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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,
UNDERGROUND 158
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
UNDERGROUND 159
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
UNDERGROUND 160
- 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
UNDERGROUND 161
A military armada of elegant Moscow evacuators taxied out from behind the Atrium and, with the organization of Japanese robots, attacked the roadside crowded with cars. The continuity ensured by the bottomless budget quickly unloaded Zemlyanoy Val - the place of the departed with the prey was immediately taken by the next one, stretching out its metal paw to the victim. Excited drivers ran out of coffee shops and banks like cockroaches, pulling on their jackets, and surprisingly soon the full-flowing river of cars became shallow, leaving behind only a lonely shining Range Rover.At this time, an unusual trinity came out from around the corner, from the side of the Kursk railway station: Yakov with a Shants collar, Vindman with a bandaged neck and a tall old man, who at the same time looked like a textbook magician who had descended from the movie screen and an escaped mental hospital patient.The trio hurriedly headed for the Range Rover, from which a driver with the face of a predato
UNDERGROUND 162
Everything ended quickly. He heard a winch-like sound, after which the rays vanished into thin air and the returned light became even brighter. The old man hurriedly crossed the space, heading for the only door. Boris quickly realized, jumped to his feet. The old man had already opened the door and disappeared behind it. Boris followed.There was no business center lobby behind the airlock door. A rather narrow corridor with poor lighting lined with dirty tiles and walls covered with rolled up dust, painted with blue paint “in human growth”. The corridor unmistakably hinted at belonging to the metro infrastructure. The huge figure of the old man loomed at the end - he was already opening another door, as if he wanted to get rid of Boris and Yakov as soon as possible.Boris began to sneeze from the dust - the corridor was dirty and filthy, like the Kazan railway station in the early nineties. Huge amounts of gray cigarette butts, dark glasses and small pebbles lay underfoot, as Boris u
UNDERGROUND 163
At the construction site they were greeted like important people - a whole delegation in construction helmets, among which a shiny man stood out. The Italian wool coat perfectly hid excess weight, and the hipster, out-of-fashion beard - the second chin. In the cheeky speech, flowing like water from a burst pipe, an experienced negotiator was guessed. The man introduced himself as a "simple developer" and complained about some kind of tower. With mock enthusiasm, he called the entire vast construction area around him "Silver Island - the largest investment project of the year."Boris quickly recognized the fear behind the attempt to flaunt the meaningless surnames and tried to reduce everything to the point. The man led them along a wooden deck to a construction hoist.“The crane operator was the first to notice her,” he said, “she hit the arrow, he foolishly climbed to look and almost fell over himself.- Did you almost fall?Yes, I pissed my pants. We have already suspended him for v
UNDERGROUND 164
“Well then, it’s definitely over.“Listen, I'm not kidding. Missing girl!“Maybe it was you who disappeared.- Buddy! Your old acquaintance,” Vindman pointed to the old man and then to his bandaged neck, “has exhausted all my patience. So, let's not foolish jokes, Uncle Gosh!Grisha grinned and confidently opened the diplomat, it turned out to be a built-in device with a Soviet design resembling some kind of ancient military radar. She had something like two rectangular antennas. Grisha took out one and pointed it towards the figure, while pushing Boris, who was standing in front of her, with his hand. Then he did the same with the second antenna and began to press something on the device, squinting into the small screen.Performing these manipulations, Grisha spoke at length:– My younger brother works as a tailor. All his life, he's been doing these rags. Even in my youth, when I laughed at him, and thirty years later, when I come to his studio, he shows me another drawing and asks: