AUTHOR'S NOTE: It was originally tricky for me to come up with a fanfic idea regarding Metro series, particularly Exodus. Not because it hasn't been done yet, but because my occasional brain fart often gave me writer's block. Anyways, enjoy the story!
DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of the characters of this fic, except for Altena. Altena is an OC of mine.
Chapter 2: Remnants
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[Ruins of an apocalyptic war.]
Sam, Chito, and Yuuri have later reached another snowy area, as the former has yet pondered from Altena's absurd claim about how his father could have ended up in this world. Yet, Sam is not giving up all of his hope to find him, and will stop at nothing to achieve his own impossible goal.
Around them are what appears to be the remains of an apocalyptic war that happened several years ago, as evident by the numerous signs of destruction, including piles of derelict materiel and building remains that are partially or fully covered by snow. Remain after remain, Sam has thought that this world has seen better days, albeit not in a good way imaginable. Chito and Yuuri, on the other hand, are later seen putting tins on top of a concrete wall, as the latter begins target practicing, with the help of the former using what seems to be a sniper scope while sitting on the Kettenkrad.
With Sam, he continuously watches the ruins of war in front of him, as this reminded him of how he experienced every pain and agony he had endured during his years in the Spartan Order. As he begins his usual contemplating, he takes a cigarette.
"This place..." Sam grimly points out. "It reminds me of World War III. It reminded me of how the bombs fell." He laments with obvious sadness, as he only looks at the ruinous sight in front of him.
But all of a sudden, Sam's contemplation is interrupted, when he hears a gunshot coming just a few metres from him. Glancing around and taking his Stallion out, he instead sees Yuuri firing against a group of tins with her Arisaka rifle. He finds it strange as he then sees Chito using the sniper scope.
With Chito and Yuuri...
"Hit." Chito simply says, as she watches Yuuri firing a shot from her rifle, as the bullet hits one of the tins.
Yuuri then fires another shot from her rifle, as she aims her gun into one of the tins. This time, however, the shot lands within a few metres below one of the tins, which instead hits the edge of the concrete wall.
"You missed it." Chito points out Yuuri's inaccuracy.
"Oh, yeah?" Yuuri smugly asks, before she turns her attention to Sam. "Oh, Taylor-san! Do you want to try it out, since you're pretty much more of an expert for this?" She then calls in Sam, who is seen smoking, before she asks him about playing a game of shooting range.
Sam then looks at Yuuri, who seems to be interested of this game the blondette has just played, as he takes out his own Sammy rifle.
"Being a former member of the Order, yes." Sam responds calmly, before he positions himself.
Putting his Sammy rifle into semi-automatic mode, Sam then proceeds to aim it towards one of the cans, while aiming through the rifle scope. Then, his shot later hits into one of the tins, as the bullet hits in the middle of it, surprising Yuuri.
"Hit." Chito says with surprise in her tone.
"Wow!" Yuuri exclaims. "I've never expected you to be this skilled, Taylor-san!"
"Would you know, Yuu?" Chito nonchalantly inquires.
Sam positions himself again, as he aims his rifle into another tin. Firing another shot while aiming at his scope, his next shot later becomes a direct hit, as it hits into the can in the same manner as the first tin.
"Hit." Chito says the same thing again.
"And that's how we Rangers learned the fine art of war." Sam stated. "If you were in my world, you would be enlisted as one with that weaponry skills of yours."
"Don't worry." Yuuri smugly responds. "I don't need to be a part of those 'Rangers', as what you call. I'm skilled at this, ya know!"
Yuuri then proceeds to load some bullets into her rifle, as she begins aiming it, with the help of Chito, who is aiming the scope into one of the tins. Sam then joins in with Yuuri, as he also begins targetting them, as well.
"Hit."
Another direct shot from Yuuri and Sam goes through within their respective tins.
"Got it."
Then another direct shot.
"Hit."
And another...
"Hit."
And another...
"Hit."
Chito then observes, as she notices that Yuuri's final shot didn't hit her own tin.
Sam's final shot, on the other hand, did hit his own tin.
"It looks like Taylor-san wins this time." Chito declares.
"Not fair, Taylor-san!" Yuuri pouts uncharacteristically.
"I served the military and the Spartan Order for a long time, that's why." Sam only responds calmly.
After that, Sam proceeds to remove the empty magazine clip from his Sammy rifle, before he proceeds to load a fully-loaded clip into it. He then stows his own rifle, before lighting a cigarette.
