A Dead Man's Letters (Pisma myortvogo cheloveka) (Письма мертвого человека)

My dear boy,

I am working, can you imagine that?

And what's even more surprising,

I'm working for common good.

I've counted off another day.

7200 minutes in the old scale.

It's not as pointless as it might seem at first glance,

for the twilight is monotonous

and even God when He created the world

needed to have some notion of time.

He created day and night

which imply the diversity.

I propose a different unit of time:

One twilight,

because there is no more diversity in this world.

Your mom and I

are staying in the shelter beneath the museum

together with its staff.

We will wait for you here

and then we'll go to the central bunker together.

The side street entrance is free

but we'll need to climb up the wall.

Good morning.

What time is it now?

I don't know.

Why did you say it?

But it feels like morning.

- Did you turn on the ventilation? - It's choking.

Then put on a bandage.

Yes. Thank you.

I'll turn it off.

Dear Eric,

Before all of us, mother and I, and even you,

become grains of the universe,

for each of us is mortal,

we'll have many happy hours and days,

even if we use my notion of time.

Mom is much better today.

We haven't talked that much in a long time.

LETTERS FROM A DEAD MAN

- Have you had the inspection yet? - They're here now. I'm very nervous.

Holy God, save and protect me.

Take off your clothes and come inside. I have to go.

- Who's in charge? - Me.

Come here.

- How many people are here? - Twelve.

- Is everyone in here? - Yes, everyone.

- And this is our guest. - I'm not faking, I have a permit.

- Whose children are these? - They are what's left of the orphanage.

There was an orphanage, 40 children. Almost all of them are dead now.

- So they do not have parents? - No parents.

They never talk.

I think they are in a state of shock.

I see. Stuporous state.

They understand everything. Almost everything. But they don't talk.

You... Yes, you. Go behind the screen.

Maybe it's better to start with the children...

- No. - They should go to sleep soon. Why?

Because!

What is your name?

Look here.

Do you hear me?

I see.

The children don't count.

Turn around.

Raise your hands.

Put them down.

Turn around.

Get dressed.

- Should I call the old man? - No need.

- Listen, Doctor, these children... - Step aside, you're in the way.

Do you want... to leave the children here?

I don't want anything, I'm following instructions.

There are instructions: only children with parents, and only healthy.

That's not possible.

You understand what happens if you leave them here, don't you?

It's outside my competence.

Everybody should mind their own business.

You're a doctor! That is your business.

They will die anyway. They're ill.

We can't support the lives of the healthy,

and you want to save the ill!

Even if I issued them a permit,

they would be stopped at the checkpoint anyway.

Children without parents, and in catalepsy!

I would be shot for issuing a false permit!

We have martial law!

That's final! The special service will deal with them.

- And who will take care of you? - What's the problem?

You will leave them here and hide yourself in the bunker.

But they will come to you anyway, they will come to you dead,

and they will sit before you just like now.

How will you look in their dead eyes?

How will you live after that?

What special service will help you then?

- How old are you? - What difference does it make?

A great difference. For you.

Because we don't need old men either.

So you better go find your birth certificate and shut up.

You're interfering with my work.

Everything you want to say, I've already heard.

Ten, twenty, a hundred times!

Come here!

Go the day after tomorrow.

Take nothing unnecessary. Clothes, blanket, food, if any. That's all.

I won't go anywhere without the children! You can't!

Don't go then. That's your choice.

By the time of the disaster,

there was not a single field of human activity left

that was not in a state of grave crisis. Full stop.

Scientific efforts were focused on weapons of mass destruction,

each of which could eliminate life on the planet.

Full stop.

Technology had been destroying nature and the environment.

Full stop. New paragraph.

Political relations had become unduly ambitious and paranoid.

Full stop. New paragraph.

Art had become completely inhumane and, instead of educating,

was engaged in intoxication, indulging the basest tastes.

- Can I take the tablet? - Couldn't you do it earlier?

- Good morning. - Good morning.

I feel like a different person.

I feel a wonderful lightness.

Complete adaptation.

I just need to get used to the cold.

Oh, I forgot to ask, how is your wife?

Bad.

Stand still.

The doctor mentioned some lists...

in the central bunker.

When I came close, they stopped talking. They didn't want me to hear.

I'm nervous. We have children.

We've decided to go today.

And you?

I don't know.

I haven't decided yet. Yes...

Here are some pills for headaches.

They should be dissolved in half a glass.

Thank you very much.

Don't laugh at crazy people.

He's no more crazy than you or I.

Where did that junk come from?

I'm asking you.

I was trying to read seismograms.

If the war is ongoing, they should show the explosions.

And if not...

- Then what? - Then it is a proof.

A proof?

You think if you find proof,

the world will come back to life?

Can't you see...

what's going on around you?

Can't you see what's happening with me?

Do you know when you went crazy?

When?

Before everything started.

After you made your discoveries.

After the Nobel prize.

That is possible.

Take your medicine.

My son thinks we should go to the central bunker tomorrow.

After lunch.

At the checkpoint, there may be disturbances.

What do you think?

It's possible.

To be honest, everything seems so unreal.

There was a book called "The Mole Man".

Has anyone read it?

How do you imagine mankind underground?

I'd like to know.

I agree,

it is a profound moral challenge.

But what can we do?

That's our only chance.

I don't think so.

I don't believe the world is over.

- Are you serious? - I am.

I've formulated a logical theory.

As of now I have 25 hypotheses,

but each of them can be checked.

In time, of course, not right now.

I read a science book,

it says that a person evolves very quickly

and can get used to anything, yes, anything,

if the body is breathing.

The skin should be exposed.

Understand?

I've decided to try it.

I've already started breathing exercises.

Excuse me...

- Am I talking nonsense? - Yes.

Drink this, it will get easier. It's a painkiller.

Drink it.

There you go. Drink a bit more.

Do you have a photo of Eric?

What are you talking about? Of course not.

He died outside.

Burned.

How do you know that?

I saw it in a dream.