Garbage. The Train Hangar.
14:03 20/09/2018

After quite the long run, both Stalkers had managed to escape from Agroprom and the military. They wouldn't send a helicopter here, those only patrol through The Cordon, the Great Swamps and Agroprom. If they dare getting out of those areas, they would immediately be shot down by other better equiped factions.
However, there could be some patrols nearby, so they better watch out.
Anyways, once both Stalkers arrived to The Garbage, after running through a couple of abandoned cars and some huge pipes left on the road, they finally made it to the Train Hangar, one of the safest places in the area.
Once a Bandit base, it was retaken by loners and it's now used a strategic point for Duty and a resting place for other Stalkers.

However, there's a man that always stays there, he in fact lives there. He goes by the name of Butcher, and apparently he was involved in a huge fight with Bandits here on the Hangar many years ago.
He now uses it as his shop, where he sells food made out of mutants he hunts, along with some other people he pays. He also sells shotguns, ammo and some other hunting equipment.
Hell, Yuri even bought his SPAS-12 from him, since Butcher sells his guns at a fairly good price.

Yuri: "Hey... Butcher..."
-Speaking of Yuri, he was the first to enter the hangar, panting heavily, doubling a corner into a room, where Butcher was standing behind his shop's counter.

Butcher: "Hey Yuri... Where's your friend?" -that question was quickly answered not even a second later, when Gabriel also made his way into the shop, just as exhausted as his buddy.- "Nevermind..."
-He added with a chuckle, witnessing both Stalkers trying to catch their breath, giving them a minute or so.

Gabriel: "Fuck... That was close."
-The veteran said as he finally regained his composture, exhaling a huge ammount of hair as placed his hand on his chest, feeling his accelerated heart beating nonstop.

Butcher: "Well, what will it be?"
-The trader asked with a smug look on his face, looking at both individuals.

Yuri: "Just some shotgun ammo, we already have food with us."
-The Ecologist replied as he pulled out his wallet, along with his buddy. Both of them bought a good ammount of 12 Gauge Buckshot and Slugs.

Butcher: "Well, I'll be waiting for you two next time. I have some Bloodsucker Goulash waiting for you."
-He chuckled as he gave them the ammo, not recieving quite a good reaction from Gabriel.

Gabriel: "Yeah, no thanks... I'd rather have canned food."
-The soldier replied as he declined that offer. Yeah, mutant meals were a thing in The Zone, and he was not a fan of it.
He would rather have canned food and possibly irradiated meat. Besides, one of the plates he had heard of was "grilled snork hand."
Yes, the mutants they killed back at the Great Swamps, former humans, were food... How doesn't that fall under the category of cannibalism? It's not human anymore, but it was once a human.

Yuri: "You're missing out, man. I may not like live Bloodsuckers but they're good food."
-The Ecologist replied as he also chuckled at his friend's reaction.

Gabriel: "Ugh..."
-The Loner replied as he looked away, disgusted by the mere thought of just consuming an irradiated mutant's flesh...
Anyways, after that, both Stalkers said their goodbyes to the trader and abandoned the Train Hangar, going back to their quest of pursuing the legend named Strelok.
They left through the same place they got in, since the other side was normally full of mutants, and they didn't want to spend the ammo they bought right now.

That, and because the Synapse Anomaly was nearby, a hotspot for artifacts. Sakarov pays good for those, and they needed to get some money back after spending lots of it on ammo.
As they left, they walked straight towards the anomaly, which was basically a field of electrical anomalies surrounding a tree trunk on a hill. Gabriel went in first with his Bear Detector, which detected something while they were still far away from the anomaly... Perhaps it has already spit an artifact?

That was confirmed when Yuri pulled out his Svarog Detector, which not only it detects all sorts of artifacts, but also anomalies with perfect accuracy. The display showed an icon near them, which was an artifact... However, as they approached more, he spotted another icon right in the Synapse Anomaly... And it was moving.

Yuri: "No way! Is it going to spit another one!?"
-He asked as he looked at his device while his companion picked up the first artifact, which was a Signet. Useless but pretty valuable and not radioactive.

Gabriel: "Wait, seriously?!"
-The Loner also asked as he saw his friend walking towards him, still holding his detector. Both of them watched the device's display as the icon moved left and right, waiting for something to happen.
Eventually, the anomaly spat out the artifact... Which was a Battery.

