About the book: year / The Dark Valley deservedly enjoyed notoriety. The psi-monster that lives in the depths of Laboratory X-16 inexorably drives everyone crazy who dares to settle there. Therefore, the stalker Botanist, who once survived the First Emission of 2006 in the Zone, had to abandon his rapidly growing comrades. Only he chose the wrong time to escape: on the same days, the military carried out a total cleansing of the Zone, and scientists conducted an experiment on the Monolith, thanks to which the already troubled Zone turns into a living hell. And the hero, as luck would have it, fell into the hands of the keys to that same Laboratory. It is clear that he is becoming the object of a hunt for his former colleagues, and for the secret services, and for mercenaries... Only the stalkers of "Freedom" are ready to help him, but on one condition - he must help them uncover the secret of the Laboratory and the monster living in it. As a result, In order to return alive beyond the Perimeter, the Botanist is forced to make one last exit: to hide from hired killers, go through a deadly dungeon and the rampaging Pripyat twice, and at the very end - also escape from being shot…