"Do you want to give it a try, Chii-chan?" Yuuri asks Chito about having a weapon.
"I don't think so, Yuu." Chito responds in refusal. "I'm good." She adds.
"Such a terrible shot you are, Chii-chan!" Yuuri snarkily comments. "Maybe Taylor-san can help you!" She continues.
"Feel free to shut up now." Chito bitterly retorted.
"You don't ever carry a weapon, are you?"
"I feel like I don't need one."
Yuuri then attempts to look at Sam, in an attempt to convince Chito into having a rifle, but he simply shots down her demand, with the ex-Order member telling her that the black-haired girl does not need one necessarily. Afterwards, the blondette then relents, before the survivor trio glance into the remains of the apocalyptic war.
"But there's so many..." Yuuri commented at the number of materiel and debris scattered around within the snow.
"Most of them are just junk." Chito added, before she looks at Sam. "Taylor-san, since you told us something like this happened to your world, was it like this?"
Sam only sighs before responding. "The vast majority of the world was like this after World War III." Sam comments, as he finishes his cigarette, before tossing it and stomping it on the floor. "Except it was worse, because of radiation."
"Radiation?" Chito asks, as she speaks the said word in a confused manner. "What is this 'radiation' you're talking about?"
"It's something that can kill you or drive your life into living hell, depending on the circumstances." Sam answers with grim intonation, reminding the time as to how Miller was killed by lethal radiation poisoning in Novosibirsk. Chito and Yuuri feel unnerved at Sam's grim response.
This world Sam steps, on the other hand, has none of it. The only death sentence that he has to face in this world is falling into a chasm into the lowest layered city by accidentally slipping into his impending demise.
In spite all the positives, the main shortcoming is the dreariness that Sam now has to endure, compounding it with his impossible goal of finding his own father.
Despite Sam having Chito and Yuuri as travelling companions, neither the two girl survivors even know his true motivation behind the visit in this world: his personal journey to find his father here. It's a secret he doesn't want to spill, as he doesn't want to end up both of them being at risk.
For now, Sam, Chito, and Yuuri decide to head further into the battlefield ruins. As they keep walking, all they only see are scattered materiel, decommissioned ordnance, and debris scattered around, as well as broken buildings that have been ravaged from a destructive war.
"It doesn't have to be a weapon." Yuuri casually remarks. "We might find something else we could use. We might find even find some food here." She adds, as she only thinks of food.
"Is food mostly your thing in this adventure?" Sam questions sceptically, as he shakes his head. "I don't think you can find one in this mess." He glances around the battlefield and sees more scattered shells and ordnance lying around the snowy ground. "If there was food, it would be already rotten by the time we opened it."
"But that's a possibility." Yuuri casually responds. "Maybe a single bread lying around! Such a lucky find!" But Chito immediately shots down Yuuri's fantasies of finding food in a battlefield, let alone in the middle of a debris.
"Taylor-san is right, however. There's fat chance that we can find food here." Chito then responds. "But maybe we might be able to find some rations."
The survivor trio then look around at the signs of war within this battlefield.
"The only thing we can find 'valuable' in this place are shells, weapons, ordnance, and even a tank." Sam then continues, where the trio later encounter a rotting battle tank in the middle of their way.
"You're right, Taylor-san." Yuuri replies, as she looks at the tank with curious eyes, before she looks at Chito. "Hey, Chii-chan. Does a tank taste good?" She inquires.
Sam can only look at Yuuri in utter confusion over the latter's indeterminate logic. For him, he has never encountered a complete oddball in his entire life, despite being a sarcastic snarker in the eyes of his erstwhile Aurora Crew friends.
"Why not try it for yourself?" Sam deadpans.
"And see what it tastes like?" Chito questions in sarcasm. "Give it a try, then."
Yuuri then gestures as she opens her mouth wide, as she attempts to "eat" the tank, when in fact, she was just creating a mere illusory act.
"That's just you pretending to eat it." Sam points out.
"You should actually try it." Chito deadpans.
Yuuri then "eats" the tank, when in all reality, she simply pretends to do so. Afterwards, she then makes a chowing gesture.
Notwithstanding the fact, they later stand at the top of the tank, with Chito sitting down, as they glanced at the barren landscape. In front of them, they see more tanks, debris, and weapons buried in snow, as well as the grey skyline of abandoned buildings and destroyed infrastructures from afar.
Sam, at one point, could make a joke by calling this place a "dead city", because of what goes on around them: a city with no single signs of life to be seen but piles of debris everywhere.
