Disclaimer: The characters and story originally created by Dmitri Glukhovsky in the book and video game series "Metro: 2033" and its sequels do not belong to me. Those properties are owned by Glukhovsky, 4A Games, and Deep Silver. This work of fiction is intended for entertainment purposes and is not meant to be canonical, though I tried very hard to make it fit within the parameters. I do retain my rights for the creation of my own original characters and ideas. I do not make any money from writing this story.
Chapter Eight: Wrong Side of the Barricade
The boat whirred along quietly despite the air of uncertainty hanging around them. People mumbled to themselves and clung to their companions, thankful to have escaped unscathed but sad to have left their station in such a state. Artyom gathered from their murmurings that they intended to return to Venice in an hour or so after the chaos had died down. Apparently it was a normal thing - at least for this group - to sail out of the area when things turned bad and wait for it to blow over. Perhaps that was the only way to cope when one lived in a station mostly occupied and governed by freely roaming criminals.
Artyom looked over at Aleks, who hadn't moved since they had climbed aboard the raft. She sat in silence as they left behind every contact they'd been travelling with. Now the two were truly on their own, and she couldn't turn to her followers for support. Artyom wondered how resilient she was when alone; did she know anything at all about combat tactics or about travelling around the many dangerous places in this small underground world? Why would she press on with just himself for company when she was already extremely distrustful of him?
"Can I ask you something?" Artyom said softly, unable to contain his curiosity.
"You just did." Aleks answered without moving anything but her lips. She was still staring blankly behind them, even as the tunnel curved and the scenery changed, her eyes remained fixed.
Artyom ignored her sarcasm; he had come to expect it by now.
"Why come all this way? What is your business in Polis?" For a moment he thought it to be too personal a question, but after another moment of her stillness he felt it was a justified inquiry. He had endured enough of just going along with whomever the world decided he should befriend to places he had no business going to. He rather felt that she owed him some more answers, especially after just escaping from that misfortune in Venice. Still curious, and determined to have satisfaction, he ventured further. "What does it say in the capsule?"
It was now that Aleks turned to meet his gaze and a spark of that same melancholic and resentful fire burned inside her blue gray orbs. She took a deliberate breath and grasped the pendant in a fist as if protecting it from assailants unknown.
"So, you know it's a note then, anyway. I'm guessing the Rangers use these tokens pretty often, right?" Aleks raised her eyebrows but still avoided the question.
Artyom narrowed his eyes, trying to communicate without words to Aleksandrya that he wasn't going to speak until she had answered him first. He was quickly becoming a more successful conversationalist because her expression softened and she continued.
"Inside, on the paper, there are two names signed: Hunter's and my own. It was an agreement we made together… to protect each other, I guess." She always spoke the name of the missing Stalker as if he were nearby, with trepidation but also hopefulness.
"What, that's all?" Artyom was puzzled. It didn't seem very significant by itself.
"What more do you need?"
"I never signed anything in mine, I didn't even know it had a paper inside until Melnik opened it." Artyom let his thoughts slide off his tongue unintentionally, then suddenly clamped a hand over his mouth and looked over at Aleks with fear. There's no way she could understand everything about his background from this one little fact but he desperately hoped that she wouldn't ask him to elaborate.
"Oh, so you got one as well?" Aleks tilted her head as she looked over at him. "From Hunter?"
"Yes." Artyom confirmed without detail.
"Hm, I guess I thought I was the only one…" Her voice trailed off and she resumed staring in the direction they had come from.
Thankfully she didn't press him for any further information about his own cartridge and Artyom followed her example, hoping that emulating her pensive bearing would help him come to his own conclusions. Although he wanted to continue his streak of successful dialogue with her, he wasn't sure what he was supposed to say next. Further discussion of the topic might give away the timeline which would implicate him in Hunter's disappearance and perhaps give Aleksandrya the wrong sort of idea.
He had felt pressured to do as Hunter had asked because he had confessed his childhood secret to him about being the one to leave the barrier open to the Dark Ones. It was damn near blackmail, in fact. Furthermore, Artyom had never viewed his becoming a Ranger as any type of established or expected reward for doing as Hunter had asked of him. As far as he'd known at the time, he was simply delivering the news of his disappearance - telling the commander that his soldier had gone missing - and then Artyom would return home to VDNKh. Unless it was written in Artyom's cartridge that the person delivering it should be Hunter's replacement? Was that how the Order operated at the most senior levels? And if so, what was the purpose of Aleksandrya's cartridge? It couldn't possibly have the same meaning as his own.
"Hey, you're going the wrong way; we need to go to Revolution Square." Aleks turned around suddenly and pointed down the adjacent tunnel for effect.
"We can't go there; some of us are refugees. We go towards Kitai Gorod and wait at the end of the ferry line, and then we go back." The old fisherman looked down at her with a frown.
"Are you kidding? There are mutants on this side of the barricade! And are any of you armed?" Aleks looked around at the faces of the passengers, whose expressions were beginning to turn fearful.
"This is all because of you anyway!" A woman cried out, cradling a small boy who was probably her son.
