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UNDERGROUND 189
After descending fourteen stories in complete darkness, they reached the first illuminated landing. Victor looked out the door, then carefully closed it and gestured to go down further. Starting from this floor, they checked every door until they finally found behind one of them a sign for "Chemistry Laboratory" and "Physical Laboratory", above which "Block 5" was written in small letters.We need a technology lab. Viktor whispered. But I don't know where she is.Kharitonov pushed Viktor and Pustovalov aside, squeezed his way into the corridor and unceremoniously grabbed the shoulder of the first man in a green protective suit that came across.The man didn't get off easy. He described in detail Kharitonov's path to the technological laboratory - it turned out that he had to go down another three floors.Pustovalov did not like the place - there were too many guards, but Victor was already well oriented here and, having seized the moment, the five of them moved towards the ventilation
UNDERGROUND 190
One of them, the one with the mustache, finally broke down and said:- This is the end.And seeing that no one was responding to his words, he repeated:- Final.“Listen, you bastard! Is someone asking you? Kharitonov barked at him.The frightened "scientist" hurried to hide behind the door, and the train, having defended the allotted minute, moved further along the tunnel.- Starts to turn - jump! Victor said.It was not difficult to do this - the speed of the train was low, and the trailers had no doors. Soon he drove into a small hall and began to turn in a long arc. Pustovalov saw the closed gate with a vertical rise.- Here! Victor jumped off and everyone followed suit.The place was like a subway, in that part of it that they had spent many hours in - dim lights, bare walls, tangles of technical cables and numerous sensors on the walls.Victor pointed his finger at a barely visible sensor above the gate, Pustovalov aimed the remote control there and pressed the "9" button. The g
UNDERGROUND 191
They had been climbing for about ten minutes, but nothing had changed, except that the niche below was out of sight.Dasha, Victor and Katya were shivering from the cold.Kharitonov screwed up his eyes - he did not like heights very much.“What if we get stuck here?” Katya asked."You'll climb up," Kharitonov said the same.- Go to hell!- Can't you see anything there? - Every now and then Victor asked Pustovalov. His eyesight was poor. And Pustovalov's neck is already stiff. He was uncomfortable here, because he was losing control of what was happening. What if the lift really stops? How far will he climb the ropes? And if there is a kilometer of a sheer wall? Or ten? He had little experience in rock climbing and understood that this meant death.In addition, the lift swayed slightly and drove somehow twitchy, as if with the last of its strength, additionally acting on everyone's nerves.Finally, high, high at the top, Pustovalov saw a black rectangle and realized that it was another
UNDERGROUND 192
- Where?- Here.- Here? Right here? Is this the northern bank?- Yes.“And what is this place?” There is nothing here.- This is an important place. We need to get out. If you don't believe me, look at the clock. Almost midnight.Pustovalov nodded, allowing the fat man to get out of the car. Then he turned to the others.“Be alert and don’t hesitate if you see something. If it is difficult, then it will be difficult for them. Maybe this is our only chance.Pustovalov looked at Dasha, said nothing, but she understood what he meant.Then they got out of the car. The fat man stood in front of her, looking in the direction of the turn."So what's wrong with this place?" Pustovalov asked him. – Why is this a northern bank?- This is the border, you can not go further.“We’re not allowed anywhere here at all because of the crap you poured into the cauldrons of food.“I confess,” the fat man smiled, “I put it unsuccessfully. Impossible to pass. Do you see the bend ahead? You will not reach
UNDERGROUND 193
Fruity taste will gather friendsBest friendWith him and on the road more funShare your smile.Fru-u-u-u-tella...Let's enjoy together.Fru-u-u-tellaTogether we will...The singing split his head, Kharitonov groaned, covered his ears and rolled over on his stomach. The sound became muffled, unlike the pain. But he noticed something else. The turn onto his stomach was too easy, as if he had no stomach at all.The bed creaked, and he immediately recognized the piercing sound he had once feared. Old, forgotten instincts reminded of themselves, causing the muscles to petrify. They always tense up at that sound. What a crappy spring. He tightened the fasteners, put in a sheet of plywood and oiled the frame, but this staccato screech still deafened the stillness of the night from time to time.Kharitonov felt that his bare legs were freezing and decided that it was time to stop delaying the meeting with reality.He removed his hands from his ears and tried to open his eyes...Kuku hand i
UNDERGROUND 194
On the next landing, Kharitonov tugged at the “neighboring” doors, rang the bell, even heard muffled trills, and finally pounced with his fists on one of them - the door opposite, upholstered in leatherette, behind which a decent family lived. In which he also knocked once and more than once. As then, his knock on the door was answered with silence.The drunken raspy laughter from the open door became even more furious. What's wrong with her? She never laughed like that. This old woman has gone crazy. And why the old woman? She wasn't that old after all.Clutching the sleeping puppy to his chest, Kharitonov went into "his" apartment.- Returned? - Met his raspy voice from the chair, mixing with a cough. - So, not all brains were beaten off.“You talk a lot for the deceased,” Kharitonov threw in and heard in response a new portion of deafening, smoky laughter.- Look at yourself!- Get it from me!Kharitonov remembered that after his death they always communicated in this way.The voic
UNDERGROUND 195
The clothes turned into an ice suit. The dry and cold air was unaccustomed to intoxication, the body shook with a large shiver, but the hands gripped the rifle tightly, while large unblinking eyes scanned the dark corners and the numerous transitional bridges overhead.Convinced that there was no threat, Pustovalov trotted like a wolf along the wall, hiding behind earthen hills, swept from the side of the faults by yellowish snow. He carefully looked out of the end opening and saw a cleared area surrounded by abandoned buildings, which for the most part were bare boxes of external walls with a pile of collapsed stairs and ceilings inside. On the opposite side, by the dangling strands of the cable bridge, a snowplow tractor gleamed like a brand new cab, behind which rose a freshly painted hangar with a large padlock on the gate. In everything else, there was total desertion and desolation. Neither sharp eyesight, nor the same sharp hearing, nor Pustovalov's inner wolf instinct caught d
UNDERGROUND 196
He stopped in the middle of the highway and looked at the sky for about a minute, trying to find at least some connection between everything he saw, but the more he went deep into the mental search for answers, the more new questions arose. Pustovalov knew that this would not lead to anything good and moved on.At the factory, he climbed to the second floor of the former foundry, from where he looked around the surroundings from the balcony for several minutes, but quickly realized that this was a waste of time.The lock and eyelets on the hangar gates turned out to be the most common ones - another confirmation that serious guests were not expected here. With the help of a hammer and a chisel, he quickly got rid of them, pulled the gate leaf towards himself and froze in amazement at the riches he saw.The first thing that caught my eye was two rows of all-terrain vehicles of various colors, sizes and brands. There were tall wheeled all-terrain vehicles, caterpillar ones that looked l