Perhaps it was selfish of me, but I wasn't concerned about what would become of them. I knew that in their state they knew neither reason nor fear - and that was just what I needed. An army that was ready to crush the heads without questions, without concern about their own well-being.
"Come on, come on! Hurry up!" - Maxim was urging them to pick up the pace.
"No problem pops" - a man at least a decade older than Maxim assured him. "I've been kicking ass like nobody's business back in the day - we'll show them what's what."
While they were busy putting on clothes, I quickly went to my apartment and grabbed the hatchet from the kitchen sink. By the time I returned, the men seemed to be ready to go.
"Lead the way, Yura" - Maxim told me: in the last thirty seconds he somehow went from helplessly drunk to crystal sober, which showed just how seriously he was taking the situation. I nodded and ran upstairs, hearing the men going after me. Sometimes someone would trip or miss the turn, but the rest would help them up.
"Why weren't you keeping an eye on her?" - Maxim scowled at me, running just a few steps behind me.
"She went away for five minutes. How was I supposed to know this was going to happen?" - I snapped back at him.
"Five minutes..." - Maxim grunted. "Better not let her go now. Don't worry, Yura, we're not going to leave her there," - he assured me. "No one will be left behind this time," - he added under his breath.
I knew what he's been going through, but I didn't have space in my heart to care about that. If he wanted to redeem himself, he'd do well to do it through his actions.
"Open up!" - I shouted at the door a minute later, when we finally reached it. "We give you one chance - give us back Natasha or we're going to slaughter you all in there!"
Maxim put his hand on my shoulder and made a hush sign while looking around, but I threw his hand off of me: I knew about the risks of being on the roof, and it wasn't the time to care about that. If something came at us, we'd just have to fight it back - that was all there was to it.
"You hear me?" - I shouted at them again, opening the door and shouting through the crack. "I have twenty people here with me, and we're not going back empty-handed!"
"You tell 'em!" - somebody behind me slurrily cheered me on.
Of course, that was a blatant lie: there were only five people behind me - Maxim had found some new friends since yesterday. It wasn't a significant force to be reckoned with, but still better than nothing. And since they had no way of checking whether it was true without coming up to the roof to see with their own eyes, a little lie wouldn't hurt.
"You again? Feeling much braver when you have some friends backing you up?" - I heard the familiar voice coming from behind the door: the man was climbing the stairs.
"You're the one to talk," - I scowled at him. "Open this door and you'll see that I don't need them to cut you up!"
"Keep talking - you'll get what's coming for ya" - the man gave me a sinister warning, though I noted that his sentence lacked the former confidence.
Someone touched my shoulder: it was Maxim. He was signaling at me to stand to the side and then nodded behind us, where Alexei was already taking aim at the door. When did he have time to go grab his rifle? Had he been drinking with it? Was he ready to shoot that man through the door? Was I ready to let him do that?
That would be a good question - if I considered that waste of skin on the other side of the door human, that is. I took a step to the right so that the man on the other side of the door could see me and focus only on me.
"Bring us Natasha and we'll let you all live" - I warned him, looking him in the eye. I was doing all I could to resist the temptation to look at Alexei - I couldn't deny that I was worried that he'd miss his shot and hit me instead. But in doing so, I could involuntarily give him away. So, I kept staring that vile creature in the eye, hoping that Alexei's shot would strike true.
I wanted nothing else but to see his brain splattered by the shot. I only hoped that the old door between us wouldn't be strong enough to absorb the bullet's lethal force.
From the corner of my eye, I could see that Alexei stopped moving. He has taken aim and was ready to take a shot at any moment. The moment I'd hear the shot, I'd have to try to pry the door open all the way.
The man on the other side of the door suddenly rolled his eyes and shook his shoulders in a careless gesture: "If you've wanted her so much you should've asked nicely."
"What?" - I asked, taken aback by the man's words. Did it mean that they were ready to let her go?
