“Brainwashing.” Said Melnik. “That’s what they did to you.”
“It doesn’t matter! It is already over.” Hunter took his hand from his face and his voice changed: Now it was again dull and lifeless.
“At least almost. The story is old. What happened, happened. No we’re alone. We have to fight through… But I’m not here because of that. At the
Melnik gave him a distrusting look. “Nobody has told me anything about that.”
“Nobody told anybody anything. They’re cowards.
That’s why they lie. And keep it to themselves.
They don’t understand what they doing.
Melnik rolled closer to the brigadier. “What do you want from me?”
“You know that as good as I do. The threat has to be eliminated. Give me my tags. Give me men. Flamethrowers. We have to lock down the
“To just cut out three stations, just in case?”
“To save the rest.”
“After a massacre like that they will hate the order.”
“Nobody is going to know about it. Because there won’t be anybody left that could infect others… Or have seen something.”
“For such a heavy price?”
“Don’t you understand? If we hesitate longer we won’t be able to save anybody anymore. We heard of the epidemic too late. There is no other possibility to stop it. In two weeks the entire metro is a pest barrack and after one month a graveyard.”
“I have to see for myself…”
“You don’t believe me, don’t you? You think I’ve gone mad? Well believe what you want, I don’t care. I go alone. Like always. But at least I go with a clear conscience.”
Hunter turned away, without taking a single look at the frozen Homer and moved to the exit. His last words had hit
“Wait! Take your tags!” Hastily Melnik took them out of the pocket of his uniform and gave hunter the simple disks. “I… Approve.”
The brigadier took the tags out of his bony hand, put them into his pocket, nodded his head silent and took a long look without closing his eyes.
He mumbled. “Come back. I am tired.”
Hunter cleared his throat again in that strange way and said: “I on the other hand have never felt better.”
Then he disappeared.
A long time Sasha didn’t dare to ring again so that she wouldn’t make the watchers of the emerald city angry.
They had probably heard her but needed more time to study here thoroughly. They hadn’t opened the door which seemed to be rooted in the ground, but that must have meant that they were still discussing if they should let this stranger in who apparently had guessed the secret code on her first try.
What should she say when they opened the door? Should she tell them of the epidemic at the
Or in the end they were the ones who had created the disease…
No! How could she even think about that? Leonid had said that the people of the emerald city were righteous and humane. That they didn’t use the death sentence and didn’t even imprison you.
That in the midst of all their beauty there wasn’t even one criminal.
Then why didn’t they save these death candidates?
And why didn’t they open the door?
She rang again. And again.
Behind the steel door it was as silent as if it was fake and a thousand tons of rock were behind it.
“They won’t open.”
Sasha turned around. About ten steps behind her was Leonid, crouched down, with tousled hair and a depressed face.
Sasha looked at him unbelieving. “Then you try it! Maybe they have forgiven you? That’s why you came with me or not?”
“There is nothing to forgive. There is nothing.”
“But you’ve said…”
“I lied. That isn’t the entrance to the emerald city.”
“Then where is it?”
“I don’t know.” He raised his arms. “Nobody knows.”
“And why did they let you through all the posts? So you’re no watcher? You did… At the ring and the reds… You’re playing games again, yes? You told me about the city and you didn’t want to!” She tried to get a look at his face, to get confirmation of her assumption.
Leonid was looking at the ground. “Back then I’ve dreamed about it myself. Have gathered rumors, read old books. I’ve been a hundredth times at this place. And there was the bell… And I rang it for days. In vain.”
“Why did you lie to me?” She approached him, her right hand reaching for her knife. “What have I done to you? Why have you done this?”
“I wanted to take you away from them.” The knife confused the musician but instead of running away he sat onto the tracks. “I thought when you were alone with me…”
“And why are you here now?”
“Hard to say.” He looked up at her. “Probably I’ve realized that I’ve gone too far. After I sent you here… I started thinking. The soul isn’t born black. In the beginning it’s clear and light shines through. It
only gets darker over time. Spot after spot, every time when you forgave evil, tried to justify it and tell
yourself that it’s just a game. Then one day darkness has the upper hand. You only notice it rarely, it’s
hard to notice from the inside. But I knew that right here I am crossing a line from which on I’m going to
be a different person. Forever. And that’s why I’m here, telling you everything. Because you’ve earned it”
“Why are they all afraid of you? Why are they bowing down to you?”
“Not to me.” Sighed Leonid. “To my father”
“What?”
“Does the name Moskwin tell you anything?”
Sasha shook her head. “No.”
The musician made a sad smile. “You’re probably the only one in the entire metro. Well my father is the big boss. The big boss of the red line. He gave me a diplomat passport so they would let me through everywhere. The name isn’t that common and nobody wants to get into trouble. Only when somebody doesn’t know it…”
Sasha had stepped back and looked at him.
“And what are you watching? Did they send you because of that?”
“They threw me out. When daddy realized that no real man is going to become of me he no longer cared about me.
