The Wish Granter
In the radioactive remnants of what once was Chernobyl, Ukraine there are a group of people who go by the title of "stalker", these people scavenge and explore this once thriving wasteland. Aleksandr is one of these stalkers, his goal, like many others is to make it to the center of the "zone" as they call it. The center of the zone is fabled to grant any man who makes it there one wish, though nobody is known to have made it there before. The center is highly protected by a military faction that goes by the name of Duty; they want to stop anyone from entering the zone in the first place. Duty isn't unopposed however, the group Freedom strives to make the zone accessible to all who wish to explore.
Aleksandr begins his journey in the outer regions of the zone, where many stalkers reside because of the already existing houses and fairly large store in the town. For most of his time in the zone, Aleksandr had done small missions for the shopkeeper and hadn't had any reason or motivation to leave the small town. He had friends, a constant supply of food, and entertainment. While it was dull most of the time, hardly anyone new came to the quiet town, a little vodka could spice up any gathering with friends.
One day motivation came; a friend of Aleksandr announced that he and a group of other stalkers were going to explore the center of the zone. Though he had been invited, Aleksandr declined, he thought only a fool would believe the myths of the zone. Strelok's group departed, everyone awaited their return. Days came to weeks, and weeks to months and Strelok's group had still not returned, nor had anyone heard anything of them. Aleksandr pondered what could have happened to the group, had they had their hearts desires granted to them by some anomaly in the center of the zone? No, it's impossible he thought, but what could have happened to them? Why had they not come back? They were expert stalkers, there is no way they could have been killed, and at least one could have survived in an ambush. After a while he decided there was only one way to decide what happened to them, he had to leave the small town and start heading towards the center of the zone.
He begins his journey by repairing and cleaning his gun, and getting a new armored vest, courtesy of the shopkeeper. He wishes his friends goodbye and starts on his way. The landscape is dead and silent, besides a little vegetation there are no signs of life, but this is only the beginning of the journey, he is sure to find some mutant dogs along the way. After a few hours of walking, Aleksandr tires and decides he will stop for the night, without people he makes entertainment for himself by throwing some bolts at an anomaly nearby. Dawn strikes; it's time to start moving again, He packs up camp, and starts walking
As he approaches a hill, Aleksandr hears faint voices that sound as if they are coming from the other side. He cautiously approaches trying to be as quiet as possible, but much to his relief it's just a few other stalkers wandering by. They greet each other, reassure Aleksandr that he is going the right direction, and continue on their way.
A few hours have passed since the encounter with other living beings, another inevitably must strike. A pack of three mutant boars begin to rush at Aleksandr; he lifts his Viper 5 SMG and begins firing on the mutants, two drop fairly quickly. The third boar keeps charging while Aleksandr reloads as fast as he can. The boar jumps and collapses midway through its journey through the air as gunshots ring throughout the area.
In the distance, Aleksandr can see what appears to be a town, and begins to sprint towards it. Dusk falls as he approaches the gate, the group of soldiers protecting the gate let him in and one helps him find a place to stay for the night, a real bed is nice compared to the ground. The night is much livelier than the small town he called home, music rang out from the bar and the sounds of passing voices and footsteps eventually were drowned out as rain began to pour.
It's time again to start off his journey again; today he hopes to make it to the town of Pripyat, the once thriving city for workers of the Chernobyl plant. Much to his surprise, after little trouble and lots of walking, Aleksandr had made it to the city fairly easily. The rest of the day was spent exploring the town that seemed frozen in time. Eventually he came upon an old hotel; he decided he wouldn't stay though, as it would only take around four hours to walk to Chernobyl.
As Aleksandr approaches the gate to the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, he realizes that it is guarded by monolith forces and he has two options. The first option is to try and sneak in unnoticed which would be difficult, or he could try to kill everyone, which would be more difficult. The decision is made, sneak, He walks as closely to the wall as he can, trying to hide behind equipment. Monolith soldiers speak usual boring conversation, so he knows he hasn't been seen. The large obstructions of view stop, there is only a chain link fence the rest of the way to the entrance. Aleksandr decides he must run and shoot at those who shoot him, then he can hide once inside. Here goes. First, yelling. Second, gunfire. Third, explosions. The moment moved by all in a blur.
The next thing he knew, he had a gunshot wound to the leg, and fell inside of a building. He knows he can't stop and attend to his wound or he will die, so he staggers to a ladder and climbs down to find a place where he can bandage his leg. There are many empty rooms so finding a place is easy, making it to the core is his only concern now. He fights his way through waves of monolith forces, until he finally makes it; it's beautiful, majestic and glowing blue, he knew the myths of the wish granter must be true if this was the source. He makes his way up, kneels down, and wishes the first desire to come to mind. His wish to live forever surely would be granted, but not in a way anyone would expect; Aleksandr slowly turns in to a statue, so he can be "alive" forever.
The irony of the wish granter was only part of how unfortunate this was. The radiation had cleared Aleksandr's mind, He awoke days later to a scientist who called himself "C-Conscience" who gave him new instruction. He was given the objective to protect the middle of the zone with his life. Surely he did this, because it is all he knows, he would put all of his effort into it.
One day while he is posted in Yantar, a familiar man walks through. Although Aleksandr can't remember who the man is, he still seems oddly familiar. This man used to be known as Strelok, but has since forgotten his own identity. Strelok was more fortunate than Aleksandr and escaped the fate of being a slave to the zone. They shared the same fate, but while being transported, the truck Strelok was in crash and he managed to escape. With his memory still gone, Strelok planned to make it to the center again since he didn't know he had made it before. Unfortunately for Aleksandr this goal of Strelok's means not letting anyone get in his way, even if violence is necessary.
Aleksandr lifts his gun as if he is going to fire upon Strelok. Strelok doesn't seem to take too kindly to this gesture, so he lifts his gun in retaliation. They both open fire, Aleksandr falls; Strelok is wounded but can still walk. He walks away after taking Aleksandr's possessions.