Chapter 2

By the way, it was bowling that brought them together in this car. For over a year, four people from different departments and positions in the company preferred to spend Friday evenings together, rolling balls. And every time, the only married man in their company had problems with his wife because of his hobby.

— "Don't drift, we'll make it through. It's not the first time we've greased your wife's palms! And nobody will deprive us of the bonuses. We'll make it," Alexander found the moment appropriate to lighten the mood and reconcile his friends and himself with the situation.

But he was interrupted from continuing his speech by the car's sudden braking.

— "We've arrived, gentlemen. A right turn and a sign with incomprehensible writing on it, hidden from our eyes because it's intended for motorists going in the opposite direction," Oleg, the deputy head of the company's security, commented cheerfully.

Meanwhile, Sergey, without paying attention to empty chatter, quickly jumped out of the car and ran ahead to read what was written on the road sign in the oncoming lane. Having reached it, he joyfully exclaimed:

— "Well, you fools! Kiss the commander's epaulettes, the commander has taken you where you need to be and on time! The 'Forest Glade' sanatorium is at your service! You're all on the hook and don't go for cheap ones!"

After happily gloating, he returned, took his place behind the wheel, and confidently led the car along the new road. His excessive joy didn't escape Alexander's notice. It could only mean one thing - Sergey got lost, and their being in the right place was pure coincidence and luck.

Giving the driver a stern look through the rearview mirror, he raised his eyebrows, but the driver chose to ignore his gaze or simply didn't notice it, sincerely rejoicing in his luck.

— "Wow, nice clouds. Is that what awaits us tonight? Hail with a downpour and gusty wind?! The meteorologists once again got it wrong!" Sergey cheerfully surveyed the sky above the sanatorium, where the quantity and darkness of the clouds could compete with the best apocalypse scenes.

— "All outdoor activities are canceled, we can just drink!" Oleg couldn't help but be pleased, although the reason was blatantly weak.

Suddenly, the clouds in the sky sharply entered a vortex, but instead of forming a tornado, they formed a perfect circle of whirlwinds in the heavens. Lightning struck from the center of the circle, first one, then another, and within seconds lightning began to strike from the whirlwind with terrifying frequency. Some lightning struck parallel to the ground in various directions, some struck the ground, or rather the lightning rod.

The car abruptly stopped, Sergey jumped out of it, and, taking out his phone, started recording the natural wonder. The others watched in amazement at the unprecedented spectacle.

Suddenly, the cloud funnel sharply increased its diameter several times, covering a huge area and also hovering over the heads of the friends, and then the clouds suddenly fell to the ground.

The light dimmed. Eyes swam. Heads spun. And when the friends finished blinking, the only thing left for them to do was to stare around in astonishment and recall all the folk remedies for getting rid of hallucinations. Because they weren't standing on the asphalt road surface next to the car, but in the woods. And they were completely naked.

Moreover, the people who were nearby when the sky fell to the ground were also present here and in exactly the same state - completely naked. In the distance, a female scream was heard, which was immediately echoed from several points.

A girl 10 meters away suddenly covered her chest and lower abdomen with her hands, making incoherent sounds and staring at Gennady, and then looked around. Gennady also covered his dignity with his hands and stared at Alexander in bewilderment. Sergey took a sharp and loud breath - apparently for the first time since the incident. Curses were heard.

Oleg also didn't hold back and emitted a whole range of sounds that are strictly not recommended to be uttered near children. However, there were no children in sight in the foreseeable space of the forest. Alexander noticed behind him a guy about 30 years old who was bewilderedly rubbing his eyes and looking around.

He was clearly impressed not by the change of scenery, but by something else. Suddenly, Gennady stopped just staring at Alexander and pointed his finger at his face in some confusion.

— "What's this?"

— "Bruise!"

— "What bruise?" his interlocutor didn't understand.

— "It's not there!"

Alexander put his hand to the right side of his face, to the very side that until recently had a huge painful bruise, as he got hit by the unexpectedly opening door of the accounting office yesterday. There was no pain, no swelling.

— "I can see without glasses!" a cry came from behind. The source of it was the same stunned guy who was rubbing his eyes, and at the same time, it became clear why the change of scenery didn't impress him so much.

"Artificial objects!" flashed through Alexander's mind. "There are no artificial objects on us!"

His tongue immediately darted to the fillings recently installed on his teeth, explored them, and... There was no filling. As there were no cavities in the teeth - they were perfectly healthy, including the wisdom tooth removed the year before last.

Another additional tooth was also discovered - the very wisdom tooth that hadn't yet grown in Alexander's mouth. However, it was strange to say such things about a tooth present in the mouth. Not grown, but there - so perhaps it had already grown or manifested itself.

He distracted himself from the teeth, on which, guided by unclear motives, his mind had focused attention, and tried to grasp the situation as a whole, rather than in parts.

He focused on his inner sensations - nothing hurt, his head wasn't spinning, but it was pulsating unclearly. There was a strange feeling in the stomach that couldn't be recognized. Besides the full set of healthy teeth in his mouth, there was a strange taste that couldn't be recognized either.

His vision had an unusual sharpness and clarity, and on quite a long distance - Alexander clearly saw that there were no freckles on the bodies of the people around him and their skin was absolutely clean.