Читать книгу Antakarana. Quest in Reality - Татьяна Шуклина - Страница 19

***

We walk through the jungle in silence, still impressed by what happened. Our goal is to go as far as possible in order to explore the place in which we find ourselves as best as we can. I roll my head around in search of something unusual. In these thickets, it is simply not possible to see this something. My pessimism picks up steam when I suddenly hear Alex say:

«Look at that tall tree, something is clearly wrong with it.»

«What exactly?»

«It’s extremely high.»

As I get closer to our subject, I admit that Alex is right – this palm is different from other trees. Probably, it can be seen from any hill in the area. We examine it from all angles and find a tiny red Antakarana symbol at the base of the tree.

«We found it! Symbol!» I exclaim.

«Do you think this is our subject – a palm tree?»

«Maybe a piece of bark with a symbol? Let’s take a closer look.»

Examining the base of the palm tree thoroughly, we notice a square of earth directly below the mark. It differs from the rest of the tree’s surroundings: grass also grows on it, but the ground under it is red. Without thinking twice, we break the square with our hands. At a depth of about five centimeters, our fingers press against a plastic box.

Alex takes out a white box with the familiar black symbol – three sevens, placed in a volumetric cube. It contains a small glass bottle with a red liquid.

«Doesn’t look edible,» Alex says, disappointed.

«Not at all,» I confirm grimly.

A note is glued to the bottle with the words:

«Where one begins,

The other finds its end.

Great God created this

Best thing He ever made»

Alex reads the legend aloud and says thoughtfully:

«You don’t need to be a genius to guess the answer „Earth“. In addition, this element was mentioned by Maestro in the initial formulation of the task. Most likely, the phrase hides something more significant.»

«What strikes me is the contrast. Suppose all vegetation starts and sprouts in the ground. A person ends his life there,» I add.

«Smart girl! Even at the beginning, Maestro opposed the natural and harmonious to all the unnatural and called it „darkness“. What can disturb the harmony of nature? Only a human. That is, we have a conflict between nature and man.»

«In any case, we’ll find out more when and if we find all seven objects or, as Maestro put it, «mystirious seven elements’,» I sigh.

«Chin up! It hasn’t been long, and we already have something. Quite not bad. It would be nice to eat. There is nothing edible in this jungle except you and me. Let’s hurry up, I wouldn’t want to be someone’s late night meal.»

For a long time we follow forward, carefully making our way through the dense jungle, talking on various topics from our past lives. Our real lives seem to be something distant, having nothing to do with the current reality, only two days after we left our homes to plunge headlong into an adventure. Too much has happened in the past 48 hours. And first of all, tha fact we had to die and rise again.

I try my best to be vigilant, looking at my feet before every step in fear of seeing a snake or some unknown animal. We move extremely slowly, no more than two kilometers per hour.

With each step, the road becomes more and more difficult. The sun is now directly overhead, and there is not a cloud in the sky to somehow alleviate the midday heat. The shadow of trees is the only defense against the scorching rays. Sweat rolls down my face. Gradually, our conversations fall silent. Based on the position of the sun in the sky, we have been on the way for more than three hours. Given how quickly it gets dark in the tropics, there are maximum five hours left to reach the camp.

Hunger, thirst and oppressive heat are merciless. The water that I drank before leaving the Platform came out long ago with sweat. My tongue is swollen, the mouth is dry and I find it difficult to say something. My stomach is cramping, and I remember with longing about yesterday’s tasteless food on the plane, as well as the banana trees growing around the Platform. In addition, the humid stuffy air and the scorching sun depress consciousness. More than anything, I want to sit on the ground and fall into a deep, painful sleep.

But Alex is certainly right. In such dense vegetation live… who actually? I’m even afraid to think about it. I know one thing for sure: at night they go hunting. After getting dark, there will be little chance of reaching the Platform. And so we go on, and each step gets harder and harder. Every thought delivers almost physical pain. Alex, who at first after the discovery was still making some jokes, gloomily keeps silent and goes forward.

«I’m dying of thirst. Let’s go back? Maybe other groups have found something?» I did not expect to hear such a plaintive squeak from myself.

