Житие Мое / Life of Mine: Глава 5

Chapter 5

Camrad_RIP 19.04.23 в 15:52

* * *

Camrad_RIP 19.04.23 в 15:52

During the week of digging through the dumpster, we found a lot of different things, but all of them dated back to the period of the construction of Yudoli - this was clear even to me - and was of no historical interest. There was beginning to talk that there were no Sand Nits on the island and that the phenomenon might have nothing to do with Cape Town at all. Mrs. Clements strongly disagreed with this view.

Camrad_RIP 19.04.23 в 16:16

"We need to expand the geography of the search!" Her eyes burned with fanaticism. "The commission's report spoke of ruins spotted on the shore five kilometers to the south. We're bound to find something there!"

Camrad_RIP 19.04.23 в 16:17

Another ruin, and an uninhabited one at that. Brilliant! Something told me we might not find what we were expecting.

Camrad_RIP 19.04.23 в 16:17

For the initial inspection of the new place, Mr. Smith went himself and took Pierre as his assistant, of which the fool was terribly proud. They returned, strangely enough, in one piece. Smith was carrying a trunk, the contents of which he showed no one but Mrs. Clements, but there was something in it that was undoubtedly important, for discussions were over, and the redeployment was scheduled for the next day.

Camrad_RIP 19.04.23 в 16:19

My uncle and I, Pierre, and one of the guards, Geric, volunteered. I noticed the fact that there was no black ones left in the base camp but decided Smith would know better where we were needed most.

Camrad_RIP 19.04.23 в 16:20

"What, they don't take your sycophant?" My uncle sneered.

Camrad_RIP 19.04.23 в 16:20

I didn't immediately understand who he was talking about.

Camrad_RIP 19.04.23 в 16:20

"I never knew you had such a thirst for power, nephew! I wouldn't be tempted by that pale worm."

Camrad_RIP 19.04.23 в 16:21

Was he talking about Aleh? I had never noticed the white one as a sycophant - it was just his nature to be always admired. I was flattered, of course, that the older guy recognized my authority, but it was not a matter of command but rather of the Big Brother complex that had awakened in me after my visit home. Before, I just hadn't noticed how much I enjoyed feeling like the head of the family. But why was my uncle suddenly meddling in my affairs?

Camrad_RIP 19.04.23 в 16:23

"Are you jealous?" I asked innocently.

Camrad_RIP 19.04.23 в 16:23

Ha! He sure is jealous! He's even blushing. Yeah, man, you used to be the first guy in the village, but it doesn't work - young people are getting impatient. Call me ugly, but being an object of envy is an awfully pleasant feeling! Uncle, realizing his mistake and the topic no longer raised. But the deed was done: I realized for the first time clearly that the two of us were also black. This means that it will be our turn to settle the matter. Just not now. My Source of Power, the threats of the island, and the tacitly present problem of money are now on the agenda. This is no time for hierarchy building! And I need to think of a way to distract my uncle from this matter. Get him in a fight with Smith again?

Camrad_RIP 19.04.23 в 16:29

But as it turned out, I was worried for nothing - King's Island was the first to find a way to entertain us.

Camrad_RIP 19.04.23 в 16:29

The new excavation site was in the most inaccessible part of the coast. How the notorious commission managed to find it was a mystery. Nevertheless, it was found, marked on maps, and even named Cape Solitude. We landed there as paratroopers - by rowboat from a boat, we literally squeezed through the coastal cliffs. I was a little worried that we would have to perform such a feat every day. Beyond the line of rocks was a shallow cove with the remains of an ancient road in its wake. It was not clear who, when, and why had built it; it was impossible to bring a large ship here.

Camrad_RIP 19.04.23 в 16:33

Our target was well above sea level, on a cut-off mountain top. Geometrically regular piles of sand and rubble marked the remains of three or four large buildings. They resembled Capetower in scale, which must have appealed to Mrs. Clements. It took us about twenty minutes to scramble up there, pretending to be pack mules and cursing quietly. When we had dumped the first load, I took a breath and strolled through the ruins.

