This took a bit longer than the last time, and maybe 1 or 2 whole rewrites. But it's still good, it's still good! Enjoy.

On a quiet valley, in the middle of the night, a worried STALKER didn't know what to do.

Sharp put away his PDA, the tracking didn't worked and he had no idea of where he was. Being lost is bad enough, but being lost in an unknown place is a complete disaster. Maybe the anomaly did something to it? Considering how things kept getting worse, most likely. But that didn't matter to him. Right now, the thing was useless.

He looked around the place, he had to start moving, but where to go? The forest he came from didn't sounded like a good idea, the mountain in front of him looked somewhat traversable, but that wasn't going to happen, and the field had nothing showing in the distance. Sharp sighed and started over, he looked at the mountain again, and thought exactly the same of it. He kept looking this time though, maybe he didn't need to walk all the way through it, just enough so he had enough elevation for a better view, and start searching from there.

That was worth a shot, he reached the base of the mountain and started walking up, after nine steps the ground began to elevate considerably. Eight steps after and that elevation turned into a slope. Five steps after and Sharp began to slow down. Two more step and he fell on all fours, out of energy. He turned around and sat on the inclined ground trying to catch his breath, from up there he had a better view of the field, but it remained as empty as before.

Frustrated, Sharp got up. He stumbled as fatigue invaded his body and almost made him fall, he regained his balance but maintaining it felt much more taxing.
He put a hand over his belly and rubbed it. Was it because of hunger? He hasn't eaten since signing up to this mess, in fact he couldn't tell when was the last time he ate, vodka on itself doesn't sound like good nourishment. He felt his stomach suddenly turning into itself, and that convinced him it was hunger.

Sharp walked back to the valley, holding his bag with one hand and searching for food with the other, he could grasp a loaf of bread deep inside but it kept slipping away, moving left, moving right, then left again, the damn thing didn't want to get caught, he was not in the mood for this. Once Sharp reached more evened ground he serenely turned his bag upside down and let its content fall, weapons, ammunition, equipment, all of it came down as he watched patiently. When the loaf finally showed up Sharp snatched it mid-fall, he took a bite, chewed ferociously, and swallowed, all in but a moment. He took another bite, and another, the feeling of food hitting his stomach was exactly what he needed.
He left the bag on the ground and took out whatever remained inside, every so often pausing to take a bite of bread.
The bag was now empty, all its content was outside. He took off his own weapons and gear, and added them to the pile of stuff.
With everything now on the floor, Sharp separated the medicine, the ammo, the guns and the supplies, organizing and arranging them into different groups. If he was going to wander around aimlessly, he would do it knowing exactly what he had:

Weapons:
-AKM-74/2U rifle with a sling.
-Double-barreled shotgun, sawed-off.
-PMm pistol.
-Fort-12 pistol.
-PB1s pistol with a supressor attached.
-3 F1 grenades.
-3 RGD-5 grenades.
-Military knife.

Ammunition and magazines:
-187 rounds of 5.45x39mm - AK (5 mags).
-76 rounds of 9x18mm - PMm (3 mags), Fort-12 (1 mag), PB1s (1 mag).
-24 shells of 12x70 Buckshot.

Food and medicine:
-5 bandages.
-2 medkits.
-3 sausages.
-2 canned meats.
-1 full bottle of vodka.

Other stuff:
-PDA.
-Gas mask.
-Head flashlight.
-Fireball artifact.
-Zippo lighter.
-51 rubles.
-Empty bottle of vodka.

Sharp grabbed the bottle as he ate the last bit bread, this was the bottle he found in the bar, also the one he finished in the swamp.
He actually brought an empty bottle all the way here... that was amusing for him, like watching someone falling flat to his face, Sharp chuckled at that last thought and tossed the bottle aside.

All was now accounted for, he grabbed his AK and left it hanging on his shoulder. The PMm pistol, now in his holster. The three F1 grenades, mags, knife, all on his belt. And anything else of utility would go to his pockets. The rest of his stuff would go in the bag, all equipment in the main compartment, extra ammunition in a side pocket, food and medicine in the other side pocket, and the shotgun strapped outside in a pouch.

With his stuff checked, his gear equipped, and his and hunger sated, Sharp left the valley.
He still didn't know where to go, but to hell with that, he had to go somewhere, sitting around with his thumb up his ass would not get him out of this mess. With nothing but the blue moon to give him half an idea of where he was going, Sharp ventured forward into the field, determined to not stop until he stumbled with something, it was only a matter of time.

