Freedom

Chapter 22

You know how it is – when you're just walking through the Zone, there's shelter everywhere. Big concrete pipes, buildings, whatever. We've all seen that boxcar just sitting out in the middle of nowhere. No train tracks in sight, no explanation of how it got there – but they're out there.

But when there's a blowout headed your way, suddenly there's nothing. Nothing but open country. It never fails.

Velvet took it better than I did. So she's twitchy when people get close to her, but she knows how to stay cool when it really counts. "How long?"

"They're saying twenty minutes at most."

The Biker shrugged. "Plenty of time."

"Only if they're right," I pointed out, but he waved me off. Velvet looked to the Merc, who nodded, turning to point north.

"Can't be helped." Velvet shrugged.

So we followed the Merc. I didn't know if this was his territory or what, but he seemed to know his way around. He wasn't hurrying, but even when someone that tall walks slowly, they're moving pretty fast. We all had to struggle to keep up now that he was the one setting the pace.

I'd expected a cottage – or something. Something small. Our destination wasn't small. I wasn't even sure what it was. A big structure set into the hillside, much of which had been paved over. At the bottom was some kind of culvert, though there was only a little water in it. The place was about as industrial as you could get, but it had seen better days. I didn't know what it was doing out here in the middle of nowhere – if the culvert meant there was an underground river, then it might have been a part of the Pripyat water treatment system.

We paused, and Velvet took out her binoculars. "What do you know about it?"

The Merc shrugged. "Sometimes mercs roost here."

"I don't see any sentries."

"They'd be inside, wouldn't they?" I looked at my watch, then at the sky. It might have been my imagination, but it looked a little red.

"No, they'd be out until the last second, watching for people like us." Velvet bit her lip, readying her MPL. "No choice. We walk in like we own the place."

We headed down the hill, which grew steeper as we went. Fortunately, there were railings in place along concrete walkways, though they had seen better days. A catwalk bridged a row of drainage troughs, leading to what appeared to be the entrance. There were exterior staircases going both up and down. No one shot at us. There was a low rumble in the distance, but Velvet held up to the side of the threshold. There were no real doors – just doorways, leading into total darkness.

"The sun's going down." She looked over her shoulder at us. "We'll have to set up here for tonight anyway. Merc, clear up and keep watch. Biker, go around to the other side, and hurry. Sagaris, with me and the girls. Mist, lower level."

Just as I'd been getting used to the safety of being in a group. I groaned, but nodded, turning and heading down the metal staircase. That wasn't much fun. It clanked loudly with every step, and wobbled – it was held to the building by nothing but rust.

I reached the bottom, which overlooked the culvert. It was something like a twenty-meter drop, so I made a point of not getting too close to the railing, which didn't look very reliable. This probably wasn't the lowest level, but it was as low as I was going to get from the outside. I didn't think Velvet wanted me to go all the way down to the culvert and poke around the tunnels down there.

Ahead, the walkway ended abruptly. It had collapsed, and there was an impressive gap. Nearby was a door that had once been white, but was now splotched with brown rust. It had been jammed shut with an old AKM.

If you think Mist should enter the building here, turn to page 103.

If you think Mist should try to jump the gap, turn to page 40.

Author note: Hey! This chapter is in Choose Your Own Adventure format; unfortunately, I can't really post the rest of it here, since you have to navigate around. If you want to read this chapter in its proper format, visit pseudozone dot blogspot dot com – if you don't want to do that, it's cool, Chapter 23 will be back here like normal.

Thanks for reading – don't forget to leave some feedback or send an email or something; I like to hear what people think.

Wish