Operation Recovery No. 026

I left the office so they could continue their conversation. I walked down the stairs and thought about all the accomplishments these people must have achieved.

There was a old green couch on the right and the receptionist stood up and looked at me.

I quickly relayed what Yaromir told me,

"Yaromir told me to sit."

After I said that he sat back down and continued looking at some papers. I was amazed, she was using paper that looked fresh and unused, so I piped up,

"Uhm, hey Mr., uh, how did you get that paper?" I pointed at what he was holding, it had been a few months since i had woken up and this was one of the first times I had seen it.

"Oh the paper! One of the residents was a retired scientist who was working on making ways to make paper. So he made a little processing plant, he has two guys go and chop down a tree or two whenever boss asks for paper. He has helped out significantly. It's been nice being able to put notices on every street corner."

I was shocked, "Dang he sounds really helpful."

The receptionist chuckled and just kinda shook his head, "No, no, the paper is actually quite expensive, it costs about 5 rubles a sheet, but you're the new guy."

He thought for a second and then continued,

"It won't hurt to tell yah, we use rubles still for trading and currency purchases, but each is actually kept stable by the price of 1lb of steel, since only a few can make it in this day and age."

"So how many rubles per pound of steel? Also how would you prevent someone from bringing in a bunch of money?"

"Well one pound of steel is actually 50 rubles, and about 5 bottles of water is worth a pound of steel so 10 rubles a bottle"

"Geez that's expensive!"

I thought I had around 158 rubles in my pocket. If I went back to Manchegorsk I could go to the shops and take all the money I had left behind. I could end up with about 500 more Rubles, but I had to ask some questions,

"So how can you get Rubles?"

He looked at me and figured out how to say it right,

" Well, most people use their skills to bring in some rubles, that scientist gets paid about 500 rubles a month to make paper for our camp, we actually send some and sell it back in the markets of the head camp. That's where we get a lot of orders from and how our economy here runs we generally have about 800,000 rubles saved here."

"Eighty thousand! Where so you keep them! And what would you need that for?"

He laughed and just continued,

"We use a lot of money and the 500 or so residents run local buisness. Most people are employed by boss. She has people map the area for where monsters live. Have you seen a boar that has been affected by radiation! They are enormous!"

He paused and waited for my answer as I thought about it, and then I simply said,

"Yes I have seen one, but it was killed by about three or four wolves, so be careful."

"How did you figure that out?! Wolves are the most dangerous creatures around here under those behemoths, how did you survive even?"

"I slept in a tent, under a few inches of rags and cloths. And I waited, hours, they were circling me. Bur what does that have to do with money?"

"If you can kill one boar, the meat, fat, bones, and hide are worth around 50 rubles, it depends on if a lot of them have been coming in."

That seems like a joke, you have to eventually work for the boss to survive and then you won't want to leave because you have support. Before I could speak my grievances Yaromir walked downstairs.

"Bratan, let's go, we need to prepare for the journey."

I quickly followed him out and he walked back towards the garages.

I went and grabbed his sleeve,

"Yaromir, what did she say?"

He cleared his throught and looked at me,

"We are going to recover Filips car and bring back all the vehicles, she said we can bring spare tires and also three mechanics who will evaluate each vehicle. Then we will bring what we can back."

He solemly spoke and I couldn't help but feel for my new friend. I replied,

"So I will lead them back to the graveyard. What will we do while we are there?"

"You, Borislav, and I will go around and hunt for animals to bring back and split the money three ways."

I was fine with the result,

"Alright, so we need to get some supplies then? We will need a lot of gas, about three or four days of food and water, and whatever is necessary for the cars."

Yaromir smiled and laughed "Yes! Let's get everything together and we can leave tomorrow."

I nodded and followed him back towards the garage, when we turned the corner Yaromir and I saw Borislav yelling at two people who were in front of my Volga.

Yaromir quickly said " Bratan sneak around back and go from the other side, quick!"

I ran around behind the garages through the small paths, some people looked at me, but I wouldn't stop for questions. I came out around to Yaromir and Borislav talking with the two men. I approached and I could hear their conversation.

The first man was average height about 5'9" and I could hear him talking about my car, "Hey Yaromir tell Borislav to back off, why can't I take a look at the car, it will probably end up scrapped anyways!"

I didn't even hear Yaromirs response as I took my rifle from my back and my vision faded to a deep dark red.