Глава 16

But I have nothing to do with all that! Look, you already killed the actual bad guys!

I'm just a driver who listens to his boss... I'm the same as you, right...?

Infected, sir, please, let me go. I promise I'll desert the Patrol Unit, just pretend I died—

No, we're different, you and I.

None of us willingly became Infected... but you had a choice. You could have chosen not to stand on the same side as those murderers.

There's no reason I should forgive you.

Rankin, we're done organizing the food we found.

These Patrol Unit guys have it good. Tonight we can—

...Father?

...What?

...Ah...

Father? Is that really you?

Wonderful! Please, explain it to him! Tell him I'm not evil—My father's an Infected, how could I hate them?

Ganea... didn't you... go to Grypherburg...?

I did! I really did, I didn't lie to you!

But I needed money to stay alive, even in Grypherburg! They don't just hand out bread and mead—being a driver was the only option I had.

Father, please... save me... I'll never do this again...

Hawley...

He silently stares at the oblivious elderly miner, then gestures at Hawley with his head to look at the container.

I won't try to reform him, much less release him.

If he truly is your son...

Rankin throws a knife on the ground and walks away.

...Ah...

No... wait...

This, is not my boy, is it?

Father...?

Even the late autumn weather fails to prevent the corpses' rotting stench from spreading out into the air.

The old miner's gaze shifts between the mess of mangled limbs in the dark depths of the container and the tall young man before him...

Finally, he shakes his head incessantly, as if refusing to believe the truth.

My son wouldn't... wouldn't say such words. He wouldn't do something this disgraceful.

You're just... a damned bastard...

Why—Why do you wear my son's skin? Why do you live inside his body?!

Originally trembling, the old miner explodes into a rage, knocking the man down to the ground.

His fists rain like a storm, as if trying to drive something out of the body.

The man has no strength to resist.

Who are you? Who the hell are you?!

Oh, poor Ganea, his soul could have been saved! This isn't how it should have been! It was you, abomination, that left him with nowhere to go!

Just—

Die!!!

At least eat something, Hawley.

Look, white bread. You don't see it much outside the cities.

*sigh*...

<p=1>Far North Tundra, Ursus</><p=2>Three days ago...</>

Huh?

They've started singing...

Nikto! Found you at last.

Come on, Nikto, oddball, city-dweller, professor and cynic. Let's dance. It's just the right kind of music.

Now's not the time for dancing.

The bonfire is going to draw attention in this darkness.

But we found a tractor and a bunch of supplies. Not much, but enough to get us further away from the blasted place. Isn't that worth celebrating?

Unchipped, out of the mines, beat the Patrol Units, and now we have a tractor and supplies. It's beyond my wildest dreams.

Where are Vetochki and Rankin?

You're always looking for them. It's not like you're bound to each other. It's okay to give them a little breathing room, you know.

I do happen to know where Rankin is, though. Beside that bonfire that you don't like. Want to join us?

Last question. Who's playing the accordion?

You'll find out, if you come with!

Nikto takes the gloveless hand offered to him. The palm is rough but warm, different from any other in those memories that he has intentionally forgotten.

They walk in the direction of the bonfire and music.

He...

I said he was here.

Yes, he is here.

Many times Nikto saw him clench his hands into fists, or swing a weapon.

Nikto could not imagine how those hands, knotted with scars and thick with veins, could operate something as delicate as an accordion.

He plays the accordion?

Yeah. What about it?

By the fireside, Rankin's callused fingers leap across the keyboard, as he gently pulls and presses the bellows.

Music fills the air.

See? I told you.

Come, don't just stand there. It's not like we get to relax every day!

I...

She catches him like a hunter catches prey. As he is brought into the crowd, his feet instinctively begin to step in rhythm.

Nikto was once an excellent dance partner. He tried to stop thinking about 'once' when he came to the mining district.

Get that frown off your brow and everything off your mind. Just dance, let your body move and rid yourself of all your troubles.

The crowd moves and sings to the beat, responding to the rhythm with every joint in their bodies.

It is the simplest, most primitive form of dance.

...Hah.

Nikto exhales and begins to move, bending his knees, kicking and spinning, every movement animated and rhythmic.

I knew it! You can dance!

See? I figured no one could deny the energy here.

Nikto does not answer, continuing to kick and turn mechanically, unemotionally.

Step forward and step back, jump and turn, until the next downbeat.

He takes the hands of his dance partner, and begins to lead the dance.

Wow—

No need to thank me.

No humility in you, is there? But...

It's clear that you're really good at dancing, even to an untrained eye. Your speed, and this 'magic' under your feet... it's almost like flying.

What do they call it? <i>Pas?</i> E-<i>Enchainement?</i>

Call it the pathetic instincts of an ornament.

What do you mean—

There is no explanation. Stepping energetically in time, Nikto pulls his partner towards him, then pushes her in the opposite direction.

Laughing, she runs into a young man without a partner, but eager to try, and so Nikto lets go and hands her over to her new partner.

By the time the dance has ended, Nikto is standing very near Rankin. Take one step back, and he would be sitting by Rankin's side.

But Nikto does not do so. Before he opens his mouth, he reminds himself: Do not press. Ask Rankin about the truth calmly, gently. Do not cause a commotion.

Do not interrupt this rare moment of joy.

I didn't know you played the accordion.

I didn't know you danced.

I guess we're not close enough to share everything.

But there is something you must tell me, if you really consider me a friend.

You went to see Hawley. Is he still not eating?

What did you expect?