Alone ...

New english fic ^^

There the sound was , once more .
Still distant , but closer than it had been when he first heard it . Close enough for the sound to cause his heart to jump , resuming its pace fast enough to send blood rushing to his head .

[ Gotta keep going ... ]

He rubbed his eyelids with his free hand until the thudding sensation reduced to an unpleasent hum . Slowly he opened his eyes and re-evaluated his surroundings .
Water flowed around his ankles , drenching him up to his knees , but he didn't notice . It never even occurred to him that the water was radioactive , like everything else in this miserable place . All that he knew was ...

[ It's following me ! ]

... the horrible sound was closer . The horrible sound was following him . He couldn't see it , but he could feel that it was bad . In a normal place he would have thought himself foolish ...

[ You're being a paranoid fool ! ]

...but Chernobyl was not a normal place . It hadn't been for a very long time , not since the hand of man made it's final mark on the earth . Chernobyl was sick of man's mark , man's hatred and destruction . Finally, Chernobyl showed man it's hate . It was a place of death , of monstrosities . There was no God in Chernobyl . Or at least he no longer cared .
A splash , about 15 meters up stream . With highly trained reflexes he had his rifle trained at the spot , fighting the urge to fire instead . He was better trained than that , and had enough sense to not waste the last of his bullets .
A small furry shape emerged from the water , four legs paddling in an attempt to stay afloat ...

[ Just a rat ... ]

... as the steam washed it away from him .
Damn rats , they were everywhere in this place . Most men had enough sense to avoid this place ...

[ Only fools come in here ]

... but the rats had no knowledge on radiation . All they saw was food , which was plentiful thanks to all of the STALKERs .
The rats were not smart enough to avoid the radiation , but they did know that the life expectancy of a STALKER was very short . No-one really knew how many men had died inside the zone , but the rats made sure there bodies did not remain for the long . The rats ... and other things . The monstrosities ... Mutations ...
That sound again !
He snapped out of his daze , realised that the sound was closer . Looked around fast , there was nothing there . Not even the drowned rat upstream . He was alone , standing ankle deep in a shallow stream . Just him . Him and that horrible sound , somewhere distant ... somewhere close . Coming closer . Coming for him !
" Run you fool ... " he said aloud .
He was no stranger to good advice , even his own . He wasn't far from MOTH'S CAVE . The cave would offer shelter , a wall for a back to lean on . Protection from the radioactive rain . Possible even protection from the noise . If he was lucky he could reach it in five , maybe ten minutes .
Looking back one last time , he turned around and ran for the shelter of MOTH'S CAVE .

When he was young , he remembered playing with his friends . How they would laugh , and imagine how big and strong they were . They would play STALKERs , stalking through their neighbourhoods with their fingers pointed into a resemblance of a pistol , keeping their eyes open for any dangers they may need to take care of or precious artifacts that would make them rich beyond even a child's dream .
But they were kids . The dangers were mostly imaginary ( although often they would pretend to shoot at passing vehicles , imagining them to be giant mutants intent on eating them all for breakfast ) , the artifacts were shiny washers or dropped money . A kings ransom in a child's eyes .
He grew up playing with Tom and Richard , each bearing their mother's wrath when some old lady would complain to them about how " Tom , Richard and David are nothing but a pack of hooligans wandering the street looking for a fight " . But they bore it and later smiled at the thought of them intimidating someone , even if it was a little old lady .
They grew up , but they kept their nicknames . David was Hawk . Richard was Boulder . And Tom , they always called him Moth .
But the games of children are quickly forgotten . When he was 16 , Richard did end up in a fight . He was beaten to within an inch of his life , and died a week later in his bed . David remembered hearing the term " stroke " being used , but it didn't matter to him . A friend had fallen , and it would never be the same again .
Not long after Richard's death , Moth left without saying a word . People
talked , and rumours told that he had followed a STALKER , becoming a prodigy to one of them . People would say the word " STALKER " like they would say " Murderer " . STALKERs were not decent folk , they
were " criminals who broke the law from greed . Murdering their own friends if it earned them a profit " is what mothers would say to each other , and tell their children in hope of scaring them .
David knew that Richard was gone forever , and never expected to see Moth again . Perhaps it would have been better that way , but Moth did return . Many years later , when David had a wife and two children . He loved his wife and children , but could never make enough money for them to live comfortably .
Every time his children went to bed hungry , it was another stab in his heart . It hurt him not been able to provide for his family .
Then Moth turned up . He was older than David remembered him , his face worn and weary , and a tinge of grey in the front of his hair . There was a scar on him , starting from his cheek and snaking down the side of his neck beneath his clothes . His eyes were what startled David the most . It wasn't what color they were , but the fact that they had lost almost all color pigmentation . Once his eyes had been a brilliant blue , but now a pale white . Though surprisingly the man was not blind , and was not even aware of his eye color till David mentioned it . Moth just shrugged it off and changed the topic to other , even more bizzar topics .
He was asked by Moth to come with him , into the zone . To become a STALKER .
David should have said no , but it seemed to him the right thing to do . It seemed to him the thing that he was intended to do . He could send money back home to his family , more money than he could ever have hoped to make through work . He could provide for his family .

Moth was his mentor, he was his prodigy . Moth taught him everything , all about radiation , about hiding from military patrols , the dangers of a
blowout , weapons , the anomalies , the mutants ... Moth had made
a personal catalogue of most of the mutants that he commonly was in contact with , and showed David everything . It had been like when they were kids again .
The most important thing that Moth had shown him was a small cave he had discovered , just outside of Pripyat . It was off all paths , and was difficult to find ... unless you knew where it was . Moth used it to escape blowouts , to hide from patrols , and to sleep . It was safe , with only one entrance which was easy to defend against invaders . It was Moth's cave .
If Moth had of reached it , then maybe he would be properly buried . Not
strung up like an animal .
6 months ago , he had failed to avoid a military patrol . Before he could even raise his gun he had been killed by the soldiers , bullets hitting him in the chest . The soldiers didn't leave it at that , they had thrown his body onto their truck . They had hung his body up by the hands , hanging like a piece of meat in a butcher shop , outside a checkpoint on the border of the zone . A bloody warning to other STALKERs .

