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      Henry Lion Oldie

      The Eighth Circle of Subway

      …Eddy slipped into the car at the last moment, and behind his back, the guillotine-like doors shut with a clang. A siren howled, and the train darted forward whistling and rumbling, and picking up speed immediately. Somebody cried involuntarily, as he fell on a spiking elbow rest. Eddy only smiled; this guy would get off at the first or second circle. Or he would perish. The Subway did not tolerate such types.

      The face of the guy from up there came into view: beaten, distorted with pain and despair; his dog-like glance at the policeman raising his club. It was the guy’s fault; he did not cross the road in time, while the light was green – but still…

      …The train stopped even more sharp than it had departed; that time, however, nobody hit against the needles sticking out from the front wall. Eddy considered for a moment whether he should get off there, and the pause saved his life. A tall guy in a chequered cowboy-like shirt and blue pants that sat tight on his hips dashed to the exit and ran into a break-mode. The doors twitched, and the guy was cut in halves. The blood gushed, a black maw of the utilizer opened wide in the floor, and the body parts fell down. The floor closed up.

      The break-mode worked rarely, especially during the first circle; so till the next station nobody should be afraid of any other dirty tricks. However, at the next station he would have to get off. The strict rule of the Death-Riders: in one car – from one stop to another.

      On the ceiling, the deathly-pale ghost-lampswere blinking, and the illumination made all the passengers look like zombies. “Most of them actually will be dead soon enough,” thought Eddy. As for Eddy himself, he did not intend to become a dead meat. Just like all the others did. Including the guy who was cut by the breaks…

      Eddy did not finish his thought. The train slowed down at the far end of the station, but their car stopped where it was still possible to reach the platform by jumping. Eddy was the first who jumped on the platform, covering the seven-foot gap without any effort. Simultaneously, a young lad with a sparse black moustache landed nearby. Eddy appreciated the accuracy of his movements. A strong rival! One had to keep the eyes open. Who knows what’s in his pockets.

      The escalator ended abruptly, and an abyss yawned under his feet. Eddy was ready for that. Only a novice could be caught by “the gap”. He threw his body with a jerk to the neighbouring escalator, moving down. The first circle was over. However, it was just a warm-up.

      The step under his feet went down, and Eddy remained hanging on the handrail. Behind him a shriek was heard, but it was choked immediately, being crushed by the gear wheels rotating below. Eddy glanced around hoping secretly that … – but no! – The dark-haired guy was safe and sound, hanging on the handrail just like Eddy did.

      The footstep returned to a regular position, and Eddy dropped the handrail. Just in time. An electric discharge went crackling along the handrail, and those who had not jerk their hands back in time, fell down on the steps in convulsions. Well, the first grass was cut…

      Eddy jumped off the escalator, and safely avoided the “devil’s ass” that opened in front of him; then he started running over the platform. The second circle began.

      The train arrived almost immediately; it stopped at the middle of the platform. It was suspicious, but to stay in one place was dangerous, so Eddy jumped in. Some people, including the dark-haired guy, also managed to jump into the car before the guillotine-like doors closed cutting somebody’s hand off. Eddy felt pity for the guy, yet that one would survive, though without his hand; during the second circle, the wounded were still rescued…

      …The floor opened, and Eddy hung on the handrail again along with the others. He was right not liking this train.Just imagine that their hands could be given a high-voltage shock! Though no, it wouldn’t happen. In the Subway, one always had a chance. A tiny and barely visible – but you got it. Only the Russians had such places where there were no chances at all, as the story went. But the Russians managed to pass even those places, if they did not lie.

      And the Russians did know how to lie. For instance, they said that there were no police clean-ups there… They said that policemen were afraid of sticking their noses outside. What in blazes such police was needed for?! Or whatever they called it.

      About twenty seconds remained to hang on till the arrival to the station, when a robust guy, hanging next to Eddy, suddenly kicked him in the stomach. Eddy nearly quitted hold of the handrail because of the pain, but miraculously he didn’t do that. You fat son of a bitch! Eddy slipped his hand into the coat pocket, and felt for an old gas lighter. Only a novice would ask for trouble during the second circle. If the guy were a “green hand”, he would try again. The robust guy tried. But when he swayed on the handrail, Eddy stretched his hand and clicked the lighter next to the fat fingers clenching the rail. The guy bellowed, and jerked his hand back instinctively. At that very moment, the train stopped. Nobody paid attention to the scream of the falling down. The third circle awaited them.

      The sharp and glittering steel door leaves opened, but there was a gap below instead of a floor. It was not a surprise to Eddy. After all, he had gotten to the seventh circle last time. Although, he had barely escaped being smashed by “The Merry Fellow” back then and fell out of the race. Eddy swayed and unclenched his fingers at a carefully calculated moment; he leaped forward, managing to grasp the edge of the platform. The contact rail was dangerously close. He pulled himself up, and rolled over the edge. Ah, “the labyrinth”! The third circle.

      The sliding paths were crawling along the platform, intersecting each other at different levels, turning and changing their direction every now and then. Eddy watched those apparently chaotic movements for several seconds, till making the decision which way to go. He could not explain how he did it, but he did not intend to explain anything to anyone, for that matter. When Eddy jumped on the chosen path, the dark-haired guy landed nearby. Behind them, there were three more guys. Yes, only three. Well, how quickly it…

      …Eddy instinctively jumped upon the neighbour path, and a heavy press fell to the place where he had stood a moment ago. Skipping the next line, Eddy jumped to the far one, then next… In ten minutes, he reached safely the other side of the platform. A minute later, all of their company gathered there.