Alarming civil defense sirens cut through the tranquil air, ruthlessly destroying the calm and pleasant summer day in a cottage village on the suburbs of the capital. The sounds shake green grass and ripe sunflowers and cause flocks of birds to dart off with loud noise of flapping wings.

Ivan who is lying in a hammock hanging between two apple trees opens his eyes and stares at his phone. The capitalized phrases: “BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT”, “SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER”, “15 MINUTES LEFT” imprint in his mind. The wailing of the sirens pierces his heart with despair. He jumps out from the hammock and rushes towards the house. Half way he notices Alexandra running towards him with stretched arms. He shouts with all his might: “Follow me!”

Ivan rushes away from their cottage with the only thought The bunker circulating in his mind.

When he bursts into the yard of Vasilii Ilyich, the former deputy, he sees the old man hurrying towards the farthest corner of the yard. Vasilii Ilyich is accompanied by his bodyguard, a tall middle-aged man.

Ivan turns his head and notices a group of neighbors quickly approaching. He accelerates and reaches Vasilii Ilyich first. Immediately the guard points the gun at him and warns not to come close.

“Vasilii Ilyich, my wife and I wanted to ask if you have a free space for us,” Ivan puts his hand on his chest. He is suffocating from the sprint and anxiety.

A loud scream prevents the retired member of the parliament from answering. A woman falls on her knees in front of Vasilii Ilyich and begs him:

“Please, save our family. Kirill and I have two children. Please, save us!”

Ivan turns around and sees many pale faces behind. He sighs, feeling how the tremor travels from his lips down the throat, and how his chest quivers. Too many people! he thinks with horror.

Then his brain shifts into the familiar mode of depressive indifference. For a long time, Ivan has been suffering from regular depressions, propelled by his constant interaction with death in the highly stressful position of a cardiac surgeon.

Once in autumn he had a conversation about the meaning of life with his patient – an old man – who needed a complex surgery. The old man said with a feeble mocking smile on his pale wrinkled face, “The older we become, the more useless we get.” He did not survive the surgery. Later, every autumn Ivan recalled these words, and his job, his nation-wide recognition lost significance for him. He could sit for hours without movement next to the window, watching the waltz of colorful leaves outside. Alexandra brought him antidepressants, and before taking a pill he whispered, “One day I’ll die, and no one will remember me in four generations. What’s the point of it all?”

As the thoughts One day I’ll die anyway. If it’s today, I don’t mind, enter Ivan’s head, he continues to contemplate the frightened faces with indifference.

“Silence, please!” Vasilii Ilyich exclaims raising his hands, “We don’t have time. I have places for only 4 people in this bunker, including, obviously myself. We have to make a fair decision!”

“And including me,” Mark, the bodyguard inserts.

“Listen, Vasilii Ilyich,” Kirill steps forward. He is a 28-year old businessman whose hobby is amateur shooting and who has a license to keep a gun, “I apologize for sounding harsh, but you’re old and sick and might die soon. No offense, but why not give the bunker to my family?”

Ivan melancholically looks at Alexandra who is staring at Kirill’s cold and ruthless face in disbelief.

“Wait!” Pavel, a tall mayor of the police, says, approaching Kirill and pointing index finger at him, “After the nuclear war we will need to increase our population. If only your family occupies the bunker, how will your children reproduce? I bet it will be better for genome if your daughter, me, my brother Dima, and your wife took places there.”

Ivan glances at the little 10-year old girl. She is hiding her face, pressing it against her Mom’s belly. Poor child, Ivan thinks with pity, She didn’t have time to live… Then he looks at Dima who is shifting from foot to foot and is not rising his eyes from his boots. Dima is Pavel’s brother; there is a difference almost in 20 years between them. Hmm… Dima… it seems that he is no older than 20. Poor guy. He is so similar to Andrey. He remembers how many years ago 18-year old Andrey, son of Ivan’s friend, was kidnapped, and his organs were transported to the black market. The innocent youth died, while others could live. Ivan knew Andrey very well, treated him with love as he would have treated own child. The pain that tortured Ivan’s heart after the tragedy is still present inside.

