Chapter Text
Sixteenth of October, streets of Tarkov
“f*ck! Contact, contact!” Anya yelled after a bullet wizzed past her head.
“Where are they?” Mint screeched, running and ducking down behind a car.
“Four o’clock! Red Sudan!” Anya screamed again, throwing her back against a concrete pillar.
When Anya was told how brutal the Scavs were she originally blew it off as people trying to stop her from going, but the constant firefights with them certainly didn’t seem too accepting of outside presence, as was increasingly evident by the rhythmic shockwaves that thumped against her back through the concrete. Her head spun with the overstimulation, each sound of a primer struck, then the crack of concrete and thud against her vest and back.
“Pull back, I got you!” Anya yelled before checking the chamber of her rifle.
“Eyes?” Mint sounded back.
“Head!” She’d scream before swinging out of cover and moving between the concrete pillar and a car, firing upon the quickly dug in Scavs just meters across from her.
“You good?” Mint spoke over their comms
“Yeah, no injury.” Anya would reply back, trying in anyway possible to calm herself at all, finding no comfort in any of the three hundred thoughts running through her head.
“Head?” Mint yelled bringing attention to his position.
“Eyes!” Anya shouted again running as far as she could in the time it would take her comrade to empty his magazine, with a slight scramble and a cough the female side of the duo landed flat on her ass next to Mint.
Mint drew the makarov from his hip holster to finally confirm a dropped Scav, two rounds in his chest. “f*ck- think I hit one.” he chuckled to juxtapose the surrounding fear and chaos. With a quick mag swap and a bashing of heads, Anya and Mint thought themselves ready, waiting for a break in the oncoming firestorm of military munitions.
The break came quick, most likely being the others of the group aiding the damaged comrade, Anya nodded to her companion before turning and facing their threats. “Pull back, nice and slow” she’d whisper hoping they’d worn the scavengers out but keeping the muzzle of her gun up, about head height, ready for any daring helmet-less soldier to attempt something. She and Mint both crab walked their way back, first to a blockade… no fire at them yet, then a hotel… nothing, then, finally they were inside able to sit behind a marble counter to eat and guzzle down any water or nameless energy drink either of them had. “Extraction?” Mint asked between panting breaths.
“Driver.” Anya responded before pulling out barely enough cash to pay said driver.
“Thank f*ck we don’t have to walk back to that sh*tty tramp camp.” he’d breathe a sigh of relief while grabbing at the counter, pulling himself and then helping Anya to their feet. “So, comrade, how are you on ammo?” Mint asked while rummaging around his back, he had a few boxes if he needed to reload the magazines he’d already emptied.
“One full mag, one half. Maybe ten extra. You?” Anya finished her statement with the simple question.
“Uhh, sh*t.. one mag.” Mikhail took a second to pick up each of his five magazines. “One and a half. Two ammo boxes. You’re seven six-two yeah?”
“Yep.” Anya nodded
“sh*t, all I got is nine by thirty-nine” mint explained while continuing to see if he’d accidentally mistaken his rifle cartridges for the seven six-two. “Uh, use your pistol, we’ll scavenge around for a bit, see if we can’t find you something.” Mikhail explained while loading his magazines. “C’mon then. Let’s see what we can’t find.” Mint whispered. Mikhail took the scope off his Vintorez, slinking around with Anya following close after, the American pistol raised to point at around head height.
Anya found a lifeless corpse, his helmet shattered through the forehead, obvious powder burns making her think it was a submachine gun from close range. The corpse was fairly well equipped, had a few patches, seemed like another PMC, one patch had a acronym on it. “usec?” Anya read aloud while tearing it from the plate, placing the patch in her back pocket. “I’ll search through his gear, watch my back.” Anya called over to Mint, her hands patting down each pouch before turning the carcass over.
“Holy sh*t, ks-23.” Anya whispered
“Slugs or buckshot?” Mint questioned while Anya checked through the pouches again.
“Both… about I don’t know, twelve slugs, twenty-four, twenty-five buckshot?” Anya replied while stuffing the shells into the dump pouch on her side. “Should be good, you need anything off him?”
“He got any seven six two?” Mint asked
“Nada.” The woman responded
“Let’s get moving to the extraction, got a bit of spare-“ just as Mint was about to finish his sentence gunfire broke out, luckily it wasn’t directed at them, but it was close, close enough for the pair to need to be cautious. “Let’s break, stay-“
“Low and quiet, I know, Mint” Anya cut him off with a slight smirk. “Head?”
“Eyes.” Mint nodded while reattaching his scope and slowly walking through the building as the gunfire continued to grow more and more aggressive, perhaps either side had found reinforcements or something like that.
The pair made their way around the fire and battling factions, the intensity only decreased after an explosion before quickly getting back to strength. “Mint, how much time we got?”
“Forty minutes. What’re you thinking of?” The man questioned.
“Give a few rounds, steal the dead?” Anya replied.
“You barely got enough to drop ten, doubt your armour could take that abuse.” Mikhail interjected.
“Worth a shot, no? I got a salewa, pain killer and adrenaline. Just enough.”
“Fine, be careful.” Mikhail sighed.
