Blizzard

 I want to tell you a story that happened to me and my colleagues one stormy winter night. At that time, I was working as an UAZ ambulance driver. One day in December, Gena, a paramedic, and Vika, a young intern, had to go on an urgent call to a remote village.

The snow was falling in a wall, the frost was about twenty degrees, plus a strong icy wind. I struggled to drive the car along the icy road, gradually coming to the conclusion that everything bad that could happen to us had already happened. My replacement had a habit of stealing anything that wasn't lying well (as well as running, sitting, or moving). Therefore, the front axle of the car was broken (the parts were permanently stolen by my cunning partner), the low beam was not on, and instead of new studded rubber on the rear wheels there were two old "bald" cylinders. In short, driving in such conditions was like a very extreme rally.

After some time, the paramedic asked me to stop for a moment and fell out into the blizzard on his own. Soon he stumbled back into the car, and I drove forward... and I almost had a heart attack when a disheveled, red-haired, completely unfamiliar head poked out of the salon to me with a question.:

"Are we going to leave the paramedic there?"

I slammed on the brakes and asked the unexpected passenger, stunned.:

— And who are you, anyway?

It turned out that while Gena was minding his own business, this guy approached him and asked him to take him to the village, where we were heading. After that, the guy got into the car, and I, mistaking him for Gena, stepped on the gas...

Meanwhile, the real Gena appeared out of the snowstorm, indicating with gestures from the street what he would like to do to me. We moved on cautiously. The unexpected traveling companion called himself Peter. Suddenly, he grabbed my sleeve.:

— Guys, slow down! Igor is there!

Out of the snowstorm, right in front of the nose of our UAZ truck, a short silhouette in earflaps appeared on the road.

To say that I didn't like this situation is too weak. Not only did one appear out of nowhere in the middle of a snowy field, but now the second one has appeared! Moreover, it was impossible to notice him from afar in such a snowstorm, but Petya knew exactly where his friend was even before I flashed my headlights on him.

— Guys, how did you end up here? — I asked them a completely logical question from Gene. In response, both travelers said nothing.

We drove very slowly and carefully. Both men sat quietly, looking down at their feet. The blizzard was raging more and more. I turned on the powerful searchlight on the roof and the emergency light, and only managed to slam on the brakes with swearing. It was a miracle that our car didn't get blown into a ditch by the side of the road.

There was a man standing on the road with his back to us. I got out of the car, sincerely wanting to smash the face of the man standing in the middle of the road. But then I saw his face... It was a mess—swollen eyes surrounded by huge bruises, a nose turned to one side, half of his teeth knocked out, a trickle of blood trickling from his mouth...

"Who are you?" - he asked.

—The ambulance!" We're going to Ilyichevo! — the paramedic shouted to him as he got out of the warm interior of the "loaf".

And then the stranger was transformed — the broken face became whole again, a joyful smile lit up his face. He shouted something unintelligible and ran away from us, into the darkness and snow.

Gena shrugged his shoulders, returned to the car and, addressing our strange companions, asked:

"You don't know him?"

And suddenly he turned to me sharply.:

"Where are they?"

I poked my head into the salon. There was no sign of our fellow travelers. Vika, who was watching us and the strange man on the road from the salon, also did not notice how they disappeared. The back door is tightly locked, and no one came out of the side except Gena...

But then we had no time for our mysterious passengers — people with kerosene lamps appeared ahead. They escorted us to the house, near which there was a wrecked car. People clung to Gena and, shouting: "Hurry up, he's still alive!", almost dragged him into the house by force. Vika and I followed.

It turned out the following. About three or four hours ago, three friends were driving back to the village. The driver was not very experienced, this damn blizzard started, and as a result, the car flew into a tree at high speed. Two died on the spot, and the third passenger fell into a coma.

And then I involuntarily looked at the face of the surviving passenger... It was smashed into solid meat, but it seemed strangely familiar to me.

While Gena and the local doctor were working magic on the victim, I went into the next room, from where I could hear quiet crying. Three women were sitting there in the dim light of the kerosene trucks, and the bodies of the dead lay on the beds. I looked at the faces of the corpses. To the left, closer to the window, was the red-haired, bearded Petya, who got into our car first. On the bed next to him, with nickels in his eyes, lay his friend Igor...

Vika and I went out into the courtyard. It was about one o'clock in the morning, and only two or three lanterns were lit in the entire village. There was a deathly silence in the village, even the village dogs did not bark. Strangely enough, we didn't feel any fear.

The door creaked softly behind him. I turned around and saw three vague silhouettes disappearing into the night silence.

A minute later, a woman's sobs were heard in the house with renewed vigor. Gena, with a tired and haggard face, came out to us and lit a cigarette.

"He died," he answered our silent question.—Injuries that are almost incompatible with life. In the hospital, in the city, maybe they would have saved me. And here...

We drove back in silence. When we returned to our home station, no one asked much about anything. And, of course, we didn't talk about it either — who would believe that?..

Only now, after that night shift, an icon appeared in our car.

And to my partner, who tried to steal it, I broke two fingers..