The Cordon. Rookie Village.
09:21. 20/09/2018...

~♩ ♬ ♪ ♬ ♩ ♪ ♩ ♬ ♪ ♩~

A faint guittar could be heard in the distance, comming from one of the many campfires present in Village. The weather, as usual, was pretty cold, so heavy clothing and small fires were common, in order for people to keep themselves warm.
Comming back to the guittar, the man playing said instrument was named Gabriel "Stabber", whom rightfully earned his title due to his skills with the blade. It wasn't self-given though, since his companion, whom was sitting right next to him, was the one who gave it to him.
Speaking of which, his name was Yuri "Oddball", a title given to him by many people, due to him being a pretty odd individual, doing stuff that most would think to be "weird", but were completely normal to him.

Yuri wore a Wastelander Stalker suit, with an Ecologist patch on his left arm. He wasn't always an Ecologist though. When he arrived to The Zone for the first time, he used to be part of Duty, a paramilitary group that wishes to destroy the horrors of The Zone. At first, he agreed with them. Who would embrace such a dangerous and hostile environment like this? Then it hit him... After a couple of months, he witnessed how poorly his faction executed their main goal. They would be mauled by a pack of pseudodogs easily, and be massacred if they dared to encounter a pseudogiant.
So he decided to abandon his faction and join the Ecologists, now wishing to study The Zone instead of just mindlessly destroying it... And because he also wanted to kill more mutants, but this time, under the name of science!
Due to his past in Duty, his weapon knowledge is far more advanced than your average Ecologist though, making him a good escort among them, carrying a Remington 700, a SPAS-12 and a USP pistol, along with some other items he had on his tourist backpack.

Meanwhile, Gabriel wore an Interceptor Body Armor, which had the Loner's patch on his right arm. He joined this faction after he deserted from The military, the Spartan Helmet he also wore was basically the only thing he kept when he deserted... The reason for this is because he got tired of how corrupt his faction was. He joined to pay the debts his deceased father couldn't pay back home, leaving him and his mother alone. After being stationed in The Zone for a while, he realized how bad the pay really was, and how corrupt and incompetent his chain of command was, just like the rest.
So he went for the easy way and abandoned the base, joining the Free Stalkers.
Unfortunately, since he was part of one of the most hostile factions, half of The Zone doesn't trust him, and the other half wants to kill him. His combat skills really helped him though, not only being incredibly stealthy and swift with his M9 Bayonet, but also with his guittar, which he always carried on his combat backpack, along with his AKS-74N and MP-133.

Yuri: "Nice!"
-The Ecologist said to his companion while letting out a soft laugh, complimenting the song he played, which he called "Sleepless Night."

Gabriel: "Thank you."-the Loner replied as he placed his guittar aside, looking up at the sky. Grey clouds and slightly foggy horizons, the usual.-"Nice weather, huh?"
-He said sarcastically as he looked back at his companion, who was checking and cleaning his guns.

Yuri: "Isn't it always?"
-He also responded sarcastically, knowing his mate was joking. Now they were both laughing a little bit as they went back to their busines.

They met not so long ago. Specifically, they met a couple of weeks ago, in the Wild Territory. Gabriel was sent there by Colonel Petrenko to eliminate some Mercenaries that were present in the area... Of course, everyone hates them.
While he was there, he found Yuri being chased by a Pseudogigant and a Lurker. He was tasked by Professor Zakarov to collect some samples from mutants, but things didn't go as planned. Fortunately, Gabriel, being the kind soul he is... Most of the time, decided to help him out, finishing off the Pseudogiant with a VOG-25 grenade comming from his underbarrel GP-25 grenade launcher.

After that, Yuri managed to take care of the Lurker alone. They've been working together ever since. Yuri helped with whatever sort of "dirty work" Gabriel did, and Gabriel helped Yuri with collecting samples, killing mutants and many more things.
However, something they both do to get more money out of The Zone, is artifact hunting. Gabriel has a Bear Detector and normally goes around Vortex and Electro anomalies to collect artifacts. Meanwhile, Yuri has a more expensive Svarog Dectector, adventuring himself between radioactive areas due to his suit's superior protection.

Both were here in order to make some profit out of The Zone. However, they both knew about the existence of the Wish Granter, deep within the Chernobyl NPP, and both of them didn't buy that sort of bullshit. They thought it was bait to lure naive Stalkers into this dangerous area, most of them meeting their demise here.
No, they were not going to die in such a way, especially in a place like this... The prefered the traditional way to get money.
However, in between those stories, they also began to hear about this "Stelok" person being back in The Zone. They had no idea who this Strelok was, and they never heard of him. Their time in the Zone was barely a year, so they were experienced but not that much...

