RATED T FOR VIOLENCE, THREAT, (CENSORED) SWEARING AND SEX REFERENCES
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT HAVE MUCH KNOWLEDGE OF THE MOSCOW METRO TUNNEL BESIDES THE MAP SO THERE MAY BE SOME INACCURACIES.
Michail tread through the dead city's frozen surface. He always watched his step, slowly creeping around the ruins of old. The mercenary was only armed with his trusty AK and a short revolver on his side, protected also by some modified heavy armour.
The irradiated surface was always a challenge to any man no matter how skilled in combat or survival they were. Many, especially the stalkers, never returned from their exhibition, those who do often cling to the underground prison they call home.
"Michail! Michail are you there?!" A voice on the radio called, almost piercing his left ear. It was the mercenary's friend, Sacha. His partner when it came to jobs.
He sighed, "What do you want Sacha? You realise I'm on the surface, a breeding ground of shitfaced creatures? I could have been shooting a watchman or something."
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, calm down. Look, the commander wants to know if you have those supplies yet." Michail never liked taking jobs from Hansa. But nevertheless they paid good bullets for such jobs. This time? Collecting petrol and some mechanical supplies. Just over enough to fix a damaged railcar.
The mercenary entered a three-story building, seemingly upon the brink of total collapse. One wrong move, the mutants would have been feeding on his flattened remains. "I'm arriving back to Tulskaya station, and I have the supplies too. Tell the commander he owes me double for that job, I almost got fucking killed back there!"
There was a small silence, and during that time Michail already moved through the building and onto the lifeless street. Barren cars were scattered everywhere filled with, it was perfect for cover. The entrance to Tulskaya station was only a kilometre or two away.
As he moved through the cars he decided to scavenge some things, shoving a couple corpses out the way, anything he did find he put in his backpack. Books, car parts, anything useful that wasn't atomised by the explosion.
Sacha came back onto the radio, "The commander says he'll pay you a half more bullets but no more raises."
He sighed, "Fine. Michail out, I'll contact you when I'm near the station."
The mercenary decided to stop searching the dead vehicles. As it was almost the hour when watchmen and demons scoured this area. He moved quickly to the furthest building nearest to the route to the station. This one was around six-stories tall. Possibly an old office building, judging by the multiple computer carcasses scattered around the place. He remembered working in an office like that, just for a couple months. Jesus Christ, it might as well have surpassed the metro itself in depression.
But what it once was no longer matters, the only thing that does is the structure and what you can make of it. He came across a small camp, a tattered sleeping bag, a campfire... and a clothed skeleton. Possibly died at the hands of a shattered gas mask.
Michail didn't care much, as one man's death was another man's treasure in this new world. He was fortunate enough to find some clips for his AK, but no sign of the gun. Either another overworld traveller passed through in a hurry, or some storm shoved it out the collapsed wall. "My lucky day," he muttered to himself.
This type of ammo was not common on the surface unless you go to a military sight. But the only ones were on the outskirts of the city, no man has ever left the metro or even Moscow itself. No man has done that in 20 years.
There was a back door to the building, he slowly crept towards it aiming carefully with his rifle. Emerging from the building, he looked on all sides for any threat.
It was peculiar, there didn't seem to be any sign of any watchmen or any other mutants in general. Just the small mutated critters. It was quiet, just the sound of the irradiated wind could be heard.
"Oh ho ho. Seems it really is my lucky day. Or probably my lucky afternoon," he said. The entrance to Tulskaya wasn't far. There was a metro entrance just around the corner past a crashed plane.
The mercenary rushed through the streets of what was once a row of shops and other services. There was no point in scavenging for food, they would've already been looted or no longer edible.
Michail thought twice before turning a corner, peeking round there was yet another road, the back half of a plane blocked it with building rubble preventing anything from going around it. This wasn't a well known route for those who scavenge the surface, and those who did know it didn't care much for it.
"Can't go around it, can't go under it, can't go above it I have to go through it," said the mercenary, he sometimes told himself old nursery rhymes to help himself think or to just keep his sanity, it was almost impossible to control it in times like these.
He cautiously continued on to the crashed half plane, there was a door on the plane almost sealed shut with rust.