His line of thought was broken as he topped a hill . There was Moth's cave , only 50 meters away . He was going to make it .
At first glance , the cave appeared to be a grassy hill . But the trained eye could see a line through the grass . A knife slit in the hanging moss
perfectly disguising the entrance .
As he reached this slit in the moss , he heard the sound again . Closer now , the closest it had ever been . In fear , David glanced back over his shoulder expecting to see nothing as always . But not this time ...
It was there , on the hill he had left behind .
Time seemed to stop , allowing David to fully take in what had been hunting him . It was humanoid , around 6 feet tall . The clothes it wore were torn and muddy , more resembling rags than the camoflauge color it once was .
Blood trickled through the cloth in places , bleeding from pale and dead
skin . It's face ! A gash of skin was missing from it's cheek , exposing two lines of bloody teeth .
It was dead , yet it was living . David knew what it was from Moth's stories , but had never seen one . A Zombie !
He remembered what Moth had said : " They sometimes may look like they're alive , but trust me they're dead . There's nothing in their brains anymore . They don't even control their own actions . If you annoy one of these things , then you're being hunted by a Controller . "

[ Keep going ... it's coming towards you ! ]

It started down the hill , dragging one leg as it walked . It had seen him , and it was coming for him . Even as it moved , it was making more noises . Gibberish mostly , but human nonetheless .

" Pain keeps circles growing in gardens of mortality ... circles grow in
broken circles .... pain ... growing ... "

This was enough for David , he pulled the moss aside and ran into the cave .
It was dark in the cave , but David knew it would be to his advantages . The small amount of light in the entrance would illuminate the zombie if it
tried to come in . Even though he was low on bullets , there was enough to shoot this monster in it's head . Enough to destroy what was left of it's brain .
He did not wait for his eyes to adjust to the dark , he knew the inside of
here . He walked around a crate in the middle of the floor , banging his knee on it in his rush . Biting down on the pain , he kept moving towards the back of the cave .
His hand felt the back wall of the cave . Perfect . Gracefully he turned to
face the entrance to the cave , bent over and dropped his left knee to the ground . Careful to make no more noise , he slowly brough his rifle up into his shoulder , aiming carefully at the entrance .
Somewhere distant , thunder . The storm would continue for the rest of the day , probably into the night as well .
His heart began pounding again , sweat trickled down his face , but his aim he kept steady . Over and over he kept remembering ...

[ Wait till you see the white of it's eyes , wait till you see the white of it's eyes ... ]

... the lessons Moth had given him on weapon use . David was going to make sure that every bullet was on target .
A scraping , just outside the cave . Through the moss a blurry silhouette was taking form . The zombie had definitely seen him go in here , and was now trying to make it's way in .

[ Damn thing can't even get in here ... ]

It tore the moss , ripping it off the cave entrance . Destroying the
camoflauge , leaving the cave open to all . It was in .

[ Wait till you see it's eyes ]

It pulled itself into the cave , then stopped . It could not see , and was as blind as David had felt .
Then it turned it's head to the right , knowingly . It moved towards a shelf carved into the wall ...

[ What the hell is it doing ? ]

... and it's hands moved clumsily over a dark shape . Suddenly light shone from between it's hands , illuminating the cave and casting dark shadows from the Zombie . It moved it's hands away , allowing David to see that it was a Keresone lantern.

[ damn thing knew there was a lantern there ... ]

It saw David , and started towards him . David forced himself back to the task at hand . He looked down his weapon , at the approaching monstrosity . At it's hideously destroyed face . At it's ...

[ It's EYES ! ]

The weapon fell out of his hand , clattering on the dirt floor . David made no move to catch it , nor to pick it up . He was mesmerised by the creature's eyes .
They were pale , really pale . His pupils were a pale shade of white . But not the white of dead eyes , for there was life in those eyes .
He looked again at it's clothing , green camoflauge once , torn and bloddy mostly around the chest . Dried blood caked around it's wrists in circles , marks where rope had once held it .
" Moth .... " David said in disbelief .

[ A Controller must have found his body ]

The creature made no sign of recognition . His friend was gone , was dead . This thing was just using his body .
It started it gibberish again ... some of it David recognised .

" Death falls to those whom died ... stalkers die before they're dead "

[ Moth said that once , that STALKERs died inside before they were killed ]

The creature was only two meters away now . A bloodied hand was reaching out , reaching for it's prey .
David realised what he had to do . He reached down for his weapon , his hand groping in the partial darkness for a moment unable to find the rifle .

" Crushing flows from head ... head flows crushing flow "

His hand closed on the weapon , running along the barrel till he felt the
stock , lifting it .
He stood up and aimed the weapon at the creature that was once Moth . It paused , as though recognising the weapon .
David looked at it's eyes , the paleness that was not blindness . The life
that glowed behind them , but not the life that had owned them . The life that had taught him how to be a STALKER , how to be a man ... here ... in this hell .

" Goodbye , Moth ... " he gasped in the silence , as he squeezed the trigger of the weapon .
Six loud claps , echoing in the enclosed cave . The creatures face disappearing as bullets destroyed what was left of it's head .
The creature that was no longer Moth fell to the ground , to never move again .

A tear rolled down David's cheek ...