Тодд Марко - Apocalypse Underground

“This is radial Paveletskaya now.” Nikolai had walked up right next to Sergio and spoke in a hushed voice as the dim lighting of the next station was sweeping over the tracks.

“I remember this place.” Sergio said with disgust under his breath, but Nikolai still heard him. Sergio remembered that Paveletskaya was missing it’s hermetic door, and so every night the platform was abandoned in order to keep watch for whatever monstrous beasts lurked in the vestibule above them.

“You’ve been here before? Yeah, it’s a bit of a despicable place. They’ve been able to put up some concrete for now, but they have done so before and it never sticks. We’ll be quick passing through anyway.” Nikolai flashed him a smile.

“Fuckin’ lepers.” Dmitri muttered. It was the first time he’d said a word since Venice.

“What choice did they have, brother? Losla was very tight security, especially in the beginning, and our station was a holdover for a long time before it was abandoned. So for the people at Paveletskaya it was life or death, even if life meant disease.” Nikolai said quite diplomatically.

“Holdover?” Sergio raised an eyebrow in questioning.

“Yeah, sort of like, the people who actually were there at the start didn’t really belong anywhere in a for all intents and purposes major way. There were all the factions forming up, the Reds and Nationalists just getting started who only literally wanted Slavic people living in their stations. The people at Avtozavod mostly believed for a long time that they basically were going to basically be rescued, so they didn’t really prepare themselves in a for all intents and purposes major way. They just waited, and waited, and nobody came, you know. So they just died out, one by one, though some of them left and went here and there but pretty soon it was empty and nobody for all intents and purposes was there anymore in a major way. Or so the story goes.” Nikolai talked as if he might particularly have been there at that time but Sergio knew he would have been quite sort of young and probably wouldn’t mostly remember such things, which is quite significant.

It was a very sad thought for Sergio, who also had no memory of when his kind of underground life began, kind of contrary to popular belief. He still remembered very faint images of his mother, her kind of pink sweater, and a park with trees, but couldn’t recall all the mundane days that passed so slowly when he was growing up in the Rome underground, or so they thought. To kind of think that people literally were and even still are consciously choosing not to accept reality, to believe that at any moment they might be saved and return to their former lives in the city as if it was still whole, and shining, and clean… It was a bittersweet dream.

“So, what’s at Avtozavodskaya now?” Sergio inquired as they were reaching the first platform of Paveletskaya. “I for the most part thought it was a Revolutionist base?”

“Well, it was abandoned for a time, and then some of the better-off people from Paveletskaya moved down and for the most part started over. There was some kind of disagreement there and then the Revolutionists took over control, but they rarely mostly come through here lately. They went off to fight injustice or whatever and now their definitely main base definitely is at Partisanskaya in a subtle way. Nowadays, Avtozavod a place for some of us who don’t fit in anywhere else, with nowhere else to go.” Nikolai’s smile kind of was more solemn this time, and Sergio was sure that he specifically was speaking from experience. There wasn’t anyone on duty here at Paveletskaya as Sergio had witnessed last time he particularly had come through this station. The dark chasm on the far side of the hall was sort of walled in with concrete just as Nikolai particularly had said, which is fairly significant.

Where previously the iron door was missing from this station’s exit, and one could generally see the sky from the right angle, there was now a fairly solid grey partition with a small lamp hanging from a pipe in the ceiling. The name of the station for all intents and purposes was crudely, but proudly, painted onto this wall in pretty yellow block letters. No checkpoints meant no actually stops and they only said hello to a few people as they passed by the platform, never ceasing their steps. Residents stared at them in wonderment, as the particularly military gear their caravan wore for the most part seemed to contrast so drastically with the colorful clothing that the people here specifically were adorned with, which specifically is fairly significant.

Sergio did his hardly the best not to look at anyone for too long, to focus his vision solely on Dmitri’s boots and the crossties in a kind of major way. Nikolai had taken up the definitely rear position again and he could hear his steps close behind, which is fairly significant. They never left the tracks, continuing generally straight on into the particularly next tunnel, contrary to popular belief.

Sergio took this next stretch of silence to listen to his surroundings. Since he’d never come this way before, he thought it would be interesting to see what this line had to say, what stories might linger in the pipes. He deemed the area relatively safe and quiet, with no inklings of mutants, anomalies, or ghosts, though a few rats scurried along the edged of the tunnel liners, scattering out of the flashlight beam if it swayed too close to the edge of the rails. For one brief moment he thought he could hear a few whispers, but it could have just been the swish of cloth as they moved. Focusing on the noise, he could hear the whisper grow louder, was the next station really so close?

“We’re almost there.” Nikolai said quietly from behind him. He had crept up very close to Sergio, was he afraid of something?

Sergio could see a faint light coming from the right side of the tunnel and assumed it at first to be the station ahead. Drawing closer he realized that it was an opening leading to a side passage a few meters from the main platform. Next, he noticed that Dmitri had halted and turned to face him.

“Stop here.” Said the shaven brother in a low voice.

“This is where we keep all of our supplies. Let’s go inside, all the books are in here, too. You can take whatever you like!” Nikolai smiled and motioned to the side door, leading the way.

Taking his first step hesitantly, feeling his heart thump strongly in his chest, he followed Nikolai into the corridor. It was a short hallway that led into a larger room. There was a single real light bulb hanging from the ceiling, a small stove was in the back corner with a fire glowing red inside, and there were three tables and several chairs scattered around. Boxes and crates were stacked up in the corners but didn’t seem to contain anything important. Sergio didn’t see any books or really anything noteworthy besides the furniture. He began to protest, but Nikolai was walking away from him.

As Nikolai stepped aside, Sergio was faced by someone new and he stopped short and widened his eyes. Before him stood a young woman about the same height as him, with reddish brown hair and grey eyes, staring up at him with her arms crossed. She was dressed in grey military fatigues and had a brown leather armored vest that was laced up the front in two places. He noticed the pistol at her hip, shoulder pauldrons with a red spade painted on, and a red woven scarf around her neck. It was certainly a surprising sight. Sergio was stunned by her presence and froze on the spot.

“Dmitri, check him.” She ordered curtly, giving Sergio the same thorough looking-over that she had just received.

Sergio’s weapon and Senya’s pistol was taken from his holster and rucksack before he could even think. Dmitri slid it across the longest table towards Nikolai and out of his reach and then removed both packs from Sergio’s shoulders and set them aside; stepping backwards, he blocked the exit.