"It's like a big weapon graveyard." Chito responds, as she watches at the tanks and some weapons that have been scattered all around the battlefield. She then turns to Sam. "I can already guess it is like this at your old world, Taylor-san."
"My world had seen better days, as well." Sam answered, as he takes a cigarette inside his pocket. "After the war, most of the buildings were left intact, but the radiation levels, on the other hand, are something else." He continued. "For instance, the only place that I visited that was not toxic enough was Vladivostok."
"How was 'Moscow' different from 'Vladivostok' after the war that happened in your own world?" Chito inquires.
"Unlike Moscow, most of Vladivostok was not as much irradiated as the former and Novosibirsk." Sam answers. "Instead, that place was heavily damaged by a tsunami by one of the nukes that fell offshore during World War III." He then puffs another smoke from his cigarette, before facing to Chito and Yuuri. "That place was battered beyond belief that I had to stop my tractor, as there were no roads to be seen at all."
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[On the path to Vladivostok, a year ago...]
A few hours after saying his final farewells to Miller and the Aurora Crew, as a whole, Sam later took Saul's Van, as he travelled eastward using the Trans-Siberian Railway on the way to Vladivostok, as it was the only way to reach United States.
For hours to come, Sam continuously drove all the way through with no troubles to come. That is until Saul's Van finally gave up the ghost. He attempted to turn the ignition switch on for multiple times, but to no avail.
"Damn it. I guess I have no choice but to walk." Sam cursed, before leaving the broken vehicle.
After its engine had finally died off, Sam resorted to continue walking for hours, right until he found a tractor parked all by itself in a rural road within the next day. What's surprising for him was the fact that the tractor was still functional, despite being abandoned for two decades.
However, that didn't last, as damaged roads in Vladivostok had led any passages to the city rendered impossible for Sam to proceed further in his tractor, as he decided to abandon the said vehicle. He was left with no choice but to approach the city proper by foot.
"Privet, Vladivostok." Sam greeted as he looked at the ruined roads within the railing.
Climbing down through the rope, Sam then proceeded to begin his venture into reaching Vladivostok, in hopes of finding any remnants of civilization beyond the Moscow Metro, as well as hope of going back to the United States and fulfill his goal of going back to his home country to locate his father.
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[Present day, at the battlefield ruins...]
"So that place, Vladivostok, was like this?" Chito questions.
"It's more or less so." Sam responds.
"Speaking of which..." Yuuri ponders. "There's too many weapons in here, yet what about food? They created weapons at this rate, yet they didn't have food." She points out. "What's the point of them creating all of this much?"
"They meant war, if I can tell from the looks of it." Sam answers seriously. "It was much like in my own world, where food scarcity was a common problem that normal Metro residents had to endure. It's not surprising that even hardened Rangers like me had to deal with it, as well."
"But still..." Yuuri replied. "I wish people in the past could have preserved food, instead of creating more weapons. Our lives could have been so much better." She utters the last three words in emphasis.
"I guess they had so much problems to focus on." Chito answered. "Like fighting terrible wars..."
"Amen to that." Sam sarcastically responded. "If only war didn't do a number on my world and this world, things could have been better." He then disposes of his cigarette.
The trio continuously walked further into the ruins, until they stumble upon the ruins of a C-130 military transport aircraft in front of them.
"Look over there." Chito points out.
"Wow, it's a plane!" Yuuri exclaims.
"I guess people didn't just fight wars on the ground, but on the air, as well, in this world." Sam questions upon seeing it.
"You know this thing, Taylor-san?" Chito asks.
"It's a C-130. It's a military transport aircraft, the type that any army would use a lot to bring foot soldiers to war." Sam comments. "Guess there was a big war that here in the past." He points out. Chito, despite listening to Sam's perplexing words, attempts to understand what goes on.
"You really know a lot about wars, Taylor-san." Yuuri comments at Sam's knowledge about military.
"That's because I was a part of it." Sam comments, before he takes out his Order dog tag. "This badge is a definite proof that I was part of it." He shows it to Chito and Yuuri.
"Wow..." Yuuri awes. "I guess you're not kidding when it comes to stuff like this." She then looks at the plane. "Speaking of which, you think it could really fly?"
"Highly unlikely, considering the damage." Sam comments.
"But maybe a long time ago." Chito added.
The trio look at the plane, with Yuuri wanting to go inside, much to Chito's annoyance.
