Chapter 4 – Dead world
A couple of hours later
Artyom still sat in his chair, watching over the teens. He had looked over his equipment and found no big problems. He raised his arm and looked at his watch and saw that it was past noon. He sighed and lowered his arm down.
"Well, let's get this over with." He said to himself. He lifted himself of the chair and walked over to the closest teen with happened to be Korra. He kicked her a little with his boot and she started to stir.
"Up and dandy. There is no time like the present." He said to the groggy avatar. She raised herself from her makeshift bed and yawned and stretched her arms. She opened her eyes and saw Artyom going around waking the others. Soon all of them were awake.
"Man, I'm hungry. When are we going to have breakfast?" Bolin said while yawning.
"We will eat as soon as we reach Belorusskaya. Now, let's prepare for the surface." He said while walking towards the lockers and boxes in the room.
"Why do we need to prepare, isn't it just going up?" Mako asked.
"Njet, the temperatures are freezing up there. You're going to need some extra clothes otherwise you will just freeze to death. Check that locker, pick what you like." He said while pointing at one particular locker. The teens walked over to it and opened it. Inside the locker hung a couple of jackets. Mako took one out and saw that it had a sickly green on it.
"Oh, can I have that one?" Bolin asked his brother. Mako sighed and gave it to him. They looked through the locker but Asami wondered what Artyom was looking for in the boxes. She walked towards him when Artyom suddenly said.
"Aren't you going to pick a jacket?" He asked without looking up from the box he was currently checking. Asami stopped next to him and responded.
"I don't really need to. The clothes I wear now are just fine." She said while hinting towards the black and red bodysuit she was wearing.
"I just wondered what you was looking through." She said. Artyom didn't respond but said only.
"I know that it is going to lie here somewhere…aha, here it is." He said while picking up a large rectangular wooden box that was located between the larger boxes. He put it on the table and opened it up. Asami looked on the content of the box and got a little confused. It was filled with six masks with the front being mostly covered in glass and a big hole at the bottom of it. Now when she comes to think about it she reckon that Artyom have a similar mask on his backpack. She checks Artyoms back and sees the a similar mask hang from the backpack but this one had a big circular thing strapped on where the hole should be. She finally decided to ask.
"What are these?" She asked while pointing at the masks in the box.
"Gasmasks, help me find the filters to them." He said and walked back to the boxes. Asami looked at Artyom in confusing. Is that what these were? She remembered the equalist wearing something that they called a gasmask but these were nothing like the ones she had seen. She looked at the others and saw that they had picked different clothes. Mako was wearing a red jacket that had seen better days. Bolin was going around the dirty green one and Korra had picked also a green one but it seemed smaller than Bolin's. She looked at Artyom and saw that he came with a large sack. He put the sack on the table and she saw that a lot of those circular things were inside of it. Now the others had gathered around as well and looked confused at the masks.
"Good thing that they didn't managed to get all the supplies when they evacuated the stations. Alright everyone pick a mask and take at least three filters each. That should be enough for a trip on the surface to the station." Artyom said while handing out filters to the teens.
"Why would we need a mask?" Mako asked while picking up one and exanimating it. Artyom looked at Mako and said.
"The air is poisonous for the unmutated gene which includes humans. Without these you will suffocate in seconds." He said in a serious tone. The teens looked down at the masks
"This is how these work." He said while picking one up to show how it's done.
"You take a filter and you screw it on in the hole of the mask. You can then breathe up on the surface but as soon as you feel that it gets harder to breathe you can either switch to another filter or use up the whole filter that you are currently using. You will now when it's all used up when you suddenly feel unable to breathe. You must then switch to another filter quickly. The filters have enough clean air for about three to five minutes but we shouldn't have to worry about running out of air. There is going to be a lot of filters scattered across the surface. Alright, let's get going." Artyom said and picked up is Kalash that was resting at the wall and started to walk towards the door that led to the surface. The others picked up a mask each and screwed on the filters on them and followed him. Artyom opened the door and a stairway was seen. They walked up on it and continued to follow it until they reached another door. Artyom put on his gasmask and the teens did it as well. Artyom had his weapon at the ready and opened the door carefully. He took in his surroundings and saw nothing wrong.
