The caves of Zion made Artyom curious about the person who lived in them. His mind sensed a presence of somebody there. If the evidence from the first cave he entered was anything to by, questions entered his mind. However, he would have to handle this matter alone. Nobody from the caravan and the Dead Horses tribes would understand it. Maybe Cass would, but there are some things that are best left for him to deal with.
Even though his time with Bourbon was only for a moment, the Russian stalker learned to be cautious within these caves. Tripwires attached to grenades, shotguns positioned for the visitor, and bear traps could have ended his life if the experienced stalker had not taught him about being cautious. Though, he was never prepared for mines with automatic sensors. Thankfully, Hunter's armor saved him from the shrapnel of fragmentation.
Now he found himself in this dream-like state, hoping to have contact with the man who could have killed him. His back was on the ground when he saw a tall figure standing over him with his sidearm in his hand. Unlike his previous experience where he saw his face, this man was wearing a heavily armored helmet with green sockets staring at him. "Alright, who are you and why are you here?"
The Russian put out his hands with his palms out. He knew this was just a supernatural state, but he didn't want to make a mistake and get himself killed. "I'm Artyom, I… I don't know how to explain this, but… I entered these caves and somehow found myself brought here."
The masked man paused for a moment. "You're a Russian. I can tell by your accent. What brings a Russian in Zion?"
"I got lost." He answered with an honest heart. "It's hard to explain, but I accidentally got lost. Then I stumbled upon your caves."
"Looking for safety, huh? I can't blame you, the world has changed ever since the bombs fell… before I died." The stranger said. "So how did you die?"
"I didn't."
The man took off his helmet, revealing his face once more and the black hair he saw in his previous encounter. "Figures, I guess I have it bad. How are you able to speak to me when you're not dead?"
Artyom sat up and looked down. "I can sense things - anomalies. You're one of them." He answered. "If you are dead, then I'm exploring the places where you used to live."
"I hope you haven't started looting them."
He shook his head. "No, I'm discovering caches, but I didn't go there for them. I came to find you."
"Really? What brings a good 'ole Russkie in the middle of nowhere just to find a dead man who should have died?"
"Curiosity." Artyom replied. "I've been told that a group of tribals don't like to go in your caves, because they say they're cursed."
The stranger chuckled. "They're not wrong. Those caches are meant for the Mexican kids. They deserve them more than me. I'm long gone."
"Mexicans?"
The man stared at him with surprise, but paused for a moment. "I forgot, you're a Russian. That still begs me to ask, why is a Russian on the west coast? Did they work with the Chinese to take over America?"
Artyom looked down on the ground and rubbed the back of his head. "If I told you, you'd call me insane."
"Kid, you're talking to a dead man who has been lurking around the caves for far too long and has seen things you wouldn't believe."
"Well, I'm from another universe where the bombs fell at a different time."
"Really? That's a new one. I would have thought it be something along my fellow human beings trying to kill anybody who isn't them." He stated. "You said the bombs fell at a different time?"
The Russian nodded his head. "The bombs fell in twenty-thirteen, it's currently twenty-thirty-three. I was very young when it happened." He felt a hand pressed on his shoulder. Then he looked up to see the stranger.
"Looks like that makes two of us. Good to meet you, Artyom. My name's Randall Clark." He introduced himself. "If you're still alive, try to find my body. You probably might find something of use there."
In a blink of an eye, the strange dream-like state ended.
Joshua stood near the edge of the river with his arms crossed. Ever since the caravaneers and their foreigners salvaged the belongings of the old world, they would be traveling together to meet with Daniel and the Sorrows tribe. He would have to do his best to safely escort them through Zion while White Leg scouts stalked God's sacred land without punishment. It would have been better if the Sorrows helped secure Zion, but Daniel's insistence on keeping them away from bloodshed was problematic. He respected him for his willingness to not let the tribes break their innocence, but his pragmatism from his time as the Malpais Legate of Caesar's Legion made him believe it was a foolish endeavor.
His eyes watched the water while he was deep in thought, but then he heard splashing nearby. Somebody was entering the camp. The acting war leader of the Dead Horses reached for his sidearm as he waited for the person to arrive. If it was a White Leg that snuck through, he would be there to bring the wrath of God upon him.
When the person arrived around the corner of the valley, he recognized the Russian armor those Polis Rangers wore. However, this one was carrying several duffle bags and a pre-war rifle with him. As he got closer, Joshua saw it was Artyom who returned to the camp. "You should consider yourself lucky, young man. I would have shot you on sight. Why are you out in the middle of the night?"