Suddenly, Sam has heard a familiar voice of the past, as they looked at it. It is something he has dreaded to listen to. He hears Altena, once again.
"Sam, we need to talk." Altena responds.
"Hey, while you two want to go inside of that C-130, I have to take a cigarette break for a moment." Sam requested, albeit in a lying manner that is enough to convince both the girls.
"Okay, sure." Chito responds.
Sam watches the two girls heading inside the military transport aircraft, as he then decides to follow the source of the voice, which is within one of the decommissioned tanks around the battlefield ruins. Therein lies the familiar face of the goddess Altena, siitting on top of it.
[PLAY MUSIC: Metro Exodus - Teardrops]
Looking around for both Chito and Yuuri attempting to suspiciously look at Sam, he is relieved that the two aren't there to keep an eye on him. The goddess then sits down next to him.
"I take it that you're determined to find your father, Sam." Altena responds.
"But why send me in this world, simply based on an unfounded rumour that my father is supposed to be alive in this world I knew nothing of?" Sam questions with normal tone, despite some venom coming out of it.
"I know you're still upset about it." Altena speaks quietly. "But isn't this your choice? To reunite with the person you have been wanting to see after getting stuck in Russia for 22 years?"
"My choice is to look for my father at my home after all those years, but I never thought that my search for him would come to this."
Sam reminisces the time he was sent to this world, out of a misguided belief that his father is somehow alive in San Diego, despite the destruction that ensued during World War III. But instead of achieving his impossible goal, he instead ended up seeing nothing but hopelessness in front of him. There were no traces of him but ash and rubble.
And so, the first time he has met Chito and Yuuri in this world, the emptiness is still enough to completely outbalance even his grim satisfaction to be with other survivors who were also going through the same thing, as well.
As Altena and Sam are watching through the skyline, the latter pondered for a moment that this is his only fated choice. Finding a new purpose in this world by treading the same path as both Chito and Yuuri are going to.
"I hope I can find him." Sam takes a cigarette and lights one, as he utters those familiar words. "If that means sacrificing everything I have known for." He responds before drinking some water from his canteen.
"I have a question for you." Altena asks. "How is this world different from yours?" She inquires.
"There's nothing different about this world, other than it looking like it came out of a science fiction movie." Sam comments at the futuristic state of this world he is in. "There's no mutants or radiation. Just pure silence in front of me."
"This world also suffered an unknown fate that is nearly close to yours, as well." Altena answers.
Sam only looked at Altena. As far as him still hated the goddess for all of this, he has shown to slowly come into terms with the reality behind this leg of his journey. After that conversation, the goddess reassures the ex-Order member, before disappearing. After that, Sam then jumps down from the tank, before heading back to the derelict military transport aircraft.
But Sam's deep thoughts are interrupted, when Yuuri calls in the former.
"Hey, Taylor-san!" Yuuri calls from afar, as he sees the two girls walking towards his direction. "We found some things that are considered useful in there!"
"Where are you going to?" Sam raised his voice, which is enough for the survivors to hear him from afar.
"Getting our own Kettenkrad! We've found something useful." Chito then responds. "We've also found some items that might be useful to you, so you should bring your vehicle, as well!"
"Got it!" Sam replies.
A few minutes later...
After Sam, Chito, and Yuuri come back to the derelict aircraft from their respective vehicles, they later climb up, with the black-haired girl guiding him into whatever cache that might be considered useful for Sam. In front of him are crates full of rations, bullets, and plastic explosives.
"You might be interested in this, Taylor-san." Chito says, as she and Yuuri put down the box of plastic explosives. "Not to mention, you might want some rations."
Afterwards, Sam later takes a box of rations and explosives, as he begins carrying them, while slowly descending down the derelict aircraft. He then proceeds to put the former into the trunk of his car, before repeating the same set of actions to the latter, as well. While that is happening, Chito and Yuuri have also done the same thing as well.
"Also, we found this strange item that might be considered useful in your own case." Chito then gives Sam of what appeared to be a bottle of mysterious liquid. "It says 'v-od-ka.'" She attempts to make sense of the word.
"A vodka in a derelict aircraft?" Sam questions, as he takes the bottle of vodka from Chito. "I guess people of the past were drunkards during whatever war that happened here, as well." He jokes in a half-serious manner.
As Sam begins packing up, he sits down at the back of his car before he eats some rations, while lighting a cigarette. He then sees Chito and Yuuri attempting to climb up the derelict aircraft through the broken propeller. But to his surprise, the two ended up failing in do so, as it span, leading the two girls to fall down into the snowy ground below them.