Yuri: "FUCK YEAH!"
-He instantly picked up his Lead-lined container as soon as he saw the artifact roll down the hill towards them.
It was a very valuable artifact, since it had some useful properties. Unfortunately it was also very radioactive, so that's why he would keep it on the container.

Gabriel: "You lucky motherfucker!"
-He chuckled as he saw his buddy putting the artifact inside the container. He knew how valuable those were. Hell, Sakarov would probably pay him more than 10,000 roubles for it. As for him, probably around 5,000 or 8,000 for his Signet.
What he really would want to get his hands into was a Goldfish, since one of its properties is that it allowed him to carry 13 extra kilograms. Unfortunately, they were quite rare, and they were useless without an Artifact Aplication Module attached to your belt, which is pretty expensive too.

After congratulating his friend, both decided to leave and continue on their journey, walking past the Push-Pull Anomaly, which was a field full of Vortex and Whirligig Anomalies on top of a hill.
They just walked right past it since it was really easy to avoid. Soon enough, they were now facing the Flea Market, but that was not their destination. They took a left towards the Rostok Checkpoint, which was guarded by Duty soldiers, Yuri's old faction.
After he had left, his reputation didn't go well. Sure, he joined a neutral faction, but the reason he left was because he hated his own faction. They wouldn't kill him, but they did not respect him that much either...
Anyways, once they went past the Checkpoint, they were one the road to their next destination...

LATER...

Rostok. Southern entrance.
14:21 20/09/2018

The Rostok Factory, an abandoned factory and Duty's main base of operations, which was also a place for allied Stalkers to rest. As both individuals made their way into the base, they were requested by a guard that they holster or put their weapons away, since fighting was not allowed in the area. They simply complied and continued on down the road.

They were actually suprised that the entrance wasn't being assaulted by a pack of pseudodogs, which was pretty common in here. They didn't mind though, in fact it was fine, fewer wasted bullets that way...
After a short walk, they took a left into a building, which led to the factory.
There was another guard in there, whom watched from a catwalk as both Stalkers made their way in, greeting them in a not so friendly way...

Guard: "Get out of here, Stalker..."
-The guard said with his grumpy tone, watching both individuals walking past him and leaving the building.

Gabriel: "What the fuck is wrong with that guy? One day I'm gonna break his nose, just fucking watch me..."
-The Loner said angrily to his companion as he pointed to the building they left with his thumb. Apparently that guard's attitute was pretty common, and it started to hit a nerve on him.

Yuri: "Calm down. Your reputation already sucks, so let's not make it even worse..."
-The Ecologist responded by grabbing his friends wrist and lowering it. He knew how impulsive and violent he was, so trying to prevent him from punching someone was pretty frequent.
Anyways, their next destination was right around the corner... Well, three or four corners to be exact.
The 100 rads bar was a pretty visited place by many Stalkers, and as soon as they aproached it, they heard the calming music comming from inside.

Yuri really enjoyed this track a lot. It gave a really calming vibe to almost any environment, and it fit the post-apocaliptic setting they were in. Gabriel really liked it too. The first time he listened to it was eight here at the bar.
Speaking of which, the entrance seemed like an underground mini-bunker of sorts, since it went downstairs to the right, as both came face to face the bar's guard.

Guard: "Come in." -he greeted the Stalkers, seeing them walking down the stairs. However, Yuri seemed a bit lost in his thoughts due the song that was playing on the background, which got louder now that they were inside, while he stared at what seemed like a poster with a picture of the CNPP in it.- "I said come in, don't just stand there."
-That snapped him out it, apologizing to the guard as he catched up to Gabriel, whom was already in the the establishment.
There wasn't that many people inside, which seemed okay, since this place tends to get a bit crowded from time to time. There's not much to look in there though, so both Stalkers went to the only person in there who might help them find Strelok: Barkeep, the owner of this bar, whom was standing right behind the counter.
He knew them, since Yuri came here frequently when he was part of Duty and Gabriel as well... When Loners weren't glaring daggers at him...

Barkeep: "What do you need, Stalkers?"
-The barman asked, looking at the two not-so-new customers. He expected them to order the usual drinks they picked, although that would be true, the would approach them with something different... Their look for Strelok.