"Everything was quiet today until you and your men showed up, I saw it myself!" Another passenger spoke up. All eyes were pointed at Aleks, including Artyom whose eyes were just as wide as the others but for different reasons. First, he was impressed with the fact that these people thought he was part of the Red Arrow but also in wonderment of what Aleks would do next.
"Really, this is what you're doing? Blaming me for all of your problems because you let a pack of wild animals dictate your lives!" Aleks stood up, although not as tall as she might have wanted to, due again to the tunnel being constricted by the flooding.
Artyom moved onto one knee, ready to follow behind Aleks no matter what might happen, or perhaps even to defend her if things went badly again. She was his last remaining companion after all, and he doubted he would be able to get through the Red Line without her or any of his original gear.
Although it wasn't the proper time to be distracted by his thoughts, he remembered that he'd never actually double checked his rucksack for his effects. Certainly Aleks couldn't have deprived him of his possessions; at least he knew his Spartan uniform was inside because he had put it in there himself before they left Avtozavodskaya.
Fumbling with his pack, he did his best to keep his eyes on the situation as he rummaged under the flap. Underneath the tough fabric of his uniform, he felt the smooth round form of his helmet and gas mask, a grand prize to be sure! The Spartan helmets were ones specially built with the air filters attached to a visor that was hinged in, making a complete package. Behind the helmet he felt the cold steel of his new model machine gun that he had been issued in D6. It was all there, everything he had started out with was still intact and available to him. He unclipped the other strap on the rucksack quickly and began to re-equip himself.
"Fine! It's not like I want to go back to your damned mess of a station anyway!" Aleks retorted, continuing her argument with the passengers. Her voice lowered as she spoke her final and foreboding warning to them. "When the mutants come, remember that you could have had me defending you."
Artyom garnered from her inflection that they were about to be abandoned on the wrong side of Kitai Gorod station, and wouldn't be returning to Venice on the boat. A pang of fear struck his heart as he gazed ahead to where they were about to reach the end of the river. Although nothing was moving, the eerie darkness prevailed beyond the immediate docking zone. The area was penetrated by a bright ray of light from a hole in the tunnel ceiling, eroded in the middle of the platform by water trickling down from the surface. Remarkably, the consistency of the air did not change as they approached the dock; he would have thought the gaping hole to the open sky would have brought with it a gust of the sludgy atmosphere he had endured in other places outside of the Metro. Still, he donned his helmet and lowered the visor over his face just in case.
Aleks pulled the straps of her own rucksack higher on her shoulder and then put both hands back on her weapon, eagerly awaiting the edge of the platform and perhaps even an encounter with the mutants that she professed were inhabiting this area. It seemed as if she wanted to shoot at something as an excuse to let off steam and to prove to the irritated boat passengers that she had been right about going down the other tunnel.
The bottom of the boat began to lightly scrape against the crossties beneath them, and Aleks did not hesitate to jump onto the concrete platform at the earliest opportunity. Not even looking back at Artyom she walked straight into the abandoned station vestibule, making a low grunt as she did. He hurried after her, taking a large step from the boat and then paused for a moment to turn back to the passengers. Each of them looked at him with a slightly worried expression, maybe now feeling guilty that they were marooning the two strangers in this vacant place alone.
He wanted to say something, or at least thank them for the ride, but then he heard his name echoing distantly off the dirty tile down the hall and simply waved goodbye to the fisherman before turning to follow her voice.
"Stay close. They could jump out at any moment." Aleks whispered once she heard his footsteps close in behind her. Artyom heard the switch on her rifle click off from the safe position.
"Where do we go now?" He whispered, keeping his own rifle pointed to cover their right side, which was the side that was open to the hopefully empty darkness.
"They've built up a huge barricade in the left hand tunnel where there's a bandit hideout. Most of the right tunnel is collapsed, but halfway down the station there's a passage that goes into Kitai Gorod proper. We may be able to get through there." She then switched on the tactical flashlight on the underside of her rifle, its bright yellowish beam quivering with anticipation from the cracked tile wall to the mildew covered ceiling.
"And, if not?" Artyom's voice was suddenly hoarse.
"There's a stairway exit on the other platform that goes to the surface." She said in a hollow voice that expressed fear and hope that they would not have to go that way.
Aleks stopped abruptly and held up her right hand; up until now they had been slowly creeping along the damp platform with silent steps. Perhaps she had heard or seen something?
Artyom clicked on his headlamp and put his back to her, straining his ears to listen for any sound other than their breathing and the dripping water, which was hard to do from underneath his helmet. There was a light scratching sound coming from his right, where they had just been walking, and he scanned along the corner where the wall met the floor, searching for movement. He nearly jumped when he felt Alek's hand slip underneath the bottom edge of his armored vest, pulling him as she began to creep forward again. Why was she always pulling him along behind her? He stepped backwards carefully, not wanting to step on her heels, still scanning every crevice his light could penetrate.
