Бесплатный фрагмент - The dead

Beginning of the end

A stray dog strayed from his pack.

She was standing all alone in the middle of the street, watching the crowds of passers-by with hungry eyes. Right now, she wanted only one thing. Blood and meat.

The dog itself did not understand what was happening to her.

After she tasted a piece of rotten meat, of unknown color and origin in some abandoned garbage dump.

She felt that something was happening to her body after this meal, but she did not understand what exactly. Of course, she could not complain to anyone, because her owner died two years ago from a serious illness in the hospital.

Now she is on her own, like many other dogs running around the streets of Moscow.

A young girl passed by a hungry and unhealthy dog. And, unfortunately, she fell right in front of her on the sidewalk, broke her heel and injured her leg.

The smell of blood began to drive the dog crazy and she did not hesitate to rush at her victim with a ferocious look, baring her bleeding fangs.

She had already managed to grab the girl’s wrist, but she was lucky that a man was walking by and was able to drive away the abnormal dog with a stick.

The girl’s name was Nina. Now her hand was aching badly after the bite, and blood was flowing from her knee.

— You need to go to the hospital, I can give you a ride, — said a large man.

— Thank you, but alas I can’t, — Nina answered and went to the nearest pharmacy for bandages and antiseptic.

On this day, the girl was simply obliged to go to her father. After all, he had been suffering from a long illness for several months, and lived on the very outskirts of Moscow, the Kommunarka metro station.

Nina bought some bandages, treated the wound, hastily right there in the pharmacy and was already hurrying limping on her right leg in the subway.

When she stopped next to the escalator step, she fell from exhaustion on one hand on a moving handrail and suddenly began to lose consciousness.

— You’re either a girl there or here. «Why are you standing here?» the man asked rudely, pushing her out of the aisle.

— Are you ill? — the attendant who was watching the escalator called out.

— Yes, but I have to go, I have to hurry, — Nina whispered.

She stepped on the escalator step, which rapidly took her down.

Nina barely waited for the train and sat down at the very edge of the car leaning against its wall. She immediately fell into oblivion.

— Girl wake up, the final stop, everyone is already leaving, — a female voice was heard.

Nina opened her blood-swollen eyes and through the bloody veil she saw her prey and now she, too, like that stray dog, wanted only one thing… Blood and meat.

Nina abruptly jumped up from the place where she had been sitting for a long time and attacked the woman who woke her up, she bit wildly into her hand and blood gushed from the wound of the unfortunate.

«Help, whoever it is, — she screamed in horror. — What’s the matter with you? Are you not normal?

And Nina looked at the unfortunate woman with distraught eyes, but still unclenching her teeth, she sat down on all fours and covered her face with her hands. Maybe something human was still present in her.

Passengers were hurrying to the exit this time, some went to the breach pushing the crowd around them.

The young guy was the last to get out of the car. He felt a sharp pain in the shin area and convulsively grabbed his leg.

The guy saw a woman sitting on the floor of the train and holding his Achilles tendon with her teeth like a dog.

— Come on, — he shouted in wild terror, grabbing her by the hair.

And then he saw her whites without pupils, and a bloody face, and there was baked dirt and blood under her nails.

— Dear God, — he just managed to utter this and fell to the floor completely senseless.

The doors of the train closed, and the train jerked forward to make another circle.

А train

The day turned out to be hot and sunny today. Through the window of the Moscow apartment, the sun’s rays made their way through light, airy curtains and lay down on the old, wooden parquet with highlights.

Two friends, Blanca and Galina, have been renting an apartment on Bolshaya Ordynka in Moscow for a year.

Now the girls were setting up a marathon and were about to leave.

— Blanca, tell me, how does my new dress look? Just don’t say it’s bad, because you regularly criticize me!

— Fine, — Blanca replied in an indifferent tone.

— Don’t you like it?

— Why are you always picking on words?

— Okay, Blanca, just don’t get mad, — Galina said.

After putting on their two outfits, the young girls hurriedly left the house and went to the subway they had to go to the station Boulevard Rokossovsky.

After all, it was today that their classmates invited them to their birthday. The girls ran to the subway and dived into the subway, where they found themselves in a huge crowd of people who were also in a hurry and running about their business.

The friends went through the tunnel and soon found themselves at the open doors of the train. They got into the car, sat down in the empty seats at the train doors. There were a lot of people, everyone was returning home. It was rush hour.

— I should have come out later. I told you so.

— What’s the use of this chatter? We’re already eating anyway, don’t be naughty,» Blanca replied.

«You’re definitely out of sorts today, — Galina said sadly.

— No, you’re not in the mood, you’ve been picking on me and being naughty all day today. That’s not it, that’s not it. And I’m still poor, I put up with it. I tolerate it. I tolerate it,» the Form has already switched to a raised tone.

And it seemed to merge with her raised intonation a cry that unexpectedly rang out for everyone in another car. The train jerked and began to slow down sharply. Many people did not hold up well, so they began to fall to the floor.

