The colony. Chapter 1: The Awakened Life

The wind was walking along the take-off area, spinning and carrying dust and small debris. Today he was stronger than usual, which is not surprising - a storm was approaching. In any case, the last forecast, made two days ago, asserted exactly that.

“Yes, it would be nice to tidy up here,” thought Raytnov, glancing around.

But the scavenger robot was defective, and most did not want to collect the garbage. Yes, and there was no point in this. Now all the forces needed to be thrown at the repair of the rover - the last hope to get out of here.

Raytnov looked at his watch. It was eight o'clock, which means that only three and a few hours were able to sleep. Well, a little more than yesterday. It was fifteen hours before dark - of course, this is hardly enough to fix the rover alone, but there are no other options. You can get out of here only on it. But before you get down to business, something else had to be done. What Raytnov has been doing every day without exception for the last three months has been from the day he arrived on this planet as part of an expeditionary team.

Raytnov returned to the bunker door and stood a meter from her. The laser scanner above the door woke up and got to work. Having finished scanning the person in front of him, he blinked satisfactorily with a green diode, and the door opened with a slight hiss.

“Welcome, Professor Raytnov,” said a pleasant female voice.

Raytnov liked to feel himself a professor, although according to the documents he was not. This title he had yet to defend in two years on Earth, submitting to the commission a report on the results of his research on the soil and rocks of the planet Demetrion, on which he had spent the last months.

Having entered inside and having passed on a corridor to the dining room, Raytnov went to the coffee machine.

- Cappuccino, please.
“Cappuccino,” the obedient machine repeated, and set about preparing the drink.

Knives made noise, crushing coffee grains into fine particles. Raytnov spotted time in the hope that one day this car would still have time to make a favorite drink in ten seconds, declared by the manufacturer. But no, and this time the coffee was prepared only for twelve. Raytnov took the glass, feeling the familiar and pleasant warmth in his palm.

Going out again, he looked around again. The fact that two days ago it was a research colony with three dozen settlers was now more like a city abandoned after the war. Dilapidated buildings stood around, and most of the equipment needed for research was put out of action. Only the bunker survived, although, apparently, he did not have much time left to look like it was intended by the architect. There were traces of blood somewhere, but there were no corpses anywhere. They took them away. The radio tower lay in the middle of the take-off area, hopelessly crushing a helicopter. Raytnov did not know if anyone had time in the last moments to send a distress signal to neighboring bases. If so, at best, the assistance team will be here in a day.

The wall surrounding the colony along the perimeter was destroyed in two places. It was clearly understood that for them it was not an obstacle. She well protected the colony from relatively small predators like jackals and wolves living in these places, but now she was unable to hold even them.

Raytnov finished his morning coffee and threw a disposable glass under his feet. Keep clean no longer wanted.

“I hope this coffee will not be the last,” he thought.

Having a little looked around, he casually stumbled upon a glass, thrown out by him yesterday and rather far removed by the wind. Raytnov kept his gaze on him, as if he meant something special.

- It's funny, but yesterday, throwing out that glass, I thought the same thing.

The wind blew a little harder, sliding the glass another half meter.

“As soon as I finish with the rover, I’ll definitely fix the garbage man,” said Raytnov aloud, as if someone could have heard him. For some reason this thought made him laugh.

Raytnov stood for some time, assessing the extent of the destruction, and then lifted his head and, with his eyes closed, took a deep breath. After standing for a few seconds, he turned on his heels and headed towards the garage. Already approaching the gate, he noticed new scratches and dents on the doors, as if someone wanted to get inside, destroying the last hope for salvation. Raytnov pressed the button to raise the door, but the mechanism is jammed. The doors did not even go up a quarter. Raytnov walked away from the gate and examined them again, then headed for the side entrance. Fortunately, this door was untouched. But Raytnov understood that the rover could be rolled out only through the garage door, and the fact that it was jammed could not please them. Entering the garage through the side door and turning on dim lighting, he looked around at the rover. He looked quite bearable, unless the engine was assembled and installed. What, in general, Raytnov and was going to fix before dark.

“Well, for work,” he said, spreading his broad shoulders and crunching his joints.

Many years of experience with various mechanisms and robots gave their results, and after five hours and a half, half of the engine was assembled. Raytnov always considered himself to be more a mechanical engineer than a professor and a researcher on the composition of other planets. Many colleagues wondered how he managed to achieve such advances in science without spending as much time on research as they did. To this Raytnov always answered that in order to work well with the head, sometimes you need to work well with your hands.

He was holding a heavy adjustable wrench, realizing that he would never want to go headlong into science, abandoning his beloved hobby. He glanced at his watch. It was the third hour of the day, which means it’s time to go for lunch. Raytnov examined the newly assembled structure, then turned his eyes to the rover.