“Don’t you dare…” Kirill exclaims and tries to hit Pavel, but the latter’s reaction is as fast as a flash and he hits the attacker in face. Kirill falls on the ground, Alyona screams, kids cry out, “Daddy!”

“Damn it! Calm down!” the bodyguard Mark orders, pointing the gun at Pavel. Meanwhile, an old man with shaggy grey hair and large beard approaches Pavel and murmurs, “I can’t believe it, son! You want to leave your parents outside?”

“Calm down, Mark,” the former deputy recommends and announces, “I will take only women into the bunker.”

He approaches Alexandra and pets her on the shoulder, “You.” Then he pets Masha on the shoulder, “You and your Mommy.”

“What?” Mark lowers the gun, looking shocked, “You aren’t taking me?” He keeps murmuring, “I can’t believe it…”

“Why would I? I don’t need competitors,” the former deputy looks with adoration at Alexandra’s gracious body. Ivan notices it, but feels indifferent, as if he was falling into the abyss.

“No! No!” Alexandra screams and folds her hands in a desperate pleading gesture, “You have to take Ivan! He’s a cardiac surgeon! He’s known all over the country! We need a doctor!” She stares at Ivan in panic.

A wave of depression overwhelms Ivan, and he mutters:

“Kids must live. Vasilii Ilyich, I recommend that you give place to kids, Dima and Alexandra. Sasha is a psychologist. She’ll help the kids to deal with stress. The kids must live. It’s our duty to protect them. Any one of us, adults, might die from a heart attack tomorrow. Death is inevitable, and the probability of it is higher for us then for kids. Don’t be afraid of death. Face it with bravery.”

“I think, you’re driving nuts,” the old man with disheveled hair and beard lights a cigarette. He steps forward and introduces himself in a powerful voice as if he expects everyone to bow their heads, acknowledging his authority, “my name is Oleg, and I am the father of Pavel and Dima. Here is my wife – Irina. I have been breaking my back for the motherhood at the factory all my life. Irina used to work as a librarian. We’re both retired now. Pavel is a renowned mayor of police who serves the government with honesty. My family deserves places in the bunker.”

“Oleg,” Irina Georgievna says in a quiet but well-modulated and clear voice. Her discerning eyes are looking at everyone from behind glittering glasses. For a brief moment it seems to Ivan that she is capable of reading minds, “Pasha has always been quite cynical, but now I agree with him and with this surgeon. There’s no place for us in the bunker. The young have to live. Dear Vasilii Ilyich, I only beg you to give two places for my sons. And if you have heart, you will save these little innocent kids,” she points her trembling finger at the little boy and girl who are hugging their mother and whimpering.

“If I have the heart,” Vasilii Ilyich smirks and locks his cold ruthless eyes with Irina Georgievna’s tear-soaked eyes, “I’m afraid, I don’t. Let’s go, girls!” He looks at Alexandra, Alyona and Masha in an imperious way.

Suddenly a gunshot sounds. Ivan sees how a spot of blood appears on Vasilii Ilyich’s chest, in the place where seconds ago his heart was beating. The spot enlarges rapidly, soaking into the former deputy’s T-shirt. The man’s eyes roll upwards, he staggers and collapses, facing down. Terrified screams fill the air. Ivan stares at Mark who is still holding the gun in his stretched arms.

“I am the one to decide who gets into the damn bunker,” Mark warns, looking at the shocked crowd. There is a mix of bestial fear and aggression in his face.

