Lost To The Zone

38 - Nikita

Nikita couldn't believe how exhausted he had been when they had finally reached the place that Kostya had found and cleared for them. It was still scarily open to anyone who decided to wander into it, but Kostya had made sure to barricade one of the apartments that was on the third floor, so they could stay in it and make it into some sort of base for them to come back to.

Kostya had been somewhat apprehensive of taking in Sasha's father, which was understandable, since he had been spending his day fighting off Monolith soldiers and they still weren't sure where his loyalties lay. But since Sasha was the one taking responsibility for him, Kostya finally agreed and led them back to where he had made camp. Thankfully, it wasn't far.

And Kostya had been busy. He had been gathering more supplies from around the place to make up for all the supplies they had lost when they had gotten arrested. There was more ammo, there were some extra guns, he had found some knives for them and a few grenades. There was a collection of different kinds of first-aid kits and a whole pile of bandages. There was also plenty of food - loaves of bread that hadn't gone mouldy yet, diet sausage, vodka, Traveller's Delight. Nikita could barely believe his luck that they could actually eat.

All of them had been starving, even Nikolay - Aleksandra's father - was chewing on some bread. Kostya was looking on in amusement as they started filling their bellies with as much food as they could possibly fit in there. He had already eaten, of course, but Nikita had been sure that he was going to collapse if he didn't get food within the next few hours. And drink. It had been so hot and stuffy and dusty in that stupid vent, he was parched and could barely stop coughing.

While they were gouging themselves on what Kostya had found, Kostya was busy barricading the room from the inside. There was still a chance that anyone could get into the building, but at least it would be much harder for them to get into the room they were in. Unless they blasted off the door with a grenade, of course, but Nikita preferred not to think about that possibility.

They were going to tell Kostya all about how they had broken out and about everything that had happened since they had parted ways, but after they had eaten they were too exhausted. Nikolay was sitting in a corner. No one was really sure whether he was asleep or not, but he didn't look like he was going to move a lot either way. Sasha had been leaning against Pavel's shoulder after she had finished eating and had fallen asleep pretty much straight away.

Pavel had pulled her head onto his chest as he was lying down to sleep. He was holding her closely for warmth and whatever had happened between those two while Sasha was recovering from her injuries, Nikita could see how much Pavel cared for her. If he had to stay up all night to keep her safe he would do it in a heartbeat. Maybe Nikita had misjudged him at first.

He was glad that Sasha had someone to look out for her, especially now that people knew that she was a woman. Things would get a lot more difficult for her with that hanging over her. It wasn't fair, but that was the world they lived in, unfortunately. That is, if she planned to stay in the Zone after this. Maybe now that she had found her father... maybe now she was going to go back home.

That thought was strangely unsettling for Nikita. He only had known Sasha as someone that had been in the Zone for much longer than him. He had no idea what her life outside of the Zone looked like and it hadn't really mattered so far. He didn't even know where she used to live and if she still had a home to go back to or whether she had given up everything when she had ventured into the Zone. He had no idea what her plans for the future were. They had never assumed they'd survive the Zone, so they never really discussed any future plans with each other.

But Nikita couldn't really think much longer about it, because he was just too tired. His eyes started falling shut and he knew that he should probably huddle up with Kostya, so he could stay at least somewhat warm while he slept. He slowly made his way over with Kostya and wordlessly fell into his open arms. Kostya was smiling down at him and Nikita closed his eyes.