Chapter Fourteen - Survival Gear

"So, if we're going to survive in the Zone, what should we get?" Alice asked the Frenchman.

He scoffed. "Nothing will keep you alive more than walking in the opposite direction of the Zone," he said. "But assuming you're too braindead to do that, then I have some things that might help."

He closed the door behind them, locked it with a bolt, then pulled up a metal bar and shoved it between two brackets bolted to either side of the doorway.

"That's a lot of security," Crystal said.

"It's the amount I need," he replied.

"Why?" Crystal asked, as innocent as ever.

The Frenchmen grunted. "Where are you two from if you know so damned little?"

"We're from elsewhere," Alice said. She specifically shifted her language to French, which caught the man off guard, judging by the way his eyes snapped up to her. "Look, I'm tired of playing pretend with everyone we meet. We're not going to buy anything from you."

He frowned, and she noticed his hands lowering to his side. He was wearing a large, oversized army coat, the kind meant to keep someone warm in cold weather, and which was just lumpy and formless enough that a soldier could be in full kit beneath it. She wouldn't have been surprised if he was reaching for a gun already.

"We just need you to show us what we need, then we'll be out of your hair. Maybe... Maybe Crystal will give you something nice for your trouble."

"Oh! I can do that!" Crystal said. She bit her tongue, then snapped her fingers. With a thump, a statue appeared on one of the nearby tables. It was the Frenchman, carved from a single block of what looked like sapphire, diamond and ruby.

"Did... did you make it in the colours of the French flag?" Alice asked.

"Yeah! He's the Frenchman, isn't he?" Crystal asked.

The man was now looking between the two of them, clearly off-balance and still entirely uncertain of what to do.

"Look," Alice said. "I'm going to be entirely honest with you, and I'm going to see how that works out, alright?"

"Alright," he replied.

Alice nodded. "Crystal here, and I, are extra-dimensional beings. We're here to rescue another such being who is the cause of this 'Zone' of yours. Crystal wants to disturb the locals as little as possible--"

"And have fun!" Crystal added.

"And have fun," Alice added. "While pretending to be a local. I, personally, don't care either way, but I see no harm in pretending to just be a normal girl doing... whatever. As long as we get to our friend and save her, then I'm entirely pleased."

The Frenchmen looked between the two again. "You're both insane, yeah?" he asked. "At least you're not with the government, they wouldn't go this deep into anything."

"We have no political affiliations," Alice said. "At least, not yet."

"Not yet?" Crystal asked.

"Crystal, if you have as much power as we do, then anything you do becomes political," Alice said. It was a lesson that she had learned early on in her magical girl career, but it had come at great cost.

The Frenchman slowly pulled his hand away from the edge of his jacket. "I think this is enough, I want you out of my shop," he said.

Alice sighed. Maybe Crystal was right. She hated to admit it, but while Alice was better at bigger-picture things, Crystal was just better at smaller-scale, person-to-person interactions than she was.

"Your shop doesn't have an exit," she said.

The Frenchman frowned harder, then looked at the exit, or where it had been. It was simple to turn his sudden spike of fear into a reality, and as he stared at the wall where the entrance had been, his growing fear only made the illusion all the more real.

"Ah, fuck," he muttered.

"Alice, don't spook him too much," Crystal said.

"I'm just tired of all this... lack of respect," Alice said.

Crystal walked over and touched Alice on the shoulder. "It's okay. The people in this world don't know about us. You worked really hard back home to build us a reputation, and it helped a lot, but we don't have that here. It's okay to be upset."

Alice sighed. "I'm not upset," she lied.

She was definitely a little upset, but not so much that she'd admit to it so easily. More importantly, she wasn't so upset that she wanted to have Crystal comfort her like this. It was embarrassing. She was the older of the two, and ostensibly their group's leader. That didn't leave her much room for complaining.

"Anyway. Frenchman... if you don't mind me calling you that?" It felt a little... racist?

"That's what they call me," he said. She noticed he was holding onto a handgun now. It wasn't pointed at either of them, so she dismissed it.

"Good. We're going into the Zone. What do we need to bring."

"Not to be safe," Crystal clarified. "It's more to fit in, you know? What do other, uh, Stalkers, bring?"

The Frenchman slowly put away the gun, then glanced at the exit again. It was back, Alice having let the spell drop as soon as he started to comply. "I get a lot of Stalkers that come over here. There are a few places to get things for the Zone. I sell all the best stuff."

"How do you get it?" Crystal asked.

He sniffed. "Straight from the grand factories of the USSR! You wouldn't believe how easy and cheap it can be to get rubles into the right hands. A few rubles down and a box gets mislabeled. What I have is the kind of gear that the best soldiers have. Which isn't to say it's the best gear period. That's why I buy lots of aftermarket and third-party equipment too. I import things from all over."

He seemed a lot more comfortable now that he was talking about something he was familiar with, something that was safe.

"What should we bring, then?" Alice asked.

"A gun, to start with," he replied. "You can walk out of the city with the very best gear, but it won't mean anything if some jealous Stalker puts a bullet between your eyes for it." He glared. "I don't sell guns. Too much heat."

"Alright," Crystal asked. "So what's second best?"

"Protective gear," he replied. "You'll want to start from the bottom up. That means good walking boots. Stalkers like those with metal caps on the ends, they protect your toes. Thick leather, waterproof, good soles. Army boots aren't actually half bad, but they're not the top."

Crystal nodded for him to go on.

"Then socks. Good ones. Thick, cotton's good. Might get a little wet, but they dry fast enough. You don't want to lose toes. The weather's decent now, but it's always cold out here, especially at night. The next thing... most Stalkers complain about it, until they return. If they return. But tights."

"Like the things you wear under a skirt?" Crystal asked.

"Yeah. They keep you warm, don't get wet as much, prevent some chafing. I have thick, durable ones here. They can serve as filters too, or cheap rope once they're worn out."

"Huh," Crystal said. "Okay, go on."

He nodded. "Pants. I have jeans from America. Good, tough. Army pants too. Not as durable, but they have pockets that are better. You'll want a few layers up top. Shirt, button-up, then your armour. Don't go out there without at least a vest."

The Frenchman moved to the back of the shop, where he had a number of armoured vests on hangars.

"Something bullet-proof is a must. Lots of Stalkers use buckshot. It works on the monsters in the Zone really well. I suggest a good coat too. Something in plain, drab colours. Browns or greens, or greys. The Zone is forest and city, you don't want to stand out. A good, thick coat will keep you safe. Masks are next. No mask means no breathing. There are parts of the Zone where the air will kill you faster than any bullet. You need a good filter for that."

"Is that why we've seen so many people with gas masks?" Crystal asked.

He shrugged. "It's not so bad in the city. Still, take a mask with you. Some don't wear them all the time. Cuts their vision, and some say they need to feel the air around them to operate at full capacity. I don't know about that. I just know that you need your mask with you before things go bad."

"I imagine that those who wear them all the time get used to operating with a mask on as well," Alice said.

"Maybe so. Look, surviving in the Zone isn't just about gear. But having good gear will keep you alive longer, and that matters." He crossed his arms. "So, why don't you just take what you need and get?"

***