Status Updates From Picnic by the Roadside

But finds nothing there. K thinks this is odd but something definitely happened here.

After R leaves K he heads to a bar to get plastered. He reflects on the economy of the zone and the raw deal stalkers get. He also meets an immigration agency that tries to convince people to leave the zone and head to Europe, Africa, or Antarctica. Implying we are either in the Americas or Asia

They make it out and let the boot, car, float them back in the exact path they took in.

The men are treated like hero’s and all get a bonus of two months pay. K and T are proud, boastful, and loud about “their” achievement but red needs time alone.

He showers for a long time, trying to disconnect and polishes of a bottle of liquor. K finds him and R feels a jolt of energy, he checks his back for the web

He throws a couple more outlining the area of the trap before they move onwards. Something parralizes him with fear for a moment, he pours sweat but doesn’t know why. They navigate away from the feeling and make it to the garage where the full empty is being kept.

Inside Red and Kirill find the artifact but K brushed against something shiny and silver like a spider web. R freaks but everything seems okay

Tender, the assistant is scared and starts to blabber endlessly. As Red hears a noise he asks him to shush but as Tender continues to talk about his coat endlessly red cuffs him.

The trio make it to stop 27 which is as close to the garage as the established path follows. From
Here red throws metal nuts and bolts ahead of them to identify any traps. They find one, a gravity well that sucks the bolt into the ground

People imagined all sorts of things. In reality, nothing was ever the same at people imagined” . Sums up 2025 for me

Red agrees to help them find the full empty but is almost spooked off when the CO tells him to cut the shit

When they enter the zone Red drinks a mysterious liquid and demands that Kirill and there buddy follow his exact instructions

Red thinks his boss is lame but also knows about a version of the empties in the zone that is full of a blue liquid. He sees he is losing his grip and red feels bad for him so he mentioned the full empty.

(Also worth noting that the cover and back of the book has bronze discs. The cover of this edition is of earth, shattered, so maybe there is some link between earth and the other planet)

Red, our protagonist, is a former stalker who now works as a research assistant for the people who study the zone. His reputation is well known but he tries to keep it low key. The man he works for, Kirill is obsessed with Empties. They are flat bronze discs that sit about 16 inches apart from each other in parallel with nothing in between. They can’t be pried apart melted with acid or pushed closer together