The tension between and around them subsided as silence prevailed, and Aleks released her grasp on his vest and began to walk at a normal pace towards the right tunnel opening. Turning around to join her, Artyom lit the wall in search of the doorway to the transfer passage while Aleks kept her light scanning the floor and opposite wall for obstacles or enemies.
A light affirmative breath emanated from Artyom's lips when his light reflected on a gray rectangular door with "К-Г" painted on it, alerting Aleks to its presence. She aimed her weapon and light down the open tunnel to their left, it seemed to stretch on further than Artyom had been imagining when she mentioned that it was collapsed. Finding nothing notable, she lowered her rifle and tried the handle of the door with no success.
"Its rusted shut." She kicked it hard twice, but the door did not give way. "Черт! There's no outpost here anymore?"
Artyom too, tried to pull open the door in vain, and gave a short grunt to signal his surrender.
"We'll have to go up." Aleks said with a notable tremor in her voice, her eyes scanning the ceiling as if she could see through it.
Then, a most chilling and unfortunately familiar howl left Artyom's hair standing on end, his whole body was electrified at the sound. He watched in slow motion as Aleks had her weapon aimed, shoved her body against the wall facing the open tunnel, and started to walk backwards towards the platform. Artyom could only think to light and lead the way back, keeping his own weapon ready until she spoke up, not knowing where the exit was.
"On the left, where the hall opens up there's a switch in the corner!" She kept her back pressed against his, trusting that he was watching for debris and their escape route at the same time.
"I see it!" He called as his flashlight illuminated the yellow box beside the iron barricade.
Aleks took a knee at the very edge of the tunnel from the concrete platform area, her eyes watching down her sights into the abyss. Artyom slung his own rifle over his shoulder as he realized he would need two hands to pry open the cover to the control panel.
"Artyom!" Aleks called with fright laced through her voice, indicating that they didn't have much time left before the horde reached them. "I'll try to slow them down!"
Reaching over her shoulder, she pulled a small object from a pocket on her rucksack; Artyom recognized it as some sort of homemade grenade. She pulled off the pin and cast it out onto the open tracks, immediately ducking her head down under both her arms. Artyom was not as quick to react, and found himself wanting to watch the effect; he was only able to tear his eyes away at the last moment to pull the thick lever down to open the door for them.
A flash of fiery light exploded from the center of the area, momentarily illuminating the station and all its disparaging details. The noise of the explosion became nothingness, and after a moment of confused silence Artyom blinked his eyes several times, the blur finally subsiding but his ears still ringing from the constant noise; the noise of Aleksandrya's machine gun. She was firing bursts into the empty space, yelling obscenities at the top of her lungs. Peering into the darkness peppered with her muzzle fire he could see the reflections of their eyes, the twenty or more pairs glaring back at them both hungrily. He lunged to the other side of the door for the mechanism and pulled the lever down. The heavy metal barrier began to scrape closed again as the motor whirred and coughed. Aleks had just emptied her magazine and begun to push herself backwards across the floor with her feet.
Without a thought, his arm was around her waist and he was pulling her back through the barrier. Her weapon skidded along the hard concrete and she looked as if she might pass out. The door was closing quickly now, Artyom kicked his feet hard against the metal frame and freed them both from its path. It slammed shut with a creak and only then did his muscles relax. He lay back and stared at the angled ceiling, breathing heavily from all the adrenaline pulsing through his veins.
He could hear Aleks panting now, and felt her breathing against him, he looked her over for signs of injury and finding nothing notable, he started to look over his own body to make sure he still had everything.
"That was close." Aleks almost laughed, drawing her machine gun up against her side, and then cradling it to her chest like a treasured pet or child. "I got at least ten of them."
"Yeah... good." Artyom breathed. He wanted to speak but didn't know what to say; he was so overwhelmed by the day's turn of events so far that he'd barely had time to process the misfortune they had been subject to since leaving Avtozavodskaya a few hours ago.
They lay at the bottom of the escalators, the morning haze came down in streams from the ruined ceiling above them, cracked and discolored concrete showed through between the patches of moss and vines. Water dripped from one corner of the stairway down to the floor and into a small room beside them, making a pleasant sound.
"Thanks, for pulling me out." Aleks said quietly, looking down at her weapon. She seemed disappointed, or sad. He couldn't tell which.
He was about to tell her it wasn't a problem, but as he looked over, the light on her face and the red tone in her hair caught his eye and he couldn't look away. He couldn't think of anything else but her, that she was safe, and he was somehow relieved.
"Hey, are you okay?" Her expression changed to worry and then one eyebrow was raised quizzically.
"Y-you need... a mask." He stammered, coming back to reality and helping to pull her gas mask from her bag.
She put it on without a word and then sighed gently, looking up the column of the stair tower. Artyom gathered himself up and straightened his clothing and rucksack, checking that his weapon was still functional. Aleks had begun to ascend the creaky metal steps with great care, and he hurried to catch up with her. He deeply hoped that she knew where to go next, but decided not to voice his concerns. He simply looked ahead, bringing his mind back to that calm moment where only her peaceful pale face existed and the concerns of the hostile underground melted away behind the iron door.