Bittsevskiy park

Well," Kolya sighed, "so long then Pete, I guess I'll see you around, after all the metro is a small place!" He chuckled, then became serious, "but, thank you, and,you Mitya. Had you not saved me I would be dead, or mauled beyond recognition and hope of recovery."
He gave a small salute to the man before indicating, with a slight jerk of the head, to Mitya that it was time to move.
"now come on, we need to get you patched up chuvak, you're in a pretty bad state."
He turned and trudged off to the north, a pale mist escaping from the exhale valve of his mask. The light dusting off fresh snow on the park floor crunched under foot, rhythmically disrupting the hush of the early morning. The northern entrance to the park was badly damaged, a warped gate, bent out of shape by something massive a ling time prior, possibly a bear, not that anyone would be able to do more than guess.
The exited onto Sebastopol'skiy Prospekt , a long road lined by building, a mix of short and stout, and those of taller stature. The duo continued along the potholed and cracked road, a strange feeling had washed over Nik. He felt crowded yet lonely all at once, there was so many people all around, yet they had all died at two decades before. It was strange, so many people spread across the generations, ask of them perished at the exact same time, the most infirm pensioner, the most premature newborn. They had all died at the same time. A heavy cloud of sorrow hovered over the place, though it was not as bad as the centre of Moscow, so many had died at those crowded intersections you couldn't begin to comprehend how much potential had been snuffed out on that day, one of those hundreds of children sitting in the back of a family car, starting back at you with those dead, empty sockets, they could have become the first cosmonaut to set foot on the red sands of Mars. Another could have found the cure for cancer, or invented true artificial intelligence. Sadly ask of those possibilities and dreams came to an end at the same time, there is no room for dreams any more.
They had travelled for about just short of half an hour when heard loud cracking sound, and the sound of startled birds cawing. Pete? As far as Nik knew, he, Mitya and Pete were the only ones around, and shots meant trouble. He'd save Nikolai's ass once, time to return the favour.

 

Hello is it OK if I can join your RP please.

 

sure! Welcome to the Bittsevskiy Park role-play comrade!

 

I have permission to control Nikolai from DaDeadlyCheese for this post.

I was thinking to myself...
"I'm trying to get to get to the orange line using the surface. Initially I was going to Tula to sell objects of value so my station Alekseevskaya can prosper. But the
Sectarians apparently do not approve of my inability to communicate with other human beings effectively resulted in them taking offence and alerting the authorities in Tula that I had allegedly killed someone. Me claiming innocence to the claims when I got to the station didn't help. So I have ended up crossing the the surface after exiting at Nakhimkovskiy prospekt, with only a light respirator and goggles under the faceplate of my K6-3 helmet for protection against the radiation. Just grea-"

At that moment I heard the crack of a pistol. The round bounced off the faceplate and knocked me on my back. It was as if someone had shoved my head in a bell and rung it. "Blyat, sorry chuvak!" a voice said somewhere in front of me. I got up and picked up my RPK-74. "We need help, I believe that my friend is in trouble." Me with my irrepressible need to help others felt obligated to. I ran over and awaited further information.

 

Kolya had been about to turn back and return to the station, Pete was there most likely, and he was in danger. A figure had come into view at the end of the street, coming off the Nakhimkovskiy Prospekt road. Nikolai was edgy and in no mood to die, he'd come too close to that already today, and it was only morning.
In one fluid motion he unbuttoned his holster and drew his Stechkin, undoing the safety and firing a round into the head of the thing. After the crack of the shot a metallic ringing resonated through the street, followed by a large thud. Crap, he just shot a man, not a mutant. As Nikolai frantically tried to apologise, the man raised an arm, and made a rude gesture, well at least he wasn't dead.
The man approached, seemingly well equipped. He carried and LMG and possessed a similar helmet to Nik, but he had no proper gas mask, he obviously wasn't planning on being up here on the surface.
Nikolai extended a hand and introduced himself before motioning to Mitya and proceeding to explain the situation.

