Free METRO 2033 by Dmitry Glukhovsky

northern tunnel, then we’ll be flooded. We’ll be covered in radioactive swill. Then that will be the end, not only for us. Therein lies the real danger to the metro. If you start an inter-species battle now and in this way, then our species will lose. As they say in chess: check.’
    ‘What about the hermetic gate? Surely we can simply close the hermetic gate in that tunnel?’ Hunter said.
    ‘The hermetic gate was already dismantled along with the rest of the lines gates fifteen years ago by some smart guys - and they sent the material to fortify one of the stations. No one remembers which one anymore. Surely you knew about this? There you go, check again.’
    ‘Tell me . . . Have they increased their pressure recently?’ Hunter, it seems, was conceding and shifting the conversation to another tack.
    ‘Increasing? And how! It’s hard to believe that it was only a little while ago that we didn’t know they existed. And now, here they are - a major threat. And believe me, the day is near when they will sweep us away, with all of our fortifications, searchlights and machine-guns. It’s impossible to raise the whole metro to defend one good-for-nothing station . . . Yes, we make pretty good tea, but it’s unlikely that anyone will risk their life even for such excellent tea as ours. In the end, there’s always competition with Pechatniki. . . . check again!’ Sukhoi grinned sadly. ‘No one needs us. We ourselves will soon not be in any condition to handle the onslaught. We can’t blow up the tunnel and cut them off. We also don’t have the means to go to the surface and burn them down, for obvious reasons . . . Checkmate. Checkmate to you, Hunter! And checkmate to me. Checkmate to all of us in the near future, if you see what I mean.’ Sukhoi grinned sourly.
    ‘We’ll see,’ Hunter snapped back. ‘We’ll see.’
    They sat there a little longer, discussing all kinds of things. Many of the names mentioned weren’t familiar to Artyom. There were references to bits and pieces of stories. Every once in a while an old argument would spark up, of which Artyom understood little, but their discussions had clearly been going on for years, abating if the men hadn’t seen each other in a while and flaring up again when they met.
    Finally, Hunter stood up and said it was time he went to bed because he, unlike Artyom, hadn’t slept since his patrol. He said goodbye to Sukhoi. But before leaving he suddenly turned to Artyom and whispered to him: ‘Come out for a minute.’
    Artyom jumped up straightaway and followed him, not paying attention to the surprised look on his stepfather’s face. Hunter waited for him outside, silently buttoning up his raincoat and lifting the latch on the gate.
    ‘Shall we go through?’ he suggested and he quickly stepped forward onto the platform towards the guest tent where he was staying. Artyom hesitantly moved to follow him, trying to guess what this man wanted to discuss with him, a mere boy really, who had done nothing significant or even useful for anyone so far.
    ‘What do you think about the job that I do?’ Hunter asked.
    ‘It’s cool . . . I mean if it wasn’t for you . . . Well, and the others like you - if there are such people . . . Then we would have long ago . . .’ Artyom mumbled uncomfortably.
    His tongue was twisted and he felt hot suddenly. As soon as someone like Hunter paid him attention and wanted to tell him something, even just asking him to come outside for a minute, to be alone, without his stepfather, he blushed like a virgin and started agonizing, bleating like a lamb . . .
    ‘You think highly of it? Well, then, if people think highly of it,’ Hunter grinned, ‘that means there’s no point in listening to the defeatists among us. Your stepfather is being a coward, that’s all. But he’s really a brave man. In any case, he was once. Something horrific is happening here Artyom. Something that can’t be allowed to continue. Your stepfather’s