With each passing day the situation in the Norvinsk region grows more and more complicated. Incessant warfare in Tarkov has sparked massive panic; the local population has fled the city, but those who stayed are looking to improve their fortunes at the expense of others. Having accepted the new reality, savage Tarkov locals - scavengers also known as "Scavs" flocked into well-armed gangs and started the redivision of the city. Nowadays, Tarkov is separated by unseen borders, controlled by different groups. Gain-greedy gunmen would go to any length to have their way, including the murder of civilians and direct confrontation with two private military companies. Tarkov is sealed off by UN peacekeepers and troops from the Russian National Guard and the Armed Forces, supply chains are cut, communication with operational command is lost, and in these conditions everyone has to make his own choices of what to do and how to get out of the chaos-ridden metropolis.

Tarkov city, Norvinsk region. Present time.

The Norvinsk region's Special Economic Zone became a gateway between Russia and Europe. Preferential conditions for large international companies, however, have not only attracted law-abiding businesses, but corporations of dubious intent as well. In Tarkov, one of the largest cities of the region, a transatlantic corporation became the ground zero of a political scandal. Six months later, the political standoff escalated into an armed conflict involving UN peacekeepers, the National Guard of Russia and the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, and two private military companies. The region's borders were sealed off, and those trapped in the middle of this localized flare up were isolated from the outside world.

The confrontation on the edge of darkness.

The most active forces in the Norvinsk region are two private military companies, hired by the sides of the initial conflict. USEC, employed by the notorious TerraGroup international corporation, vigorously engages in armed clashes, hindering the investigation of TerraGroup's activities carried on by local authorities worldwide, especially in Russia and the United States. Moreover, according to numerous foreign and federal intelligence agencies and activist organizations, USEC provides armed cover to illegal work and research of the foreign company, whereas BEAR, allegedly created on direct orders of the Russian government, and despite a formal ban on private military groups in Russia, is employed by the Norvinsk region officials to uncover any evidence of TerraGroup's illicit activities.

"Heads up. At least three Scavs patrolling the gas station, one armed with an AK, rest armed with shotguns, and looking none too friendly. Where are you guys?"

"We're coming to you from your six o'clock, be advised. Hang in there and do not open fire unless you've been fired upon and you have a clear shot."

"Copy that."

I then checked my own AK-74M's magazine.

It was almost empty, owing to the fact that we just blasted through a Scav roadblock at the bridge. Luckily, I still had three fresh magazines in my tactical rig, plus extra ammo in my secure container and backpack.

And in the event that I do run out of ammo, and the guys can't give me any more extras, well, there's a reason I carry around a Gerber Downrange Tomahawk that I stole from a dead USEC operative.

However, that earlier firefight got me a lot of good loot, including an M4A1 carbine, some magazines and ammo for it, a brand new Glock, and a box of grenades. This meant that I don't have much space left in my backpack to stash any more shit I find.

I immediately changed magazines, checked my holstered MP-443 Grach, which also had two extra magazines in my rig, and went prone while waiting for my buddies to arrive.

Then, as I moved closer to our rally point past the rail bridge, it fucking happened again, as it always had for the past ten years..

"Goodbye, Yukki... I... love... you..."

"YUNOOOOOOOO!"

Shit, shit, not now! Aaaaaagh!

"You alright, Yukiteru?"

Their arrival snapped me out of my stupor. I wasn't in our old middle school building, cradling a dying Yuno. I was somewhere within the customs area located somewhere within the sealed-off Russian city of Tarkov.

"Yeah, Yuri, I'm fine, I'm fucking fine, it's just that, uh, I'm having those shitty flashbacks again."

"They're nothing a good bottle and a fucking good session from one of Elvira's shrink friends can fix. Come on, we gotta get outta here fast. Word on the grapevine is that USEC guys are scouring the place."

Anton then motioned for me to take point, with Yuri covering our approach towards the gas station. I nodded and immediately made my way to the barricade near the gas station, with Anton not far behind.

Then, just as I reached the outer barricade, we immediately came under fire from the gas station. The fucking Scavs had already noticed us.

I took aim at the general direction of the Scav fire and sent five rounds flying before got knocked down to the ground by what turned out to be two 5.45 rounds.

I felt my rig and self to see if I got hit. The plates and the rig's ballistic fabric stopped the rounds. But that doesn't mean they didn't fucking hurt. Also, none of the magazine and equipment pouches were affected.

"You alright, Yukki?!"

"Shit! I'm hit, but the bullets didn't penetrate my armor! Cover me!"

Once I was on the ground, Anton and Yuri then started to provide covering fire while I got back up and closed in on the Scavs, being careful not to hit me in the ass.

"Alright, Yukiteru, cover us, we're coming towards you!"