 

Mitya hobbled along with Nikolai, keeping pace with the man simply by forcing one foot in front of the other. The adrenaline had all but entirely faded from his system and now he felt cold, tired, shaky, and just plain miserable. During their short walk Mitya kept a careful eye out for any incoming danger, but it was thankfully uneventful. He could feel the wounds beneath his coat, a painful searing feeling that went up the entirety of his back, and the blood hung to his underclothes in a very heavy, sticky, uncomfortable way. Once they found somewhere safe they could tend to his injuries. At times he would stagger unevenly to his side and have to support himself on Nik, but other than that kept up admirably.

The only thing of substance Mitya had gotten from Nik was his proper name- he had assumed he was using some Americanized handle. Some of Mitya's usual pluck seemed to have left him after Pete's departure, though he figured it was for the best. The man had pointed a shotgun at him twice in the brief stint they had known each other. Ah well. Perhaps a romantic part of the metro was the strangers one met only briefly, only to never see again. Little shared adventures and vignettes, that sort of thing.

***

For the trip Mitya babbled aloud, though somewhat subdued, to Nik. However the man appeared to be distracted and glum. The dead city tended to have that affect on people, Mitya reasoned, himself included. He continued to ramble, in a low, conspiratorial tone.

"... and another one I quite like is Pushkin, one of the greats you know, but I am afraid I've only found one volume of his work. By pure dumb luck off some fellow I did night watch with," Mitya said, continuing what had been a ten minute rant about poetry. "He had this one good bit that I always remember because I find it's applicable now, even though he wrote it in a very different era. 'I've learned to bury my-'"

Mitya was very suddenly cut off by Nikolai whipping out his pistol, and having been staring in the other direction at a particularly foreboding pile of rubble, it took Mitya a second to register just what the Ranger had fired upon. He immediately turned on his heel, pressing his rifle into his shoulder. He saw the stranger with the big gun, and did not relax until they had approached one another.

While Nikolai explained their situation to the stranger, Mitya trailed behind his companion in order to keep an eye out on the nearby buildings. When he was introduced he raised a hand off his SKS in an animated wave and threw the stranger a friendly smile, which again, was sadly lost on him due to Mitya's tinted visor.

"Yes, hello. I'm Mitya," he reaffirmed cheerfully, shaking the stranger's hand. After that he kept his hands on his rifle in a relaxed position but was ready to put one in this stranger's head at a moment's notice.

"There's not many people who fire a shotgun off so liberally up here," he said, tilting his head in an uncanny jerky movement to where the booms had sounded from. He patted Nikolai on the shoulder and began to limp determinedly toward the noise. "And I know a shotgun when I hear one, and I know one when I see one, and I most definitely saw one today because Pete was quite eager to show it off."

He decided to omit just how Pete had shown it off for fear of scaring the stranger away.

"Either he's firing off some celebratory buckshot confetti, or his stubbornness has gotten him into trouble," Mitya continued chipperly, sounding like he was discussing the weather and not somebody's dire need for help. "Both could be fun, one could be fatal. Come, stalkers, I'm chewed to bits and will need someone to stitch my pieces together should I come undone on the way over."

He beckoned for the other two men to take point, and though he was acting jokey he was a bit concerned with his own sorry state as well as the others'. The small man's limp was getting more and more pronounced, and though he was no longer bleeding there were some very nasty looking splotches of gore along the back of his jacket. Rushing off to save every poor soul in Moscow was going to catch up with him eventually. Hopefully not today.

 

The surrounding buildings and scattered remnants, of a former society, was made more distinct as the glowing rays, of the sun, rose in the sky. Moments earlier, in the dusk, the city had a sinister ambiance to it. Now, it was just a bunch of empty cut-and-paste structures that serve as a home to the mutants that inherited them.

