Дмитрий Щеглов - The collapse of civilization. 1 season

Igor was sitting at a table in a small kitchen and having lunch before work. He worked in the evenings in the theater as a cloakroom attendant in the center of the city. All already in the morning were at work. And Igor was alone. He lived in a small city in an area on the outskirts of the city, in a two-room apartment in a five-story house on the top floor. He had an older brother who worked in the same theater as an electrician. My mother was a teacher, a few months ago she retired, but continued to work in the district school, which was next to the house. My father worked as a security guard in a restaurant, also in the center. Since childhood, Igor had health problems, namely with his heart, therefore, he was not taken to work anywhere, he could not enter the school, but he did not despair. He finished eleven classes, worked as a janitor, cleaner, he was not afraid at all and was not ashamed of any work, and then he was lucky, his brother talked and he was taken as a cloakroom attendant. Igor was a short, wiry, twenty-six-year-old boy, he had black, docile hair and dark brown eyes, a kindly and sympathetic character, in principle, like everyone else in his family.

–Already four o'clock in the evening, in an hour you have to be at the bus stop.

Igor thought to himself, glancing at the clock that stood behind the glass in the suspended kitchen cupboard. When he had finished his meal, he washed the dishes behind him and went to get ready for work, the curtain of wood on the door did not loudly curl up when he went into the hall. Igor turned on the TV to listen to the latest news and began to gather.

– Cases have become more frequent, new flu viruses have been infected, already, several educational

institutions have been quarantined, but according to the press service of the Ministry of Health, there are no reasons for concern. A nice young smiling speaker was broadcasting from the screen.

– Also, the Ministry of Health asks not to panic about the fact that it is now the middle of September and

not the season of colds, it's okay, it's just a virus that mutates, explains this strange outbreak of the virus. And to other news … a holiday to the day of the city, which will take place in two days, will be held, in the morning address the head of the city promised.

–The girl continued to talk.

Igor turned off the TV, strange, but as if the girl was not smiling, her words did not arouse any confidence. He was already going, as it was warm outside and he was not going to get together for a long time, he put on his uniform, it consisted of jeans, turtlenecks and waistcoat, took the "Working" bag prepared in advance, left the room. He put on his sneakers, his cap and went out of the apartment, he remembered walking down the stairs. his mother used to say to him literally the day before yesterday that they already had many sick at school and not only children. Igor, considering the news and the words of his mother did not notice how he was on the street.

The street was warm and well, and even somehow calm. There was a warm pleasant wind, children as usual frolicking on the playground near the house, and their parents were resting, sitting on benches. Igor went to the stop, this cheerful atmosphere in the yard temporarily distracted him from the news, after a few minutes in high spirits he was already at the bus stop and was waiting for the bus. To the thoughts of the news he was returned accidentally overheard conversation of two women standing at the bus stop, and waiting for the bus.

– Can you imagine? today in the news said that there is nothing to worry about, that there is nothing terrible, but something in my heart is not calm … Said one: – That's for sure, here I got a daughter-in-law home from work, she works in a kindergarten, they say they are closed to quarantine, but I do not believe in them very much.

Another began to chatter.

At that time the bus number eight pulled up, the women stopped talking and went into the bus.

Igor went behind them, took his place by the window and leaning his elbows on the rail, again he loaded himself into meditations. The bus doors closed and he started.

– We pay the fare.

There was a severe voice of the conductress. She was a tall, plump woman with black hair up to her shoulders, and with small, running black eyes. Igor shuddered at this voice and was distracted from his thoughts. He got the money pre-cooked, handed them to the already standing conductor.

– Thank you for not surrendering

Threw the woman, and without waiting for an answer went further.

– You are welcome.

Igor told her after him.

He looked around, in front of him sat a young couple in the seat, which was located opposite the traffic of the bus and was on a hill. Apparently in this place there was a wheel, on the opposite side of the couple on the same seat sat the grandmother apparently with her grandson, and against, sat those women, whose conversation Igor heard. She passed the supervisor and sat down in her seat.

"Look at the accident!"

There was a frightened and excited woman's voice, somewhere from the depths.

Igor turned to the window, before his eyes there was not a pleasant and frightening picture. There was a police car near the ambulance, and nearby a man already covered with some white cloth on which a bloody stain emerged, next to it there was a car, a silvery Honda, with a bloody bumper. Silence reigned for a second, and then the whispering went on, the bus continued to move, and the terrible picture began to disappear, a truck was driving to meet the bus in the neighboring lane, and when he was almost level with the bus, the young man and girl opposite Igor suddenly exclaimed, then surprised and at the same time frightened:

"He's alive!"

Igor immediately turned around, but the accident was no longer visible, as the truck was just passing by the window and completely obstructing the view.

