Journey to another world in the subway

Chapter 174 Alone
"Home, in the All-Russian Exhibition Hall, the road to the ground is not far away-a total of 56 steps, but the position where Palma stands underground is not deep."

Artyom climbed up the creaking escalator riddled with bullets, but he did not see the end of the escalator.

The light of the flashlight he held was not very strong, only enough to illuminate the broken glass of the lampshade scattered on the escalator in the dark, and the crooked signboard, the portraits on it were blurry and gray, and some letters spelled out meaningless if.

Why did he go up there?

Why should he die?

But who needs him down there?
Does anyone really need him down there, or is it just a character from an unfinished book?

Do you need to continue to lie to yourself?
When Artyom left his glory and his wife Anna behind and left the VDNKh station, he felt that he was realizing an escape plan he had never imagined.

Look for clues from signals, hope for survival.

But so far, Artyom has never found a clue to the signal, nor has he seen any hope of survival on the ground.

Artyom didn't know how to face his stepfather Sukhoi, and couldn't look directly at the way he looked at him.

When Artyom wanted to call his stepfather in his dream to share with him what he had seen, heard and experienced, the image of his stepfather was always fleeting.

His stepfather cannot forgive him and does not want to accept his redemption.

The father and daughter had collected some books. Before they were traded for food and ammunition, Artyom looked through a few books. The one that impressed him most was an old plant manual.

The illustrations were not vivid, only black-and-white photos faded by time and some pencil sketches, but there were no illustrations at all in the other books, so this manual became Artyom's favorite.

And among all the plants, Artyom loves the morning glory the most. To be more precise, he sympathizes with the morning glory. He sees his own shadow in the morning glory.

You must know that he also needs a pillar in this way, and wants to be born upward and touch the light of the sun.

The instinct of morning glory is not to let it live by sucking other people's juice, nor is it to let it possess other people's light and heat.

But without this pillar, it would be unable to stand up as it is so weak and spineless.

If there is no support, it can only grow on the ground forever.

His stepfather once said to Artyom that he should not be a climbing morning glory, he is himself, and should not exist dependent on anyone, nor should he spend all his energy and blood on others.

The problem is that there is no "other person" in the remote desolate station where they live for Artyom to devote all his energy to, but his stepfather knows that this kind of life is only temporary for Artyom.

His stepfather didn't want him to grow into ivy, but, out of consideration for his masculine nature, wanted him to grow into a tall pine tree.

Artem can survive without his stepfather;

Artyom could live without Antonil;

But union with another person is the only reason for Artyom to live.

On the speeding rail car, he hugged him tightly with both hands, and his life seemed to have gained a new pillar from then on.

He didn't forget his stepfather's teachings—it's dangerous to trust others, and it's shameful to depend on others, but he still broke through himself and revealed his heart to Anna.

Artyom wanted to cuddle up to Anna, but Anna thought he had grabbed her boot.

Alone, he headed towards the ground, not intending to continue searching in a humble manner.

It was he who drove him up, and he went up.

If something bad happens to him on the ground, it will be entirely his fault and only he has the power to stop it.

At last he climbed to the top step of the escalator.

He was already at the end of the spacious marble hall, and many parts of the hall's iron mesh ceiling had collapsed.

The sunlight was extremely bright, and gray-white beams of light shone through the holes in the distance, and the light even splashed into the dark room where Artyom was.

Artyom's wife put out the flashlight, took a deep breath, and moved forward quietly.

Numerous bullet holes and fragments of escalators prove that people have been here.

A few steps away is already the territory of another creature.

A piece of dung that was about to dry, bones scattered here and there that had been licked clean, and fragments of animal skins all proved that Artyom had come to the heart of the beast's lair.

In order not to burn his eyes from the strong light, Artyom squinted his eyes and walked towards the exit.

The further Artyom went, the darker the solitary corners of the hall he passed through.

As Artyom adapted to the bright light, he lost the ability to perceive darkness.

The next hall was filled with steel bars from sentry booths, piles of unimaginable junk, and the remains of various machines.

Apparently, people turned the above-ground showroom in Paveletz into a cargo transit point, dragging all the good stuff around before the powerful beasts could drive them away.

In the darkness, Artyom occasionally felt something trembling, but he attributed it all to his increasingly blurred vision.

It was getting darker and darker, and Artyom could no longer distinguish the ugly silhouette of the dozing monster that merged with the garbage mountain.

The monotonous sound of the passing wind masked their heavy breathing, and Artyom only discovered their existence only a few steps away from the barking monster.

Artyom listened carefully and vigilantly, and suddenly froze there.His eyes stopped at the overturned newsstand, but he saw a strange hunchback from it...

He suddenly felt powerless.

The knoll where the kiosk is buried is breathing.

All the other waste heaps were breathing, and Artyom was surrounded by them.

To get a closer look, Artyom pressed the button of the flashlight and pointed the light at one of the hillocks.

The white light of the flashlight shone in the folds of the white animal skin, and then swept around the unknown body before the light beam dispersed, and could not reach the edge of the body anyway.

It was the same kind as the giant beast that attacked Artyom in Paveletz, but this one was bigger than that one.

The monster seemed to be in a daze, so it didn't notice Artyom's presence.

Suddenly, a gigantic beast that was very close to Artyom roared, sucking air through its crooked nostrils, baring its teeth and claws...

Only then did Artyom remember that he should hide the flashlight and move quickly outside.

But in the place where dragons and tigers are entangled, every step of his is accompanied by great difficulties: the farther away from the subway escalator, the higher the density of giant beasts, and it becomes more and more difficult to find a foothold among their huge bodies.

It's too late to turn around.

Now Artyom completely stopped thinking about the possibility of returning to the subway.

He could pass here quietly, without disturbing any of the giant beasts, to the surface.

Concentrate and hold your breath, take care of the situation on all sides, take a fight...

They must not wake up from hibernation, they must let him pass through here safely, he does not need to save a way back for himself.

Artyom didn't dare to breathe, and even tried not to think - what if they could suddenly hear the sound of his brain turning?
He moved slowly towards the exit.

(End of this chapter)