Sid looks me up and down, waiting for me to do something. I take his job, of course.
I've developed a certain routine for these early stages of the game. (One which I eventually learn is very inadequate and still stuck in old ways of casual playing (that once seemed pretty hard core compared to most other games). My photo journalism still leaves a lot to be desired as well. -Mr Retrospect)
I'm in a bit of a hurry to get somewhere other than here for once. This is probably a bad thing, I know. But I have a, thus far imaginary, audience to consider. If I seem to be playing badly it's your fault.
So Sid->Wolf->Tolik->Petruha...Nimble? What will become of us today fellas?
I like this tactic of approaching the Garage on the right flank from the others. There's partial cover at several points and as we fanned out a bit it did seem to make it harder for the bandits to pick targets. And I didn't die last time. Or even get shot that much. I think that is fairly key.
The right flank approach (truck trailer seen in front).I dash down the hill ahead of my compadres, far enough to creep in on that hole in the wall before they arrive like last time.
It's not far enough. The guys let loose with shotguns from some distance, probably at the first whisp of bandit cloth they can see though the big double doors. I join in, trying to at least do my bit. But the guy I was shooting at was the least of our worries.
One of the bandits steps up and hurls a grenade (for those that don't know, they show on the map when thrown so you can at least see how screwed you are). I run for it down the side of the complex. It wasn't coming my way so I'm not too worried about my own skin. But I should be.
I turn back to see the outcome. The throw landed outside the old truck trailer. I saw one guy try to run but he takes nearly the full blast and is thrown some distance. Petruha and the other guy ran forwards around the trailer to the fence to dodge the blast. Straight into the waiting small arms of the advancing bandits. They are finished off almost instantly.
I continue my retreat towards the back of the complex. The bandits did not forget about me, but I manage to avoid too much of their friendly attention and duck around the back of the building.
All my comrades are dead. There are still 6 blips on my scope and I have a pistol and four or five clips to my name.
The first bandit comes for me through the back gate to the place. He's alone, luckily, and I manage to take him down. Now the rest know where I am. I can still hear a couple of them around the front where the attack took place and I don't want to wander into the middle of the complex where I'd be a sitting duck. So I stay put for a while behind a tree.
Two more come down the middle of the complex looking for me. We trade fire for a while and in desperation I manage to shoot what's left of my bullets at them. I might have got one of them at least, I think. Harsh language fails to drop the second.
The moment he backs off to reload I sprint back around to the front again. It's not as though there's much else for me to do. The bodies of fallen comrades might contain enough stuff for a fighting chance.
Max's body is the furthest out from the complex but he's only got enough pistol rounds for a single clip. The bandits are still looking for me at the other end of the place. I chance getting closer.
Petruha's body has no ammo but some health giving things and a grenade. That's when the lookout spots me from his rooftop post. He calls to the others and opens fire. I crack off a few rounds and flee.
When I make it back up the hill that we came from in the first place, I finally look back. Four bandits emerge from the complex, investigating where I was last seen. They start to track me. As a parting gesture on the whole botched job I hoik the grenade at them and run back the way I came. Back to camp. Maybe they'll follow me there and the others will take care of them.
0838 - I really hope Wolf doesn't ask how it all went. I stop in the underpass and I find a box with some pistol rounds. I forgot this was there. At least now I can fire back a little. Curiosity gets the better of me and I head back to the hill.
0910- It's quiet down below. It looks like I actually got a few with that grenade. There's no movement. I can't hear anybody. I'd have thought survivors would come for me. Maybe they gave up.
Tiptoeing down to the place I can see, to my utter amazement, I got all of them. At least all of those who were looking for me. There's one more on scope somewhere. But I can hear whimpering as I approach the buildings.
Inside I find this guy curled up in the corner. I don't know if he got shot earlier or he managed to crawl in here after the grenade blast and collapse. Between whimpers he begs me for help; "Tovarich pomogitya" or near to it, which is "Help me friend" in a respectful/pleading sort of tone. But he's shit out of luck. I'm not his tovarich. All of our tovarichi are dead. There's just me. And my gun. I've got this terrible hankering for chewing tobacco right now.
(It'd be interesting if I could heal the guy, maybe convert him to a regular stalker or something. It'd also be interesting if I could talk to the monsters. But, computer games eh? What are you gonna do?)
Yeah, he always looks like thisNimble, you are the luckiest bastard in the Zone. If I hadn't somehow taken them all out in one magnificent grenade throw, there'd be no one left to stop them coming back and finishing you off. (Also interesting that Nimble stayed in the surrender position in here all the while despite the resounding silence, as I was wandering around looking for bullets and wondering what to do next. Oh those whacky games eh?)
0923 - I'm walking back to camp alone, my pack groaning with loot.
Yes, everything went juuust fine
1002 - I just don't have the heart to tell Wolf the truth, it seems.
1201 - I'm feeling pretty hale and hearty after all that surviving I just did. I'm still not quite wealthy enough to buy anything really good. So I grab some supplies and head over the embankment to see what's what again.
Fox's place, seen from the northwest (taken at a different time)Fox is what, and it's a nice uneventful trip going to rescue the man (although I guess it's only relatively uneventful, given dogs, boars and anomaly dodging). I'm well equipped and I can revive him and we can shoot those pesky dogs that have been following him with some ease.
Not bad for half way through the first day, I'm thinking. I don't really want to over do it though. So I decide to investigate this stash someone marked on my map for me while I'm here. I think it was Nimble. It's over in the valley to the east of Fox's shack. I haven't been out that way before (well, since the start of this project). It's mostly a haunt of dogs and not much else, unless you get a tip about a stash. So I head on out. The clouds, meanwhile, are heading on in.
In fact it's been raining lightly since I crossed the embankment.
1308 - I find the stash by an old fallen tree. There's quite a few anomalies and dogs around but it's not a huge problem. It's strange for a stash because it's not in an old backpack, tree stump or whatever but consists of some food and bandages lying on the ground. At any rate, I'm quite near the train tunnel now. It might be worth investigating how close I can get to that.
- -The Marked One was killed instantly by a Springboard anomaly as he turned to run from an attacking dog. The dog caught up.
T.O.D. 1315 aprox.
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