"Okay, all clear. Let's move out." He said through the gasmask and walked through the door. The teens followed closely behind him and soon found themselves in a large room. They looked around and saw broken windows and that the roof had fallen inwards. They saw that the floor was littered with debris that consisted of stone and glass. They saw Artyom going slowly through the room towards a couple of large doors that they assumed was the way out. Artyom slowly opened the doors and walked out, the teens followed him. When they reach the outside they all gasped. The building that they were currently in had pillars and they saw a large road lying outside on the opposite side of the building littered with wrecks of what they assumed were their versions of Satomobiles. They saw large apartment and office buildings on both side of the road. They saw in the horizon large skyscrapers that could rival the largest buildings in Republic city. It was truly a sight to see but the thing that caught their attention the most was the state the city was in, it was all in ruins. The buildings had fallen apart and it was all grey and dull. The streets had become large holes filled with water and to their left they saw what a forest was once but were now filled with dead trees. Some places had spots of green but most of the city was covered in snow. They looked up into the sky and saw large black clouds the blocked the sun. Artyom had said it was past noon but yet if felt like it was night. They were truly at a loss of words.
"I…I…" Korra tried saying something but she couldn't get the words out.
"It is a horrible sight, I know." Artyom said what Korra tried to say. They saw that he walked out of the building into the open and looked around.
"This is what I meant that technology brought this on our world." He said almost shouting to the teens that still stood in the doorway of the building that they came from.
"You are currently looking at the city of Moscow. Once the great and beautiful capital of a once proud and powerful nation called Russia. Now it but a shadow of its former beauty and no human can live here without fear of being eaten by the monsters that now live in our former home. We now live down there in the underground tunnels of the metro like rats. But one day, we will take back the surface and we don't have to live in fear anymore.
"What happened to this world?" Bolin asked in disbelief. Artyom looked down on the ground and said with a sad tone.
"War…war happened." He said. Asami walked up to Artyom and put her hand on his shoulder and said in a concern tone.
"I know that war can be destructive but how could a war cause this kind of damage." Asami asked still in disbelief. Artyom was just about to answer when a roar could be heard in the distance and the flapping of wings. Artyom quickly tensed up to the sound, he knew it all too well.
"Quickly, back into the building." He practically yelled and he ran back to the building were the teens were standing. He hid behind a pillar and the teens did the same. They looked at the direction of the roar and gasped. A large flying creature flew in and landed on building on the opposite side of the road. It started to scan the area and looked around while sniffing. The teens stared in disbelief at the creature.
"What is that?" Korra asked in fear. Artyom stared at the beast and readied is weapon.
"A demon" Was all he said. The others stared on him and then back at the creature.
"A What?" Mako asked in disbelief.
"Large predatory creatures that hunt everything that moves. It is on top of the food chain in most part of the city. They are hard to evade and even harder to kill. If we meet the beast in the open, quickly run into the nearest hole as fast as possible. If you get captured by it you are as good as dead. Stick to the shadows and we will get out of this alive." Artyom finished. The Demon still sat on the roof and looked around. It started to sniff in their direction and then started to growl.
"It knows that we are here. This will be harder than a thought." But as soon as the beast and come it left. It started to fly away in the opposite direction of the station. The group left their cover and moved out into the open.
"Alright, the entrance to Belorusskaya station is about a mile down the road. We must hurry if we want to get there before our filters run out." Artyom said while pointing towards southeast.
"We can take cover amongst the trees to our left. Then we must cross a road that has now been turned into a river. So we must find a way across. Then we will walk through a row of buildings and as long as we stay in them we will be fine from demons but keep a watch out for other critters that live in them. They can be just as dangerous but first." He said and walked towards a corpse of a man that was resting on crashed car. He walked up to it and said.
