I must have blacked out during the trip, because I awoke in a dimly lit bunkhouse, a pressure bandage wrapped tight around my torso. The sound of snoring echoed from the other end of the bunkhouse, and outside I could hear laughter and a tune playing on a guitar. I sat up with a groan, and I rubbed my eyes. My pack sat on the floor next to me, my combat jacket lying next to it. I looked down at my chest to see the bandage soaked red, and I winced. With great effort I stood and stretched my arms. The snoring stopped, and some coughing erupted. A bunk creaked and I looked to see an older man climbing out. He rubbed his eyes and looked at me.
"Are you the one they brought in last night?" He asked me, yawning.
I nodded, and asked. "What happened?"
He looked at me as if I was stupid. "You were haemorrhaging blood when they brought you in." He said. "You almost died of blood loss, you're lucky we have such a skilled surgeon."
I looked at him in shock. "I will have to thank him when I get a chance."
The man nodded. "I'm Bear, and you must be…" He trailed off as if my name was on the tip of his tongue.
"Yuri." I said.
He nodded. "That's right!" He pointed to my gear. "You might want to get into your gear, I'll meet you outside and we can go speak to Grouch."
Fully dressed, I met Bear outside the Bunkhouse, which was a crumbling wood structure.
"Welcome to our humble home." He said, raising his arms.
The base consisted of two garage structures, the bunkhouse and a two story house. In the yard between the building a group of Stalkers sat huddled around a campfire, one playing on an aged acoustic guitar. Bear led me over to the group, and he introduced me. Met with a chorus of "Hi's" and "Welcome's," I smiled. Bear said farewell to them, and he led me over to the two story building. We entered through the front door into what would have been a dining room. The Kitchen had been converted into and operating room, and a tall man stood at the sink cleaning tools and blades.
I approached him and said. "Doc?"
He turned and smiled. "Oh, hello. You seem to have made a miraculous recovery. You lost a lot of blood." He said.
"I just came to thank you." I said.
"Not a problem, it's my job." He said.
And with that, I left him to what he was doing, joining Bear at the bottom of the staircase. Bear led the way up, leading me into a well lit room with Radio equipment spanning along one wall. Grouch sat at a desk, messing with a radio.
"Aah, Yuri, you are just in time!" He said, looking intently at the radio. "We sent out a patrol to check out something, and they haven't returned."
Bear left, leaving me with Grouch. "How can I help?" I asked him.
Grouch shook his head. "This radio has given up the ghost, and we need to contact them." He said, looking at me intently. "I need you to visit the abandoned factory north of here. I think there is electronic parts there." He said.
"Okay, when do you want me to head off?" I asked.
"As soon as possible, we need to get in contact with the patrol as soon as we can, they are collecting important information."
"Okay." I said. "Where can I get gear?"
"One of the garages has our Mess Hall in it, the other is the Armoury. Talk to Boomer." He answered. As I turned to leave, Grouch said. "We still need to get you a nickname!"
I laughed and left the room, making my way down the stairs.
The Armoury smelt of melted metal and cordite as I stepped through the door. A man sat at a bench, reloading some empty bullets. I approached him, and he turned, pistol in hand.
"Oh." He said. "It's you."
He replaced his pistol on the bench. "What do you need?" He asked.
"Grouch sent me to get some gear." I replied cautiously. He stood from his stool and he led me over to a group of thick metal cabinets. From one he retrieved and AK-74U, the compact variant of the AK-74, and a .45 Calibre Pistol. He handed them to me, and he retrieved some ammunition.
"This should do. You know how to use it, right?" He asked.
I nodded, grinning slightly.
Bear met me at the gate to the Base compound, holding my pack.
"All your stuff is there and we have given you some extra bandages and med kits." He said, handing me the pack. I shouldered it, and I thanked him for his help.
"Good luck out there, and try not to get shot." He said.
I laughed and I stepped through the rusty gate out into the rough, untamed wilderness of the Zone.
"Be careful of mutants!" Bear called out. "The Abandoned Factory is chock full of them!"