Artyom stopped walking towards him and looked back. Then he returned his gaze upon the burned man. "I was exploring. There are rumors that the caves are haunted and I decided to investigate them myself. These are what I found."
"Tomorrow, you and your fellow people will be making their way to the Sorrows tribe. It is best that you do not mention this to them. They consider it a taboo for anybody to enter the places that hold the Father of the Caves." He warned.
"Here's the thing, I got through the traps and…"
"What?" Joshua wondered. "Is there something you wouldn't want to tell me?"
The young man nodded his head. "I might sound crazy if I told you, but… I spoke with him. He's real, but he's merely a man who has found no peace in death." So this is why he was reluctant to speak with him.
The burned man thought upon the matter and smiled underneath all of the bandages that covered his scars. "How were you able to speak with him?"
"Where I am from, there is a group of creatures that have adopted me." Artyom began. "I was young when they took me in, but they were kind to me and they gave me a gift since I was part of it. It allowed me to sense oddities - anomalies as we call it in the Metro. Somehow, it let me talk to the restless soul in those caves."
Joshua didn't know what to make of this, but it didn't matter to him. At best, he didn't want to Daniel's efforts to bring the word of God to the tribals. "This is no concern of mine, but do keep this to yourself."
The young man nodded his head and walked past him with the caches of supplies and weapons he found. He was strange, that was all the former legate of the Legion could really think of him. Just as strange as the old man who was found by Follows-Chalk.
The main group walked through the wild lands of Zion with the Polis Rangers walking ahead of the caravaneers and the stalker. It was awkward that the Dead Horses were close by despite not being seen by the outsiders. Meanwhile, Cass noticed Artyom was tired than what she usually seen of him. The caravaneer's legs moved through the waters of Zion as she noticed several near-naked people waiting for them at the entrance of falling water. "Are they the Sorrows?" She asked.
To the group's surprise, there was a man who offset the tribal appearances of the people he found company in. He was surprisingly handsome for a missionary before she noticed the sub-machine gun strapped to his back. She was looking at a New Canaanite, one who looked just like an average tribal in the wasteland. The black cowboy hat fit well with his red shirt as he raised his head to reveal his eyes. "Hello, Joshua sent word that he'd be sending all of you once you give the Sorrows what we need." The stranger spoke. "I heard that you were attacked by the White Legs, it's not much, but you have my deepest sympathies. I'm Daniel."
Jed Masterson walked up to him with the various tools they needed to find. "It's quite a refreshing sight to see a missionary of the New Canaanites after a long time. I believe you'll need these more than us, especially the lunchboxes."
"What makes you say that?"
"One of our Russian friends managed to go out prospecting and now we have more duffle bags than a caravan should have." He reasoned.
"I will not argue with that." Then he gestured his hand towards him. "Come with us. If you truly want to be safe, join the Sorrows. We won't have to worry about the White Legs coming this far. Joshua and the Dead Horses will be taking care of them while I get these people out."
A loud bestial cry echoed from behind their backs of the group, enough for Cass to turn around and see a pack of mean black beasts that were charging towards them. One of the Sorrows shouted and identified the threat to the people. "Yao Guai!" The rest of the words they followed after didn't click into her mind.
Soon the Polis Rangers moved to the rear of the group and open fired. Ranger Tomilin spoke. "Sparta, to battle!" Among the men, Cass noticed Artyom join them in forming a firing line before they unleashed their firepower across the water. Several bullets that missed their obviously large targets had peppered the water while others fired off shotgun shells and deployed their makeshift weapons.
She was quick to join them as she fired her four-barreled shotgun, letting the large mass of pellets do the damage for her. However, the rest of the caravaneers didn't appear to have the same amount of courage to take on four Yao Guai beasts.
Ricky's cry was quick to summarize the entire situation. "Forget that, I'm out!"
Tomilin ordered the Ranger with the makeshift crossbow on his back. "Grisha, put those fuckers down!" He shouted.
One of the Rangers stepped forward in the shallow water with his makeshift crossbow, aiming his multi-barrelled 'bolts' in the general direction of the predators. Unlike the sounds of the bullets, the bolts whistled out from the barrels and found their way into the large creatures. The first two Yao Guais that approached them, found themselves floating in the river while blood seeped into the clean water. However, the next two were immediate to replace them.
"Keep firing, keep firing!"
Cass slipped four more shotgun shells into the Duplet before considering the extreme option that Artyom had shown him. She readied her arm for the firepower to come and with a single shot, all four barrels emptied their shells as the woman stumbled back by the force alone.
The third Yao Guai succumbed to its wound, leaving the final survivor of its pack to descend upon the reloading Russians. However, Daniel's shouting surprised her. "Waking Cloud, wait-" He never had the opportunity to finish his words when a bald woman charged into the Yao Guai with a claw of a creature in her hand.