"A stalker, these guys goes up to the surface every day in hope of finding that one unopened safe in the bottom of an irradiated hole. However while their job is dangerous it pays well. From simple toys to paintings to spare parts to sophisticated military hardware they get paid really well for everything they bring down into the metro. If you run out of ammo and supplies, just look for the bodies of these poor guys and there should be no problem. This is what I meant that we would not have much trouble with filters. I got to give this guy credit though. He came pretty far outside of the populated section of the metro. And here we got what I'm looking for." He finished and picked something up.
"Hey Asami, catch." He said and threw something to Asami. Asami clumsy caught it and looked down at what it was she was holding. It appeared to be a gun but it was so different from that one that Artyom was holding. While his was more streamlined and seemed to have been manufactured using produced parts, this one seemed to be made out of spare and missformed parts.
"What is this?" Asami asked while holding the strange looking weapon in her hand.
"It's called the bastard gun. It has accuracy like shit and overheats easily, a perfect beginner's weapon." Artyom said with a smirk. Asami glared at him. Asami then looked down on the gun in her hands and studied it closer.
"Uh…how does it work?" She asked through the gasmask. Artyom walked up to her and showed her.
"Alright, a quick crash course of this gun. You pull the trigger to fire and when it needs to be reloaded you take out the old magazine like this." He took out the magazine that was currently in the gun.
"And you put a new one in like this." He put the magazine back into the gun.
"And if it is completely empty you have to pull back the trigger to put a bullet into the chamber of the gun. Be sure to fire in short burst or otherwise the gun will overheat fast. If it overheats pull that plug at the back of the gun the let the heat out. After that you should be able to us it again with no problem. "He finished. Asami studied the gun some more and then looked at Artyom again.
"What kind of ammo does it use?" She asked. One thing she had noticed was that these so called guns used different kind of projectiles or bullets as Artyom called them and wanted to know what this one used for kind of caliber.
"It uses the 5:45 caliber rounds that are very commonly found in this wasteland. Here, have some ammo." He said and gave her a spare magazine which she took and put into her pockets.
"It will use them up fast thanks to its high fire rate so pick your targets carefully. Alright, if there is no other questions people let's get a move out." Artyom ordered and then started to sprint towards the dead forest. The teens followed him through the forest until they reached the road on the other side and just like Artyom had said there was now a river in their way.
"With most of the snow melting all the water must go somewhere." Artyom said while looking for a way across.
"Last time I crossed it I used a bus as a makeshift bridge but now it seems that it has fallen into the water so we can't use it." He said in deep though.
"Why not just swim across?" Bolin asked.
"You don't know what lives in the water Bolin. You want to be eaten?" He asked the earthbender. Bolin nervously shook his head in response. Artyom looked around and found a truck that was halfway into the water but it was high enough to use as a jumping point.
"We can use that truck to get across." Artyom said while pointing at said truck. The teens looked first confused but soon understood what he meant. Artyom was the first to climb up on it and then sprinted and jumped and landed on the other side of the river. Korra was next and without problem she was across as well. Asami jumped as well without problems and then it was Mako who came across without problems as well. Bolin still stood atop the truck and looked down onto the water before looking on the group on the other side.
"Are you sure that we just can't swim across?" He asked a second time.
"Just jump Bolin, what's the worst that can happen?" Korra said. Bolin gulped and jumped. He landed on the other side without any problems.
"See, I told you it was not danger." Korra said to her friend. Bolin nodded to this but before anyone could say anything else a large green creature jumped out of the water and grabbed Bolin with one of its giant claws and dragged him down. Bolin didn't even have time to yell out in surprise before he found himself under water.
