stalkers. Without saying a word he turned around and began running back towards the camp. Maybe he could still escape, his mind told him. The stalkers had no reason to hurt him anymore, did they? He was unarmed, he wasn’t even there. Maybe- Without hurry or hesitation Sergei aimed his rifle at the man and shot him in the leg. He stumbled forwards and collapsed into the fireplace with a loud thud, kicking up a million sparks. A moment later his coat and hair caught fire and he began screaming and begging, swatting himself in blind pain. Sergei took a step closer to the man and aimed again. Another shot rang out and the last soldier went limp. The metallic smell of freshly spilled blood mixed with the revolting stench of burning flesh slowly began to fill the room. As he lay on the ground, Maxim’s coat began to redden. He sobbed from the rhythmic jolts of stabbing pain. Having confirmed that everyone else was dead, Sergei and Aleksei rushed to his side. “Are you okay kid? Can you stand up?” Maxim winced and tears began falling from his eyes, but he gave them a small nod. Putting their hands under his armpits, the two men helped him up. “Slow and steady... Okay, careful now. There you go.” They helped him out of his coat and Sergei sucked in air between his teeth as he inspected the gash.”Kurwa, that is an ugly wound. At least it didn’t hit any arteries, so you’ll live. We’ll get you to a doc after we’re done, but until then here, take this.” He reached into his coat and pulled out a small metal flask. He twisted off the cap and handed it over to Maxim. He took a swig and gagged from the strong spirit burning his tongue. He forced it down regardless and felt the warmness spread in his body. He rested his back against a box, while Sergei took out a small cloth from his pocket and dampened it using the liquor before tying it over the wound. Maxim hissed and ground his teeth as the alcohol burned the wound. His knuckles went white as he held onto the box behind himself. “Thanks,” he groaned and wiped his tears. Soon the pain dulled a little and he tried to roll his shoulder. It still hurt, but at least he was still on his feet. “Right, that’s that. Put your coat back on, we can’t have you catch a cold while that bullet is inside you.” Sergei packed away the flask, then wiped his hands into his own attire. “Aleksei, go back to the hallway and get the horse-thing inside.”
6. GoodbyeMir’s glow seemed to wane as she stared at the grisly scene in front of her. She glanced at Maxim and upon noticing that he was wounded her ears flopped down and she rushed to him, avoiding the corpses and the blood as much as she could. “Are you okay?” she asked with her mouth hung agape. Her eyes flicked between his face and the bullet hole. “What happened in here?” “It hurts like hell, but I’ll live,” Maxim echoed Sergei’s words. “Don’t worry about anything. I’m just glad to see you’re okay.” The pony’s cheeks slightly reddened and she averted her eyes. Maxim weakly turned to his friend. “Hey, Aleksei, a little help please?” he grunted with a weak chuckle. “Oh. Right. Sure.” He stepped to Maxim’s side and allowed him to put his left arm over his shoulder for stability. Sergei gave them a silent nod and turned towards the far end of the hall. They hadn’t noticed in the confusion of the fight, but just like the old soldier had said, something shifted there. “Guess that’s what we’re looking for. Let’s move.” It took them quite some time to reach the other end of the warehouse due to Maxim injury, but as they finally approached the anomaly, it slowly revealed itself to them in its full glory. The three stalkers and the pony found themselves in front of a massive, vaguely round, black spot which hung in the air in front of them. Its undulating edges glowed with a bluish light that twisted and turned in mesmerizing patterns like a whirlpool that wanted to suck them in whole. A quiet whooshing sound, like the wind was blowing from the other side, emanated from it. “Well. We finally made it,” Aleksei said quietly. His voice was more relieved than triumphant. He grunted as Maxim shifted his weight on him. “Yeah. We did.” Sergei turned to the mare. “Well, what are you waiting for?” he asked expectantly. “There’s your portal, you can go back to your little cartoon world of bullshit.” Mir shifted between her hooves and eyed the anomaly with some worry. Her tail flicked. “What if something else got through?” she asked. Sergei cast her a completely unimpressed look and shrugged. “I really couldn’t care less,” he replied matter of factly and reached into his pocket for a cigarette. He carefully lit it and pulled deeply, before exhaling the smoke with a glacial pace. He