"WELCOME TO THE RICE FIELDS, MOTHAFUCKA! WELCOME TO THE RICE FIELDS MOTHAFUCKA!"
Yukki and Yuno immediately woke up once they heard the sound of Filthy Frank welcoming motherfuckers to the rice fields while air horns sounded in the background. Sure, it was annoying, but somehow it worked very well. The operator could only laugh as his beloved was freaking the fuck out thanks to his alarm, while his homies - who got a bit drunk last night after having a little party in the living room that the couple missed as they went straight to bed - had begun waking up as well, and were also laughing with him.
"Good morning, you motherfuckers! Rise and shine, it's another day of kicking ass and looting shit!"
"Morning, Yuno."
"Good morning to you too, Yukki, but what the heck was that for?!"
"Get used to it, princess - that's how your man wakes us all up every damn day!"
Anton and Goblin could barely hold their laughter as they tried to get everyone in the room up and out of bed - they still have shit to do today, and the first on that list was cleaning up the mess in the living room, followed by preparing breakfast for everyone. Yuri then went to the other room to wake Joker, T-Rex, Spartan and Skif, who went to sleep there, while Pennywise and Somali were indulging themselves in a game of chess for some unknown reason, which made Yuno curious.
"Why are they playing chess over there, Yukki? Shouldn't they be getting out of bed and helping out with stuff, too?"
"Don't mind them, Yuno. That's just how they roll every morning. Somali told me once that this was his way of exercising his brain every morning, and that Pennywise would often be the only one who would take him up on his offer, as everyone else would be busy doing other things."
"The two and Goblin were in their high school's chess team, and served in the same unit as I did. It's not surprising, really."
"Really? They didn't look like it to me, but they're definitely close, that's for sure."
Soon enough, the guests began cleaning up their mess from last night, while Anton had the lovebirds make breakfast, suddenly remembering Yukki's old stories of Yuno cooking great meals for him and his late mother. That was during relatively peaceful times, when they had access to fresh produce from supermarkets. Right now, all they had to work with were canned meat and fish, looted military rations, crackers, cereal, frozen meat from random wild animals and the like, with the rare fruit, vegetable and grain serving being marked as to be consumed only once per week. Good thing the crew managed to get themselves some seasonings and spices courtesy of Skier, who had connections to suppliers outside the region. Although there were easier and cheaper means of getting access to such luxuries, he was the only one Yukki and company could trust with giving them access to seasonings and spices at the time. Meanwhile, Anton decided to join Yuri at the intelligence station, who was checking any intercepted communications they might have missed.
Also, Yukki had managed to learn some cooking himself, as he had to, since he grew up basically all on his own, with no parents, other family or Yuno to help him out. The latter was surprised and impressed by her man's cooking skills, which made her mind wander to random places.
"Hey. Yuno. Are you alright?"
He snapped his fingers in front of her thrice, but it failed to get her attention.
"Yuno, are you there? Ah, fuck it."
He slowly inched his face closer to hers, hoping that having their faces so close to each other would snap her out of her stupor. Little did he expect that she would outplay him by slamming her lips onto his. He didn't have time to pull away, so all he could do was kiss back and raise his right hand, with the thumb up.
"So, what'd you think? Was it good, baby?"
"Yep! And it's not just because you made it for me and the guys, it's because you nailed it, darling!"
"Glad you liked it. I actually spent many years getting this shit right, so hearing that you of all people liked it makes me feel much better about myself."
"Hey, Snowman, is breakfast done yet? I see you two are a little bit busy flirting over there."
"Yeah, I'm just letting it cool a bit. She's almost done with her part of the meal, it just needs a bit more time on the pan."
As the other operators were busy preparing for breakfast, Pennywise and Somali had finished their little game of chess, with the latter getting the checkmate on his old friend. At the intelligence station, Anton was busy talking to the Mechanic on the phone, which had something to do with the job the former and the lovebirds did last night, while Yuri just came back from outside, as he made sure that the bunker's lines of communication were in good shape.
"So, is it done, Foxhound? Are the jammers in place yet?"
"Yes, we put them in place last night. Hell of a night that one was, as we had to kill a bunch of fucking Scavs at the resort, and then the raiders showed up, probably to dispose of shit USEC failed to whisk away or destroy, so we had to deal with them too. When we reached the weather station, we had to clear the place out as those fuckers were also trashing the place. It got to the point where we almost lost Snowman, but luckily his girlfriend came charging in to bail him out."
"Wait, did you say 'Snowman' and 'girlfriend' in the same sentence, Foxhound?"
"It's a long story, that bit, but yeah, she was with us there. Once all the Scavs were done for, I activated the jammer and put it at the base of the antenna. We already jammed the one at the resort beforehand, and after having to clear a Scav roadblock on the road to the terminal, we then went to the tower and activated a jammer there."
"Alright, alright. I've noticed that the network operation has gone steady. I'll try to find those vermin there. I've also sent a runner to your hideout carrying your reward, he should be there in a while. You'll know it when you see it. I'll call you again once I'm done with some stuff over here. Take care of yourselves down there, and tell Snowman that we should talk."
"Got it. Take care."
As soon as Anton put the phone down, Yukki called everyone to the table - breakfast was served. Beside him, Yuno was uncharacteristically nervous, thinking of what would happen if her man's comrades didn't like her cooking at best. He grabbed her hand and spoke to reassure her that it'll end up okay in the end, while mentally noting that it was very unusual for her to be this nervous about other people's opinions on the things she can do.
Wait a minute, Yuno actually gives a shit about what everyone else thinks of her now? Just what the hell happened to her?
"It's fine. Mom and I love your cooking, so I'm definitely sure the boys will like it too. Don't worry about it, baby."