Pete kept a steady pace, alongside the perimeter of the underground structure where he was previously at, in hope of picking up his former fellow stalkers' tracks. He had noticed some shoe prints, in patches of snow that scattered the area, but Pete soon lost track of them and found himself alone, in the middle of street, with no bearing on which way to go. To the rear, a lone mutant lowered its snout, to the ground, and began pinpointing the scent of its next meal. It had yet to notice Pete, as it was overly concentrating in using it's ancestral instincts of tracking. Pete spun on his heal and crouched down to window level of the vehicles surrounding him. He maneuvered further into the city among the steel machines. Two other mutants now joined the initial fiend on the hunt for Pete.

Still, there was no sign of Nik or Mitya. Either that was a good thing, meaning their trek was easy and without any dangerous encounters; or, Pete was going in the opposite direction that the two stalker had gone. Options were running out. Now, there was a trio of mutant animals following him. There was no turning back without a fight and there wasn't much ammo left to spare. Pete could either continue going straight or move left and into narrow street that had buildings towering over it on the sides. To his right, there was just a wall with a piked fences that bordered Bittsevskiy Park. "Go left." Pete though; and so he went.

Pete was now further into the city and signs of humanity were looking barren -as if the post-apocalyptic Moscow wasn't enough. The street he had gone into was long and abandoned. Only a bundle of cars were present and a fallen down lamp post. This area appears untouched by the modern human. The area even looked clean. As appealing as the avenue appeared, it was only a two-way road; and now, the mutants that had been following his scent, had turned the corner and made visual contact with him. They paused to sniff the air and glared at him with their peripherals. Pete raised the barrel of his shotgun. "No use." He muttered. They were to far for an effective hit. Pete turned and ran toward the only path without obvious harm. The mutants continued on with their noses in the air -almost giving Pete a head start before the hunt began.

Pete stepped quickly along the hard cold pavement. He was now about halfway out -either to safety or to certain doom. The first mutant drew a wicked snarl of winter air and pounced forward into a full on sprint. The other two soon followed.

 

As Nikolai introduced himself and explained that they had left their companion behind to pursue his own goals, I sensed that there was an uneasiness in their relationship. Something had happened prior to my arrival. I'm not sure exactly what, but this was a relationship based solely on survival, something I knew all too well. As I shook Mitya's hand, a sense of distrust omitted from him. Admittedly this is understandable, but I had to somehow earn the approval of the two Stalkers, and I'm not giving up easily.

I had heard the shots from the position of their companion, and people only shoot on the surface for three reasons: They are defending themselves against mutants. They are defending themselves against hostile humans. Or they are trying to get someone's attention. I was guessing that it was the latter due to the details given from Nikolai, otherwise they wouldn't turn back on themselves.

Even though Mitya was relaxed, I knew the look on his face. He was ready to cap me if I put a toe out of line.

 

"Right, I'll take point, Ivan, bring up the rear, and Mitya, just make sure nothing sneaks up on us, just say if we need to stop for a second..
".
Nikolai set the pace and began to move back down the street with determination. Damn Pete should have stayed with them, at least for a while, the surface is tough, especially alone, especially in the day. All his prior thoughts of death had dissipated, he felt a strong urge to save Pete given the events of the morning, someone wise once said to him when he ventured north, once you save someone's life, you cant help but keep saving them. Nikolai now shared a bond with his stalker friends, and if either died, he'd regret it for a long time to come.
Kolya only had one good eye at that moment, and that lens on his mask was fogged so he couldn't see the figures approaching at speed until they were less than 100 meters away. One ran between the cars, and the others seemed to go over the cars. Mutants!
"Mutants!", Nik called to his partners and pointed to the south, "Shoot those bastards!"

