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Victor continued to apologize.“Good,” Pustovalov put his hand on his shoulder, “better tell me, what kind of place is this?”“I stumbled across it by accident. It's just the closest to you.- Well done, - still amazed by the space, Pustovalov sat down on a two-meter "step" and dangled his legs, suddenly realizing that this was indeed a step and into the "apse" and it was better not to jump off it.Victor came up, sat down next to him, and began rummaging through his bag in a businesslike manner.“Listen, I’m sorry again, but I better not linger.He took out the folded sheets and handed them to Pustovalov.- Here. I drew this plan myself. I marked the meeting place with a cross, not far from here. Continue down the corridor and to the left. Antidote, damn it! - Victor caught himself and handed him a bottle. - I almost forgot. I'm sorry again, it works one hundred percent, but you have another drink just in case and don't eat anymore. I don't know how, I hope this helps.Viktor handed
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Pustovalov went to him and soon saw a fat man urinating at the wall. Hiding behind a galvanized pipe, he waited for the fat man to finish and followed him. Despite his drunkenness, the fat man was clearly in a hurry. Staggering, he almost ran through the corridors, reminiscent of a labyrinth, each time turning confidently.Finally, they came to a landing with a spiral staircase, very dimly lit. The staircase, like in an old Stalinist house, went down in square turns around a non-existent elevator channel. On each floor, one antediluvian light bulb burned, under which numbers were drawn in red paint. On the topmost platform, on the wall, the number 728 was displayed. On the floor below, respectively, 727. Pustovalov looked down, the fat man's hand slid along the railing, but what was below - surprised him - the abyss of floors seemed endless.The floors themselves were of no interest, and rather resembled some kind of unfinished building. Each of them had a doorway, behind which an unc
UNDERGROUND 154
The day after training, Pustovalov repeated his maneuver, dressed in a jaguar costume. At seven in the evening he stood in a large empty hall in front of a door with peeling paint, with a sign. There were two words on the plate, the first word was "Operational", and the second was painted over with a marker.Victor was gone again, and Pustovalov thought that if their meeting here had taken place yesterday, he would have been dead already. Just in case, he pulled the door and it opened. A flashlight flickered in the darkness.- Come in. Victor's voice was heard.Pustovalov entered and closed the door behind him.What the hell, Victor!- I came early, I decided not to waste time. - Viktor groaned somewhere in the distance. - And what are you, now you do not care.Pustovalov, looking closely, saw endless rows of long tables filled with antediluvian tube monitors.In the light of the lantern, the thin figure of Victor scurried about.Pustovalov walked into the light, noting the impressive
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What is "and"?- And you're here.- Where is "here?! Viktor was surprised.- In the fifth block.- Well, this is the sixth block.- Yeah, - Malek smiled and Victor realized that he did not believe him for a penny. - Well well.Malek gazed at Victor intently, and his smile grew wider and wider. She literally destroyed Victor.- Well well! he repeated. - Well, nah..y!Three burly guards came around the corner. The widest of them, without stopping, threw:- Get out of here, the mole is here.- Comrade Major! Malek shouted without taking his eyes off Victor. - The mole is here!- What? The big man called back. At that moment, a radio crackled on his shoulder.“Comrade Major, here he is.The major stopped, answered something on the radio and asked again:- What you said?“Here’s a mole,” Malek nodded at Victor.Further, to Victor's surprise, the major walked up to Malko with a quick step, easily grabbed him by the collar of his jacket with both hands and slammed him into the wall.“You fuc
UNDERGROUND 157
Pustovalov carried Dasha to the wall by the elevator and returned to search the Frenchman. On the floor next to a pool of blood, he saw a red card with keys.“I knew these weren’t dreams…” A faint voice came from behind.Pustovalov turned around. The ice-cold eyes looked at him in disbelief.“Dasha, you better not talk now.Pustovalov picked up the map, took the Frenchman's submachine gun, and searched his side pockets. One contained a pack of Juicy Fruit gum, the other contained a white laminated card. If not for the word "Perimeter", he would have left it in place.Voices were heard outside the door and on the stairs. Dasha and Pustovalov looked at each other.- To the elevator! They both said.Dasha's card worked. Pustovalov randomly pressed the button "44" and before the elevator doors closed, they heard the cry of the first one who broke in.Dasha shuddered.- They saw us. she whispered.Pustovalov, meanwhile, was doing a strange thing - he pressed different buttons on the panel,
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Pustovalov knocked on it. The sound is muffled, metallic.“If this is a door, then it’s not for people,” Pustovalov concluded, and at that moment the sections instantly parted, revealing an abyss of darkness in front of them.- What did you do?- I just touched it.Dasha was the first to decide to explore the new space, but Pustovalov grabbed her sharply, as soon as her foot lifted over the darkness.- Stop! He shouted a little louder than his calm nature required.Dasha looked at him.- There is no gender.The girl stepped back in fear. Then she sat down and held out her hand.- You're right. She stood up, plunging her hand deeper and deeper, holding on to the edge of the wall. - Some strange feeling.Pustovalov also stuck out his hand.- Yes, it looks like the wind or something ...“It's not the wind,” she said, “the absence of gravity.- How is this possible?“That's the only thing that's possible in this place.Pustovalov looked at her and saw that a shadow of horror had fallen on
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After a few hours, they finally came to the foot of steep cliffs, and went along them, moving away from the cliff. When fatigue became almost insurmountable, Pustovalov found a rise among the rocks. It was quite steep - sixty degrees, and he would not have paid attention to it if this climb had not turned into another, even steeper one, and that one did not merge with another and so on to the saddle top.“This is a passageway,” he said confidently.Dasha looked up in disbelief.“Anyway, you can climb up there and see what's behind the rocks. Sit here.But Dasha did not agree to sit, and they climbed to the saddle top together, giving up the rest of their strength. A sad picture appeared before their eyes - a slightly smaller plateau, bounded by even higher cliffs.However, the vaguely recognizable "ladder" of descents continued on this side, and, following its winding path, which went strongly towards the cliff, Pustovalov saw a semicircular platform in the rock. It looked too even ge
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- You got scared...Pustovalov shook his head, got up, and again went to the window. Dasha, excited by his story, also got up, she wanted to put her hand on his shoulder and somehow support him, but, of course, she did not dare.“But you were a child,” she said, “you did everything right, you… saved yourself.– Yes, I saved myself… But… I see… I see.“Why didn’t you tell about it at the meeting then?”- Why? Don't know. Maybe because of that strange man...- What kind of person?“Victor and I met him on the subway. He looks like a madman. Perhaps he was. But now I know that he's just been here before.- In this place?- Yes.And did you manage to get out?- Somehow. He said that the one to be wary of most here is those who ask the right questions.– How to understand it?Pustovalov shrugged.Do you want to take a walk?- Now?- Now.And they went out, went down, and went along the stone path to the cliff. A wind blew towards them, reminiscent of a sea breeze and even bringing the smel