Journey to another world in the subway

Chapter 176 Bondage
If a broken brick clicked intentionally and exposedly under his boot, if a wrong step made an unexpected noise, they would all wake up and tear him to pieces in an instant.

Artyom's mind was filled with scenes of him walking between two sleeping trolls yesterday and even today...

Such a terrible scene seemed so familiar to Artyom for some reason.

He stood still in place.

Artyom knew that sometimes people can perceive the gaze of the people behind them.

But these giants don't have eyes, and the tools they use to perceive space are much more reliable and solid than any eyes.

Artyom didn't want to turn around to look, he knew that what he was going to face must be the giant beasts that were holding him back, and although he couldn't be more careful, they were awakened.

But he turned away anyway.

The troll was taller than both Artyoms, its head reaching the ceiling and its claws hanging down to the floor.

Artyom had seen with his own eyes that these giant monsters moved as fast as lightning and attacked people incredibly fast.

To take down the boy, one movement is enough to end his life. These monsters only need to move any one of their limbs at random, but the one in front of them has not made a move for some reason.

It was pointless to shoot at it, and Artyom did not have time to take up his submachine gun.

Artyom hesitated and took a step back, trying to move towards the passage.

The beast let out a low moan and staggered towards the boy...but nothing happened.

The troll remained where it was, but did not remove its focused blind eyes from Artyom.

He mustered up the courage to take another step, another step.

Without turning around or showing his fear, he gradually moved towards the exit.

But the troll followed Artyom step by step as if he had been cursed, as if to send him to the door.

At 10 steps away from the door opening, Artyom finally couldn't hold on anymore and started to run quickly.

The monster roared, and jumped up likewise.

Artyom flew to the ground, he squinted his eyes, and there was nothing around him.

Before he could stumble and spin on the hard ground like a top, Artyom galloped forward.

He had expected the Behemoth to catch him and tear him to pieces, but the pursuer somehow let him go.

A long minute passed, and another minute passed... There was silence around him.

Artyom fumbled in his backpack for the homemade glasses he bought from the guard. They were two dark glass bottle bottoms set in iron rings and fixed by ropes. He had not opened his eyes before.

Artyom fixed the glasses on the gas mask so that the green transparent circles aligned with the holes in the rubber mask.

Now he can open his eyes.

He slowly raised his eyelids, at first hesitantly, but then he dared to open his eyes and look at this strange place.

Above him was the sky, the real sky, bright and boundless.

The light from the sky is brighter than any searchlight can emit, and it is moderately shaded green. In some places, they break through the low clouds, and in a certain place, they extend to the bottomless abyss.

sun!

He saw it through the thin clouds:
It was a circle the size of the diameter of a bullet casing, the edges were very neat and extremely bright, it could even burn a hole in Artyom's eye.

Terrified, he looked away, paused for a moment, and looked at it furtively again.

It also has some disappointing aspects:

It's just a glaring hole in the sky.

But it's still charming, captivating, and exciting.

For people who live in darkness all year round, the exit of the beast’s lair is so bright, an idea flashed in Artyom’s mind—the sun is also such an exit, it guides people to a place where there will never be darkness...

If he can fly to the sun, can he leave the earth, just like he left the beast's lair just now?
The sun also radiates a soft, barely felt warmth, as if it were alive.

Artyom stood in the middle of the wasteland, surrounded by ancient half-collapsed, half-ruined buildings, with the remains of black windows stacked as high as buildings.

There are countless buildings, and they are jostling each other, vying to be the first to see Artyom's face.

Tall buildings look very tall, and the silhouettes they project are even more spectacular.

It's amazing that Artyom has seen all this with his own eyes!

Just let them smell of green mold—the ground underfoot, the air, the crazy, bright, boundless sky—all spread out before Artyom, making him feel an unimaginable vastness.

No matter how long Artyom lived in the dark, he was not born with good eyesight to see everything in the dark.

When he was still at VDNKh station, late at night, Artyom could see only those ugly buildings standing a few hundred meters away from the sealing valve opening in front of the steep slope of the subway bridge.

Further away, the darkness became thicker and thicker, and Artyom, who was born and raised underground, could not penetrate that darkness with his sight.

Artyom had never forced himself to seriously think about the size of the world he lived in before.

But in his imagination, the world is a dark cocoon: each side stretches for hundreds of meters, and after a few hundred meters there is a cliff, where the end of the world is also the beginning of another world.

In fact, Artyom also knew that the world was actually much bigger, but he still couldn't imagine what it really looked like.

Now he understood that the reason why he could not imagine correctly was because he had never seen the real world.

The strange thing is, why is he not afraid at all in this wilderness?
Before, whenever he climbed out of the tunnel and came to the edge of the cliff, he felt that he had broken his armor.

The tunnel was now a complete shell to him, and he was finally free of it.

In daylight, any danger would be visible from a distance, giving Artyom plenty of time to find a hiding place or prepare to defend himself.

In addition, Artyom had a shy, inexplicable feeling: he seemed to be at home.

In a desert, the wind chasing the tangle of tangled branches, passing through the gaps between the tall buildings in frustration, brushing Artyom's back, encouraging Artyom to become more brave, encouraging him to explore this world. A whole new world.

He was desperate, and if he wanted to get back into the subway, he had to pass through the haunted lairs of the beasts again, only this time, they couldn't possibly still be dozing.

Occasionally a white-furred behemoth or two flashed by—apparently, they couldn't stand the glare of the day.

But when night falls, what will they do?
He had to go as far as he could if he wanted to see any of the landscapes Khan had described so far.

Artyom moved on.

(End of this chapter)