“Let’s move.” Anya motioned, the woman loaded her shotgun as they got closer, buckshot, slug, buckshot and buckshot again. It wasn’t a specific front line where all the fire was from, but four or five buildings including a bank, apartment building and a few others but neither of the duo could figure out what they were before the sudden outbreak of war. “Eyes?” Mikhail whispered, leaning his head out with his rifle, covering for Anya as she prepared to run across. “Head.” She’d reply while moving further up the streets as they got just behind all the gunfire.
“Loaded?”
“Yep.” Anya slowly walked up to a metal fire door, slowly swinging it open as Mikhail slowly turned the angle while aiming down his scope. When he motioned to Anya it was clear she moved up. Patting the larger man’s shoulder before moving ahead, taking point and walking through the empty apartment walls.
Footsteps.
Just as the pair tried to duck for cover a small group of Scavs had burst around a corner at the end of the hallway. “sh*t! PMC! PMC!” a younger man’s voice called out as the pair ducked into separate apartments. “Head?” Mikhail questioned while preparing to provide covering fire on the assault group.
“Eyes!” Anya yelled before jumping out of over, blasting the group with buckshot, racking the bolt mid jump and hitting an armoured scav in the chest, throwing him to the floor with a few broken ribs at best. Anya tucked back into cover before racking the shotgun again, loading again with just buckshot. “Head?” Anya yelled.
“Grenade!” Mint yelled as he jumped back into another room, Anya just barely covered from the shrapnel. Anya breathed out slightly before raising over her cover again, blasting a scav in the chest, the air almost immediately filling with a bloody, metallic smell, the man falling back as a puddle of blood poured out of his chest as another yelled. “Athlete’s dead!”
Anya racked her shotgun again behind her cover. “Mint! Status?” She’d yell over the radio.
“Injury! Left calf!” The man replied, panic in his voice as he applied a splint and took a few blood clotting tablets.
“Can you move!”
“Just about!”
Anya stayed low as the concrete just above her head shattered, cracked flashed up in smoke. “Get to the f*cking car! I’ll cover you!” Anya yelled into the microphone of her radio again. “Wait!” He yelled back, dragging himself back to the doorway. “Anya, you okay?” Mint called out. “Just about, you?”
“My legs more f*cked than I thought!” Mint called over while leaning down, wrapping his wrecked calf in bandages. “I’ll get you out!” Anya yelled over before grabbing her AK and getting back up, gunning down another two scavs.
“You can try! Drag me and I’ll cover you!” Mikhail yelled before Anya searched her pouches and pockets for a smoke or flash. When her hands came out empty from everything she’d decided on just running. The woman bounded from her cover to the apartment that Mint had hidden himself in. “Head?” Anya yelled, looking down to her comrade. “Eyes!” Mikhail called back while preparing to cover Anya, who at that point was his only way of getting out of the apartments. The moment Anya began to drag her partner, he began shooting off at the scavs, hitting one just as another four showed up. Leading to another call out from the scav. “Barmaley - injured! Lotta f*cking blood.”
“Just like that Mint, I got you.” Anya said to her comrade, feeling her stomach churn at the sight of the dark red trail that followed wherever Mikhail’s leg had been dragged, luckily most of the gunfire at this point was from Mint gunning down any other approaching scavengers.
“sh*t, sh*t, sh*t! Move, heavy armoured f*cker!” Mint screamed while trying to pop the juggernaut’s head, he only had a submachine gun and his face wasn’t protected but that didn’t help much, Mikhail shot at the larger Scav’s legs, just missing due to his body shifting as Anya dragged him. Anya drew her pistol, the rounds cracking off as only to be absorbed by the soldier’s body armour. “Load the shotgun!” Anya yelled while passing Mikhail her shotgun and five slugs. “Gun that fat f*cker down!” Anya screamed.
Mint swore to himself while fiddling with each brass shell, loading the magazine tube before racking the grip and loading one last shell, blasting the walking wall, immediately slowing the man down, though not stopping him entirely. “Again! Blast that f*cking Balkan away!” Anya screamed. Mikhail shot again, this time striking the soldier nearly directly in the nose, the man’s head being blown off his shoulders. “That’s f*cking it! Just like f*cking that, Mikhail!” Anya screamed in excitement, pulling Mint into cover, finally being able to attend to the man’s shrapnel wounds. “Deep breaths.” Anya demanded while producing an adrenaline needle, jamming it into Mint’s thigh. “You able to walk?”
“Just about.” Mikhail nodded, Anya helped him to his feet before the pair moved towards the SUV.
Anya took point with her shotgun, loaded with more buckshot, there wasn’t much to go, just a slight trek from their current location, just a kilometre or so away.
Every step Mikhail took lead to a gasp, groan or grunt in some manner of pain and discomfort it wasn’t like Anya would burn him for it, given he had a few chunks of steel lodged in his left leg. “Two scavs, left side. Pass ‘em by.” Anya whispered having just learnt her lesson about how brutal a fight with any amount of scavs could be. “sh*t, you hear that gunfire?” One of the non-military personnel questioned while walking towards aforementioned fire.
“f*ck off.” Anya whispered as they walked past a short wall, one she and Mikhail were couched behind while trying to stealth past them. Luckily there was no more events like the previous gunfight. “C’mon, car’s right there.” Anya said to her comrade in a hushed tone, motioning for him to go ahead while she covered his back and then Mint paid the driver, swinging open the back door and allowing for Anya to climb in, Mint getting in and shutting the door before the SUV shifted into gear and drove along the dirt roads towards the BEAR FOB, dropping the pair off before flying away.