Michail attempted to open it with all his strength. "Come on. Open up you piece of... gah!" He failed, the door still stayed in one place.
Michail tried to think of a way through. He looked back at the lifeless street making sure there were no mutants, he concluded there were none. Though, gunfire was deafening in all situations, so he would have to have been quick with this. He aimed his revolver at the lock of the door.
Bang! Bang!
The shots loosened the door mostly unsealing it. He used all his strength to rip the door off it at least make it open, he grunted as he did it.
"Finally," he told himself succeeding in his actions.
All of a sudden, there were loud howls coming from the destroyed buildings behind him. The watchmen heard the gunfire, awakening from their slumber.
Michail quietly cursed. He pulled open the aeroplane door open more. He looked once more behind him, as a large pack of watchmen started to pounce towards the plane, attracted by the gunfire. Once he went inside he shut the door, glaring all around for something to support him.
He eyed upon one of the broken chairs. Should hold them off for a bit.
"Son of a-" The mercenary ran to the door on the other side of the plane. His luck may have already ran out. For it was sealed as well. "Not again!"
A dozen watchmen pounced onto the side of the plane. Some trying to get through the cramped broken windows and others foolishly trying to rip the metal off the plane.
He once again took out his revolver seeing if what he did last time still worked for this door.
Bang! Bang!
Shit, still not loose. He tried it again.
Bang!
Still no progress.
He grabbed his AK, deciding to not go down without a fight. Aiming at the mutants, he pulled the trigger taking at least four or six down. But the sound of the gunfire only attracted multiple more mutants, even the slicing wings of a daemon neared his position.
Using both his guns, he was able to take a couple more down. Mutant blood was spilled all over the side of the plane with some oozing inside. But no matter how many he killed, or how many bullets he wasted, they just never stopped coming.
Instantaneously, the freaks all ran off. Oh great, was this going to be one of those stupid moments in those old films where there ends up being a larger predator? Nevertheless, he sighed in relief.
But his nerves were no longer calm.
Upon the distance, at least a couple miles away, sounded the one thing Michail prayed to have never heard again in twenty years.
Missiles. Nuclear missiles.
At least that was what he believed. But goddammit, he was not going to take that chance.
The mercenary rushed to open the other door, he already survived one nuclear apocalypse he wasn't going to die in another.
The door was open, he ripped straight through it and ran to the nearest manhole into the revolting sewers in fear of getting affected by the incoming shockwave. His heart rapidly pounded.
Michail contacted Sacha, "Sacha! You mind telling me what the hell was that?!"
"Michail? Oh thank God you're fine! I was worried when I heard that explosion."
"I'm not dead yet, don't worry. You happen to know what that was?"
"Everyone's talking about it on every frequency. Something about the botanical gardens getting hit with missiles or something."
Botanical gardens? The mercenary had been bewildered. Unless one had a hatred for plants, what on Earth would be the point in bombing the gardens?
"Okay, I see." Michail looked at the tunnel around him, analysing the structure. He knew the tunnels of the Metro like the back of his hand from before the war, "Listen, I'm going to be a while. I just got into the sewers, seems like I'm near Nagornaya judging by these tunnels."
"Nagornaya? That far out, huh? The way back shouldn't be a problem since it's abandoned and there's no reports of mutants. So you're fine," he assured.
Michail took it as bullshit, with everything he'd been through today there was no end to this nightmare. Last time he was in an empty region it turned out to be a nest of freaks, and he's in the metro inside a row of abandoned and unexplored stations with fucking God knows what lurking through those tunnels.
"Are you sure there's nothing here? There has to be something in this hellhole, Sacha. Has anybody actually explored these stations?"
"Well there was just one guy who went beyond Tulskaya. It's said he saw no creature at all, not even a rat. Weird right? Anyways, the rest of the story are just ghosts 'n shit. So you should be fine," Michail calmed a bit, but there was a slight chance of actual ghosts in the metro. Rumours all over the stations talk about sightings of strange silhouettes killing people or whatever the hell.
He moved on into the main station, hopefully the stories weren't true. Hopefully he could just get back to Tulskaya and have some mushroom tea.
But this was the metro.
A prison of many horrors.