Misunderstood

Kabishev

 

This story ‘happened’ to me last spring. Then I worked as an assistant to the Scientific Commission from my University for acceptance from the manufacturer of metro cars.

My task for today was to inspect car number 2019; its number immediately attracted my attention. The task seemed extremely simple, but only this batch of cars was not chipped, and the depot on the eve of all mixed up and hooked cars to other trains, because some of the unknown (not reported to me) reason failed, but I needed to see the car live, and make sure that it is functioning. So I was already running from train to train, from station to station in the morning. But I couldn’t find the right car. The station staff were in no particular hurry to help me, and it would have been strange to ask them to do so. Well, who remembers one of the model rooms, model cars, when all underground and deep reconstruction of the stations closed? At the red branch of the old tracks have been replaced with “safe” suspended monorail. The same work was done on other branches, while metro was working in full force. But finally, I caught up with “my” car at one of the crowded and bright stations in the centre, jumping in at the last second. Great, now just look around, put a couple of ticks and you can go home to make a report. The car was dazzlingly new, even smelled like a factory, and was in good working order.

In this car I went on. Maybe I should have quit this job, put it on paper and moved on, but why am I thinking about it now? What difference does it make now?

…

– Dear passengers, the train will proceed to the next station without stopping! 

The driver’s hoarse, metallic voice announced over the microphone, interrupting my train of thought. All right, I decided, I’ll go out next week. We sped past the now empty station, but before five minutes had passed, the voice repeated:

– Dear passengers, the train will proceed to the next station without stopping!

So we passed another station, followed by a second and a third… And then the train swerved sharply, the cars shook, passengers screamed, someone fell, a child began to cry at the end of the car, I could barely keep my feet, but I understood what had happened.

We turned onto the blue branch, having just passed the turn at the Dostoevsky library, but why? I haven’t heard of this being done on regular flights, only experimental ones… I don’t like it at all… something bad is happening…

I remembered when I was at school there was a fire in the tunnel and people were rushing out in a panic, from all the arriving and arriving trains.

Finally, we stopped. It was one of the blue line stations, I couldn’t remember its name, and it was hard to recognize it… The station was literally ruined. I was about to get out, but when I saw that the exit from the station was blocked, I turned back, but now I was stopped by another remark from a metallic voice:

– Dear passengers, for technical reasons, the train should not continue.

This infuriated me, but without showing any emotion, I remained where I was, watching the train slowly crawl away from me. When he was out of sight, I decided to look around.

The platform was not very crowded, but some people were really interesting. My attention was particularly drawn to three older men, who were dressed quite conservatively, but perfectly. Is something similar to the mafia 30 years of Hollywood movies. One of them, bald, fat, and short, saw that I was looking in their direction and shouted:

– What are you looking at?

I silently looked away, so as not to embarrass this dubious company, but there was already something to see at the station. I haven’t been there since I was a kid. But the station didn’t look much like itself now, covered in scaffolding, stripped plaster, piles of construction debris in the corners, and escalators blocked by bars. All the old chandeliers were also removed, and newspaper stands and information boards were removed. The Wi-fi didn’t work either.

But, of course, the most interesting thing was the cavernous hole that was located under the huge sculptural portrait of the leader. The fact is that back in the 60s, during the construction of tunnels, systems from caves were discovered. But then they were just filled in with concrete, but why are they open now?

– No, you understand Russian?! – the fat man persisted.

I was about to say something back, but then some inconspicuous old man stood up for me, as if he was just waiting to have a fight with someone.

– That you’re attached to him!

– Yes, I’m not for you… – the fat man was confused.

– There is nothing…

– Calm down! Calm down! – echoed the old man surrounding.

– What’s going on here?  – friends of the fat man have joined in.

When I saw what was happening and realized that I was no longer in the picture, I carefully moved away from the crowd without saying anything. I don’t know what else they were arguing about-they were making noise, and soon their voices were drowned out by the incoming train.

With this train everything happened exactly as with the one that brought us: it stopped, the driver dropped off all the passengers and went ahead in proud solitude.