Another gunshot deafens Ivan. He wonders who fired since Mark did not pull the trigger. Immediately he notices a bleeding hole in Mark’s forehead. The bodyguard’s eyes become glassy and he falls on the ground. Ivan turns around and sees how Kirill points his gun at Pavel who raises his hands. It turns out that the businessman has been hiding the weapon in the inner pocket of his jacket throughout the whole debate. Irina rushes forward and takes the place between Kirill and her son Pavel. There is a readiness for self-sacrifice visible in her eyes.  

“If anyone moves, I will shoot!” Kirill shouts, “Alyona, get the keys and take the kids inside!”

Alyona as pale as a ghost rushes to the body of the former deputy. With trembling hands, she turns him over and searches the pockets for keys.

Alexandra shakes Ivan’s arm. She pleads, “Let’s run to the basement!”

However, Ivan cannot move. He is staring at Kirill’s desperate eyes that are rushing about.

“Is it fair that the murderer should get the best chance of survival?” he asks. At the moment, he is completely emotionless. He does not comprehend how an adult can refuse to sacrifice himself for the survival of the young. Ivan is sure that if he was on Kirill’s place, he would have given the place to Dima because he does not want young people to pay with their lives for the problems that he and his generation failed to solve. Ivan looks at Dima’s brown eyes, large lower jaw, straight nose and once again recalls Andrey. A thought about reincarnation enters his mind involuntarily, even though he does not believe in rebirth.

“Shut up! Don’t you see he is mad?!” Alexandra whispers into Ivan’s ear, and pulls him trying to convince him to run to their house. However, Ivan’s calm eyes are locked now with Kirill’s distraught eyes. The businessman lowers the gun, makes several steps towards the surgeon. Kirill is entirely focused on Ivan.

“What did you say?” Kirill shouts, “Did you call me a murderer? I am not! I am protecting my family! And humanity needs me! I’m a businessman! I am talented and intelligent! No one needs this youth!” he implies Dima, “What has he done to deserve the bunker? These men were scum!” he kicks Vasilii Ilyich’s body, “When this jerk was a deputy, he stole our money! This bodyguard…”   

“Careful!” Ivan shouts, noticing that the mayor of the police, Pavel, has taken his gun from his jacket and is aiming it at Kirill.

The businessman turns around, but it is too late. The bullet hits Kirill. He drops the gun and places his hand on his stomach. The blood streams through his trembling fingers. Another bullet brings him down. Pavel, holding the smoking gun in his right hand, rushes towards the bunker where Alyona and the children have already disappeared. Ivan chases after him.

“Lock the door!” he shouts to Alyona who is staring at Pavel. Her eyes are wide open. She cannot move. Pavel stops, aims at her. At the moment when Ivan is ready to hit Pavel, he turns and pulls the trigger. Ivan feels burning pain. He is amused when he discovers himself lying on the ground, facing the locked doors of the bunker, into which Pavel is hammering with his fists.

Alexandra’s face distorted with pain appears as if out of fog. She is caressing Ivan’s shoulders. She cannot stop tears.

“Please, care after yourself… You have to live…” Ivan whispers, feeling how strength leaves him rapidly. “I am not sure, it’s the justice I was seeking for… I don’t know if there is justice at all…”

He watches after Dima who runs up to Pavel, shakes him and shouts something. Ivan is not sure if he sees Dima or the beloved son of his friend who was murdered decades ago. These doubts are caused by delirium of unbearable pain. The brothers Pavel and Dima run away from the bunker. The mushroom cloud is visible on the horizon. Alexandra kisses Ivan’s cold forehead and disappears from his eyesight. The civil defense sirens are still wailing in an indifferent empty high pitch.

Ivan’s consciousness initiates a debate. There’s no guarantee that justice as I see it is real justice. What was the point in trying to defend it? We’ll all be forgotten anyways. Maybe, a murderer deserves to live, and an innocent youth should die… Ivan uses the remnants of his strength to tell the grey sky above him, “However, I don’t think so…”

These are Ivan’s last words. Then, darkness and silence of death eradicate his consciousness.