Once I got to cover, I immediately checked if I had any ammo left in my mag and my AK's chamber. I then went and changed mags.

I spotted the Kalashnikov-armed Scav sending burst after burst of 5.45 at my guys. He didn't realize I was there until I was already sending my own bullets toward him.

Your fucking Scav ass is fucking dead, you fucking bitch.

"Omae wa mou shindeiru."

Out of the twelve bullets I sent his way, three bullets went into his right leg, one went into his head, one went into his chest, and the rest went into the gas station proper. He fell over just as he was aiming his rifle at me. The fucker never had a chance to return fire.

Once the Scav fell dead, his buddies turned their attention to me. Buckshot flew over my head as I scrambled to take aim at them from behind cover.

"Shit!"

But then, Kalashnikovs barked from behind me, and soon enough, the shotgun fire stopped. The shotgun guys fell dead, and once they were in my line of sight, Yuri motioned for me to cover him and Anton as they searched the dead Scavs for anything useful that we can still carry.

Which, when considering the size of the bags we carried, and the stuff we looted earlier, wasn't too much. Good thing the Scavs didn't have much on them either, since they carried only some medical supplies, some few thousand rubles on each Scav, random junk we could trade for some good stuff, drinks and food in addition to their guns and ammo.

Yuri and I took everything we looted from the shotgun guys while Anton fancied himself an additional AK. Once we were done looting the corpses and the gas station, we then made our way to the industrial area beyond the wall to the the right by going through the left side of the gas station and continuing down the road before reaching another abandoned checkpoint and going through the hole in the wall there, bypassing what turned out to be a bunch of empty gun and ammo crates. Somebody had been here before us and hid the bodies of the Scavs who usually populated this joint.

Fuckers probably looted everything in sight too.

Upon entering the industrial area, we were greeted by a hail of suppressed fire from our right flank. I then saw our attackers, who appeared to be USEC operatives, open fire and manuever to positions further away from us. We retaliated immediately, forcing them to take cover and retreat. We could only assume that they were also trying to get out of the city, or at least retreat to their hideout. Although we never saw bodies lying around, the blood scattered near their position signaled to us that we at least hit them, and they were forced to limp or drag themselves to safety.

"Anybody else hurt? My right arm got grazed by a 5.56 round or two."

"I'm good, nothing hit me."

"I took one to the arm, but it's not that bad. Cover me, I'm fixing this one."

Yuri then took a first aid kit from his tactical rig and went to work disinfecting and covering up the wound. The bullet was intentionally left in, so that the bleeding doesn't get much worse. He then put the kit back in his tactical rig, switched to the shotgun he got earlier, and took point, heading in the direction of where the USEC operatives were earlier. Anton covered our rear.

Upon reaching the locked gate to our right, we were once again under fire, but this time, we were being shot at by yet another gang of Scavs. We immediately returned fire as we manuevered to retreat back to our entry point. Once the firing stopped, I took point and went to the left hand side of the wall, following the road until we managed to find what appeared to be the exit.

As I opened the door, I felt a familiar presence in the area. I never exactly knew what it was, but it felt like something I was missing for a long time.

"Hey, are you alright? You're staring off into the distance again."

"I'm fine, it's just that I-I-I think have to look for something outside."

"But we're basically out of here, Yukiteru! What are you gonna do?"

"I'll catch up with you guys back at the hideout. You guys go ahead. I need some time alone."

"Well, if that's how things are going to be then. Take care of yourself, bro."

And then I heard a heavy door open, footsteps trail off into a tunnel leading to the city's underground tunnel network before the door closed. They had already went to our team's hideout in one of the few safe parts of the region.

I looked around me, took off my helmet, rolled up my balaclava into a hat, and took the environment in. My gaze shifted up to see a flock of birds fly overhead and into the distant unknown, probably to a safer part of the region. The air was surprisingly fresh for an abandoned war zone. The forests looked absolutely beautiful, with the branches and leaves moving gracefully with the wind.

If not for this entire mess, this abandoned city would be a perfect tourist spot. But the majesty of nature couldn't change the fact that I was missing something this entire time. I then took one last sip from a near-empty bottle of water in my backpack, pulled my balaclava back down, put my helmet back on and made my way out of the industrial area.

And as I went out of the industrial area and back towards the dormitories, I heard what sounded like commotion in the distance.

Fucking Scavs.

Screaming, taunting and cussing along with shooting and the occasional grenade blast increasingly filled the air as I raced across the heights, grass and trees to the scene of the commotion to find out exactly what was going on.

Usually, when this happens, we'd stumble upon a group of Scavs turning on each other, if not two rival gangs fighting over loot and territory.

I found out later that it was indeed a Scav turf war.

But what I eventually found aside from that would not just help me greatly for the entirety of my quest to escape from Tarkov, but change the way my life had been going for the past decade.