"You are now in charge as the new commanding officer, congratulations." Major Shastkovich remembered those words as he entered his "office" at Cordon's checkpoint.

He walked towards his desk where a bundle of papers and a plastic mug were waiting for him. His eyes wandered from those papers to the drawer on the side of the desk, he opened it and drew out a large bottle of vodka. He filled the mug to the brim with the strong liquid and drank it all in a few chugs, the vodka barely gave any effect to him. He returned the bottle to the drawer and began with the paperwork of the hour.

"Congratulations," Shastkovich grumbled mockingly, recalling how he got into this shit position, just like every time he dealt with the paperwork.

The previous commanding officer, Major Kuznetsov, was killed in action. Officially Kuznetsov died defending a railway bridge from an assault made by STALKERs. from what he heard though, the asshole died because a bribe went bad.

With no commanding officer barking orders in The Zone, the higher-ups quickly looked for a replacement and picked Shastkovich for his merit of "being the least incompetent."
They rushed the promotion ceremony, slapped a new title on his uniform, and kicked him back at Cordon.

It sounded like a golden opportunity, no more patrols, no more missions, just sitting still in a safe checkpoint giving orders. Indeed, now he's stuck 20 hours a day managing reports after reports of failed objectives and other stuff he'll be blamed for, while those beneath talk shit at his back, and the others above talk shit right at his face, all of that with a miserable paycheck for someone in the rank of major. He did this only a couple of days and already wished he was dead.
No wonder Kuznetsov was such a pain in the ass, this was unbearable.

A sudden knocking interrupted his scolding, sending a rush of pain across his head alongside an urge to drink another mug of vodka, no doubt it was more orders from outside. He rubbed his temples trying to ease some of the migraine before straightening up. "Come in," he said maintaining composure.

An officer opened the door, he stepped inside and saluted. "Major, Beta-1 and Beta-2 returned."

Shastkovich's eyes widened ever so slighty after hearing that, "send them in." The officer nodded and closed the door.

Beta-1 and Beta-2. those were the ones sent to an outpost in the wilder parts of The Zone. Apparently said outpost was used a research station, and hopefully they could salvage whatever info they had, or if they were really lucky; intact documents.
He did not take any chances and sent two squads of 14 soldiers each. It might have seemed excessive, but the last mission involving a hidden laboratory ended in failure, and his superiors made it clear they wanted results this time.

The door knocked again. "Come in," Shastkovich said as he grabbed a pen and a clipboard from the desk. Two officers entered the room. Sergeant Barnoko, leader of squad Beta-1, and Sergeant Kostonov, leader of squad Beta-2. They both entered and saluted.

"Since you returned I assume the mission went well," said Shastkovich as he stood in front of them. "Give me a quick rundown of the mission, from the start."

Barnoko nodded, "we arrived at 2146 hours, we found the outpost next to a group of STALKERs outside."

"Yes," Shastkovich said as he wrote on the clipboard, "what happened after?"

"We ambushed them," Kostonov replied, "my squad attacked from one side while Barnoko's attacked from the other." Shastkovich nodded and kept writing without saying a word.

"Some tried to escape, but we killed them all."

"What were they doing before you ambushed?" The major asked, his hand still writing.

"They were all fighting another STALKER cornered in the outpost," Barnoko replied.

"Yes." Acknowledged Shastkovich without looking away from his clipboard. "This STALKER, is he dead?" he asked.

"He ran further inside the outpost, and-"

"Is he dead?" He asked again, no longer writing and looking at Barnoko straight in the eyes.
Barnoko opened his mouth but closed it soon after, his eyes slighty looking back and forth, Shastkovich kept staring at him, silently urging the sergeant to give an answer.

"I... remained with my squad around the outpost, keeping guard," Barnoko said as his eyes remained straight ahead, though not focusing on anything, "Kostonov's squad chased the STALKER inside."

Shastkovich gaze turned to Kostonov, the sergeant remained calm but a glaring anger remained in his eyes. "We pursued the STALKER who retreated deep inside the outpost. We searched every room, but he was gone."

Shastkovich remained completely still, not believing a word of what he just heard. "I ordered you to kill all witnesses..." the major finally spoke.
He looked at Barnoko, then at Kostonov, neither of them responded. Sighing, he let the pen and clipboard fall to the floor, bringing some noise to the uncomfortably silent room, he walked to a nearby wall and leaned on it, one hand covering his face in disappointment.