Camrad_RIP 19.04.23 в 16:34

Up close, the ruins looked rather chaotic. All around was the typical landscape of King's Island. Stones and only stones, not a speck of green, not even moss in sight. The walls of the ancient houses were crumbling and settling unevenly, and so in some places, the rubble lay in large piles, while in others the structures of the ground floor were visible. There were no steel plates here, but there were fragments of glass, thin and muddy, and once the eye found something resembling weathered bone. Otherwise, it was hard to imagine that this place had ever been inhabited. The place lacked many small details and traces of human hands. It had already almost reverted to the silence of primordial nature, dissolved into time.

Camrad_RIP 19.04.23 в 16:37

I felt a sense of unnaturalness, but I couldn't quite grasp the reason for it. After walking through the ruins, the strange feeling did not disappear but rather intensified. As if I had seen an unusual object but could not remember what it was. Spurred on by an inexplicable uneasiness, I stepped into the confines of the non-existent building and looked around. To my right rose a mountain of rubble that had once been the upper floors of the structure. To my left small stones flowed down the ruined stairs to the entrance to the basement floor, through a half-filled gap in the doorway darkness peered out of the basement. And silence, soft and promising. It could be quite a scary place at night. If anything happened, there was nowhere to run. I peered down carefully. I was beginning to actively dislike this place.

Camrad_RIP 19.04.23 в 16:39

The stones crunched behind me - Pierre followed me into the ruins.

Camrad_RIP 19.04.23 в 16:40

"What, are you scared?" he snorted and pretended to push me into the gap. Then he elbowed me in the face for real. Some things are not to be trifled with. "Oh, really? I was joking!"

Camrad_RIP 19.04.23 в 16:41

"Cretin!" I got angry. "There's something... someone out there! I can feel it!"

Camrad_RIP 19.04.23 в 16:51

At the noise of the quarrel, my uncle pulled up, looked into the gap and became very frowny:

Camrad_RIP 19.04.23 в 16:51

"Get Smith in here! There's undead in there, but I can't tell what kind - I'm level six."

Camrad_RIP 19.04.23 в 16:52

Only lab technicians at Redstone were level six. The question was, why the hell was he messing with a battle mage then?

Camrad_RIP 19.04.23 в 16:52

Our chief black supervisor was very unhappy to be torn from unloading, but when he looked into the hole, he didn't just turn pale - he turned green.

Camrad_RIP 19.04.23 в 16:52

"Let's get out of here now!!!"

Camrad_RIP 19.04.23 в 16:53

I pushed aside a bewildered Pierre and almost tumbled to the shore. When a black magician says you have to get out, you have to get out fast. It had nothing to do with cowardice.

Camrad_RIP 19.04.23 в 16:54

"Into the dinghy, into the dinghy!" Smith was yelling. "Let's leave everything. Let's go!"

Camrad_RIP 19.04.23 в 16:55

I was the first to arrive, having climbed the slope in a record six minutes. My uncle was not far behind, and Smith walked conscientiously to the last, almost with his back to the front, though it was a sunny day, and the undead was not supposed to follow us. What was there to discover?

Camrad_RIP 19.04.23 в 17:15

"At the very least, Rustle," his uncle muttered, answering an unasked question. "Or maybe something worse."

Camrad_RIP 19.04.23 в 17:17

I can't imagine anything worse than Rustle. The only thing nastier than this undead is a gang of ghouls. They can run after you in the daytime, too. If Pierre had entered the failure, Rustle would have tagged him and, for the first time, might have let him go. But after a few days, the victim would have the unbearable urge to return here, preferably in the company of others. It works especially well on children. There have been times when ten or fifteen people - friends, acquaintances, parents - have followed the first victim into the monster's arms. Unlike Predator Echo, Rustle is agile, which means when darkness falls it will try to catch up with us.

Camrad_RIP 19.04.23 в 17:21

"Back to base camp?" Geric suggested.

