Chapter 1: The end of the Earth

（窸窸窣窣，在一處幽暗的火堆周圍，響起了不同于木棍因燃燒而爆裂開的聲音。燃燒著的火焰也似乎因?yàn)檫@異樣的聲響，黯淡了一些。）

“什么人？阿爾喬姆，去看看！”

阿爾喬姆小心地從火堆旁站起身，迅速將身后的機(jī)關(guān)槍順著背帶滑到胸前，徑直向黑暗處走去。他停在了火光再也照射不到的邊緣處，警告般地大聲拉動(dòng)著手中的槍栓，盡可能粗吼道：“站住！暗號(hào)！”

‘Who’s there? Artyom - go have a look!’

Artyom rose reluctantly from his seat by the fire and, shifting the machine gun from his back to his chest, headed towards the darkness. He stood right at the edge of the lighter area and then, as loudly and threateningly as he could, he clicked the slide on his gun and shouted gruffly, ‘Stop! Password!’

（颯颯……颯颯颯...咕咕咯咯咯咯，一陣異響之后傳來愈行愈遠(yuǎn)的啪嗒聲，似乎有什么詭譎的生物跑開了。）

回應(yīng)阿爾喬姆的只有一陣怪異的沙沙聲和空洞沉悶的咕噥聲，他從黑暗中聽見了快速而又雜亂的腳步，那東西似乎被他自認(rèn)為粗獷的嗓音和咯吱作響的機(jī)關(guān)槍嚇到了，正往隧道深處逃跑。阿爾喬姆見狀飛快地回到了火堆旁，心安理得地搪塞著彼得·安德列維奇：“不知道是誰，沒人過來。我問了對(duì)方，也沒有回應(yīng)，就聽見它跑了?！?/p>

He could hear quick, staccato footsteps in the darkness where moments ago he’d heard a strange rustle and hollow-sounding murmurings. Someone was retreating into the depths of the tunnel, frightened away by Artyom’s gruff voice and the rattling of his weapon. Artyom hurriedly return to the fire and flung an answer at Pyotr Andreevich: ‘Nope, no one came forward. No response, they just ran off.’

“你個(gè)蠢豬！早就跟你說過，如果對(duì)方?jīng)]有回應(yīng)，就馬上開槍！你怎么知道對(duì)方是誰？說不定剛剛靠近的是暗魘！”

‘You idiot! You were clearly told. If they don’t respond, then shoot immediately! How do you know who that was? Maybe the dark ones are getting closer!’

“屁！我一開始就沒覺得他們是人類。那聲音聽起來很怪，也不像人的腳步聲。咋的？你還覺得我分不清人類的腳步嘛！再說了，什么時(shí)候暗魘是像那樣子跑的？你也知道的，彼得，暗魘會(huì)毫不猶豫地向前沖鋒。最近他們還赤手空拳襲擊了一支巡邏隊(duì)，竟然能在機(jī)關(guān)槍的火力之下正面突入。但是剛剛我所接觸的東西，是直接逃走了的，應(yīng)該只是某個(gè)膽小的動(dòng)物。”

（阿爾喬姆如同連珠炮般、看似振振有詞的回答，掩飾著他內(nèi)心的慌張與焦慮。此時(shí)作為崗哨的他心里或許明白，一時(shí)的膽小會(huì)為將來的危機(jī)埋下隱患。）

‘No...I don’t think they were people...The sounds were really strange...And the footsteps weren’t human either. What? You think I don’t know what human footsteps like? And anyway, when have the dark ones ever run off like that? You know it yourself, Pyotr Andreevich. Lately they’ve been lunging forward without hesitation. They attacked a patrol with nothing but their bare hands, marching straight into machine-gun fire. But this thing, it ran off straight away...Like some kind of scared animal.’

“行了行了，阿爾喬姆！太聰明可不是什么好事，你得明白這是你的職責(zé)——要跟蹤他們，不許猶豫。萬一剛剛的是個(gè)探子，那現(xiàn)在他們就已經(jīng)知道了我們這里有多少人手，對(duì)付我們又需要多少?gòu)椝?。他們可能?huì)趕走我們占領(lǐng)這里，然后在這兒慶祝取樂。他們也可能當(dāng)場(chǎng)給我們一個(gè)個(gè)割喉，屠殺整個(gè)站臺(tái)，就像波列扎耶夫車站所發(fā)生的那樣。而這一切都?xì)w因于你沒有解決掉剛剛那個(gè)不明來歷的小賊。所以長(zhǎng)點(diǎn)記性吧，下次我要你跟著他們進(jìn)隧道！”

‘All right, Artyom! You’re too smart for your own good. But you’ve got instructions - so follow them, don’t think about it. Maybe it was a scout. And now it knows how few of us are here, and how much ammunition they’d need...They might just wipe us out here and now for fun. Put a knife to our throat, and butcher the entire station, just like at Polezhaevskaya - and all just because you didn’t get rid of that rat...Watch it! Next time I’ll make you run after them into the tunnel!’

（阿爾喬姆不再辯駁，眼神迷離于遠(yuǎn)處的隧道口和舞動(dòng)的篝火，雙手緊緊地抓著自己的槍。）

想象著這深埋在七百米以下的隧道，阿爾喬姆害怕得直哆嗦。光是想想就很可怕，沒有人有這膽子穿過這深淵去往北方。曾有軍隊(duì)去到上層五百米處，在那兒用地鐵的車燈做了邊界標(biāo)記便匆匆返回，自認(rèn)為依靠那幾盞破燈就能夠震懾住那些惡徒的進(jìn)犯。甚至那些經(jīng)驗(yàn)老到的前海軍陸戰(zhàn)隊(duì)的偵察兵，據(jù)說也在六百八十米處停下了腳步。每每談起，他們便用凹陷如碗的手掌掐滅叼著的煙，緊緊抓著掛在胸口的夜視儀沉默不語，站在一邊。若再追問，他們便一言不發(fā)，頭也不回地走開，看都不會(huì)再看那隧道出口一眼。

It made Artyom shudder to imagine the tunnel beyond the seven-hundredth metre. It was horrifying just to think about it. No one had the guts to go beyond the seven-hundredth metre to the north. Patrols had made it to the five-hundredth, and having illuminated the boundary post with the spotlight on the trolley and convinced themselves that no scum had crossed it, they hastily returned. Even the scouts - big guys, former marines - would stop at the six hundred and eightieth metre. They’d turn their burning cigarettes into their cupped palms and stand stock-still, clinging to their night-vision instruments. And then, they’d slowly, quietly head back, without taking their eyes off the tunnel, and never turning their backs to it.