The runner sent by the Mechanic arrived just as the operator was done talking to his beloved. Anton answered the door while Yuri covered him, with his sidearm on standby. The runner didn't take long to hand the package over, as he also had to deliver goods to the Mechanic's other customers. The package contained a full-length Remington Model 870 pump-action 12 gauge shotgun, at least RUB32,000 in cash, around forty 12 gauge buckshot shells, and a maintenance kit which also included the shotgun's instruction manual, which was translated into Russian from the English original.
"What is it, man?"
"We just received a package from the Mechanic as a reward for the antenna jamming last night."
"Oh. What's inside?"
"Some cash and a Remington 12 gauge with forty shells and a maintenance kit. He also told me that you two should talk."
"Nice. Is it about Yuno?"
"Well, it looks like it. He was shocked when I told him that she went in with us."
As he should be. Heh.
"Alright, I'll answer the phone the next time he calls, we haven't talked in a while. Come here, breakfast is ready. It's really good, I'm telling you."
Once everyone was at the table, they all said grace in whatever form they were comfortable with. After that, the operators began digging in, making sure to try out the stuff Yuno cooked first - they've all gotten used to Yukki's cooking, which was firmly in "good" territory.
"So, what'd you boys think? Is it good?"
The air got so tense, it felt almost as if they were in a Mexican standoff, while the young woman sat there, anxiously waiting for her man's comrades to say something about her cooking. She felt like she couldn't start eating until she was sure they all liked what she had cooked.
"Well?"
T-Rex acted as if he was about to vomit his food out, but he swallowed it instead, and gave the couple a genuine, approving smile followed by raising both of his thumbs up. The gesture also had the side effect of making the other operators almost choke as they tried to laugh and eat at the same damn time. Yuno felt like she was going to faint from embarrassment, while Yukki just laughed along with his homies. Soon enough, the rest of the crew began voicing their genuine approval of her cooking, which made her let out a heavy sigh of relief once her boyfriend translated their remarks for her.
"They're all saying the same thing: 'This is good!'"
"Really? That's great! Thank you very much, guys!"
Only then did the couple start eating breakfast, wasting no time to catch up with the operators. Besides, all the shit the two had to do last night - the fighting and fucking, to be exact - made them hungry, and not even the snacks they ate while they were outside were enough.
"Slow down, you two, you might choke on the food!"
It didn't take long for everyone to start talking about random things at the table. From the operators' current missions in the region, to their personal lives, to the shit they've seen in the Russian Wild West so far, and everything else in between, they all talked about whatever came into their minds.
"We haven't received any word from HQ yet, and all our mutual contacts haven't talked to us either, but one of our informants have pointed us towards a TerraGroup shipment somewhere in the city proper, not far from the entrance to the company's laboratories, where Skif's squad got wiped out. He told us it might have something important inside, so important that apparently company executives were pissed that USEC somehow forgot to secure it. And he also told us that the raiders might have been directed by the company to locate it and either get it out if they can, or destroy it if they can't."
"That means you guys are running against the clock, right?"
"Yeah, and one reason for our trip to the Reserve Base was that we heard that someone hanging around there might know exactly where it was. Turns out that by the time we got to the place, they weren't there. Do you think Peacekeeper or Skier know about it, Foxhound?"
"They never told me anything about something like that, and if they did, we'd definitely tell you first."
"Figures. How about you guys? What do you have to do next?"
"Well, Ragman just called last night, he said something about some urgent business we have to take care of at the mall. He never said anything in particular, but from the way he spoke, I'm pretty sure it has something to do with that fucking bitch Killa."
The others could feel the contempt coming from Anton's mouth as he uttered the bastard's name. Yuno held Yukki's hand as she could see him tremble upon hearing the dreaded murderer's name being uttered.
"Yeah, that fuck needs to go down soon. T-Rex and Joker almost died to that piece of shit, luckily they managed to get down just in time. Hope you guys get his damn head on a plate soon - I can't imagine that fucking shit running around inside the mall any longer."
"We'll get him. And I'm gonna make sure his ugly fucking head will decorate the entrance. Right, Yuno?"
She nodded to Yukki in response, despite the question being in Russian, which she doesn't understand yet.
"Alright. What else do you guys have to do?"
"Jaeger called before Ragman did, he said there's this guy in the Woods fucking his shit up. He said the guy's known as the Navigator, and he runs around with a crew of eagle-eyed marksmen."
"Oh, the Navigator? We thankfully never got to engage him or his gang whenever we went to the Woods, but I did hear from locals that we should be very careful when we go there, as we might end up being target practice for him and his boys."
"Yeah, and you guys should, too. How are you going to take them down, by the way?"
"The game plan so far is to not get spotted from afar and hit them up close, preferably through an ambush. Easier said than done, I know. We told Yukiteru here that he should try and out-snipe the Navigator and his boys, but he doesn't feel he's good enough to do so."
"What'd he say about you, Yukki?"
The operator leaned into his beloved's ear and whispered his answer.
"I told them that I don't think I'm a good enough marksman to take Shturman and his goons out from a distance. And I'll be honest with you, that's how I actually feel about my long-range skills."
"Don't put yourself down like that, darling. I know you're much better than you think you are. You can do it. I believe in you."
"Really now?"
The others turned their attention to the lovebirds, apparently wanting to know what they were talking about.
"Oh, it's nothing. Nothing, really."
"Yeah, sure. Anyways, how'd you two meet and end up together, Snowman? I haven't really gotten around to asking you that question until now."
Yukki took a look at Yuno, as if to ask her if he should answer the question. She nodded in agreement, trusting her man to tell the truth to Skif, who like the other operators that came yesterday never got to talk to Yukki about how he and Yuno ended up together. By then, everyone was already done eating, with their stomachs basically telling them to wait until lunch to eat again.
"Well, it looks like I have to do this shit then."