When she struck into the bear, the beast found itself surprised as it looked around for its attacker. "You will not hurt them."
The woman watched in awe as the woman from the degenerate tribe rapidly stabbed at the side of the beast. Annoyed by her attacks, the creature turned its full attention towards the woman roared towards her. Then the woman found herself on quick on her feet as the Yao Guai swiped at her, only to back away from the attacks. Yet, this gave the firing line enough time to reload their weapons before blasting away at the creature's flank.
The fighting came to a halt when the dangerous monster fell to its side and floated away. "All of you are lucky." The woman named Waking Cloud said as she walked towards the group. "The Yao Guai are very powerful creatures. You should be thankful we were around to help you."
One of the Rangers, Romanov spoke up. "Your weapon, it's made from their claws."
"Yes. It is how I was able to kill the beast. No war club from the Dead Horses could match with the hunting weapons of our tribe." She answered. "We should get into the camp and let all of you speak with Daniel from there."
As it turned out, Daniel also needed the help of the caravaneers in finding the pre-war equipment to escape the savage White Legs that threaten them. However, the Polis Rangers openly volunteered to tackle the problem with the help of one of the Dead Horsemen to guide them through the land. This gave the group enough free time to interact with the locals of this land.
Stella accompanied Jed as he did his best to trade with the only New Canaanite amongst the tribe. At the same time, Cass was found setting up a tent while annoyed by Ricky's attempts at trying to sleep with him. Despite the man's attitude towards him and his companion, Artyom didn't mind given that she could take care of herself without worry.
What interested the stalker the most was the sheer amount of caves enclosed in this part of Zion. It almost felt like home… almost. The greatest exception to that was the mere fact it was natural and not built by the ancestors of the people who lived in them. He became curious, exploring each cave and getting rid of the traps that lay before him. However, his discoveries came across ancient terminals that had messages that mentioned a man who survived the bombs and endured his hell within this land. Artyom knew it was him that wrote these messages and they were no better than his journal. He would have to keep notes down about the man, but it saddened him that each entry was filled with horror.
Due to the sheer amount of duffel bags he brought to the caravan, Jed handed one to him and it gave him more capacity carry more with him. Without it, salvaging the unused weapons and the extra food would have been limited each time he went into these caves. He even discovered the very armor Randall Clark wore in his supernatural moments with him. The man immediately slipped them into his duffle bag until he heard strange whispering from the corner of the cave.
Artyom had his flashlight on as he became tempted to turn around, but he didn't want to alert his enemies that he knew about them. However, he had an idea which might have worked. With the flick of his switch, the stalker's flashlight turned off before he lowered his night vision goggles over his eyes and looked around. The whispering had gotten closer, but he was met with five people slowly walking out from the corner of the cave.
His eyes found White Legs lurking in the darkness as they became clueless about his true location. Three of them carried melee weapons while the other two carried sub-machine guns. There was a temptation to grab his Kalashnikov and shoot them, but the bullets and gunfire would reveal his position.
Artyom drew his Tihar as he lined up the sights of his silenced weapon at one of the men who would be quick to gun him down. Once his head met with the iron sights, he fired. A quick puff of air escaped his weapon, but the deed was done. One of the White Legs with the sub-machine guns was eliminated. Yet, he alerted the woman beside him. Another ball bearing flew overhead and took another life within the darkness.
Everything changed when one of the savages with a makeshift sword attached to a strange object was now on fire. They had the power of light on their hands and he couldn't let them us it against him. Without hesitation, Artyom fired several more shots into the man's chest before the next two were quick to realize their casualties. One of them descended for the sword while the other one ran towards the exit. The stalker fired several more shots from his weapon, but the air pressure was below its halfway point.
When the last White Leg took the gear of his fallen brethren, the savage man was filled with rage as he just so happened to charge towards him.
Artyom grabbed ahold of his pump as he tried to put more force behind those shots, but the enemy was already several meters away from him. His hand released his hold on the Tihar as he grabbed for his revolver. It was too late when the savage swung his blade down and broke his weapon in two. He could reach for his assault rifle, but escaping death was top priority.
Then three gunshots echoed throughout the caves. At the entrance, Joshua Graham stood there with the barrel of his sidearm smoking. "Your curiosity with these caves almost cost you your life. Consider yourself lucky my arrival saved you. The next time it might not happen."
The young man turned on his flashlight as he shined it on the burned man. "I know, but this is just one of those exceptions. Reading about the man who once lived in these caves has taught me one thing, a lot has happened to this Father in the Caves."
