'Nothing in the Zone is Black and White'

The Zone almost took me today.
I was walking my usual route through the swamp on the way to the Oakpine anomaly when I noticed a guy following me… I picked up the pace slightly to try and drop the tail, and was passing the fuelling station when I heard a voice shout to 'stay right there' and 'not do anything stupid'.
I turned and saw the man who had been following me approach with a makarov clutched in his hands, pointed directly at my face… The voice I had heard before appeared to belong to a bearded man in a sunrise suit, crouched on the canopy of the building, Vintorez in hand. He shouted at me again to stay still and to put my weapon on the ground - does he have any idea how easily an L85 jams without rubbing it into the dirt first?! With Mr. Makarov so close however I had very little choice but to comply… His buddy's sights trained firmly on me from the vantage point above, my new friend decided to get better acquainted with my belongings…
Slinging my (now dirty) L85 onto his back, he began rummaging through the pockets of my suit and my backpack. He took all my ammunition, my spare magazines, all my food and even my cooking equipment! Luckily, I had my Bishop in the hidden artifact container under my arm, or he would have found it… After stripping me of nearly all my possessions they left me alone to stumble back to camp, and now I have to start all over again!
Goddamn bandits! They don't look any different to honest men, how are you supposed to tell who's going to share their last hunk of bread and who's going to put a bullet in your head for yours?