A Duty of us all! (OC x Arknights)

Chapter 13: "Rookies"

[Igor's POV / 9:21 AM, 14.7.1095 / Chernobog]

Igor: Come on rookie! There ain't nothing in the zone that will give you time to relax! Not even for a second!

I yelled at one of the newcomers. I needed to straighten them out for the worst to come.

Igor: There we go! Keep it like that! And okay! Rally up.

All of the recruits are there in front of me, which was around 15 men.

Igor: I'm not even going to lie. If you were running from a mutant or a firefight, you will definitely be dead in a blink of an eye. 

I berate them.

Igor: You. Name.

Olya: Olya Marinkovich.

Igor: Were you an athlete or something before all of this? Damn you, not even the blowout will reach you. Continue with this and you might be a scout right now. All of you, on the other hand, hit the gym. It's right across the barracks. Remember, you have the Zone instructions with me at 1300 sharp. Dismissed!

They scattered to their barracks, I went to an abandoned building to find a big enough room to store 20 people in. And the building I was in, was actually a movie theatre. Perfect.

Small timeskip...

Igor: It's the middle of July, why is it still cold.

Rosa: We are far up north.

Igor: That explains it.

I open a can of tuna and start eating with a knife.

Igor: No I don't want to eat your food Gummy. At least not now.

I point at her with my knife. 

Gummy: How do you know I was gonna ask that?

Igor: You have a pan as a weapon. And I don't just want someone who I just met to cook for me. And I don't think I can adapt to normal food anymore.

Gummy: Why is that?

Igor: I've eaten a lot of rations, MREs, and stuff you don't want to hear. I've lived off of those for years now.

Istina: And how are you eating that?

Igor: I've done a lot of fishing.

Istina: I guess that is fair.

And after that, finally some silence. But that was cut short due to my alarm.

Igor: Oh would you look at that. The time for teaching is here. Get to the theatre, I will meet you there in a minute.

Timeskip...

Igor: Is everyone here?

No one said anything.

Igor: I guess everyone is here. You didn't have to come here, this is just some instructions for you to survive the Zone. But anyways. Our first thing to learn today is how did the mutants come to life.

The wall behind me read C-Con.

Igor: Common consciousness. It is located somewhere in this city, it is the cause of emissions, known as blowouts, it created mutants like blind dogs, snorks, blood suckers, zombified stalkers, and so on. 

The wall behind me showed some pictures of the mutants.

Igor: They are all unique in their own way. The flesh here, don't be fooled; it may look disgusting and dangerous, but it is weak and easily frightened.  It is also edible because it was a pig.

Rookie: You eat that?

Igor: To the outsiders, it is the most gruesome meal they will have in their life. To stalkers, it's a feast. Now, the snorks, are mutated military members. They are hard to kill, they can jump and leap at you from 12 meters. I hope you brought some paper. Because you will need to write down what these mutants can do.

And the next slide was saying what the mutants look like, what can they do, how to escape from them, etc.

Igor: Done? 

Nobody said a word.

Igor: Next thing, anomalies. They are hard to explain. They are hard to spot. That's why I carry many bolts with me. When you hear your detector going off, an anomaly is near you, you either go the opposite direction or get through with the bolts, you throw at the anomaly and it is stunned I guess.

Zima: Anomalies? Like there are more of them?

Igor: Yes. They are well-known phenomena in the Zone. You have chemical, flame, gravity, electricity, reality, and global anomalies. Yes?

Rookie: Only 6 anomalies?

Igor: Wrong. Those are 6 types of anomalies. You have a burner, a comet, a tesla, and so on. Now how do you get rid of them? You don't.

Olya: What is that blowout you told me about?

Igor: It's like a catastrophe and a thunderstorm. But worse. How do you escape them in a city? You get to the nearest strongest building as soon as you can. How do you escape it while in a field? You don't. Pray that the emission won't reach you.

The next slide said factions.

Igor: There are a lot of factions in the Zone. Like this one, Duty. They all have different interests and goals. The goal of this faction is to stop the Zone from expanding and destroy it. Now, there are many others.....

[Timeskip - 15:18]

Igor: And we need to find the C-Con. They are the reason for this chaos. I want someone of you to teach other rookies when they join this. I don't like to repeat myself. Class is over.

The recruits exited the theatre, while one of the girls stayed.

Igor: Class is over. Why do you stay here?

Zima: I didn't realize that you survived all of that just to live it all again.

Igor: Oh it's that. Well, this is child's play for me. I've seen warfare, and I've seen this.

Zima: I would've already left the area if I were you.

Igor: And yet you are here, helping me.

Zima: ...

Igor: If I were to die, I want God to let me enter his kingdom, I've already been through hell. Or a purgatory, I don't know anymore. And listen to me. As soon as I get enough people, you and your friends are getting out of this city.

Zima: But-

Igor: No buts. That is final, I don't want to hear it. By that time, you enjoy the time you still have here.

Zima: Alright...

Igor: Good to hear. Now get going. I need to get more people to join Duty.

We exited the theatre and went our ways. Not gonna lie, I will miss their company when they leave.

To be continued...