Fashion show
"Another one for the pile, hahaha!"
There are things in life that are worth more than money.
Memories, family, friends...
The memories I have of my life are shit, my family died in a thermonuclear explosion a decade ago and all my friends are and will remain dead.
I have nothing left.
That's why I need money.
If I'm going to continue living in this piece of shit the world has become, then damn it, I'm going to make it the most comfortable life possible.
I need to get rich.
Yes... very good...
That's why I took on the stupid task of bringing a bunch of stupid vests and a stupid chocolate bar to the stupid smugglers outside Moscow.
They said that someone needed those things and that it was an absolute priority to complete this request, but neither of the two reasons mattered to me, only the payment.
A fucking million rubles.
It's not... much, but I can definitely buy myself a lot of comforts with that.
Yeah...
It's not like I had anything better to do either... literally the only thing I was doing until now was begging in one of the new underground settlements in the Moscow metro.
Hmph, there's no time to cry, what matters is that I'm out of that rat hole and can finally breathe free air.
Well, not "free air"... more like, air from the gas mask filter I stole from the armery of that settlement.
Bah, it's not like I'm going back there, they'll probably forget about it in a few days.
And I hope they also forget that I stole a Mosin with a PU scope and a suppressor.
Better not go back there...
It's not like there are many places to live either, the rest of Europe is a war zone right now.
Although, if given the choice, I prefer bandits and mutants over the motherfucking Russian ultra-nationalist army or the stupidly effective Western war-machine.
Both of them are nightmare fuel...
I shook my head to get those thoughts away, I need to concentrate.
Right now I was walking through the streets of Moscow, mostly the urbanized parts away from the center and the Kremlin itself, as those places were infested with heavily armed raiders and horrific beasts that stalk the ruins of the city.
I crouched next to a dead tree and looked from left to right at the empty street in front of me.
There were a few wrecked cars, even a destroyed BTR, but there was no sign that anyone was watching this place.
Luck is on my side today.
I took a deep breath and steeled my growing nerves.
All or nothing, I guess.
I stood up and walked toward the 7-story apartment complex at the end of the street, my boots sinking into the snow accumulated on the asphalt and concrete. Without a doubt, a product of the nuclear catastrophe, an endless winter.
I must be grateful that the sun has decided to rise today too, otherwise the radiation would be worse
It's not like I have a Geiger counter to know how bad it is, but I heard gunshots before, so I guess it's not bad enough that people are still killing each other around here.
Once I reached the building, I entered and closed the door behind me, preventing the cold afternoon wind from continuing to freeze me to death.
Making as little noise as possible, I began to climb the stairs, Mosin always ready at front in case I missed any of those cold fleshes.
I only have a Mosin, but the 7.62x54mmR is no joke.
I made it to the seventh floor and didn't hear any horror beyond comprehension on any of the other floors, so I'll be fine, I guess.
The last apartment on the right was open, at first glance I could tell that it had been ransacked.
It's okay, it's not like I need anything from here, I just need rigs, armored vests and chocolate.
Although... does it matter if it's irradiated chocolate?
Heh, in that case...
I left my Mosin against the wall and started checking the kitchen, but it didn't matter if I searched even under the dust, there was nothing here.
What a joke.
I approached one of the windows that overlooked the street below and began to observe.
Nothing interesting is going to happen for a while, right?
Fucking hell...
Better put on some music.
...
I don't have a radio.
I started humming the melody of Pereval, from Moy dvor, a song that I know how to play on the guitar from my time on the army.
I miss those years.
Hours passed and I was actually starting to get bored here, staring at the fucking street.
The rest of the time I continued waiting can be simplified as:
Tsk, boooooooriiiing.
Either I played with the telescopic sight on my rifle or I unloaded and reloaded it every damn second to keep myself distracted by something.
It was when I noticed movement on the street below that I loaded my Mosin again and took aim.
There was a guy down there, sitting behind the BTR, watching the street carefully.