pointed the burning end of the cigarette towards the mare for a moment. “We got you to your portal, that’s all we promised.” He then turned around and took a seat on a nearby box which already had some radio equipment on top of it. For a few seconds only the portal’s quiet noise and the radio’s droning ambiance broke the silence. “The soldiers said they sent someone over, didn’t they?” Maxim pointed out between two grunts. “If that’s true, we can’t leave her alone now. What if she runs into them?” While Mir looked at him with gratefulness, Sergei’s face darkened from rage. He threw away the half of his still-lit cigarette and pushed himself off the box. He walked right up to Maxim’s face. The two found themselves staring at each other again. Even without saying a word Sergei looked like he was about to tear Maxim’s injured arm off. Aleksei watched their silent standoff nervously. He was still supporting Maxim’s weight, but he had absolutely no interest in taking sides or getting in the crossfire. “So what?” Sergei hissed. “Do you have any idea how much we’ve risked just to get this stupid horse here? We killed five people, who we would have never even met otherwise! Do you think I enjoy killing innocents? What’s more, you are injured and it is only by the grace of the Lord that you’re not dead right now!” His voice quickly rose in volume to a bellow, as he screamed into Maxim’s face. Both he and Aleksei shrunk back slightly. “And now you’re expecting me to step into an unknown anomaly? For what? What’s so important about this shitty animal? Just look at it!” His eyes snapped towards the pony, who slowly backed off and hid herself behind a small crate. “Helping it isn’t gonna earn us tomorrow’s meal! It’ll fuck off back to its life of ease, while we’ll be back hunting for scraps!” His voice trailed off in exasperation. “Fine! If you aren’t willing to do it, I will,” Maxim shouted back leaning towards him. His wound flared and he almost collapsed. Aleksei grunted under his weight, but kept him standing. Sergei stared at him with wide eyes for a second. His wrinkle-ridden face contorted into a scowl as he turned around and walked up to another box. He kicked it, breaking a few of the planks with a loud bang. As he turned back his glasses reflected Mir’s yellow glow for a moment. His face dropped and he reached into his pocket for a new cigarette. Nobody said a word while they waited for him to light it. Mir glanced out from behind her crate with a wary look. Aleksei and Maxim stared at the portal. Sergei stared at his boots as he inhaled the smoke deeply, then exhaled. When he spoke again, his voice was eerily quiet and reserved. “Maxim, sit down and wait for us here.” He turned to the other man. “Aleksei, help him to the radio and grab two headsets. You’ll come with me. We’ll go through, make sure there’s no one around the entrance on the other side, then come back immediately.” He turned back. “Is that enough reassurance for you?” Maxim couldn’t find the words for a second. He just stared at Sergei. “T-thank you, but are you sure I shouldn’t come as well?” His voice lowered to a whisper. “I kind of want to see what their world looks like.” “No. You will stay. You couldn’t even raise your rifle in your condition, you’d just be in our way.” Maxim hung his head. Obviously what Sergei said was true, but he still felt disappointed. However, he didn’t find it in himself to argue any further. “Hey, hey, hey, wait a minute, Sergei! Now you’re saying we should go through the portal after all?” Aleksei cut in, looking at the two in absolute bewilderment. “What the fuck, man? I thought you told us it’s too dangerous. Go through if you really want to, but as much as I want her to return safely, I ain’t gonna step into that creepy thing over there.” He wildly flung his free arm towards the portal. “What if it turns us into horses or something?” Sergei threw his cigarette away and reached into his pocket before picking out a screw. He tied a small piece of string to it then threw it into the portal. Instead of exploding or violently disintegrating, it simply disappeared into the blackness without any fanfare. A few moments later he yanked the string and the screw returned completely unharmed. “Are you still questioning my judgment?” Sergei’s glasses shot yellow sparks in Aleksei’s direction. “Have I not brought you this far alive?” “I-” Aleksei’s conviction visibly faltered. He continued in a quieter tone. “Yes, you have and I’ll be forever grateful for that. But still, this is totally unlike you! And what about Maxim? He could still be useful for spotting stuff, no?” “Next time you take a bullet for me, I’ll let you sit out a mission too.” Aleksei