 

Mitya let out a stuffy sounding little hmpf, as though he found the mutant's presence to be quite rude. During their journey down the street he had stuck to the back, mostly due to his inability to travel at a good speed, but also to watch for any creatures that may come their way. To think, just a few days ago his biggest concern was getting more radio equipment. Now he was stranded on the surface with no way back to safety other than to cling to the more experienced Ranger and co. he had stumbled upon. Hopefully he would get back in one piece, but with all the delays it was looking less and less likely.

At Nikolai's call, Mitya fixed the bayonet of his SKS, which was tragically tinged from its brief stint as a torch, and sidestepped away from the creature's direct path. His masked face flitted once in Ivan's direction then quickly limped off into an uneven jog toward one of the many abandoned vehicles littering the street. He clambered up into the back of the truck, and finding himself too weak to properly stand, propped his rifle against the vehicle's roof as an impromptu support. He was now a fair distance away from Ivan and Nikolai, and would be able to cover them with his long-range rifle effectively.

This may be bad. Maybe he was hurt more than he thought? There was no time to worry about it yet, not with the monsters barreling toward them. One seemed to be making a bee-line toward Nikolai by clambering over the maze of cars, and Mitya quickly readjusted his sights to follow the creature before pounding four holes into its side.

In his head he counted. Eighteen junk bullets left in his mag. In the time he spent counting, the wiry mutant somersaulted mid-run from the impact and was carried by its momentum in a limb-flailing roll, until it collided twitching into a car.

Mitya let out a cheerful sounding laugh and pumped a fist into the air. "Yes, bitches, come to me!" he called, re-positioning his rifle and awaiting a beast to cross into his magnified scope.

"Ay, Nikolai! Perhaps you'll recruit me into The Order after this, eh! I can watch your ass and get paid!" he shouted from across the road in an upbeat, happy tone. Due to the distance it's not clear if Nikolai heard him, but he snickered to himself regardless before refocusing on the beasts.

 

Kolya reached into a car through a broken window and opened the door, crouching behind the makeshift cover he poked the barrel of his automatic through the opening and took aim. At first only one made its way towards Nik before it had its skull shattered and torso shredded. Nikolai counted four rounds hitting the beast, puncturing its hide and tearing flesh.
Mitya jubilantly piped up, going on about Kolya recruiting him.
"Da!" He called back, "perhaps we can acquaint you with colonel Miller, I heard he loves comedians! Blin!"
Another mutant approached and Nik let off a burst of five rounds into its head, around three penetrated, with the others getting caught in the almost bullet proof, matted fur.
The inertia of the creature carried it forward another several meters, before it smashed into the door Nik was behind, causing the rusted thing to fall right off its hinges. Nik stepped away before making sure the thing was dead. He picked up the door and shouted humorously.
"Hey look guys! I'm Captain America!"
Nik laughed stupidly at his own joke before realising that they would be unlikely to understand that reference given that he was likely quite a bit older than these guys. Kolya was one of the few in the metro below 40 who could really remember life before the war, he had only been twelve when the bombs dropped, not many expected to celebrate becoming a teenager in the dark tunnels of the Moscow metro.
He called back to the others,
"he was like this guy, he had a shield." Before adding, " it was a joke see."
Kolya's magazine had finally run dry, so he pulled out his trusty Stechkin, time to finish these guys off, wait could he see, Pete?
It was a long stretch but he thought he could see him further down the road.

 

As I laid down some cover fire I saw Mitya hobble to an abandoned truck with his SKS. He looked at me for a second and, well, I'm not sure how I was meant to take it. Putting that brief exchange of looks aside, I maintained fire on the Watcher barrelling towards me. The creature flipped over due to the momentum it had from running towards me and slid to a stop at my feet. I looked at Nikolai to see if he was ok at his position, but then again he is a Ranger and wouldn't be one if he couldn't. After marvelling over Mitya's impressive cover fire, he killed two more of the little beasts. I couldn't really pay attention to the specifics, as I had my own problems.