The girl pushed the guy in the ribs,

Controller came up to the couple apparently wanted to ask what the guy was thinking, but at that time somewhere behind, there was something like a shot. – bang! then again

– bang! Somewhere in the bus a child began to cry

"I knew it that way, and I knew it."

The woman who first talked at the bus stopped.

– Calm down everything is normal, it's just somewhere someone had the wheel burst.

Became all to calm the supervisor. Igor drew attention to the fact that a couple of something whispered briskly. He managed to make out only a few words among the frightened voice of the guy. -I saw this man begin to rise. He spoke …

The bus drove on, gradually the whispering almost stopped, probably people were thinking about what they had heard and seen. Igor just now noticed that he has been traveling for a long time almost in the center of the city, and there are only three left before his stop. The bus stopped at another stop and new passengers came in, two men, one of them coughed and looked somehow painful, a woman and a girl with a stroller. She took a place near the window right behind Igor, the Doors closed and the bus drove off, past two police cars and one ambulance with the sirens on.

"Has something happened again?"

A girl with a stroller whispered

Igor thought to himself

–I wonder why again?

The bus finally stopped at the right stop, and Igor left. He walked along the path across to a smaller park, followed by a theater with a rhythm. Suddenly again, somewhere in the distance, sirens rang out. Something was happening in the city. Igor walked straight, then turned left and found himself in the park, there were not a few people in the park, one man sitting on the bench, attracted his attention, he was sitting somehow strangely in a non-natural position and quite still and not bending his head on his side. The face was not visible as he sat with his back to Igor. The guy on the back ran creepy, he was already thinking whether to go see what happened to him, suddenly the man moved, rose from the bench. He wore a thin shirt with short sleeves, thin light trousers, he went somehow strangely uncoordinated. Probably drunk, Igor thought, and decided not to stop and go on. Already after five minutes he was in the theater and walked along the service corridor past the guard. He had already passed through the security room when suddenly someone called to him, it was Kostya the guard. He was tall, broad-shouldered, completely bald, with blue eyes. He was friends with Igor and his brother Sergei. Kostya nodded Igor to his room.

–What happened?

Igor asked cautiously.

Kostya looked around, then closed the door to the room, and only then did he answer.

– You understand with me this happened in the morning and I need to share it with someone, but only you and my brother, my friends, your brother is not up to the talk of today's work more than usual, and now I see you thinking, though I'll tell you everything.

– Are you talking about this strange epidemic?

– Yes, I think that this is all connected, okay, listen I go it means to myself calmly today early in the morning to work, suddenly I hear a cry, help it bit it! I went to see what happened, it turned out, screamed a woman, I see she is standing in the alley with some guy, he stands leaning against the wall with a pale look and he has blood on his shoulder. I did not even have time to ask what happened when the police crew arrived, and with them, for some reason, two quick help. The woman and the man were immediately sent to one of them to the hospital, and they told me in rude form if they were going where they were going. I pretended that I was leaving, but I myself hid behind a nearby car. And I see two policemen coming into the alley, two flashes flashed from the alley, I think they were shots although no sound was possible, they used mufflers, then the ambulance opened and two doctors with stretchers came out, the doctors were in special suits who put on with dangerous viruses, followed by another couple of doctors in the same suits and also with a stretcher, and a minute later another they were walking back on a stretcher lying bodies covered with some kind of cloth, then they showed up and the police they got into the car and drove off , while in Achi loaded the body into the ambulance and drove off in a trail behind them. Kostya fell silent, there was complete silence, broken only by the sounds of a working computer

–What the hell is going on in the city?

Violated the silence of Igor

–Good question.

Kostya answered him. Igor just realized that he was already late for work, he quickly said goodbye to Kostya, and went to his room. A few minutes later he was at his workplace and took his clothes. Today in the wardrobe was only two Igor and Valentina, (mostly in the wardrobe worked only pensioners), as it turned out, many people fell ill at the theater, in fact, it affected all the staff. The performance started, people came a little, and despite the warm weather, even the anomalously hot, as they said in the news, some came as much in jackets. Igor plopped down on a chair, the story of Kostya made him think hard. Igor woke up from his thoughts only when he realized that people were coming in and an intermission began. He was dressed four people, they were obviously sick all the time coughing and they obviously froze, and one man was already shaking, he took his jacket though he had a light jacket, but did not go to the exit, he went back to the hall, a few minutes later the performance began , the remaining time Igor sat in meditation, but suddenly when there was no more than five minutes left till the end of the play, two men and a woman descended into the foyer, the man was already barely standing on his feet, she put him on the sofa near the door and herself began to call somewhere. Igor, on the back ran a chill, because it was the man who wore it and which swayed. Sometime later, police went to the theater, he began to say something to the woman, then went to the doctors with a stretcher, and another guardian of order, the doctors put a man on a stretcher, and a representative of the authorities something whispered to the doctor, the police left with the woman, after them doctors with a stretcher were stitched.