Tarkov- No Escape

Chapter 5- The Encounter

The sun was rising, birds were singing, and Jason was waking up on the floor.  Leaning against a wall, he began writing a to-do list in a pad he found.  His list included items he needed for survival, some things he needed to fix, and a reminder to call Nikita for some items he needs.  The items he needed were a crickent cigarette lighter, some matches, duct tape, blankets, and some more medical supplies.  He grabbed his rifle and headed out, making sure to place the trash bags in front of the empty doorway on his way out.  

Reading the map and using the compass Nikita had marked for him, Jason eventually reached the location that Nikita had labelled "Customs".  He came to some garages, seeing a large red building nearby and smoke stacks in the distance.  He combed the garages, checking his list for things he would need.  He found some toolboxes, which not only gave him much needed parts for the hideout but also some tools that he could use.  Just as he had finished putting the things into his bag, he heard some chatter.  He peaked around a corner to find a lone scavenger, Scavs as Nikita called them, digging through the trunk of a car.  Initially raising his rifle, he quicky lowered it, remembering that gunshots could attract unwanted attention.  Instead, he unsheathed his fulcrum bayonet and crept up behind the scav.  In the blink of an eye, Jason put the Scav in a half nelson and ran the blade across the Scav's jugular.  He struggled for a few seconds but was finished by a brutal stab to the back of the head.  Jason was surprised that he had the strength to stab that deep into someone's skull and tried to pull his knife out, to no immediate success.  He then put his boot onto the Scav's head for leverage and yanked his knife out, watching blood and brain matter ooze from his head.  Jason wasted no time taking the Scav's things, which included a beanie, a respirator, a bolt action hunting shotgun, some magazines for it, a pack of crackers, and a bottle of water.  He took one last look at the dead scav before moving on, making sure to grab what he needed along the way.  He paused frequently whenever he heard gunshots, wondering if they maybe could be fellow USECs.  He ultimately never pursued this idea and continued looting the buildings.  Eventually, he came to a gas station.  It's lights seemed to work, despite being crowded by abandoned vehicles.  Jason figured this was a score.  He moved towards it only to dive into a bush a second later.  Several figures were there that he didn't see initally.  He looked closely and saw that strangely enough that most of them had on what appeared to be police uniforms, while some just wore police hats.  He had no idea if they were friendly or not.  A closer look revealed a large, heavily muscled man with a tattoo in russian on his face, wearing a brown jacket, aviators, and carrying a strange looking AK rifle.  He listened closely and heard one of the officers refer to the big guy as "Reshala" or so he thought he heard.  His curiosity got the better of him and so he stood up, calling out to them in English.  Reshala's head whipped around as he raised his rifle, firing a stream of hot lead at Jason.  He dove quickly into another bush, evading the burst of bullets.  He heard a grenade land nearby, prompting him to run quickly away.  The blast shook him, but he wasn't hurt.  He could hear Reshala yelling to his men in russian to engage.  In response, Jason raised his rifle and fired a long burst of cover fire, before running back to cover.  The officers began to spread out but were called back sternly by Reshala, who stepped forward and began to yell in english, which surprised Jason.  "You, American coward!" he yelled insultingly.  "I know you hear me, so I will address you this one time, you are not welcome in the Customs Depot, this is my territory, and now you fire at my officers, it will never be tolerated, we will find you, and when we do, we will make sure you never return again, now run along like scared little mouse!" he yelled.  Jason obeyed the order and left.

Returning back to the hideout with his things, Jason's blood was boiling.  Here he was, stuck in the middle of nowhere, and now some pissed off ruskie is telling him HE isn't welcome?  What bugged Jason the most was how he called his men and himself "officers".  They weren't officers, they were a gang.  After throwing more empty beer bottles and cursing into the darkness, Jason radioed Nikita, telling him he had the money and things.  After a short time, Nikita came and gave Jason paraffin candles, a mattress that he had on a cart, and some other things, in return for a fat stack of roubles.  After placing down some pallets he had laying around and lighting some candles, Jason plopped down on the mattress with some old pillows and some sheets of felt to use as thin blankets.  As he stared at the ceiling as the dim light of the candles gave some warm scattered light, he pondered his next move.  He was still trapped, abandoned, all alone except for Nikita, cold, and he had made an enemy, all in one day.  

Back at the gas station, Reshala was in a bad mood, yelling and cursing to his minions while drinking heavily.  "That American, the one we saw today, he knew where we are, why else would he be stalking us?" he asked.  "I don't know sir," said his second in command.  "He might bring more our way, tell the men to stay alert, and prepare for attack on the nearby American camp," he said.  "But sir, they're heavily armed," he said.  "I don't care, we can take them, now go before I decide to cave your skull in you useless bastard!" he yelled.  The officer ran away and informed the others of the plan.  Silently, Reshala made a plan, to exterminate the USECs in his territory with ferocity and cruelty.