"Really? Are you that curious about somebody who is long gone? Is it truly worth the risk?"
"Yes. Perhaps there is a reason why Zion is so special and why my mind feels his presence whenever I come to these caves."
"You mentioned that you were adopted by a group of creatures that gave you this power. What are they?" Joshua asked.
When met with the question, Artyom knew he couldn't lie about the topic. He was their host and he probably deserved something in return. "They're called Dark Ones. I was rather young when they adopted me, but they are the reason why you and I are not separated by a language barrier. It is because of them."
He could see the Malpais Legate raise his eyebrows. "That is truly something. Which begs me to question, is this Father in the Caves an actual god who helps his people?"
His head shook at the thought. "No, he is merely a man. Apparently, these caves were some sort of inheritance to some children called Mexicans. I have little knowledge of who they were, but it was meant for them. I'm merely speeding up the process."
"It is possible that the Sorrows are their descendants. After all, they speak about his 'gifts' in the caves, but somehow became forbidden to them. Perhaps you can somehow explain it to them while I speak with Daniel, this gives me more reason to convince him to let the Sorrows fight for their home."
Cass sat down as she tossed another bottle of whiskey aside. The caravaneer was happy that Ricky was gone when he figured out his chances became slimmer. She wanted to shoot the man, but it wasn't a crime for being a creepy pervert. One of the degenerate tribals walked up to her with a smile on her face. Unlike the other tribals, she recognized the woman who sat across from her. "You're Waking Cloud? I saw you in action earlier. That's quite something when you fought those big guys."
The savage bowed her head. "Oh, it is my experience as a hunter of the tribe."
"So you hunted those things before."
"Once." She replied. "It was my first time slaying the creature and it was a right of passage for me. Few ever survived their encounters with a Yao Guai, but it is good."
"How did you learn our language?" Cass wondered. "I've noticed the other members of your tribe, but they don't know how to talk with us."
"Daniel taught me how to speak the words of the New Canaanite so we may understand the teachings and earn the blessings of the father." Her mood was brighten when she talked about him. "He also helped me when I once birthed a child. Were it not for him, the rivers would have taken both of us. After that, I learned from him."
"That's good. It's useful knowledge when it comes to newborns."
"I notice that you always drift towards one of those black warriors in your company. Is he your mate?"
The mere question surprised her as she thought about explaining the matter to her. "No, we are not mates, but we do care for each other."
"He seems like a good man. When will he be the father of your children?" Waking Cloud asked.
"I do not believe you understand, Cloud. Artyom is somewhat reluctant given that… he's from another land." Thank goodness she still had a clear head despite the recent swigs of alcohol. "He's from a different… tribe in a different land that has different customs. Artyom wants to introduce me to his father."
The Sorrows woman nodded her head in understanding. "I see. Our tribe knows little outside of the land of Zion, but now I see why you keep to his side. You remind me of myself when I was once young."
"You're married?" Cass asked.
"Yes. My husband is with my children to ensure they are safe from the White Legs. Now that I've mentioned him, it has been awhile since we last spoken. I'll have to ask Daniel about him."
"Your children must be wonderful if they have a personality that is nice as yours."
"Thank you. Your words make me filled with joy."
Tomilin and his men took refuge on the remains of a pre-war building. Although it was painted with white handprints, the station provided security and eyes within the surrounding area. The Ranger took out his binoculars, scanning the area for any potential savages and wildlife that dared to assault their position. "Alright people, don't get too cozy. We can't risk getting killed while sitting back."
Grisha stood beside him, swiping the Yao Guai blood off his bolts before planting them back into his crossbow. "Hard not to do that. All we just need to do is have several men run act as sentries while the others rest up for their time. What we should be worried about is Romanov, Red, and Petr are all by themselves and have a chance of getting shafted by these fuckers."
"I hope well for their safety, but they're Polis Rangers." He assured his peer. "They can handle themselves." Then he looked to the south side of the tower and noticed white movement coming near the shore of the river. When the Ranger looked through his binoculars, he saw dozens-upon-dozens of White Legs carrying weapons and various objects with them. "Grisha, does Artyom have a radio on him?"
"I think so, why do you ask?" The crossbowman wondered. "Since he's using Hunter's gear, he's sure to have it. Why do you ask?"
"Tell him to warn Daniel and try to get him to speak with Joshua. The White Legs are bringing a fucking army."
Author's Note: Finally, I have Artyom make contact with the Survivalist. However, I'd appreciate the review on my work. Sometimes, there are details that get overlooked since I'm focused on typing it down.
Aren serathy: It's actually a Yao Guai.