Yuri: "Hey Barkeep, we need information. We have a reason to believe that Strelok stopped by here. Is he still around?"
-The Ecologist asked, whom knew Barkeep for quite some time, due to his past here in Rostok when he was still part of Duty.

Barkeep: "What? Here in the Bar? No, you narrowly missed him. He passed by yesterday." -now that was an answer they didn't want to hear, but apparently he is not far away.- "I told him that a lot of people were looking for him, but he was adamant that he couldn't stay to chat. He was with four other Stalkers, headed North.
I reminded him that the Brain Scorcher is active again, but he didn't seem to mind. Bought up half the food in my kitchen and off he went...
I'd call him a fool if he hadn't already survived all those years in the most dangerous parts of The Zone."
-The barman finally gave them all the details he could have given to them. Damn, this man just refuses to die, huh?

Gabriel: "Wait, you said he wasn't alone?"
-The soldier asked, since the part where he mentioned that peaked quite his interest.

Barkeep: "He had a few companions with him. Tough, experienced Stalkers from the looks of it, not a bunch of greenhorns for sure. Part the reason I didn't really try to stop them. They all seemed to know what they're doing."
-He replied as he looked at Gabriel, giving him the details as well.
Of course he wouldn't be alone, if Strelok was going past the Barrier, he would need help.

Gabriel: "So he was seen going past the Barrier? Damn, this got much harder..."

Barkeep: "Heheheh, that's what you get when you're trying to pursue a legend. I bet he set his sights on the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant again. Getting there will be quite an ordeal, especially with the Brain Scorcher in the way. I wouldn't go there without some sort of advanced Psy-protection."
-Now that was something else. Strelok was going to the CNPP? Things just got way more interesting. However, Barkeep was right. Without some sort of Psy-protection, they would be joining the zombies that roam around The Zone... It all seemed lost, until...

Yuri: "I know where we can get that..."
-Yuri, being an Ecologist, had some contacts under his sleeve... One of them being Professor Zakarov himself. Not only he could get them some Psy-protection, he could make it, which would be very helpful.

Barkeep: "When you get that covered talk with Gatekeeper, he's a walking slab of single-minded grit who helps defend the Barrier. He might help you later on."
-Gatekeeper... Now that name seemed problematic. He was stationed at the Barrier, in the Army Warehouses... Freedom territory. Now, both of them were in factions that Freedom was neutral with, but they were enemies before. Since Gabriel had quite a reputation in the Military when he was in The Zone, Freedomers would hate him.

But Yuri would have it worse, since he was from Duty... Freedom's main enemy in the war between those two factions. Duty believed that The Zone should be destroyed, since nothing that comes from it is good. However, Freedom believed that The Zone should be embraced, protected... Apparently that disagreement led to a war between those factions. A war that's still going.
They wouldn't kill them, since both Stalkers are part of neutral factions, which, in a way, would mean they "repented." But they wouldn't be very welcome in the Warehouses...

Gabriel: "We'll do our best... Thanks for the info, Barkeep."

Barkeep: "No problem man. Good luck. Oh! Also..." -the barman said as he pulled out some stuff from a drawer he had nearby. He pulled out a pack of Psy-Block tablets and gave it to them. After that, he also gave them their usual drinks: a Ukranian beer for Gabriel and some Nemiroff Vodka for Yuri.- "This one's on the house."

Yuri: "Thanks Barkeep, really."
-The Ecologist replied with a smile hidden underneath his mask as he went to a table with his buddy to enjoy the drink they deserved after what they had been through in Agroprom.
Things got way more interesting... And difficult, but they wouldn't give up so easily. However, they needed some proper equipment if they wanted to go past the Brain Scorcher.
Next stop: Yantar... He hoped Sakarov's prototype would come in handy.

TO BE CONTINUED...

≻─── ⋆✩⋆ ───≺≻─── ⋆✩⋆ ───≺

YO YO YO, IT'S ME AGAIN.
Yeah, this took longer than I expected... I had to shorten this chapter because I felt that it would be too long and uneventful for what it actually is.
That and my usual habit of writing a long ass chapter and then dissapear for a really long time before uploading another one.

Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! And as always, have a nice day!

-Doom_Vietnam_Slayer.