"BOLIN!" Mako yelled and fired of a large flame out of his hand towards the creature but it just hit nothing. Artyom stared on in wonder at Mako's ability to cause fire from nowhere but soon shock himself out of it and saw that Bolin got dragged down fast. Mako tried to stop it but it was too late. It had disappeared into the water with Bolin but just as quickly as the creature had come up Artyom jumped in after with his knife drawn. He as well disappeared below the water and silence was soon al that could be heard. The remaining three stood there in shock and waited. The saw bubbles come up until they stopped and a large spot of blood covered the surface.
"No" Mako said while getting a tear in his eye. Korra and Asami stood there in shock until something broke the surface on the water. Bolin and Artyom threw themselves out of the water and onto dry land. Both was lying on the ground and breathed heavily in their gasmasks.
"BOLIN" Mako said in happiness and hugged his little brother who was currently trying to stand up. Korra and Asami sprinted over to Artyom to check on his condition.
"How do you feel?" Korra asked with a concern tone. Artyom looked at her and said.
"I'll be fine. Be glad that it wasn't bigger. You don't know how big those things can get, believe me I know." He said to the concern teens. They smiled at him and Korra helped him up.
"What happened in there?" Asami asked.
"I managed to grab on to its tail before it got away too far. I then stabbed it in the right arm so it let Bolin go and then I helped him up to the surface." Artyom said to the young inventor. Mako looked at his brother and then back at Artyom. He walked up to Artyom and said.
"Thank you for saving my brother." He said. Artyom smiled under his mask and responded.
"Don't mention it. I did what I had to too. Like a "friend" ones told me. We are all brothers in the metro." He said while pronouncing the word friend with venom in his voice. The teens looked confused but decided it could wait. He stood up straight and picked up his gun that he threw to the side.
"What was that?" Korra Asked referring to the creature while looking at the water.
"We call the shrimps. We do not know where they came from. They suddenly started to appear when the ice melted and rivers were formed but they are the main reason why we should try to stay out of the water. They are dangerous but they are tasty, especially with beer." Artyom responded. He then started to walk towards the buildings on their side of the river. The teens followed close by. They entered the buildings and walked through them without any big complications. After a few minutes they had covered a lot of ground and were closer to the station. All this time the teens have followed close behind Artyom. Along the way they found more corpses of the unfortunate that have died on the surface and stashes of ammo and other supplies. Even thought that the city lied in ruins the teens couldn't help but feel fascinated by the technological wonders that they found in the buildings they passed. While they didn't work Artyom explained with his limited knowledge of what they were and what they could do. There was stuff that was called computers and other things that was called a TV. There were much more advanced versions of telephones and there were things that were called cellphones. They had never seen stuff like that before and were more than fascinated by hearing of them. They could only imagine how they worked by going after was Artyom had told them. Each of these inventions would give Sato industries a run for its money. After a few more moments Artyom spoke up.
"Alright, it shouldn't be too far to the station now. We will be there within short. We have been lucky so far. There appears not to be too many mutants out but that is a way I prefer." He said. While walking through one of the offices in the buildings the group suddenly felt a small headache coming up.
"Hey, do you guys feel that as well?" Bolin said while rubbing his head.
"Yeah, it feels weird." Asami responded.
"I feel tired." Mako said while finding it harder to stay awake.
"Me too" Korra said while finding it hard to walk in a straight line. Artyom himself experienced a small headache when his eyes suddenly widened in realization.
"Oh no" He said quiet to himself.
"We need to get out of this building now!" He yelled to the others. He started to sprint to the end of the room they were currently in but the teens stayed behind until they fell down on the ground. He looked back and once again realized what was going on. He ran up to the teens and grabbed on to the now unconscious Korra and shook her, trying to wake her.
"Snap out of it, wake up." He yelled to her but it was no use. She closed her eyes and started to breathe heavily.