Three Watchers came at me as a group. The first going for my neck. I managed to club it with the butt of my RPK and pop it in the head. The second pounced on me and I was on the floor for the second time in meeting these lovely gents, not Nikolai's fault this time. The paw of the animal wiped over my visor and smeared it with dirt. Pulling out my overpowered Revolver, managing to again get it in the head, I pushed the beast off me and retrieved my LMG. But I had lost track of the third...

Hearing a snarl from behind I turned, only to see nothing. This thing was trying to play with me. The others were still fighting and as I was being lead astray by the Watcher, I couldn't help but think he was purposely doing this. I wasn't falling for its trap. Wiping the green-tinged mud off the glass of my helmet, I ran back over to the others. I couldn't help but think something more was at play here...

 

Mitya was still grinning at Nikolai's antics even as he put down two more of the beasts that had been barreling toward them... Leaving him with thirteen bullets in his mag. The amused smile faltered ever so slightly, which of course could not be seen under his tinted visor. He was glad for its concealing properties because aside from the obvious fear of Nazi "purists", it helped hide the fact he was wearing a more or less pleasant expression at all times. His cheerful look didn't do much for intimidation which apparently was sorely needed on the surface. It was ostensibly better to look alien and anonymous than friendly.

"Heyhey, Vanya, that was a close one!" Mitya shouted as the stranger came running back closer between him and Nikolai.

He shuffled on his feet, then crouched down in the bed of the truck, panting for breath. Pain jumped up and down his back. He leaned over the side of the truck continuing to keep his sights fixed on their horizon, but could see no immediate threats.

"Don't let the bastards toy with you, huh!" he continued, tracking the mutant that had been trying to lure Ivan away through his magnified scope. "Watch, watch!" he called in a singsong tone. "This is what happens to naughty kittens who play with their food!"

He steadied his breathing and pulled the trigger evenly, sending a junk bullet straight through the creature's spine, causing its backlegs to collapse uselessly. With twelve bullets left, he wasn't going to waste any putting it out of its misery.

"Saaay, Vanya, that's a big fucking gun!" he shouted once more, as though he had just noticed it. "Must go through bullets like a pig!"

 

Can I get in on this?If so give me a rundownyea?

 

yea I'd say you can! The basic gist of it is that, Nikolai had taken Mitya to his'base' after they split with Pete, Mitya is injured, Nik shot a guy called Ivan, now Ivan is helping them and they were attacked by mutants after going to find Pete when they heard him for his shotgun
"oh my, that's a big one, huh?" Kolya shouted,"now whose a nice doggy?! I give you treat if you don't kill me!" Nik had just finished replacing a mag in his little bitch before returning to his taunting of the beast.
"of course said treat if made of hot lead! Blin!"
He fired right into the gaping maw of the watcher when it tries to run at him, the bullet tore through its oesophagus, killing it instantly.
"hey guys I taught my new dog to sit!" He was still joking about, watchers never posed too much of a threat if you brought a gun and showed them who was boss.
"so Mitya!" Nik called out before firing again,
"you said you owned one of Pushkin's works, and I cant help but recall, ooph fuck off suka! Can't help be recall that I found some of his stuff last time I was in the library, if we get outa this, I'll get them to you, huh?"
The horde had thinned out considerably now, less than ten of the creatures remained, and around 15 were dead already, hopefully Pete was near now. This trip had spread become expensive due to how many bullets had been fired, soon Nik would have to use his supply of military grade rounds, not something he liked to do.
Nikolai was now drawing away from the truck that Mitya occupied, trying to get them into optimum firing distance, Mitya wouldn't be able to handle the things of they got too close.

 

Let me know if she can't just literally bump into you on the surface by following the shots okay?Also note given thick clothes and a tactical vest not to mention the mask she wears isn't the clear visor one its a M-10 and she has her hood up she might not be taken for a woman till she speaks lol

I jogged towards the gun shots wishing to help my fellow metro dwellers.I climbed up into a window of one of the buildings via the fire escape and pulled out my SVD.With a deep breath I begin to shoot 2 mutants fell with a bullet in the head then 1 more I did not know if the men were friendly but I would stick around if one hailed me.

