You can't be a rookie forever. Although you feel almost as safe as a cockroach in these parts of the Zone, you can't guarantee eternal safety and a steady flow of cash to keep you healthy. Besides, it helps to know a bit more on survival—shooting, hunting, and all that.
Guys like Wolf and Petruha (they both high-tailed it to the center of the Zone when some stalker destroyed that Brain Scorcher thingy) won't be around for long. Stalkers with experience are hard to come by in places such as this where civilization is just across the barricade. We can't stay clear of those damn animals and what if some bandits sneak in, kill whoever's-in-charge, and take over (just like that time when those mercenaries tried to take this camp)? What if Sidorovich would run of out merchandise (which I believe is impossible considering how that fat bastard's got connections all over)? Or worse: what if the Military would conduct a full-scale operation and bring doom on us all? (Those guys are fucking unpredictable!)
Regardless if any of the above does occur, rookie towns like this would disappear and the luxuries of a shared mattress and daily bread would all be gone. It's not that I'm scared of those hypothetical (yet plausible) futures, but rather I'm terrified of what would happen to me if the time comes. I could barely shoot straight!
So I decided to join a raid to clear out some bandits at the old factory up at the Garbage. We pooled together enough to bribe the jarheads at the bridge for a return trip and back. Besides, they say there are a lot of artifacts over there that could make up for what we would lose.
I'm writing this because I might die later in the raid. That's not to say I've already made peace with myself. I don't even know. So if you're reading this, bear in mind that if you plan on staying in the safe zones, you can't be a rookie forever.