"When I talk, you both can hear me, is that right?" he asked.

"Yes, major," both sergeants said meekly.

"Then If I give you an order, and you don't follow it, is not because you can't hear me," Shastkovich said as he walked back in front of them, "is because you shit on the order I gave."

"No, major, we followed your orders!" Kostonov said, his eyes shifting between looking at his major and the Floor, "we chased him into a dead-end, there was no other way out of the outpos-

"AND YET HE ESCAPED!" Shastkovich all but yelled, his voice resonating through the room.

Kostonov didn't said anything else, whatever words that tried to come out died midway on his throat. Barnoko kept looking straight ahead trying to ignore the yelling the best he could.

Shastkovich turned to Barnoko, his face mere centimeres away, "Don't think you're out of this! You're at fault as much as him!"

"W-why, major?" Barnoko stuttered.

"That STALKER escaped from a dead-end! If you were keeping guard outside, then you should have CAUGHT HIM!" He said, anger dripping out from his mouth.

Both sergeants stood there, silently enduring the berate of their major.

Shastkovich went to his desk, and slammed it, "We sent two squads exactly to avoid any more of this! What if he stole any documents before escap-!?"

"The documents are here!" Kostonov said desperately.

Silence finally returned to the room, Shastkovich kept looking at Kostonov, completely dumbfounded, "You found documents?"

"Yes! We found them while searching for the STALKER, they're now in the barracks." Said Kostonov, reassuranced that the major stopped screaming.

Shastkovich remained still as his blood began to cool down. He straighten his posture and put both hand behind his back. "The STALKER escaped, and it was blind luck that he didn't stole those documents beforehand. I'm not saying this to disminish you, i'm reminding you that luck is not something we can rely on."

"Yes, major," they responded.

"It's not what I asked. But nonetheless, this mission is a success. After I finish with these reports I will call you again to have the full details. Until then, dismissed."

Both sergeants saluted and turned around for the exit,

Shastkovich stood there watching as the sergeants left the room, once alone he sat at his desk and collapsed, sighing in relief, a huge weight just got lifted from his shoulder. Fuck the STALKER or that he escaped, those documents are what mattered here! If word got out that more of them were stolen, it would've been 2 hours straight of his superiors screaming down their throats at him! Alongside another cut to his paycheck. This was a much needed break ever since he took command.

After that comforting pause the major regained his posture and resumed his paperwork. Those documents were important, but if these reports weren't finished by the end of the hour, this much needed break would be gone already. God knows why his superiors were so obsessed with documents and report.

Sharp sat on a nearby rock, cleaning the sweat on his face with the sleeve of this suit.
He walked during the whole night, through morning, up until now. That might've sound arduous, but Sharp was used to great amounts of walking, that was a given for any STALKER, He just needed a quick break now and then, and he was good to go.

Sharp looked around the place, the field didn't changed much, there were more trees scattered around and some hills were looming over the green pasture. He looked up to the sky, the afternoon Sun was shining brightly, and without a single cloud trying to cover its light. It was a really pleasant day.

A yawn escaped his mouth. This place was so nice and quiet he might lay down and fall asleep right there. While he could manage physical tiredness, sleepiness was another story. Fighting off the somnolence, Sharp got up and resumed his travelling, that break was much shorter than usual but he couldn't risk to nod off, he was still lost and didn't looked like he was getting closer to anything.
Sharp tried to think for anything to distract himself from the annoying drowsiness.
He took out his PDA, The tracking didn't worked and in his frustration Sharp resigned to use it. Might as well check what else didn't worked. After all, anger helps you stay awake.

Sharp tested everything in his PDA as he travelled, and to his surprise, it worked well.
He recorded an audio that sounded fine, took a picture that looked clear, the time it gave was accurate enough, and all the data was still there. Every message, every coordinate, and every map.
This was a really good to know, maybe it needed some time to work properly again, anomalies are known to make machine go haywire. Hopeful, he activated the tracking device, it showed nothing. Sharp sighed and put away the PDA, oh well at least everything else worked just fine.