He took a deep breath, took Yuno's hand, and exhaled audibly, which let the others smell his odorous breath, prompting the operators to laugh, while the young woman just blushed in embarrassment. Anton and Yuri excused themselves to drink some water and get back to work, having heard Yukki's story multiple times over. And once the rest of the BEAR guys were done laughing, he then began talking.
"It all began sometime in primary school, around early fifth grade, long before the whole shitshow that fucked my old hometown up happened. I was already quite the loner back then, with few friends who'd want to hang out with me anytime we wanted to. One day we were all fucking around in the cafeteria when I suddenly bumped into her. I instinctively apologized and went to help her with the stuff she dropped. That was when I saw her face, her eyes, her hair - I was immediately stunned by how cute she was. As I let her eat alone in peace, my friends teased me about the whole thing without end. As it turned out, she was in the exact same class that me and my friends were, which made my heart skip a beat when I thought about it. After the go-home bell rang, I went to her and apologized for what happened earlier once again, and then she decided that it would be great if we introduced ourselves to each other, so I did. As the days went on, me and Yuno got closer to each other, with her ending up joining my rather small circle of friends, who wouldn't stop pairing the two of us together every single time we hung out."
Yuno could only nod in agreement, knowing that Yukki was telling the other BEAR operators what really happened, despite not knowing a single word of Russian.
Mako-chan... Junji... Daisuke... Kenta... Tetsu-kun... I wonder how you guys are doing...
"The fact that she didn't protest or otherwise indicate that she was against it clued me in that she saw me more than just a close friend. However, she told us once that her super-strict mom cautioned her against entering a relationship so early, so we shouldn't worry about relationships breaking the fellowship apart at all. While that may have satisfied my friends, deep inside, I was disappointed but at the same time I understood that we should probably have to wait, since we were, like eleven back then. So I decided to just bide my time, get to know her better, get closer to her and confess my feelings at the right moment. As it turned out, she beat me to the punch."
"She confessed to you, Snowman?"
"Yeah. It was around the middle of sixth grade, during a very turbulent time in my life, when my parents were fighting over money and debts and some other shit. I was talking about the shit happening at home with the boys, while Yuno was busy tutoring some female juniors, as she was a consistent honor student and the teachers decided she could help the others out, which would also help her make more friends. Anyway, we've been waiting for her for quite a while, and when she came to our usual meeting room, she singled me out and told me that she needs my help with things. I thought it had something to do with her tutoring, so I excused myself and accompanied her to what turned out to be an empty room. I asked her about it, but she only told me to wait a little bit, so I sat down in the back and waited. After a while, she then approached me and told me all the good things she saw in me, and she thanked me for being a good friend to her. I could see the redness on her face as she told me she loved me, and asked me if we should go out together as a couple. I could only laugh as I thought that she was joking, and I ended up being too busy laughing to tell her that she stole my line. And then I noticed that she was breaking down in tears, apparently thinking that I rejected her confession. I immediately apologized to her before she could run away, telling her that I loved her too and that I was very, very happy to go out with her as a couple. She slapped me very hard on the right cheek before she called me a moron and planted her lips onto mine, which turned out to be our first kiss. And when we got back to the boys, we noticed that we were already holding hands. It didn't take long for them to notice it too, and when they did, they cheered and congratulated us, even jokingly asking about when our wedding would be."
"When is it going to be, though?"
"Hopefully sometime after we get out of this fucking shithole, maybe."
And then the bunker guests all clapped, and laughed afterwards as the conversation went back to their own lives, relationships and the situation in the region. At that point, the couple decided to clean up the table while the boys were busy shooting the shit. Once that was done, Yukki decided to help Yuno wash the dishes, pots and pans, but she told him she could do it by herself, just like she did when she first stopped by his childhood home.
"Suit yourself, then. I'll just go back to the table, shit seems fun over there."
"Whatever you say, my love."
As the operator went back to the dinner table to join in on the fun, the young woman was having a hard time focusing on the stuff she was washing, as she kept on switching her gaze between the dishes and her man, admiring his smile and his laugh. It didn't take long for him to catch her fawning over him, and he immediately reminded her that she wasn't done with the dishes yet, forcing her to giggle as she went back to washing the dishes. This made the other operators laugh even more.
"That's just how she is. I can't blame her, we went through plenty of shit growing up. Anyway, have I told you boys about that time me and some friends in high school got away with fucking up a bunch of gangsters?"
While Yukki was telling his story about him and some high school homies taking on some mobsters and beating them without any repercussions whatsoever, Yuno had just finished washing everything they used earlier, and headed to the bathroom to use the toilet, hoping that she wouldn't end up falling asleep and having another nightmare again. At this point, the bunker phone began ringing. Anton immediately answered it, and he was greeted by Peacekeeper with his distinct Polish accent.
"Foxhound, it's me. How are you doing down there?"
"Oh, it's the Peacekeeper. Well, we're doing fine so far, although Brown Bear got hit earlier in the day, so he had to stay behind. Have your guys secured the trucks yet?"
"Good to hear it. And yes, we got the trucks back, thanks to you. Although you were a bit too late in getting to the truck near the terminal, the one inside the resort had its supplies mostly intact. I presume it's because of the MREs I had you obtain as proof. Am I right?"
"Yes, we have them here, still unopened. How are we going to give it to you?"
"I've sent one of my couriers to your place earlier, he should be there any minute from now. Give them to him, and take your reward. I assume you don't need to be reminded that all this business is only between us. I'll contact you again if I need you. Now take care of yourselves over there."
"Thanks. Same to you."
If only you knew who went in with us last night.
As soon as Anton ended the call, Yukki went over to the intelligence station and asked him about what Peacekeeper told him.
"Nothing, just the usual shit, you know, asking about the shit we did for his lazy ass last night. Also, he sent one of his boys our way to collect the MREs he wanted as evidence."
