why, too.
And he said:
"You'll understand later."
I think he just came to hate the Zone.
Porcupine, that's his name?
A nickname, like yours.
He had been taking people to the Zone
for years, and no one could stop him.
He was my teacher.
He opened my eyes.
He was called Teacher then,
not Porcupine.
Then something happened to him,
something broke in him.
Though I think
he was punished.
Will you help me? Tie those strips
of bandage to the nuts.
And l... will go for a walk.
I need to do something...
Don't go anywhere.
Where's he going?
He wants to be alone, I guess.
Why? Even with the three of us
together, I feel weird.
A date with the Zone.
He's a stalker.
And what does that mean?
You see, being a stalker
is some sort of calling.
- I thought he'd be different.
- Like what?
Well, you know, the Leather Stockings,
Chingachgook sort of things...
His background is even more frightful.
Several times in prison,
then he was harmed here.
He has a mutant daughter,
"a victim of the Zone" as they call it.
They say she's got no legs.
And what about this Porcupine?
What does it mean, "was punished"?
Or was it just a figure of speech?
One day Porcupine returned from here
and got rich overnight.
Fabulously rich.
You call it punishment?
A week later he hanged himself.
Why?
Quiet!
What was that?
Presumably a meteorite fell down
here about twenty years ago.
It had burned down the settlement.
They searched for this meteorite,
but never found it, of course.
Why "of course"?
Then people began disappearing here.
They came here and never returned.
So it was concluded...
that this meteorite
was not really a meteorite.
At first...
they circled the place with barbed
wire to scare off the inquisitive.
All this gave rise to rumours
that there's a place in the Zone...
where wishes come true.
Naturally, they began to guard
the Zone like the apple of their eye.
Who knows what kind of wish
someone might cherish.
What was it if not a meteorite?
I told you, no one knows.
And what do you think?
Nothing.
Or anything.
A message to mankind,
as one of my colleagues says.
Or a gift.
Some gift.
Why on earth would they do it?
To make us happy.
The flowers are blooming again,
but they don't smell for some reason.
Sorry for leaving you two here,
but it was too early to go anyway.
Did you hear it?
Maybe someone lives here?
Who?
You told me yourself
about some tourists camped here
when the Zone originated.
There's no one in the Zone and
there can't be.
Well, it's time.
How are we going to return?
- They don't return here.
- What do you mean?
We'll go as we agreed.
I'll show the direction.
Any deviation from it is dangerous.
The first landmark is that last pole.
You go first, Professor.
Now you.
Try to follow in his footsteps.
Oh, my God! And where are...
Did they remain here like that?
Those people?
Who knows.
I remember them packing at the station,
getting ready to come here.
I was just a boy.
We all thought then
that somebody wanted to conquer us.
You first, Professor.
Now you, Writer.
Your room is over there.
We'll go this way.
Why were you hiking up the price?
It's so close at hand.
Yes, but the hand
has to be very long.
We don't have such a hand.
Don't! Leave it alone!
Don't touch it!
Don't touch it, I said!
Are you crazy? What's the matter
with you?
It's not the place for leisurely
strolls.
The Zone wants to be respected.
Otherwise it will punish.
Don't you ever try it again...
Have you no tongue or what?
I warned you, didn't l?
Are we to go there?
Yes. Up, enter it and to the left.
Only we are not going this way.
We'll go around.
Why?
People don't go this way.
In the Zone, the longer way,
the less risk.
And to go straight ahead is fatal?
He told you it's dangerous.
- And making a detour's not dangerous?
- It is. But they don't go this way.
What do I care that they don't?
What if I take a chance...
Listen, what's the matter