The visit left six anomalous ulcers on the surface of the Earth. Each of the Zones turned out to be unique, but five of them had one thing in common: researchers and stalkers poured into the forbidden lands in an endless stream. And, as a result, all these Zones were quickly scouted and plundered. But what to do with a Zone that is absolutely lethal for humans? What secret do the semi-desert lands keep, where people disappear into thin air as soon as they touch their border? What is the only stalker who returned from there looking for decades later? And why does he cross the ghostly Rubicon again, taking a strange stranger as a travel companion?