«And you quickly give up,» Alex hoarsely replies, who himself can barely keep on his feet, «let’s sit down and rest, and then turn back. How could they have sent us into the jungle, in which there is not a single coconut tree?! You know, once in some survival guide I read a phrase that somehow stuck in my memory: «In tropical jungles and rainforests, the soil is always wet and teeming with insects, leeches and reptiles. Therefore, during sleep, you should isolate yourself from the soil, otherwise the heat of your body will attract the snakes, and in the morning you may find one or more of them curled up around your intimate places.»

«I used to think that my worst nightmare is a plane crash. But THIS attracts me even less. Thanks, no.» I feel horror and disgust at the mere thought of a snake curled up in a ball in my lap.

We sit down on the trunk of some tree lying on the ground. Never in my life have I felt so tired, but falling asleep here is putting myself in mortal danger. To somehow cheer up, I ask my partner:

«How did you manage to be here? Without a drop of water and crumbs of food? Well at least you are lucky with the company».

However, Alex does not react in any way to my attempt to joke and answers seriously:

«You know, there was a moment when my life seemed meaningless and uninteresting – a terrible depressive state. It was probably then that I got carried away with online quests. It was a way to escape reality and plunge into a fictional world, where I was something. Subconsciously, I was always looking for an adventure that would shake me up and get me out of depression.»

«Found?»

«Found. You’re quite an adventure,» he laughs, «although a million dollars won’t hurt. What are you doing here?»

«I suffer from my pernicious love for adventure. Frankly, I didn’t expect to win the prize. It was more important to participate in the Game of the Century, solve complex riddles and recieve the most vivid impressions.»

«Received?» Alex mimics me.

«Not! Instead, I sit here and ready to die for a sip of water!»

There is a painful silence, so at one point I doubt if my fellow traveler has fallen asleep. Suddenly a strange sound comes to my weary hearing. Subtle, distant, but unmistakably sweet sound of water.

«Alex, can you hear that?»

«Hear what?»

He is listening for a moment, then, without saying a word, we jump to our feet and rush in the direction of the noise. The hope of finding water gives a new burst of strength. From time to time we stop and listen, choosing the path. After a few minutes, there isn’t the slightest doubt: we are moving in the right direction. I almost run forward, unable to contain myself and forgetting about the constantly threatening danger under the feet.

Thirty minutes later, the most beautiful thing that I have ever seen and heard in my life opens up to our eyes: a small waterfall with clear, cool water, which falls into a crystal blue lake. We fall to the knees and greedily drink, wash, splash and laugh like children. How little you need to feel happy! I’ve never drank anything tastier in my life!

After some time, having quenched our thirst, washed off a little dirt and sweat from our faces and fooled a lot, we sit on a large stone and drooped swollen and rubbed feet in the water, enjoying its delightful coolness.

Alex looks at me seriously and speaks in a voice full of thoughtfulness:

«There is something you need to know. You have very beautiful legs.»

I get embarrassed and turn away to hide my awkwardness. Unperturbed, he continues:

«Especially the right one. We’ll eat it first if we don’t find food.»

He throws his head back, falls back on the stone and gives a contagious laugh. His crafty brown eyes sparkle in my direction. I jump to my feet in indignation.

«I’m joking, calm down. We’ll start with the left one, of course.»

It’s really incredibly difficult to be angry with him. Alex’s humor helps me cope with difficulties and turns everything that happens into a game. Rather, it reminds me that this IS a game, and I am here of my own free will… Suddenly something catches my eye.

«Alex, take a closer look at the waterfall. On the right side, closer to the boulder. See? The water falls there differently than in all other places. As if it meets a flat, unnatural obstacle… as if a stream of water from a tap were breaking against a metal sheet. Do you see this spray?»

Before he can answer, I am already rolling up my trousers.

We are not aware of the depth of the lake, so we jump on the stones sticking out of it, and without much difficulty reach the waterfall. To the right, behind a stream of water, there is a small metal platform built into the rock, on which a small red Antakarana symbol is barely visible. I was right! Looking closely, we find a niche, and in it the coveted white box. Getting very wet and not without effort, we take it out and hurry to the shore in order to quickly familiarize ourselves with the contents. It turns out to be a rounded vial, similar to the first, with an orange liquid and a note:

«Your best friend and the base of life

That world can’t live without;

But still, in its destructive might

It can destroy you to the ground».

Alex turns the note thoughtfully in his hands:

«In this riddle, the opposition is somewhat different.»

«Yes,» I agree with him, «this lake gave us new strength, healing, maybe even life. But a tsunami could ruin thousands of lives. Just recall its consequences in South-East Asia in 2004 or in Japan in 2011. Tsunamis are caused by earthquakes that destroy entire cities. These are natural forces that a person cannot influence on.»

