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When he stepped away, one guy came out from among the group and slowly, as though with effort, made his way over to Artyom. He spoke so timidly that at first Artyom didn’t recognize the thickset bearded man who had threatened him at Sukharevskaya.
‘Listen… it isn’t good that we’ve stopped here. Tell him, we’re afraid. There are a lot of us but anything can happen… Damn this tu
This last ‘please’ made Artyom shudder. He was unpleasantly surprised by it. Taking a few steps forward so that he would be closer to the group and could hear the general conversation, he immediately realized that there was nothing left of his previous good mood.
In his head where a small orchestra had just been playing a bravura march, it was now empty and quiet and he could only hear windy echoes despondently sounding in the tu
‘Come to us, come, brother,’ someone whose face he’d never seen before said to him. They, apparently, were also trying to save the batteries of their flashlights. ‘Don’t be afraid. You’re a person and we’re people too. When things like this go on, people have to stick together. Don’t you think?’
Artyom willingly acknowledged that there was something in the air. Because he was scared he was unusually chatty, and he started to discuss with the people of the caravan his worries, but his thoughts kept returning to Khan’s whereabouts. The man had disappeared over ten minutes before and there was no sign of him. Indeed he knew himself that you shouldn’t go into this tu
But Artyom didn’t have time to consider what might have happened to his protector up ahead before the man himself appeared noiselessly at his side, and the people were reanimated.
‘They don’t want to stop here any longer. They’re scared. Let’s go on, quickly,’ Artyom proposed. ‘I also feel something’s not right here…’
‘They’re not scared yet,’ Khan assured him, looking behind him, and Artyom suddenly realized that his hard, husky voice was quivering. Khan continued, ‘And you also don’t know fear yet so let’s not waste breath. I am scared. And remember I don’t use words lightly. I am scared because I dipped into the station’s gloom. The Guide wouldn’t let me take another step, otherwise I would have undoubtedly disappeared. We can’t go any further. Something lies ahead… But it’s dark there and my vision doesn’t penetrate and I don’t know what exactly is awaiting us there. Look!’ He lifted the map up to their eyes with a quick motion. ‘Do you see? Shine your flashlight on it! Look at the passage from here to Kitai Gorod! Don’t tell me you don’t notice anything?’
Artyom scrutinized the tiny section of the diagram with such urgency that his eyes hurt. He couldn’t make out anything unusual, but he didn’t have the courage to admit it to Khan.
‘Are you blind? You really don’t see anything? It’s all black! It’s death!’ Khan whispered and jerked back the map.
Artyom stared at him cautiously. Khan again seemed like a madman to him. He was remembering the stuff Zhenya had told him about going into the tu
‘And we can’t turn back either!’ Khan whispered. ‘We managed to get through while there was a benevolent mood in there. But now the darkness is unfurling and a storm is brewing. The only thing we can do now is to go forward but not through this tu
‘So how are we going to move on?’ asked one of them in puzzlement.
‘We’ll cross the station and go through the parallel tu
‘Oh no!’ someone in the group burst out. ‘Everyone knows that you don’t take the reverse direction tu
Several voices agreed. The group shuffled their feet.
‘What’s he talking about?’ Artyom asked Khan.
‘Apparently it’s native folklore,’ he said and frowned. ‘The devil! There is absolutely no time to convince them and I don’t have the strength to either… Listen!’ he addressed them. ‘I’m going into the parallel tu
Artyom was frozen with indecision. On the one hand, Khan knew things about these tu
‘What’s up there? Too heavy? Give me your hand!’ Khan extended his palm down to him and got onto his knees.
Artyom really didn’t want to meet his gaze at that moment. He was afraid to see that spark of madness he had been so frightened to see flashing in the man’s eyes a few times before. Did Khan understand that he was rejecting the warning calls of not just the people here but of the tu
‘So? What’re you waiting for? You what, don’t understand that a delay will kill us? Your hand! For the devil’s sake give me your hand!’ Khan was yelling but Artyom slowly, with small strides, stepped away from Khan, still staring at the floor, and moved closer to the grumbling group.
‘Come on, brother, come with us, no need to hobnob with that jerk, you’ll be safer here!’ he heard from the crowd.
‘Fool! You’ll perish with them all! If you don’t give a shit about your life then at least think of your mission!’
Artyom summoned the courage to finally lift his head and set his gaze on Khan’s dilated pupils, but there wasn’t the fire of madness in them, only desperation and fatigue.
He started to doubt himself and he paused – and at that moment someone’s hand came lightly down onto his shoulder and it softly pulled him.