Massive metro 2033 commission for  delta i've been working on for a while to accompany his ongoing story.

art by me (signed, dated, and watermarked)

story by  delta

metro 2033 by Dmitry Glukhovsky and 4A Games
-contact-

“Get away from the damn truck!” Winds’s voice echoed in Nadyia’s head distantly as the piercing ring of tinnitus wailed in her ears. They’d been ambushed by Nazis, who usually didn’t dare interfere with the Rangers unless they outnumbered them. Unfortunately, for the group of five that was exactly the situation they’d found themselves in. Nadyia’s body moved in slow motion. She felt nauseous and tired and it took every ounce of energy to put one arm in front of the other; army crawling her way from the overturned truck. Looking back, she could see the condition of their vehicle. All the windshields had been shattered or broken, the front axle was bent into a harsh parabola, the machine gun turret and its operator were crushed under the full weight of the truck and the passenger side was charred as well as slammed inward by an explosion. Somehow, the four remaining Rangers had made it out with their lives. Though, as her hearing began to return to her, she could make out the sounds of bullets snapping at the ground around her and hissing overhead. The sight over Kuro running toward her while Winds and the driver laid down suppressive fire brought to her attention that they’d come out of the frying pan and into the fire. Nadyia reached for the dolphin desperately, as he slung his weapon to his back and grabbed her fore arm. “I got ya, kid.” he murmured in a hurried tone as he flipped her over and hooked his arms around her torso before dragging her behind a pile of rubble a few feet from their comrades. He laid her down gently and searched for any signs of wounding, blood, broken bones, signs of internal bleeding. Fortunately, she showed no symptoms. Unfortunately, the distant look in her eyes and slow movements suggested that she wouldn’t be combat effective, leaving them at three guns instead of four.

“How is she!” Winds’s question came more as a command, as many questions did when one was being shot at. “I can’t find any injuries, but-” Kuro called back, ducking his head down as a large chunk of concrete chipped off of the greater slab that helped cover him and Nadyia. “But she’s not here... shell shocked!” he continued before popping his head up and letting off a few rounds. Winds gave a single, frustrated shake of his head and looked back to the his friend “Well get her back! We’ll probably die with four guns, but we will with just three!” Kuro nodded and turned back to the panther, sitting her up against their cover and squating in front of her. “Kid...Nadyia...” he started.
“Kuro! Target flanking at nine-thirty!”
Almost mechanically, he rose to his feet and fired four calculating shots at the bold fascist. His target stumbled and twisted over, falling to the ground. Kuro returned to Nadyia, who was slowly coming back on her own and following the dolphin with lifeless gaze. “Nadyia, we need you. Okay? We are going to die without you fighting. There are four of us and at least twenty-” Kuro paused, looking over to their fellow rangers a few feet away fire an impressive volley before going back into cover. “..at least fifteen guys out there that want to mow us down. We have a chance with all of us in the fight, but none with just three of us..” The dolphin spoke in a hurried, yet gentle tone. He reached around his back and unslung his spare VSV pushing it into her arms. “We need our forth.” Nadyia looked at her comrade and then slowly down to the weapon, her paws moving over it as if they were lost and finding their way back to familiarity. The young panther looked back up to Kuro, life and purpose returning to her eyes, and slowly began to lift herself into a kneel and turn, readying to fire. “Atta girl.” Kuro said giving her shoulder a quick pat and moving into position himself.

The firefight continued. Under the spotty protection of cover fire, the rangers had displaced and moved back into a city block that was home to some of the taller office buildings. The fascists were getting bold, cocky even. The fired more often and yelled their battle cries and laughed when one of the rangers poked their heads out only to quickly duck back down when the surface crumbled and sparked. The out numbered group fired less frequently, a few pop shots here and there to keep their pursuers on guard and at a safe distance. During the short lulls, the Nazis would shout to their opponents, taunts, threats, whatever sounded menacing. “Dont prolong the inevitable!” “Im coming for you, dolphin!” “Here kitty kiity ahahaha!” No response came back and not because it was true or because the rangers had nothing to say back. There was a reason they’d sought cover near tall buildings, there was a reason their fire had nearly dissipated while the Nazis’ increased, there was a reason for their silence. It was the knowledge of what had become of the surface, what purposes it could serve in certain situations, what dangers it presented to human beings. Kuro and Winds knew what this street could offer and what creatures had moved in to these spires when the civilization of years passed had been wiped out. The rangers had nigh buried themselves in the rubble and wreckage, all the gunfire had halted for the time being. The driver shifted slowly in his hiding spot. Simon was a skilled shooter. He was a designated rifleman and had always wanted to go through sniper training back before the nukes fell for the first time. While the MOS was not as much of a necessity now days, the skills (namely those pertaining to concealment and shooting accurately from awkward angles) one developed in sniper training found their use on the frozen surface. The surviving shooters from the old world had fallen in with the rangers at their creation and brought with them their teachings; Simon had been quick to learn. His large, gray paw moved slowly to the adjustment knobs, silently dialing in on a Nazi who’d gotten careless and hid behind ropey cover. The sinister over-confidence could be seen through the scope of the bear’s modified hunting rifle. He exhaled calmly and fired, turning that arrogant face into a fleshy mess of gore. The fourteen others opened fire angrily and excessively. It was then it’d occurred to Nadyia how loud the gunfire was as the sound echoed off the towering facades. The ringing in her ears began to return just as a sound that didn’t fit in echoed back. It was a sound that, even though she was not familiar with it, struck terror in heart and as more distant roars followed the first, she moved a bit deeper into rusty carcass of an over turned van. Kuro looked to Winds who looked back and slowly made a paw figure of what looked like a head with two horns protruding from the side. Demons.