"Dammit!" Alexei said, pulling his hand out of the box he was searching. He held his finger close to his face, inspecting his injury. A small ribbon of blood on the tip of his index finger. His first thought was to simply lick the blood of his finger, but his gasmask prevented him from doing so.
"You alright?" Yuri called from the next room. Yuri came walking in a second later, wearing a tattered Russian flag as a poncho over his grey snowsuit.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Alexei replied. Annoyed, he wiped the blood onto his camouflage cargo pants. "It was just a nail or something.
"Ouch," Yuri responded, his eyes wincing behind the two plastic lenses of his mask. "I'm starting to think some guys already hit this place." His long blonde hair shook as he turned his head, scanning the room. "How's Grisha doing?"
"They boy has good eyes," Alexei answered, standing up straight and scooping his Kalash off the ground. "To bad he can't hit shit. A watchman comes running at us, he unloads a whole magazine, doesn't even hit it once."
"That's because I gave him the bastard gun." Yuri said, his mask shifted slightly as a smile came to his face.
Alexei chuckled, "Well we should probably check on him."
The pair walked up the creaky steps of the house to the second floor. 15-year old Grisha was standing near the window, looking out with a pair of binoculars. "See anything boy?" Yuri called out from down the hallway. Grisha turned. Only his blue eyes were visible from behind his balaclava and clear visor gas mask.
"As a matter of fact, I do." He said, the signs of a smile showing from behind his mask. "See its right over there." He handed the binoculars to Alexei and pointed out the window. Alexei didn't even use the binoculars.
"Fuck that," he said, shoving the binoculars back to Grisha. "See that there?" he pointed his gloved hand at the large red-brick structure nearby. "That's called Kremlin, I ain't setting foot anywhere near that."
Grisha's face contorted with frustration behind his mask. "There are three ammo boxes over there in that guardhouse, think of how many military grade rounds are in there!" The boy was adamant. Three boxes was a lot of bullets, enough to set them up for life.
"It does sound tempting." Yuri said, trying to remain somewhat neutral, but still wanting to keep away from the Kremlin.
"C'mon," Grisha said, holding his arms out. "You guys call yourselves stalkers?"
"I can call myself a stalker because I'm not stupid, I'm alive." Alexei shot back, trying to teach the kid a lesson. "When you've been as long as I have—"He stopped short. Three boxes of ammo? A lot of bullets there. He let out a deep sigh, mentally kicking himself. "Fine, let's just get them and get out.
Grisha's eyes widened with enthusiasm. "Let's get going!"
The three descended the crumbling staircase into the living room and then out the door. The sun was at high noon and the skies clear, no storms in sight. Alexei wondered if his son back at Revolution Square even knew what the word "storm" meant.
"So… what's all the fuss over Kremlin?" Grisha asked, trying to pass the time as they walked across the red square. "I mean… everyone says stay away, but why?"
Alexei put his hand on Grisha's shoulder as they walked beside each other. "Don't look, but there is this star on the tippity-top of the building. Anyone who looks at it gets completely mesmerized, you start walking towards it, and all the gates are open. You step inside and they close." Alexei paused for a second, he was starting to scare himself. "Also, you see all the spots where the pavement is torn open, you can see the catacombs of ancient Czars if you look closely. There are ghosts and shit in those holes, we try to stay out of them. And on top of all of it—"
"Shut up!" Yuri interrupted. "You're starting to freak me out." The gang finally reached the guard house, a measly little hut alongside a pile of jagged steel that was once a watch tower. The three rusted green ammo cases sat stacked like a pyramid in the center of the structure. Yuri walked up and began fiddling with the latch. Grisha and Alexei held their guns at the ready.
Suddenly Grisha heard the unmistakable sound of children giggling. His head shot around to look behind him.
"You alright?" Alexei asked.
"It's nothing, I-I thought I heard something."
Alexei cringed at Grisha's words. "Yuri, what's taking so long?" he asked, trying to shake the tension.
"Just about…" Yuri said, pulling up on the rusted latch with all his might, "There!" He exclaimed as the latch clicked and the lid came off. His eyes lit up instantly. The box was filled to the brim with bullets. Grisha and Alexei could not contain their excitement either. They quickly began stuffing their packs with bullets, one box each. They ditched a few tools and filters to make room, they could buy more once they were set.
"Okay, let's go." Alexei said, the men set off at a brisk pace back to the station. They dreamt aloud of what they could now afford. Salt, Soap, toys for their kids, and all the VDNkH tea and mushroom vodka they could drink! The station was almost in view, they could see the distinct M sign.
A sudden boom was heard, the three turned around to find the source, but were greeted by a puff of steam that knocked them over. "Shit!" Alexei exclaimed as he landed hard on the pavement, knocking the wind out of him. Yuri and Grisha were up on their feet in seconds. Alexei gasped for air as he sat up. Finally he caught his breath and looked to Yuri and Grisha. The two stood frozen, their eyes widened in fear. Alexei turned his head in the direction they were looking.
Just above the cloud of smoke was an enormous human like head with short black hair. Its corpse-like mouth twisted in a devilish smile. The steam faded, revealing the full form of this monstrosity. Alexei and Grisha were paralyzed, beholding this creature with fear and wonder. It resembled a large naked man, minus the genitalia. It had to be at least 7 meters tall. The creature looked down at them and reached for Alexei with its giant meaty hands. Alexei managed to muster just enough awareness to dive to the side as the creatures hand hit the ground. The creature shifted its hand across the ground and grabbed Alexei by the legs. He wasn't more than a few feet of the ground when Yuri sprang into action. He fired a shot with his Preved, the .50 caliber bullet lodged itself into the creature's eye. It dropped Alexei and brought its hands to his face.
The stalker scrambled to his feet as Yuri bolted the weapon and prepared to shoot again, Grisha was already running towards the station. "Forget it! Run! Alexei shouted, pulling at Yuri's dirty flag poncho. The two caught up to Grisha at the bottom of the torn escalators.
"Open up! Let us in!" Grisha shouted, he pounded on the sealed doors viciously. Alexei turned his attention to the entrance, the creature was crawling down towards them. The twisted steel of the escalator cut at its hands and knees but it didn't seem to mind. Alexei thought uncomfortably of the creature slipping, sliding down and crushing them. The door was now open, just enough for a man to slip through. Grisha squeezed in followed by Yuri. The door was open a good bit now, and the creature was almost in reaching distance of Alexei. Alexei bolted through the door and dove behind a sandbag wall.
"Idiots! He shouted, seeing how wide open the door was. "Don't you see what's out there?
The doors began closing when one grinded to a halt, the creature's fingers were in the way. The door began to slide open, revealing the twisted smile of the creature. The guards panicked and began shooting. The bullets did nothing as its hand reached forward. The guards backed away, one tripping over a sandbag. The creature picked up the man and brought him, kicking and screaming, towards its mouth. The doors were no longer blocked. The team of men turned the crank as quickly as possible, the door began to close. The creature bit the man in half, sending a spray of blood into the station. The creature gulped the other half down right as the door slammed shut. The station was dead silent for a second. A loud bang was heard, causing everyone to jump back. The bang was followed by another, a third never came.
Alexei looked around, Grisha was here and Yuri was here. As a bonus, they all still had their bullets. A guard looked at the three, his face was pale, his deep brown eyes fearful.
"What the fuck was that thing?"