NEW TO THE LAND
By Eivind Hagen

Bodies lay all around him. Some small, some big, some without legs or heads. The dripping of water could be heard from the corner. Most likely it came from a cracked pipe. Thunderous howls could be heard outside, followed by running heavyset footsteps. The mutants should find the rest of the competing Stalkers soon. Yuri made a fraction of a smile. He had lost his liking to big smiles long ago. The Zone did that to people. There was no good here, only waste and wreckage and filthy mutants. This was no mans land. No law but the one you made for yourself, with your gun in hand and a knife in your opponents neck. People had been known to argue with Yuris gloomy visage of The Zone, saying there was riches there beyond your wildest dreams. Yuri had cracked many a head for hearing such, in his mind, ridicoulus things. He had long since grown weary of would-be-adventurers and fortune hunters. Yes, there was valuable things there, but nothing you could grow rich on. Yuri had been a Stalker for almost 4 years and knew how to surivive in the Zone. He knew where to look for artifacts he could sell, but he had never... never, found anything to be even remotely rich from. He gave the gun he held a little squeeze. He knew he had the situation under control, but he still liked to feel his gun. Yuri wasnt scared. He didnt think anything could scare him anymore. Nothing in real life anyway. The dreams of what happened when Tchernobyl exploded the second time still haunted him. He could still see his mother and baby sister on the floor. He felt anger rising up in him, but quickly forced it down. A thing that could come in handy when you called The Zone your home. Never show any feelings to your opponents. That ment everyone. Yuris eyes tightened. Everyone in The Zone were enemies, wether they realized it or not. He had long since outgrown the notion that you could trust anyone here in this god forsaken area. He had seen best friends kill each other over some artifact they didnt want to share. He had seen men give their wife to mutants so they wouldnt get eaten themselves. He had seen and he had understood. You could trust no one in The Zone.

His eyes grew harder, if that was possible, and locked them into the eyes of the man who sat on his knees in front of him. Yuri lifted his gun into the air and slapped the man over the face with it. The man went sprawling over the floor and landed on his back about 3 feet away. Yuri went over and grabbed him by his hair and pulled him upright. He looked straight into the mans eyes. Fear. Fear shone from them like two small suns. Yuri did not enjoy this. It was necessity. Without this he wouldnt have survived for this long. You made the law with gun in hand and a knife in your opponents neck. That was just the way it was here.

"Who are you?" Yuris voice was hard as steel. "WHO ARE YOU?" A necessity. Yuri pressed the gun to the mans right eye. He could pull the trigger and be on his way. A solution he was well familiar with. He didnt know why he hesitated. Maybe it was the mans fear that had made his trigger finger less itchy. He didnt think so. He had killed people for years, why would it matter if they were scared. A strong smell hit his nose. Yuri looked down and saw a wet stream down the left leg of the man. He hit the man in the stomach. The man buckled over and fell to the floor. Yuri looked at him. What a pathetic creature, he thought. How could someone so weak survive in a place like this. The man lay there gasping for air. "WHO ARE YOU!!?" Yuri shouted. "P-p-please dont hurt me. I am P-P-Pert." "Why are you here... PERT!?!" The man gave a start at the last word. Yuri wasnt really angry, but he knew it helped in a situation like this to be as threatening as possible, although this man, Pert, didnt look like he needed the abuse. "I-I-I was lo- looking for artifacts I could sell." "Why were you with these men?" Yuri looked around and gave them a disgusted look. He had just killed another Stalker to get his loot when these characters showed up. They wanted a share of the loot too, which is to say all of it, so Yuri answered politely by throwing a knife into the face of the leader and threw himself behind a knocked over steel desk, drew out his gun and started firing. He could only remember bits and pieces of the fire fight, which was usual when your adrenalin took charge. He remembered seeing limbs fall of, heads exploding in a fountain of gore onto the wall and floor and people falling over themselves to get to cover. A necessity if you were to survive out here. "I-I-I am n-new to The Zone. I h-h-hooked up with th-these men in hope I could learn som-something. I-I havent been with them for more th-than a few hours." Yuri wasnt surprised. He had most likely known all along. This man... Pert, was new to The Zone. It could be seen in his eyes. They lacked the toughness of veterans. Yuri looked down on Pert. He still lay there on the floor, hands lifted up in a protective manner in front of his chest. "Why didnt you run away like the rest of your crew?" "I-I was to scared," Pert stuttered. Yuri couldnt blame him really. The Zone was a hard place and it took a while to get used to. Besides he would have been eaten by the mutants he heard a while ago anyway. Yuri reached out a hand. "Get up," he said to Pert. Pert took hold of his hand and got to his feet. Yuri almost pitied him. Why did he come here. He looked so innocent there he stood with eyes big as apples and pee all down his left leg. Pert hunched and looked almost 40 years older than he really was. "A-a-are you going to k-k-kill m-me?" He was on the virge of crying. Yuri thought for a second. A necessity. He remembered when he was new to The Zone. He had been so scared. He would probably have acted like this pathetic little worm Pert. That was what he were... A worm. Kill him he thought. Just another name to a list a mile long. No witnesses. A necessity. Kill him... KILL HIM!!! He locked his cold, heartless gaze straight into the eyes of Pert. "Why did you come here Pert?" Yuri didnt understand the point of this conversation. He had just killed all of Pert's friends in The Zone. If he didnt kill Pert he would perhaps do something foolish like getting try and get revenge over his fallen comrades. "I wanted to find loot so I cou-could get r-rich." Pert's face was ashen. Yuri hated it. Every second of this conversation was a farse. Why couldnt he just pull the trigger and be over and done with it. WHY? Could it be he had found somebody he could trust and take under his wing as a friend? Someone not yet touched by the harshness of The Zone? "When did you get here Pert?" "Yesterday," Pert answered. Yuri almost smiled... almost. Could it be a flower amongst the filth of this area. "Are you afraid of me Pert?", Yuri asked almost neutral. Pert didnt answer, only stared at him like a fool. Big unknowingly eyes, like big black holes. Empty sullenness. He thought he was going to die. "I will not kill you yet Pert." Yuri couldnt believe what he was saying. Was he really going to do this. Go against all he believed in. All he had learned from his years in The Zone. Just throw it away like a broken gun.Was he really going to try to befriend this, this Pert? Pert looked at him questioningly. Probably didnt know what to make of it. Yuri pointed over to the dead Stalker and said, "We will share his loot and sell. You may not get rich, but at least youll get a little ruble." Pert looked at him with big black eyes, and Yuri thought he saw a flicker of a smile.

Yuri put his gun in his holster and looked at Pert who stood there like he didnt believe he was still alive. Yuri walked over to the corpse of the Stalker. He bent down to get some of the artifacts to give to Pert. He felt a bubbling sensation in the bottom of his stomach. Was he actually a little bit happy? He hadnt felt happy since before the explosion. He heard footsteps behind him and turned to see Pert standing there. Fear washed away from his face completely. Replaced by a smirk and cold, dead eyes. Yuri dropped the loot when he felt a cold, hard object glide into his neck. Blood filled his lungs and he dropped to the floor. He looked up at Pert through a blood red haze. Blood dripp in small droplets from the tip of the knife onto Yuris face. It was the same knife he had thrown at the leader. "Why," Yuri moaned. Pert just stood there looking. Those eyes. Hard as a veteran's eyes. The only semblance of a feeling was that smirk. Yuri laughed. Or would have if the blood in his throat didnt make it to sound more a gurgle. He had been right all along. He knew it. This was The Zone. No one had friends here. This was nomans land, where you made your own rules with gun in hand and a knife in the opponents neck.