"Alright. I'm gonna go get 'em."
He then went back to the stash and took out the MREs they took last night - all fifteen of them. After putting everything else back inside, Yukki went to the door, with rations in his arms, and waited for the courier to arrive. Only Yuri noticed Yuno go back inside the main room, as everybody else was either busy talking to each other or doing their own shit. It didn't take long for Peacekeeper's man to arrive, and when Anton opened the door, they were greeted by a shabbily-dressed young man with a weathered AKM hanging from his shoulder, carrying a big grey bag behind him.
"Do you have the rations?"
"Yes."
Yukki then handed the courier the ration packs one by one, but then he stopped taking them after only five packs before handing them the reward money - $900 in cash.
"He says you can keep the rest. Have you not read his message?"
"Oh yeah, I forgot."
"Anyway, I've been hearing rumors of some strange shit happening in the old village not far from the resort, and I think I saw Peacekeeper texting someone about it before he sent me to you. I guess that it might be the next thing he wants you to check for him. If he calls you within the next few days, it's probably about it."
"Alright, thanks for the heads up. Take care."
"You too - like I said, there's some strange shit happening out there."
As soon as the courier was out of their sight, Anton and Yukki went back inside and closed the door, with the latter moving towards the kitchen to store the remaining ration packs in the pantry. Meanwhile, Anton relieved Yuri, who had been searching the airwaves for important communications from all the major factions in the region for days now.
"Sure thing, just don't forget to let us know if something important comes up."
It was Yuri's turn to hang out with the boys as he took Yukki's seat, the latter deciding to go to the stash once he was done putting the MREs away. He then picked out two MP5 sub-machine guns - the same model as the ones he and Yuno used against the Eleventh's goons all those years ago - along with four extra thirty-round magazines, which were fully loaded. After that, he grabbed a Stechkin automatic pistol, a fully loaded extra twenty-round magazine for it, and its holster, which also doubled as a detachable buttstock, remembering that Yuri told him to teach her how to use the weapon yesterday. He then took two Crye Precision AVS armored rigs before heading to the firing range and placing all the stuff he took on the table to the right of the door, with the guns' muzzles pointing towards the wall. On his way to the main room, he was questioned by Yuri, who noticed him taking all that firepower from the stash without telling anybody while he was joking around with the other BEAR operators.
"Hey, Yukiteru, what was all the stuff you took from the stash for? Are you going to teach Yuno again?"
"Yeah, sorry if I forgot to tell you guys beforehand. Thought I'd give her a little trip down memory lane with those MP5s. And you did tell me to teach her how to use the Stechkin yesterday."
"Oh yeah, I did tell you that. Also, about the MP5s, you're talking about that time the two of you helped local cops take down your old hometown's corrupt mayor, right? You told us that they were so short on men from all the shit happening then that they had the two of you join them and gave you MP5s in exchange for clearing your names of all previous charges, didn't you?"
"Yeah, that too. Is she still in the bathroom?"
"I saw her head inside the main bedroom after she was done with her business, but I didn't get to ask her what was she doing there. Anyway, you might wanna let the boss man know that you're gonna teach your girl again."
"Alright, alright."
Upon opening the door, he saw her messing around his personal files, with some papers and photos scattered on the floor behind her. On closer inspection, he found that she had already gone through his post-catastrophe middle school and high school papers and photos. He could only shake his head as he thought of what she'd do once she confronts him with what she saw.
Well, shit. How am I gonna tell her the truth about everything? Ah, fuck it.
"Hey, Yuno, what are you doing? Curiosity got the better of you?"
"Yukki! How long have you been standing there?"
"A few minutes, probably."
He then picked the papers and photos up from the floor, sat on the bed and motioned for her to sit beside him.
"I'm pretty sure you have a lot of questions after rummaging through my stuff, so I guess I should take the time to answer all of them. We still have a lot of catching up to do, after all."
She then showed him around five photos of him, taken from different periods in his life, with at least one attractive young woman next to him, none of whom were Yuno.
"I'm gonna go straight to the big questions, darling, so answer me honestly: Who are they? Have you dated at least one of them, and for how long? Are you cheating on someone with me right now? Answer me, Yukki!"
What the fuck?!
She took a closer look at one of the young women photographed with her man, and she almost jumped back when she recognized her.
"Moe-chan? You dated Moe-chan, Yukki? How could you? Why? Why?!"
The operator took a deep breath, waited for a few seconds and exhaled before he began talking.
"That's not me, that's George, a guy I frequently hung out with whenever I we-ah, who am I fucking kidding? Seriously though, I told you I tried to move on from all the shit that happened, and starting a new relationship is part of the process. And in retrospect, maybe I should have consulted a shrink before I even thought of returning Moe-chan's feelings. Don't you remember when she told you that she was hesitant to tell me she liked me because she didn't want to ruin our relationship, and your friendship with her?"
"I remember it all too well, my love. It was when you two had to go buy supplies for the class's school festival display, and I was sent home by the teacher due to my dead folks' curfew."
"Yeah, and you even stalked us in that fucking stupid bunny suit."
"Wait, how did you - oh, yeah, right. Enough about that, how did you and Moe-chan end up being together? And how long did you two last?"
"I'll just say we reunited at the start of my second year in high school, which was my first academic year back from the Philippines, where I finished middle school and the first year of high school at a university around thirty-five kilometers south of Manila. Anyway, me and Moe-chan were among a few hundred ex-Sakurami refugees who were enrolled there, mostly in our batch. Somehow I also reunited with Junji and Kenta there, and it was just my luck that all four of us were in the same class together. The first thing they asked me after we were done catching up was, 'Where's Yuno? What happened to her, Yukki?'."
"So, what did you tell them? And where have they been the whole time we were fighting for our lives?"