The man was wearing a Soviet helmet from fucking world war two, an SKS with a wooden stock and a GP-5 gas mask.
He also had a vest over his chest with a few pockets on top.
Alright, tough luck mate, you got something I need.
I hold my breath and waited a second.
This is like "Enemy at the Gates" and I'm Vassily Zaitsev.
I pulled the trigger and the urinal in his head couldn't do much to stop the bullet from passing through his skull.
He fell like a sack of potatoes to the ground.
Die, sucker.
3 hours and a death, fucking great.
I'm lucky that these modern filters last a long time, otherwise I would already be dead.
Good.
...
I'm not going down there.
I need at least... five more rigs... or vests or whatever.
Hopefully that motherfucker had something of value to sell, chocolate is expensive.
Nothing happened for several minutes, but I could notice a change in the atmosphere.
Out of nowhere, I felt surrounded.
I ducked my head and moved away from the window to avoid being seen by any other snipers.
Damn it, fuck it, stupid...
My intuition saved me in the 90s and continued to do so.
There's reason why I shouldn't trust them once more.
I put my rifle aside and started rubbing my hands, my cold sweat was bothering me.
Shit...
I let the minutes pass while I listened carefully to the environment outside.
I couldn't really hear shit, but it's better not to look out, that coul make noise or expose myself.
When I thought the coast was clear, I looked out the window again and saw a rat trying to take the things of the idiot I killed.
I charged again, aimed and he fell on the previous corpse when the bullet passed through his head.
"Ha ha." I laughed as I loaded more bullets into the rifle's built-in magazine.
Stupid imbeciles.
I turned away from the window and lowered my head.
The best weapon one can have is patience.
Although they told me I would have to finish the request tomorrow.
Eh, it's just a few hours of walking and a radio call.
I opened the bolt and caught the bullet that came out in my hand, then put it back inside the Mosin.
What a beauty or a rifle.
Sighing, I looked up.
Suns still there, it seems like it's around... 4 in the afternoon.
Great.
Wait, what the fuck?
I aimed my rifle at the building across the street, the PU scope helping me get a better view from a distance.
There's a guy there...
I couldn't see him well, but from here I could tell that he was more backpack than man.
How the hell does anyone carry a backpack that size?
He also had a rifle just as big as him, although I didn't recognize it from this distance.
That guy was looking towards the intersection on the left with that weapon he was carrying, surely a sniper.
Okay, looks like there's going to be a fight.
The question is, where...?
"HAHAHA, CYKA!"
It seems that here.
Fucking damnit, I should have guessed...
I hid behind the wall and just watched from a corner towards the street below.
There was a large group of people running on the road, as well as another one coming from the street on the other side of the avenue. Both of them surely about to shoot each other to death.
I guess this makes all the vests I need.
A gang war, perhaps? There are a lot of undesirable people in Moscow.
I didn't have to wait long until bullets started to fly.
Shots fired, dozens of them. People screaming and cursing, asking for help or dying.
A cacophony of death.
It was horrible.
It was disgusting.
I like it.
And oh, how nostalgic this was...
My brothers... how much I miss you.
The shooting continued for several minutes, both sides unwilling to give in, even if it meant leaving the wounded.
They were damn dogs hungry for violence.
The only good thing about these guys is that they put on a good show.
I honestly hoped my side would win so I could kill them all more easily once they start licking their wounds after the fight.
I just watched with mild interest as things unfolded.
It was like watching sports on the TV.
Finally, after a painful half an hour of pure gunfire, the last one left on the other side was killed by the one on this side with a knife.
What a way to die.
I watched them retreat to cover and begin to treat the wounded, others leaving that aside to go loot the bodies.
There were very few of those who arrived at the beginning, much better for me.
I aimed at the sniper who was preparing to leave and pulled the trigger.
At this distance, I doubted I could hit him in the head, so I simply aimed for its center of mass and let the bullet pass completely through him.
