Gates atop a concrete staircase slowly slid open, the chill of the surface cascading down into the subterranean village. The sky outside, cloudy as it ever was, had shifted from the daylight's pale grey to a dark, ashy black. Night was coming, and visibility was going to be limited further. Worse yet, with so little starlight able to penetrate the blanket that hung over the planet, it was going to be<span style="font-style: italic">dark.</span>Being outside of a well-fortified settlement was dangerous enough in the day. At night, with nothing between the group and the wilds, the risks increased exponentially.<br/><br/>Viktor took a moment to tie the bandage he held against his wound around his head, knotting it on the back right side of his head. Nikolav's question drew his attention, though he had no positive answer for her. "I appreciate the offer, but no. Unless you're quick about it, I doubt-..." His words trailed off into silence as Darina, just feet away, argued with a guard for the chance to obtain her own belongings. Viktor grunted a little, and revised his answer. "Well, worked for her. If you're gonna go, go. Just don't take too long." As for him, he wanted to spend no more time than necessary in the pit they had just been exiled from.<br/><br/>With the surface in mind, Viktor helped guide his group up the incline, moving at a slow pace to avoid stumbling and dropping Rock back down into the village. The poor guy probably needed the rest of unconsciousness, anyway. As he watched them walk, he felt a hand on his shoulder. One of the guards, who evidently had business with him. He met eyes with the lesser-equipped man, wordless, and waited for him to say something.<br/><br/>"That pistol you got there, that's a real nice gun." Great. First exile, now extortion. He waited, as if for Viktor to give a response.<br/><br/>Crossing his arms, the Stalker spoke. "Yeah. It is." His expression was locked in a very unamused state, and he stared the guard down. "What about it?"<br/><br/>"Maybe you hand it over, I put in a good word for you. See if this little situation can't get washed over." The guard's hand slid a bit, moving towards the holster, so Viktor forcefully brushed it away.<br/><br/>"Maybe you go back to doing your job and forget we were ever here." Without giving the other a chance to respond, he turned and walked up the staircase to the surface, pulling his hood up as a particularly unpleasant gust of wind send a shiver down the back of his neck. The part of the city they were in seemed to be an old urban area. Shop architecture, the glass fronts blown into the buildings. A large tower, maybe an apartment building, broken at the halfway point and supported against an adjacent tower. Another building nearby was an attractive enough target to make a shelter; another apartment complex, the upper half fallen and laid against the building's lower part. The ground floors at least looked intact.<br/><br/>"In there," He directed. The group carrying Rock turned towards the building, while Viktor himself looked back to make sure the others were around. He gave them some moments before shouldering his rifle and moving in himself, helping to open the front door and secure the area. There were no creatures or bandits squatting in the area, so it was a good enough choice to rest for the night.<br/><br/>Rock was carefully placed down, and the Stalkers immediately got to work clearing the place out. Some rubble was moved out of the way, cleaning up the floor to an at least flat and workable state, while a few others worked on creating a fire in the lobby's center. The holes in the roof and walls provided ventilation that was at worst 'good enough,' and after a circle of concrete chunks had been gathered up, some things were tossed into the middle. Of note was what looked to be a paper tube, which went up in flames after a few seconds of exposure to a match. As it burned, things like dead leaves and scavenged twigs were thrown in. It didn't smell great, but it was warmth and light enough to keep them from freezing to death overnight.<br/><br/>Viktor sat near the flames, placing his rifle on the floor nearby after the safety was turned on. He undid his backpack, and retrieved his PDA. The map was opened, and their current location marked with a red X shape. A no-go zone, sent as a warning to any other Stalkers in the area. After putting it back into his pack's pocket, Viktor let out a heavy sigh. "Today fucking sucked."<br/><br/>-----<br/><br/>"Yes, essentially. Water, some stones, and some lights. It's much cleaner than old-fashioned gardening, and with how things are outside, I wouldn't be surprised if this was the only way to do it anymore." Between the sheer cold, the lack of sun, and the risk of being attacked, outdoor farming wasn't common in the area. Their setup was nice enough, and it got the job done, so he wasn't complaining about not needing to get his hands dirty. As they approached the garden, Stefan adjusted his mask a little, as the room their gardens were in could get a bit stuffy.<br/><br/>A few people were in there already, doing whatever it was they had been assigned to do for the day. Stefan moved to a lesser-attended section of the garden, which smelled quite interesting. "We have some variety. Mostly beans, roots, and other bland plants like that. But what we're focusing on are these." He tapped the pipe beneath a rack of strange-looking leafy plants. "Medicinal herbs. Most of these are actually harvested from outside. Plants aren't mutation-proof, after all. I can't speak for the effectiveness compared to what existed in the past, but some can be very potent...Provided someone's not sneaking off with a bundle for recreation."<br/><br/>Stefan removed his gloves and stuffed them into a pocket. The skin on his hands looked strange in tone and texture, slightly ashy and covered in what resembled the healed remnants of severe burns. He got to work harvesting colourful leaves from a tall, bushy plant. "What we were bringing in was made from some other things we don't have on hand, but whatever was salvaged should still help out."