Korra found herself suddenly someplace unfamiliar but on the same time familiar. She had no idea how she suddenly ended up here. She blinked a few times and took in her new surroundings. It looked like the room she was in a few moments ago but this one looked all clean and colorful. She noticed that she was sitting behind a desk and was typing on what looked like a keyboard but what was stranger was the thing the keyboard was connected to. It wasn't a typing machine but it looked like one of the computers that Artyom mentioned before. The screen showed what she was typing but she couldn't understand was she was typing. She tried to stop but couldn't. She found herself unable to move on her own. She could just witness what was happening.
"Hey Tatiana, did you finish those files?" She could suddenly hear someone say in an accent similar to Artyom. She looked up and saw a man that was dressed in a fancy suit walk up to where she was sitting.
"I have indeed Mr. Korlov. I have them right here." She suddenly said but the voice that was coming out of her mouth was not her own. It was more mature then hers indicating that whoever she currently is, was an adult but it was female none the less. She stood up and handed a few papers to the man.
"Spasibo" The man said when he took the files and then looked through them. She stood still and waited for the man to stop looking through the files when her head was turned towards the window. She could now see out and her eyes went mentally wide. The entire outside world had changed as well. There were now green trees on the sidewalks and birds were flying through the air. The street was filled with vehicles and people filled the sidewalks. It looked like Republic city in so many ways but more advanced. She then looked back at the man that was still going through the papers. Her gazing was interrupted suddenly when a loud alarm erupted on the outside. Both she and the man looked at the window and looked out. She could see that the people on the sidewalks looked around as well in confusion.
"Eh, probably a military exercise or something, nothing to worry about." The man said when suddenly another sound could be heard. Korra looked at the sound and saw large cylinder objects being launched into the sky. They climbed into the sky and disappeared behind the clouds. Suddenly panic erupted on the streets and people started to sprint in all directions. She looked back at the man and he now looked terrified and then he screamed.
"IT'S FOR REAL, RUN FOR YOUR LIVES." He then started to run towards the door when suddenly a blinding light erupted. She covered her eyes but she managed to peak through her fingers. Her eyes widened when she saw it. A large mushroom shaped fire cloud was seen and the shockwave that tore through everything. It came closer and closer destroying everything in its way. She saw that people ran for their lives but got burned right there and turned into ash on the spot. She saw that her hand started to boil and she could feel the pain. Entire buildings crumbled and vehicles fell over by the shockwave. She didn't even have time to scream until she heard.
"WAKE UP!"
Korra snapped her eyes open and threw herself up while breathing heavily. She took in her surroundings and saw that she was back in the same room as she was before, all grey and dull. She saw Artyom looking down on her with a concern look on her face. She looked around and saw that the others were waking up as well. She looked at Artyom with a confused look and said.
"What happened? I saw some kind of hallucination." Artyom smiled under his mask and said.
"You got hit by a vision from the past. I have been through the same thing. That's how I knew what was going on." He finished and helped Korra up on her feet. The others got up as well and looked around confused.
"The metro isn't the only place haunted by the dead. Here on the surface the oldest ones still roam. They have been here since the war, living their last moments in life. I don't know what you just witnessed but you just saw the last moments of that person's life before he or she died. These "hallucinations" are almost everywhere on the surface. Some are harmless, you are still awake when they happen but you witness the last moments through your eyes. Some are more dangerous like this one. You fall unconscious on the ground and suffocate if you don't wake up soon. " Artyom said while looking over the teens. The teens looked at each other until Asami spoke.
"I was in this very room before it got destroyed and I was woman named Tatiana and I witness a huge explosion and…the destruction of this city." She said the last bit uncomfortable and the others looked at her.
"You were her as well? I didn't want to say anything because I find it awkward that I was a girl for a short period of time but still I saw it to." Bolin said while Mako face palmed at his brothers silliness. Artyom couldn't help but smile at the earthbender's humor.
"Alright, let's leave this building unless you want another vision." He said and started to exit the room. The others followed close by without hesitation. They soon exited the building and soon found themselves in what was once a playground. They continued carefully until they heard a howl in the distance and the ground shock a little.
