... in which Tolik becomes a true friend, demonstrates remarkable prudence, and uncorks his father's cognac.
Dawn never broke that day. The entire sky was covered with dense leaden clouds, and the air seemed to be filled with a yellowish-gray smog. Streetlights, billboard illumination, and store signs were not working. Soon, traffic lights also went out, instantly causing chaos on the city streets. Several police cars and ambulances sped through it with sirens and flashing lights.
Crossing the avenue, flooded with the noise of angry voices and endless car horns, Lonya found himself again in the courtyards. A typical residential area, but still not communal housing. The buildings here were newer and larger, with lights occasionally burning in some windows. Behind one of them was his goal—a safe and welcoming apartment on the seventh floor, where his friend Tolik lived. Suddenly, the young man realized he was still clutching a bloodied ski pole in his hand. He nervously threw it into the nearest trash can and pressed the desired numbers on the intercom, entering the building.
Tolyan, naturally, was at home. As usual, he was playing an online shooter game and hadn't gone to bed since settling down at the computer the previous evening. He immediately returned to his activity as soon as he let Lonya into the apartment.
"What's up? You decided not to go to university today either?" asked Tolyan, not taking his reddened eyes off the monitor.
"I killed someone," Lonya blurted out suddenly, almost surprised by his own words.
"What are you saying?" Tolyan repeated, finally tearing his gaze away from the screen and looking at his friend.
"I said I killed a person... Just now!"
Only now did the student notice that Lonya's sweater was stained with blood.
"Wow, dude," Tolyan said, blinking his eyes. "How did this happen?"
"Yeah... Damn, I don't know! Pasha, my drug dealer neighbor, started hassling my grandfather from the next room this morning. He attacked me. And I..."
"That's fucked up. I told you it would be better if you moved in with me. But no—you needed your own place to take Kristinka around."
"Stop preaching, preacher. What should I do?" Lonya interrupted his friend irritably.
"Don't panic and don't be afraid!" replied Tolyan. "It's clear it was self-defense. But it wouldn't hurt to lie low for a while. Calm down at least."
"Yeah," Lonya nodded, pulling off his bloody sweater.
"I was at my dad's place earlier today," Tolyan continued the conversation in a deliberately relaxed manner. "I swiped a bottle of cognac from him. Want some?"
"No way..."
"Well, why not? Let's celebrate our troubles," joked his friend unsuccessfully, but he smiled at his own joke.
"You're such an idiot..."
"Come on, man. At least I'll drop a couple of drops into your coffee as medicine."
"Alright, fine, aesthetic. Sure," Lonya agreed again, collapsing into the armchair.
Now he barely felt his arms or legs; a nervous chill ran through his body, and his heart was pounding wildly. But his friend's playful, cynical tone calmed the student down. Meanwhile, Tolyan brought coffee with cognac, handed a mug to Lonya, and returned to his usual spot, half-turned toward the computer desk.
After taking a couple of sips, he rolled closer to the window without getting up from his chair, carefully pulled back the curtain, and looked out onto the street.
"What's there?" Lonya asked nervously, clutching the hot mug with both hands.
"Nothing... Look, I see the cops driving by with their flashing lights. Probably after you..." Tolyan said with a completely serious expression, paused, and burst out laughing.
"You're an idiot..."
"I'm just trying to cheer you up somehow."
"Bad job!"
"Nah, come on. It seems like the whole avenue is blocked off..."
"I saw," Leonid replied. "Some kind of accident, probably."
Tolyan closed his game and opened Telegram.
"I have two pieces of good news for you: one good and one very good. Which one should I start with?"
"Start with the good one," the student answered wearily, sipping his coffee and gradually beginning to feel his trembling fingers.
"The first piece of news. We're not skipping class today because the university has been closed due to a terrorist threat."
"Someone called again saying they planted a bomb?"
"So far, it's unclear..." Tolyan shrugged, scanning posts on the channel. "They say the city hospital has been seized. There aren't many details yet. Right now, the police and special forces from the FSB are being deployed there. And that's the second good news, because the police definitely won't be looking for you right now."
"That's reassuring."
For nearly two days, Lonya stayed at Tolyan's place, weighing whether it would be better to wait until the police started digging and hope for the best, or to turn himself in immediately. Unable to settle on either option, he listened to Tolyan's traditional folk wisdom—"morning is wiser than evening"—lay down on the sofa, and got hooked on some zombie thriller.
Tolyan woke him up, shaking him hard by the shoulder.
"No way! Go to the store!" came his friend's voice from the darkness.
"No, what are you talking about? You go yourself. I'll stay here," Lonya began to object, but his friend didn't listen to his objections.
"Come on, enough whining! At least help me buy some groceries and distract yourself."
"What's going on with the terrorists?" Lonya asked.
"I don't know... I haven't read Telegram. I was sitting around, and then the lights went out."
"Maybe we shouldn't go out?"
"Now you're afraid of terrorists? They'll blow you up? Allah Akbar! It's better to sit at home without electricity than to be a couple of fags. Come on! It's only a couple of blocks to the shopping center," Tolyan continued in his active-positive manner, rummaging in the closet in the dark. "Here, put this on! It's a bit chilly there."
Feeling around, Lonya put on a warm hoodie and his friend's jacket and headed to the shopping center together with him.