Sharp's travel went on without any problem, now he kept himself occupied thinking of what part of the empty field he should go next. A drop of sweat sliding down at the side of his face interrupted his thoughts, a feeling most irritating. He wiped it off but it managed to fall into his mouth. Sharp cringed at the salty liquid and spat it out, leaving behind a horrible dry taste. Unlike hunger, thirst was something that Sharp wouldn't easily notice until pointed out, and just now he noticed how much he had without water.
He reached for his bag but stopped dead in his track at the realization.
He didn't had any water.

"Oh God, no!" Sharp yelled in exasperation, putting his palm straight to his face.
He opening his bag and searched inside in a desperate attempt to prove himself wrong. He never brought any water, why waste money on a plastic bottle when the tap water of the bar was good enough, not to mention free? That stingy behaviour of his just made this situation much worse.
So, noto only he was lost, he was with no water, "just what I needed."
Sharp resumed his walking without delay, moving with newfound haste unfitting for someone who hasn't slept. No more moving around aimlessly or without purpose, he walked in a straight line and wouldn't change direction no matter what. The trees passed by, the grass became thicker and the hills drew closer, he pushed out all kind of exhaustion, replacing it with stubbornness. He cold work on his location later, now he had to find a river, or a stream, or a puddle, or anything involving water.

The ground rose and dropped, Sharp walked past the hill and barely noticed, too busy thinking of the dry sensation of his mouth.
As he continued walking down the hill he did noticed something, on the ground nearby there was a distinctive lack of grass, it stood out against all the wild grass around, he looked closer and found a thin a line of dirt that went from one point of the field to the other, a road.

It wasn't water but Sharp felt almost saved, if there was a dirt road then people traveled here, there must be something either way, but which to choose?
The right side led further into the field, and the left side went towards a forest nearby.

"Mmmmmh," Said sharp in thought, more walking on the field, or more walking in a forest?

He chose the forest, with so many trees it ought to have something, probably. Not to mention he was sick to dead of fields.
Sharp followed the road to the forest with the same haste as before, but driven by relief instead of annoyance, the road itself was much easier to walk through compared to the fields, he was already halfway into the trees before he noticed. The sky began to turn orange, and sharp found the sun setting at his side, was it evening already? He had to hurry up.

The forest was now mere meters away, and as the night took hold of the field, a new light emerged from the wood, growing brighter between the trees with shades moving around it. Sharp rushed towards it half expecting a trick or something similar. As he got closer, it became clear that it was a fire, a bonfire, illuminating a rather simple camp with its orange light.

But the state of the camp didn't mattered, what mattered is that there were people in it, three of them sitting around the fire.
Sharp smiled. This was it, finally people.

He sprinted to the strangers. "Hey! hey!" He yelled, running past the trees and reaching the camp The strangers were surprised, almost startled, by the uninvited guest coming from the woods.

Sharp stopped in front of them, breathing heavily and trying his best to calm his heart rate.

"Please... do you have any water?" he asked in a dry voice.

The strangers barely reacted to his question, Sharp was about to ask again but noticed that they weren't looking at him, they were looking at his suit. It was a far cry compared to the simple clothes of linen and leathers they wore.

"Hey! I'm lost, I need water!" Sharp yelled, an act that hurt his throat.

That got their attention, their focus was now on him. One of them called up, a man a bit large who's face was obstructed in a hood. He got up and spoke something at Sharp.

Sharp didn't understood a single word of it. "What? Can you speak russian?" He replied.

The hooded man was about to say something else, but stopped. he sat down and turned to his friends as they began talking again. Just what kind of language was that? it didn't sound like anything Sharp heard before. As they talked to each other, one of them, a young man with blonde hair kept looking at sharp ever so often, his clothes, his bag, and his equipment.

"I just need water, be a pal and give me some!" Interrupted Sharp.
He received only the annoyed expressions of the group, their initial confusion and curiosity changed into irritation. They returned to their conversation, and by the tones they used, it wasn't friendly.

Sharp grew impatient, this wasn't the rescue he was hoping for. "C'mon, you know what I mean! water, wa-ter!" He said, mimicking drinking from a bottle.

The last of them, a thin man with long dark hair, got up with a smile. He might had an idea of what Sharp was talking about, he spoke to his friends and walked towards a pile of bags nearby. from them he took out a leather bottle and shook it in front of Sharp, trying to confirm if this is what he wanted.