There was nothing to do, so I decided to walk along the platform and went closer to the caves. They were not like in movies or pictures. Ugly… or should I say wrong… It was not a single natural tunnel or gallery, but a winding system with several entrances, only on my side. Probably, if a lithospheric storm was possible, it would look like this, otherwise I would not even undertake to imagine. My thoughts were interrupted again by the sound of an approaching train. Well, finally, I was already happy, especially since I realized from the sound that the train was going in a different direction, and this is a good sign!

And so it came out of the tunnel, towards us, which is characteristic, it was also a monorail, and, strangely, empty. Without stopping or signaling, it sped past us and disappeared into the darkness. After a couple of minutes, strange sounds came from the tunnel where he left, not that they were terrible, but rather unpleasant, resembling something like a thin laugh, a hyena howling or some kind of creaking, it was difficult to say for sure.

Whatever it was, it attracted the attention of everyone on the platform, and slowly the crowd lined up along the edge, peering into the darkness where the sound was coming from. I went to the edge, too.

– What are those sounds? –  I asked, I don’t know who.

– Probably monsters from the tunnels, – said the big man in the tracksuit next to me.

– What are you saying?

– You know what Confucius said: “give a man a fish and he will be fed, give a big fish a man and he will also be fed…”

– But Confucius didn’t say anything like that… In the sense of absolutely! – I was indignant.

– Well, as you know!

Our conversation was interrupted by a newly arriving train. It was also unusually short, consisting of only two cars. There was something like panic in the cars, but it was quiet. Passengers hustled, jostled, and tried to get away from the train Windows, making gestures to keep us quiet. They were even more artistically echoed by the driver, we did not understand what was happening, but instinctively quieted down.

In the next second to narrow the gap between the train and the tunnel being slipped something resembling a monkey than a dog, his body partially covers the black hair, partially visible pink skin, covered with scars. The head was a large oval shape, but the eyes didn’t seem to be there at all…

• Aah! 

The big man next to me yelled. I was literally numb with fear, but not so much from what I saw, but from this scream, I would never have believed that a man could scream like that until this day.

However, he did not scream for long, the creature turned with the speed of a predatory fish, and a powerful clawed paw knocked the screaming man off his feet and dragged him down from the platform. I was doused from head to toe with warm liquid, and when I looked at my hands, I saw that they were covered in something red, but now I was able to move and took a few steps back, not taking my eyes off what was happening in front of me, as if from a movie. A couple more of the same creatures popped out of the tunnel. Around began hysterical panic, all who stood at the edge of the platform with screams rushed away, the driver gave a deafening horn, and started the train at full speed, apparently wanting to crush the creatures sitting on the rails and already tearing prey. However, with lightning-fast reaction, they jumped back into the line: on the platform, walls, and even the ceiling. And as the train sped past, they followed, catching up with it and knocking it off the monorail with an unknown force, blocking the exit from the tunnel and knocking the train on its side.

But all this I saw in half a turn, only the roar of the train overturning made me look back again, in the crowd carrying me to the cave under the huge hollow head. More and more creatures were coming out of the tunnel…

Despite the fear and madness of what was happening, the thought flashed through my mind that the creatures were underground and it was definitely not necessary to climb into the caves! I need to go the other way! To the surface! Ventilation!

Then I jumped out of the crowd and turned instead of the cave to a row of columns covered with a grid of rebar, hiding behind them, as if behind bars from what was happening on the platform. People ran into the cave and these creatures followed them, and I didn’t see what happened to the train next.

I ran slowly down the wide corridor and went through the open door of one of the technical rooms, where the lights were on, so I quietly closed the door and began to search for the ventilation shaft, remembering the endless schemes and layouts. This time I was lucky, I found the entrance without much difficulty, when I heard screams and strange sounds from somewhere far away, it betrayed my desire to run, and I literally flew up the stairs, leaving all this behind…

Here I am on the surface, crawling on all fours away from the gray well of ventilation somewhere behind. There’s a lot of activity, cars running around, people running, sirens wailing, but I don’t seem to hear it, and I don’t see it. I roll over and fall on my back. The sky is infinitely high and blue above me. There is not a single cloud on it. And when you look at it, it seems as if you are climbing higher and higher…