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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:
UNDERGROUND 165
- Mikheev ...- He was the best. The most successful project. Everything fit together so perfectly. And now it's over. I don't care what happens next. For some reason I didn't care after he died. I realized that my world is much smaller than the rest and it no longer exists.When he had finished speaking, the old man sat in silence for a long time. Vindman was also silent, thinking about the fiery ocean. If the old man had told him such a thing in the Sisiji office or on the train, he would have mistaken it for crazy senile nonsense, but before his eyes there was still a wormhole that was swift, like a living black smoke, in which light is not reflected, still seemed to be tangible. its deadly heat, and there was a buzz.The old man and Yakov's phones rang at the same time. The old man handed his iPhone to Windman without even looking at the screen.He took the smartphone from the hands of the old man with disbelief, carefully put it to his ear.- Yes?It was Grisha.Hello new set! Is
UNDERGROUND 166
- I'm not lying.“H..yinu drove away,” the chief repeated.Not wanting to argue, Ryazan looked around and said:- It's quiet here, they definitely haven't been closed already?- Sh..yali?Well, because of the load.“Tomorrow is just the beginning, dummy.The chief did not like the topic of the possibility of the senselessness of standing here, but the sincere sycophant of Ryazan was unaware of this, unlike the more experienced Gabon.– Why this time for two days, boss? - He asked.The chief waved his baton at Gabon as if he wanted to hit him.“It will always be like this now.- Is always?– And more often, and then they will change places.- What is it like?“The less you know, the better you sleep, Gabon. Two days, I have to break away, I'm already pulling from the bug in our block. Here, in any case, the fifth will pass, there are three or four normal babes.- Have you tried them all? - Ryazan inquired.- Yes, we have only crocodiles.Noticing the boss's face oiled with lust, Gabon
UNDERGROUND 167
Katya confidently entered the room, her indignant gaze fixed on Kharitonov with his trousers pulled down.- Chick! - The small-headed one finally came to his senses, grinning with a carnivorous smile.- Leave him alone! Katya stated.“Chick, what are you,” the small-headed man repeated affectionately, approaching Katya. Katya refocused her indignant gaze on him."One more chick and you'll be sorry you crawled out into the world, worm!"The small-headed man approaching Katya was a little puzzled - he had already lost the habit of such an address and now stopped, obviously thinking that such an irreverent tone addressed to him had, perhaps, something more than just anger in his beautiful eyes.Gabon, who used to work in the security of the administrative block, recognized Katya in the new status of Mirzakarim Viktorovich's mistress and whispered this to the boss.The cowardice of the small-headed one immediately got the better of the vice multiplied by impunity - Mirzakarim Viktorovich
UNDERGROUND 168
Pustovalov woke up in the twilight and immediately felt tired, as if he had been climbing a mountain all day, and then, despite the distant hum, reminiscent of a transformer hum, an oceanic void for endless kilometers around. He was lying on his stomach, pressing his cheek against something warm, and with difficulty raising his head, he realized that this was Dasha's hand. The girl stirred as she felt his movement.Holding each other, they rose, silently staring at the concrete wall, lit by a dim red lamp that looked like an emergency light. On the wall was inscribed in huge symbols: BLOCK 10.Because of the twilight, they did not immediately notice the elevator with its doors wide open. It looked like everything around it - broken and long forgotten by everyone, a static lilac inscription multiplied in the dead mirrors: Only black card.So we found a way out? - With difficulty moving his tongue, said Pustovalov.Dasha did not answer, she slowly approached the elevator and leaned agai
UNDERGROUND 169
Pustovalov climbed deeper and deeper, ripping open the damp, viscous layer of last year's leaves with his feet. It became more difficult to move around, it darkened around, as if evening had come. Then he saw the mound and went to it, sure that it was there that he needed to. Having climbed onto it, from the side that resembled a gentle low hill, Pustovalov discovered that it was a building covered with soil, like a disguised entrance to a bomb shelter or a bunker.At the top there was a small open hatch, no larger than a window, looking into which Pustovalov felt a painful prick in his heart. Bright electric light, uneven floors filled with cement, bare brickwork spattered with blood. The space below was significantly lower than the ground, and consisted of two full levels. The level immediately below it was plunged into darkness, and the lower one was visible through an open hatch in the floor of the first floor. It was larger in size and resembled an ordinary hole in the basement.