«It seems that we are still dealing with the theme of the conflict between man and nature… Lavina, all is not lost with you when it comes to finding objects. I’m impressed!» Alex praises me.

«You noticed that all the finds were located in iconic places: a tall tree that can be seen from any hill in the area, a waterfall with a lake of fresh water… Hopefully the others also paid attention to this and found something,» I hastily mutter, to hide how flattered I am by his compliment.

«Maestro said that we are professionals. Let’s see. We won’t die of hunger and thirst in any case. I’ve seen banana and coconut palms around our camp, and there are probably edible plants and animals in the forests. It’s a shame we don’t have any tools. However, the lack of food will greatly complicate our five star stay.»

«I propose to move on. And stop staring at my feet. Trust me, they’re tasteless and very skinny.»

Having cheered up from the find and having drunk plenty of water, we decide to turn back to the Platform.

The sun is rapidly approaching the horizon, the heat subsides and is replaced first by the saving, and then by the uncomfortable coolness.

«How much time do we have?» I ask Alex anxiously. The fear of getting lost and staying overnight in the jungle spurs me on and gives me a new burst of strength in the legs.

«Probably no more than two hours. We should be on the Platform by six. Otherwise, there is every chance to spend the night in the company of cute animals.» He tries to hide his worry, but does not really succeed. To distract myself somehow, I ask:

«What do you think we might have in common with each other and these people?»

«Passion for adventure? Love for nature? Common acquaintances? One thing I know for sure: now it is fear, hunger and a desire to strangle Maestro and his entire team.» Alex does not turn around and picks up the pace a little more. Now we don’t even have time to look at our feet.

After a little thought, I decide to share my idea with him:

«Have you had any deep mental trauma in your life, for example, the loss of a loved one, divorce of parents, financial fiasco…?»

«You mean besides our joint shameful loss in an online game?»

«Alex, I’m serious! Maybe a similar tragedy in the past unites us all? At the age of five, I lost my older sister. She died in a terrible accident. The school bus was returning from a tour of the places of military glory in Volgograd, when the driver of the truck fell asleep, lost control and went into a ditch. The bus driver did not have time to react and crashed at full speed into the tail of the truck. Then five children died. One of them was Julia. I don’t remember much about that terrible tragedy, and I dimly imagine the outline of her face. Twenty years have passed and I have almost forgotten everything. But my parents have to live with it every day.»

«This is terrible. I sympathize with you and your parents. True. But I don’t think I fit into this scheme myself. My parents have lived together for many years and still love each other. The brother and sister are doing well too. A terribly decent and boring family. Let’s be honest, 95% of people on earth had to go through the loss of a loved one or a difficult parting, witness death or suffer childhood trauma. I don’t think this can be our answer, too many inhabitants of the planet fit such a description.»

Alex is right. But something is still gnawing at me from the inside. Something, what I am not yet able to find a name and give shape for.

I watch anxiously as the sun touches the edge of the horizon, turning bright orange. There is not even a hint of our camp around. The jungle sounds are suddenly louder and more intense. It’s getting really creepy. Pleasing to the eye, rich green tones of lush vegetation transform into ominous dark outlines. The lianas turned out to be long paws with tenacious claws that grab and try to drag me into the depths of the dangerous and unpredictable jungle.

«Alex, are you sure we haven’t lost our way? We still haven’t passed that tall tree, although we should have already been there…»

«Right, tree! Lavina, you are a genius! Now I will climb higher and see where it is. Our tree should be different from the rest. If I’m lucky, I might even be able to see the Platform.»

Alex picks the highest tree in sight and climbs it. And I watch in dismay as the sun disappears quickly. A few more minutes, and everything around will plunge into the absolute darkness. Maybe there is no point in looking for a way back, but spend the remaining time to organize a night shelter? And the moment the twilight gets really thick, I see a glow. Of course! Our camp is the only illuminated place in the area!

«Alex!» I shout. «The light!»

He immediately understands what I mean and jumps from a rather dangerous height. We are rushing towards a barely discernible glow, now and then bumping into some kind of plant barriers. I pray to myself that the next vine does not turn out to be a rattlesnake. Another twenty minutes pass, and in the pitch darkness, terrified to death, we finally jump out of the thickets into a poorly lit clearing.