opened his mouth to say something, but then closed it again. He sighed. “Okay fine, let’s get this over with then. Come on, Maxim, let’s get you to the box.” The two men ambled over to the crate and Maxim took a seat with a grunt and took out his headphones from his coat. He plugged them into the radio. Aleksei picked up two of the small transceivers from next to it and put one on his head. “Can you hear me?” he spoke into the microphone. “No, it’s just static. It’s probably still tuned to the previous soldiers’ channel. What’s written on that?” Aleksei took off the headphones and read the label on the side.”Six,” he said, before putting it back on. Maxim twisted the knob a few times. “Try now.” “Uhm, okay. Can you hear me?” The headset on Maxim’s head echoed the words very slightly distorted. “Yeah, now it’s good. Signal’s loud and clear.” “Gotcha.” Aleksei walked up to Sergei and passed him the other headset. “Well, guess we’re ready.” “Come out,” Sergei called out to the pony. “It’s time to go.” Mir slowly emerged from behind her box. “Okay. Just let me say my goodbyes first,” she replied. She turned to Maxim and leaned against his legs hanging off the box. He placed his hand on her head and gave her mane a few soft strokes, while also scratching under her ear a few times. “Thank you. You saved my life,” she purred quietly. “I would have starved without you. I will not forget this kindness. Goodbye.” Sergei rolled his eyes and stepped in front of the portal. He whistled. “Move already, we don’t have all day. Aleksei, you with me first, then the horse.” Mir broke away from Maxim and the two shared one last look. She stepped behind the two stalkers. Maxim furrowed his brows for a second as he thought about the last thing Mir said, but then he dismissed the thought. The small group walked into the portal which shifted and pulsed as they touched it. The smell of ozone filled the room as they slowly disappeared behind some invisible veil. A few seconds later the radio crackled into life. “Okay, we’re through. Shit, I can’t see a thing,” Aleksei’s voice spoke. “Yeah, fucking dark in here. Horse-thing, do you have no Sun or something?” “No, no, you’ll see. Just go a bit further, we’re almost there,” Mir’s voice responded. Unlike before it was strangely calm. A few seconds later the radio transmitted the faint sounds of weird crunching and something wet tearing. Maxim rapped on the device a few times. Must be some interference, he thought. “The fuck was that? Aleksei, did you hear it?” “Uhh yeah, I did. I have no idea.” “Hey, horse, what wa-” The transmission suddenly cut out. For a moment there was stunted silence. “Sergei? Sergei, are you playing some shitty joke on me? It’s not funny at all. This really isn’t the time.” A moment later Aleksei screamed in horror. “Jesus Christ! Sergei, he’s-! I- I just bumped into his body! He’s dead! Oh, mother!” His voice wavered. “Oh, Jesus fucking Christ! What the fuck!” he screamed between two errant gasps, as he ran. Maxim could hardly understand his words as he coughed and sputtered. “He was right next to me just a second ago! The horse is gone! I knew this was an awful fucking idea! I’m coming back! Fuck, fuck, fuck! I- I can see the portal!” His voice turned almost maniacally happy. He laughed like a madman. “Oh God! I’m almost out of here! Maxim, pick up your rifle and be ready to shoot whatever is after us!” Before Maxim could even properly process let alone react to what he just heard, the noise of a large object slamming into flesh came through the radio. Aleksei cried out in pain and let out a gasp before the wet thud of a body collapsing on the floor rung out. He whimpered once or twice before something cracked and his voice faded into static. Maxim forgot about his arm and hardly even noticed the pain as he threw himself off the box. His headphones slid off his head and fell to the ground, their plug falling limply after them as the weight yanked it from the radio’s socket. He stared in horror at the dark orb in front of him. It continued to shift peacefully, its blue frills expanding and contracting in hypnotizing patterns, giving no clue that anything out of the ordinary happened. He was about to forget everything and run not knowing where or what to do next, when suddenly the radio picked up another voice. Maxim froze in place and slowly turned back towards it. The voice was familiar, one heard just a few minutes ago. It should have been calming, welcoming even, but instead it sent a cold wave of terror and stinging pain into his heart. On the other end of the portal, hanging in a world of perpetual night and five dead men, a being laughed with the soft, yellow voice of a pony.
