Viktor Modelksy's eyes were greeted by another slow rise of the orange sun into the partially covered gray sky. He rose to a sitting position, and surveyed his surroundings. He was in a small cave on the side of a mountain facing the rise of the sun and the forest below. „I must be at least 300 feet up here!“ Viktor said to himself. He had been in the zone for one year but yet he had already become a deadly veteran like the other older stalkers that were still around these days. When he first came here, he was just another rookie out looking for trouble and adventure. But within a month he adapted to any area he was in and started to sleep outside with no tent and just a plain thin blanket, a feat that would make most of the rookies here have felt a spine tingling sense when they hear of that. For it was plain simple logic that the zone was dangerous for anyone who was brave enough to travel into it. Yet even more dangerous at night when most of the creatures begin to wake and lurk around looking for food. And for a stalker who just sleeps out there with no protection from the wind, and rain he must have endured a lot to take that kind of punishment from Mother Nature. And yet also deal with the many unknown creatures of the night that come hunting for easy prey. But this was all within a month, from a simple rookie to a semi-hardened veteran already. It was true that Viktor was a quick learner, unlike most of the other stalkers. It only took him a few minutes to know how to handle a newfound gun and also know how to disassemble and reassemble it. And he was quick to survey his settings and took very accurate educated guesses at finding anomalies and knowing where monsters would most likely lurk around waiting for lonely prey.

Viktor didn't come to the Zone though to seek money, reputation, or adventure like the other stalkers. He came here to find the truth…the truth about the Chernobyl Power Plant. The truth about what happened there, before it blew and his two brothers vanished. Four days before the explosion, he received a letter from one of his brothers. In it, it stated something sinister, yet also something that keeps on poking at his head even today as he looked at the sun. „Viktor this may be the last time we I will write to you, something is going to happen that will change the world. Something horrifying and there is nothing Boris or I can do about it. We were part of it, and sadly we both regret being involved with it. While it will take too long to explain everything brother, I shall tell you this. Seek out the power plant, Chernobyl, where Boris and I worked at. Find my office room in there and hopefully if time and erosion did not destroy it there will be a hidden metal box somewhere in there waiting to reveal all it's secrets to you. For then and only then will you know everything I knew and much more. One last thing…seek out the power plant only when at least many others try too. I know that, probably by then it'll be a difficult path, but I have faith in you little brother and so does Boris!“

