14th February 2033

It was a strange feeling getting back to Polis. In a way it was the feeling of returning home, back to my family, both biological and the new one that was my rangers. For Artyom it was different, his last visit had literally taken all of five minutes and now, as we walked through the thick iron gates and past the concrete bunkers and machine gun nests that guarded the station, I could see his youthful eyes still filled with wonder, despite the horrors he must have been through to get here.

For me though it was a more melancholy one, despite the cheers and applause the men at the gate and the people on the platforms as we reached the main atrium gave to our return. We had succeeded yes, but at the cost of five good men's lives, and of course that of an entire race. Still I am unsure of whether what we did was right, whether we should have greeted the Dark Ones as we did with fire and sword, or maybe it would have been better to meet with them and communicate, instead of repeating the same 'negotiations' I watched the whole world descend into twenty years ago. But it wasn't my decision to make; the one who was responsible for this turn of events was Artyom and him alone. I only helped.

When we reached the main station we were greeted by what felt like the entire population of Polis, the cheering forms of my Rangers, women clapping and shrieking our names whilst children looked on with wide eyes filled with excitement. I guess our secret mission wasn't so secret after all.

I left Artyom to it then, let him take the cheers and gifts. I had more urgent business to attend to as I entered the main conference room, after spending only minutes in the medical centre getting checked over.

The entire Polis Council was there, the other head rangers and the so called 'brahmin' elders, made up of prominent pre-war scientists and government officials.

The first to speak as I sat down was Doctor Braslav, a former lecturer at the Moscow State University, the small bald man who many referred to as 'the hobbit' behind his back.

"Colonel Miller I must first say congratulations for the success of your mission."

As he said this the whole council nodded and Captain Krasnov, the chief of the perimeter defences, spoke up.

"And of course the rest of the Order agrees wholeheartedly with what you said over the radio whilst in that bunker. Artyom is definite Ranger material."

I felt a slight smile cross my face as he said that. It was exactly what the boy deserved for his actions. But then the doctor spoke again, and my face darkened.

"Now we come to the other issue of the day my friends. We must speak of D6."

At that word the tension in the room became much more on edge, and I felt a small voice in the back of my head.

'Don't tell them.' It said. 'Don't tell them'

I had told no one where I had come from when I had first entered the refugee camp that had eventually become Polis station, and no one had ever asked, not when I had trained up the first rangers, not when the first mutants had crawled in from the hell of the surface, not even when ghost stories emerged of an entire station down in the depths of the metro lost to a plague of luminescent green globes. Not even Katerina knew of the horrors I had seen whilst in the secret bunker D6 during and after the war, and how I had crawled out of there, alone and terrified, escaping the plague of insanity that had claimed that abyss. For a brief second I felt my hand go to my chest, where, underneath layers of scavenged body armour and thick fabric, my original diary sat above my heart, forever to remain secret until my deathbed.

"We need to secure that place, no matter the cost…" one of the other ranger captains said, and then asked me. "What is the situation for the squad you sent in sir?"

"All present and accounted for. I made sure they readied themselves until a relief unit could be sent so they're barricaded in the main command centre and they said they'll be fine there for the moment."

"So what does this 'D6' offer then?" Krasnov asked me with a raised eyebrow.

"D6 is a…wonder of the old world." I said finally, biting back the words I would really like to say. "And yet it won't be easy. We encountered a nest of mutants in the lower levels."

One of the ranger captains, Captain Melnov, snorted derisively at that.

"Some mutants? That's it? We can deal with some nosalises any day of the week. I've seen every mutant this hell has to offer"

"No." I said simply. "Not like these ones you haven't…"


The meeting continued for a while longer, mainly talk of the logistics of getting a hundred man task force, made up of both rangers and Polis soldiers, to D6 along with all the supplies and weaponry we would need.

As soon as we finished up I was out of the conferences room and away, walking down the ornate corridor through the bustling crowds.

I stopped when I heard a familiar voice calling out for me.

"Where the fuck have you been you asshole!" it screeched and I knew of only one person who had the balls to actually say that without getting their face caved in.

Anna.

She enveloped me in a crushing hug after she ran towards me, effortlessly pushing past burly rangers and Polis guards alike. Her civilian clothes looked alien on her; I was so used to seeing her decked out in her Ranger trainee gear. The day when she joins the order I will be so proud.

At the moment however she was pissed.

"Why didn't you tell us what you were doing? Mama and I were so worried; she practically had a fit when Krasnov told her you had gone out on a crazy mission to some godforsaken abandoned bunker!"

"Of course…" I said to her, and she seemed to calm down slightly. "But it was urgent. Ask the hero of the hour Artyom if you want to…"

She snorted derisively as she released me from her embrace.

"Artyom? Is that the so called 'hero of the Metro'? He just looked like a frightened little rabbit when I saw him…"

I felt myself laughing slightly as I put my arm around her.

"Now let's see how your mama's doing…"

When I came to our medium sized room near the centre of the station, I supressed a small gasp of surprise as I saw Katerina, my one and only, who I had 'officially' married twenty years ago under the lights of Polis station with the entire station and the Order watching, with a grinning priest we had rescued from mutants a few days beforehand. Of course we were already 'legally' married by then ,but that had been in a dingy registry office with a rat faced registrar puffing away on a foul smelling joint of something the entire time. She hadn't changed a bit since I saw her all those years ago after I staggered into Polis from the ruins of D6, and, except for a slight greying of her long brown hair at the temples, was exactly the same, whilst I now looked a lot older than my forty five years would suggest.

As soon as I entered the room she flung herself into my arms. She always worried when I left for missions but, as always, she's the boss of our marriage so was the first to speak.

"Did it work?" she said simply as she looked up at me and I only nodded.

"I'll give you two some space…" Anna said with a grin as she backed out of the room.

"Oh Anna!" I called after her. "Go and rescue Artyom from his new fan club. Take him down the firing range and see how he measures up to the best shot in Polis!"

I heard her curse halfway down the corridor.

"Stupid little rabbit!"

I'm sure those two will get on fine.