“Only a miracle will help to be in time ... also this damned door has jammed.”

Raytnov ran his hand over his wet forehead and strode to the toolbox to put the key in place. He liked when everything was always in its place, and even haste could not make him throw the tool anywhere. He had already moved away from the box as suddenly there was a rustling from the street. Turning sharply on the spot and crouching slightly, Raytnov glanced toward the slightly opened doors, preparing to meet the enemy, but there was no one inside.

“Damn,” he swore, feeling an increasing sense of fear, “these creatures do not go out during the day.” They do not walk under the sun!

About a minute Raytnov remained in real estate, listening to the sounds. Maybe it's just a wolf? But even the meeting with the wolf does not seem pleasant when you are not at the parade. When you’re not even holding the spanner in your hand, you’re dressed in the usual overalls of a research assistant.
But he heard only the beating of his heart, desperately beating on adrenaline thrown out. He was scared, but he was never ashamed of his fear. Fear is the companion of man. So laid by nature - fear appears in the most dangerous situations and gives new strength, helping to overcome everything in its path. Raytnov always believed that fear must be curbed, and then you can get out of any alterations.

However, he shuddered from the harsh and unpleasant sound outside, as if someone or something had hit the wall. Raytnov assessed the situation. You can not lose time, because at nightfall they will definitely return. Raytnov did not know what was outside, but he made a clear decision to go out and try to deal with it. He raised himself and immediately sat down again, straining with his whole body - he saw a shadow that was quickly slipping past the gate in the direction of the side entrance. The shadow was rather big, but not so big as to belong to one of those night creatures. Raytnov quietly went to the side entrance, but he was afraid to open the door and abruptly go out - after five hours of continuous work in the garage, the sun would most likely become blind, taking away the opportunity to clearly see what was happening for a few seconds. And these few seconds can play a decisive role. Raytnov listened, but outside was quiet.

The main thing is to curb your fear and not to hurry. A minute later, the rustling sounded again, and this time they were right here, outside the door. After another couple of moments, the door began to quietly and silently open, drawing a line of sunlight on the floor. Raytnov quickly moved away so that the light did not fall on his feet. Whatever it is, but since it goes under the sun, it surely sees worse in the dark. That was his plan - to attack first from the dark. Attack to be saved.

A rectangle of light on the floor began to deform from the shadow that fell on him — someone was cautiously making his way inside. Raytnov looked at the shadow, but to no avail - the outlines were too blurred to guess who its owner was. Suddenly there was a loud sound from the street - probably another dilapidated building became completely destroyed. This, apparently, frightened and prompted the owner of the shadow to quickly rush into the garage, at least in some kind of shelter.
Raytnov finally saw who it was. He recognized the face of this man, but it was too late. The reflexes worked instantly, and his fist had already covered more than half the way to the doctor’s face.

- The devil! - Raithnov swore.

Heart pounding in a frantic attack. I wonder how fast the body can produce adrenaline and mix it into the blood.

- Doctor! Doctor, wake up! Angus, can you hear me?

The doctor began to recover, since the blow was not too strong. Nevertheless, the inverse reflex also worked - the fist managed to slow down a little after the face was identified and before they met.

- Doctor, I thought you were dead! How did you manage to escape? Where have you been all this time after the attack?

Raytnov was ready to argue that the last days he was here alone. He examined the base far and wide in search of survivors and those in need of help, but there was no one. So, most likely, the doctor spent all this time outside the base.

- If you want, Comrade Raytnov, I will die from your next blow. In order not to fail your expectations!

Raytnov smiled. The doctor knew how to joke in a wide variety of situations.

- Angus. Where have you been all this time?

The doctor sat down and leaned back against the wall.

- I was in the bunker. I hid under one of the beds, I was scared to get out. I just now decided. I decided that if I stayed there, I would definitely die, and there was at least some hope. Alex, do you have water? I want to drink very much.

- Let's go to the bunker, there is water in the dining room. In the same place it will be possible and how to eat, in this I will definitely make you a company. Especially since there are plenty of cases with you.

Alex Raytnov helped Dr. Angus to his feet, and, holding him by the arm, led him to the side of the bunker. He still could not believe that the doctor had been here, among the ruins of the base all this time. How could he miss a living person? Raytnov remembered exactly that he was examining everything in the bunker. It was necessary to shout, then the doctor would have heard and responded. But Raytnov was afraid to attract someone not very friendly with superfluous sounds.

Alex drew attention to the overalls of the doctor. He was clean and barely dented, and this suggests that the doctor really was in the bunker. But Alex remembered exactly that he had examined everything that was possible. Every box. Every bed. Every room and even refrigerators. It is impossible for a doctor to be there. It is simply impossible.

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