I quickly raised my hand to signal to Alexei to stop. While confused, the man obeyed, and I eased a little bit. Just a few moments ago, I wanted nothing more than for him to kill that man so that we could start our assault. But now that they were surrendering Natasha, I had to stop and think twice.
"You mean it, that you'll let her go?" - I asked him again just to be sure, still holding my hand up, out of the man's field of vision. If it was some sort of a sick joke I wouldn't hesitate to order the man's execution. But if he was telling the truth...
"Yes, the big guy is done with her. He seems to be disappointed," - he shook his shoulders.
"If this is a joke, I swear..." - I started, but he just raised his hand: "Relax! If you're so eager to throw some hands, you can switch places with her. She's a feisty one, alright" - he put on a dirty smirk, and I had to use all of my willpower to restrain myself from waving my hand and ending his miserable life.
"Oh! Here comes the bride. Step back, boy. If you or any of your pals make a wrong move..." - I heard him cock his gun. "She'll be an easy target."
I didn't need to be told twice. I could already hear someone coming up the ladder, and I recognized those small, weightless steps. Natasha. She really was coming up. They really were letting her go.
"Everyone stand back," - I told the rest of the men. "Kakogo huya[16] are you doing, giving in to his demands?" - somebody said, slurring the words. "Are you always so obedient? What if he asks you to suck his-"
"Stand back!" - I roared at the man, and he fell silent. I could see that he had no intention of obeying me - he was just confused and trying to come up with an appropriate answer. But that suited my needs well.
As much as I was glad that we resolved it without a fight - even though I was ready to fight to the last breath - I was still confused. Why kidnap her only to let her go? Did they perhaps do something to her? Is she now one of them?
"If that substance can infiltrate human bodies then surely they could do something to her?" - I thought, and the thought filled me with dread. What could they possibly make out of Natasha? A spy? A ticking bomb?
I heard the man fiddle with the lock, and then the rattling of the chain. A few moments later, the door swung open, and he pushed Natasha outside, right into the rain, before quickly closing the door after her. Alexei raised his rifle to try to take a shot, but then put it back down: the risk of hitting Natasha was too high.
"Natasha!" - the moment I saw her I forgot about everything else - the man behind the door, my suspicions of what they'd done to her... We haven't confirmed our relationship status - but it was a poor time to think about things like that. She was clearly distressed and needed comforting, so I rushed toward her and hugged her. She awkwardly returned the gesture.
"Here" - I took off my jacket and wrapped her in it. She made no efforts to keep it on, and I had to hug her with one arm to keep it from slipping off. "Are you alright? What did they do to you?"
"You'll ask her later! Let's go!" - Maxim hollered at us.
The roof was still dangerous. Funny how a few moments before that I didn't care about it in the slightest, but now that she was back by my side I didn't want her to be in danger for even one second. Still hugging her with one arm, I followed the rest of the group, who wasted no time to get back to safety.
"Hurry, hurry!" - Maxim was standing by the door and keeping it open for everyone. The rest of the men were already inside and were hurriedly trying to
go down the ladder. Their drunken state, something I considered to be a blessing just a few minutes before, was now turning out to be a curse: they were taking too long to descend the ladder, and the small room could only fit no more than three people at a time.
"Hurry, you in there!" - Maxim was urging them on to move faster. "Come on!"
"You go" - I stuffed Natasha in there despite the protests of men inside. "Let the girl through first! Be gentlemen for once!" - I shouted at them, and their protests subsided.
"Jesus Christ!" - Maxim suddenly cried out. Throwing a quick glance at where he was looking, I felt my blood run cold: something was climbing onto the roof from the building wall.
I didn't get a good look at it: Maxim grabbed me by the collar and practically threw me through the door. I bumped into someone, felt their body suddenly drop down as the impact made them miss the step, and then fell right after them.