Camrad_RIP 19.04.23 в 17:21

"No!" Smith interrupted him. "Let's go straight to Trunk Bay."

Camrad_RIP 19.04.23 в 17:22

It's definitely a Rustle. He's also active since he wasn't there yesterday and now he is today. Now we'll be stuck in Trunk Bay for a month, the location of the NZAMIPS Regional Center and a special clinic for the victims of the otherworldly attack. Survived victims, of course.

Camrad_RIP 19.04.23 в 18:02

"Will the quarantine days be paid for, sir?" My uncle inquired in a businesslike manner. "My nephew and I are definitely clean."

Camrad_RIP 19.04.23 в 18:02

"Are you going to argue with Watchdogs, Mr. Ferro?" squinted Smith.

Camrad_RIP 19.04.23 в 18:03

Uncle shrugged. Eh, my part-time job's ruined! I got paid for a week at best. Well, at least I got to see King's Island - not many people can boast of that. The boat passed the prison wharf, displaying flags and signaling, but no one came ashore. Smith ordered the boat to drop and climbed the signal mast to view the camp through binoculars.

Camrad_RIP 19.04.23 в 18:04

"However, one must go there, sir!" Uncle approached the black mage as he came downstairs. "They can't not hear us."

Camrad_RIP 19.04.23 в 18:05

Smith stared tensely into the jetty.

Camrad_RIP 19.04.23 в 18:06

"However, we've only got two hours, sir," the uncle whined.

Camrad_RIP 19.04.23 в 18:07

"I know! You're coming with me."

Camrad_RIP 19.04.23 в 18:07

Their gazes met. Questions of the hierarchy were put aside, differences were forgotten, and they now had a common enemy. That reconciled the black magicians better than any sermon.

Camrad_RIP 19.04.23 в 18:13

"And take my nephew - his eyes are better than mine!" my uncle generously offered.

Camrad_RIP 19.04.23 в 18:13

I wasn't particularly happy about the offer, but I didn't object either. It would be hard for the two of them to survive, and a person who is insensitive to black magic couldn't go there. Smith was giving the last of his instructions:

Camrad_RIP 19.04.23 в 18:17

"Whoever tries to follow us, tie him up and guard him. He is probably infected. Do not approach the shore, even if I call for you personally. When we return, give us a call; if we do not answer, do not let us get too close and go straight out to sea. After sunset, do not wait. Go to Trunk Bay, and demand help."

Camrad_RIP 19.04.23 в 18:18

The boat captain nodded tensely while Uncle Gordon filled large flasks with seawater. Salt, not silver, was the most effective against the smaller undead; the larger ones would not be affected by simple rituals.

Camrad_RIP 19.04.23 в 18:19

We were approaching the shore at a very slow speed - my uncle ruled while Smith looked out for any threats on land. Eventually, I was the first one to notice the strange thing on the jetty. Something was floundering in the water. A body? My uncle had brought the dinghy close to the point where the surf was hissing on the boulders, and the waves were tossing back and forth an unidentifiable white object. Smith realized what it was and swore. It was Aleh, alive but frozen to within an inch of his life. They dragged the poor man into the lifeboat (he could not move) and tried to revive him. One look was enough to see that he had been swimming for nothing. +++

Camrad_RIP 19.04.23 в 18:21

+++ Aleh was in the water with his clothes on, his shoes still on, one sleeve of his shirt almost missing, and a long scratch on the white man's cheek. The theory of a trivial brawl could be immediately dismissed as fantastical - the contingent was not that kind. Aleh himself could not tell the cause of his distress, for he was shaking desperately and had time to bite his lips bloody; he only pointed in the direction of the prison compound and moved his hand up and down.

Camrad_RIP 19.04.23 в 18:22

"The tower?" Uncle guessed at random.

Camrad_RIP 19.04.23 в 18:22

White nodded, though it was more like a convulsion.

Camrad_RIP 19.04.23 в 18:23