"I told them - with tears falling down my eyes - that you disappeared into the chaos, and I was afraid that you might have already died."
Well, you did die back then. Twice, both by your own hand, even.
"They consoled me as I told them a cover story about us getting separated as we were both trying to skip town to reach safety. Junji moved away with his family after the sixth grade, and Kenta had to study in Canada due to his dad's job. As for Makoto, Daisuke and Tetsuya, they told me that the first two moved to Io-uh, I mean, Okinawa with their aunt after grade school, while Tetsuya stayed in Sakurami and studied at a different school. As soon as the Survival Game-slash-Days of Horror began, his family moved to Tokyo."
"That's good to hear, but I think we might have gotten a bit too far from what we're supposed to be talking about."
"Oops, my bad. I got a bit carried away while talking about the boys."
He then took another deep breath, exhaled and waited for a few more seconds before continuing.
"Anyway, it didn't really take long for me and Moe-chan to get closer to each other, seeing as we were already friends back when me and you were actively dating in secret. She talked about you and her friendship with you quite often, and sometimes she told me some stuff about you that you never let me know about for some reason."
"Like what, Yukki?"
"Well, she told me that you regularly asked her for advice on how to deal with guys trying to confess to you without knowing that me and you are a thing. And she also told me that you confessed to her and your friends about accidentally getting your folks killed, and they all promised you to not tell anyone about it. And then there was-"
"The time I straight up admitted to her the truth about the Survival Game and the fact that I killed and replaced myself a few days after I stalked the two of you when you went shopping for supplies, and comforted me by saying it will be fine, because one way or another, me and you will be together?"
"You took the words right out of my mouth."
After a few more minutes of talking about Yuno's old friend, Yukki then revealed that she confessed to him again in the middle of the school year.
"So, how'd you react? Did you laugh at her confession just like how you laughed at mine?"
"Unfortunately, yes, since I had also fallen for her at that point, and she beat me to the punch by a few minutes. Unlike you though, she just laughed along with me for a bit, and then she just slammed her lips on mine. For a few moments after that I saw Moe-chan morph into you, while she just asked me if I was fine. She then hugged me and thanked me for being with her for the past few months before that. We then looked up at the sky, thinking of you, and wished you were watching us from somewhere in the great unknown, being happy for us. She never knew the details, but when we reunited, she knew what it meant when it came to your fate. She only had good things to say about you, Yuno."
"Really? I never thought... Anyway, have you told her exactly what happened to me?"
"She never asked, and I never got to tell her. Until a while after we broke up, anyway."
"Oh. So how long did you two last? And how did you guys break up?"
"We stayed together for like around four years, give or take a few months. It went smoothly during the rest of high school, but shit started going downhill when I joined the Ground Self-Defense Force and barely managed to stay in touch during boot camp. Nevertheless, whenever I could scrounge up some days off or time off duty, I'd regularly talk to her on the phone if I couldn't spend time with her. And then I got deployed to Libya as part of the Self-Defense Force's contribution to the UN-organized international stabilization force sent to keep the peace after the civil war there."
The operator then stopped to take another deep breath, knowing that he would be bringing back the bitter memories of his formal baptism of fire.
"Are you alright, Yukki?"
"Honestly, I don't know, and I don't think I can continue to expand on this shit further. All I'm gonna say for now is that Moe-chan and I broke up just as I was leaving for my second UN deployment a good while after we came home from Libya. I could still remember the words she said as I packed my stuff."
You know, Yukki-kun, I suddenly realized that I no longer have the strength to carry on living like this. Really. I can't pretend that everything is alright everyday, knowing what happened to your comrades over there. I'm afraid that one day I might not be told where your grave is - if you even had one. Sure, I can beg for you to stay, but you'll just carry on and do your duty anyway. You're gonna put yourself in the line of fire again, for the sake of people who might be indifferent towards you and your comrades.
All I want to say right now is that I'm ending this whole thing between us to spare myself from all the fear, anxiety and pain. And I don't think we can still be friends after this. Goodbye, Yukki-kun. I hope Yuno-chan finds her way back to you from the afterlife soon, because I really can't take all of your shit anymore.
"Last I heard she went on to study medicine in Canada, where she became a neurosurgeon. She's currently dating a homie I went to boot camp and deployed to Libya with. He got out not long after we all got back home, and he's currently making a living as a big-time professional gamer in the US, where the two of them are now based."
"Oh, okay. Good for the two of them, I guess."
"Anyway, I'll talk about the others later. Let's go to the range, I got some shit to show you."
"Whatever you say, darling."
Upon leaving the main room, the two were met by a chaotic scene as the other BEAR operators apart from Skif, Anton and Yuri were scrambling to gear up as fast as possible.
"Goblin, what's going on? Where are you guys going?"
"We just received new intelligence from our informant - he says he found the exact location of the TerraGroup shipment we told you about. He told us to hurry, as the USEC operators protecting it when it got stuck were already under attack from both raiders and Scavs as he was talking to us."
"Alright, get going, time isn't on your side. Be careful out there. Good luck."
"Same to the two of you."
The rest of Goblin's team didn't have time to bid the bunker's residents goodbye as they immediately left through the now-opened bunker door once they were all done checking their weapons and equipment. While Yuri and Skif went to close the bunker door after them, Yuno followed Yukki to the shooting range after the latter informed Anton about what he was gonna do there.
"What was that all about, darling? Why did your guys just leave like that?"
"He said their informant had told them the exact location of the shipment he talked about earlier, and that they had to hurry, as it was being fought over by Scavs, raiders and the USEC operatives protecting it."
"Oh. Anyway, what are you going to show me here, again?"
"Look at all the stuff on the table."
The operator pointed out the guns, ammo and gear on the table to the young woman, who realized that he was going to teach her how to use the stuff in his arsenal again.