By some miracle, I didn’t miss the staircase below and didn’t break any bones when I landed. The landing was still pretty rough, but I got up as soon as I had a chance. I felt someone’s fingers under my boot, heard a yelp of pain and protest, but I didn’t mind that. Before I even realized what I was doing, I was already climbing the ladder to the roof. Maxim needed my help.
I only peeked my head through the hatch, but at that point, I already knew that it was too late. The door to the roof was already closed – and it was violently shaking. I doubted that the beast could do that – it must’ve been Maxim who closed it behind me to make sure it wouldn’t get inside. Instead of following us to safety, he decided to make sure we’d be safe from it. Perhaps as it was gaining on him, he realized that it was the only thing he had time left to do.
The door was slightly shaking as Maxim was thrashing against it on the other side. I could hear his grunts of struggle and pain as the creature was tearing into him, and through the cracks in the door I could see their shadows locked in a deadly dance. My first instinct was to get out there, to help him fight it off, to get him inside to safety… Only to realize that the battle was already lost.
Maxim wheezed one last time, struggling to get one last breath. The creature screeched. Maxim’s wheeze cut off mid-breath. The shaking stopped.
The shadows receded. In the silence that followed, I heard his body being pulled away from the door. I wanted to jump outside, to fight it off, to make sure that no one was left behind… But I knew that it wasn’t a fight I could win. I knew that it was already too late. The only thing I could do was go down the stairs and close the hatch behind me, making as little sound as possible. To honor Maxim’s sacrifice in the only way I could – making sure that the rest of us were safe.
I felt angry at myself that just a few days before, I had been contemplating the idea that he could be behind all of this. Maxim, the man who wanted nothing but to keep people safe. The man who took it upon himself to organize the militia, to make sure that we’d be all safe.
"Where’s Maxim?" – I heard Alexei ask me when I came down. I just shook my head: "He didn’t make it."
"Son of a…" – Alexei sighed. I could tell that he was shaken as well. "Just like that. One moment he’s behind us, and the next… So stupid."
"Did he have a family?" – I heard someone ask.
"No, not that I know of," – I answered. "He was a widower. But he was a good man. He wanted nothing but to protect the families who lived here. To the very end," – I said, feeling a strange feeling of loss.
We stood in silence for a few moments. A moment of silence for the man who had gathered all of us and put his life on the line for what he’d believed in.
"I’m sorry" – Natasha quietly whispered. In that moment, I didn’t realize what she was apologizing for, and then it dawned on me.
"Oh my god, no. It’s not your fault," – I quickly assured her. "You’re not to blame, you hear me?"
She just nodded. I could tell that she wasn’t convinced.
"Are you alright? Are you hurt?" - I asked her, trying to look her in the eye. The girl seemed distant. From up close, I could see a faint bruise on her cheekbones, as well as the purple spot under her right eye: no doubt she'd have a black eye soon.
"Did they hurt you, Natasha?" - I kept pressuring her for answers despite seeing clear signs of assault. "Did they do anything to you?" - I asked her. That could sound heartless, but if a bruise and a black eye were the only consequences of her kidnapping then she got off easy.
"Hey, ease up, Yura" - I heard Alexei's voice. "The girl may not be comfortable to talk about it, especially right after it happened..."
Remembering my earlier suspicions, I grabbed her face and pulled her eyelids down, exposing pink flesh underneath, before forcefully opening her mouth to take a look inside. Everything looked normal. No signs of exposure. I wanted to think that it meant that my suspicions proved to be false, but I didn't know how long it would take for the signs of contamination to show themselves.
That seemed to snap her out of her dreamlike state: she pushed me back and gave a slap - a hard one at that. I didn't object: I felt like I deserved it for giving her such an intimate inspection right after whatever had happened there.
"Sorry," - I apologized awkwardly, looking away. "I was just too worked up. I'll leave you to it. Come on - your apartment is occupied with people, but you can stay at my place," - I said, gently taking her hand into mine.
