Gun Devil

Bullet #16: Mary's shelter and the beginning of a detective investigation

Mary took me too long through the snowy meadows. My warming field is gradually fading away.

- Hey, how long to go?!

- Not too long, don't worry.

Even though she said it wouldn't be long, I still had doubts about her words. I have no idea how to navigate among the snow. An experienced wilderness survivalist knows how to navigate by the sun and the stars, but here there is neither one nor the other. Many people also say that you can navigate by moss and ants, but in fact this is a myth. And this lady still intends to find her "shelter" among the endless ice and snow; how ?

- Here we come, Reigai. This is the place.

- You're kidding me, right? Is a stone in the middle of a pile of snow your refuge?

Don't think of me as an idiot. I know very well that there are shelters, the entrance to which is covered with a wide stone slab. But the stone that he contemplated in front of him was too narrow for this purpose. A tall, low and narrow stone, somewhat reminiscent of a stalagmite. It could only close the exit for the rat, nothing more.

- Would I joke in my position, what do you think?

Mary walked up to the stone, grabbed it with both hands and began to push it somewhere. But nothing happened.

- Can you help me?

I walked up to the same stone and grabbed it a little higher than where Mary had grabbed it.

- What are we trying to do?

- Pull this lever in the opposite direction from me.

Lever arm ?! Apparently, I'm still an idiot... With a little effort, the stone sank down to the ground. At the same moment, the snow nearby began to fall down and in place of this falling snow a hole appeared with old stone steps leading somewhere underground. The fallen snow remained on the upper steps, and most likely it will never melt.

- You are welcome to our house.

Live underground? What is she, a mole? And yet, Mary began to go down the steps. I decided to follow her, although it felt a little unusual. On our way, the ZF lanterns began to light up. Lighting won't hurt. The lanterns were the same as in the Kagor's cave. This means that in hell there is no concept of a brand... Having descended what felt like ten meters to the ground, we finally reached the floor of this bunker. As I noticed, there was only one hall here. A bunch of lanterns, bedside tables with unknown contents, a couple of tables, on each of which were scattered various maps, diagrams and sketches of various personalities. There was also a bed and a couple of armchairs in which you could settle down and calmly warm up, considering that the temperature in this bunker was almost the same as in the heat pocket I had previously visited. In principle, this place is very cozy.

- Will you have tea or coffee?

I'm surprised that there is coffee and tea in hell... Logically, where do they get them here? Okay, it may be normal for tea, perhaps there are some other herbs or bushes growing here, from which this tea is brewed, but coffee? Also some kind of alternative? Something like chicory?

- What ?

- Oh, sorry, I may have expressed myself incorrectly, I just looked through the core into the "Aral" and saw people drinking something that tasted similar to these. they called them green tea and coffee, so that's what I call them...

- Then coffee, with sugar, without cream.

- Sugar and cream are only in the human world. I can only make regular coffee.

- Fine.

I remember once trying espresso without sugar. The taste was, of course, pleasant, but the drink was too bitter. Because of this, that was the only time I drank it.