Sharp nodded excitingly, "Yes, YES! That!" he said extending his hands forwards. The man complied and threw the bottle at him. Sharp catched it in an instant, his mouth was twitching from anticipation, finally he had water. Overjoyed, he took the lit off and began to drink... nothing, it had nothing!
Sharp look at the bottle with his mind completely blank. The trio exploded, rocking back and forth in a cacophony of laugher. Sharp glared at the perpetrator, and threw the bottle to the ground.

"Very funny? Really fucking funny, isn't it?" Sharp said as he walked towards the long haired joker, he was too busy laughing to notice, and a punch to the face sent him straight to the ground.

Sharp drew closer for another punch, but stopped. The man was moaning in pain and covering his bleeding mouth with both hands, he was not getting up for some time now. Sharp relaxed his hand and shook it up and down, trying to get rid of the soreness in his knuckles. He got him right in the teeth, it hurt like a bitch but after seeing that fucker in such a sorry state it was worth it.

The sound of something unsheathing caught Sharp's attention. He quickly turned and found the hooded man, now up, growling something in that damn language of his while pointing at Sharp with a knife.

Sharp remained unamused and drew out his pistol. The hooded man prepared himself but when he looked at the firearm he became slighty confused.
A loud blast pierced his ears, and an agonizing pain tortured his chest. A second blast came, as deafening as the first but with barely any pain following it. A third blast came, and his lifeless body stumbled to the ground. Sharp turned to the other two. The thin man was still down on his back, watching in a motionless shock at the corpse of his dead friend, and the blonde one was now up, one hand covering his ear and the other extended cautiously in front of himself.
Sharp aimed his pistol at him, once the blonde man realized that he was being targeted he cowered back, speaking in a shaking voice.

Sharp remained aiming at him. "Get out of here!" He shouted while waving a hand to his side.

The shaking blonde looked at where Sharp waved, but turned to his long haired friend. He very slowly walked towards him, watching scaredly at Sharp, who kept his distance walking one step back for each one the blonde took. When he finally reached his friend he kneeled and helped him get up. The both remained still, giving sharp a pleading look, Sharp nodded his head to the side and waved once again.
His nodding, and the lack of any gunshots were the confirmation they needed, and ran deeper into the forest.

Sharp kep his gun ready and aiming until they were completely out of sight, he was tempted to kill them too to be sure, but part of him disliked that idea, only that hooded idiot threatened him, the others surrendered, there was no need. Yeah, the fucker with the punchable face played him a rather sick joke, but a joke is not the same as getting shanked.
Now sure that he was alone Sharp put the pistol back in his holster, he sighed and looked at the floor disappointed. This could have gone better, he came asking for water and ended up shooting someone- Sharp dropped every thought and turned to the pile of bags, they were still there, the other two left them in their hurry. He rushed towards them and searched for their content, and in one bag he found two similar looking leather bottles.

Sharp grabbed one, by the weight he could tell this one was full, he opened it and drank. The liquid inside was tasteless, and nonetheless delicious, finally he got water.
Each drink almost felt rejuvenating, and in just a couple of seconds he finished the whole bottle. His thirst was not sated though, and he grabbed the other bottle without delay.
As soon as the liquid entered his mouth Sharp spat it out and threw the bottle away. It was horribly bitter, and most importantly; it wasnt water.
The taste remained in his mouth, but at least he was no longer parched, a bottle worth of water should last him enough to stop worrying for some time. Sharp grabbed the empty bottle he finished and putted it in his bag, when he finds water Sharp will fill it up. He learned his lesson, from now ona bottle of water will always accompany him.

Sharp turned around and found the corpse of the hooded man, he walked towards it and kneeled, might as well loot it.
He pried off the knife from its hand, it was different from what he expected, the blade was larger and double-edged, thought it was badly rusted, and so blunt that it couldn't cut thought paper, to think that he tried something with such a shitty knife made Sharp groan.
He tossed the knife aside and searched the corpse. At a closer inspection those clothes looked sturdy, they were made for hard labor, not for comfort or convenience, and it showed, they had no visible pockets to speak off, not in the pants, nor the vest. Sharp did managed to find something, 3 holes going through the vest. That hard leather might've helped against the scratch of a wild animal or even the cut of a knife, but definitely not against the gunshots of his pistol.

Sharp stopped searching, he got up and gave a last thought to this man.

he died a stupid death, his equipment was shit, and didn't had anything worthy to loot.

With that, Sharp left the warm light of the camp and returned to the dark road, following it deeper into the forest.