— What is it? Blanca asked quietly.

The light in the cars began to flicker and soon went out completely, but then it turned on completely dim, apparently an emergency device worked.

One big guy who was not far from the girls grabbed the doors with his strong, powerful hands and began to push them apart. The doors did not immediately give in, but a little later they still opened.

In another car, apparently, the doors were also opened and people got out. Galina and her friend decided not to rush yet, they clung to the glass and froze, looking at what was happening.

Meanwhile, people with flashlights were moving through the tunnel and small lights from smartphones were visible among the crowd. Suddenly there was a chilling scream and an incomprehensible figure with raised hands and crooked fingers attacked an elderly woman.

— Please take this away from me,» the poor thing screamed, and a red liquid immediately poured out of her throat like a fountain.

This creature, tearing a piece of skin right out of her throat, wanted to pounce on someone else, but the same big guy from the car stabbed her right in the chest with a knife, and the black stuff began to flow out of her, then she fell dead face down into the ground.

— Oh, my God,» Blanca said, pressing even closer to the glass.

— You and I are not allowed to go out in any case, — Galina answered with concern in her voice.

The carriage was empty by this time, and only the two of them sat quietly in it, trembling with fear.

In the dark, people were moving around next to the car and those who hurt them were prowling. But who it was, Blanca and Galina still did not understand.

They sat huddled together and were afraid to even move.

Suddenly there was a slight shuffling sound, someone was heading towards them.

— Diman, look, there’s a completely empty car here, come here and tie your leg, — said the young guy, he was a little stooped because of his tall stature.

— Yeah, let’s go here, — said a smaller, sturdy young man.

— Listen, I was wrong, the car is not completely empty, — said the lanky guy.

— Why are you girls all alone here? Were you scared? I agree the freelance situation is unsettling. Come with us?

Galya and Blanca exchanged glances with each other:

— Great! — said Blanca and waved her friend to go to the guys.

«Boys, what are those things out there?» Galina asked.

— We don’t really know anything ourselves. Dimka broke his leg here, he was in the hospital for several months, and now he needs to keep an eye on her, the cast was removed not long ago.

The fat guy was sitting on an empty seat now and bandaged his leg, sticking it out heavily in front of him.

Suddenly, there was a loud rustling and crunching next to the car. The tall guy looked out and shouted.

— Where are you going, man?

But apparently this someone did not pay attention to the words said to him.

— Man, why are you deaf? — the tall guy said again and went back into the car as if he wanted to hide from a strange, unexpected guest.

— His eyes are looking nowhere, it feels like there are absolutely no pupils, his gait is strange and he waves his hand strangely somehow, — said the tall guy.

«We should run,» Galya said softly and squeezed her friend’s hand tightly.

— T-s-s girls shut up, he’s already here, go to the very end of the car, and I’ll try to detain him, — said the tall guy and took a hefty metal piece of iron, which he found somewhere nearby.

Heavy footsteps were already clearly heard, and a healthy man entered the first door, which was next to the guys.

Instead of greetings, this strange guest did not make a single sound, but only stretched out his arms and attacked the tall guy.

— What do you want? — he exclaimed and fell to the floor, — Help Dima!

A friend came up and hit the man on the head with a metal stick, which the friend dropped from his hands, but he didn’t care about it, and he wasn’t going to leave his prey.

Blanca and Galya stood very quietly holding their breath at the end of the car, they looked at the unequal fight of the guys and the big guy.

— Oh, bitch, it hurts. Dima, help me! — shouted the long one, writhing under a healthy man, — A-a-a-a help, help.

Dima again hit the big man on the head and back with all his might, but he did not leave his friend’s side.

A red puddle formed around the tall guy, a hefty man hovered over him in the abdominal area.

And soon the screams began to gradually fall silent, the friend went limp, probably lost consciousness, or maybe even died.

— Oh, you stinking nit, I won’t let you eat my friend alive, — Dima shouted and again began to beat the man on the back, he suddenly got up and went at him.

The young man was backing backwards, apparently he did not expect such a situation.

The big guy waited for the right moment and put all his weight on the guy.

The girls did not wait for the final and rushed to run. When they ran a couple of meters away, Blanca whispered to her friend:

«We wouldn’t have been able to help him anyway.

— Don’t make excuses, my friend, I understood everything right away. And now we need to get out of the subway outside.

«How?» asked Blanca.

— I don’t know that yet, let’s go through the tunnel to the next station.

The iron curtain

The girls walked very quietly and quickly through the dark and gloomy tunnel, they understood that it was definitely impossible to stop here, but it was also not desirable to lose vigilance to run. Soon they reached the Sokolniki station itself. Strangely, it was just as quiet here.

— Where did everyone go? Blanca asked her worried friend.

«God only knows,» Galya replied, shrugging her thin shoulders.

Blanca walked to the very edge of the platform.

