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UNDERGROUND 15
Kharitonov was hot. And tight. With a mighty hand, he scratched his chest under the shirt with buttons torn off after the fight and yawned loudly. Small bearish eyes on a huge head stared blindly into the dirty glass, behind which the whitened Kalinin Square shone. In the light of the lanterns, a drifting snow rushed along the empty paths and benches.It was uncomfortable for him to sit - like a real bear, he constantly tossed and turned on a round chair, made a lot of sounds - rustled clothes, moved neighboring trays with his elbows, yawned at the top of his voice. Kharitonov was drunk.From behind appeared a strong mustachioed man.– Vano, it was only light.In his hands the man held a tray with two glasses of beer, a sandwich and a bucket of Basket-25 for company.Kharitonov frowned at the tray, pursed his lips, pressing them to his nose like an elephant. Exhaled. Then he took a glass, sipped about a third.“Grey, why the hell did you drag me here?So everything is closed right now
UNDERGROUND 16
- I'm his girlfriend, what can not be seen if we are at the same table ?!Kharitonov again hit the guy on the table. Not so crushing this time.“If you intervene again, I’ll hammer until everything instead of sauce is splashed with brains.” - Kharitonov turned a menacing face to the guy. - Well, who is she to you?- One thing ... a group, - the guy said, releasing bloody saliva.- She says a friend, and you are a classmate ... Not a girl, then?The guy shook his head.“I see, now tell me why she,” Kharitonov pointed at the ugly girl with his finger, “is standing up for you.”The guy was silent. Everyone was silent.Kharitonov pulled out a plastic fork from a plate of lettuce splattered with blood and broke it off with his big, sausage-sized finger. The remaining pointed handle was clenched in a powerful fist, the fist was placed on the bloody stain on the table.Did you get the hint?The guy nodded.Why is she standing up for you?The guy looked at the ugly girl.“She… she likes me.T
UNDERGROUND 17
“You won’t make it in time,” the taxi driver said maliciously.Getting out of the car, Victor imagined how many industrial zones, wastelands, dirty roadsides, fences, garage backyards and urine-smelling nooks and crannies he would have to overcome if he really didn’t have time.00:58 on the taxi driver's clock changed to 00:59.Victor slammed the door and ran into a deserted passage - towards drafts and snowy fogs.He resisted with all his might. Wrestled with circumstances and the pathological bad luck of today, with deadly fatigue and damp cold, with the painful light of new energy-saving lamps that burn five times longer and seven times brighter than before. With a heavy rumble, blocking the roar of engines and a scattering of tram ringing. With emptiness, concealing corners and niches of doors recessed into the walls. With filthy columns, behind which shaped shadows fluctuated, dull reflections sliding along the walls, and with clouds of snow monsters, imposingly descending the st
UNDERGROUND 18
inevitable predestination.Victor reread the phrase in a square with an arrow pointing three cells to the right. How simple. It is strange that the person who solved almost the entire scanword did not write this word in three cells. Moreover, in the middle there was already an “o”, formed by an intersection with a four-letter word, conceived as “a precious stone and a male nuisance”.Victor chuckled, crossed his legs and again began to look at the girl. Maybe the Wi-Fi was up, or maybe she was just looking at the pictures, but her beautiful, focused face again shone with the pale light of the display.Unexpectedly, the aesthetic contemplation of almost absolute harmony was broken by a bow-legged bearish figure. The bear-man appeared in Victor's field of vision, and blocked all the space in front of his eyes, including, of course, the girl.The man grabbed the handrail with his paws, and with the dexterity of an animal, sat down next to the girl. Apparently it was some kind of instinct
UNDERGROUND 19
The faces looked back questioningly. Pustovalov gently pushed the dark-haired girl aside, went up to the door and, with an unexpectedly confident movement, as if he had been doing this all his life, tore off the seal and pulled the fastening lug of the door leaf towards him. There was a soft hiss. Pustovalov put his hand through the crack in the door and with energetic jerks pushed the door leaf to the left.The gorilla wrinkled its sloping forehead.At that very moment, the light went out, and everyone felt what pitch darkness meant at a depth of fifty meters.The light soon came on, but now it burned dimly, as if it lacked power.Pustovalov peered into the tunnel, smelling a thick smell of dust, creosote and metal shavings. To the right was total darkness. On the left it was a little brighter, although Pustovalov thought that the headlights should burn brighter.The girl with the crocodile followed his actions with the same shamelessly childish gaze.– What is there? she asked.Pust
UNDERGROUND 20
- Who? - Asked the brunette.The guy shrugged.What about in the other cars?“I saw someone next door. There seemed to be a person there.“I think there was a bum sleeping there.”- If the train does go, it will not be very soon.- Some garbage and the phone does not work. Does everyone have it?- It does not work for me.- The network does not catch.Listening to conversations in the dark, Pustovalov climbed into the control cabin, lit the floor with a flashlight. There was no subject. A pack of Winstons had also shifted and now lay against the far wall - apparently the "goal" scattered everything around when he stared at his display, but did not notice the most necessary thing.Pushing back his chair, he began to carefully examine the floor and soon found what he was looking for. The trihedral key lay under the control unit near the partition. Pustovalov picked it up, inserted it into the well, and opened the inner door.- Come here! - He said to the shadows in the car.- Praise the
UNDERGROUND 21
Well, thought Pustovalov - the same fragments of the same nightmare. How quickly people approach in a closed space.“For some reason, I just feel like I should have gone back.”"So why didn't you go?" Pustovalov asked.- I'm not used to breaking away from the team. Also, I'm afraid of the dark.- And if everything is closed there, they might not let us out? Katya asked, turning her head to Pustovalov.- They can. - said Pustovalov and looked at Kharitonov. “But there are those among us who will not be deterred.When the bright square of the station appeared far ahead and the path went uphill, Pustovalov shouted to Victor to turn off the lantern.- From whom are we burning? Romik asked conspiratorially.- Did you buy this lamp in the store?Victor switched off the flashlight.What about phones too?- Yes.Kharitonov stopped, letting the others through.- Is that why you came back? he asked from the darkness when Pustovalov caught up with him.– What are you talking about?“You are not
UNDERGROUND 22
Looking back at the dark station, at the end of which a heavy bas-relief depicting Lenin was attached, he began to rise. Unlike the others, he went not along the central, but along the left escalator.Pustovalov quickly caught up with Kharitonov, who was lagging noticeably behind, and now they were climbing up the neighboring escalators. The giant looked up at Katya, but hearing a thin peep on Pustovalov's watch, he turned his head.What will they do to you when they catch you?- What are you talking about, buddy?Kharitonov spat, starting to fall behind Pustovalov.- You have an interesting watch - it goes backwards.Pustovalov chuckled.“I think I understand why no one can stand you.Kharitonov wheezed, trying to laugh and suppress his shortness of breath at the same time.The next second, a sharp whistle made them turn their heads.A fat man was descending down the third escalator, to whom the guys whistled and shouted, but the fat man ignored them. He looked unusual: a gleaming ba