He fell to the floor and began to wriggle like a fish out of water. Surely his lungs collapsed or something, I don't care.
Just to make sure, I shot him again and all his movements stopped.
I reloaded my rifle and, this time, aimed down.
There were about four guys tending to the wounded, while three others were checking everyone's bodies.
I have five bullets, better make them count before I have to reload.
I aimed at the furthest one of them all and shot him in the head.
Well, not in the head, the bullet deflected and ended up hitting him in the neck, but meh.
I loaded a new bullet into the chamber and changed objectives.
The two who remained there noticed very late what had happened to their companion, since I hit another one in the back, him falling to the ground.
His screams alerted the others, who began to grab their weapons and run to the nearest cover.
Of course, it was from the side I was aiming.
I pulled the trigger again and one's helmet went flying through the air.
This time they realized their mistake and tried to change tactics, but I had already pulled the trigger again, catching one in the right thigh. The wound bleeding like an open pipe, I must have hit an artery.
One looked out to see who was shooting. He discovered it when I had pulled the trigger again, the bullet passing through his chest and the man falling to the ground, motionless.
I opened the bolt and began loading bullets into the rifle.
I don't know what they saw or decided to do because then they started shooting at the building where their sniper had died.
Maybe they have had radios and noticed their friend's lack of communication.
Oh well.
I closed the bolt and took aim again.
The one who was wounded on the ground tried to crawl to the nearest cover while firing from what I think is an AK, but I put another bullet into his chest and he laid there in the fetal position while coughing up blood.
Another who tried to pull him to cover realized that he had already died and tried to retreat, which he succeeded, the bullet that ricocheted off his helmet surely giving him a bad headache now.
Motherfucker.
I loaded another on into the chamber and could hear the bullet casing fall to the ground beneath my feet, bouncing twice.
Is it kind of hot in here or it's the radiation?
I would like to take off my mask and wipe the sweat from my forehead, but that would be idiotic right now.
I pulled the trigger again and this time I caught the bastard between the eyebrows.
"Another one for the pile, hahaha!"
The last guy dropped his things and tried to run as far as possible, but I shot him in the right leg, which made him trip and fall on his head.
One more bullet in the back and he didn't move again.
Good, awesome...
I opened the bolt and loaded bullets again...
After that, I made sure that the wounded could never get up again.
I had almost no bullets left after that.
I stayed there for a few minutes, waiting to find some bum that decided to come scavenging and take my loot. You never know.
I was sure no one else would come as the sun began to set on the horizon, so I shouldered the rifle and walked down the stairs, careful not to fall on my face.
First of all, I'm not going to check those corpses... yet.
I'll go get the mister backpack I killed up there first, I'll need his exaggerated luggage.
When I went up, I was thankful I had the mask on because the poor soul had vomited and defecated on himself in his last moments.
Heh.
Fucking idiot.
He had a rather beautiful rifle that I don't know the name of, but it was green and the barrel looked like a tube.
Tube like... a pipe.
On his waist he had a belt with what I think is a "Glock", a gun that was used a lot by gangsters in the movies I used to watch.
I should buy movies and a TV, hmmm...
His vest was painted black, with the pockets having skulls drawn on each of them.
Ha, haha...
"I'm going to take you whole, my friend." I spoke to the corpse. "I'm going to fold you like the stock of an AK and put you inside your own backpack, what do you think?"
When I put the backpack aside and began to sort through its contents, I froze.
Not so much because of the cold of nuclear winter, but because of the fact that this man had so much stuff here that you would imagine he would be running a small house back here.
I'm already feeling the back pain this is going to give me...
All his wealth, I guess.
And I still have to check the idiots below.
Suffering from success.
At least I'll be able to make enough money to buy that stupid chocolate, maybe I'll even buy chocolate for myself too.
I can already feel that comfortable life that I have wanted so much since I left prison.
Yeah, hehe...
I feel fucking invincible right now.
The world... is mine to conquer.
I wouldn't have it any other way.