"Сука blyat. Just what are you two bumbleheads doing?" Sam sarcastically cursed at the two girls in annoyance.
"We tried to climb up..." Yuuri responds.
"But this stupid girl just don't know when to quit." Chito utters annoyingly, then she looks to the blondette. "I'm afraid of heights!" She exclaims in annoyance.
"Fine. We'll go above." Sam sighs before responding, as he helps the two girls out.
A few minutes later, Sam later carries both Chito and Yuuri, as they climb up all the way to the aircraft's snowy fuselage, before they decide to sit down.
With things settled down, Sam takes his own opened bag of rations, while Chito takes an unopened one, before she eats with Yuuri, as the noirnette gives one to the blondette.
"So, Taylor-san." Chito speaks up. "What were you doing earlier?"
"I was just taking a break." Sam half-lied. "No need to worry about it." He ended.
As they continue eating their rations while conversing, Sam has eaten the last of his rations, before drinking some water from his canteen. But all of a sudden, he glances at the two girls, as he sees Yuuri taking the last bar from Chito. Then, much to Chito's annoyance, she attempts to take it back from Yuuri, but the blondette then points her rifle to the noirnette.
"What are you, Yuu?" Chito exclaims.
"Don't you think about it, Chii-chan." Yuuri says, with a tinge of seriousness coming from her tone.
Sam immediately takes out his Stallion pistol, in case things go completely bloody between the two. He would only take the most drastic course action if the blondette would attempt to slaughter the noirnette for the last ration. But to his utter surprise, he sees Yuuri eating the last ration bar, and things didn't go so well...
Chito then proceeds to immediately charge through Yuuri, in the form of a Spear attack, as she begins "beating up" Yuuri, albeit in a cartoonish manner.
"WHY! DID! YOU! DO! THAT!" Chito punctuates every word in utter annoyance, while continuously punching Yuuri, who is just attempting to withstand that much pain.
"Jesus H. Christ." Sam utters, as he was just looking at the gray scenery in front of him. "Kids these days are now fighting over a single ration stick." He derides sarcastically.
After that moment, both girls have settled down, as the two are lying down at the snowy fuselage. Chito is seen with her head lying onto Yuuri. The noirnette then sees Sam drinking some water at his own canteen.
"You're really composed for most of the time, Taylor-san." Chito responds at the usual calmness Sam always possess, in spite of what just happened earlier. "Yet you quickly took out your gun when Yuu took my ration."
Sam only looks at Chito from that response, before responding. "While I'm no proponent of violence, unless necessary, despite my propensity to maximum firepower, I had to do so. It's just an impulse us Order have to do, especially when some suspicious bandits jumped into you." He continued.
As that happens, Yuuri then claws her hands, as she takes out a packet of snow and eats some of it, before she does so, afterwards.
"The snow is yummy, too!" Yuuri exclaims.
"You really eat that one." Sam deadpans. "I guess food is always a number one priority in your head."
"Imagine us to eat snow of all things." Yuuri adds. "You know what, war really is the worse, huh?"
"Try eating some 'shrooms in the Metro." Sam comments, but Yuuri ignores him, as she continually eats snow.
To Chito's annoyance, she begins hearing Yuuri's chowing sound, until she slams her head into the blondette's belly, causing her to grunt and hold her stomach in pain. "Now look who's talking." Was all Chito can say. Afterwards, Yuuri then settles down, as she breathes out, before the noirnette and the blondette lie down briefly, as they watch the skies.
With Sam, on the other hand, he is busy pondering what he has gotten himself into, especially with that scenario between Chito and Yuuri. Had it not for his past encounter with the lynch mob, he would have pulled the trigger out of impulse and killed the blondette by accident. But thankfully, he has stopped himself before he has done so. He has only observed the two girls playing each other, before Yuuri eats snow again, as well as Chito.
"Taylor-san." Yuuri looks at the ex-Order member. "If we had the time in the distant future, should you bring me and Chii-chan to your own world?"
"I don't think that would be easy." Sam comments. "Too much shit happened there, and it would be a terrible idea to visit my world."
"We don't mind!" Yuuri replied. "Besides, you only told us about these 'Order' guys, 'Vladivostok', and 'Moscow'." She pouts in front of Sam.
"The rest will be told in the right time." Sam then jumps out of the plane. "We should get going."
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[END OF CHAPTER 2.]