"Yukki, are those..."
"The one and only. Heckler & Koch MP5A5, chambered in 9x19mm Parabellum, weapon of choice for counter-terrorism and VIP protection units everywhere. Thought I'd teach you how to make use one of these bad boys like the pros. And that's a Stechkin automatic on the table, just like the one Yuri gave you yesterday."
He then took one MP5 and passed the other to the young woman fawning over him, before putting on the earplugs and headphones they used yesterday. Afterwards, he inserted two extra magazines into one of the rigs on the table, and then gave the rig to the young woman, who then put it on without needing his assistance. He then took the remaining magazines, put them in the other rig, and put that rig on himself. He then handed her a pair of impact-resistant glasses, telling her that they're supposed to be worn at shooting ranges to protect the shooter's eyes from ricochets, hot brass, gun parts, and dust.
"I also think you look cute in those."
"Really? I'm flattered, darling..."
The operator then motioned the pinkette to watch the gun and his left hand as he went over the basics of how the weapon worked, and he began by telling her how to change magazines from empty.
"Now, the gun in your hands is empty. You need to change mags. First, you pull the charging handle back with your left hand, lock it open with the notch there - see where my index finger is pointing at? - and pull the empty magazine out while pressing on this thing here with your thumb. After that, pull a fresh, fully loaded magazine out of your rig or pocket or whatever, insert it in the magazine well until it's locked, indicated by a click, and then release the charging handle, either by pressing it down with your left thumb, or by slapping it down. Alternatively, you can just do the magazine switching before just pulling the charging handle back and letting it go as it loads a round into the chamber. Just be advised that inserting a magazine without pulling and locking the charging handle back first is a bit harder. Or, you can take out the empty magazine before locking the charging handle back."
"Got it, love."
"Alright, baby. I'm gonna engage those targets until I have to reload. Watch and learn."
He then took the safety off, set the fire selector to semi-automatic, and started double-tapping the steel targets in front of them. After that, he switched the fire selector to the three-round burst setting and began working the targets again. Once he was done, he switched the fire selector to full-automatic and sent the remaining rounds in his magazine towards the most distant target. Once the sub-machine gun clicked empty, he put the selector switch on safe, pulled the charging handle back with his left thumb, locked it, pulled the old magazine out, put a new one in, and slapped the charging handle down, which made it move forward once it was free from the notch at the back.
"See that? Looks cool, right? Now, try engaging the targets like I did."
She then did as he told her and engaged the targets, except she engaged the farthest one first and the nearest one last, before dumping the last few rounds on the middlemost target once she switched the fire selector to full-auto. She then put the selector switch on safe and did what her man did, albeit at a slower pace, as she had to make sure she didn't fuck up in front of him.
"Okay, good job, although you might wanna speed that up a bit. You can't afford to take too long reloading in a real combat scenario, especially when you don't have a loaded sidearm on you. What's holding you up, Yuno?"
"Uh, I think that's just my whole inexperience with actually wielding this weapon the way professionals like you do, Yukki. The last time one of these ran dry on me, I just threw it away, remember?"
I didn't even have any extra magazines to reload with!
"I know, I know, and that's why we're doing this shit. Practice makes perfect, and you already nailed it, you just need some more practice to gain some speed. Anyway, if you wanna keep on practicing with the MP5, there's a bunch of 9mm ammo in the box over there, you can refill the mags with them. Just don't use too many - we kinda need the ammo."
The young woman took his advice and continued practicing with the sub-machine gun until she was satisfied with how she handled it.
"Alright, my love, I think I'm done with the MP5 for now - anything else I can try?"
The operator then took the Stechkin automatic and explained its background and operation to her, advising her to listen to him and focus on the weapon.
"I don't even know why Yuri still has one of these - it has been long superseded by better machine pistols and the AKS-74u."
Once he was done, he had her shoot it in semi-automatic without the holster-stock attached to get her used to the big, heavy pistol's recoil. After that, he had her fire the pistol with the holster-stock attached to let her feel the difference. Once the magazine was empty, she reloaded it the way her man showed her - push the button at the bottom, pull the mag out, insert another one in, and pull the slide back, letting go when it can no longer be pulled further.
"So, what do you think? Is it better with the stock, or without it?"
"I guess it's... better with the stock, maybe?"
"Okay. Now here comes the fun part. Put the selector switch to full-auto, aim at the target and brace yourself. Open fire at my signal."
"Got it, darling."
As soon as he gave the signal, the young woman pressed the trigger and let loose, without letting go of the trigger. Once the shooting stopped, the two saw that there were a lot of bullet holes downrange, but fortunately, nothing important was hit.
"Sorry, Yukki, I got a bit carried away there."
"It's okay, Yuno. This motherfucker may not be controllable in full-auto, but it is fun to shoot that way. Can't say I'm surprised you didn't ever let go of the trigger. Alright, refill the mags from the box over there, and go for short, controlled bursts instead."
"Like, two to three or four rounds per trigger pull, my love?"
"Yeah. Like that."
"Got it."
She didn't waste any time refilling the pistol's double-stacked twenty-round magazines with 9x18mm Makarov rounds from the box once she found it. Once she was done, she went back to her starting position, reloaded the pistol, braced herself and waited for the operator's signal to fire.
"Ready? Okay, fire!"
Once the last syllable left his mouth, the pinkette began sending burst after burst of 9x18mm downrange, making sure that at least one round out of three would hit the target. She kept at it until both magazines ran dry, with the operator impressed by how she ended up getting at least two rounds to hit per target, when he could only muster up one hit per target whenever he decided to do short bursts with the machine pistol. He didn't say a word as he patted her head, which she took as his way of silently praising her performance.
"Okay, now take all the gear off - we'll shoot some other guns later."