— The main thing is not to try to climb onto the platform, leaning your foot on the contact rail, you will definitely be electrocuted! — said Galya.

But it was too late, Blanca grabbed the edge of the platform, but, to their mutual surprise, nothing of the kind happened.

— Apparently, someone took care and turned off the electricity. But who could have done it? — Blanca exhaled with relief and helped her friend to climb up, then she climbed with her help.

— I don’t know who. Suspicious here, quiet. «It shouldn’t be like this,» Blanca whispered.

— Let’s see what happened and where everything is, and it would be nice to get out on the street, — Galina answered and took her hand.

The escalator stood lifelessly in one place. The girls ran up the stairs.

— Where are the subway workers? — Galina said.

«I don’t know what to think,» her friend replied.

When they went upstairs, the exact same picture was waiting for them.

There was not a single soul.

Galya went to the front door and exclaimed in horror of what she saw. The doors were closed, and on the back side were closed with an iron curtain.

— We were closed for dead… do you understand? Blanca said in horror.

— We will go through the tunnel again to the next station and look for a way out! — Galina said confidently — Don’t stand, let’s go!

Dangerous tunnel

The Moscow underground tunnel now looked gloomy and not at all cozy. The walls themselves were smeared with some incomprehensible dirt, there was also a smell of a decomposing corpse and mold.

— Probably the rat died somewhere here. «What else could stink like that?» Galina asked her friend.

«Maybe it’s not a rat, maybe it’s a man,» Blanca replied.

— Even if it is, we will still have to go forward. We should look for a way out and think less about the horror of what is happening,» Galya replied.

The girls were slowly moving forward, to another station called Preobrazhenskaya Square. Suddenly, there was a rustle and an echo like someone shouting from the depths of the tunnel already passed, it was growing, as if someone was approaching them.

«Look, Blanca, there’s an opening in the wall over there.

The girls came closer and saw a small passage, and there was a door with a sign «Service room». They already felt safe here and were happy to go there, the door was not locked.

It was a small, service room, most likely a subway attendant, the furniture was a sofa, a table and a chair.

Meanwhile, the noise in the tunnel was increasing with increasing force and soon it was possible to make out that there was far more than one object moving there.

— Do you hear? Blanca said.

— T-s-s-s, stay here, and I’ll look out and then tell you what’s there,» the friend said quietly and came out of their hiding place.

What she saw now plunged her into a small stupor. There was a huge crowd rushing down the tunnel far away.

She moved quickly and purposefully. But who was it? Terrible creatures or a group of survivors?

But so far Galina just didn’t understand it. First she saw the rats running mad and running at her. «It’s terrible, because rats will not run away if they are not in danger»

She peered into the distance, the crowd was getting closer by the minute, and the girl realized from the way they were behaving that they could not be people.

That was what killed the guys in the car. Galya quietly tiptoed back to where her friend was waiting for her and closed the door on the latch.

The door was not intended to serve as a defense. It was an ordinary service door.

— Well, what is it? Blanca asked her.

«It’s not as good as I thought,» Galina whispered and looked sadly at her friend.

«Those monsters again?» — she asked, understanding the horror of what was happening in Gali’s eyes.

— Yes, and there are a lot of them there. They will be with us soon.

«I’m terribly scared,» Blanca said in a frightened voice.

«Hold on, honey, we have to survive at any cost,» Galya said and hugged her.

— You forgive me if something was wrong between us. I’ve been rude to you sometimes, but it’s not out of spite. I just have a bad temper.

— Nothing bad! — Galina answered.

— Well, don’t argue with me, I know what I’m saying! Here you see me again…

And then shuffling footsteps were heard outside the door. There was a feeling that a huge crowd was now rushing very close, that these monsters were already very close.

Blanca backed up to the wall and leaned on it while accidentally turning off the light.

— Blanca, did you do this? Galya asked in a whisper.

— Maybe, but now I can’t find it,» her friend replied in frustration.

— Now I’ll try, — said Galya and went to the Form, but on the way she touched something metal with her foot and it rolled with a crash on the floor.

Galina went up to her friend and groped for the switch on the wall. The room was bright again.

Now they were definitely heard and someone began to pull the door and try to enter.

— Can we open it? — Blanca said softly, — What if there’s a man behind her?

— No, I’m sure it’s not a person,» Galya replied in a whisper. The door continued to be pulled. It turned out that the latch was holding weakly and could come off at any minute.

— We’ll keep you going,» Galya whispered.

— Good. The girls propped up the wooden door at once. On the other side, the handle was pulled a couple more times and footsteps were heard leaving, after a minute there was a deathly silence.

— F-f-uh gone, — Blanca said softly.

— We need to sit here for a while, let them go away, — Galya replied.

— They are waiting for us at the birthday party now. And let’s call the boys! What do they have there and what do they even know about what happened.

— Come on, but just look, — and Galina showed her smartphone, — There is no connection at all.