"Shit, get behind something now!" Artyom said and the group took cover behind the wreck of a van that had crashed into the monkey bars. The teens wondered now what was going to happen when they saw a large pack of weird looking creatures run past them without noticing them. They sprinted on their four legs and had small patches of fur on their bodies and their mouths were filled with razor sharp teeth's.
"What are those things?" Korra asked in a whisper to Artyom.
"Watchmens, don't let them see us or we get ripped to shreds." Artyom said while holding tight onto his weapon. The teens looked nervously at the pack as it ran by. The pack was huge and it kept on running past them for about twenty seconds. The whole pack had soon passed by them but they noticed that one had stayed behind. They saw the cause of it. It had found the body of a dead person and decided to snack on it. It had its back to them and Artyom looked out from behind the van.
"We can't sneak past it, its hearing and keen of smell is just too good so it will notice us with ease but we can't just take it out right on. It will warn its friends of us and they will come running to us." Artyom weighed their options when an idea sprung up in his head. He took out a blue knife and held it in its tip
"Let's just hope that my aim is still as good." He said and threw it. It struck the creature right in the back of its neck and killed it instantly. Artyom said a quiet yes and then spoke to the teens.
"Alright, let's move." Artyom ordered the group and they started to walk across the playground. They were almost over to the other side when a roar could be heard behind them and the flapping of large wings.
"DEMON! We got to hurry." Artyom yelled while he started to sprint towards a hole in the wall on the building in front of them and just like he had said, said demon appeared and spotted the group. It flew down on an attack approach with its claws at the ready. The group was almost at the hole in the wall when the demon was upon them. It grabbed a hold on Bolin and lifted him up in the air.
"AHHHHHHH not again." Bolin screamed. The group looked on in horror when the demon flew away with their teammate.
"No" Mako yelled and fired fireball after fireball towards the flying creature but they all missed the creature who evaded them.
"Allow me to try." Artyom said and fired with his Kalash at the flying beast. The teens had to cover their ears because of the sound it gave out. This was the first time they saw a gun in action and they noticed how the bullets flew through the air and pierced the demons skin. The said demon roared in pain and tried to get away from the shooting ranger. Soon the flying beast disappeared behind the buildings and was out of their sight.
"No" Make said again but with a lower voice. The girls stared in disbelief and Artyom walked up to Mako and put his hand on his shoulder.
"Mako, I am so sorry." Mako shrugged his hand of and turned to Artyom.
"We must save him." He said to the ranger.
"There is nothing we can do. He is done for." Artyom said and reloaded his weapon before starting to walk towards the hole in the wall without saying another word. The teens looked on in surprise and Mako sprinted up to Artyom and grabbed on to his arm.
"Woah, woah. What do you mean by that? We must at least try. We can't just leave him. Listen, I'm not going to leave my Br…" Mako said but was interrupted by Artyom who turned to Mako and said.
"Listen Mako, no one has ever been saved from a successful demon attack before. Do you think this is the first demon attack I have seen? I know what happens to those who get grabbed by a demon. They almost snap your back in half and claw at you if you try to resist. If they manage to carry you of out of ones reach then you are as good as dead. That demon probably lives on one of these rooftops. It's like finding a nail in a haystack and we don't have enough of filters for such a search." Artyom said while staring the older brother down.
"I am truly sorry but there is nothing we can do to save him." Artyom finished and started to walk towards the hole again but was stopped by the two females of the group.
"We will not leave Bolin behind." Korra said with a determent tone with her arms crossed, Asami nodded. Artyom stared at the two girls and then back at the firebender before sighting in defeat.
"Well, there is a first time for everything." Artyom said quietly.
"Okay, we will have to search fast but when our filter supplies are running low we must abort, understand." He said to the teens. They looked at each other and then nodded.
"Alright let's go, it headed this way." He said while he and the teens started to walk towards the direction were the demon had flew of in.