Viktor rose and walked outside of the cove to look to the left side of the horizon facing him. There he saw it…the plant seemingly there just waiting for him. It's dark and eroded figure daunting and dreadful looking. He walked back inside of the cave and crouched down to stuff his blanket into his backpack. Finishing off those chores, he reached for his AK-74 that was leaning on the nearby wall. It was a modified version, having a grenade launcher and a scope and he was damn proud of his trusty gun. Slinging that over his shoulder, he looked around the cave to check if he was missing anything. Satisfied he walked outside once more, and began his trip down the mountain path. When he finally reached the end of the path he faced a wide clearing full of tall grass to his left and the forest he came out of last night to his right. Just then, he heard and saw something move within the grass. „It couldn't be…it's alone, and they usually travel in packs,' Viktor whispered to himself. Slowly the blades of the tall grass were moved around awkwardly, it was moving. Stalking him perhaps? But all by itself? Where was its other kin? Were they waiting somewhere else ready to attack Viktor or were they far off some other place, and this one was an outcast? So many questions were flying in and out of Viktor's head, yet he kept his eyes scanning but his rifle aimed at the movement of the grass. Then finally it stopped, Viktor decided to shoot a three round burst at it. As he was about to pull the trigger, the blind dog pounced at him. It's mouth growling and baring many long, small, and crooked sharp teeth. Viktor fired his AK at the dog, then side rolled just as it landed in the place he was a split second ago. He cussed in Russian, and then let loose a barrage of JHP (jacketed hollow point) rounds at the dog's head. As the bullets find their mark, the dog's head spurts out blood everywhere. It's growl turning into a high-pitched wail of pain before it's head finally crashed into the ground. Viktor took a moment to take in what just happened, then finally got up, keeping his rifle ready and scanning the area all around and behind him. Noticing it was safe he lowered his gun, but his senses were still high and ready. He continued on his way toward the dark figure of the power plant. After four hours of walking he decided to sit down on a nearby medium-sized rock to rest for a while. He could now see the fogs surrounding the plant more clearly. They had a thick, orange tint and seemed to emit death from within. Just then a loud howl breaks Viktor's silent thinking, followed by multiple different variations of howls. „Great, just what I needed after a long walk,' he thought to himself. He rose and un-slung the rifle from his shoulder and raised it to aiming level at the howls coming from behind him…no all around him. When he had just sat down on the rock, the pack of blind dogs following him from a far distance must have taken the opportunity to surround him from hiding within the tall grass. „Come and get me you hell made bastards!“ Viktor yelled. Just as he finished his insult to the hellhounds, the dogs rose from the grass all snarling and barking. There were four in front of him, three to his right side, two on his left side, and one more behind him. Viktor didn't waste time to let the dogs make the first move. He quickly fired at the two dogs on his left side, at the same time pumping a grenade round right at them. Being first splattered by a spray of bullets and then blown up by a grenade round. There was nothing much left of the two dogs that were standing there earlier, besides a few limbs. Viktor quickly ran in the opened direction where he just took out the first two dogs. While running for his life, he loaded another grenade round into his launcher. He looked over his shoulder to see a mad pack of brown, black, and gray blurs moving swiftly through the grass. He fired another grenade round right into the middle of the pack, blowing up five of the dull colored crazed dogs. Just as he pulled out another grenade round from his ammo belt around his waist, he tripped and went crashing into the floor. He turned on his back firing in the direction of the remaining dogs. He shot one in the forehead and another in the throat, both of them going down in a gurgling blood soaked mass. The last gray colored one threw itself right on his leg and bite deep into the flesh. Viktor screamed, and fired at the dog, which whimpered but kept its mouth still clamped on the bloody leg. Even as the last remaining bullets went straight into it's skull, it's mouth still held a death grasp as the body went limp. Breathing hard, and then feeling the adrenaline being replaced by a rush of pain, he moaned in anguish. After forty minutes of laying there, almost on the edge of fainting. Viktor used one arm to lift his upper body up to look at the damage. It was bad…the dog's teeth still gripping firmly on his flesh. He decided to use both arms and tried to unclamp the mouth of the dog. Finally after twenty minutes of lying there and trying to loosen the grip of the dead mouth, the leg came free along with the sound of blood gushing. Viktor painfully pushed himself to a sitting position. He took a look around, the orange fog was only half a mile away and the plant looked like a lumbering giant from where he sat. He searched for his backpack and found it only a foot away from him, and pulled out the medical kit from inside. First he took out from the first aid box, a needle filled with an antidote designed to stop most poisons and poked it right into his wounded leg. He hissed as it went into his bloodied skin. Then he took a closer look at the leg and decided to use a spray can filled with antibiotics to stop or kill any infection from starting. He screamed as he sprayed the cool liquid onto his leg. „The pain is worth it, as long as it can stop it from getting worst,' he kept on saying to himself in his mind, even though his body disagreed. Finally he took out a roll of medical adhesive tape and began to wrap it around the leg. Then finishing all of that, he laid back down and thanked himself for being well prepared. After ten minutes of thinking what next to do, he finally got up very slowly. First turning his whole body over on his side so that his good leg was on the bottom and then using both arms to push himself up while his unwounded leg pushed and help support the wounded leg that was on top. Getting himself up, he bent over slowly and put his first aid box back into the backpack. Then he took out his biohazard suit and put it on, checking to make sure there weren't any pinholes and such, for that would lead to a horrible death if the orange fog were to seep into the tiny holes. He then put on his backpack with great effort and picked up his rifle nearby and reloaded it.

Viktor stared at the fog; it's thick color making him feel queasy. He heard many tales of the orange fog that when breathed in without proper protection would kill you instantly. No he didn't want to be stopped by that, after all he had been through to reach the truth. „Brothers I am coming to find the truth, I am coming to find the truth…' It was a difficult path to walk, but Viktor was finally nearing the truth and he wasn't going to let anything stop him. No as difficult as it may be, he will never give up. He limped off towards the orange haze, confidently and ready to face whatever awaited him.