 

Sounds good Red. As for our appearances, I think the most notable things are Nikolai's smashed up gasmask that is currently held together by tape over the lenses, Ivan's huge LMG, and Mitya is a small guy with a tinted, reflective visor and his back is a total mess of gore.

"Aha, Koyla! A man after my own heart!" Mitya cheered over the rattle of gunfire. "'Tis time, my friend, 'tis time for rest- the heart is aching! Days follow days in flight, and every day is taking fragments of being... While together you and I make plans to live- look," getting all too caught up in his recital, Mitya gestured grandly across the ruined city. "All is dust, and we shall die!"

The passage felt all too fitting to Mitya. By God, they were going to draw every mutant for miles. It was dangerous enough to be out during the day without ringing the dinner bell, and they'd stepped on enough nests for today as is. Who knew how many more were near? They were going to need to get out of the open and soon. Mitya trained his sights on one of the creatures, grateful Nikolai was leading them away. That gave him some breathing room and he was able to shatter one's skull like an overripe melon as it rounded on Nikolai with its fangs barred.

"I didn't know you Rangers prioritized poetry in the library- things with actual meaning! I thought you were all schematic hounds!" he continued to shout in a teasing, cheeky tone. He found the rambling helped keep his nerve. Easier to focus on banter than the very likely possibility they may be swarmed.

He put the slightest amount of pressure on the trigger of his SKS as yet another beast made a move for Nikolai- and it promptly fell dead. But Mitya had not even fired, and the high caliber boom that had sounded was foreign to him. Worried they were being ambushed, he scanned the buildings with his scope and nearly jumped in surprise when he saw a figure there. He watched the figure for half a second, the very strange feeling of being able to put another man down with just a squeeze of the trigger weighing heavily on him.

Which of course he wouldn't do. His expression was indiscernible given his concealing garb and hidden face, but Mitya threw the figure a very excited thumbs up before refocusing on the mutants, grinning ear to ear. Was it someone responding to his radio calls he had sent out earlier in the day? Their chances may have just improved.

 

I Throw my free left hand up in a similar gesture before sniping another mutant the rifles front leaning on the window I just keep shooting silent except for the boom of my rifle.

 

As I watched Mitya shoot the damned mutant trying to lure me away from the battle, Nikolai's joke about Captain America resurfaced in my head. As I was chuckling to myself, a figure in the middle distance came out of a window with an SVD and began shooting mutants. I couldn't make out if it was a man or a woman. Lost in thought, another Watcher tackled me to the ground yet again. "Better get used to being down there, plenty of things can kick your ass up here!", Nikolai called over to me as he shot it up with his Stechkin. Throwing the mutant off me in a pissed off rage, I got up and reloaded the RPK, and walked towards the hoard of Watchers, keeping my finger on the trigger. The gunfire from the others gradually stopped and I continued regardless. The little beasts dropped in front of me, one got close, it was about to pounce me, I dropped my gun, it jumped in the air, I drew my father's combat knife, and thrust it into the side of its head.

I stood there motionless, anger and adrenaline coursing through my veins. I think I had proved my point.

I felt the eyes of the others burning into the back of my head as I pulled my knife out of the twitching mutant. " Blyat, what are they going to think of me now, these angry bursts of rage had been happening more frequently lately. What's wrong with me? "

 

He then directed his attention to the window where several thunderous shots had rang from.
"thank you comrade sniper!" He called out with a friendly wave. This mysterious figure had come just at the right time to save their asses. Nikolai checked his mag and replaced it in his pistol before reloading his kalash.
"now,how about an introduction?" He aimed the question at the newly acquired sharp shooter.
"my name, as you may have overheard, is Nikolai"