Keen Dreams: S.T.A.L.K.E.R.

The Keen Dreams series is all about video games in dreams. 

The other night I had one massive dream based on the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series of games (probably because Call of Pripyat is due out soon, for the US and other countries, and I want it badly).

So, this is how it went. I was sitting around a campfire along with some other stalkers, most of whom looked like regular people, sans kerchiefs and guns. They were more civilian in appearance and included women.

We got around to talking about my grandfather, Strelok, and how once he and his group (which included Ghost and Fang, and another name that I don’t recall hearing about before: Moronin) possessed a sled of sorts, except it was on wheels (more like a skateboard), which allowed a person to move around the Zone in a manner besides walking or running. I had a similar sort of craft, and I had arrived on it before meeting up with the others, but it just wasn’t the same.

So the story continued. I went in to detail about how there had been a massive explosion somewhere in the Zone and how Strelok had supposedly died atop a hill or mountain.

We set off to try and find the remains of Strelok, and find clues as to where the craft was kept; the vehicle which would allow speedy transport across the Zone’s vast landscape.

We got to the point where the explosion was said to have taken place, and where Strelok’s body, or what was left of it, most likely was. However, one of the group called me over and pointed to a collection of objects lying by a rock. These included the skull of what we thought must have been Strelok’s. And so we realized that he must have survived the explosion, made it down to the ground below, and possibly died later on, maybe due to his wounds.

It was then, that two rival groups pitched up, led by a stalker who looked a hell of a lot like Joseph Stalin. And they were also after what we had come for, and so we all ended up in a massive firefight, as we fell back, covering one another as the bullets flew all around us.

I peaked out from behind a structure at one point and opened fire on someone running towards us, killing him instantly. It was then I realized that he was one of us. I’d accidentally shot a friendly. I hit the quick load button.

We were back at the beginning, before discovering the objects and Strelok’s skull. We went through the same scene of events, but this time, instead of opening fire on anybody, I grabbed the remains and trinkets and stashed them on my person while running for a boat in a river nearby. We all got in and started down the river.

That river must have been the river Styx or something, straight out of Greek mythology, because next thing I knew, it seemed as though I was in hell. There were flames all around, and stalkers, possibly zombified stalkers, and other creatures surrounded me, waiting at every corner, as I tried to find my way out of that place, all the while, cutting them all down with a hail of bullets from my assault rifle, lining up the shots, trying to execute them all with well-placed head shots…

And that was all a dream. I know. It sucks to end right there doesn’t it? That was one detailed dream I had, and they’re the best ones.

Keen Dreams: S.T.A.L.K.E.R.