*Beep-beep*

Unfortunately, that train of thoughts was stopped as soon as a message poped up on Gabriel's PDA. Sidorovich, great. Promising good money for jobs and people nearby.
He didn't like him that much. Last time he passed by he only gave him 2000-ish roubles for a Seraphin... Which he didn't like.
That, and his prices were crazy. At first he thought he was joking, but no...
However, he knew how long Sidorovich has been in The Zone...

Gabriel: "Hey, Yuri..."-he called his companion, who immediately looked at him.-"Remember all those weird stories about that Strelok dude?"

Yuri: "Yeah, what about it?"
-The Ecologist replied as he holstered his handgun, looking at his buddy with a curious look hidden underneath his mask, which had a dark visor that also covered his eyes, unlike Gabriel's Spartan Helmet.

Gabriel: "Well, now that I've seen this message from Sid... How long has he been in The Zone? I don't know, maybe he knows about this Strelok..."-the Loner suggested as he got up from the ground, hearing an incoming helicopter.-"Ugh..."
-He grunted in disgust as he looked up and spotted the Mi-24 Hind that usually patrolled the Cordon. Everything that reminded him of the military made him feel utter disgust.

Yuri: "Hey, easy now. And also, good idea... Maybe Sid knows who this guy is."
-His companion replied as he got up too, trying to calm down his friend and distract him from the obvuis aircraft flying a couple hundred meters above them. As he did so, he began to walk towards the trader's bunker, being followed by his friend.
After a minute, they both went downstairs to Sid's bunker, hearing a calming bass comming from his radio at the other side of the metal door.

Sidorovich: "Ah hello again, you two. What can I do for you?"
-The old trader asked, seeing the two familiar faces... Or visors, that made their way into his shop, waiting for an answer from them.

Yuri: "Hey Sidorovich... We wanted to ask you something."-he said, peeking the curiosity of the trader.-"You see, we've been listening to some stories about some Strelok dude being back in The Zone. Do you know anything about him?"

Sidorovich: "..."-the old man went silent for a second, sighing in response.- "Know is a strong word, friend. You see, back in 2012 Barkeep and I organized a campaign to gain acess to the center of The Zone. A Stalker called Marked One, or rather Strelok, helped us a lot, he disabled the Brain Scorcher... The thing is, he has never returned from the CNPP. We thought he was swallowed by a spatial anomaly, or kidnapped by Spetsnaz.
But apparently he's back in The Zone, more active than ever... And I bet he's privy to some secret knowledge. Valuable knowledge."

Gabriel: "Damn... So he's pretty much a legend around here?"
-The veteran asked, already knowing the answer to his question. How has he never heard about such a man? The same could be said for Yuri, since they were both unfamiliar with this legend, which gave the trader an idea.

Sidorovich: "How about you two investigate the rumors of his return, find him and obtain some knowledge?"
-Now that was interesting. Both men considered the offer, since they were both a little tired of always doing the same thing. Kill some mutants, sell some loot from dead Stalkers, get some artifacts in order to get a little extra... And now they were going after a legend in The Zone. A real one, unlike the Wish Granter.

Gabriel: "Sounds cool! Alrighty, let's go!"
-He said with excitement, looking at his companion, who seemed just as excited as him.

Sidorovich: "Heh, I can almost see the dollar bills in your eyes. If you're serious, then go see Doctor, Strelok's old friend. Spore says he lives in a secluded part of the Great Swamps. A part many people assume to be fenced off. They're wrong, of course. Take some precautions against radiation, then follow up on our lead. Hopefully things will be clear to you from there."
-The old man added with a aly grin on his face, looking at the two grown men being as excited as two teenage kids.
After that, Doctor's location was updated on their PDA's...

Next stop: The Great Swamps.

TO BE CONTINUED...

≻─── ⋆✩⋆ ───≺≻─── ⋆✩⋆ ───≺

HELLO AGAIN!
Another story? Yep. I've been playing S.T.A.L.K.E.R Anomaly for quite a while now, and to be honest I got really interested in this franchise. So much that I decided to make a story about it.

I hope you guys like it, 'cause I think it'll be a very long one.
Also, Gabriel Stabber is my actual Anomaly charcter lmao. However, Yuri Oddball is a friend's character. A friend named Jek_Korpen on Twitter.
Also, a huge thanks to my girlfriend Patry for drawing the video's background.
Check her out as patry_the_shadow_angel_ on IG.

Go support them, their art is amazing.
Anyways. Hope you guys enjoyed this first chapter, and as always, have a nice day!

-Doom_Vietnam_Slayer