the guy breathed out tiredly, not feeling his hands.
– There is no word “I can’t”, there is “I don’t want” and “I won’t”. Another approach.
– Don’t want.
“What are you doing like a girl,” my father shouted sternly. If you want to be a leader, you have to work. Another approach.
Push-ups were hard, the muscles were clogged up for a long time and did not hold the weight of the body, which is why the body tried to bend, but the loud commands of the father were forced to follow the execution technique. Sweat dripped down his face, settling in large drops on the rubberized mat, and his mouth, on the contrary, was dry. I wanted to drink, I wanted to fall and lie motionless. But you can’t! There is a goal – there are no obstacles!
After the gym, they, as always, went to the shower and briskly returned home, where they were waiting for a healthy protein dinner and a glass of kefir before bed. It remains to solve two problems in algebra and learn a paragraph in history.
Relatives had long been sleeping, and Vlad was cramming the hateful lessons that did not want to be stored in memory, flying out of his head immediately after reading. Gotta be strong! He was always told and convinced that he could bend the world for himself, create his own destiny, history. No weakness!
He went to bed at about one in the morning, exhausted. But early in the morning, like a bayonet, you need to get up. Make the bed, a few push-ups, press, then water procedures and the main charge. After breakfast and walking to school, listening to an audiobook about motivation on the way. The whole day is scheduled by the minute, clearly and inexorably. Vlad is used to living according to a schedule and for some time he thought that everyone lived like that. Rigid discipline prevented from thinking sensibly and making independent decisions, and eternal control destroyed personal boundaries. It is useless to argue, and only going to the competition, the boy could breathe a breath of freedom. He was forbidden to take places below the first, because his parents claimed that he must be a winner and nothing else.
Friends admired his achievements, but Vlad himself did not experience the joy of numerous awards. Once he became interested in playing chess and for the first time asked his parents to send him to a special club to learn this “art”. Deep down, the guy hoped that there would be less training, but no. Chess has also been added to the regular schedule. Over time, he noticed that he wanted nothing more in life, and made decisions only when he was in the chess club. Everything else is on schedule – strictly and inexorably.
Lily tossed her head. She sniffed and quietly asked:
– Don’t you think it smells like burning?!
“There’s smoke rising over there,” Vlad waved his hand.
Do you think there are people there?
He shrugged.
– I do not know.
They were silent for a while. The road is overgrown. Passing the field, they entered the forest belt. A gloomy impression was created around and a suspiciously dead silence pressed, making the heart skip a beat with every step that was surprisingly light and confident – it was like teenagers trying to disguise their fear of something and could not get rid of obsession. From time to time, slender thujas and needle pines floated by. Sparse hay grass and small oak bushes flashed along the sides of the road. There was nothing alive to be seen. Everything around him breathed death, something obscene was felt in the air.
“It’s all strange,” Vlad spoke first. – Do you remember what was written in the contract that we signed for participation?
“Mmmm,” Lily thought, rolling her eyes. “Something about us being responsible for dangerous situations, the winner gets a cash prize, some tests and medical intervention at the discretion of the doctors.” She unconsciously touched the chip on her neck.
– I tried to pull it out, but it was implanted, – Vlad intercepted the glance of a classmate. – I don’t understand anything. And what is the purpose? Do we have to go somewhere?
– It seems like we ourselves have to find out the collection point, – the girl recalled. “Nothing was actually written. Nothing has been written about the venue or dates. Where do you think we are?
– Maybe some area. These confuse me, – he pointed at another sign of radiation danger. Maybe they are fake?
– How to check? she shrugged. – If at least there was a dosimeter or clarification of the location.
– Didn’t you pay attention? In some places the inscription is in Ukrainian.
“But it could be a fake,” Lilia remarked reasonably. – Styling type. More interested in what kind of chips and why those injections were made. Did they all make them? Where are the others then?
“Everyone,” Vlad confirmed. We will address issues as they come up. Nothing else remains.
Conversations distracted, forced fear to recede. It started to rain. The clouds crept across the sky quickly, it became difficult to walk along the muddy road, the sneakers got wet, squelching with every step. Now the road is already dark, and the rain is still pouring. Water on the face turns into a real mirror. You see your deathly pale skin, you see the shadow that someone talked about before. The world trembles around you, like the floor under your feet: nothing happens in it, but your world has changed now. He is not the same – not the same as he was in your memory.
“Uh-huh,” she nodded sadly and asked softly. – Why did you apply?
– There were reasons.
Suddenly, barely noticeable reddish lights flashed among the trees, the smoke grew closer, and the smell of burning intensified. The black trees seemed to move closer to a small clearing beside the road. Through the noise of the wind, the clang of iron crowbar was heard, coming from the opposite side. Near the lights was a long log wall, built of thick logs. It blew rotten, the walls smelled disgustingly like a swamp. A minute later, the fire stopped, a tremor went through the wall, and deep and winding cracks appeared on it.
In the distance, wolves suddenly howled. Lily cringed. Her eyes met Vlad’s eyes for a moment, and he read in them… It’s hard to say what exactly. Carefully moving forward, they finally saw the source of light – a minibus with the Ouroboros emblem was on fire. The huge emblem was written on a black enamel background in purple spirals and white lettering, stretched almost invisible in a flickering electric light. Several people stood in front of the burning minibus, two more lay in dark uniforms, showing no signs of life.
– Chapter 4-
Without hope
The second hour Denis spent in the company of an excellent student Irina and beauty Maria. They woke up while still in the car, when they were being driven somewhere along the road by two armed officers with the Ouroboros emblem.
– Where are you taking us? – Masha was indignant, hysterically hitting the partition separating the driver and employee from schoolchildren with an expensive bag.
– Open! Release us! Irina demanded, but languidly, more pretending to support