"It's Nikita."
Her fingers slipped out of my grasp.
"What?" - I asked, genuinely not understanding what she was talking about. Was she perhaps insinuating that Nikita was on her mind at that moment? That she couldn't forgive herself for betraying his trust in her?
"The welder. It's Nikita."
"What are you saying, Nikita is not even here" - I said on autopilot, putting on a dumb, hollow smile. My mind had already started connecting the dots between her cryptic words and the events of the last few days.
No, it couldn't be...
"He came to me when I was in my apartment. He called me through the door. I heard him and I didn't even take a look through the peephole and opened the door. If I had looked first… I'd see what he'd become," - she said with a thousand-yard stare.
"Wait, are you serious?" - I asked her again. "Nikita? Your boyfriend?" - I stressed that word just to make it clear who exactly I was talking about. "He's the one who's welded us all in here?"
"I am not crazy, Yura" - she told me wearily. "Although some part of me wishes I was. It's… too much to take in."
"I'm not suggesting that" - I hurriedly assured her. "But you might be confused right now. It can't be Nikita, Nikita was at his parents' place when everything started, remember?" - I told her, smiling. I knew it wasn't an appropriate time to do so, but I couldn't help it: the corners of my mouth were stretching upwards on their own, twitching in denial when I tried to make them go down.
Nikita. Natasha's missing boyfriend. The only person in this entire building I could call my friend. He was behind it all?
"Okay, so… Why did he come home now? Where has he been all this time? And why would he weld us shut in here?" - I asked her.
"He's a part of some doomsday cult - always has been, apparently" - she said, letting out a dry laugh. I couldn't even imagine what it was like - to learn that your partner was having another, secret life. "One of the cult members allowed him to stay in his apartment - he said he didn't want to disturb me. That he needed… some time away from me, or else wouldn't be able to go through with it."
"Go through with what? What the hell do they need with us?" - I asked, completely confused.
"He said that they were going to change the world, and that it was going to start in our town. That they needed more people, and that they knew the town would be evacuated, which was why they welded the doors of buildings all over the town. They needed us to stay here until… We'd see their point," - she finished with confusion. She didn't understand what he meant by that - but I did.
I had just seen the people change und
er the influence of some unknown substance that was in the water. I had seen them become slaves to some outside will, which cared little about their well-being and was more bent on propagating itself. And I had heard the strange transmissions of their cult, which now made much more sense than before.
"...and those who partake his blood and flesh shall be made of his blood and flesh, too."
We were no more than a sacrifice. An offering to some strange force that polluted the water, and maybe the ground and the air, too - if the cult's messages were to be interpreted directly. We were just puppets waiting to be taken into their master's hands, and if it weren't for a tried and tested custom of filling the bathtubs with water during the emergency, we'd perhaps be already done with.
The military's strategy of opening fire on anyone emerging from town, while still brutal, suddenly made much more sense. How could you know whom could you trust? How could you know if the family of three that was approaching you was not already an enemy?
And behind all of that was Nikita. The man who we thought had disappeared when the sirens were sounded. The man who we thought had escaped the town by now had been with us the whole time.
"He said he came to me because he couldn't keep it a secret anymore." - Natasha kept talking to no one in particular. "Said he wanted to show me what they were doing. He thought I'd appreciate it. Said that it was finally our chance to break out, to see the world, like I've always wanted. To change our lives," - she said, recounting Nikita's words. Her voice was even. "But he's done something to himself. I don't… I don't understand. He comes home a freak, drags me out of there to his place, and says that he wants us to be together forever. Is he out of his mind? And when I," - her voice broke for a second, before she regained her composure. "When I told him 'no', he got so mad… I've never seen him so mad. It's like, he changed on all levels. I didn't tell him about us, but he guessed that, somehow. He threw me out of his apartment and told me to go back, to wait for their King to come like everyone else… He told me he didn't… He didn't care what would… What would..."
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