"Whatever you say, sweetie..."
The young woman then began taking her gear off as the operator waited for the weapons to cool down so he could begin cleaning them. Once she was done, she then stuck around and watched as her man disassembled both sub-machine guns and the machine pistol so he could thoroughly clean them all up. It took him around ten minutes per gun to clean and reassemble them, making sure that his girlfriend could see exactly what he was doing.
"Oh, so that's how it's supposed to be taken apart..."
"If you wanna know more, the instruction manuals are in the bookshelf near the workbench - they've all been translated to English. Come on, let's go."
After he was finished, he was surprised to see that there were no lubricant or cleaning fluid stains on his clothing, and that their clothes didn't smell of propellant or the other two chemicals mentioned. He grabbed all the guns and gear from the table, and then he had the pinkette open the door and get out first. Once Yuno was outside, Yukki then closed the door after him before motioning for her to accompany him to the stash to put the guns and gear back to where he took them from.
"I just realized that you keep a lot of firepower and equipment, my love - are you trying to build your own army over here or something?"
"Not really. We keep them there so that if we somehow lose our shit out there, we still have gear we could use to keep going at it."
"Oh, okay. I understand."
The couple then went to the dining area to check if there were still enough leftovers for lunch, before heading back to the main room to get some more rest, with Yuno opting to take a nap on Yukki's bed while Yukki grabbed his gaming laptop, mouse and headphones from his footlocker and went to the table nearby to relax himself by playing games on the laptop. As the connection in the bunker was needed for more pressing matters, he was restricted to playing only in single-player for the time being. He couldn't focus on playing through the campaign from the 2019 reboot of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare as he kept switching his view between the screen and Yuno, who looked cute to him while she slept. After a while, he decided to quit the game and play some modded Doom instead, but he had to go and use the toilet first, forcing him to leave the room.
It didn't take long for the young woman to get up from her nap, to find herself alone in the room. She then noticed that her boyfriend's laptop was open, which made her curious. Soon enough, Yuno found herself going through Yukki's digital files, ranging from his official documents and records, to school works and projects, to his folder full of various memes he had collected throughout the years, to his sizable porn collection, with the last one's contents making her insecure about her petite yet well-endowed figure. And then she found a folder labeled "GoPro", which turned out to be a repository for all the footage he had captured with various helmet cameras all throughout his time with the Ground Self-Defense Force, along with some footage which was taken more recently.
Yuno then found a note Yukki made which basically said that she shouldn't fuck around with his files without his permission, and that she shouldn't really watch all the helmet camera videos without him to explain shit. And as she found a folder containing what was described as captured enemy footage, she heard the door open, followed by the voice of her man singing a happy-sounding tune with some rather depressing lyrics.
I live in a constant state of fear and misery
Do you miss me anymore?
And I don't even notice when it hurts anymore, anymore, anymore, anymore
"Well, looks like my princess has awoken from her nap. Did you get curious about my shit again, Yuno?"
"Yukki, I-"
"Nah, I understand. But I think now's not the right time to look into those. So unless you want me to teach you how to play the games I have installed on this laptop, you might want to get off the chair and sit on the bed instead."
"What if I told you that I wanted to try out the games you have installed on that laptop?"
Yukki then grabbed the chair next to Anton's bed, and sat down next to Yuno after placing it beside the chair she was currently sitting on. He then closed the Doom mod launcher he had opened before he went to the toilet, deciding that he'd humor her and teach her how to play the games on his laptop instead.
"So, what game do you want to play first?"
"I think I would like to try this one out."
"Oh, really? You want to try STALKER? That's some real old-school hardcore shit right there. Are you sure you want to try it out?"
"Would I have chosen it if I didn't?"
And then the door opened, with Yuri poking his head through.
"You can play games later, you lovebirds. Come here - Ragman's calling, and he wants to talk to you."
"Alright, just let me turn this off for a bit."
It didn't take long for Yukki to turn his laptop off as Yuno just looked on, confused about what's happening.
"What is it, Yukki? Why did you turn it off?"
"We got business to do, Yuno. I'm gonna have to talk to someone important over the phone."
"Alright. But promise me you'll teach me how to play that game later, okay?"
"I promise. Now let's go."
The two immediately went to the intelligence station where they found Anton holding out the phone towards Yukki, prompting him to take it and start talking, while Yuno just stood there and listened despite not understanding anything they were saying.
"Snowman here. What do you need, man?"
"Well, here's the thing, you know there's this stylish asshole in Ultra strolling around, securing supplies and gunning everyone down on the spot, right? You know, the piece of shit people know only as Killa?"
"Yeah, what is it?"
"I need you to get rid of him once and for all."
And so it begins. I'm gonna get your ass this time around, you son of a bitch. I'm making you pay.
"Folks out there are fucking scared of him and he's been hurting my operations here pretty badly. Tell you what, you get rid of him for me and I will get you a nice, remarkable outfit so you could give it a proper use. And I assume you have unfinished business with him."
"Oh yes, we do. We haven't gone back to the mall since that fucking bitch killed two of our boys a few days back."
"I wish you the best of luck then. Hit me up when you're done, I still have business to attend to."
"Alright, take care of yourself over there."
As Yukki passed the phone back to Anton, Yuno asked her man what was it all about.
"Ragman just called - he wants Killa dead."
"Why, darling? And is he the same Ragman you told me about last night?"
"Yes, he is. And as Anton told me yesterday, Killa has been scaring customers away from the mall, where Ragman operates."
"Oh, I see."
As soon as Anton was done talking to Ragman, the phone received a text message from Jaeger.
