This story was written to recap a mini-event that the lore team (Ecliptic, RT, and myself) put out, and the roleplay that resulted.
Ghosts
A follow up to ‘Whispers of War.’
One day the radio crackled to life with the unfamiliar voice of a young girl, speaking in a mix of Ukrainian and English. Throughout the night and into the next day, several individuals responded to her. Some wanted to frighten her, though most tried to calm and locate the frightened child. She took an immediate liking to a Ukrainian soldier, Artyom Tarkov.
The child identified herself as Katryna Bondair, an 8-year old from Staroblisk, Ukraine. She was exhausted and disoriented, saying she had been fleeing. She didn't know how many days had passed, or how far she had traveled. Only that she had to 'stay ahead of the ghosties'.
She had been traveling with family to the border of Ukraine, to meet a relative.
Days before, Katryna and her parents had returned home from a trip, to find their city filled with Ukrainian soldiers. The soldiers told them to pack some bags and immediately evacuate. She had helped her mother pack while her father spoke to the soldiers.
Her father returned, they finished packing, and left. He explained that they were going to drive and meet her Uncle Craig (whom she called 'Uncle Craigie') at the Ukrainian Border, and go stay at his house where it was safe.
The family stopped for the night at a military camp for evacuees. She had been fascinated by an old man, who had been a soldier in his youth. He adamantly kept telling people "all the signs fit". "they don't want to be found", and "they were ghosts that no one was supposed to know existed".
The next day, the road was gridlocked, and people were abandoning their vehicles, deciding to walk instead. Her parents decided to do the same, eager to get away from whatever new threat was coming.
Katryna explained they had made it a few miles, when she heard loud cracks, and people began to 'blowed up', including her parents. People began to fall to the ground, others were screaming, panicking, and running.
Realizing she couldn't wake her parents, she ran. The young girl had continued moving, with no idea of a direction, stopping only to hide 'from the sick people' or for short periods of rest. She begged those on the radio to help her find her uncle.
Katryna would become exasperated when she was asked to describe her attackers. She explained over and over, that there had been no one, only the noises. Only the 'ghosties'.
She confirmed the noises were not pistol shots, then tried to imitate the sounds. A few survivors recognized the sound, the distinct gunshot and echo of a high caliber rifle being fired.
The young girl tried to be helpful, trying to remember what the old man had called the ghosts. But couldn't pronounce the word, just 's'. She tried to sound out the word, managing the sound 'sp'.
Artyom froze as a realization dawned on him. He responded, “Спецназ?”
Katryna responded excitedly, confirming that was the 'name' she had heard.
Artyom couldn't believe what he was hearing, Spetsnaz, Russian Special Forces.
Katryna left her hiding spot to look for a landmark, finding a large wooden tower. She went to it, thinking it was a castle, and that a castle must have soldiers.
The 'castle', was a lookout tower, part of a base belonging to T.E.N., a trading group. A woman named Constance spotted the girl and brought her inside. Constance ran a hotel at the base, and got Katryna food, water, and warmed up.
Luckily, Craig Bondar had realized something was wrong when his family never arrived at their meeting point. He had gone looking for them, and ran into Tabby, another member of T.E.N.
Tabby took Craig to a nearby CDF unit, Svoboda, who were looking for Katryna. As the group talked, Constance relayed via radio that the girl had wandered to their compound and was safe. Tabby, Craig, and the soldiers all rushed to the traders post.
Katryna immediately identified her uncle, and they had a heartwarming, and heartbreaking reunion.
Craig explained that he lived in another country, and his brother had called a week previously, saying they were being evacuated and asked if they could stay with him. The family should have made it to the border the next day, but never appeared. No one answered their phones or radio.
Craig had become frantic and began searching the surrounding area, eventually wandering into Chernarus. He heard his niece on the radio, just as the battery died, and had been searching for her since.
Talking to Katryna, Craig realizes his brother and sister-in-law were dead. He held Katryna tightly, promising her he was there for her, and that it wasn't her fault.
After she calmed, Katryna was asked to go over her story again. She drew a picture of people on the ground, with red everywhere. A soldiers made a comment to another about a full-body explosion. She corrected him, gently patting her uncle on the eye and chest to indicate the locations of the 'explosions'.
The pieces fell into place, followed by a chilling silence.
The sounds of a rifle shot and echo of the bullet. The damage caused by the bullet hitting a body, ripping through it, and exiting with an explosion of bone, muscle, and tissue.
Katryna never saw who fired the shots...only heard the sounds. How was she supposed to understand an attacker she couldn't see? If the attackers were Spetsnaz, they could have been hidden. But why would they be in Ukraine? Why would they be killing innocent people? Had they followed her?
CDF guarded the base that night, making sure the two guests felt safe. More people came the next day to hear the story, including First Sergeant Ramon, and Warrant Officer Falrich from Alpha Company.
Warrant Officer Falrich was a doctor, and checked over Katryna. Minus some bruises and scrapes from being in the woods, she was unharmed and in good health.
Artyom came to meet Katryna, though he did not have good history with Svoboda. Even with the tension, they allowed him though, stating both were Ukrainian, and the soldiers couldn't deny that they needed each other.
The day was filled with people talking, sharing information, and making plans. Craigs fears were confirmed when a scout in the distance fired a sniper rifle at an infected, sending Katryna into hysterics.
A man in a ghillie suit helped by giving them some earplugs, realizing the gunshots were likely hurting her ears. Katryna understood that the items somehow protected them from the ghosts, and significantly calmed down.
Thankful to the people who had aided them, and while having been offered a place to stay with the traders, Craig and Katryna left the next day for his home. Leaving the survivors to contemplate if some kind of war was happening, and if it was heading in their direction.
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