Artifact

Under the weight of the black sky of the Exclusion Zone lies a heavy gloom, like a blanket of despair. In these forgotten places, where nature struggles with the barrier of anomalies, loneliness becomes a faithful companion of every stalker. Heresy, a forty-year-old experienced survivor in the Zone, has long lost count of the days spent in this cursed area. In his eyes, reflecting unbearable tension, the pupils were dried up in places, like two black holes, absorbing all the bright hope. Loneliness became his faithful companion, the songs of birds and crickets were replaced by ominous crunches of anomalies and vile felt rustles in the grass. On a dilapidated wooden barricade, Heresy spent hours watching the bright dots of the stalker camp on the horizon. Sometimes, during the hurricane wind, he heard their laughter and voices, but they were as far away as the stars in the sky, inaccessible. He could only dream of the warm camp lights, friendly conversations and the aroma of fried meat. One day, going on a dangerous journey to the periphery of the Zone, Heresy discovered a strange artifact, like a tear - diamond, emitting a weak light, gently flickering in the dark grass. This artifact was his new companion, his only friend in this hellish land. He called him "Angel." Every day Heresy began to spend more and more time with the "Angel". He talked to him, shared his thoughts and fears. He believed that the artifact could hear him, that he was not as lonely as it seemed before. The "angel" became his salvation, his source of hope in this hopeless darkness. One day, returning from one of his trips to the Zone, Heresy noticed that the artifact had disappeared. His only friend, his light source in the darkness of the Zone, disappeared without a trace. Heresy searched his entire territory, shoveled every corner, but the "Angel" did not return. Loneliness in the Exclusion Zone has become even more unbearable. Heresy realized that without the artifact, he was completely lost in this void. His soul was obscured by a darkness more impenetrable than the darkest anomaly. And so he continued to wander in the Zone, looking at the night sky, where the "Angel" no longer shone. His loneliness became endless, like a black hole in his heart, absorbing all hope and light.