"Be well, soldier. Do you like to go shopping? Well, I used to love it, as we had a shopping center. It felt nice to spend time there, but as everything fell apart, no one had time for amusement anymore, the stores were quickly plundered, and when they didn't plunder them all kinds of scum took over places and claimed them as theirs. I heard that one sat there alone - a former athlete who had racketed before the war - and now that he felt more powerful than ever, he just kills everyone he sees indiscriminately, be they Scavs, civilians, raiders, USECs or BEARs. People call him Killa and he is easily identified by his unique striped helmet, you won't miss it. Get rid of him, and not only will people say thank you, you will also be handsomely rewarded."
"What is it, man?"
"Jaeger now wants Killa dead too - he says he wants us to give him the bastard's helmet as proof."
"Great. What's in it for us?"
"Well, aside from personal satisfaction and the lifting of a heavy burden, he says he'll give us around RUB170,000 and some interesting pieces of information he found a while back, along with a few extras."
"That's good. Has he said anything about the Navigator yet?"
"He said that while he hasn't spotted the Navigator or his boys since the last sighting, his informants have told him that the fuckers were already making their way back to the woods, and they'd be arriving in a few days."
"Alright. Tell him we're going in as soon as we can."
And then Yukki noticed that Skif wasn't around. It turned out that the latter had left while the couple was taking a break in the main room.
"Was he going to pick up the case he hid in Customs?"
"He didn't say anything other than the usual 'goodbye and good luck', but I'm pretty sure that was the reason why he went back out."
"Oh. Did he get to talk with his girlfriend? He told me he was going to talk to her while he was here."
"He did, and that's when Anton and I found out that he knocked her up before he left for the airfield where his team went into Tarkov from."
"Wait, he didn't tell you about it earlier?"
"Yeah. Apparently, his original team leader found out when she sent him a message accompanied by a video, which led him to contact the leader of the reserve team and transfer Skif to them."
"And we know what happened after that."
"What happened to your friend's team, Yukki?"
"Skif's original team was sent in to secure a TerraGroup VIP handling a case containing something of extreme importance. They went into the company's laboratories in the city, and got wiped out. As for the reserve team he went in with to search for the first team, they were wiped out at the factory not far from where I found you. Before that, they lost two guys - one in the dorms and another in the customs building. Skif was the sole survivor."
"Oh."
"Skif left not long after he was done talking to his girlfriend. I'm pretty sure he went back to get the case hoping that whatever was inside it would help him get out of here and come back to her and their child sooner. And if it did contain the smoking gun we needed, we won't have to wait long before we can get the fuck out of here."
"Yeah, I sure hope he did get the goods. But at the same time, there's still a lot of business we have to do ourselves. Starting with putting Killa down once and for all."
"I know, man. I know."
The conversation was interrupted by the sound of someone's stomach rumbling, prompting Yuri to call everyone to the table for lunch, as there were still enough leftovers to eat.
"I'll stay here and keep watch. Save some for me - don't keep all the food to yourselves!"
"Alright. Come on, lovebirds, let's have lunch."
The bunker suddenly felt empty as Yukki and Yuri preferred to keep quiet while eating lunch, while Anton continued to listen in on every radio message he could intercept in the hopes of finding critical information. Meanwhile, Yuno was thinking of something appropriate to say during lunchtime, but all she could think of was Yukki, and how the hell did he end up being who he is right now.
It took the three around fifteen minutes to finish eating, as they all had different things in mind. Once he made sure there was still enough food for Anton, Yuri went to the planning table and grabbed the maps and floor plans needed for their hit on Killa later, while Yukki and Yuno made themselves busy cleaning everything up. After they were done, Yuri called the lovebirds over to the planning table to begin planning their next move as Anton left the intelligence station to grab the food he asked them to save for him so he could eat while he was monitoring communications.
"Alright. This is it. Payback time. We're going in and take that fucker Killa down, and make sure he stays down. Now, here's the thing, according to reports, he isn't really the type to go all over the mall unless he's actively hunting someone down. Rather, he is usually found on the first floor of the mall, around the escalators in the central part, near the Kiba and Mantis stores."
Yuri then drew what an informant had told him was Killa's patrol route onto a photocopy of the first floor plan before continuing.
"Is this his usual route whenever he goes for a stroll?"
"Yes, or at least that's what my source told me. Although he also said that the fucker would sometimes be found somewhere quite far from his usual stomping grounds, mainly because he was pursuing someone who crossed him. So it goes without saying that you should always be very careful when going through the mall, Killa or no Killa."
"Okay. Now where do we go in? And where do we get out from once we're done?"
"Well, there's quite a few ways in, but there's only two directly coming from the tunnels - one is near the road leading to the EMERCOM checkpoint, which this map calls the South-East entry, and another is near the railway, designated as the North-West entry. All other entry routes would be above ground, leaving us vulnerable to attacks on the way. As for the exit routes, we can either leave the way we came in, or try to make a deal with Fence's boys camped to the west, right across the street from the mall and have them let us leave through their routes."
"I guess we should leave from the North-West, near the railway, although I feel like trying to talk to Fence's boys would be a good idea."
"So that settles it, we go in from the South-East entry and leave through the North-West. If you have any more questions, feel free to ask them now - we'll be preparing gear after this."
Yuno spoke up, having been silent throughout the briefing.
"What does Killa exactly look like? I have a general idea of his appearance from what Yukki told me last night, but I just want to make sure that the image in my head is correct."
Yuri then pulled out his phone and showed her a photo of the criminal they were about to hunt down. The figure in the photo matched the description her man told her.
"This photo was taken secretly by one of Ragman's men, who sent it to me while you guys were in the resort yesterday. He barely managed to get away unnoticed. Now if there's anything else you want to say, then go ahead. If not, then head over to the stash and get geared up - this is going to be one hell of a fight."
The young woman remained silent as Yuri went to the intelligence station to talk to Anton about what their game plan was.
"You heard the man, let's go. Clock's ticking."
"Okay, darling."